Cailean had insisted on this arrangement for her sake. After the ending of her marriage to Dennis, he didn’t want to pressure her into another. She loved him for that. But she also knew, absolutely knew, that after the year and a day was up, she wouldn’t be going anywhere.This was where she was meant to be. This was her home now.Hewas her home.
“No regrets,” she said softly. “Not now. Not ever.”
Something stirred in his gaze. His hand, resting on her shoulder, tightened, and a little tingle went through her. His eyes darkened, and that tingle inside her intensified, becoming an ache deep in her belly.
“I dinna think anyone would notice if we slipped away,” he said softly.
“I don’t care if they do,” she replied, her voice suddenly husky.
He pushed his chair back and rose to his feet, pulling her up after him. Without a word, he took her hand and led her to the door—accompanied by a chorus of whistling and heckling, showing that their escape wasdefinitelynoticed.
Cailean turned at the door, gave a theatrical bow, then led Rose out, pulling the door closed behind him. As soon as the door was shut, cutting off the noise of the celebration, he was on her.
He pushed her against the wall, kissing her fiercely, curling his hands into her hair and exploring her lips with his own. She kissed him back just as ferociously, wrapping her arms around his neck and slipping her tongue into his mouth. A deluge of heat and desire swamped her, deepening the ache in her belly and lighting a heat between her legs.
“Take me upstairs,” she groaned into his mouth. “Right now.”
He smiled against her lips. “Yer command, my lady.”
He swept her into his arms, lifting her as though she weighed hardly anything at all. Cradling her tight, he carried her up the winding stairs and to the chamber they shared, kicking the door open and then pushing it shut with his hip.
Somebody had been in the chamber before them. Candles had been lit on almost every surface, filling the room with warm golden light, and bunches of dried lavender gave the air a delicious scent. A fire crackled in the hearth to chase away the autumn chill, and on thelow table sat a decanter of wine, two goblets, and a covered platter of food. Even the covers on the bed had been turned down.
“Remind me to thank Mable,” Rose said.
“Aye,” Cailean agreed. He set her on her feet and looked down at her. Candlelight danced in his dark, dark eyes. His lips parted, and a soft breath escaped him.
“I can hardly believe ye are mine,” he whispered. “I keep thinking this is a dream and I will awaken in a moment.”
“Then it’s a good dream,” she replied. She went up on tiptoes and kissed him. It was a soft kiss, just a delicate brush of her lips over his, but he shivered at the touch.
“Ah, lass,” he whispered, running a thumb across her cheek. “Ye have such power over me. What is it ye wish of me, my lady?”
She smiled wickedly. “Oh, I think you know exactly what I wish.”
An equally wicked smile quirked his lips, and the look in his eyes intensified. “And I am helpless but to obey.”
He dipped his head and pressed his lips against hers, softly, gently, as chaste as the kiss she’d just given him. But Rose’s restraint snapped. Reaching up to cup his face in her hands, she kissed him back, and this time it wasnotchaste. It was full of fire and passion and need. She wanted him. Oh God, how she wanted him!
And Cailean responded. With a groan, his hands went to the small of her back, pushing her against the hardness of his body, his mouth exploring hers with a desperate hunger. She wrapped her arms around his neck, and he slipped his hands under her backside, lifting her up as she wrapped her legs around his hips.
In this position, she could feel the hardness of him pressing against her, and knew he was as desperate for her as she was for him. Still kissing, he carried her over to the bed and laid her on the cover, following her down. His lips moved to her neck, her earlobes, her collarbone. Rose writhed and gasped, the ache deep within her becoming almost overwhelming.
They began tearing at each other’s clothing, throwing the garments on the floor in their haste to get at each other. Cailean rose onto his knees, naked and glorious above her, and her eyes devoured him hungrily, tracing the hard planes and angles of his chest, down to where his manhood stood stiff and proud.
She gasped, unable to form words, hoping he could read in her body language what she needed.
He did. He bent his head and took one of her nipples into his mouth as he positioned himself between her thighs, nudging her legs apart with his knees. Arching her back beneath him, Rose moaned as his tongue licked and teased her nipple until it hardened.
“Now,” she whispered. “Please.”
He obliged. Dropping his weight on top of her, he raised his head and stared deep into her eyes as he thrust his hips and drove himself deep inside her.
Rose cried out with pleasure, with the delicious sensation of him filling her, and gripped his shoulders with her fingers.
He watched her as he began to move, driving into her slowly at first but with increasing speed as he found his tempo. The fire inside her intensified. She was helpless to do anything but gasp and shift beneath him, tilting her hips to meet his thrusts as they matched their rhythm. It was too much. Too much. Surely she was going to burst into flame. Surely she was going to burn from the inside out.
But she didn’t. Instead, fire began to sizzle along her nerves, beginning at the place where their bodies met, and radiating outwards. It was a pleasure that bordered on pain, so intense she began to lose herself, to come apart beneath this onslaught of sensation.
