“I’ll have more wine, Sir Jamie, if you please.”
As she handed him the empty goblet, their eyesmet. What he saw in those deep blue eyes twisted his heart.
“Why is it you still fear me, lass? Have I no’ proved you’ve no need? I swear I’ll be more gentle than any lover you’ve had ’afore me.”
“I’ve had no others.”
She didn’t say it indignantly, as she had before, just simply and quietly. Jamie caught his breath. His heart filled with sudden joy.
“If you can say that now, when you know I’ll be finding out ’afore we leave this room, then it must be so. Och, Sheena, you canna imagine how happy I am to be knowing it. You canna imagine what hell I suffered when I thought Jameson—”
“And why should it make a difference to you, James MacKinnion?” Sheena snapped.
“Why?” He was shocked.
“Aye, why? You believe in handfasting and the taking of innocent lasses. How many maidens have you had and set aside without a thought to what their eventual husbands would be thinking?”
“Enough, Sheena. I wed you thinking you had been with another, so you see it made no real difference to me, but I canna deny I’m glad there’s been no other. If that makes me selfish, so I am. Here, if it will help,” he said gently, and filled her goblet.
She looked at it and shook her head despondently. “Nay. Nothing will help except if you take pity on me and let me go.”
“And have you live with fear even longer? I wouldna be so cruel.”
She gasped and looked up, ready to face him, but he had set the wine aside, and his hands touched her shoulders, resting there with a gentle weight. She could feel his chest against her back. Her hair, the sides swept up to fall backward with the rest, was out of his way, and his thumbs rubbed against the curves of her neck.
“Let me put your fears to rest, Sheena, for all time,” he breathed.
His lips brushed the skin just below her ear, and a tingling spread down her neck and over her shoulders. Sheena succumbed. She tilted her neck to the side to give him more access, and his lips took complete advantage.
If he hurt her, then he hurt her. But if he didn’t? How wonderful to think she might be wrong about him! How extraordinary to think she could feel something other than hate and fear.
She was unable to dwell on the discovery, however, for he caught her tightly in his arms. His lips touched hers with such incredible tenderness. It was the same as that day at the burn. Thought deserted her, and sensation took over. She had the feeling of floating, feather-light, supported only by his arms. Her body was soaring through the sky, soaring….
How long they stood there by the fire, Sheena didn’t know. She was dimly aware of a change in Jamie’s kissing, an increase in urgency. But it was only when the warm breath of the fire touched herbare skin that she became completely aware. Her gown and petticoats lay in a pile at her feet.
She was bared to the eyes of a man—and not just any man. Bright color flooded her face and neck. She tried to cover herself, but Jamie pushed her hands away while his own circled her waist to pull her close. And then he was kissing her again, and she didn’t know whether to give in to the warmth that was rushing through her or fight to escape.
She was still undecided when he picked her up and carried her to his bed, laying her down gently. He began to remove his own clothing. She was free for the moment and had a chance to run, but Jamie sensed her thoughts, and while he caressed her with his eyes, he soothed her with words.
“You dinna have anything to fear, Sheena. I’ll never hurt you. ’Tis cherishing you I am. You’re more precious to me than anything I ever dreamed of. Can you no’ sense that, sweetheart? Can you no’ see I want only to make you happy? And I swear you will be happy. I swear you’ll no’ regret being my wife.”
He knelt on the bed and bent over her, cupping her face in his large hands. “’Tis too long I’ve waited for you, too long I’ve been wanting you. Just trust me a little, Sheena, ’tis all I ask.”
Why shouldn’t she? He was going to have her. Why not make the best of it?
But the decision was not really Sheena’s. Her body was in control, more than willing. His lips had been warm, and soon they became hot. Her fingerstangled in his thick hair, pulling his head back a little, for she was afraid of the intense heat. But Jamie’s tongue was dancing circles around one taut nipple and then the other, and Sheena pressed him closer, the feeling exquisite.
When his mouth returned to hers, Sheena returned his kiss so wholeheartedly that Jamie leaned back to look at her. His eyes were bright, and he smiled at her with such warmth. She smiled back, fully and freely. It was the first time she had smiled at him since learning that he was The MacKinnion. Was all forgiven? It was more than Jamie had hoped for.
Her blood was fired. There was a need she didn’t understand, a desire to have his body closer, closer. Sheena jerked and cried out as his fingers suddenly slid between her legs. But he didn’t stop, and once the shock had passed, she didn’t want him to. His fingers explored, causing delightful spasms. She could have suffered that blissful torture forever. Jamie prolonged it just long enough.
She would never be more ready for him than she was then, and he knew it. His change in position was swift and, before she knew what he was doing, he plunged into her. Sheena caught her breath. Then she sighed. She had expected pain, much worse pain, not that tiny tearing that was soon forgotten. How kind of him to have done it quickly, making it much easier. She felt only a fullness now, deep inside her. He didn’t move, and she couldn’t guess why he was so still.
Jamie was silently waiting for her accusations tostart. How he had hated hurting her! If only she would say something, curse him.
She did speak, with her body. Sheena instinctively understood how she needed Jamie. She moved under him, forcing him out of her, then moved her hips upward to take him back, taking him whole.
Jamie shuddered in relief and delight. His hands gripped the sides of her head, holding her still for a kiss. While his lips plundered the sweetness of her mouth, his hard member explored the warmth enveloping him. He had never felt so strong, so masterful, so enthralled. He drifted into the mist where he had first seen her, floating ever closer to her, intoxicated by her feel, her scent, her warmth.
