He needed to remember what he was about, and that was tracking the man with the black pearl. Until he found and bested the man who’d stolen him, his life wouldn’t be truly restored.
But once he destroyed his enemy, he could get on with the rest of it, starting over, making a real life as a real man would. He’d start by saving Elspeth from this suspicious match. Then he’d make his own money, set himself up with a good living so he could care for his woman.
And none of that would happen with him mooning like a love-struck idiot. She’d distracted him, but it was time to get down to business. He narrowed his eyes.
“Now there’s a little matter of something I think you’re hiding on your person. ”
She looked like a startled doe, and he forced himself to keep a straight face. It’d do no good to scare her. Though, he thought with a grin, he might enjoy a little fun.
The hard years had honed his instincts, and those instincts told him the papers she’d stolen were hidden somewhere on her person. “You’re wicked,” he told her. “And do you know why?”
“No. ” He’d expected her to look shocked, but mostly she looked amazed.
It spurred him on. Staring at her parted lips, he said, “You distracted me. ”
“I did?”
“You did,” he said, chuckling at the disbelief in her voice. He couldn’t help it, he had to touch her again. Had to kiss her, and smell her, and taste her. He leaned in to nuzzle her, and pointing his fingertip onto the side of her throat, he whispered along her skin, “You had me looking here. ”
She made a gratifying little gasping sound, and he swept his hands down to clutch her firmly about her waist, tugging her closer. His cock stiffened at once, and he pressed into her, his flesh chafing against the wool of his plaid, straining to press through the layers of her skirts, to the soft, innocent flesh hidden beneath.
“And here,” he said, kissing along her collarbone.
He had the distant thought that he should have a care. They stood in the open, in a seedy alley off Aberdeen harbor, him pressing her into a darkened corner, his desire precipitous, quickly spinning to a point of no return.
But he couldn’t summon a care. All he knew was her precious body, yielding against his. It took the full force of his will not to succumb to the lust that pounded through him and simply ruck her skirts up above her waist and take her there, hidden in the shadows.
He stroked a hand up her torso, running his thumb along the soft flesh of her breast. “And here. ”
She drew in a sharp breath, but didn’t stop him, and so he kept tracing his thumb up and down, his pressure growing just a bit firmer, his touch approaching just a bit closer to the tip of her breast.
“You … you were looking there too?” she asked, her voice breathy and shallow.
“Oh, most definitely. ”
She gave a little self-conscious wriggle. “B-but, there’s not … I’m not … I’m so…”
“Ah,” he said, guessing her fears. He brought his other hand up to caress her other side, calming her nervous body. Kissing up her throat to her ear, he whispered, “Is it you think you’re too thin?”
He heard her breathing change, felt her reluctant nod.
“Silly, perfect, foolish woman. ” He kissed his way along her jaw to her mouth, where he hovered over her lips. “You see, Beth, you aren’t the only wicked one. I’ve been looking here”—he cupped one breast—“and here”—then the other—“since first we met. ”
He touched his lips to hers just as he gave a gentle squeeze to her breasts. They nestled in his palms as though they’d been made just for him. “Perfect, I told you. ”
He could feel her hardened nipples through the fabric of her bodice, and rubbed his open palms over them, then closed his hands to squeeze again.
There was a faint answering crinkle. His stolen paper. And regretfully, he remembered his purpose. It was perhaps the only excuse strong enough to bring him to his senses, recalling where they were, pulling him from this lusty haze.
Aidan chuckled. “Perfect for my hands, but not perfect enough to conceal my papers. ”
She pulled away, and her face was an endearing tangle of emotions: humor on her lips, embarrassment in her cheeks, and lust in her eyes. “You cheated. ”
“I wanted my paper back. ” His gaze was heavy on her as she reached in her bodice to pull it out. He vowed, someday he’d have the right to reach his hand under that bodice. To strip it off himself, if that was his desire. He knew Beth would have him—he saw it in those allknowing eyes, felt it in her kisses. He just needed to finish what he’d set out to do, and then he would make her his. “I’ve gone long years without getting what I want. But no longer. ”
Chapter 23
Elspeth shivered. He’d spoken such dark, such rousing, such thrillingly sinful words. Had he meant he wanted her? Might he want more than just stolen kisses?