Highland Wolf by Hannah Howell Page A

A touch of fear mixed with the passion that had taken complete control of her. Something so strong, so overwhelming, was something that she should not and did not trust.
    James felt a hint of tension enter the soft body he craved and quickly kissedAnnora again, eager to banish whatever resistance she was mustering. It was madness to grab her like this, but his need for her felt like madness. He had escaped any punishment for hitting Egan, but James had a feeling it was because MacKay wished to strike out at Egan in some small way. Whether it was a need to assert his power over his first or something else, James did not know and was not sure he cared. One thing he was sure of was that both MacKay and Egan were now watching him closely. Especially Egan, who undoubtedly sought a chance to make him pay dearly for putting such an abrupt ending to the man’s attempt to rape Annora and for beating him in front of her.
    It did not please James to admit it, but some of his great need to hold Annora and kiss her was to mark her as his own. He wanted to banish the taste and feel of Egan from her lips. He also wanted to make sure that Annora was not left with a fear of such intimacies because of what Egan had tried to do to her.
    He kept kissing her as he slowly slid his hand up her rib cage and stroked her breast. She tensed for just a moment and uttered a protest against his mouth, but to his delight it was a very short-lived resistance. The feel of her breast in his hand, the weighty fullness of it, left him hungry for so much more. He wanted to feel her skin, to taste her, and he wanted to do so right now, but he fought to restrain himself.
    When Rolf ended the kiss and began to spread hot kisses along the neckline of her gown, Annora fought to regain some control of herself. What he was doing felt so good it was a little difficult to recall that it was all wrong. A maid should not allow a man to corner her in a dark hallway and touch her so intimately. In this case, it could also be dangerous. She had not yet discovered what Donnell’s plans were for her future. If Rolf did anything to ruin those plans, he would pay for it with his life and she could not allow that. To cool her passion as quickly as possible, she began to think of Mab and recall the chance that the woman had been returning from sharing Rolf’s bed. It acted almost as good as a bucket of cold water.
    “Nay,” she said as she pushed at his chest, idly wondering why she felt such a strong urge to rip his shirt from his body and touch the skin beneath it. “I willnae be another Mab for ye.”
    James leaned back a little and stared at her. “Mab?”
    Finally able to think clearly, although his body ached all over to make love to her, James cursed softly. He then muttered an apology when Annora blushed. Mab had obviously been trying to get into his bed again and Annora had met up with her. Mab was becoming a nuisance. James also wondered if Mab’s persistence was because one, or even both, of her lovers was trying to use her to keep him occupied. MacKay and Egan were not the sort of men who could understand how any man could want only one woman.
    “I have not bedded Mab. I do not care what the woman says. Yes, she seems eager to crawl into my bed”—he gave Annora a quick, hard kiss—“but I want something better, something sweeter. I think your lord or that fool Egan keep sending her to me in the hope that it will keep me well occupied.”
    Annora knew he spoke the truth. Her ability to sense the truth or a lie was one of the few things she actually appreciated about her gift. “Why would they do that?”
    “To keep me away from you.”
    Since he had stepped back a little, Annora busied herself with the needless chore of brushing down her skirt with her hands. It gave her a moment to calm herself as his talkof wanting her both flattered her and made her uneasy. Although she did not sense any taint in his desire for her, she knew a lot of men felt a woman