When their eyes met, her hand stopped. “Ye should be careful not to rip it open.”
He glanced beyond her where Finn slept beside the fire, no doubt having fallen asleep waiting for her to be done caring for his wound. “Did Domelch go as well?”
“She decided to join them at the last minute.” Ethne dropped the cloth into the bowl. With a single finger, she traced the roundness of the impressions on his skin, the straight lines crossed like feathers on the shaft of an arrow. “Where did ye get these markings?”
“I do not know. I have always had them.” He looked around him. "Is my satchel about?"
"Aye." She picked it up from the side of his pallet and handed it to him. "Niall left it for ye. I placed it safely beside ye."
He opened the sack and rummaged within. The cold medallion was easily located on the bottom, and he pulled it out, holding it by the thick chain.
"Ah, the standard of yer father’s clan." She flashed a grin.
He turned his gaze from its twisting length and smiled back at her. "Of sorts."
The shifting light revealed she again had that expression of awe.
"I'd not thought of it as such, but I'll admit I find great comfort in the thought."
"As ye should."
His chest tightened with the truth of her words. Slowly, he nodded but words refused to come.
"He was yer sire, yer family, yer clan." With her hand on top of his hands, she fisted his fingers around the precious metal. "Best to keep it safely tucked away."
"Ye're right." He put the medallion back where it belonged. "My thanks for keeping it safe."
The perfect opening to ask of her own knowledge of valuable items but he shoved the thought aside. Instead he gently fingered her hair behind an ear. “Ethne?”
She looked at him with complete trust in her eyes.
“I want to kiss ye.” Lachlann could barely catch a breath, for how strong this “want” was.
Her eyes clouded for the barest second as if distracted by some troubling thought. But then she took a slow intake of breath. Acquiescence?
“Come to me,” he said.
After the slightest hesitation, she lowered her soft lips to his, then lightly kissed him. She lingered there above him, smelling like a warm summer day. When he slid his hand up her bare arm, goose bumps spread across her smooth skin.
She sat back up and smiled.
“It was as I feared,” he said, shaking his head.
Her eyes rounded in distress. “I did it wrong?”
“Oh, no. Ye were fine.” He slipped his hand beneath her heavy hair, drawing her toward him again. “But it didn’t satisfy my desire. It only made me want more.”
The flash of a smile, and then she kissed him again. And again. Each one longer than the previous one. Each one gentler. Each one more frustrating for him.
He couldn’t read her emotions this time but she didn’t move away. Instead she sat back, remaining close enough for him to still touch her.
“Forgive me. I have wanted to taste ye since the first time I met ye calling for Finn at the fair.”
Her eyes widened in her innocence. Innocence. Virginity. He gasped in frustration, confronting himself with where he was going with this...this…seduction.
Her concern was immediate, and she leaned close, checking his pallor. “Is it yer side?”
Why did she have to look so lovely with the firelight behind her? Her gentle touch on his skin was driving him mad.
