She’d wanted to believe that they had started over, that things would return to the way they’d been. Instead, it seemed that he continued to spend all of his time away from them, just as before. Nothing at all had changed.
“I’m doing this for you,” he said. “And for our daughters.” He gripped her hard, not allowing her to pull away. “I have to know that I’ve done everything I can to keep you safe.”
Her hand moved up to his face, lingering upon him. “It’s lonely at night,” she whispered, “when you’re not there.” She felt a desperate need to bind him to her, to rekindle the lost feelings.
If he left her to fight Harkirk, she was afraid of losing him. It was hard enough falling asleep at night without him there, but if he were to die, especially now…
Alex closed his eyes, his hand covering hers. His mouth moved over her palm, as he brought her fingers down lower to his throat. She leaned up to kiss him, needing him to let go of the tight control.
His mouth hungered over hers while his hands bunched over her gown. She forgot all about her earlier dizziness as he distracted her with the kiss. It sent a spiral of awakening sensations through her skin, until she needed more.
“Alex,” she whispered. “I’d rather have a husband in the flesh, than a husband who’s never there.” She drew his hand to her breast in an unmistakable invitation.
He rested his mouth against her cheek, his hand cupping her fullness. She felt his tension trembling with the fierce needs that he wouldn’t voice. She wanted to push him past the brink, binding him to her so he would realize what he was missing when he spent so many hours away from her.
It had been so very long since she’d joined with him. She wanted him to trust her, to let her ease the burden of leadership. He kept everything hidden, but she could see the stiffness in his bearing. She lifted his tunic away and massaged his shoulders, trying to soothe the rigid strain in his muscles.
His body had changed over the past few weeks, the outline of hardened muscle caused by lifting so many stones. Though he’d never been soft, she marveled at his strength, running her fingertips over the heated skin.
He captured her hands, lowering them to her sides. “I don’t trust myself to be gentle right now, Laren. It’s been too long.”
“Just be with me,” she urged. She reached up to loosen her gown and her clothing fell away, his hands moving over her skin in reverence. Her breasts were sensitive and when he lowered his mouth to her nipple, she gasped in response. She tried to remove his trews, needing his length against her.
With his hands, he parted her legs, and she stiffened at the sharp reaction he provoked. When his fingers brushed against her hooded flesh, she let out a soft cry, feeling the moist response between her thighs.
“Do you remember the first time I took you?” he murmured.
She could hardly stand up as his fingers caressed her folds. “In the stone circle, just after our wedding.”
“I couldn’t get enough of you that night.” He used their clothes to form a softer surface on the sandy floor of the cavern and guided her to lie down. “I couldn’t believe that you were mine at last.”
“I couldn’t believe that, out of all the women you could have had, you chose me.” She pulled him down to lie atop her and Alex’s body covered hers. For a moment, she rested beneath him, wishing she could hold on to him.
His hands moved up her legs, his mouth grazing a trail, followed by his fingers. When he reached her womanhood, he touched her again and the sudden response was more intense than anything she’d felt before. Her wetness coated his fingers and she grew embarrassed by her reaction.
“Alex, don’t go to Harkirk.” She lifted one leg around his waist and he drew his hard length against her. “Stay with me.”
“I won’t hide like a coward,” he insisted. “We’re going to finish this. And when it’s over, you’ll not have to worry about an English invasion again.”
The fierceness of his tone took her aback. He lifted her bottom, sheathing himself deep within her body. She couldn’t stop the moan that he forced from her throat. He found the place that brought her such pleasure, withdrawing his shaft to her entrance. Hovering there, she felt his thickness stretching her, while he used his thumb to bring her closer to the edge.
Sweet Mary and the saints, the long weeks without him were making every sensation fuller. He knew just how to touch her, just how to make her desperate with need. And when he thrust against her, it was like being touched everywhere at the same time.
She ground her hips upward, trying to force him to move faster. Instead, he slowed down, taking his time to torment her. Aching for him, she reached for his hips and he rewarded her with a thick thrust. And when the rigid pleasure started to break through, she cried out as the waves shattered her body, turning her molten, like the hot glass.
He pressed her knees against her chest, driving his shaft against her, his penetrations making her body tremble. She couldn’t catch her breath as he quickened the pace, thrusting within her liquid depths. A dark warmth emanated from deep inside, spiraling harder. She found herself fighting against him, struggling to keep a thread of sanity amid the rush of sensations. The pressure inside was building, her body straining for him.
“You’re mine, Laren. No matter what happens to me, no man will ever bring you this.” He thrust harder and the harsh rhythm pushed her over the edge. She couldn’t do anything except surrender to the blinding feelings that kept pressing her higher. Not once did he let up with the driving rhythm, taking her harder than he’d ever done before.
He’d become the conqueror, and she, his slave. Then his hot mouth covered her breast and she came apart again. White-hot, shimmering fires of release rocked through her and she gasped at the way she was meeting him, thrust for thrust. After a few more penetrations, he let out his own growl and released his seed within her.
Never, in all their years of marriage, had he ever let go of his control so completely. But his words terrified her.No matter what happens to me.
He wouldn’t tell her what he was going to do and it frustrated her that he’d withheld that part of himself.
“Come back to the keep with me,” he whispered, kissing her deeply. Laren’s fingertips reached up to her lips, as though she could hold on to his kiss.
“Soon,” she promised. “I’ll wait with the furnaces while you fetch Ramsay.”
