She had read about those things, but she could never have imagined that they felt like that. The desire he had awakened in her was more intense than any book could have described. His tongue kept thrusting in and out in steady pulses, and every time, it sent a flutter of pleasure. She could hear the wet sound, and it only drove her even more mad with desire.
That was when she lost control. The inside of her, her very core clenched, only to release in a molten rush of heat, unlike anything she had felt before. When she looked down, the sight of his dark curls buried between her legs sent a million little goosebumps up and down her body.
As the last ripples of pleasure ebbed away, she didn’t feel his tongue leave. It was still inside of her, gently lowering her back to the ground from the clouds she had just floated on.
Only then did he pull away. His lips were slightly wet from her juices, and she couldn’t help but smile. He smiled back.
She felt him adjust his manhood between her thighs, pressing against the entrance to the core of her yearning. She could feel him slowly stretching her, then he stopped.
“I will take ye now,” she heard him whisper almost reverently. “If that is what ye want. If ye dinnae, tell me now. And if at any point I cause ye pain, tell me tae stop.”
She couldn’t imagine him causing her pain ever. So, she told him so.
“Nay,” she cupped his face, bringing him closer to hers. “Ye would never, I ken that. And I want this with ye.”
He gazed deeply into her eyes for what seemed to be an entire eternity, then his lips crashed on hers at the same time that his manhood claimed her.
They both released a sound of pure pleasure, swallowing it momentarily through the kiss.
The sensation was blissful, if uncomfortable at first, taking hold of her completely. She closed her eyes for a moment and then opened them instead, because she wanted to look at him, to drink in the sight of him as they became one. She raked her fingers through his hair, keeping him close. They were both ravenous for each other, and his every thrust embodied it.
She pulled him closer and held him harder. He in turn, moved deeper and deeper, faster and faster, watching the cues of herbody. His hips thrust over and over again, deep inside of her and she could hear the sounds filling the chamber.
She did not feel embarrassed. She couldn’t be, not when he awakened such pleasure inside of her. His lips were still wet as he gazed at her, and at that very moment, he reached a place inside of her she didn’t even know existed. As he slid in and out, the tangle inside of her suddenly tightened even more, and her entire body clenched. Then, she felt herself rise to incredible heights as her body lifted to meet his, and in one blissful moment that felt like an eternity, she felt as if she were coming undone.
Her body convulsed and tensed, then untensed again, and his followed, only more frenzied. They both lost control, relinquishing everything they had to each other. When he withdrew from her, it felt as if her entire body were still pulsating, still demanding more.
But then he kissed her and she started feeling satiated and serene. Wrapped in the quiet warmth of his arms, Elaina let herself forget, if only for a moment, that the world beyond that room still waited for her. And as his breath steadied against her shoulder, she realized that this fleeting peace might be the most dangerous thing of all.
CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR
Elaina woke slowly, as though surfacing from something deep and fragile, unwilling to break whatever stillness held her there.
She simply breathed. Warmth surrounded her, comforting in a way she had not felt in years. The weight of it pressed gently against her back, grounding her and holding her in place.
Then she became aware of him. Her breath faltered slightly as the memory of the night before returned in full, vivid clarity: the way he had looked at her, the way he had touched her.
Elaina closed her eyes briefly. Then she opened them again. Carefully, she turned her head. He lay beside her, still asleep.
The sharp lines of his expression had softened, the tension that so often defined him gone in sleep. He looked…younger, less like a laird who carried the weight of an entire clan on his shoulders, and more like the man beneath it.
Her gaze lingered too long, but she could not seem to look away. Her eyes traced the familiar lines of his face, then lower, to the rise and fall of his chest, steady and even.
Then, her gaze moved to his arm. The bandage she had wrapped the night before stood out stark against his skin, the edges faintly darkened where blood had seeped through. It was not a bad wound, that much she knew. His body bore the marks of far worse.
But this one… this one had been forher.
Elaina’s breath grew shallow, and she felt something heavy and unwelcome in her chest. He had been hurt because of her, because she had gone there, she had brought danger with her, whether she wished it or not.
A quiet ache settled beneath her ribs. That was exactly what she had tried to avoid. But men like Duncan, men who carried duty the way he did, would bleed for what they chose to protect.
Elaina swallowed hard, feeling her throat tightening. She could not bear the thought of him being drawn further into something that had never been his burden to carry.
Her gaze returned to his face. He was still peaceful. Carefully, so carefully she barely dared to breathe, she shifted away from him. The loss of his warmth was immediate, not just in her body, but deeper. She pushed it aside.
Slowly, she slipped from the bed, in movements that were as deliberate as they were silent. The floor was cool beneath her feet, grounding in a way she needed.
This was the right thing to do. It had to be.
