As his thoughts turned to the future, he also thought about the men who had come to destroy the forge. He had always tried to be cautious, but now it seemed that people he cared about might get hurt because of the distillery. What if they had found Lucy? What if they attacked Rory while he was running errands for Ian? He clenched his jaw and knew that something had to change. He just wasn’t quite sure what.
15
Sunlight poured through the window. Lucy stirred and reached across, but there was only a warm shadow. As she looked down at her naked body, memories of the night surfaced and a smile adorned her face. She was about to rise when the door opened. Ian was standing there. He cocked an eyebrow.
“I could get used tae this,” he said, admiring her figure. The way she looked at him did not make her feel embarrassed. She had always been taught that she should wear modest clothes and hide the things that made her a woman, but not with Ian. She wanted to display herself for him, to take pride in her feminine attributes, as she could see the effect it had on him. The desire was plain in his eyes, and even more plain when he returned to bed and wrapped his hand around the back of her neck, kissing her again.
“Rory is minding the shop, sae we hae a wee few moments tae ourselves,” he said, in between kisses.
“Good, because I’m nae sure that one night was enough.”
He chuckled. “Ye are a wild one.”
“Only because ye bring it out of me,” she replied. Their breaths were getting heavier again and the rush of emotion rose within her, seizing her entirely, mind, body, and soul. There was a rippling force that surged through her, that compelled her to be with him, to give him everything she had. It was so strong, this urge so clear in her mind, that it wasn’t something she could fight against at all. “Ye are lucky tae hae found an apprentice like Rory,” she murmured as his lips moved under her chin and around her neck, his fingers brushing away the errant strands of hair that spilled over her flawless skin.
“Aye, I’m lucky in many ways.” She sank into the bed, allowing the pillows to swallow her.
“I woke up wondering if last night was a dream,” she whispered.
“It was nae dream, lass, and I can prove it,” he moved down her body again, pushing her breasts together and teasing her hard, pink nipples with his tongue. His fingers dug into her flesh with such tenderness that all she could do was yield.
The previous night had been so immediate that much of it had passed in a blur. The sensations had been so new to her that she hadn’t quite been able to enjoy them properly. However, now that she knew something of what to expect, she could linger on them, let them dance around her mind and observe them as she would a precious snowflake, so complex in all its beauty, and yet at its core something simple as well.
He kissed all the way down her stomach, running his fingers up her thigh, until his lips and his fingers met at her sweetest point, melting together to toy with the dewy sweetness. She gasped loudly as they danced together. His tongue lapped against her, pressing flat and then darting it. His fingers stroked gently, caressing her as he would the petals of a flower, before he delved in, holding them straight and then curling back, stroking her sweet spots and making pleasure ripple through her.
Lucy writhed in the bed, splaying her hands out, grabbing the blanket in her fist as she braced herself against the sensations. His breath rushed over her and her eyelids fluttered shut. This was her world now, a sweet, dark world that was filled with fantasies and temptation, a world that she wondered if she could ever leave. She was trapped by her desire, but she was a willing prisoner.
The heat rushed around her, careening and the familiar waves crashed through her, rising and rising with intensity until they left her in a blissful state, as though a god had sprinkled stardust all over her body. She groaned, but he did not relent, and to her surprise, the pleasure continued. Ian seemed on a mission to leave her breathless, and that’s exactly what he did. She was a delirious thing in bed, when eventually his tongue and his fingers grew tired. They slipped out of her, drenched in her pleasure, but she was still thrumming with a deep need.
He slid up her, pressing his body against her, overwhelming her with the sheer strength of him. He caught her lips in a kiss and then hooked his arm around her leg, parting them. She shuddered as he found her, sliding into her with ease, as though they had always been meant to be together like this. He kissed her and pressed her against the bed, his hard body driven by instinct, the movements frantic and strong, thrusting harder and harder as he bristled with arousal. She could feel all the desire pooling in him, pouring into this one part of him that felt as though it was going to explode. He was a giant, he was a mountain, he was a titan astride the world and would conquer everything in his path, everything including her.
She was lost in the shadows under him. His arms cocooned her. One arm ran around her body, holding her close. The other was under her head, fingers through her hair, arching her neck back. They kissed madly when they could, for their moans were frantic. His chest was pressed against hers so tightly that she could feel the beat of his heart. It thumped and crashed, and it became her own. It loomed in her mind, and it soon became the rhythm to which she lived her life. A sea churned inside her, a storm raged. Ian dragged his teeth across her skin. Noises burst from his mouth. His body went taut, unable to withstand everything that was a frenzy inside him, and there was only one place for it to go, one way for it to end. She clung to him as his body rocked and shuddered, as the bed creaked and the world was torn asunder in their mad fury of passion. In an incandescent moment, he released everything he had. It exploded between them, the warmth flowing into her as he slumped down, spent and drained, utterly empty now because he had given her everything.
For a moment, she held him, gazing up at the ceiling, although she could see nothing but stars. He murmured gently against her, kissing her in-between desperate breaths. His heart was still racing, or was that hers?
* * *
“Sae this is freedom, then?”Lucy said after Ian had rolled away from her. They were facing each other. A blanket fell across their hips. She traced lines up and down his body, wiping away beads of sweat that had collected on his hair. She drank in every facet of his body, learning more and more about the male physique in every moment they spent together.
“Aye, at least the way it should be. But I’m starting tae wonder if anyone can be truly free. There are always people trying tae interfere in our lives,” he said, scowling as he turned away. Lucy understood that he meant the men. She furrowed her brow in concern.
“Ian, how long are ye gaeing tae continue running the distillery for? Ye dinnae hae tae just worry about the guards now. These men may nae be dissuaded by one setback. They might come back, and the next time they might nae be stopped. Is it nae in yer best interest tae stop?”
“I cannae stop,” he muttered.
“But why?”
He paused for a moment. There was a dark intensity to his eyes. “Because I know that ye cannae depend on the kindness of the world. Ye need money. Money can buy healers and freedom. It cannae cure everything, but it can certainly help.”
Lucy regarded him with a strange look. “I find the opposite. Frankly, I’m surprised ye feel that way. I know how oppressive wealth can be. My father is nae a free man. He’s sae concerned by what people think of him, and he always needs tae cling tae the power he hae accrued. He spends all his time fearing that it might be taken away, and he is even willing tae sell his own daughter tae a man who can offer some protection. If ye only value money, then it soon becomes the only thing that matters tae ye. Da dinnae realize it, but he’s as much a prisoner as anyone. It’s just that the cage around him is invisible. Maybe ye should give up and gae back tae being a regular blacksmith.”
Ian snorted with laughter. “Tae many people depend on me now, and it hae become a habit.”
“How did ye even begin anyway?”
Ian sighed, but bowed his head and spoke softly. “When it was just Da and I left, all we hae was this forge. We would hammer day and night, but things seemed different. Then, Da hae an accident. He was unable tae work as much and we hae debts piling up. Eventually, he died because of the strain upon him, and it was soon after this that the Laird banned distilleries. I was told that if I could find a way tae supply whiskey, then I could pay off my debts. I tried tae find people who would supply it, but they were all tae scared. Sae I learned how tae dae it myself. It took a wee bit of trial and error, but eventually, I improved, and I was able tae sell things. It helped tae pay off Da’s debt, but then it just became, well, I dinnae hae anyone tae tell me tae stop.” He shrugged. “I thought I should keep gaeing in case I ever needed healers or freedom again.” He then offered a wry smirk. “And tae tell ye the truth, a part of me enjoyed it as well. It was nae like I hae anything tae lose.” He gazed at her intently, suggesting that perhaps he did have something to lose now.
“But ye hae tae spend yer entire life looking over yer shoulder. Surely, that is nae the way ye want tae live?”
