However, now Ewan had calmed down and Annie was safe at his side once more, he decided he was not going to put off the conversation he wanted to have with her any longer. But he was not yet ready to return to the tense atmosphere of the camp and thought it would be better to find a quiet place where they could talk in private. So, when he heard the distant sound of rushing water, he followed it, leading Annie beneath the trees into the lush forest.
“Where are we goin’?” she asked.
“I’m nae sure yet, but I’ll ken it when we get there,” he told her, forging onward between the trunks until, as he had suspected, they arrived at a secluded waterfall. The waters tumbled down from above before tracing a glittering path over large rocks and a gravelly bed that wound between steep banks. The gentle plashing and gurgling created an atmosphere that was bothpeaceful and intimate. “This is it,” he said, thinking it the perfect spot to confide his feelings for her at last.
“’Tis very pretty and tranquil,” she murmured as they dismounted and walked slowly the edge of the waters and stood side by side looking out over the lovely scene.
“I havenae told ye this before,” he began, “but this reminds me of home.”
“Oh? Is it by a waterfall?” Annie asked.
“Nay, but me castle is on the coast and it overlooks the sea. For as long as I can remember, the sight and sound of water has been the only thing that truly calmed me soul.”
“Aye, I love the water too. ’Tis very soothin’,” she agreed. “But ye said ’tis the only thing that calmed ye. Daes that mean somethin’ has changed?”
He turned to face her and nodded. “Aye. Somethin’ has. Bein’ around ye, Annie, also brings me a deep sense of calm. When ye’re nae givin’ me a heart attack by doin’ one of yer disappearin’ acts that is.”
She laughed as she looked up at him. “I ken ye’re jokin’ because ye must feel the opposite of calm around someone who once tried tae kill ye.”
Ewan had to smile at that. “Och, I’m certain that I’ll eventually uncover yer reasons fer that and whoever was behind yer attempt tae assassinate me. But I dinnae wantae think about that now.”
“Oh?” she replied, smiling at him a little uncertainly as he moved closer to her and looked deeply into her eyes. They seemed to have taken on the green of the canopy above.
“Annie?” he said softly.
“Hmm?” She took a small step backwards and must have misjudged her footing, for before either of them knew what was happening, the edge of the gravel bank gave way beneath her foot. She let out a little scream as one leg buckled beneath her and she teetered on the edge of the steep bank, her arms windmilling frantically in an attempt to regain her balance. But it was not enough to stop the momentum of the fall, and she looked at him in horror as she began to go over the edge. Her arms reached out to him in desperation, and she screamed, “Ewan! Help me!”
Acting on pure instinct, Ewan’s arm shot out, and in one movement, he grasped her hand, yanked her back from the brink and then wrapped his free arm around her waist, pulling her to safety and away from the edge. She fell into his arms and hugged him tightly, sobbing with relief. “I could have died if ye hadnae caught me, Ewan. Thank ye, thank ye fer savin’ me,” she gasped, her voice breaking.
Ewan was more shaken than he cared to let on, and he could feel her heart pounding against his chest as he held her tightly. “That was close. Thank God. Are ye all right, Annie?” he asked, looking down at her face worriedly. She looked so young and scared it tugged at his heartstrings.
“Aye, I-I am now,” she stuttered, still hugging him as if she would never let go, a sensation he found himself enjoying now she was safe. The look on her face as she had fallen, the way she had reached out to him, trusting him to save her was affecting him profoundly. Overwhelmed by relief and tenderness, he cradled her head in his hands, bent his head and kissed her lips.
The warmth with which she immediately responded to him lit a fire inside him, and the intensity of their kiss and the intimacy of their embrace flared rapidly into a passion he could not have stopped even if he had wanted to. Lifting her off her feet, he carried her over to a grassy spot far enough away from the steep bank to be safe from further danger. There, he laid her gently down and lowered himself beside her, leaning on his forearm.
“Be careful of yer stitches,” she whispered, reaching up to stroke his face, her eyes shining like gems as they looked deeply into this. He felt he could happily drown in them.
“Dinnae fash yersel’,” he told her with a smile, his voice low and thick, “I’ll scream if they start tae hurt. Right now, I have other things on me mind.” He pulled off her cap and let down her golden plait while she lay looking up at him, her chest rising and falling rapidly, her lips slightly open. The sight inflamed him further, and he groaned as he buried his hand in her hair,cradling her head, and kissed her again, more forcefully this time, taking full possession of the lips he already thought of as belonging to him.
“Och, Ewan, yer kisses taste so sweet, I never want ye tae stop,” she begged him, slipping her arms about his neck and tangling her fingers in his hair, her body writhing against his provocatively.
“Unless ye tell me tae, I’m nae gonnae stop, Annie, because I cannae have enough of ye,” he told her hoarsely, his manhood already rock hard and pressing urgently against the front of his trews and her belly. “I wantae make love tae ye so badly, so tell me tae stop now if ye dinnae want me tae go any further,” he said, his breath coming raggedly as his arousal grew.
“I told ye, I dinnae what ye tae stop,” she panted, her eyes alight with excitement, her small hands gliding over his shoulders beneath his shirt.
“Thank God fer that!” he exclaimed happily, leaning up and tearing off his coat, then his jerkin and shirt. He watched hungrily as she hurriedly wriggled out of her clothing, revealing her deliciously lithe, curvaceous body, and her smooth, white skin, a sight which fanned the flames of his desire ever higher. He hastily pulled off his boots and stockings and shucked off his trews. Naked now, his manhood throbbing like a club between his legs, he gazed down at her perfection, hungry to devour her.
CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX
“I’m gonnae eat ye all up,” he promised, falling to his knees and pushing hers apart, to reveal the delicious secret folds of her sex. “Mmm, I cannae wait tae taste ye,” he growled, parting her with his thumbs before he fell on her gaping core with his lips and tongue, spurred on by her moans of pleasure and the thrusting of her hips as he opened her wider, worrying her stiffening rosebud with his mouth until she screamed, “Ah! Ah! Ewan, aye, aye!”
Thrilled at the way she screamed his name, he chuckled to himself as he worked his tongue into every corner of her hot, slick flesh, darting it in and out of her entrance until she was soaking.
“Aye, ye like that, eh?”
“Och, ’tis wonderful, Ewan, ’tis heavenly,” she moaned, her head thrashing from side to side, her hips coming up to meet his questing mouth.
“And d’ye like this too?” he asked, full of lascivious mischief, sliding his fingers inside her one by one, working them rhythmically in and out, deeper and deeper each time, excited to feel her walls closing tightly around him. All the while he teased her rosebud with his tongue and lips and teeth, reveling in her little screams and mewls of pleasure. When she gripped his hair tightly and screamed, he redoubled his efforts, bringing her to a shuddering climax, relishing the taste of her juices.
