He snaked his arms beneath her body, hugging her close. “I ken. I want to be so close to ye that we cannae tell where ye end and I begin.”
“Yes!” She arched her back, brushing her breasts against his chest as he thrust deep into her.
Her inner walls contracted, eyes blinking as the tension within her grew and grew, so near explosion that she could not draw in a breath.
“Kayden… please. I need to…”
His pace quickened as he slid one hand between them, a long finger seeking her sensitive nub. He rubbed it as he thrust into her, and she threw her head back, legs shaking as she cried out in climax.
Liquid burst forth from within her as inner walls contracted and relaxed. His grunts in her ear only spurred her on, eyes squeezed shut as she shuddered to completion.
She whimpered, collapsing on the bed as Kayden popped himself up on his hands, his hips snapping fast and hard, causing zings and aftershocks to light her up again and again as he chased his climax.
She leaned up and ran her tongue over his erect nipples. He threw back his head and cried out, his hips snapping hard before he froze, his face contorted, mouth open as he spilled his seed into her.
Her walls clamped down on him, milking him dry as they both moaned. Collapsing on the bed, she watched as Kayden fell like a tree onto his side, his gleaming chest rising and falling as he tried to catch his breath.
She reached out and grabbed at him.
Kayden caught her hand before she could withdraw it, threading his fingers through hers instinctively.
For a long moment, neither of them spoke.
The fire crackled softly beside the bed, shadows shifting across the stone walls. Her breathing slowed first, then his, until the frantic urgency that had driven them both dissolved into a heavy, contented stillness.
He had imagined this moment a hundred times in darker nights—imagined regret, imagined distance, imagined that she would look at him differently once the last wall between them fell.
Instead, she looked… peaceful.
Her eyes searched his face, uncertain and hopeful all at once.
“Are ye well?” he asked quietly.
She laughed under her breath, the sound softer than he had ever heard it. “I believe I am more than well.”
Relief sank into him so deeply that it felt like surrender.
He propped himself up on one elbow so he could see her properly. Without thinking, he brushed a loose strand of hair from her cheek.
“Ye were brave tonight,” he said.
Her brow furrowed. “Brave?”
“Aye.” His thumb traced her jaw. “Nae just now, but earlier. With Sorcha. With me.”
She fell quiet at the mention of his sister, but she did not turn away.
“I was afraid of you for so long,” she admitted. “Not because you were cruel, but because you were distant. I never knew where I stood.”
His chest tightened.
“And now?” he asked.
“Now,” she said softly, “I know you stand beside me.”
The words settled over him like a promise he had not realized he needed.
He shifted closer, pulling the blankets higher around her shoulders. Outside, the castle had fallen quiet—no footsteps in the corridor, no raised voices, only the distant howl of wind along the battlements.
