“Just shut up and kiss me!” She pulled his head down and opened her mouth to his. For someone so strong and burly, his lips slid across hers like sumptuous velvet.
After kissing her until she thought she’d surely melt into a puddle of yearning, he left her mouth and nibbled along her jawline, then tasted his way down to her throat, leaving a trail of fire in his wake.
Her breath caught as he stretched the neckline of her tee shirt out of his way and continued his determined tasting of her. “We have to get out of these clothes,” she rasped as she grabbed the front of her coveralls and popped the snaps open. She pumped her legs, kicking to right herself and get out of his lap so she could shed them.
“Slow down, lass!” he laughed. “We have the rest of our lives to enjoy each other.” He helped her stand before she dumped herself off onto the floor. His laughter faded to a groan, and the burning intensity of his gaze sharpened as she shucked off her clothes.
“You are staring,” she whispered.
“Aye, love. That, I am. I canna help it.” He rose and barely traced a finger along her cheek, down across her collarbone, and then farther down her arm. He smiled while running that same finger along the ray of sunlight slanting across her. “The setting sun has painted ye in copper and gold, making ye shimmer finer than the most precious silk.” He slid his fingers into her hair and combed his hands through her curls, draping them across her shoulders. “Ye are a goddess, my love. A beautiful goddess that I canna get enough of.”
Her heart pounded, making her breathless and even more eager for them to possess each other completely. “I want to see you,” she said as she fumbled with the buttons on his shirt. His familiar scent of fresh pinewoods and a very aroused male wafted across her senses, making her mouth water. She circled him, stretching to peel the shirt off his broad shoulders and down his bulging biceps.
Silent and wearing a smile that almost made her dizzy with yearning, Caelan watched her, his heavy-lidded gaze following her every move.
She ran her hands along the sculpted muscles of his back, frowning at a long, jagged scar running along his right shoulderblade. Aching for the pain he must have suffered, she pressed a kiss to it, then hugged closer, soaking in his warmth and reveling in the deliciousness of his skin sliding against hers.
“Lore a’mighty, woman. Ye are about to kill me. Come here and let me love ye.” He pulled her around into his arms and clutched her to his chest. He slid his hands down her back, cupped her backside in his hands, and squeezed. “Finish undressing me, my love. Some of my best features are in the front, ye ken?”
She kept her gaze locked with his as she undid his belt, unfastened his jeans, then shoved them down past his tensed hips and muscular thighs until they lay tangled around his ankles.
Kneeling, she pulled each of his feet free and shoved the jeans aside. With a feather-light touch, she tickled her fingers up the inside of each of his legs. She couldn’t help but smile when he hissed with a sharp intake of air as she traced his impressive length with the tip of her tongue, then licked a circle around the head.
She cupped him in one hand, while stroking with the other, and swallowing him as deep as she could. The harder she sucked and swirled her tongue around him, the tighter his fisted hands tangled in her hair.
“Come to me,” he growled as he grabbed her up and tossed her across the bed.
His eyes were filled with longing and the love she’d felt from him in the strange violet glow. Their gazes locked as he covered her body with his. Her breasts belonged against his hard muscular chest, and she hugged her legs around him, arching to hurry him along to where she needed him most.
“The taste of ye,” he groaned, while nuzzling her neck and rocking against her, “your scent—lore a’mighty, everything about ye turns me into a ravenous beast raging to possess ye.”
He lifted his head and glared at her. “Ye’ve undone me this time, my precious, seductive lass,” he said with a wry grin. “But I will have my revenge before this night is through.”
She raked her nails down his back and arched into him again, bucking to get him inside her. “Less talk, my fine Highlander. More action.”
A determined glow lit in his eyes like an unextinguishable flame. He pushed into her with a long, slow shove, groaning as he buried himself completely. “By the Goddess, we are made for each other.”
He drew back out and plunged in again until they rocked together in the ancient dance. Their bodies melted into each other, as did their souls. Rachel crested and spiraled into mindless bliss first, but with her cries, Caelan quickly followed, roaring his release.
As he rolled to one side, he hugged her tighter. She buried her face in the curve of his neck, agreeing wholeheartedly. His touch, the length of his body entwined with hers, was something she was loath to be without.
He pressed a kiss to her forehead as he reached down, snagged hold of the sheet, and pulled it up over them. “I love ye, my precious one. More than ye will ever know.” He tightened his arms around her and rained kisses into her hair.
“I love you, too,” she admitted softly, thrilled that she no longer feared saying it. “I never thought it possible I’d ever love anyone, but you made me whole. Healed me.” She kissed his chest and breathed him in, floating on a cloud of utter contentment.
Caelan rocked her even closer. “We both are whole now,” he whispered. “’Tis a painful thing when half your soul is gone from ye.” He shifted against her with what sounded like a satisfied sigh. “But when ye find that half and come together as one—there’s nary a greater feeling than that in all creation.”
CHAPTER 10
The rude blaring of Rachel’s alarm clock startled Caelan to full wakefulness as if someone had shouted a battle cry. She flailed away from him, slapped at the thing until it went quiet, then rolled back over and snuggled back into his arms. “I wish I didn’t have to go to work today,” she mumbled, hugging herself tighter against him.
He tightened his arm around her and kissed the top of her head. “Stay here with me today. Surely, that mill of yours can survive one day without ye.”
With a jaw cracking yawn, she lifted her head and gave him a sad smile. “The mill will do fine without me, but my paycheck won’t be fine without today’s eight hours of pay.”
“Ye fret too much about money. Everything will be fine now that we’re together.” She didn’t realize how fine it would be. He was tempted to tell her, but something stopped him. His gut warned that their bond was still too new, and he might lose her if he didn’t go slow. Her trust needed to be unshakeable before he explained they were heading back to the past, to fourteenth century Scotland.
“One of these days, I might not need to worry about money,” she grumbled with another yawn. “But today is not that day.”She treated him to a glancing kiss, slid out of bed, then headed into the bathroom. Squeaking pipes and the sound of water pelting the wall told Caelan she was headed for the shower. She peeped out of the bathroom while brushing the snarls from her hair. “Don’t you have to work today? I don’t want to cause you to lose your job.”
