“And so ye kissed me,” Emer shifted in her chair so she could look at Caillen without twisting her neck to the side, “it was me first kiss, ye realize..., I spent many an evening looking for the man. If ye want to ken the truth, it was because I wanted him to do it to me again...,”
Caillen seemed to let out a sigh of relief, “Why did ye nae say so, lass? I would have been more than happy to repeat the exercise!”
Emer frowned, “ ‘Tis nae joke, Caillen. Ye are the Laird, and I am the upstairs maid. Do ye ken how that would make me look in the eyes of the world? At best, I would be a social-climbing opportunist, and at worst, I would be a jade!”
He looked chastened by her words, but what she had said was not enough for Caillen to lose hope entirely, “If I’m Laird, then why should we care what the scandalmongers have to say? If they dare say it to our faces at all!”
Caillen got up from the armchair and went to stand behind Emer. He placed his hands on her shoulders as though he wanted to ensure she could no more run away from what he wanted to say.
“I have traveled the seven seas for most of me life, Emer, running away from the stifling existence of being the eldest son of a Highland Laird. Being all noble, with airs and graces, has never held any appeal for me. I’m happy to leave high society life and paying our respects and negotiating privileges at Holyrood or Whitehall to me brither. I have always lived me life exactly how I wish. So, why do ye think I would change me mind and start worrying about what folks think of me now?”
Emer sat staring at the fire, listening to what he said very carefully. After he finished speaking, she reached up and held his hand, saying, “That’s how yecanlive yer life, Caillen, because ye have money and power and all the respect ye could ever want. I have none o’ those things and need to take care of me virtue and reputation – it’s all I have.”
She stood up from the chair and said, “I should get back to me bedchamber. It’s getting late.”
Emer turned around to bid him good night, but when she looked at Caillen standing behind her chair, a despondent expression on his face, she could not help but run into his arms to comfort him.
Chapter Twenty-Five
Their lips met, and they kissed as passionately as if it were the first time two lovers met again after too long a separation. It was a kiss so full of longing, yet with only the beginnings of satisfaction within grasp. Kissing was no longer enough. The kiss was an act dreamed about for so long, and somehow it was only the foreshadow of deeper, wilder, more meaningful expressions of love and desire.
She allowed him to sweep her up into his arms, which he did as easily as if she were no heavier than a small child and carry her through to the bedchamber. It was only when Caillen had laid her gently down on the covers of the bed when Emer noticed the room was full of summertime wildflowers, the same as those they had found on the day they spent together at the folly.
“Oh,” she murmured, “the flowers are beautiful and smell divine.”
“Nae as much as ye do, lass,” Caillen said, his voice deep and husky with desire, “ye are far more beautiful and have smelt divine since the time I first kissed ye.”
Emer tried to demur, but she could not. Her eyes were transfixed on Caillen. Without taking his eyes from her, he was tugging off his cambric shirt and removing the casually tied kerchief he always wore. Emer held her breath when she saw the hard, lean muscles underneath the shirt. His skin was still bronzed enough as proof he had spent most of his life shirtless in the sun and salt waters. Caillen’s broad shoulders were defined by bulky muscles, projecting from his arms and all the way across his back and chest. When he unwrapped the belt from his leather trews, she could see his muscles rippling from even the slightest movement.
Throwing his belt away, and after bending down to pull off his riding boots, Caillen unlaced the top of his trews and came to lie down beside her on the bed.
“I’ll leave the final part for ye to do, Emer,” he whispered in her ear. Instead of feeling shy about what it was she had to reveal, Emer grew incredibly excited at the idea.
“This is where I tell ye it’s yer turn,” Caillen said and turned onto his side to watch Emer undress.
“Will ye help me?” she asked him, “I will be done quicker that way.”
“With all the pleasure in the world, sweetheart,” he said and began to loosen the ribbons that attached her riding skirt to her bodice. He somehow managed to turn the act of undressing her into the most erotic game Emer could ever imagine.
Caillen ran his fingers lightly down her coat sleeves, from the rounded tops of her soft shoulders to the band tightly laced around her wrists. Even when his hand did such a mundane action, it seemed as though everywhere his fingers touched her was directly connected to a magic place deep inside between her thighs. That special place seemed to grow hotter and heavier the more she felt the stroking touch of his hand. When her skirts were loose, she cast them away. Her bodice was untied, and she threw it across the room where it lay next to Caillen’s belt. Whatever it was inside her that so badly needed release, Emer knew she wanted to be raw and ready for what was to come. The only item left to remove was her shift.
“Ye bought this for me,” she said to him, sitting up to show the flimsy, transparent garment to Caillen, “see how well it becomes me.”
Emer was unaware of how she appeared to him but was more than happy with the results her semi-nakedness seemed to have. Caillen stared at her, transfixed, almost mesmerized by her tantalizing appeal.
Her long ringlets fell over her shoulders and down her back, reaching her waist in a cascade of dark raven strands. The russet hues he usually associated with her hair had disappeared as the fire sank down in the grate; sitting next to him on the bed was a sable haired seductress, with ravishing deep black eyes fringed with long lashes and golden-hued skin.
“I feel as though I’ve been transported over the seas to some exotic maiden’s boudoir,” Caillen said softly.
“I’m nae eastern harem beauty, Cai,” Emer whispered, as she moved closer, “I’m just a maiden who is desperate for ye to hold her in yer arms.”
And with those words, Emer slowly pulled the short lacy shift sleeves off her shoulders to reveal her breasts. Then she pushed the garment down to her waist, then, when she kneeled on the bed, the rest of the flimsy cloth fell off her body.
The effect this action had on Caillen was everything Emer could have wished for. He bit back a groan and pulled her down by the waist to lie beside him.
They lay side by side, locked in an embrace so tight it was as though they had become one. Caillen’s mouth tasted her lips and wanted more. He bit her top lip softly, and when Emer moaned with pleasure at this new sensation, he ran his tongue over her full lower lip and then gently nibbled it too.
Emer could hold back no longer. Her hands were fumbling at the laces that held Caillen’s trews lightly around his hard, lean stomach muscles and narrow hips. The material opened and allowed her hand to travel down and explore a real man’s body. There was no rush, no hesitation, only a vague need building up inside her. From the way Caillen’s rampant eagerness showed itself, Emer knew he wanted her as much as she wanted him.
