CHAPTERTWENTY
Elsy
Elsy gazed up at Connell as he lowered himself, his lips claiming hers. She drank him in, wanting and needing more with his every touch. His hands stroked her arms as he kissed her, while her hands buried themselves in his hair. His locks were so soft, just as she remembered them. She found the strings keeping his eyepatch to his face, tempted to untie them, but Connell’s hand seized hers, pinning it to the floor. She gasped as his body ground against hers, her legs tightening around him, never wanting him to leave.
“Elsy,” Connell murmured against her lips, nuzzling his face against hers. “Ah, my sweet, sweet Elsy.”
Elsy shivered, her body meeting each and every one of his thrusts. She pulled at her skirts, wanting more of him. His hands pulled at her front, his mouth kissing a path from her lips down her neck. She whimpered as he grazed his teeth against her skin. Her hands moved from her skirts to his shoulders, clinging to him, not knowing what more to do.
Her body stilled as his hands stroked her thighs, his mouth kissing its way down her neck to the tops of her breasts. He kissed her hungrily, like a starving man having just found food. Elsy pulled at his tunic, wanting to feel more of him. Connell pulled away from her, helping her tug up the fabric. He threw it toward the table and her breath hitched as her gaze fell on his sculpted body. He was just the way she remembered, and, yet, at the same time, not. Her hands stroked his chest, the muscles flinching with her light touch. His skin was littered with scars, some she recognized, many she did not.
Curiosity got the best of her, and she found her fingers stroking the old wounds, wondering if they were all from the Battle of Falkirk, or if they had been gained after, during his life as a brigand. Connell grabbed her hands, lacing his fingers with hers. He kissed her knuckles gently, his eye remaining fastened on her as he took one finger into his mouth, sucking lightly on the tip. Her insides tightened, warmth pitting into her core while her face flushed.
“Do ye want more, Elsy?” he whispered, making her shiver with desire.
Elsy nodded, pulling him toward her. Connell fell on top of her, kissing her mouth sloppily. His hands slid away from hers and he pushed up her skirts, his fingers stroking her knee, caressing her thigh. With each touch, his fingers drew higher on her leg. Her whole body stilled, waiting for him to find that spot, to drive her mad with desire.
Connell lowered himself, his teeth grazing her knee, his mouth kissing the inner part of her leg. “Yer so bonnie, Elsy,” he whispered against her skin. “Ye drive me mad with want.” She gasped as he kissed her inner thigh, her body tingling as his fingers circled around that little nub in her womanhood. She waited for him to apply more pressure, to circle around her more.
Instead, her eyes widened as his head dipped, and his tongue touched her most private part. She cried out, her hands clinging to his hair, tugging at it lightly as he continued to lick and suck. Never in their times together had he touched her like this. His fingers delved inside her, moving in and out in a steady rhythm, and her body, sinful as it was, met each and every movement.
“Connell,” she gasped, knowing she should tear herself away from him, but pleasure kept her there. She moaned, whimpered, and gasped, her pleasure rising higher, her body tightening around his fingers. “Connell!” she shouted, her fingers tugging at his hair harder. Her body was pulled taut, her legs twitching as her pleasure reached its peak, coming at her hard and making her scream. Her voice echoed in the hall, her face flushing with embarrassment as Connell pulled away, a coy smile on his lips.
“Did ye like that?” he asked, his voice teasing.
Elsy scowled up at him as she grabbed him, yanking him toward her and kissing him hard. Her hunger wasn’t satisfied. It had only awakened. She wanted more, needed more. Her hands grabbed her skirts, yanking them up, and with Connell’s help, she had her dress pulled over her head and thrown into a heap near the table with Connell’s tunic. She laid before him completely naked, her skin prickling under Connell’s scrutiny. Her hands fisted at her sides, tempted to cover her breasts, but refusing to. She wanted him to see her in her entirety.
It wasn’t the first time he had seen her naked. There had been that time in the barn, when they were naked before each other, about to proclaim their love for one another. However, it had been four years. Her body was not the same. His body was not the same.
“Elsy,” Connell whispered, his hand cupping her face. “Yer so bonnie.”
Elsy smiled, her face leaning into his touch. She kissed his palm while Connell lowered himself, his lips touching her ear lightly. She turned toward him, capturing his lips, her hands wrapping around his neck. Her fingers stroked his hair. Finding the strings of his eyepatch, she tugged at their ends. She needed to look upon him. She wanted to see his scars.
Connell wrenched away from her as the strings fell, his fingers pressing the eyepatch to his face. “Don’t,” he whispered, his lone blue eye displaying his vulnerability. “I don’t want ye to see.”
“But I want to see you,” she said while stroking his fingers gently. “I want to know all of ye, Connell.”
“It’s hideous.”
Elsy brushed her lips against his, her fingers stroking his hair. She felt him shiver under her touch and kissed him again. “I won’t look, if ye don’t want me to,” she said between kisses. “But ye will never be hideous to me.”
She nuzzled her nose against his cheek, placing a kiss along his jaw as she waited for him to decide. His shoulders were tense. His whole body quivered with fear and desire. She wondered if he would make her retie the patch, or possibly close her eyes during their love making. However, after several moments, he breathed a sigh, his shoulders relaxing. With a quick glance, she saw the eyepatch on the floor and her heart swelled, joy brimming within her knowing he was going to let her in, beyond his walls.
Elsy kissed his jaw, his cheek, his good eye before she laid back on the floor, staring up at Connell and his scarred face. He frowned back at her; his blue eye filled with worry. Elsy brushed the dark locks away from his forehead as she gazed up at him, at all of him. His scar was puckered and red and began at his brow, ending a little above his cheek. Elsy touched it gently, tears coming to her eyes when Connell flinched away from her.This must have been so painful,she thought, hating the fact Connell had gone through so much hurt.And the stitches were done in haste. Most probably from a soldier and not a healer.
“Tis all right,” she whispered when Connell refused to look at her.
Connell slowly faced her, his body trembling. She knew it was taking all the power he had to look at her, to keep himself from hiding away. His jaw was clenching, his blue eye staring back at her with fear, as if he was waiting for her to scream and pull away from him.
“It’s stunning,” she whispered before placing a chaste kiss on his scarred eye.
“Don’t lie,” Connell said, his voice cracking, and she could feel all the pain he held within those words.
“I do not lie, Connell.” Elsy stroked his cheek, her body leaning into him. “All of ye is stunning to me.”
Before he could deny her claims, Elsy kissed him, her tongue stroking against his bottom lip, his mouth opening with her touch. Her hand stroked his arm, moving to his hip, before she touched the bulge in his tights, the warmth of it heating her palm. Connell moaned as she pressed against him, his hips thrusting into the palm of her hand. Her fingers played with the top of his tights, teasing him, earning grunts and growls in want.
Connell batted her hands away, his own reaching for his tights and tugging them down to his ankles before he kicked them away. Her gaze landed on his hard, pulsing shaft. Fear crept into her; fear and joy, and she knew that soon they would be one. But she was worried about the pain. She had heard about it from the village girls whispering amongst themselves.
