He responded at once, opening his eyes as he ran his hands up my bare arms to my shoulders. Heat burned in my skin from his touch.
“Does this mean we’re done arguing?”
I nodded, temporarily incapable of speech.
“Good.” His deep voice vibrated through me, a sudden strike to the flint deep in my core. Flames blazed to life, and I shivered from the heat.
His hands moved to my back, pressed me even closer. “I love you,” he breathed. Dipping his head, he touched his lips to mine, tentative and featherlight as though he were holding back.
My mind grew fuzzy, and without warning, desire pooled like warm honey in my stomach. I needed more of him, to have him fill every crevice and space with his being. Fire coursed to the surface, and a small moan escaped me as it flowed unhindered into Henry.
He crushed me to him, an iron hand on my back as the other moved up to cup my head. His mouth turned hard, demanding more, and I whimpered into his lips when his desire rushed back, a raging river so intense it saturated my senses. A darker, deeper current stole my breath.
The flames leapt higher, desperate for air. Fire rushed from every pore to lap over my skin where it met a wildness I’d never felt before, never dreamt possible in a human.
The gentleman in Henry had always kept a tight leash on his less civilized side. Now the two were at war. His savagery spiraled red and black, filling my lungs, coursing through my veins. Primitive and fierce, it nearly consumed me.
Chapter Fifteen
A Battle of Wills
Henry alone existed. The bathing chamber disappeared, taking with it every thought of a world beyond his arms. There was only passion and love, war and hunger, as each breath drew the battleground deeper inside me.
Heat seared through my body, and the next thing I knew his shirt was free of his breeches and his light brown hair fell unbound to the shoulder. I threaded my fingers through the silken strands, overwhelmed by the feel of him.
“I want you,” he murmured, “more than life, more than anything in this world.” Deepening the kiss, he stole any remaining shreds of reason. My legs turned to liquid fire, and I clung to him, incapable of supporting my own weight. His hand tightened on my back, pulling me even closer.
Without thinking, I moved against him, and the towel loosened around me.
Breaking the kiss, his ragged breath scorched my lips. “Keep still,” he commanded.
I whimpered in protest. “Please, Henry...” I arched upward, loosening the towel a bit more.
He responded with a pained groan. “Stop moving, or I’m going to take you right here.” His arms shook as he struggled to keep hold of what felt like the very last vestige of self-control.
Power filled me. I felt alive and entirely out of control. It was going to happen, and there was absolutely nothing I could do to stop it.
Gentleman...barbarian. I spoke to them both. “Then take me.”
Henry went still. I waited, not sure what to do next when slowly, he moved us a half circle, pinning me to the wall with his weight. I gripped his shoulders, digging my fingers into the hard muscle. His heartbeat thrummed against my chest, matching my own. Desire lit his eyes to emeralds.
“Not here,” he rasped. “Not now.” Strong hands ran up my arms.
I shivered. Why not?
He took hold of my wrists and gently pried my grip free. “Get dressed,” he bit out, lowering my arms to my side.
My body refused to obey. “I don’t want to.” I reached for him, but he turned away, putting his back to me. His hands were clenched to fists.
“Wait—”
A hard breath scraped from his throat as he rolled his powerful shoulders. Then he stalked from the room. The door shut, and I slumped against the wall, the towel lying in a heap at my feet.
*
A large bed took up the majority of the rustic room that Seamus had procured for Ailish and me on the second floor. Rough carved bedposts poked up at each corner to house what turned out to be a rather lumpy mattress. At the head of the bed, I leaned back against an overstuffed pillow, my bare toes tucked into the folds of a fresh woolen gown retrieved from my saddlebags. I sipped from a small porcelain teacup, all the while wishing to swap the steamy liquid for something chilled. At the moment straight ice would have been preferred to help counter the residual effects from the bathing chamber.
Henry had steered a wide arc around the bed, opting to sit in the armchair near the hearth, where he stared at me with the watchfulness of a tiger—a very hungry tiger that had been deprived of food for far too long.