“You.”
With that, their mouths came together once more, hungry for each other like they had been that night at the stables. He pulled her into his lap at once, her legs draped over his, his hands moving on her thighs and her hips like he was making sure she knew she belonged to him. He let out a low growl against her lips, the sound of it shuddering through every inch of her body, and she felt that tingle that had started where his hand had met her face starting to inch down, down, down…
Then, to her surprise, he flipped her over and laid her on the bed. Moving on top of her, he wrapped his arms around her, pulling her against his strong chest. She brushed her fingertips against his shoulders, marveling at the strength of him, as his mouth traveled down across her chin and towards her neck.
She felt his teeth graze at her there, and she was reminded, once again, of that wolf, that beast that could have torn the little rabbit apart with ease with a single motion. And yet, though it should have scared her, the notion of it sent another flood ofdesire coursing through her system, and she slipped her hand into his hair and pulled him back up to kiss her once more.
His tongue pushed deep into her mouth as his hands balled up her dress and pushed it above her hips. He let himself down on top of her again, and she groaned as she felt the pressure of his manhood against her for the first time. In that moment, some deep part of her knew how much she wanted it, how much she needed him inside of her. Though she had never been with a man like that before in her life, never even come close, some primal aspect of her being understood what it would feel like, and knew it would go some way to sating this need within her.
But, before she could so much as whisper to him how much she wanted him, he began to work his way down once more, starting at her neck, and brushing his lips over her shoulders, pulling aside her robe so that he could trail his tongue along the nut-brown curve of her breast. He let his teeth catch against her for the briefest moment, sending a shock of sensation through her. She expected pain, but instead, under his touch, it felt more like pleasure.
And he moved down, down, further down, until her nightdress was pushed over her hips and he had exposed the dark puff of hair on her mound. He let his breath warm a spot low on her belly, so close to her most sensitive spot she could scarcely stand it, and she found her hips lifting to try and meet him, silently begging him for more.
She looked down at him, her breath coming hard and fast by now, and found him gazing back up at her, nestled between her legs, hands tucked beneath her thighs to keep them open. His mouth was just an inch or two from her sex, and she could feel the warmth of his breath against her, the promise of it, of everything that he wanted to give her. Yet, she got the sense that he would have enjoyed keeping her there in that momentforever, making her squirm with need and never quite sating her, just to see the look on her face.
But whatever mercy he had in him must have been close to the surface on that night, because, at last, he moved towards her, and pressed his mouth to her sex for the first time.
Her back arched from the bed, her lips parted, though no sound came out. The pleasure was too intense to be translated into something as mundane as sound, no, the feel of his mouth, warm and eager against her, was more than she could make sense of. Her hands balled the bedcovers beside her, drawing them into her closed fists as she tried to catch her breath, as he planted kisses against her most intimate spot, over and over again.
A low whimper escaped her lips as she managed to glance down at him once more, and the sight of him like that was nearly enough to take her over the edge in that very instant. This man, this wild, dangerous man, between her legs like that, giving her everything that she needed, doing things to her she could never have imagined. His lips and tongue were soft and practiced, his hands digging into her thighs to keep them spread so he could have all the access to her he wanted.
Her hips rose to meet him, the waves of pleasure building and building until she could not think of anything else. The world could have been burning down outside that bedroom door, and she would have cared little for it, such was the intensity of the pleasure he was sending to every inch of her body. She began to breathe faster, her eyes screwed shut, focused just on the way it felt, the graze of his stubble against the soft skin of her thigh.
When her release finally came, the corners of her vision blurred for a moment, a raw, deep sound tearing from her lips that surprised even her. She could hardly control herself, her body writhing on the bed, her entire system coursing withsensation so intense she couldn’t think of anything but him. He didn’t move his mouth, coaxing the last of her pleasure out of her, until, finally, she had no choice but to push him away so she could catch her breath.
He gazed up at her for a moment, from where he lay between her legs, and she was struck, all at once, by how different he looked, almost vulnerable, boyish, with her shimmering sex still smeared across his lips. She moved down to kiss him again, almost forgetting what he had just done, but he pulled back before she could reach him.
“You should rest,” he murmured to her as he sat up once more, gazing down at her.
“Rest? But I…”
“You’ve had a long journey,” he intoned as he slipped from the bed, turning his back to her. She furrowed her brow, her body still tingling from the release that she had just reached. Had she done something wrong? She reached out for him, trying to pull him back to her, craving the warmth of his skin against hers, but he had stepped past the length of her arm before she could.
He moved to the door and paused for a moment before he stepped out, casting a look over his shoulder at her. In the dim light, she could not make out the expression on his face, or what he might have meant by it. She had no guess as to why he had changed his tune so suddenly, or what she could do to change it back.
“Rest well.”
With that, he stepped out of the door and pulled it shut behind him, leaving Mary with no other recourse but to fall back onto the bed and stare at the ceiling, confused about what had just happened.
But not confused about how certain she was that she wanted it to happen again.
11
Mary lingered just outside the door to Kiernan’s study, convincing herself to pluck up the courage to step inside.He’s your husband, for goodness sake! I should be able to see my husband whenever I choose…
But, before she could muster up the nerve, she heard voices from within, and she pulled back. She knew she should not be eavesdropping, but she was still so confused about exactly what her husband wanted from her. Sometimes, it felt like the only way she might get to the bottom of his true desires, once and for all.
“Aye, I’ll be in touch with the family in the village to pay their dues,” a voice—Archibald’s, she was quite sure—remarked. Kiernan let out a grunt in agreement.
“Make sure you do,” he replied, and she heard the scrape of a chair, and footsteps heading towards the door. She thought to make a run for it, but she knew she would not have made it far before he had spotted her, and he might have been suspicious had she tried to put too much distance between the two of them.
A moment later, Kiernan appeared in the door to his study and came to a halt when he saw her standing there. A slight furrow appeared in his brow.
“Are ye alright, Mary?”
She liked the way he said her name. There was something about it that she had never heard on the lips of anyone else who had said it before, something just for the two of them. She nodded.
“Yes, I just wanted to come and see you,” she replied, suddenly feeling foolish for even trying. In the week or so since she had arrived at the Keep, she had been struggling to find her feet, or really get a feel of what Kiernan wanted from her. After that first night together, he had left her to sleep in her bedchambers alone, working late into the night in his study. She saw him at dinner time, when she would take her seat next to him at the head of the huge table that served as a meeting place for his subjects and advisors.
