Page 51 of The Beastly Earl

Honey could not taste sweeter than the silky warmth of her skin, and he savored her as one would a fine wine. Another sound of protest whispered in his ears. This time, the sound held the pitched notes of hunger and need. He ignored it and continued to work his way down to the full, lushness of her breast.

The moment his lips reached the hard tip of her breast she inhaled a sharp breath. Anticipation echoed in the soft gasp, and she arched her body upward in a silent demand for him to take her into his mouth. Ignoring the unspoken plea, he turned his attention to the indentation between her breasts. With her free hand and a whimper of need, she tried to force him to tend to her breast.

He resisted for a brief moment, before allowing her to guide him toward the rigid peak. His tongue flicked out to swirl around the hard tip of her, and she released a sigh of pleasure. A second later, he bit down on the swollen nipple. Her cry of shock filled his ears as she jerked beneath him in obvious surprise.

Flicking his tongue out, he soothed her sensitive flesh then bit down on the hard tip again. This time her cry was one of pleasure as her body writhed beneath him. Soft fingers dug into his shoulders as he soothed her sensitive flesh while quiet feminine pants of excitement filled the air

"Oh, please." The hunger and passion in her voice tightened his cock as his body responded to the soft plea.

"Please what, mo leannan?" he rasped as he raised his head to look up at her. Passion burned in her gaze as a soft hand cupped his cheek.

"I want you. I want to be a part of you."

The husky words were a plea and sweet invitation that pushed him over the edge. He captured her mouth in a hard kiss and shifted his body against hers. With a powerful thrust he buried himself inside her, smothering her cry of pleasure. He didn't move for a long moment as he savored the slick heat of her.

As their tongues tangled and swirled in a fiery dance of passion, he slowly increased the pace of his steady thrusts. Each time he retreated, her muscles contracted around him like a hot vise. It was a sharp pleasure that pounded at his body. With every stroke, her hips rose upward to meet his in perfect unison. Their bodies rocked against each other with a passion that was spiraling out of control, and he lost himself in the essence of her.

The delicious, subtle scent of rose petals filled his nostrils, while the warm silk of her skin against his ignited a fiery need in the depths of his soul. Desire blinded him to everything but the hunger she aroused in him. It was as if he'd breathed her into every cell in his body, and she was a part of him. A moan poured out of her, and her body jerked hard against him while her muscles tightened around his cock.

In a sudden onslaught of pleasure, her spasms gripped and pulled at him until every part of him was demanding a release. Another hard shudder rippled through her as she arched upward into him with a wild cry. Frozen against him for a brief moment, the white-hot heat of her contractions around him drove him to pump his body into hers at a blistering speed. A strong wave of pleasure crashed over him dragging him under until he was blindly racing toward an abyss unlike anything he'd ever known. With one last thrust he went rigid against her softness, and with a shout, he throbbed hard inside her. The ragged sound of her breathing echoed in his ears as he slowly lowered his body down onto hers. Long eyelashes rested on her flushed cheeks as her eyes remained closed. Slowly, her breathing became quiet, rhythmic breaths, and the tremors vibrating into his body slowly abated.

Ewan's gaze drifted down to her full mouth, and he brushed his lips over hers in a tender kiss. A soft murmur drifted out of her, and as he lifted his head, her eyes fluttered open. The satiated expression in her gaze took his breath away as a dreamy smile curved her mouth.

"That was wonderful," she whispered as she cupped his face with her hands.

Something about the way she looked at him made his heart slam into his chest. How would he ever be able to let her go when the time came? The question made a knot form in his throat, and he slowly rolled off of her. It was an inevitable outcome, there was little he had to offer her.

Silence filled the air between them for several moments before Louisa curled up into his side, her head settling in the nook between his chest and the stump of his arm. Once again, he was startled by her acceptance of him. It was as if his missing arm were the most natural thing in the world.

As he marveled at how easily she ignored his injuries, the softness of her lips against his chest made him draw in a sharp breath. His reaction resulted in a smothered laugh whispering against his skin like a kitten purring with satisfaction.

"What do you find so amusing, lass?"

"Nothing," she murmured with distinct amusement.

The denial made him shift his upper body so he could stare down at her. Mischief sparkled in her eyes as her gaze locked with his and her lips found their way to his nipple. He watched her pink tongue flick out to swirl around his flesh. The moment she abraded the nipple with her teeth, he released a growl of pleasure. An impish expression on her sweet face, she settled back down into the mattress at his side.

"I simply like hearing how you react to my touch."

"You, are a minx, mo leannan."

A chuckle rolled out of him as he found it impossible to resist the sleepy smile tilting her lips. Her hand covered her mouth as she yawned then closed her eyes and burrowed her body into his.

"I like it when you call me mo leannan," she murmured as another yawn parted her lips.

The soft words sent a wave of emotion crashing over him. For the first time since he'd awoken without an arm or eye, he felt whole. His heart thundered in his chest at the realization, and he turned his head slightly to look down at Louisa. She was only half-awake, and as he reached across his chest to brush a lock of hair off her cheek, she uttered a quiet sigh of contentment. The sound stole all the air from his lungs, and he struggled to breathe as he realized how much he wanted every night to end like this—with Louisa curled up against him like a kitten.

In the silence of the room, her slow steady breathing indicated she'd fallen asleep. For a long time, he stared down at her as his thoughts careened around in his head like the bullets that had whizzed past his head in battle. He'd questioned his sanity the day he'd agreed to let Louisa stay and be Ross's governess. That he'd not followed his instincts to send her away was only the first of many mistakes he'd made where she was concerned.

What was he supposed to do now? Ewan suppressed a groan as he closed his eyes. Until this moment, he hadn't realized he was falling off a cliff where Louisa Morehouse was concerned. The fact that he was hanging onto the face of that precipice by little more than sheer willpower scared the hell out of him.

Chapter 14

A quiet sound penetrated Ewan's sleep, and he was instantly awake. The mantle clock chimed softly, and he blew out a harsh breath as he recognized the harmless sound. In the Sudan, the prospect of being slaughtered in his sleep had been a constant threat and fear. Despite the stillness and deceptive peaceful nature of the desert, his survival instincts had jolted him awake at least once a night, sometimes more. The habit had saved his life on several occasions.

While the only battles he fought now were with his mother, the sights and sounds of the battlefield stalked his dreams every night. There was no reprieve from the blood and death that made him jerk upright in bed with his heart pounding viciously in his chest. The screams of dying men still rang in his ears as he slept. He'd not even been spared the agony of his own suffering at the hand of an enemy's sword.

The doctors in the hospital had said the nightmares would eventually fade, but they'd been wrong. The blood-curdling cries of the enemy still taunted him in his sleep. He would never be free of the hellish dreams. With resignation he closed the only eye he still possessed before his muscles tightened with a violent jerk.