This is an education on seduction,” Delilah said in a reverent tone…tAriana let her gaze skim across the silk wall hangings and shrugged. “I’ve not ever kissed a man.” ... Truthfully, she had not. She’d been so fixed on her attempts to placate her parents in the hopes they might pay her the slightest bit of positive attention, she had not so much as considered kissing any man. tDelilah’s fingers touched Ariana’s chin, feather light, and tilted her face toward hers. “It is the most delicious thing. Close your eyes and I will tell you of it.”tObediently, Ariana closed her eyes, hoping if she did as she was told, the lesson would end sooner.tIt was an awkward sensation to sit in the ridiculous pillow-laden room with one’s eyes closed.t“Relax,” Delilah said in a velvety tone. “Listen.”tAriana let her muscles slacken.t“Imagine a man, tall and lean with muscle.” Delilah’s voice was quietly intimate. Hypnotic. “He’s staring at you as if you were the only women he’d ever seen. Truly seen. The only woman he’s ever wanted. The desire for you burning in his eyes.”tHazel eyes rose to the forefront of Ariana’s mind, a sharp jaw shadowed with a day’s growth of beard.tConnor.tShe swallowed.t“His arms come around you,” Delilah continued. “So strong, so warm. They offer you a protection unlike anything you’ve ever felt and make you wish you could melt into his embrace for the rest of your life.”tIn Ariana’s mind, Connor’s arms wrapped around her. But she didn’t shy from his touch – she welcomed. It. The chill of the room ebbed into a pleasant heat.t“Your eyes meet. His fingers touch your face and his breath whispers over your lips. He lowers his head and you close your eyes just as his mouth touches yours, warm and demanding.”tAriana’s heart quickened and her breathing went almost ragged. Her mouth was suddenly dry and she flicked her tongue over her lips.t“His body is a wall of strength against you, holding you upright, as your knees feel as though they will buckle. Then his tongue strokes yours, velvet fire and heady seduction.”tAriana drew a shaky breath….
He poured a splash of liquid into a second cup. “Come in and warm yerself by the fire.”tAriana walked deeper into the room, toward the glow of the hearth. It’s heat enveloped her skin and eased away the chill with such expediency, she almost sighed.tConnor appeared beside her with a metal cup extended. “I canna sleep often myself.”tShe closed her fingers around the cool surface and glanced at the dark liquid within. A sharp scent hit her nostrils.t“Whisky,” Connor said.tHe was perfection in the firelight. Shadows etched his jaw while the light softened his face, his lips. The powerful lines of his chest were visible at the neck of his leine, as well as a dark peppering of small curling black hairs.t“Whisky,” Ariana said with a forced stare at the cup instead of him. “Of course. I drink this all the time.”t“Aye, I knew that about ye. When I first saw ye, I thought, ‘Now there’s a lass who can handle her whisky.’” Connor winked at her with disarming playfulness. “It’ll do ye some good. Take off the chill and settle yer thoughts.”t“Why do you assume my thoughts are unsettled?” she asked.tHe took a swallow from his cup. “Because sleep comes easily to those without weight on their minds.”tAriana took a careful sip from her own cup, the way she’d seen men at the card tables drink. The liquid burned like sin down her throat and caught in her chest.tShe gritted her teeth and swallowed hard several times to keep from sputtering.tThough she’d hoped to keep her reaction discreet, the grin on Connor’s face told her he saw through her guise.t“It’s good.” Her voice came out in a croak and Connor laughed. It was a warm, rich sound and she found it terribly pleasing.tHis eyes crinkled. “Now that we’ve discovered yer love of whisky, why dinna ye tell me what’s got yer thoughts heavy?