It was interesting the way she felt completely relaxed whenever he was with her. Erica imagined if it had been Jamie she bumped into and had to suppress a giggle.
“What now?” He reached out and gently touched one side of her lilting smile with his finger. “What’s this for? Me arms are fine, by the way. A fine warrior I would be if I could nae carry a pail o’ water!”
She grinned, moving closer to him instinctively. “Naught, naught, Finn. A private joke ’tis all. I have good news for yer mither. Me faither finds much to disapprove of inside Buchanan Castle; he has gone to his rooms to rewrite the terms of the settlement.”
Finn returned her smile. “Help me out here, lass. How is that good news? I ken little about marriage settlements.”
“It means,” Erica whispered, “that Faither is likely to reduce the amount of me dowry…considerably. Which means that Jamie is no’ likely to want to marry me so much. It was always about the dowry money, ye see: lots o’ gold in exchange for the title of Lady Buchanan.”
Erica also believed that most of Jamie’s desire to marry her, besides the vague inclination that he wanted to bed her, had to do with the fact that she was arriving ready for a wedding in the same way a lamb was sacrificed. Now that the element of accepting the hand she had been dealt had been taken away, Erica’s options were expanding.
He reached over and stroked her arm. “Erica, lass, ye are priceless, truly ye are. I need ye to ken that before ye sign any marriage contract.”
She hung her head, suddenly too shy to make eye contact because she knew the light of some intense emotion would be burning in the looks they gave one another.
“Faither would only smile upon my union with a laird, Finn.”
When Erica found the courage to look up at him, she was glad she had.
Every woman dreams about seeing a look like that in her lover's eyes, an’ now that I’ve seen it, I want all those warm dreams o’ mine to come true.
She melted into his arms as he drew her to him. For one beautiful moment, she heard the thrum of his heart beating against her, then he bent his head to kiss her. It was like watching a rainbow arc across the sky after weeks of rain. Only when he kissed her again did Erica realize that she had been yearning for his touch since that night in the forest—no, since the first time she had watched him ride into the castle forecourt—and her mind and heart had been acting in strange ways.
And now her body was too. As his kiss deepened, Erica felt her knees grow weak. She was compelled to press herself against him as if she wanted nothing more than for their clothes to melt right off their bodies so nothing could come between them. Her hands slid over the rigid muscles of his chest and wrapped around his neck. She must have it more, have it deeper and stronger, or else die from longing.
Taking a step backward, pulling him with her, Erica leaned against the narrow staircase’s walls. She gave a small moan as she felt his mouth fit over her upper lip, the sharp incisors caressing her in a way that made her body mad for more. He allowed her to do something that she had always longed to do—run her lips and tongue over his angular jaw and feel the stubble on his face prick her.
Giving him a little nip with her teeth, she whispered, “Can I come to yer chambers later? I want more.”
He lifted his mouth away from hers a fraction, murmuring, “I sleep over the stables, love.”
Erica found nothing upsetting in this. He could take her in the straw if he wanted to.
“Will ye come to me then?”
She would not rest until she knew this would continue. In fact, why could they not go to her bedchambers right now? She knew it was dangerous and they might be discovered, but she no longer cared.
“Promise me ye will come to me. I want ye so badly, I dream of us doin’ such things to one another, it would make yer head spin…”
He growled, kissed her, and then pulled away. “Aye, I will come to ye, lass. Yer sweet kisses are enough to drive any man to do crazy things. What will ye do about Gertrude?”
She gave him one last kiss, then escaped from his arms to run up the stairs. When Erica reached the next landing, she gave him a naughty keek and a wink as he gazed up at her, watching her depart.
“Leave it to me, Finn. I’ll think of something. Just make sure ye get there!”
