Finian’shandcamedownto caress her breast, his thumb edging the tight nipple. A tremulous sensation broke over her, and Alys gave herself over to the unexpected aching. She closed her eyes, leaning against him as he rubbed the tip. Abruptly, he took his hand away. “Remember what I asked you.”
The struggle between modesty and her desire to forget the past warred inside her until she guided his hand back to her breast. “It feels good when you touch me there.”
As if to reward her for the confession, he nibbled at her fingertips, moistening them. Then he brought her own fingers down to one of her nipples, urging her to stroke the damp skin. Goose flesh rose upon her breasts, and he blew his warm breath upon the other nipple with his mouth. She let out a shivered breath at the tantalizing response.
Her body erupted with liquid heat as his hands passed over her ribs, to her stomach. He palmed her bottom, gently parting her legs with one hand. Then he sat back, staring at her upon the bed. The instinct to pull away came over her without warning, and she tried to close her knees. Immediately, he stopped, pulling his hand away.
“You took me by surprise,” she admitted.
“It was only yesterday that you lost your husband.” Reaching down, Finian pulled the coverlet over her body. He rolled her over, resting beside her. “I don’t think you’re ready for this.”
He truly intended to leave her alone, she realized. He wasn’t going to make love with her because he believed she was using him to forget the past.
She lay beside him, staring up at the ceiling.Wasthat what she was doing? Using this man? Slowly, she looked over at him. Finian was the only man she’d ever met who had kept his promises to others. Though he’d wronged the MacKinloch clan in the past, Finian had made amends and saved the chief’s daughter. He’d given his vow to take care of her, granting her the choice of where to go.
If he were to walk out of her life so that she never saw him again, she would feel the emptiness of losing him. When he looked upon her, he made her feel as if she’d given him back the world. As if she were worthy of being loved.
“On my wedding night, Robert tore off my shift in front of the witnesses. He consummated the marriage and I remember nothing but humiliation from the first night I spent on this bed.”
Finian said nothing, but she saw the flash of anger in his eyes.
“I learned to lie still and endure it. And I was glad when he took mistresses, for then he left me alone.”
Alys rolled to her side, pressing her bottom against the length of Finian’s shaft. His arms came up around her, and he whispered in her ear, “If he were still alive, I’d kill him for that.”
She moved his hand back to her breast, then touched his heavy thigh. “I want to know what it would have been like with a man who cared for me.”
Withinherwords,Finianheard the sadness. And when she took his hand, moving it against her erect nipple and down lower, he fought to keep his desire under control. She guided his hand back to the entrance of her womanhood, his palm resting against the silken curls.
But when she reached back and moved his shaft between her legs, he nearly lost his senses. He could feel the moisture there, the sensual mystery of her.
“We hardly know each other,” he murmured against her nape, his fingers searching for the hooded flesh above her cleft. “Do you truly want a stranger in your bed?”
“You’re not a stranger,” she said, her palm surrounding his length. When she stroked him, he let out a hiss, answering her gesture by sliding a single finger within her wet center.
“Who am I to you, then?”
“The man who gave me back a part of myself.” She squeezed him lightly, her thumb edging the bead of fluid upon his manhood. “The night you touched me, I felt like the wife I should have been. And I want you to show me the rest.”
He stripped back the coverlet, drinking in the sight of her naked body. Her full, rounded breasts were tipped with dusky pink nipples, while a triangle of dark hair shielded her womanhood. Finian rolled her to her back and parted her legs, gently bending her knees up until he exposed the pink center of her.
With his fingers, he caressed her delicate flesh, leaning in to breathe against her inner thigh. He nudged the soft skin with his mouth, drawing dangerously close to her center. His tongue slid a path across her thigh while he lifted her bottom. Then across the other thigh, he kissed her, until she was gripping the sheets with her fists.
“Alys,” he whispered, and he saw her flinch, almost afraid of him. “Tell me what you want.”
“I want you to touch me there again,” she pleaded.
“Where?” He rose up on his forearms and sucked against her nipples, enjoying the sound of the moan that tore from her throat. Her hands moved into his hair, while her legs opened wider. When he released her breasts, she was shaking, her skin flushed.
“Or did you mean here?” he murmured, lowering his hand to the hooded entrance.
She nearly came apart when he used his fingers to draw out her arousal. He stroked her center, using his thumb to press in a rhythm until her breathing shattered and she arched hard.
“Yes,” she managed, raising up her knees again. “Finian, I need you.”
He sensed her coming so close to the release, he backed off a little, trying to prolong the sensations. He wanted to show her what it meant to be fulfilled, to find release.
And then, he watched as her body shuddered, tightening with ecstasy as she came apart. With his fingers, he stimulated her again, until he knew she was wet and ready for him. When he sheathed himself inside her, she was so tight, his own hands dug into the mattress to keep from spilling his seed that very moment.
