“And out from under the MacGregor’s roof.” Caitrin understood him instantly.
He straightened and looped the reins over a low-hanging branch, leaving the horses free to crop the tufts of grasses spearing through the forest loam. Caitrin met him halfway, her steps as slow and measured as his, as if they were both giving the other time to change their mind, to call a halt to what was so clearly on Jamie’s mind. And hers.
She made the first move, reaching up to tangle her fingers in his dark auburn hair, nearly black in the forest’s low light. Jamie did as she wished and bent his head to kiss her. The heat of his lips sent tingles coursing down her back, but then he wrapped her in his arms, chasing the chills away, replacing them with a low fire that spread along her nerve endings from her back to her fingertips and toes. Instantly, his scent and taste flooded her senses, and his soft groan of need vibrated against her breasts.
“Will ye be mine, then?”
“Aye, of course. Here? Now?”
Jamie pulled back, his eyes full of regret as he searched her face. “Yer first time must be special. As much as I want ye…need ye, this is neither the time nor the place.” He closed his eyes and rested his forehead against hers for a moment.
“My first timewillbe special, because it will be with ye.”
Jamie’s teeth caught his lower lip as he studied her. “It will be hours yet before MacGregor’s men tire of chasing the others and come this way—if they ever do.”
“So we’re safe if I want it to be here…and now?” Caitrin murmured in his ear then licked and nipped his neck just behind it.
Jamie’s grip on her tightened.
“Now, Jamie. Here. And now.”
With an oath, he grabbed the rolled-up plaid from behind his saddle and moved away from the horses before tossing it open on the ground. Then he picked up Caitrin and laid her on the plaid, joining her there before she’d had a chance to catch her breath.
Caitrin arched against him as he kissed his way down her throat, then unlaced the tie at her neck, and continued running his lips and tongue down her chest. With eager fingers, he pulled aside the bodice and covered her peaked nipple with the wet heat of his mouth, licking and sucking, before he moved to the opposite side.
Caitrin moaned, and the sound seemed wrenched from deep within her, so deep that it sounded like it belonged to someone else. Like Jamie. Aye, he moaned, too, as he tugged her skirt above her knees and slipped a hand underneath. She opened her legs while Jamie’s hand strayed higher, fully aware of his hard length on her thigh as his fingers found her moist center. Caitrin bucked, but Jamie didn’t let up, with mouth or hand, as he murmured sweet words and his body rocked against hers. She barely knew what happened before she found herself moaning his name and drowning in sudden pleasure the likes of which she’d never felt before.
Jamie eased up, slowing his seduction in time with her breathing as the last pulses claimed her. Then he caressed her hip with the hand beneath her skirt while he kissed her again, then told her, “It will be like that, love, only more so, when I make ye mine. But yer first time should be done in comfort, no’ on a plaid on the ground. Never fear…” he continued, stroking his big warm hand down her hip as he silenced her with a kiss, “I will make ye mine. And soon. I can barely stop myself now.”
She gave him a soft smile. He was trying to care for her the best way he could, reigning in his own passions to protect her. But she wanted him as much as he wanted her. “Then dinna stop, Jamie. I want this. With ye.” Caitrin’s breathing speeded as Jamie’s hand wandered up, tugging gently on the damp curls at the apex of her thighs. “I meant it when I saidnow.”
“Ye willna wish to ride…after.”
“Then I’ll ride with ye. ’Tis only an hour, ye said.”
Jamie chuckled. “Ye will, indeed.” His hand left her body.
Caitrin stroked down his chest to his belt and fumbled with the catch.
“Let me.”In moments, Jamie had freed himself and pushed Caitrin’s skirt up to give him access. “Ye’re lovely to look at, lass.”
“Ye are…intimidating.”
“We can wait for a bed.”
Caitrin reached out and traced a finger around the moist head of Jamie’s erection. “Or no’.”
With an oath, Jamie took her hand away and kissed it while he moved between her thighs. “It will hurt, but only for a bit.”
“So I’ve heard. I want ye, Jamie. I always have. I willna wait any longer.”
With that, Jamie began to push his way inside.
She welcomed the pressure. It filled the emptiness within her that ached for him. She scarce noticed the pinch as he breached her barrier. Her heart swelled with joy, with relief, that Jamie, the man she’d loved for so very long, finally possessed her. The rightness of it brought tears to her eyes, happy tears. Satisfied tears. She seized around him then slowly relaxed as he held still, giving her time to accustom to his length and thickness. “Now, Jamie,” she whispered.
“As milady wishes,” he murmured and began to move within her.
****
