Leona shook her head desperately and pulled him closer, her hands trailing his arms and back.
“I trust ye,” she whispered. “Please, daenae make me wait anymore, I cannae take it. I need…” She moaned when she felt him at her entrance.
His control snapped. He took her lips in a violent kiss.
When he finally entered her, when he felt her body accept him with a gasp of pleasure, he had to pause. Had to breathe. Had to convince himself this was real.
“I love ye,” he whispered against her mouth. “God, Leona, I love ye so much.”
“Show me,” she demanded, wrapping her legs around his waist. “Show me how much.”
So he did.
He made love to her slowly at first, savoring every sensation, every sound, every flutter of her body around his. The way she fit him perfectly. The way she moved with him, meeting him thrust for thrust. The way she said his name like it was sacred.
Then faster as she urged him on, her nails scoring his back, her breath hot against his ear as she told him exactly what she wanted. How deep. How hard. What she needed from him.
It was raw and honest and vulnerable in ways he’d never allowed himself to be before. No walls, no control, no careful distance. Just him and Leona and the truth of what they felt for each other.
When she came apart in his arms, her walls clenching around him, his name on her lips like a prayer, he followed her over the edge with a groan that came from somewhere deep in his soul.
And in that moment, tangled together in the aftermath, he felt something he’d never expected to feel.
Complete.
Later, much later, they lay together, Leona’s head resting on his chest, his fingers tracing lazy patterns on her bare shoulder.
“I love ye,” Murdock said again, because he couldn’t seem to stop saying it now that he’d started.
Leona lifted her head to look at him, her eyes soft and warm. “Took ye long enough to admit it.”
“Aye, well.” He tugged gently on a strand of dark hair. “I’m a stubborn bastard. Ye’ll have to get used to that.”
“I think I can manage.” She pressed a kiss to his chest, right over his heart. “I’m fairly stubborn meself.”
He pulled her up for a kiss, deep and thorough. When they finally broke apart, he pressed his forehead against hers.
“Marry me,” he said again. “Soon. I daenae want to wait.”
“I already told ye I will, me Laird.”
“And please never use me title again. I hate it.”
Leona giggled. “So I’ve noticed.”
“Ah, so ye’re teasing me again, lass. Ye should be punished.” He pulled her closer.
“Ye can punish me all ye want, ye’re still marrying me.”
He smiled.
“What kind of wedding do ye want?” he asked, tracing the line of her jaw.
She was quiet for a moment. “I want me maither to see me marry for love. The way she did with me faither.”
“Then we’ll have it here,” Murdock said decisively. “At Kerr. With yer whole clan as a witness.”
“Ye’d do that?”
