She bit back a smile. “And are ye finally goin’ to show me how it works?”
By way of answer, he lunged forward, wrapping her up in his arms and pulling her against him so tightly she lost her breath. He kissed her ravenously, teeth clicking together, his stubble scraping her cheek. Megan didn’t care. She barely felt the discomfort over the pounding of her heart, a shiver of desire streaking across her skin. She freed her arms, tightening them around his shoulders, and pressed herself against him.
She hardly noticed when Ryder lifted her off the ground, walking them both over to the bed. He deposited her carefully onto the bed and leaned over her.
“I think ye are the most beautiful woman in the world, ye ken that?” he breathed.
Megan hid a smile. “There are lots of women in the world. Surely I cannae be themostbeautiful. I’d accept ‘most beautiful woman in the Highlands’, though.”
He crawled onto the bed, knees resting on either side of her hips. He carefully supported himself above her, leaning down to tuck a strand of hair behind her ear.
“I didnae say that yewerethe most beautiful woman in the world,” he pointed out. “I said thatI thoughtye were the most beautiful.”
Megan laughed aloud, giddy with happiness. She wanted to laugh, cry, sing, dance, all of it at once, but at the same time, she was sure that if she moved away from Ryder, even an inch, she would implode.
“Very clever,” she laughed, reaching up to trail her fingers down the side of his face. His gaze softened, and he leaned down to kiss her. The kiss lasted only a moment. He pulled back, hands sliding across the front of her belly to the laces on the front of her gown. He began carefully undoing them, gently inching the fastenings open.
“Do I need to close me eyes this time?” Megan asked, tilting her head. Desire pulsed through her, but this time there was a faint flutter of anxiety, too. This time, she sensed, would be different.
“Nay,” he answered at once, leaning down to press his lips against the swell of her breast. “Nay, I want yer eyes on me this time.”
She lay still, watching him kiss and caress each of her breasts in turn, fingertips leaving invisible, red-hot trails over her skin. It was maddening and thrilling all at once.
He glanced up at her, meeting her eye, and grinned. It was a mischievous, wolfish grin, one that went straight to the join of her legs and pulsed insistently there.
Sitting back on his heels, Ryder unceremoniously pulled off his shirt, revealing a thick, toned torso fuzzed with hair. Megan reached up, placing her palm over the place where his heart would be. She imagined it there, beating beneath his warm skin. He rested his hand over hers, just for a moment.
Then he turned his attention to his kilt, unfastening the front so that it swung open, the material falling away to crumple on the ground. Megan barely noticed. His manhood was there, a lot larger than she’d imagined in her head. There was something intriguing about it, and she found herself wondering whether it felt as velvety as it looked.
There was no time for that. Ryder leaned forward to kiss her once more, a lazy, thoughtful kiss that melted her insides. His hand danced up the inside of her thigh, sliding against her. Her folds were still slick and soft after their intimacy before, and almost at once she felt the peak of pleasure start to beckon.
“Ye must let me ken if ye want to stop,” he breathed against her ear. She wrapped her arms tight around him, hooking one knee over his hip.
“I daenae,” she whispered.
Something much larger than his finger slipped inside her, a breathless intrusion that took a moment to adapt to. Megan shifted her hips tentatively, and he started to move, pressing against her. Something inside her was touched, a spark of sharp, exciting pleasure that made her gasp and tighten her grip around his shoulders.
Ryder chuckled against her neck. Had he done that deliberately? Most likely.
Megan kept her eyes open, as he’d requested, and almost felt as if she were flying above them, watching them move as one on the bed. Ryder’s thrusts sped up, sending that thrilling pleasure through her with every movement. He kissed the front of her throat, and she wondered if he could feel her pulse thrumming against his lips.
His hands slipped down her body to cup her bare hips, his fingers warm and sure on her skin. His palms were hot, delightfully so. He shifted his own hips, settling deeper inside her, and she let out a stuttered gasp of pleasure.
“There ye are, lass,” he breathed, voice cracking. “We fit perfectly together. I think perhaps ye were made for me.”
“Or perhapsyewere made forme,” she countered, faintly amazed that she could come up with witty retorts at such a time.
He chuckled again, and sped up his thrusts. The sound of skin slapping together, rich and deliciously lewd, filled the space. Megan tightened her grip on his shoulders, closing her eyes and letting him move her as he liked, pressing her down, fingers digging into her hips and pulling her back onto him. She felt the familiar twinges of climax approaching and bit her lip, almost helpless.
When she reached her peak, she gave a startled gasp at how different it was from before.Better, certainly. She was still spiraling lazily down from her high when Ryder gave a low growl, a rumble in his chest, and pressed against her. There was a warm rush, a final tingle of desire, and he rested his weight against her.
They lay like that for a while, arms and legs tangled together, Megan’s gown wrapped around them both.
“I love ye, Megan Blackwood,” Ryder whispered, his breath warm against her ear. “And if ye will consider it, I would like ye to be me bride. For real this time.”
She smiled, closing her eyes, and wound her fingers through his hair.
“I will consider it, since I am fairly sure that I love ye too. It is lucky that Idolove ye, because ye are the most infuriatin’ man I have ever met.”
