It was sensible advice and Cam kissed her hands again. “I will,” he said. “But is that why ye really came? Tae offer me advice and not speak on the past several months? Much has happened, Isadora. There is a reason why I’ve come here.”
They were back on the subject she was trying to avoid. “I know,” she said. “Truthfully, I’m so glad that ye’re alive that the reasons ye came to the Ludus Caledonia dunna matter much.”
“Ye truly thought I was dead?”
She nodded. “Netherton is ashes.”
Isadora hadn’t meant to say that and she winced, wondering how the conversation was going to go from this point on. Would the memories of a burned-out village dampen the moment? She watched him closely as the light in his eyes seemed to dim with the reflection.
“It is,” he said. “Everything is… ashes. Everything but ye.”
She could see the grief in his face. “Is that why ye came here? Tae start a new life?”
He looked at her. “I canna start a new life without ye,” he said. “I was going tae return for ye. Surely ye knew that.”
She smiled. “I thought ye were dead. Unless yer name is Lazarus, I’m not sure how ye could come back for me.”
He frowned. “Ye’ve been true tae me, havena ye? And I dunna care if ye thought I was a ghost.”
The moment went from somber to humorous quickly. “I’m tae be true tae a ghost?”
“I’ve been true tae ye the whole time. Even if I was dead, I’d still be true tae ye.” He sobered, reaching up to cup her face gently. “In this life or in the next, I’ll always be true tae ye, sweetheart. Dunna ye know that?”
Isadora did. With all her heart, she did. As she nodded her head emphatically, he pulled her off the bed and into his arms.
Cam slanted his lips over hers, kissing her deeply. They’d kissed before, in the vale, but this time it was different. There was a hunger that hadn’t been there before, something consuming and hot. There was a gladness there in being reunited. Isadora didn’t resist him as he overwhelmed her with his body and mouth; in fact, she welcomed it. It was a moment she never thought she’d know again and she was more than willing to submit.
Somehow, she ended up on the hard-packed earth floor as Cam covered her with his body, his mouth on hers. He was suckling her gently but firmly, his lips moving to her cheeks and her little earlobes. Isadora’s arms were around his head as she held him against her, something she never again thought she’d experience. As Cam held her snugly with one hand, his free hand began to roam.
There was no timidity in his touch. He was exploring her, feeling what he could of her through her heavy tunic. His hand was only coming into contact with curves and fabric, but that was evidently not what he wanted. While his lips were affixed to her, his roaming hand snaked under her tunic, pulling it up, his big hand coming into contact with her heated flesh for the first time.
Isadora didn’t stop him.
She let him touch her, welcoming his confident touch as it moved up her torso and he cupped a tender breast. It wasnew, and perhaps a bit startling, but wholly arousing as she arched her back and pressed her breast more firmly into his hand. There was something so natural about his hand against her breast, his fingers gently pinching her nipple. It made her shudder, something that aroused Cam so much that he growled and suckled her collarbone enough to give her a mark.
Isadora gasped with the thrill of it.
“Never again, Isadora,” he breathed against her flesh. “Never again will ye be away from me.”
Isadora was nearly incoherent with desire. “Nay… never.”
He lifted up her tunic in response, enough so that it was bunched around her shoulders and her torso was exposed. His heated mouth found a tender nipple, suckling strongly as she gasped. He nursed at both breasts before dragging his tongue down her body, tasting her as he’d never tasted a woman in his life. He would have done more had not voices from outside caught his attention.
His head came up, listening.
“There’s no time,” he said, sighing heavily as the voices moved away. “Men will be here soon and ’tis best if they dunna catch ye hear, for yer own sake.”
Breathless beneath him, Isadora helped him pull her tunic down. “My brothers think I’ve gone tae find the privy,” she said. “I should return before they come looking for me.”
He smiled humorlessly as he stood up, pulling her to her feet. “The same pair who followed us intae the vale that time?”
“The same.”
He snorted softly. “They’d not take kindly tae finding ye with me.”
She shook her head, but her gaze never left his face. “Cam,” she said. “Tonight… if ye do fight… remember what I’ve told ye. I want ye tae win.”
He cupped her face, gently kissing her lips. “As do I,” he said. “I’ll do my best, I swear it.”
