He ushered her in and shut the door, his grin feral. “Wot do ye plan tae do, Wife?”
Ainslee reached for the laces of her dress, letting it fall away from her body. Arran watched with bated breath as she divested her clothing, her lithe body gleaming in the firelight.
“Och lass,” he said. “Ye wound me with yer body.”
She chuckled as she approached him, reaching for the hem of his tunic. “I hope not too much.”
“Nay,” he said, helping her pull it over his head. She placed her lips to his skin, and Arran groaned, his hands gripping her shoulders. When he left in the morning, he would remember this between them, keeping in his mind what he had waiting for him when he returned.
He got his breeks off, and Ainslee stepped back, pointing to the water. “In, Husband.”
Arran did as she asked, sliding into the warm water and stretching out his legs the best he could. Ainslee followed him, but instead of seating herself across from him, she straddled his lap.
“Ainslee,” he growled as she brushed against his aching member.
Her expression was one of mock surprise. “Arran?”
She is a witch!That was all he could come up with.
“I...I...”
Ainslee cupped his cheek, tenderness in her eyes. “I need ye, Arran. Please.”
He allowed her to lower herself onto him, her body sheathing his length.
“Ye are bonnie, Husband,” she whispered, her fingers scraping over the beard that covered his jaw. “I sometimes forget tae breathe when I gaze upon ye.”
Arran chuckled. “Ye must be blind then, Wife.”
She smiled, her fingers trailing down his face and to his chest, tracing some of his scars. “Nay, ye are.”
He silenced her with a hard kiss, his hands going under the water and grasping her hips so he could rock her against him. She gasped against his mouth. Arran knew that he had silenced her for now, his fingers finding her center and bringing her to a rapid point of pleasure.
Ainslee tore her mouth from his, her eyes wide as he drove into her. “Arran,” she whispered, throwing her head back.
Arran drank in the sight, remembering it in case he did not return. It would be her that he would see when he shut his eyes for the last time. His feelings for Ainslee were far more than he had thought she could bring him.
He didn’t want this night to end.
When she screamed his name, he grunted, releasing his seed into her warm body. The water was growing cold, splashing all over the floor, but Arran still enfolded his wife against his body, waiting for his breathing to return to normal.
“Tell me, did I hurt ye?”
“Nay,” she responded, pressing a kiss right above his heart.
At the first sound of her sniffing, Arran pulled back, forcing Ainslee to look at him. “Why do ye weep?” he asked.
“I dinnae want tae let ye go,” she told him, tears streaming down her cheeks. “I cannae.”
Arran set her aside so that he could climb out of the tub, picking her out of the water without another word and depositing them both soaking wet into their bed. Once he had them covered, he drew her into his arms.
“I am coming back.”
“But wot if ye dinnae?” she asked, her fingers tracing one of his scars. “I cannae live without ye. I just found happiness. I dinnae want tae have it taken away.”
He could understand her fears. He had the same ones himself. “It wilnae. I will be coming home. Never fear.”
“Make certain that ye do. I dinnae wish tae save yer life again.”
