Page 70 of In Bed with a Highland Brute

“It was a marriage of arrangement.” He lifted his head and dropped his hands away from her, leaving her cold without his touch. He slid down off the saddle and stepped away from her, leaving her to scramble after him. “I was fond of Lillie. Aye, I liked her. I didnae love her. Yet the way she died…” He faltered and stood by the edge of the loch, staring at the waterfall on the other side. “She was murdered, undeniably pushed from the cliff, fer there had been nae rockfall. It was nae accident. We have never kenned who killed her, nor why.”

Eloise moved to stand beside him, watching the side of his face and the way all the muscles had tightened. The sinews in his neck stood out, for he was holding himself taut.

“It has haunted ye,” Eloise whispered. He nodded, still not looking at her.

“I am so sorry, Murdoch.”

“When I saw ye standing in that spot,” he turned sharply to her, a redness coloring his cheeks, “it all came back. The fear, the anger, and the thought that ye could have been lost tae –” he moved toward her, taking hold of her waist with both of his hands, “– that is more than I can possibly bear.”

“Murdoch, I am alive.” She placed her hands on his chest, her fingers splayed outward. “I’m still here, beside ye, and I am breathing.”

“I cannae lose ye as she was lost. I cannae dae it.”

“But –”

“Nay, Eloise. Ye dinnae understand. I cannae dae it.” He moved his head close to hers, and hurriedly kissed her. His lips moved against her sensually, fiercely, as if he needed that kiss as a drowning man needed air. Eloise’s hands rose up his chest, needing to stay close to him as she continued that kiss. “That is why I cannae lose ye.” He pulled back an inch from her lips to say the words.

“Because ye enjoy my kisses?” she asked him in a soft voice, trying to lighten the atmosphere between them. He slowly shook his head, his lips spreading into the smallest of smiles.

“Because I cannae imagine my life without ye in it now.” He closed his eyes, as if embarrassed that he had said those words at all.

Oh! He cares for me!

A rush of warmth enveloped Eloise at his declaration. With his eyes closed, she felt emboldened, determined to do something to show him just how much she cared for him too. She raised herself on her toes and kissed him again. His reaction was instant, one of his arms wrapping around her waist as his other hand went for her hair. He pulled at her tendrils in the updo and angled her head to the side, so he could kiss her deeper.

Pushed back by the fierceness of his kiss, she ended up paddling in the shallows of the loch, though she hardly cared about getting wet. She would have happily swum in that loch if it meant just continuing this kiss for a little longer.

“Murdoch,” she whispered as they pulled back from one another, both standing in the loch with the water growing up her gown. “There’s something I want ye tae ken.” She breathed deeply, trying to find the courage to speak of what she felt for him now. “I ken how we started all of this, that it was all a deception tae begin with.” She stared in the middle of his chest, feeling his arm wrap around her even more, pulling her toward him so their hips brushed together. “Yet my heart is yers, if ye wish tae claim it.” Her words were scarcely audible at all, though he seemed to hear them, for he tilted her head back again and connected their lips once more.

This time, there was no pulling back. He continued that kiss, pushing her deeper as he explored her mouth, and Eloise clung to him, wanting more and more of his touches. With his arms around her waist, he lifted her from the bed of the loch and carried her toward the riverbank, away from the water.

When they reached the grassy bank, he laid her down on the ground and moved over her, their bodies pressed together in heat. He lifted himself up enough to look her in the eye, his body weight resting on his forearm beside her head.

“Ye need out of this gown. In this weather, ye’ll be freezing,” he whispered, yet he showed no sign of returning to the horse and moving away.

Eloise knew what she wanted. Maybe it was a wild and foolish thought when they were out here in the middle of the countryside, but they were isolated, completely alone, and the desire was consuming her, her body already on fire.

Feeling bold, she raised her hands over her head, showing she was happy to shed the gown now.

Murdoch reached for the laces across her breasts, a great smile spreading across his lips. He hurried to untie them, then lifted her body up enough to remove the gown, tossing it to the side somewhere. It landed amongst the dirt and rocks, though Eloise didn’t care to look where exactly it was. When he stood and left her body, she whimpered, wanting him back with her again. He returned just a second later from the horse with a blanket in his hands. He laid the blanket across the ground and pulled her onto it, so she was at least lifted from the dewy cold grass.

He pressed their bodies together once more, his hands framing her waist, his long fingers trying to cover as much of her body as they seemingly could. Aroused by such a touch, Eloise ran her hands over his back and his strong shoulders, longing to have him closer, as close as she could possibly get him. Reaching for his clothes, she tugged at the loose jerkin over his shoulders, urging him to be rid of it. He didn’t stop kissing her as he helped her throw it to the side. Next came the shirt, and he had to part from her long enough to allow her to pull it free over his head. It joined the pile of clothes in the grass, before he moved back above her, kissing her intensely.

One thing led to another. His hands took hold of her corset, freeing her from it, and soon her chemise was gone too, along with her woolen stockings and her boots. Completely bare, she was astonished she wasn’t colder, but the heat of Murdoch’s touches kept her warm, as did this raging need inside of her body. It came as a wetness between her legs, an ache that longed to be satisfied.

He knelt up in front of her, reaching for the flap of his trews, though he didn’t quite release himself. He was waiting, looking straight at her, with full patience.

She nodded, showing she was ready for this, that she couldn’t bear for him to stop now. His lips flickered into the smallest of smiles before he untied the flap and pushed the trews down his hips. Eloise raised herself, moving to help him get rid of the trews.

When he was bare too, she looked down, intrigued to see all of him so completely. An involuntary gasp escaped her lips at the sight of him, for he was bigger than she had expected.

“Trust me?” he whispered, moving over to her once more. Unable to find words, she simply nodded and leaned back on the blanket, reaching for him. He pressed his body to hers, kissing her again, though there was no chasteness in this kiss at all. It was instantly passionate and fierce, demanding in a way that she loved. He pushed her back down flat to the tartan blanket he had laid out, his tongue dancing with her own.

The feeling of his bare chest across her own had her trembling. So much skin was pressed together, that it initiated a trembling deep within her gut, making the ache for him in her core grow even deeper.

Reaching down, he took hold of one of her knees and hitched it around his hip. She was completely open to him now, her body ready for him. They only parted from their kiss when his length nudged her entrance. She looked Murdoch in the eye, watching him, quite entranced that he wanted to do this with her at all.

“Ah, Eloise.” Her name left him in a sigh as his length slid into her.