The Sinner by Margaret Mallory Page A

breathed in the fragrance of heather and pine in her hair. Squeezing his eyes shut, he rested his hand lightly on her hip.
    The storm outside was nothing compared to the tempest raging inside him. After all the women who had come so easy, it was as if a special hell had been devised just for him, trapping him under this small lean-to with a woman he could not have.
    Perhaps God was a female after all.
     
    *  *  *
    The howling wind woke Glynis, and she huddled against Alex, cocooned in the heat of his body folded around hers. She’d never slept with a man’s arms around her before—if she didn’t count her husband falling into a drunken stupor on top of her after he was done poking her.
    The dim gray light of dusk still filled their shelter so she had not dozed long. With Alex lying behind her, touching her, she would not get back to sleep soon.
    Alex was in a deep slumber, judging by how still he was. She felt edgy and restless. When she scooted closer against him, she felt his shaft, hard and urgent against her bottom. If he were awake, she’d have to move away. His hand moved to cup her breast. Each time she moved it away, it returned as if it belonged there—when, of course, it had no business being there at all. She felt guilty, but so long as he wasn’t awake to know she liked the feel of his big hand covering her breast, was it truly a sin?
    Did she care if it was a sin?
    “Glynis.”
    She sucked in her breath at the sound of Alex’s voice in her ear.
    “I can’t be responsible if ye keep moving against me like that,” he said. “I’m begging ye to stop.”
    The devil made her press against him.
    “Ahh, ye feel so good,” he said, and she sighed with him as he ran his hand all the way down her side to her thigh and back up again.
    She willed him to do it again. When he did not, she rolled onto her back to look at him. He propped himself up on his elbow and leaned over her with his face so close that she could feel his breath. Unable to resist, she cupped his cheek with her hand. The scratch of his rough beard felt good against her palm.
    “We can’t do this, Glynis.”
    “Why not?”
    Alex gave her that smile that always made her stomach leap. “Ye know the reasons.”
    Glynis had been responsible all her life—putting her clan first, taking care of her sisters and brother, offering guidance to her father, whether he took it or not—and what had it got her? Magnus Clanranald was what. Doing as she ought had bought her a foul husband who shamed her—and who would murder her now if he could.
    “Ye kissed me before. What’s the harm in doing it again?” She ran her tongue over her top lip, remembering the taste of his mouth on hers. “Kiss me, Alex.”
    His eyes went dark, and he clenched his jaw for a long, long moment. When he finally gave in and leaned down, her stomach tightened in anticipation. The moment his lips touched hers, fire spread beneath her skin. She pulled him down into a deep, openmouthed kiss. Aye, this was what she wanted.
    The heat from his body sizzled through hers. Her breasts ached, her head spun, and she felt as if she were falling backward, though she was flat on the ground. When he cupped her breast, she moaned into his mouth. Their legs became entangled as their kisses grew deeper, more frantic. She wanted to feel his weight on her, to feel his bare skin beneath her fingers.
    But Alex broke away. His gaze was smoldering and his breathing harsh.
    “’Tis is a dangerous game you’re playing.” His fingers shook as he brushed her hair back from her face. “One thing is bound to lead to another.”
    “I’m hoping it will.” Glynis wasn’t sure when she had decided that she wanted it all, but she had.
    Magnus had been such an oaf. He had claimed it was her fault that she didn’t warm to his touch, but she understood now that Magnus hadn’t the slightest notion how to touch her. She wanted to know what it was like to feel passion in the night, and she would