Eithne hadn’t even noticed his approach, but Callum was a perfect little gentleman. He let go of her hand, bowed to her, and then hurried off to find a snack while Ivor took his position.
The music was slower now, and Eithne wrapped her arms around his shoulders. His strong hands rested on the small of her back, and they began to move, swaying in time with the music.
“I love ye, ye ken,” Eithne said, resting her head against his chest. “Like I never kent I could love another person.”
“And I ye,” Ivor replied.
Eithne looked up at him, and he lowered his head. This kiss was slow and gentle and sweet, almost a part of their dance, and they knew it was the first of many ever after.
* * *
It was late at night when the party finally wound down enough for Eithne and Ivor to make their escape. They had rooms set aside for them, of course, but when Ivor held out his hand and suggested she follow him outside, Eithne took it without question.
The two of them walked and walked, further away from the castle. Eithne worried a little that someone would notice that they were missing, but nobody stopped them. Ivor led her to the edge of the forest, and Eithne had the strangest feeling – wandering into the woods with him oddly felt like coming home.
They walked for what might have been hours until they found what Ivor was looking for; a river running through a clearing in the trees, ending in a still pool. The water flowed black in the darkness, punctuated only by the reflecting stars.
“I saw ye that day in the spring, and me heart was lost,” he told her. “Everything that happened after that, it was just confirmation of what I already kent. Ye, and only ye, are me happiness, Eithne. And now we’re one.”
“Yer heart wasnae lost,” Eithne told him. She reached up and ran her fingers along his cheek, stroking his beard, then let her fingers drift down to his heart. “I found it.”
“Ye did,” he agreed. “And now it’s yers forever.”
Slowly, Eithne began to untie her dress, bearing herself fully naked for him, enjoying how the night air nipped at her here deep in the forest. He undressed and carefully removed each item of clothing, placing all of them on a rock, then walking close.
He was glorious in the moonlight. His skin, tanned by his adventures, shone with a godly glow, his muscled torso and arms casting shadows wherever the light didn’t touch. Desire coursed through Eithne as strongly as the water rushed through the river.
Ivor smiled at her, then walked straight to the still, pooled water and stepped in. It was deeper than Eithne had expected, coming up to the middle of his rib cage. She approached slowly and stepped into the water after him.
“Ah,” she gasped as the ice-cold water touched her skin. It was so icy that it almost burned, leaving a sensitivity to her skin and causing goosebumps to prickle all over. As she waded in, the water touched the tips of her breasts, causing her nipples to tighten and harden, making her gasp again. “It’s so cold.”
“Let me warm ye,” Ivor murmured, his eyes taking her in like a starving man seeing food for the first time. She nodded, and he pulled her close. Their chests pressed together, his warm body a startling contrast to the cold water, and she wrapped her legs around his waist.
Their lips crashed together like a wave crashing on the shore, and their passions rose together. Ivor stumbled, then Eithne’s back was against a rock wall rising from the shore, and Ivor’s feverishly hot lips left her own, moving down to her neck, her shoulder, warming everywhere they touched.
Eithne’s nails dug into his back as she pulled him closer, straining against his body, the odd weightlessness that the water offered them only heightening her longing. His hands explored her breasts, and she cried out, then his fingers moved lower, finding that sweet spot between her legs.
As Eithne floated, her back supported against the wall and her arms clinging to Ivor, his fingers expertly moved inside her, his thumb stroking her most secret spot rhythmically, slowly at first, but then building more and more insistently.
Eithne writhed against him, unable to keep her body still, and Ivor chuckled. He lowered his head as his hand continued to work, nibbling at her earlobe, then he whispered, “Such an energetic little selkie woman ye are. I shall have to tame ye.”
Eithne’s breath was coming in irregular bursts now as her every movement drove his fingers deeper, made his touch harder. Her pleasure was building so much that she thought she might explode, but at the same time, she needed more,more.“I…I’m…Ivor…”
“Tell me that ye’re mine,” he growled in her ear. She could hear the lust deep in his throat, but he would not accept any pleasure from her until he was satisfied that she’d had her own. “Tell me.”
Ivor, oh god, how do you expect me to speak, how—
He jerked his hand, and Eithne cried out in sweet joy so intense that it was almost agonizing. “Ah! Yers, Ivor. I’m yers forever and a day. Oh,God…”
Suddenly, his free hand was behind her waist, pulling her closer. Their lips and tongues met, battling fiercely, his other hand still moving insider her. It built and built and then…
Eithne cried out his name so loudly that a few unfortunate birds may have been scared from their nests. She couldn’t see, couldn’t hear, couldn’t think at all. There was only this, only the pleasure he was making her feel, only how his skin felt against her own as the climax ripped through her.
Eithne came back down to earth, limp in his arms, spent from the explosion deep within her body. She took a few deep breaths, then looked up to see Ivor grinning down at her.
“Are ye all right?” he asked. “Do ye want to stop?”
Stop!
