“Mo ghraidh,” he murmured against her skin as he kissed her.
She didn’t want to ask what he was saying, but hoped it was an endearment because it felt like one. A steady stream of unfamiliar words fell from his mouth as he lowered himself in front of her. Her hands rustled through his hair as he slipped lower until he was kneeling before her, gazing up at her with a lustful expression.
Slowly, he lifted her skirts. She wasn’t sure why she trembled, but something made her petrified and eager. It was almost too much to bear. When the hem of her garments came up to her knees, she clamped her hands onto his shoulders.
“What are you going to do?” she asked breathlessly.
The hint of a smirk passed over his mouth and Hope was grateful to have the support of the tree behind her.
“I’m going to taste you,” he murmured, disappearing beneath her skirts.
Hope brought her curled fist to her mouth as his tongue dived inside her. She tried not to yelp in surprise and pleasure. Her eyes closed as his mouth worked at her, tasting her hungrily, and her knees buckled as a tremors began to swell within her.
Her breathing became short and shallow, and her fingernails dug into his shirt, raking into the skin beneath as a frenzy slammed into her, sudden and raw.
A guttural cry escaped her lips as her body trembled with aftershocks. Graham’s strong arms circled her as she slumped against the tree. She was pliant in his hands as his hand hooked beneath her knee and brought it up.
A hard length pressed into the center of her where his mouth had just been. Her body clenched at the pressure, but he pulled her into his arms as his powerful legs stood wide.
“Hold onto me, mo ghraidh,” he said in a harsh whisper, a desperate tinge to his voice.
She clutched onto him with all her might as, with a single, swift plummet, he pushed into her. The invasion was intense;for an instant, it was hard to breathe. After a moment, the pain subsided, and he began to grind into her, excruciatingly slowly at first and then faster as he fell into a primitive rhythm.
“Graham,” she whispered, her voice cracking with emotion.
“Don’t,” he said roughly as his movement intensified.
Don’t what?She did not know. What she did know was that sheneededto speak. Needed to let him know, somehow, that another deeper, softer build of emotion was welled up within her.
“Graham, I think … I think it’s happening again,” she said slowly as the fingers of one of his hands dug into his thigh.
Her words seemed to affect him profoundly, for in the next moment, he gripped onto a low-hanging branch above them as he thrust with conviction, pinning her against the tree in a final push.
A deep quiver coursed throughout his body. She wasn’t sure if she was shaking too, but she held onto him as their bodies quaked and settled, coming to uneven breathing, then finally peace. They held onto one another for a long time and when they finally separated, Hope was both grateful and sorry, though she couldn’t understand why.
His hand came up to her face and stroked her cheek as he studied her with awe.
“Did I hurt ye?” he asked, his voice softer than before.
“No,” she reassured him.
He grinned before his forehead dropped to hers as he leaned gently into her. In one single motion, she was brought up in his arms. “Come.”
As if she had any say! He was carrying her again. She didn’t bother to struggle this time—she just let her arms come up around his neck. He brought her back across the garden and climbed the stone staircase to return inside, this timeleading her to what she realized was the bedchamber. Graham undressed her and Hope tried to cover herself with her hands. Of course, the whole of her couldn’t be shielded from his attentive gaze, especially when he came to wash her with a piece of cloth that he dipped in a basin that sat on a small table next to the fireplace. Although the fire only housed a few burning embers, the water was lukewarm.
“I can do it,” she said as she tried to take the towel, but he heaved away.
“It’ll be my pleasure.” He pressed the damp cloth against her shoulder.
He ran circles around her entire body, becoming extra gentle and vigilant with her most private areas. She was sure her whole body was red with embarrassment. Graham must have noticed, because he paused halfway through his work.
“You’re not ashamed of me seeing you like this, are you?” he asked.
“No,” she lied.
Surely a wife shouldn’t be embarrassed of being nude in front of her husband. Hope knew that. But then, she had never been full naked in front of anyone before, not maidservants. To be so exposed to someone made her aware of her own vulnerability.
“I think you are.” Graham dipped the cloth into a bowl of warm water. He brought it down between her legs, and she closed her eyes as he cleaned her. “You needn’t be.”
