Aiden clenched his jaw, his eyes boring into hers with a force that made her heart race. For a moment, she thought he might yell and push her away again. Instead, he closed the distance between them in one quick stride and reached out his hand to grasp the door behind her.
“I cannae do this,” he muttered, his voice barely audible. “I cannae…”
Katie felt the solid wood at her back as he pushed the door shut, his body now mere inches from hers. Her breath caught in her throat, the heat from his body seeping into her skin, making her feel alive in a way she hadn’t in so long.
“I should go,” she whispered, her voice shaky and her resolve crumbling under the weight of his stare.
As she turned to leave, opening the door, his hand shot out and slammed the door shut, trapping her between him and the heavy wood. His other hand cupped her chin and tilted her face up to meet his gaze. For a long moment, he just stared at her, his eyes searching hers as if he were trying to figure out what to do, what to say.
And then, before she could even register what was happening, his lips were on hers, soft and gentle, yet full of all the pent-up emotions he had kept hidden. His kiss was brief, almost hesitant, but it was enough to make Katie’s heart flutter with need, desire, and relief.
When he pulled back from her, his breathing was ragged and his eyes had perceptibly darkened. “I want ye,” he murmured, his voice hoarse with the effort of controlling himself.
Katie’s hand trembled as she reached up to touch her lips, which were still tingling from the brief contact. She wanted to saysomething, anything, but all she could think about was Aiden touching her.
“Dinnae go,” Aiden whispered, his voice soft, almost pleading.
Katie’s heart twisted at the vulnerability in his eyes, the raw emotion he was barely keeping at bay. For the first time since this whole ordeal had begun, she saw the man behind the stoic facade, a man who was just as scared and confused as she was.
“Do you really… want me?” she asked, her face bright red.
“More than anythin’,” he whispered, and she sighed when his hands began roaming over her curves. “More than anythin’.”
“I want you too,” she admitted, and that was all the permission he needed.
Their lips met again, but this time, Aiden’s fingers were working on her ribbons and buttons, pushing her shift down her chest and exposing her bare flesh. He quickly lowered his head, licking and tasting her flesh as she moaned and whispered her pleasure in his ear.
She was warm and enthusiastic, and he wanted to taste more of her. She rocked her hips as his hands wrapped around her buttocks and dipped between her legs, rubbing her seductively. She groaned in ecstasy as he drank in the hunger in her eyes when he pressed and pulled her flush against his rough fingers.
In a rush of sheer pleasure, she called out this name before capturing his lips again, her hips rocking slowly against him.
“Good lass,” he moaned. “Sweet, moist, and so soft.”
“Aiden…” she breathed, pulling on his hair as she feverishly kissed his lips.
Her hands danced over his collar, and his tongue flicked against the swell of her breasts as he continued rubbing the spot between her legs.
“Is this what ye want?” Aiden asked, grabbing her chin gently and making her look at him. “Is this what ye want? Me?”
“Yes,” she whispered without hesitation, her arms circling him to hold his face to her neck, gently cradling his head as he tasted and kissed her flesh.
“Ye’re mine,” he managed to breathe, licking a pattern across her breasts that drove her into a frenzy.
Aiden spread her thighs further and expertly rubbed circles around her pearl with his finger. She shuddered in response and cried out for more. He caressed her folds and separated them to slip two fingers inside her moist, hot cavern while his thumb continued to rub her pink nub.
Katie howled as her ecstasy rose to unimaginable heights and powerful currents shot through her. She ground herself againsthis hand in a desperate plea for more. Aiden pumped his fingers in and out of her wetness until she screamed with unbridled bliss and climaxed.
The sizzle of their torrid affair lingered between them and ebbed away slowly, but they were too wrapped up in one another to notice. Theirs was an intimate, cozy silence, the rhythm of their breaths matching their heartbeats as they found comfort in each other.
“This was easy,” Aiden admitted, making Katie smirk. “I wish we’d kenned it sooner.”
CHAPTER 16
Aiden layon his back as Katie’s warm body curled against his side. The room was dimly lit by the dying embers in the hearth, casting a soft orange glow that danced across the stone walls.
The earlier tension and anger between them had dissolved and was replaced by a tender quiet that neither of them wanted to disrupt. Aiden tightened his arm around Katie, pulling her closer, his fingers brushing gently against her bare shoulder. He couldn’t remember the last time he’d felt this content, this… happy.
Katie’s head rested on his chest, and he could feel her breath, slow and steady on his skin. She drew small circles on his chest with her fingers, her touch sending shivers through him. For a moment, neither of them spoke, simply basking in their newfound closeness.
