“And what do they believe to be right?” I reached over and stroked Oban’s ears, needing to soothe the tension that roiled in my stomach.
“Everything has to be a certain way. Done by the rules. Approved by my father. Down to even the person I marry. They follow a very specific set of guidelines on what is allowed and what is not.”
“Sounds stringent. Militaristic, almost?”
Luch’s eyes met mine, and he smiled, though it didn’t reach his eyes.
“Yeah, something like that.”
He’s hiding something. Part of his truth.I couldn’t fault him for not opening everything about his world to me, as I was guilty of the same.
“So you left and came to Loren Brae. Starting fresh. And they’re furious about it, I gather?”
“Pretty much.” He shrugged and polished off his sandwich in two bites.
“That’s got to be fun for you.”
Luch barked out a laugh and leaned back, stretching his legs out in front of him.
“It’s been over a year. I’m hoping they’ll accept it, while they’re hoping I accept my destiny.”
I tilted my head at that word. Destiny was an odd choice, wasn’t it? I wondered if his family just had a flair for the dramatics or if they really felt he was destined to follow whatever role they’d laid out for him. Either way, it sounded stifling and cold, and certainly no way to raise a child.
“And your mum? She feels the same?”
“My mum is an angel of a woman who somehowmanages to put up with my father. She is the light, the sun, and everyone revolves around her.”
“What did she say about you leaving?”
“She misses me, but she’s proud of me. She thinks I need to do this, but she won’t say that in front of my father.”
“Ah.” I reached out and squeezed his arm. “Sounds like a good woman.”
“The best.” Luch covered my hand with his own. Then his hand circled my wrist and I gasped as he pulled me quickly to sprawl on top of his body. The strength of this man was mind-blowing.
“Luch!” I gasped, laughing down at him, as Oban gave an indignant huff and stalked off through the flowers. “What are you doing?”
“I want to kiss you again, Faelan of the flowers. Will you let me?”
How was I supposed to let this man kiss me when I’d just learned his entire family hated healers? It wasn’t fair, to either of us, to take this a step further, but when he reached up and cupped the back of my neck, and pulled my head closer, I succumbed.
I didn’t usually give in to my weaknesses, but Luch’s kisses were terribly addictive, his body was rock hard under mine, which—naturally—made me think all sorts of dirty thoughts, and bloody hell, but I just wanted this moment to never stop. It had been ages since I’d let myself have any sort of fun, let alone go on a date, and my body was already responding to every unmet need I’d denied myself. When his other hand wrapped around me, cupping my bum and pulling me hard against where he very obviously wantedme, I rocked into him as he caught my mouth in a searing kiss.
Everything faded behind us, and all I could do was feel. A long pull of liquid lust went through as I shifted, straddling my legs around him, and tilted my hips forward.
“Och, lass, that’s just it, right there.” Luch’s voice rasped against my lips, his tongue hot against mine. Shamelessly, I rubbed myself against him, rocking back and forth, loving the heat that spiraled inside of me. I’d been craving a man’s touch for so long now, and between his mouth, hot at my neck and trailing his tongue along the edge of my jumper, and his hand rubbing fast circles over my bum, dots of desire danced across my vision.
I couldn’t believe how close I was to tipping over into an orgasm.
It shouldn’t be this easy.
I shouldn’t be responding this fast to a man.
But something about the open air, the flowers spread around us, his tongue slick against mine, was causing desire to spear through me. When he slid a hand to the edge of my jumper, and toyed at the waistband, I nodded against his mouth.
“Yes, och, please, yes.” I wanted his hands on me.
He slipped a hand beneath my jumper, cupping a breast, and thumbed a nipple into a perfect peak as I rode against him, the spiral going higher, higher, higher. When he tilted his head, angling his kiss deeper, and pinched me at the same time, I came apart.
