Her throat went dry. “Where else can your touch go?”

His lips met the lobe of her ear in a gentle caress.

Her entire core clenched—her jaw, her stomach—lower in a place she knew was meant to react, but she’d never felt it respond before.

“Where do you want it to go, Amber?”

The sound of his lips saying her name made her smile. Though the thought of the stream by MacCoinnich Keep was running in the back of her head, the desire to let Gavin deep inside her made the grip on her thoughts slip.

“You’re the teacher here, Mr. Kincaid,” she used a formal name to play off his experience with Mrs. Robbins. “Why don’t you show me?”

With a voice so low she had to strain to hear it, he asked, “Are you sure?”

Words escaped her. His hands hesitated, as if asking permission before dipping into the food on a table. The urgency inside him was huge and under a thin layer of control.

He wanted her.

Though she couldn’t name what she wanted, she knew she didn’t want him to leave her like this…wet, warm, and incomplete.

Amber nodded.

The relief inside him made her smile.

Gavin’s lips slid below her ear as his tongue showed her what a simple touch could do. While her mind sucked in the feeling of his lips on her, his hand under the water reached up and took the weight of her breast. The pad of his thumb ran over her, bringing her nipple to pert attention and making everything inside her respond with need.

Need for what she couldn’t describe…but she wanted. Oh, she wanted.

“I probably shouldn’t enjoy that.”

He chuckled. “Why not?”

“I-I was taught—”

Gavin lifted her lips to his and cut her words off.

It didn’t matter what she’d been taught. Her life was never going to be what her parents predicted. This—now—was all she need concern herself with.

Gavin’s tongue stroked her bottom lip as he shifted in the cooling water to kiss her more thoroughly. His touch rippled over her skin, making her quiver. Thoughts of her troubles vanished under his kiss.

He shifted her on his leg until she was pressed fully against him and her hand rested on his chest. His body, pressed against hers, held its own armor, its own safety, and she wanted more…so much more.

Air cooled her damp skin at the same time Gavin ran his warm, hand up her back. He angled his head and kissed her deeper.

Mrs. Robbins did a fine job of teaching him to keep her warm. And his kiss…good Lord she couldn’t breathe and didn’t want to come up for air.

When his hand ran the length of her body, from breast to knee, she was possessed with a desire to touch him…all of him. Unsure of the liberties he was permitting her, she moved her hand slowly over his chest and low on his stomach.

My brave girl. The words were his, and they swam in her head.

Her lips slid away from his as he kissed her neck.

“You make me brave,” she told him.

The stream she thought of now filled her…only she hadn’t put it there…the image came from him. She wanted to ask him why he cloaked his thoughts. To do so would bring attention to the fact that she did the same to him.

His fingers ran up her knee on the inside of the thigh. “How brave do you want to be, Amber?”

“I know you won’t hurt me,” she whispered.

His eyes met hers as his hand slowly inched closer to the pulsating need resting within the apex of her thighs.

The stream in her head switched off and one thought penetrated all others. Tell me to stop and I will.

On the edge of sanity, she leaned toward him and initiated a kiss of her own.

Don’t stop.

A deep sigh escaped his lips, and he kissed her with more hunger, more urgency, yet his hand moved slowly until she felt his fingers brush against the tangle of hair at her core. The intimacy was nearly too much until he brushed against her. She jerked against him and not away.

“Oh…”

“Shh,” he moved closer, searching, until he found the place in her she hardly knew was there. “I’ve got you,” he murmured.

Her eyes closed, her head rolled back on his arm. Instantly his lips were on her neck, his kiss marking her. All the while, his fingers danced against her so slowly it made her crazy.

She felt her legs opening to him, wanting him.

He passed over the intense bundle of nerves so gently she gasped. He touched her again and her fingernails dug into his arms.

“Have you never touched yourself?” he asked in a hoarse whisper.

Her head fell to the side and quickly back. “Nay…I-I…” She’d tried, more than once, but the noise in her head never left her alone to complete the task. But not now…oh, not now.

“Shh…let me show you, my innocent.”

She couldn’t stop him if she’d wanted to. His hand moved over her with intent, fingers dipping just enough to make her want more while others passed over her and made her push against him. Her breath came in short waves as her lips sat against his neck. She was pliant in his arms and completely exposed to anything Gavin wanted.

Yet it seemed all Gavin wanted was to give her pleasure.

Everywhere he touched sent waves of bliss over her. There had never been a time in her life when she felt as unguarded as she did now, without a worry or concern from the world outside. It was only her and Gavin and, with only the two of them, the world sang.

His fingers took on a rhythm, rocking against her while he whispered in her ear, telling her to relax and just feel.

When her limbs melted, obeying his words, her insides focused on one place with intensity more potent than magic could ever reach. Of its own volition, her body reached for some unknown place, found it, and shattered into a million sparkling pieces.

She called out Gavin’s name, heard the water in the tub splash against the tile on the floor, and couldn’t bring herself to worry that a man, who was not her husband, had his fingers deep inside her.

****

“Girlfriend?” Selma hissed under her breath as he stood aside for her to walk in.

“Zip it, Matilda. You owe me.”

She didn’t…not really, but this was too fun an opportunity to pass up. The driving force that brought her to his door was buried for a later discussion. Love potions and the heebie-jeebies dancing over her skin would have to wait until the twins weren’t staring at the two of them.

Jake pushed her into the kitchen where something on the stove was doing its best to send up smoke signals to the neighbors. “Oh, damn…” Jake jumped to the stove and removed the smoking pan. The black bread inside resembled some kind of a sandwich…or so Selma thought.