“I don’t think so, else you let me win every time.”
Just then he caught a movement from the corner of his eye and looked up. Ella walked across the yard with Fiona, the two of them happily prattling away about something. She looked up and met his gaze, and smiled. He pressed his lips together in a grim line and watched her as she turned back to her friend. Remembering himself, he lifted his sword and let Gregor up, declaring the sparring over for the day. Before Gregor could say a word about his strange behavior, he had gathered his things and was headed back toward the keep. In that briefmoment, when Ella had smiled at him, he almost felt again that he was in a different time and place. And he knew in that instant what it would be like to have a true home, with a wife that loved him.Could Ella ever grow to love him? He was almost afraid to even let himself think about the possibility… and she had mentioned adopting children. He knew childless couples took in bairns all the time. Hell, with all the fighting, there were always orphans in need of a home. Could he raise an heir to Tulloch after all? Would Ella truly not care if the child were not her own by blood? All of these questions filled his mind, and he struggled to hold back the spark of hope that was growing there. Then he thought about Ethan’s words. Maybe hewasworrying too much. Maybe for once he should just enjoy what was before him. God knew Ethan did.
He cornered Ella in the hall, where she was arranging flowers on the head table. Flowers. There hadn’t been flowers in the keep since before his mother died. His heart squeezed. He had forgotten how far such a small, womanly gesture could go in making a cold stone keep feel like a home. “I thought to go out for a ride, to exercise Fallon.You can come along if you want.”
She pretended to consider his offer, secretly thrilled that finally he had sought her out on his own, knowing how difficult it probably was for him to do so. “Well, I did say I’d help Mairi with the linens this morning, but I suppose that could wait till later. I don’t think she’d mind.” She smiled at him. “And you know how much I love to ride… alright, I’ll go.”
She grabbed him by the hand before he could change his mind, and ran for the stable, pulling him after her. She looked back with a grin, and he couldn’t help but smile. Soon they were on horseback, and she was racing ahead of him as she had before, making him chase after her. She sped across the moor and into the grassy hills beyond. Of course the mare she rode could not outrun Fallon, and as she glanced back, she saw that he was quickly gaining ground. She bent low in the saddle and urged the horse on, but only moments later heard the thundering of hooves just behind her. A hand came up to grab the reins of her mare, pulling her to a slow stop. She looked over at Ceann, and saw the thrillof the chase reflected in his eyes. Giving him a coy smile, she slid off the other side of the mare and ran, knowing he would follow, and knowing he would catch her.
He did. Laughing, he grabbed her from behind and spun her around. Her eyes flew open wide at the sound. Laughter, honey-rich and deep, a sound she had never heard before. She had done it! Given him a gift. He was laughing.
“Don’t ever run from me lass, I won’t ever let you get away.” The two of them tumbled to the ground, with Ceann landing sprawled on top of her, and her chest heaving under him from her running, and then from the look in his eyes; dark and wild with desire. He looked at her for only an instant before his mouth was on hers, claiming his prize. She smiled against his lips before his tongue thrust hungrily into her mouth. Her arms came up around him, pulling him closer. She broke away from his kiss and put her lips to the side of his neck, flicking her tongue there. He moaned with pleasure, and suddenly she wanted to see what it was like to have him completely at her mercy. Could she make him completely wild with desire? When he reached for her skirts she grabbed his hand.
“No!”
He stilled, looking like a child who had just been told he couldn’t have a sweet.
“No?”
She pushed against him, and still surprised by her denial, he sat back. She lunged at him then, knocking him over and landing on top. “Not yet.”
His eyes widened and she laughed. “I promise I won’t hurt you.” Straddling his hips, she leaned forward and kissed him, hard and deep.His hands rose up to touch her, but she slapped them away. “No.” She kissed and nibbled his neck while her hands unlaced his shirt, smoothing her hands over the rock-hard flesh of his chest. She circled her thumbs lightly over his nipples and he hissed in a breath, but now he understood her game, and held himself still for her. Returning to kiss his mouth, her hand slipped to the belt that held his plaid in place. Already his breath was coming hard and his eyes were heavy-lidded, butElla was thoroughly enjoying herself. She was far from done with him. Earlier that day she had had a very enlightening conversation with Elizabeth…
He couldn’t move. If she wanted him at her mercy, she had that and more. Pleasure flowed through his body, drugging him. His heart was going to pound right out of his chest. She gently suckled his nipple, driving him crazy with need until he tried to rear up and take control, but she bit him on the shoulder and pushed him back down.
He groaned.“Your fun is going to kill me”, he bit out. He had never had a woman try to take control of his body before, and it was sweet torture; sweeter than he could have ever imagined. But she was kissing him again, and he lost all conscious thought. She shimmied her hips down his body, and kissed a path towards his naval, running her hands up to the top of his thighs, making tiny circles there with her thumbs. Then back up again, then down and a little closer, but not quite close enough. God, he wanted her to touch him there.Neededher to touch him there.
When she bent down and softly kissed the head of his cock, he almost leapt right out of his skin. He groaned, and a fine sweat broke out on his forehead. She slowly ran her tongue up and down the length of him, and he hissed in a breath, going completely still. He was unable to believe what she was doing to him, and unable to believe how good it felt.Oh Holy God!When he felt her mouth close around him, he almost came right then. He bucked beneath her, and suddenly the urge to spill his seed deep inside of her became too great to bear. With a fierce growl, he flipped her onto her back and drove into her in one swift motion, roaring in satisfaction at the incredible feel of her body. He knew in that moment that he could make love to this woman every hour of every day for the rest of his life and still it would never be enough. When her hips rose to meet him and she dug her fingernails into his back and cried out, he forgot his fear.He forgot everything. He pulled her closer, closer, burying himself deeper with every thrust, until finally his release left him weak and shuddering in her arms.
No, it had never been like this with any other woman, not even close. He pulled her to him and rested his chin against the top of her head, listening as her ragged breath began to slow. He loved the feel of her in his arms, and when he held her like this, the softness of her body against the hardness of his. He felt the now familiar tightening in his chest, and for the first time admitted to himself that he wanted to keep her. Even not knowing who she was, even knowing he could never give her a child, he wanted her. With him.Always.Hell, he had wanted her from the first moment he saw her, had probably never stood a chance. But now he wanted to possess her, make her his forever so that she would never be able to leave him, and he would never have to go back to the empty life he had lived before.
The feelings rose up in him so strongly that he felt almost overwhelmed. He lowered his mouth to kiss the top of her head, and she sighed and snuggled closer against his chest. He stroked her hair slowly, still lost in his own thoughts. He still didn’t know where she had come from, or why she had given him her innocence. Perhaps he was being played for a fool, there was a good chance of it, but for this moment he didn’t care. If there was even a small chance that she would stay with him, could come to care for him, he would take it, because unlike any woman that had come before, she seemed to… complete him. He had no desire to be half a man again. She shifted in his arms and looked up at him, her hand sliding along the side of his body in a slow, erotic caress.
“What are you thinking about?” she asked drowsily.“You look a thousand miles away.”
He smiled at her, one corner of his mouth tilting up suggestively. “I was thinking that once is not nearly enough to fulfill my needs, so I can’t let you go just yet.”
Ella narrowed her eyes at him. “That is not what you were thinking. And you will let me go, it’s only a matter of time before you discover who I am and send me back, you said so yourself.” She was rewarded by the unconscious tightening of his arms around her body. He didn’t want to send her away.
“Aye, lass, and it would be much easier if you would finally tell me.” In truth he had already stopped trying to find out where she had come from. He didn’t want to know anymore if it meant losing her.
She kissed him gently on the chin. “I would tell you everything if I could. But the decision is not mine to make.” She let her hands roam over his warm skin, feeling each muscle flex in reaction to her touch. To have so much raw power under her fingertips was a heady feeling. “I will tell you this, Ceann, I want no more than to be here with you, and I hope that, in time, you will understand the things I can’t tell you yet. I wish I could tell you everything, right here and now!”
Truthfully, she still didn’t know if she was meant to stay here with him, or if she would eventually be called away. Her heart clenched at the thought. She wasn’t at all sure she could leave him. Not now.She didn’t want to leave him. Surely he had enough strength to keep her by his side no matter who or what threatened to tear them apart. This not knowing was beginning to tear her up inside. At least she had this moment, he was here with her now, and she would take full advantage of every day she was allowed, just in case.She wished she could speak to Malcolm; she had so many questions. Why hadn’t they contacted her by now? What were they waiting for? Did they not realize they had left her here with her hands tied? Aye, of course they did. She would just have to be patient. With her emotions boiling hot just below the surface, she lifted her face to his and kissed him. Hard. She twined her fingers through his hair and pulled him even closer, deepening the kiss. She would not live without him.I will find a way.
He growled at her sudden assault and kissed her back just as fervently, rolling to cover her body with his. Her hips arched against his and she moved her mouth to sink her teeth into his neck. He sucked in a breath and then groaned, suddenly thrusting into her with so much power that she cried out and wrapped her legs around his hips to contain it. She bit him again on the other shoulder, and he pounded into her, hard and fast, taking, claiming.
At last he threw back his head, his whole body shuddering. “Oh God!Ella, mo cridhe.”
Ella slowly opened her eyes to see him looking down at her in utter amazement, just before he collapsed on top of her, carefully rolling them to one side so he wouldn’t crush her. He kissed her lips, her chin, her cheek. He pulled her closer and ran his fingers down her back, over her body.
He breathed softly in her ear, “I think perhaps I must keep you after all.”
“Yes. Please do.” She rolled toward him and cupped his cheek in her hand, running her thumb over the strong bones of his face. “I like it here. You have a wonderful home. And your people are all so hard working and loyal and kind… tell me, how was it to grow up in such a place, what were you like as a boy?”
He blew out a derisive breath. “You make it sound like bloody Valhalla. And I was a boy like any other. Always up to mischief, always in trouble for it.”
“I imagine you kept your mother quite busy,”
