“What’re you doing to me, Ally? Why can’t I stop?” Ewan muttered as her hands gathered the length of plaid that hung to the back of his knees. Her cool, smooth hands against his skin made Ewan groan as he pinned her against the wall. “Tell me to stop. You’re not my wife yet. I can’t take you.”
“You’ve never married before, and that hasn’t stopped you in the past.” Allyson panted as Ewan continued his onslaught at her neck and the exposed portion of her chest above her kirtle.
“You’re not a woman to tup and walk away from, Ally. Once you’re mine, I won’t ever let go. I won’t share you with another mon, and I won’t allow another mon to take you from me.”
“I never imagined you to be the possessive type, Ewan. Easy come, easy go.”
“There is naught easy about how I feel. It’s not easy for me to understand, and it’s not easy for me to describe. But I can promise you that when, not if, you marry me, you will never doubt where I spend my nights because I will spend every one of them with you. Don’t doubt where I spend my days because I won’t be out of your reach.”
Allyson tried to laugh, but the press of Ewan’s lips against her pulse point made her breath catch. “Will you quit going to the lists, or will you expect me to come with you?”
Ewan growled as his mouth sought hers once more. The kiss was equally passionate and possessive for them both. While they both wanted to dominate, both wanted to submit. It created an urgency neither could ignore.
“Tell them you overslept.” Ewan grunted as he guided Allyson to the floor. He settled beside her, but she rolled onto her side to continue kissing him. He drew up her skirts before lifting her leg over his hip. His fingers found their way to the crevice of her bottom before sliding along the slick seam that begged for him to enter. He ran his fingertips over the plump nether lips until Allyson’s hips rocked unbidden. He drew his hand away to her whimpers of complaint, only to return it once his hand slid between them. “Has any man every touched you like this, Allyson?”
She struggled to understand what he asked through the fog of passion and need. “No. Only you.”
“No mon has kissed your quim like I’m going to?”
“No. No mon has kissed any part of me like you have.”
“Ally, are you saying that you’ve never tasted another mon’s tongue in your mouth?”
“Never. You’re the only one.”
“I’m aware you’ve been kissed before.” Ewan pulled back to look at Allyson’s glazed eyes and flushed cheeks. He was convinced she was a virgin, but he hadn’t considered she was without any experience.
“A few quick kisses, but my mouth was always closed.” Allyson blinked her eyes several times and looked up at Ewan. “Are you disappointed that I don’t know what I’m doing? I can learn whatever you want to teach me.”
“Don’t say things like that.” Ewan’s voice came out strangled as his fingers sunk into her sheath. “You are an innocent; otherwise, you’d be aware of how seductive those words are. Do you feel what my fingers are doing to you? I want my cock to do that, and soon my tongue will.”
“You can’t be serious, Ewan. Your tongue?”
“Aye, and I will ensure you like it so much you expect me to do it to you morn, noon, and eve.”
Allyson gave in to temptation. She’d spent her life doing what everyone expected of her, but ever since that afternoon at Stirling Castle, she’d claimed control over her life. She wanted to discover the passion Ewan offered, and she understood she only wanted to explore it with Ewan. Even the thought of Eoin, the mirror image of the man who held her, did nothing for her. It was Ewan. It was his scent, his taste, his everything that drew Allyson in, and she refused to deny herself. She reasoned that no one else would offer her the opportunity to feel wanted and cherished, so she would grasp what Ewan offered with two hands. Two hands that currently grasped his chest muscles.
“Do you trust me, Ally? I won’t take your maidenhead, but I’ll bring you release. Do you understand what I mean?” Ewan’s voice was patient as he waited for Allyson to decide.
“I do. I haven’t— but I understand what you’re talking about. I’ve heard of it.” Allyson took a deep breath. “I trust you, Ewan. Only you.” Allyson gazed into Ewan’s emerald orbs as though she might drown in their depths.
“I won’t do aught to destroy that trust. I know I’m still earning it, and I know it’s not unbreakable.”
“Shh.” She pressed her finger to his lips. “Show me.”
Ewan pressed a hot kiss to her lips before inching his way down her chest as he pushed her skirts to her waist. He alternated blowing warm and cool air over her tender flesh, the swollen lips of her sheath ached as his attention became riveted on them. Ewan watched Allyson’s eyes drift closed and her face relax before his thumbs spread her open, and he feasted his eyes on a part of Allyson he’d never imagined he might see, let alone taste. His thumb rubbed her bud until it emerged from its surrounding petals, then he drew the flat of his tongue along her seam, in no hurry. When she twitched and tried to shy away, Ewan feathered kisses along the inside of her thighs until she settled. He looked up to find her watching him. He smiled, and she laid back, trusting him once more. Ewan settled his attention on Allyson and worked her flesh with his tongue and his fingers until she writhed underneath him.
Allyson feared her body would shatter into thousands of tiny pieces, never to be put back together again. It felt as though she were breaking apart, and Ewan was the only way to be made whole again. Tension built low in her belly as she squirmed, unsure if she wanted to pull away or get closer. The sensations of Ewan’s ministrations would surely send her up in flames, but she refused to miss a moment by keeping her eyes shut. She opened them and leaned forward to watch, noting that he appeared to delight in his task. Their eyes caught as Ewan thrust two fingers inside her as his tongue flicked her nub. The pressure became too much to bear; a tightening in her core unfurled into pleasure pulsating throughout her body and into her limbs, her toes curling within her slippers.
“Was that—” Allyson fought to catch her breath. “What was that?”
“That was your release. It’s what I hoped to offer you, and it was a sight that was more beautiful than aught else I have ever seen.” Ewan shifted to lie beside her as he pushed her skirts down. Allyson’s spent body didn’t resist Ewan tucking her smaller frame into the warmth and comfort of his larger one. He brushed hair from her temples and neck, proffering a kiss on her nose and forehead as she drifted off to sleep. Ewan realized, catching sight of the dark shadows under Allyson’s eyes, that she had slept far less than he had that night. Awake, he enjoyed the experience of lying beside a woman without having sought his own satisfaction. He couldn’t remember the last time he pleasured a woman solely for her enjoyment. It was always a prelude to his own or in reciprocation. He’d slept beside more women than he wanted to remember, but he’d never watched a woman sleep. Allyson’s breathing slowed, and her face relaxed as she settled into a more comfortable position. With the most tender care, he caressed her head and shoulder, admiring the freckles he was certain no one noticed unless they were this close. The irrational possessiveness returned, and he wanted to be the only man ever close enough to notice.
Not even a moon ago, I couldn’t have cared less whether Allyson or any woman had freckles. I was angry that she should order my wings clipped, but now imaging another mon courting Ally, wooing her, touching her, marrying her, makes me want to scream like a caged beast. She objected to the notion of an unfaithful husband, and that was with no real sentiment toward me. It was the principle, if not the practice, that mattered to her. I would have demanded fidelity from her too, but not for the same reason. I didn’t want to fear a bastard inheriting my father’s legacy, and I didn’t want to share what I believed should belong to me. That was selfishness that drove me. Honor and integrity drove Allyson. I should have seen that sooner. Maybe I would have kept my gob shut. My feelings are growing, and I pray hers are, too, because I don’t think I can return to the way things were before Chillingham, before last night.
Chapter Twenty-Five
Allyson woke once more with a furnace at her back. She didn’t want to move lest the comfort disappear and reality return with its normal vengeance. She absorbed the rhythmic breathing that came from the man holding her, knowing he was awake. A moment of self-consciousness surged forth when she imagined Ewan watching her sleep. Did she snore? Did she twitch while she slept? God forbid something worse.
