Read Again the Magic for Free Online

lowering into a wooden tub… his pleasured sigh at the heat of the water… his bronzed back shining in the firelight. “Yes,” she breathed. “And then you can soak while I hang the stew pot over the fire, and I’ll tell you about the argument I had with the miller, who didn’t give me enough flour because his scale was weighted.”
    McKenna laughed softly while his fingertip skimmed lightly along her throat. “The cheat,” he murmured, his eyes sparkling. “I’ll speak with him tomorrow — no one tries to fleece my wife and gets away with it. In the meantime, let’s go to bed. I want to hold you all night long.”
    The thought of being tucked in a cozy bed with him, their naked bodies entwined, made Aline tremble with longing. “You’ll probably fall asleep as soon as your head touches the pillow,” she said. “Farming is hard work — you’re exhausted.”
    “Never too tired to love you.” His arms slid around her, and he hunched over to nuzzle the curve of her cheek. His lips were like hot velvet as he whispered against her skin. “I’m going to kiss you from your head to your toes. And I won’t stop until you’re crying for me, and then I’ll pleasure you until you’re weak from my loving.”
    Aline slid her fingers to the hard back of his neck and guided his mouth to hers. His lips covered hers, molding gently until she opened to admit the exquisite probing of his tongue. She wanted the life he had just described… she wanted it infinitely more than the future that awaited her. Yet that life belonged to another woman. The thought of someone else sharing his days and nights, his secrets and dreams, filled her with desperation.
    “McKenna,” she moaned, turning her mouth from his, “promise me…”
    He held her tight, stroking her back, rubbing his cheek against her hair. “Anything. Anything.”
    “If you ever marry someone else, promise that you’ll always love me best.”
    “Sweet, selfish darling,” he murmured tenderly. “You’ll have my heart always — you’ve ruined me for life.”
    Aline wrapped her arms around his neck. “Do you resent me for that?” Her voice was muffled against his shoulder.
    “I should. If not for you, I might have been content with ordinary things. With an ordinary girl.”
    “I’m sorry,” she said, hugging him fiercely.
    “Are you?”
    “No,” she admitted, and McKenna laughed, tugging her head back to kiss her.
    His mouth was firm and demanding, his tongue sliding deep with ruthless sensuousness. As Aline’s knees weakened, she molded herself to him until no inch of space remained between them. McKenna supported her easily, holding her between his thighs, his big hand cradling the back of her neck. The pressure of his lips altered as he licked inside her mouth with an erotic playfulness that drew a ragged sigh from her. Just as she thought she would melt to the floor in a puddle of bliss, Aline was disgruntled as McKenna abruptly took his mouth from hers.
    “What is it?” she asked thickly.
    McKenna silenced her with a touch of his forefinger on her lips, staring at the doorway of the carriage room with narrowed eyes. “I thought I heard something.”
    Aline frowned in sudden worry, watching as he strode swiftly across the flagstones to the arched opening. He gazed from one side of the empty courtyard to the other. Detecting no sign of anyone, he shrugged and returned to Aline.
    She slipped her arms around his lean waist. “Kiss me again.”
    “Oh no,” he said with a crooked grin. “You’re going back to the house — I can’t work with you here.”
    “I’ll be quiet,” she said, her lower lip pushing out mutinously. “You won’t even know I’m here.”
    “Yes, I will.” He glanced down at his own aroused body and then gave her a wry look. “And it’s hard for a man to get his work done when he’s in this condition.”
    “I’ll make it all better,” she purred, her hand stealing down to the fascinating bulge of his