“I never could bear tae part with it. Even when I was angriest, I couldnae stop wearing it. I wanted a part o’ ye with me, tae remember that what we had shared was real.” She kept her voice soft as she watched his hand caressing the necklace, his callused fingers brushing against hers.
Slowly, his gaze rose to meet hers, hope and fear and vulnerability all evident in the bright blue eyes. His hand driftedup the cord to cup her cheek “Ye... ye kept this all this time... ye wanted…” His voice, breathless with wonder, failed him.
She stared, uncertain what to do, then Blake moved, pulling her against him with his good arm, while his lips molded themselves against hers, a plea and an offering all at once. Reyna gasped against his mouth, startled by the feeling of warmth and need andrightnessthat his kiss sparked within her.
It seemed only natural to move closer to him. To straddle his lap. She could feel the growing pressure of his swelling manhood and knew without words that he felt the same sense of completion that she did, as if long ago wounds were being healed at the touch of their bodies together. As if their shared breaths were a gift.
Blake’s hands slid to her waist, thumbs brushing the top of her skirt as if he might slide them beneath the fabric to caress her skin. Some distant part of her mind knew she should move away, but the pull of the moment was strong, and she hadn’t seen him in so long. Half-buried memories and unresolved feelings of her youth rose up and engulfed her, drowning her sense of outrage and duty in a single instant of warmth such as she hadn’t felt in ten years.
It felt like the simplest thing in the world to run her hands down the front of his bared chest and mold them to the subtle lines of his well-defined muscles. She dragged them to his waist, feeling the heat and growing hardness there, confined by the fabric. Blake made a sound as his mouth drifted from hers toher shoulder, his hot breath teasing her breasts through the soft cotton fabric of her blouse.
They were alone, and she’d naught to look forward to save a loveless marriage made to rescue her brother. It would be so easy to loosen his belt, free the shaft of his manhood… would he really deny her anything?
She was confused and angry still, but surely she could have this, here with him. It was clear from his ragged breathing and the hardness beneath her hands that he was unlikely to refuse her. At the very least, he didn’t seem to want to deny her touch any more than she wanted to cease touching him.
Her arms slid beneath his, encouraging him to lift his hands to where he was cupping her breasts through the fabric. The sensation was pleasant, exciting even, and she heard Blake suck in a ragged gasp. She reached up and grabbed his shoulders, dragging herself closer.
Blake winced, pulling back with a gasp as the heel of her palm dug into his injured shoulder. The sound was like a bucket of ice water thrown over her.
She blushed and shimmed backward to escape his arms. He let her go and she felt slightly bereft, but it was mingled with feelings of confusion, and a small amount of shame, that she might have forgotten her duties and the reason she was here with him, even for a moment. Perhaps it was unfair, but she was glad to see he looked flustered and a little lost as well. “Reyna…”
“Blake…” She spoke his name at the same time. They both stopped, blushes deepening, before Blake waved for her to speak first.
“Blake... I dae forgive ye. And I care fer ye still. But this... whatever it is we shared as children, whatever it is might be between us now... we cannae act on it. Ye ken we can’t.” She sat back, deliberately putting some distance between them. “I’m promised tae Laird Murray, and he’s holding me braither hostage tae ensure the union. Nae matter what I feel, I cannae abandon me duty tae save me braither, nae even fer ye.”
Blake sighed. “I ken, and I understand. I’ve me own duties I’m honor bound tae fulfill. I might nae love the man, or even like him, but Laird Oran did save me life, and I’ve an oath tae keep, in regards tae serving him.”
He prodded his shoulder again, winced, then twisted around to fish a fresh clean shirt out of his saddle packs. Reyna took that as a signal to scoot out of the cave and leave him to dress, while she packed away the dishes and saddled the horse. A quick meal of travel bread and dried meat later, and they were on their way to Murray Keep, her arms wrapped around his waist.
The memory of their kiss and his touch, the thoughts of what they’d shared and nearly had together stayed with her on the rest of the journey, along with regret that they could never have anything more.
