Page 99 of Under the Laird’s Promise

Not gentle. Not careful. Just pure need and frustration and weeks of restraint shattering all at once. His mouth claimed hers with devastating certainty, one hand fisting in her hair while the other splayed across her lower back.

Maighread melted into him, her own hands clutching at his shoulders. The kiss turned fierce, tongues tangling, teeth scraping. She tasted rain on his lips, felt the solid heat of him pressed against her.

When they finally broke apart, they were both breathing hard.

"I'm nae leaving," he said again, the words rough. "Nae taenight. Nae tomorrow. Nae ever, unless ye tell me ye dinnae want me here."

"I want ye here." The admission cost her, but she meant it. "I want ye so much it terrifies me."

"Good." His hand slid from her hair to cup the back of her neck. "Because I'm terrified too. And we're going tae face it taegether."

He kissed her again, slower this time but no less intense. Maighread's fingers found the laces of his shirt, working them loose with trembling hands. She needed this. Needed him. Needed to prove to herself that he was here, alive, whole.

Tavish's hands moved to the fastenings of her gown, deft despite the urgency driving them both. The fabric parted, sliding from her shoulders to pool at her feet. Cool air hit her overheated skin, raising gooseflesh across her arms.

"Saints above," he breathed, his gaze traveling over her. "Ye’re beautiful."

Heat flooded her cheeks. "Dinnae just stare at me."

"Why nae? I've been thinking about this fer weeks." His fingers traced the curve of her waist, feather-light touches that made her shiver. "About how ye'd look. How ye'd feel."

"Then stop thinking and dae something about it."

“We said we would wait… are ye sure? Dae ye ken what this means?”

Aye and I want ye tae dae it now,” she whispered.

His answering smile was pure sin. "As me lady commands."

He lifted her easily, carrying her to the bed. The mattress dipped beneath their combined weight as he settled her onto the linens.

They kissed passionately, his tongue exploring her mouth and his hands moving across her body, caressing every curve, responding to every sound she made, discovering what she liked the most.

When her hips started to buck, asking for more, he covered her body with his. The heat of him, the solid weight, felt achingly right. They moved together with desperate urgency, but Tavish took his time despite the fever burning between them, learning her body.

Maighread felt like her body burning up from desire and called out his name, instinctively opening her legs for him.

When he finally entered her, Maighread's back arched, a cry escaping her lips. Pain flared sharp and bright, then faded into something else entirely. Something that built with every slow thrust, every whispered word against her skin.

"Alright?" he asked, his voice strained.

"Aye." She pulled him closer, wrapping her legs around his hips. "Dinnae stop."

He didn't. They moved together, finding a rhythm that turned the world outside irrelevant. The storm could rage all it wanted. Nothing mattered except his hands on her skin, his mouth at her throat, the exquisite friction building between them.

Every time he pushed in, he touched a spot that made her see stars and she could not get enough of him. Her hips rose to meet him and, finally, release crashed over her in waves, stealing her breath and making stars burst behind her closed eyelids. Tavish followed moments later, his body shuddering against hers as he buried his face in her neck.

They lay tangled together afterward, breathing hard, hearts racing in tandem. Rain continued to lash the windows, but inside the chamber, warmth enveloped them.

Maighread traced patterns on Tavish's chest, her fingers following the lines of old scars. "We should go."

He shifted, propping himself on one elbow to look at her. "What?"

"Leave the castle. Just fer a day." She met his eyes. "I'm tired of walls and watching eyes and council members hovering. I want tae be somewhere that's just… ours."

"Where did ye have in mind?"

"There's a waterfall about an hour's ride north. Hidden away in the forest. I used tae go there as a lass." She smiled. "We could pack food, spend the day away from all this."