Her throat grew tight, and her eyes started to burn. She could feel her resolve crumbling, like a fortress made of wet sand. Desperately, she tried to clutch at it, shore it up. But she couldn’t.
“And I will never love anyone as I do ye,” she whispered.
His eyes snapped wide.
Aye, she’d just stepped over the brink—just admitted the truth that had burned within her for days now.
Craeg took a slow, tentative step toward her then. His movements were careful, as if she might bolt if he rushed this.
He wasn’t wrong. Hazel’s body was as taut as a drawn bowstring. But she didn’t run.
“I won’t tell ye what lies ahead will be easy,” he said, his voice gravelly now. “I can be jealous and possessive … and ye shall need to remind me of my manners at times. We will face prejudice and whispers. I may lose the support of some of my clansmen over this. Some of my allies may sever relations. There will be challenges … hardships … but I shall promise ye this. I love ye … and whatever may come, I shall stand beside ye.”
Hazel’s breathing became fast and shallow then, emotion churning over her, through her, like a wild sea. Hades. Raising a shaking hand to her face, she tried to brush away the tears that suddenly leaked from her eyes. However, they wouldn’t be stemmed.
Craeg shifted closer still, and then his strong, warm hands were holding hers. His gaze fused with her own, and the fierce love she saw there made her pulse skitter.
Something gave way then, the last of the tower slumping. She wouldn’t fight this any longer. She couldn’t. She feared putting her trust in someone, in giving a man power over her, but she didn’t want a life without Craeg. It wouldn’t be easy, but he was right. They’d face it together.
“Very well,” she said softly.
Joy flared in his eyes. His fingers tightened their grip. “Then ye will wed me?”
“Aye.”
His throat worked. “Because ye wish to … not because I’m overwhelming ye with all these words?”
She made a sound, halfway between a hiccough and a sob. “Haven’t ye learned yet that I’m as stubborn as my donkey? If I agree to this, it’s because I want it.”Pulling her right hand free of his, she lifted her hand to his face, her fingertips tracing from his cheek to his jaw, now shadowed by dark stubble. “Curse ye, Craeg Maclean. Nothing makes sense without ye.”
He made a sound in the back of his throat. An instant later, he stepped into Hazel, his mouth claiming hers.
29: BRAZEN
THE KISS STARTED fiercely, but quickly gentled into a slow, sensual embrace that made Hazel’s toes curl inside her boots.
He kissed her with his heart. His soul.
A groan rumbled in his throat as he explored her mouth.
Hazel cupped his cheek, his stubble rough against her palm, drinking in his taste. Meanwhile, his hand cradled the back of her head, holding her steady as he deepened the kiss.
They stood there a long while, tasting and teasing, and allowing the tension that had knotted between them to slowly dissolve.
Hazel’s chest ached as his tongue slid against hers, as his teeth grazed her lips. Then he drew her lower lip into his mouth and sucked gently.Need started to pulse in her lower belly, and she let out a low groan, leaning into him.
Craeg murmured an oath against her lips and broke off the kiss. Then, resting his forehead against hers, he took a deep, steadying breath. “I should stop now,” he rasped. “Before we forget ourselves.”
In response, Hazel reached down and pulled his lèine free from where it was loosely tucked into his braies. “I don’t wish to stop,” she said throatily. “If tonight is the first day of our future together, let’s make a memory worthy of it.” Her fingers slid across the warm skin of his flat belly. “Today was brutal, Craeg. Give me something beautiful … somethingreal.”
Grabbing hold of his lèine, she pulled it up. And then, she stepped in and lowered her head, letting her lips skim across the muscles of his broad chest, her tongue tracing the whorls of hair, and teasing his flat nipples into hard buds.
And as she did so, he unraveled her heavy braid with his fingers, letting her hair tumble free down her back.
His chest rose, fast and shallow, now.
Emboldened, Hazel kissed her way down the center of his chest to his navel. However, when she unbuckled his belt and went to unlace his braies, Craeg caught her by the wrists, drawing her to her feet.
His eyes glinted, even as his lips curved. “No, love … ye are getting all the attention tonight.”
