He gave over to the primal call. Heat washed over him and blood pounded through his body.
She was so tight and soft, milking him with her body. Drawing him back even as he pulled away.
His eyes closed as the force of his release built inside him. He heard her own cries just as pleasure erupted from deep inside him. As the love he felt for her poured from his body in a powerful explosion that welled up from deep in his soul.
When the last tremor had died away, all he could do was collapse beside her, trying to find his breath and the words to express the happiness he was feeling.
He rolled to his side so that he could look at her. His chest squeezed with love. Her breathing was uneven, her cheeks flushed pink, and her lips red and swollen from his kisses. His fingers swept a strand of hair that had tangled in her thick, velvety black lashes. A tiny smile curved her lips. Her eyes fluttered open for a moment.
“I’m so happy that you decided not to go through with it,” she murmured, sleep tugging on her lids.
Unaware that he’d stiffened beside her, that she’d just plunged a dirk in his heart, she drifted off into a happy, well-sated slumber.
Chapter 23
Caitrina woke with a start at the sound of movement below her window.
God, what time is it?She rolled side to side a few times and pulled the pillow over her head, trying to drown out the clatter. The lull of more sleep tempted, but awareness hovered around the edges of her consciousness, forcing her awake.
She opened her eyes to a room still shadowed in darkness. But she didn’t need light to know that she was alone. Sometimes it felt as if she were so aware of him, he’d become a part of her, as vital as air and food. And when he was gone, she felt his absence as acutely as a missing limb.
She frowned, wondering what had taken him from bed so early. She stretched her arms over her head and yanked them back again, retreating to the cozy warmth of the coverlet. The chill dawn had taken hold of the thick stone tower walls and wouldn’t easily let go. Glancing to the fireplace, she realized the fire had died long ago.
He’d been gone for some time.
A slow, satisfied smile spread across her face as she recalled what had happened last night. Jamie was usually so immovable; she’d been terrified that she wouldn’t be able to convince him not to take Niall to Dunoon. But love had won out after all.
The sounds of horses and raised voices returned her attention to what had disturbed her slumber. Something was going on in thebarmkinbelow.
She lay back and contemplated the wood ceiling for a moment, but curiosity eventually overrode comfort. Taking a deep breath, she tossed off the warm bedcoverings, slung her bare feet over the side of the bed, and braced for the shock.
It didn’t help.
She jumped, letting out a little yelp as she reached for her sark and then scurried to her slippers across wood planks that were about as warm and inviting as an icy loch.
Chilled to the bone, she dressed as quickly as she could manage with stiff, frozen fingers. When she’d finished, she grabbed a plaid from the bed, wrapped it over her shoulders, and hurried to the window. She pulled open the shutters, rubbed the fog from a pane of glass with the side of her fist, and peered down into thebarmkinbelow.
The first rays of dawn were just starting to break over the horizon, and a cold, misty rain cloaked the morning sky.
For a moment, she felt entrenched in that fog as she took in the scene below. Men dressed for battle gathered around the courtyard, readying to ride out. At the head of the procession was her husband. He sat upon his great black steed, his chest plate shimmering over his yellow war coat. The jewel-encrusted hilt of the claymore slung over his back flashed like a beacon in the low light.
Her pulse leapt as comprehension began to dawn. A minute later, her fears were confirmed when Niall and the rest of her father’s guardsmen were led out from the tower.
She didn’t want to believe it. For a moment, she stood there in cold disbelief. Jamie had betrayed her. He was going through with it. But after what they’d shared . . . He’d promised . . . hadn’t he?
Not wasting another second, she raced from the bedchamber, down the stairs, and across the great hall, exiting the tower keep just as the men had started to ride through the gate two abreast in a long line.
“Wait!” she cried out.
Jamie halted at the sound of her voice but ordered his men forward. Droplets of rain needled her face like tiny darts as she sprinted toward him. She reached the gate just as Niall was about to pass through. Heedless of the others watching, she grabbed her brother’s leg, forcing the man leading him to stop for fear of crushing her.
“Niall . . .” She gazed up at her brother, tears streaming down her cheeks. The tightness in her throat made it difficult to speak. “I’m so sorry. You have to believe me, I never meant for this to happen.”
“Let go of him, Caitrina,” Jamie ordered, his voice devoid of emotion.
“It will be all right, Caiti,” Niall said, carefully untangling her from his leg and stirrup. He took her hand and gave it a squeeze but was forced to release it as he was led away. “Take care of Brian.”
Tears streamed down her cheeks as she turned on her husband, who’d pulled his mount up beside her. His jaw was set in a hard line, his expression unyielding and implacable. Every inch the Campbell Enforcer.
