The words broke something open inside her. Margaret pressed closer again, her voice barely more than a breath.
“I cannae bear the thought of being anywhere but here.”
His thumb brushed lightly along her jaw. “Ye are safe, Margaret.”
“With ye,” she murmured.
The chamber felt suddenly very small. Margaret could still feel the tremor in her body, the lingering echo of fear beneath her skin. She clung to him tighter.
“Dinnae leave me alone,” she whispered.
Domhnall exhaled slowly. His forehead rested briefly against hers. And the space between them, which was already fragile after the morning by the loch and the kiss they had shared, finally broke under the weight of everything they had just survived together.
He cupped her face and brought it close, as his lips crashed against hers. His lips were soft, yet they demanded everything of her, and she was willing to obey. He claimed her with reverent tenderness, and his hands traveled down her body, relinquishing her of her gown. His shirt was next, then his trousers.
She pressed her open palms to his chest, feeling his heartbeat.
“Touch me, Margaret,” she heard him say through the kiss. “I want yer hands on me.”
Her fingers trembled as she felt the outlines of his muscles, while his lips moved down her jaw, to her collarbone, following an invisible line desire. He pressed his hands over hers, leading her down his abdomen, to the deliciously masculine form she was so curious about. How wonderful he felt under her fingertips… how hard and smooth at the same time.
When his hand led her to his manhood, she gently pulled away her fingers. He smiled against their kiss.
“Dae ye see how beautiful I think ye are?” he murmured softly, making her blush. “How mesmerizing…” His words were followed by a kiss on her neck, and then slowly, he led her to the bed.
He was staring intently at her, drinking in the sight of her, and she knew that she wanted to be his, then and forever. Without ending their kiss, he laid her on the bed. His finger trailed a line down her collar bone, all the way to her breasts, circling her nipple in a tantalizing manner.
“Dae ye like this?” he murmured softly.
“Mhm…” That was all she could say, biting her lower lip.
His fingers played with her nipple, teasing it, until he used his tongue to drive her utterly mad with desire. He took her nipple into his mouth, sucking and biting with barely enough pressure to make every single hair on her body stand on end.
“Oh…” she moaned, closing her eyes and getting lost in the moment.
While his tongue was swirling around her wet nipple, her fingers found the sacred flesh of her most intimate place, and the moment he touched her there, she felt as if her body was on fire. He knew exactly what he was doing, and his kisses only seemed to exacerbate her yearning.
“More, more…” she heard herself say, without a modicum of embarrassment. Nothing could have felt righter than melting into the arms of that man.
He slid his finger inside of her slowly and tantalizingly, without stopping his devilish tongue. When he used his thumb to press, and curled his finger, she clutched at his shoulders, digging her nails into his skin.
“Faster…” She had no idea how she knew what she wanted.
He grinned, continuing to tease her and please her, until she felt her entire body tighten, then explode into what seemed to be a million little stars that scattered throughout her field of vision. A bliss of warmth enveloped her, and her lips found his, in a kiss that she felt would last forever.
Only, it didn’t, because the moment his finger moved, her body seemed to yearn for more. He adjusted himself between her legs, and cupped her cheek with his hand. She knew what would happen. She had read it in books that were hidden in her father’slibrary. But she could never have imagined that it would feel like that.
“I will take ye now, Margaret,” he whispered softly. “I will be gentle, but if I hurt ye, tell me.”
She gazed lovingly into his eyes, into the eyes of her husband, the man who had saved her in more ways than she could imagine.
“Ye could never hurt me,” she whispered back to me. “I… want ye…”
At that moment, she felt the gentle prodding of his manhood. Instinctively, she locked her legs around him, keeping him close. When he moved, his lips pressed to hers. And then, in one blissful, painful moment, everything changed. They became one.
She gripped at him harder, feeling the onslaught of effervescent desire. He thrust deeper with each motion, and his tongue did the same. She moaned with pleasure, feeling full and satiated, with her hands on his body and their bodies moving in unison.
This was more than mere lovemaking. This was a communion of souls and she knew now that hers would always belong to him.
