“I love you too.” She wrapped her legs around his waist, taking him deeper. “So much. Always.”
He moved with slow, deliberate strokes, each one stoking the fire between them higher. His mouth found hers, swallowing her moans as pleasure built and built until she thought she might shatter from it.
“Look at me,” he commanded. “I want to see ye when ye come apart.”
His hand slid between their bodies, finding that bundle of nerves and circling with perfect pressure. She flew apart, crying his name as waves of pleasure crashed over her. He followed moments later, his own release tearing a groan from his throat as he buried himself deep.
They lay tangled together afterward, hearts racing, skin slicked with sweat. Declan’s hand traced idle patterns on her hip while she pressed kisses to his scarred chest.
“That was—” she started.
“Everythin’.” He finished for her. “That was everythin’.”
“Yes.” She smiled against his skin. “Everything and more.”
They made love twice more that night, once fast and urgent against the wall, once slow and tender in the depths of his massive bed. By the time exhaustion finally claimed them, dawn was breaking over the Highland peaks.
“I should check on Eloise,” Francesca murmured, half-asleep.
“In a moment.” Declan pulled her closer, his arms banding around her. “Just let me hold ye a little longer.”
She relaxed into his embrace, feeling safer and more cherished than she’d ever felt in her life. This was home, not the castle or Scotland or even the bed they shared. Home was his armsaround her, his heartbeat steady beneath her ear, his love wrapping her in warmth.
22
Declan woke to the moonlight still streaming through his chamber window and the realization that he was alone in his bed. For a moment, panic flared, then he heard it. Francesca’s voice, soft and soothing, drifted from the corridor.
“It was just a dream, darling. You’re safe. I’m here.”
He found them in Eloise’s chamber, Francesca sitting on the bed with the child curled in her lap. Bluebell dozed at their feet while both kittens purred nearby. Eloise’s face was tear-stained, her small body still trembling from whatever nightmare had woken her.
“I dreamed she came back,” Eloise whispered. “The bad lady. She said she was going to take me away again and kill me.”
“Shh.” Francesca rocked her gently. “She’s gone, sweetheart. She can never hurt you again.”
“But what if there are other bad people? What if someone else tries to take me?”
“Then yer da will stop them.” Declan’s voice made them both look up. He moved into the room, settling on the bed beside them. “No one will ever take ye again, lass. I swear it.”
Eloise reached for him with one hand, the other still clutching Francesca. “Promise?”
“I promise.” He took her small hand in his much larger one. “Ye’re a MacGhee now. That means the entire clan protects ye. Anyone who tries to harm ye will answer to me first.”
“And me,” Francesca added firmly. “I’ll always fight for you, Eloise. Always.”
The child’s breathing gradually steadied, her grip loosening as she relaxed between them. “Can I sleep in your bed tonight? Both of you?”
Declan met Francesca’s eyes over Eloise’s head. They’d spent the past three nights like this—waking to Eloise’s screams, comforting her through nightmares, holding her until she felt safe enough to sleep again.
“Aye, lass. Come on then.”
They settled in his massive bed—Eloise between them, her animals arranged around them like furry sentinels. Bluebellclaimed the foot of the bed, while Declan, the kitten, curled against Eloise’s chest, and Flora nestled by Francesca’s hip.
“Tell me a story?” Eloise asked sleepily. “About brave people who win?”
“What kind of story?” Declan’s hand found Francesca’s across Eloise’s body, their fingers threading together.
“About a princess who saves herself. Like in the book.” Eloise yawned. “But this time, she has a family who helps her. A mama and a da who love her.”
