Chapter Twenty
Ellie tipped her head back as he said the words. It was her. She was the lass. Were she not in a complete state of torture, she would have laughed at the thought. All the time they had wasted. All the time she spent worrying after her own feelings and how the other lass must have felt, and it was her all along.
“It’s me?” she asked, breathless as Aidam continued his assault on her senses as he kissed his way up her throat.
“Aye,” he answered as he lifted his lips from the trailing, light, almost non-existent kisses he was placing along her jawline. “Always you.”
“I…” she knew not how to respond. Something had changed between them this night. She knew it in the very depth of her soul. She belonged to Aidam. She grabbed his face between her hands and pressing her body along his, they dropped down onto the bed as she pressed her lips firmly against his. She surprised herself at her own boldness. “I’m yours.”
“Aye, mine,” he answered before taking the kiss deeper. He slid his tongue along her lips, and she parted for him, allowing his tongue entry to explore before answering his licks and tastes with her own. His taste was earthy and masculine, his kiss probing and relentless. A white heat began to radiate from her center, spreading through her limbs. It was similar to what she felt in the cottage, and she knew her need for him was rising.
He flipped their bodies so that Ellie lay underneath him, but she did not feel trapped. Even though she could feel the heat and weight of his body above her own, she wanted more. Her body was on fire, telling her she needed to be closer to him.
Their kiss continued, and Aidam moved a free hand down the front of her gown. She arched her back as he firmly cupped one of her breasts through the fabric, lightly flicking his thumb over the sensitive nub of her nipple. Even through the silk, she could feel every slight touch. It was as if she were an instrument, and he was playing her to perfection. He lifted his head and took her nipple in his mouth through the silk—his small delicate suckle causing a wet heat to pool at the very center of her. Rational thought fled her mind, replaced with searing need.
“Aidam, please…”
She could feel his smile as he took her other breast into his mouth, once again over the silk of her gown. She wiggled and arched beneath him. He was too far from her. There were too many layers between them. She needed him to be closer. She needed to touch his skin.
He lifted his head and met her gaze. His eyes were lidded and heavy. Ellie could see the desire in them. She recognized it as equal to her own. She ran her hands down his chiseled, hard chest, popping the buttons of his shirt along the way. Aidam let out a low growl, and grabbing her hands in his own, he stopped her.
“Lass, yer the sweetest…Ahh.” He groaned as she wiggled beneath him. She could feel the long, hard evidence of his desire through the silk of her skirts. She wanted to touch him there. Memories of the cottage came flooding back. He had allowed her the liberty of taking her own pleasure without any return of his own. That could not happen again. She wanted to see all of him. She wanted to taste all of him.
When had she become so wanton,she wondered, before deciding she no longer cared. She wanted Aidam, and she could tell he wanted her.
“If we dae nae stop soon, I’m afraid I willnae be able to stop at all.”
“Then we dae nae need to stop,” she said. Her voice was huskier than she was used to as she pushed him back off her and, in one motion, found the strength to reverse their positions until she sat atop him as if he were a horse she would have bridled to ride. Were she not so intent on bringing Aidam pleasure, she would be astonished by her brazen behavior, but her need for him won out over any other emotion.
Leaning down over him, Ellie peppered his chest with light butterfly kisses, finishing off his buttons as she trailed her lips down his body. Aidam lay so still for a moment Ellie thought perhaps she was doing something wrong. Self-conscious of herself, she rose up and gave him a slight smile.
“Is this all right?” she asked.
“Aye, dae nae stop,” he replied. She grew more bold, seeing the look of elated pleasure on his face. It was Aidam’s turn to be breathless, and Ellie found she rather liked the power she now held. She continued down his abdomen, coming to the flap of his trews, and with expertise she was unaware she possessed, she released him from the heavy fabric. She ran a hand across his lower stomach and ran her tongue along the ridge of taught skin where his stomach met another, more forbidden part of him.
Ellie felt the warmth of his manhood as he stirred beneath her, and feeling a warm blush creep up her cheeks, she released his manhood, pulling his trews down. He helped her remove them entirely by kicking his legs free, and Ellie nearly gasped herself at the raw power of his throbbing erection. She ran a tentative hand up the length of his shaft, unsure how, exactly, she should touch him there. She licked her lips. Again, as it happened in the cottage, again she had the urge to take him in her mouth, but she was unsure if that were something he would enjoy.
Feeling a surge of confidence, she lowered her mouth and kissed the very tip of his manhood. Aidam sucked in a deep breath and let out a low curse. Emboldened by his response, Ellie trailed kisses down the length of his shaft before using her tongue to trail back up to the tip again; this time, when she took him in her mouth, she added a slight sucking motion, and Aidam’s leg jerked beneath her.
“Heaven help me, lass,” he groaned and sat, lifting her up to meet him and claiming her mouth in a deep, heavy kiss.
Worried she had done something wrong, Ellie pulled back. “Is all well? Did I—”
“Aye, lass, dae nae fash, yer perfect,” Aidam cut her off. “But what ye did a moment ago felt too good. I dae nae want this night to be over before it starts. And if ye kept on that path.” He ran his hand through his hair and gave her a small smile. “Och, I’m nay sayin’ things right. Here, lass, let me show ye.” He lifted her from the bed and turned her away from him as he started to undress her, first by undoing the buttons on her gown. “I want ye to feel safe with me, Ellie. I’ll never hurt ye. If ye want me to stop, ye only need tell me.”
“Please don’t stop,” she whispered.
“Aye.” Much like she had done to him, he kissed her flesh through her chemise with each button he undid before slowly removing the silk gown and laying it across a nearby chair before removing the rest of her undergarments. Ellie allowed herself to trust and focused on the sensation of his touch rather than the fact that she was being disrobed by a man. But not just any man, by Aidam Sinclair. This was her deepest desire come true. The one thing in the heat of each night in the keep she would not allow herself to fantasize about, yet where her dreams would always bring her. To this moment, with him, like this.
“My God yer exquisite,” Aidam said as he finally removed the last piece of her clothing.
“Yer not so bad yerself,” she replied, taking in each part of him separately, then as a whole as he stood before her as naked as she. He was an Adonis. The perfect male specimen. His body toned and fit from riding and exercise. His hair long but not too long as to be unwieldy. His arms.God, she thought, his arms were strong. How had Ellie spent so many years not seeing him this way? He had been in her life for as long as she could remember. Why did it take a tragedy to bring them to this moment, too each other?
Were it any other man, Ellie was sure she would have felt modest and shy being laid bare before him. But with Aidam, she felt safe. She felt loved.
She moved forward and tried to wrap her arms around his neck to bring him closer. He stopped her. “Nay, this is for ye, not I,” he said as he laid her back down on the bed. He settled himself between her legs. And before Ellie could ask what would come next, he kissed her. She loved the way he kissed; it was as if he only ever desired to kiss her. He consumed her very soul with each stroke of his tongue. His hands moved up and down her body. Not rapidly as if trying to warm her on a cold eve, but rather, he moved slowly. Each movement of his hand and fingers cherishing her. The effect was the same. His touch made Ellie feel as if she were on fire.
Stopping for moments or eons, she could no longer tell. He fondled and caressed each of her breasts. He lowered his head and began kissing her along her torso. He moved down between her breasts and along her abdomen, much in the same way she had with him earlier.
