People began moving away to where the fires burned, eager now for the rest of the night to begin. Through the milling crowd Faith saw Drust come forward to hastily wrap a bandage around Bren’s arm and tie it tight. No wonder the man had so many scars.
The music started to play, lively and loud, and the magic of the night was well underway. People were soon dancing barefoot around the fires, spinning and whirling, faster and wilder as more ale and mead was consumed and inhibitionswere set free, and then freer still. Those who were not able to dance sat and watched, clapping in time to the music, and shouting their approval to the others, spurring them to ever faster and wilder movement.
Faith had no intention of dancing, content to watch the others, not sure she really belonged here this night, in this world. There was something more to everything going on here than she understood, or might ever understand. It was terribly foreign, yet strangely familiar to her, all at the same time. But despite her doubts, she was having trouble keeping still, her hips swaying to the insistent rhythm of the music. When Fiona flew by with some of her friends, grabbing Faith and pulling her into the fray, she gave up trying to keep still, eventually dancing with as much abandon as anyone. She had never felt so wild and free and full of the joy of life. She understood, in her very soul, why this night was so important to these people. Why it had always been important. And always would be. It was more than a celebration of spring time and the rebirth of the world; it was also a time for renewal of the soul.
As full night set in, giggling groups of women began to slip away into the woods. Not long after, groups of men, fortified by one last cup of ale, followed after to hunt their prey in the moonlight. Faith watched them go with a laugh at their antics, but she had no intention of going into the woods that night herself. As much as she was enjoying the music and the dancing, she knew very well what happened otherwise, and had no interest in losing her virginity to a stranger up against a tree. Not that there weren’t several men here worth a second look, she thought. Her gaze went automatically and unwillingly to the laird, drawn to him as if by an invisible thread.
He was currently surrounded by several women, all vying for his notice. At that moment, he threw his head back and laughed at something one of them said, showing his perfectlystraight, white teeth and sculpted jaw. Then a few locks of wavy hair fell over one eye, and his gaze met hers. He gave her a closed-lip smile, eyes full of mischief, before returning his attention to the women who were still fawning over him. A pang of something oddly like jealousy hit her in the chest, even though she told herself such feelings were ridiculous under the circumstances. After all, she was trying her best to stay away from the man, wasn’t she? But whatever she was feeling, whether jealousy, envy, or something else, it was strong enough that when a group of girls grabbed her arms to drag her into the woods with them, she went, willingly and without further thought.
Once into the cover of the trees, they all scattered, giggling and shrieking with excitement, and Faith had to admit that the rush of freedom and exhilaration she experienced running barefoot through the woods in the moonlight while others did the same was like nothing else she had felt before. It was as if she was one with the night, a living part of it, belonging to the earth and to the forest, and free to keep running as long as she pleased. When at last she slowed to a walk, catching her breath and letting her heart slow, she could hear voices all around, echoing through the trees in the dark. There was the high pitched laughter of young women, their delighted yelps when captured by the man they fancied, and the deeper growls of those men who had caught their prey. Faith had to smile. And, she finally admitted to herself, she wished she could join in the excitement… all of it. To run free, knowing your lover followed you, and that he would catch you, drag you down beneath him… and then…well, she had heard the rest could be quite wonderful, with the right man. This world she found herself in was so different from the one she had known, but she liked it.I think I could be happy here.The thought came to her unbidden, but she paused to turn it over in her mind. It was abeautiful place, magical… and alive.Shewas alive here, in a way she had never been before.
She heard a sound like a soft footstep, just behind her. She tensed, held her breath, prepared either to run or to turn and greet a friend. But before she could do either, two strong arms wrapped around her from behind. She knew his scent at once. She automatically closed her eyes and melted back against Bren, as if she had only been waiting for him to find her. He had followed her. Left all those fawning women to followher. He leaned closer and trailed feathery kisses down her neck that were so very hot and seemed to burn her skin. Made her heart race. And were quickly making her come completely undone. The magic of the night was getting to her, damn it. She was finding it so hard to pull away. She didn’t want to pull away. And she didn’t want him to stop. His hands skimmed over her ribs, across her stomach, back up to her breasts. His mouth was near her ear, his breath warm.
“Let me kiss ye Faith”, he said in a husky whisper. “Just one kiss.”
Faith thought for a moment, as much as she could think with her heart throbbing and her mind enveloped in a sudden lust-filled haze that was all at once completely unfamiliar and completely disorientating. She wanted badly to kiss him, but then he would think he had won. She couldn’t let him think he had won. She searched for a compromise, a trade that would put her on more equal footing.
“Will you teach me to ride a horse, if I give you your kiss?”
“I will teach ye to ride, and I will give ye the best mare in the stables for yer own. All that and more for just a single kiss.” His hand came up to trace the line of her jaw, his thumb followed the outline of her bottom lip, as all the while he watched her, waiting, leaning closer, needing.
“Just one kiss, do you promise?” She turned in his arms to face him, finding it hard to breath.
“Aye, I promise, though it will likely as no’ kill me to end it there.” His own voice was growing harsh and breathless.
“All right. You can have your kiss, Laird.” Faith smiled, drunk on music and dancing and the night, enjoying herself and the power she had, at least for the moment, in bartering a kiss to Bren when she knew he wanted so much more. Damn it all, she was beginning to suspect she wanted exactly the same things he did. Her body grew heavier, warmer, and she began to tremble in anticipation.
She turned her face up to his, watching him. His thumb traced the delicate line of her jaw once more. Aye, she was a rare beauty, and for this moment, all his. He thrust his fingers gently through her hair, holding her still as he lowered his mouth to hers. She had willingly ceded one kiss, and though he knew it wouldn’t be enough, knew that it would more than likely leave him aching even more than he already was, he fully intended to savor every moment of it. He had meant to begin with a light touch of the lips, then gradually work his way up to the deep and passionate kiss he had craved from the first moment he saw her. He had promised it would be just one kiss, but he hadn’t said anything about how long that one kiss would last. He had all evening free, after all.
All of his previous good intentions left him, though, the moment his lips touched hers.
It was like fire, lightening in his veins, stealing his breath, stopping his heart. She made a small sound and pressed closer to him. He took her mouth hard, in a wild, hot kiss that was more than just a little out of control. With every thrust of his tongue, his hands tangling in her hair, he walked her backwards a little, until he had her back pressed up against the thick trunkof a tree. He kept her there, pinned, crushing her mouth to his. He leaned his body into hers, helpless to stop himself, shifting until his cock was pushing against the top of her thighs.Oh God, right there. It felt impossibly good, incredibly right. He moved against her, just a little, and chills of pleasure ran down his spine, centering where their bodies met. His heart pounded in his chest, his breath came short and fast. All this and just one kiss. One kiss, he had promised just one kiss, some part of his mind remembered. He had to stop, or break his vow. How had he lost control so quickly? He never lost control with a woman. He could always stop, always walk away if he needed to. But right now his body wasn’t listening. He wanted to keep kissing her forever, he wanted to be inside her, he wanted, no needed, to have all of her. But he couldn’t, not tonight. His word… her trust… his mind-numbing need.
With every ounce of his strength, he broke the kiss and pushed himself roughly away from her with a groaning sob, stumbling a few steps back. He could see her face in the dim moonlight. Her eyes were wide with a mix of fear and wonder, her lips red and swollen from his brutal assault of her mouth. He drew in a shaky breath, he would take her… he would take her if she didn’t run…
“Go.Now.Run away from me!”
She hesitated. Did she not know what he was capable of? “Go! Before I have ye flat on yer back beneath me, because right now I want ye more than my next breath!”
She lifted her skirts and ran, then, looking back only once, her hair flying out behind her. Bren leaned against the tree and sank down to the ground, trying to still his body, slow his heart. After a while, unable to bear the terrible ache anymore, he took himself in his own fist to find some small measure of relief. It took no more than a few strokes of his hand to find release,though it did nothing to sate the lust still running like a river of fire in his veins.
Later he would wonder why it hadn’t even crossed his mind to seek out another willing woman, with so many, after all, running through the woods all around him. But it hadn’t. He knew with a cold, hard certainty that only one woman would ever be what he needed. Only one could ease the agony of his hunger, and slake his need. He didn’t know what it was between them, but his body craved hers with a fierceness that he could not have imagined was possible.
Faith ran back to the keep, and straight up the tower stairs to her shared chamber. No one else was there, of course. They were all still out at the celebration, or in the woods with lovers, perhaps, and that was just as well. She needed a moment to herself, to come to terms with what had just happened. Because she was pretty damned sure she would have let Bren break his vow, and not uttered a word of protest against him. She was also pretty damned sure she would have let him take her innocence, just like that. And up against a tree. Not that she had been keeping her virginity for any special reason; she just hadn’t had a steady boyfriend before, or any relationship that had gotten quite that far. She had never even met a guy she was particularly physically attracted to.
What frightened her now was the power Bren seemed to have over her body, and her resolve. Did he really have such absolute control over her will, so much that she had almost given herself to him without a second thought? That wasn’t normal, was it? She really had no basis for comparison, but she suspected there was something unusual about Bren, and about the two of them together. There was undeniable chemistry between them, but where would that leave her, if she gave in and he eventually lost interest? He was obviously just too much for her to handle. Too much passion, too much intensity, too muchraw sexuality. Too much man. As much as she was inexorably drawn to him, she didn’t want to lose herself in what felt very much like a growing obsession. She didn’t have obsessions with men! Not her, not ever. And she didn’t want to end up head-over-heels over someone who had no real feelings for her, other than lust, of course, even if it was a mind-blowing amount of lust. She knew that she could very easily get in too deep, and that Bren Mac Coinnach could seriously break her heart, if she let him.
***
The very next morning, Bren found her in the kitchens yet again. He frowned irritably at her. “I told ye I dinna want ye working in here anymore.”
“Well, I wanted something to do.” There, she had managed to bravely look him in the eye, even after what had happened the night before. He didn’t seem at all bothered by it, as if he very nearly took advantage of virginal women every night of the week. No big deal.
He met her eyes and she knew at once that she was wrong; he was thinking about last night even now. She felt as if she were falling, spinning, so much so that she had to look away.
“There are other things ye can do, besides work in the kitchen”, he said more evenly. “But right now I’ve come to give ye yer riding lesson, as promised. I’ve made my men wait and condemned Drust to hearing disputes in the hall all morning, but that is a worthy price for a kiss, is it no’?”
The way his broad mouth curled up at the corners with that devilish look made her want to beg him for yet another kiss. But she knew now where that would lead, and how quickly. Her knees went a little weak. “Oh. Right now?”
