Page 66 of Seduction in a Kilt

“I never want ye tae stop, Liam, never!” she cried, moving against him, covering his face and neck with passionate kisses and little bites wherever she could.

“Thank God,” he breathed, his hands parting her legs before he positioned his pulsing shaft at her entrance and slowly, inch by inch, impaling her upon it.

Ivy screamed as he pushed inside her, filling her to the hilt. She clung to him, her head on his shoulder. “Omigod, Liam,” she gasped, “surely, ye’ll split me in twain!”

Worried, Liam did not move, just held her there, buried deeply inside her, relishing the exquisite tightness of her muscles surrounding him, touched by the knowledge that he was her first. “Am I hurtin’ ye, Ivy?”

“If ye are, then naethin’s ever hurt so good,” she breathed, drawing back and gazing into his eyes. She seemed about to say something but then kissed him instead, with passionate fierceness.

Relieved and happy, he brushed the wet hair from her brow and buried his face in her neck as he pulled out of her, then pushed in again by degrees. With each slow thrust, she cried out and clutched his shoulders, her fingers tangled in his hair.

“Mmmn, I need more of ye, Liam, more, more,” she breathed frantically, rising up and then back down again, her muscles tightening around him.

“If that’s what ye desire, melady, then more ye shall have.” He speeded up, plunging as deep inside her as he could, his hips gaining momentum as Ivy moved ever more urgently upon him, her breasts bouncing against his face.

“Ye’re so beautiful, ye ken ye could drive a man mad,” he groaned, driving into her harder with each stroke, his pleasure ascending. They were both panting hard now and hanging on to each other as if for dear life, kissing, sucking, biting any naked flesh they could find.

He had imagined he knew what it was to have a woman, but now he realized he had been very wrong. He found himself in the grip of something so overwhelming, he forgot himself entirely. The intoxicating sensation gripping him as he drove into her was consuming him like fire, surging up through his entire body, possessing him.

And best of all, he could feel it in Ivy too. Just as he was bringing her to the peak of ecstasy, so she was him. The thought of that and the ecstasy possessing him sent him plummeting over the edge.

In the afterglow of their tumultuous, yet tender lovemaking, Liam got out of the tub and lifted Ivy out. He dried her off and carried her over to the bed. But by that time, the old fear of commitment had begun to take hold of him again. It drove him to decide that however much he wanted to spend the night with her, it would be a big mistake to do so.

It would be like declaring his feelings for her, and the thought of that scared him half to death.

“Are ye nae getting’ in with me?” she asked when he tucked her into bed and then pulled on his shirt.

“I dinnae think that would be wise, Ivy,” he said, gathering up his things and preparing to head to his chamber to sleep. He could hardly bring himself to look at her because he knew if her did, he would weaken.

“I’m confused, Liam. After what just happened between us? Did that nae mean anythin’? I thought…” Her voice trailed off, and he winced to hear the pain in it, hating himself. But his fear was so great that he clung to his vow as though for life itself.

“Of course, it meant somethin’,” he hedged, tempted to confess his real reasons for leaving her after all that had passed between them. But he found he simply could not bring himself to do it. After all, she had invited him to take advantage of her, to make her a woman. And he had done that, had he not?

Not to mention that she was still technically Knox’s hostage in his bid to win peace with her brother. She could be sent back to wed Gael Hamilton at any time.

Thus, he justified to himself leaving her and returning to his own bed. But he lay in it so restlessly and felt so bad, knowing how hurt and confused she must be feeling, that sleep eluded him for a very long time.

The following morning, Ivy awoke and found herself alone in the bed. The passionate night she had spent with Liam until he had decided to leave her to go and sleep in his own bed came flooding back to her. Her disappointment was unchanged.

She lay there unmoving, taking a mental inventory of her body and her emotions. Her injured arm was understandably sore, and her body ached from the fight in the ruined chapel. No doubt time and the hot bath had helped to ring out the many bruises she knew she had sustained. However, she also ached from something else, and the ache was unexpectedly pleasant. She felt deliciously languorous and heavy with contentment. I’m nae a maid anymore, she thought, I’m a woman now.

And what an awakening it had been. The things Liam had shown her and the things she found herself wanting to do with him, to him, far exceeded anything in terms of pleasure that her inexperienced imagination could have dreamed up. She knew she was forever changed, inside and out, and Liam was the agent of that change.

The way she felt about him now had crystallized into a certainty that she would never want any other man they way she wanted him. The closeness they had shared while their bodies had moved together in such blissful harmony had affected her deeply.

Thus, she had fully expected him to spend the night with her in her bed. When he had told her he was going to sleep in his own chamber she had been shocked and hurt. She had only agreed because she was too proud to beg or whine.

Why did he dae that?The only answer she could come up with was that he did not feel the same way about her as she did about him. Because she knew she was in love with him. If not, why did it hurt so much that he had left her after their passionate encounter?

She was reflecting on all this when someone tapped on her door. “Come in,” she responded. The door opened, and Effie poked her head inside.

“Can I come in? I thought I’d come and check on ye and see how ye’re feelin’,” she said.

“Och, hello, Effie, of course, come in. I’m glad tae see ye. Come and sit down by me,” Ivy replied, gesturing to the chair by the bed. Effie did as she was invited, and Ivy soon filled her in on how she was recovering.

“Ye’re a tough wee lassie tae be sure,” Effie told her with obvious admiration. “But even so, I wantae keep an eye on that arm of yers in case it gets infected. And dinnae go doin’ anythin’ too strenuous, like fighting anyone, or it’ll just open up again.

Ivy was glad her friend could not see what she had been up to with Liam the night before, sure she would get a scolding if she could.