“This’ll be an easy victory with that fool Galbraith there tae help us,” he told them in a low voice. “The man has nae idea that as soon as we’ve defeated Ballentine, we’ll have the perfect opportunity tae take over his castle and overthrow him as well. If we pull this off, lads, there’s plenty of gold and it fer all of us. Now, come on, let’s get at it!”
Filled with a fresh sense of urgency, Isla emerged into the forest from the hidden entrance. She retrieved the horse and rode as fast as she could back to the camp. When she arrived near the perimeter, she halted among the trees for a few minutes, recovering her breath. Then, she entered, left the mare at thestable, and walked casually among the men, straight to Ewan’s tent.
When she entered, he was alone, his back to her, reading something. “Ewan,” she said, stopping a few feet away. He turned sharply at the sound of her voice, his expression immediately darkening.
“What have ye come back here fer?” he questioned abruptly, putting a piece of paper he held in his hand on the table and facing her directly. “Ye should be with yer braither.”
She wanted to run to him, to embrace and kiss him, but his whole demeanor told her that such a show of affection would be greeted with coldness. It was painful to accept, but she loved him, and even if her despised her, she was determined to help him. “Ewan, I had tae come back tae warn ye. Allan’s reinforcements are very close tae the castle. Gregory expects them tae arrive any moment,” she explained hurriedly, not daring to approach any nearer.
His dark brown eyes seemed black as jet as they swept over her, burning her with their cold gaze. After a small eternity, which was agony for Isla, he finally said, “I’m tryin’ tae workout why, given the loyalty ye must bear yer braither, ye’ve come here, against me wishes, tae give his enemy this information.”
“I ken what ye must think of me, but I had tae come back, Ewan. I dinnae want ye tae get hurt. I couldnae bear it,” she admitted, wondering how to convince him of her sincerity.
“That’s why ye’ve been spyin’ on me and lyin’ tae me, is it? Because ye care so much about me?” he replied sarcastically.
“Aye, that’s exactly why!” she exclaimed, frustrated. It was as hard trying to get through to him as it had been to Gregory.
“Ye’ll havetae dae better than that.”
She realized there was one thing that might convince him. She could tell him how she felt about him, truthfully. She looked into his eyes and took a deep breath, trying to frame the words. In the end, they came out quite simply. “Because I’m in love with ye, Ewan.”
Ewan’s dark brows lifted slightly as he stared at her in disbelief. He shook his head. “Ye really expect me tae believe that, after ye took me fer a fool fer so long? How can I trust anythin’ ye say?”
“Because ye havetae,” Isla answered.
For a few moments, he said nothing. Then, suddenly, he was in front of her, cupping her face in his palms and looking down at her with soft eyes.
“D’ye mean it?” he breathed, his thumbs stroking her cheeks, his gaze intent.
She reached up and gently took hold of his wrists. “I mean it, every word. I love ye, I never wantae leave ye, and I cannae stand the thought of ye gettin’ hurt.”
“By God, I’ve missed ye,” he told her, folding her in his arms, his lips finding hers. He kissed her with such ferocious longing, the fire of passion flared within her once more.
“I’ve missed ye too, Ewan, so, so much,” she whispered, her arms about his neck, pressing her lips to his again and again, almost delirious with joy to be back in his arms.
He promptly picked her up, cradling her behind. Feeling his hardening manhood pressing against her sex even through their clothing, she shivered with delight, giggling and winding her legs around his waist as he carried her over to the cot, kissing her intently, and threw her down.
“Ewan! What if someone comes in?” she asked a little nervously yet still giggling with excitement as he tore off her cap and spread out her hair all around her. Then, he began methodically stripping her of her clothes and throwing them on the floor of the tent. “That’s better,” he said with an approving grin when she lay before him naked. “That’s as it should be. Now, I can see what’s mine,” he added, his eyes sweeping hungrily over every inch of her.
Smiling hungrily down at her, he threw off his jerkin, deftly undid his trews and pushed them down his hips before pulling out his shirt, stripping that off too and casting it away to join Isla’s things on the floor. She quivered with delight to see his aroused manhood spring free, eager to feel him inside her again. “Now, c’mere, Isla,” he ordered, picking her up bodily, turning her around, and setting her on her feet so that she was standing with her back resting against him.
“Och, me God, Ewan, that’s quite a welcome ye have there,” she joked, tingling all over with desire to feel his enormous, hardened manhood jutting against her spine.
“I told ye I missed ye,” he whispered hotly into her ear, his hands all over her, cupping and squeezing her breasts, tweaking her nipples, making her gasp as they turned as hard as pellets under his touch. One hand roamed her waist and hips and the globes of her behind, his calloused palms gliding over her soft skin and making her shiver with delight, her sex growing hot and moist for him.
Suddenly, he took hold of her thigh and lifted her leg until she was standing with one foot resting on the cot and one on the floor. She lay back against his chest, her arms reaching behind him to clasp his neck as he tantalized her naked body with his hands, sweeping her up into a haze of intoxicating pleasure. She almost swooned as hot kisses tickled her neck, and he continued toying with her breasts with one hand, while the other dove between her legs and began teasing her sex, one finger rubbing her bud in a rhythmic circular motion, the others spreading her folds and delving inside her slit, making her juices run.
“Och, ye’re so wet fer me, I can tell ye missed me too,” he whispered hotly in her ear, thrusting his fingers inside her, sending flames of fiery desire flickering through her body.
“Aye, I did,” she hissed, greedy for more of his touch.
“And I forgive ye fer lyin’ tae me because I love ye, and ye’re mine,” he added, falling to his knees and holding her tightly bythe hips, devouring the moist, heated flesh between her legs with his mouth and tongue, kissing, biting, sucking, delving inside her, and driving her to delirium.
“Aye, I’m yers, Ewan, always,” she managed to moan, her fingers laced on his hair, pressing her sex against his questing mouth wantonly while trying hard to stop herself from crying out with pleasure in case people outside the tent heard them. With the magic he was working so skillfully upon her body, it was not long before she felt herself approaching a shattering climax. She stuffed her knuckles in her mouth to stop herself from screaming his name as he took her up, up, up to the peak of ecstasy.
She had not even caught her breath before, with a hungry growl, he bent her over the bed, spreading her legs, and slid his rock-hard length inside her, filling her to the brim.
“Omigod,” she panted into the blanket, her fingers clutching at its folds convulsively as he shook her with his pounding thrusts, burying himself deep inside her. One arm snaked around to pull her up against his chest, his hand squeezing her breasts, rolling her stiff nipples between finger and thumb. The other hand slid around to her rosebud, rubbing at it frantically, adding to her delirium as he rammed into her, panting hard against her neck.
