“I love you,” she said, steady this time. Certain.
A shuddering breath left him, and then he kissed her again, softer, lingering. When he finally pulled away, his fingers tangled in her hair.
“I never thought I’d have this,” he admitted. “Never thought I’d find someone who—” He shook his head, exhaling a rough laugh. “Who could drive me mad and make me whole all at once.”
Charlie went up on tiptoes and kissed him again. “Drive you mad, do I? I’ll show you just how mad I can drive you.”
She felt brazen, powerful, full of confidence and fire. Niall loved her. This gorgeous, brave, extraordinary man loved her. She felt like she could do anything.
“Is that a promise?” Niall said, his voice low and husky.
“It’s a promise.”
Charlie grabbed his plaid in her fists and yanked him against her, then took them both down to the soft grass that hugged the loch shore. Niall straddled her, hands braced either side of her head as he kissed down her neck, along her collarbone, each touch of his lips tracing a line of fire across her skin.
Charlie moaned, arching into him. With desperate movements, she began tugging at the sash of his plaid and then pulling at the linen shirt underneath. Niall raised his arms, allowing her to pull it over his head and leaving his muscled chest bare.
Charlie swallowed. He was glorious. Not perfect. Not the smooth, unblemished skin of a spoiled aristocrat, but the hard planes and scars of a man who’d fought for everything he had. Charlie ran her hands over his chest and traced the scars on his skin, before sitting up and pressing her lips to each one in turn. Niall groaned, his eyes sliding closed.
“Dear God, lass,” he whispered. “What are ye trying to do to me?”
“Drive you mad, remember?” she replied with a wicked smile.
“Carry on like that and ye might just succeed.”
His fingers began undoing the laces of her dress. With practiced ease, he made quick work of her bodice, and when he pulled the fabric away from her shoulders and down to her waist, his breath hitched.
“God above,” he murmured, his rough hands skimming over her bare skin, making her shiver. “Ye are perfect.”
She arched into his touch, craving more, and Niall obliged, his mouth following the path of his hands. He kissed down the column of her throat, over her collarbone, down to the soft swell of her breast. Charlie gasped as his lips closed around her nipple, heat spearing through her.
Her fingers curled into his hair, holding him to her as his lips laid soft kisses along her breasts, her sides, her stomach, mapping every inch of her. Electricity danced across her skin and a deep, hot ache began to burn between her thighs.
Oh, he was good. She had always known he would be. But this? This was incredible.
His hand moved down her body, under the hem of her dress and then back up the inside of her thigh, the hard pad of his thumb raising goosebumps in its wake. Charlie gasped, back arching as his fingers slid beneath her undergarments and into the hot ache between her thighs. He found her nub and began to gently stroke, sending spears of molten lava up through her core. A moan escaped her lips and she dug her nails into his shoulder, never wanting him to stop.
Sensing her need, Niall’s hand moved lower, a finger slipping inside her. Charlie’s hips bucked and she ground against his hand as he began to work her, slowly, oh so slowly at first, but with increasing tempo. She writhed under his hand as he slipped a second finger inside her, joining the first.
Oh God. This was too much. Too much. What was he doing to her?
“What do ye want, my love?” Niall whispered by her ear, his breath hot against her neck. “Tell me what ye want.”
“You,” she gasped out. “I want you. Right now. I need you inside me, Niall.”
Niall’s eyes slid closed as a low growl escaped him, almost animal-like in its ferocity.
He yanked her dress away, then kicked off his britches, shedding the last barriers between them until there was nothing left but skin. Niall rolled atop her and settled between her thighs, his body heavy and warm over hers. God this felt so good. So...so...right. How could she ever have thought she could resist him? She couldn’t. She never stood a chance.
Charlie wrapped her legs around his waist, drawing him in. Their eyes met, and Niall’s gaze burned with something raw and primal that sparked an answering need deep inside her.
Then with a slow, deliberate thrust of his hips, he was inside her, a deep, stretching heat that made her gasp. Niall groaned, his forehead pressing against hers as he found his rhythm, driving into her slow and deep.
Charlie clung to him, meeting each thrust with desperate hunger, losing herself in him, in this moment, in the way he made her feel. She wrapped one leg around his hips, inviting him deeper, her fingertips dancing across the muscles of his back as they bunched and relaxed above her.
Pleasure coiled tight inside her, winding higher and higher. It began in the spot where their bodies met but spiraled outwards until it seemed to fill every inch of her, her skin shivering, her nerves tingling. Until finally, finally, it shattered, sending her tumbling over the edge. She arched beneath him, crying his name to the sky and the world shattered into pieces.
Niall followed with a shuddering groan, his grip on her tightening as he poured himself into her.
