Page 30 of The Cursed Highland Bride

“Ewan,” his voice roared above the clamor. The fight instantly stopped, and the men parted to allow him access without a second thought.

“My laird,” Ewan answered, breathing heavily from laughter as much as exertion. He sobered instantly when he saw the look in Dunn’s eyes. “I was teaching her tae fight. It was nae more than that.”

Dunn turned his gaze to his wife and found her glaring angrily up at him. “If ye wished tae train, I or my brother would have done so,” he chastened.

“Ye and Tor were otherwise engaged.” Her eyes challenged him to do anything.

Dunn fought the urge to pick her up and carry her back to the castle but he did not wish to rise to the bait of her challenge. To do so would show her that she had power over him, and that was the last thing he would ever admit. Shoving down the need to bury himself inside of her with a ferocity that would have frightened her, he dismissed his men.

“If ye are in need o’ instruction again, come tae me or Tor. I will nae have my men’s hands upon ye for any reason.”

“Do ye judge me tae be unfaithful?” Her eyes bored into his in accusation.

“I dinnae.” He shook his head. “But other people will. I will nae have ye subjected tae such talk. As the laird’s wife, ye must be above reproach.”

“And the laird? How must he be seen?”

“It is nae the same,” Dunn admonished her. “Ye are a lady o’ noble birth. Ye should ken that.”

She made a face that he could not quite interpret, but it did not look like one of acceptance. A fierce possessiveness came over him, and he reached out to grab her around the waist. He pulled her against his body, bringing her ear to his lips. “Ye are mine, and nae other man will touch ye.”

He could feel her heart beating fast against his chest, her breathing was quick and shallow. Her fingers dug into his shirt as the soft curves of her body clung to the sharp muscular planes of his own. “I am nae man’s possession,” she whispered against his neck.

“Ye are mine,” he insisted, unable to help himself.

Her breasts rose and fell, rubbing against the planes of his chest. He ran his lips along the side of her face and jaw, then down to her throat. His left hand cupped her breast as the pad of his thumb stroked the nipple into a hardened peak. He tightened his hold on her waist, unable to get her close enough to suit him. A moan escaped her lips as her hands traveled up to grasp him by the hair.

Unable to resist her even one moment longer, he lifted her in his arms and carried her over to a stone wall that would hide them from view. The torture of the last days had been enough to drive him mad with his need for her. He supported her weight by pressing her up against the hard cool stone, kissing and licking his way down her neck and throat to her breasts. Lifting her skirts, his hands traced her legs up to her hips, grasping her buttocks. A sharp intake of breath brought her breasts into his mouth, and he suckled hard.

Katarina arched her back in ecstasy. “Dunn, please,” she whispered.

He did not need further invitation. Growling low in his throat, he ripped at the ties of his trews and with one single thrust, he was buried to the hilt. She cried out as he sank his full length into her, then he slowly pulled out to plunge deeper still. Katarina felt wet, hot, and completely his. She was like the finest brandy on his lips, her skin the softest silk. He groaned from the sheer pleasure of feeling her beneath him, moving in time with his every thrust. She was his perfect match in every way and, in that moment, he did not care who knew it.

“Katarina…” They both fell over the precipice together.

“Dunn,” she breathed as her weight relaxed, falling against him. He set her down, his hands still on her naked skin beneath her dress.

“Dunn!” Tor’s voice broke the spell that encompassed them.

Dunn growled, releasing Katarina to tie up his trews, and stroked her cheek before checking how she looked. He made certain that her dress fell back into place, covering her modestly, before he walked to the edge of the wall to see what his brother wanted. He found him standing in the training field with the king’s messenger. Dunn turned back to inform Katarina that he must go, but she had already gone. He looked all around, but there was no sign of her.

CHAPTER TWELVE

Katarina fled the scene of their lovemaking as quickly as her trembling legs would allow. She had not meant to succumb to the lust that burned between them. She had meant to make him want her as a means to eventually get his help, but she had not planned to actually surrender to it. When she was with him, her body ached to be enjoined with his, but her mind could not dismiss the image of Brigid emerging from his bedchamber naked on their wedding night. He had left Katarina’s bed to immediately lay with another woman. No matter what else happened between her and her husband, the fact of his mistresses would always taint it.

Katarina found her way down to the shore where the sea lapped at the rocks. Pausing to make certain that no one was about to see her, she stripped out of her clothes and walked into the sea. She needed to wash his seed from her skin and with it the emotions that threatened to overtake her mind, body, and soul. The cold water was the shock she needed, sending gooseflesh across every surface of her body. She embraced the discomfort, allowing it to wash away everything that she and Dunn had just shared. She could not think with a clear head when she was with him. His scent clung to her body as if claiming her from the inside out. Closing her eyes, she allowed the waves to crash over her.

“Katarina,” Adamina’s voice called above the waves.

Katarina turned to see her sister-in-law standing on the rocks at the sea’s edge. She lifted her hand to wave in reassurance that she was well and not in need of assistance, but Adamina motioned for her to come back to land. Sighing, she obliged.

“Is all well?” Katarina asked, wondering if anything had gone amiss in her absence.

“Ye will catch yer death,” Adamina admonished. “What were ye thinking going that far out?”

“I can swim, Adamina.”

“I see that, but ye are nae familiar with the sea here. It is dangerous if ye dinnae ken it well.”