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But she needs more—I can feel it in the tremble that moves through her. My hands slip to the hem of her skirts, gathering the heavy wool and linen before slowly pushing them higher along her thighs. The cool air kisses her skin, but my touch is heat against it. I bunch the fabric at her waist, pinning it there to expose her to the open breeze.
My breath falters as a soft, “sweet mercy,” leaves me at the sight of the soft curls framing pure perfection. She’s already glistening and swollen with arousal that mirrors my own.
“Ellen,” I groan, settling between her legs, nudging her wider. I press a kiss to her inner knee, then higher, trailing my lips along her sensitive skin. My breath ghosts over her centre, making her shiver. Without further hesitation, I lean in, tongue flicking out to taste her. Her body jumps at the first real touch.
I drag my tongue over her in one slow, deliberate stroke, from her entrance to the sensitive peak above, savouring the warm, heady taste of her. She gasps, her fingers knotting in the blanket. “James… Gods above.”
My mouth seals over her, sucking gently, then delving deeper, tongue circling the small, desperate centre of her need with deliberate pressure. Her hips buck, but I hold her steady with one hand on her hip, the other sliding up to tease her nipple again, rolling the hard peak between my fingers, still giving her lovely, aching flesh the attention it deserves.
I take my time, learning her responses, letting the tension build in slow, purposeful layers.
“Your tongue… it’s so,” she trails off, as if she doesn’t know how to explain what’s happening inside her own body.
I still long enough to meet her eyes.
“Aye,” I murmur. “Is it too much?”
She shakes her head, frantic and shaken, knuckles white as her grip on the blanket tightens further.
“I’ve never—”
“I ken,” I breathe, steadying her. “Can ye take more?”
She brings her hands to my hair in response. “Dinnae stop.”
I oblige, plunging my tongue inside, pushing into her with shallow strokes, then return to her clit, lapping at it with increasing fervour.
“You taste like heaven,” I murmur against her. Her breaths are coming in ragged pants. I don’t let up, sucking and flicking rapidly while two fingers ease into her slick heat, curling to stroke a spot I hope will make her lose every thought but my name.
“James! I’m—” She clenches around my fingers, the proof of her impending release coating my tongue. The pleasure crests too fast for her to brace for it, and when it breaks, she cries out in surprise as much as release. I drink her down, not stopping, easing her through the waves so she doesn’t feel alone in it.
Panting, spent, Ellen looks down at me, eyes dark with want. “I need more. Now.”
I drag in a breath and force myself back before I forget every promise I’ve made to her.
I rise, wiping my mouth with the back of my hand, cock straining beneath the heavy fall of my kilt. I shake my head. “Not here. Not like this. I’m not takin’ you until we’re in a proper bed, where I can have my time. I’ll eat this pretty cunt as many times as you want—every night, every mornin’—but I’ll have ye fully, deeply, in a bed where you deserve to be cherished.”
She pulls me down for a kiss, bold enough to taste her own pleasure on my lips, and the sheer shamelessness of it nearly finishes me.
She breaks from my lips and trails soft kisses along my jaw until her mouth reaches my ear. Her voice is raw, desperate, almost shaking with need. “Then take me to a bed, husband. Take me fully. Claim me from head to toe. Dinnae make me wait a moment longer than ye have to.”
I groan, burying my face in her neck, inhaling her scent mixed with the hollow’s wildflowers.
“Gods, Ellen, ye’ll be the death of me,” I mutter against her hair. “But I cannae parade you through the castle like this—undone, skirts hiked up, breasts spilling free, marked by my mouth, and the sheen of you on my chin.”
Her laugh comes out breathless and wicked. “What a scandal that would be.”
“Aye,” I say, drawing back to look at her flushed face. “I’ll take ye to the quarter house, where we’ll have privacy.”
Her brows lift.
“And you intend to walk there like a gentleman in this state?”
I huff a laugh. “I intend to try. It’s close enough for comfort.”
She nods eagerly.
“If I bide here another heartbeat, I’ll lose what little sense I’ve got left,” I murmur. “And I willnae have ye like this—out in the open—where any fool could walk in and steal a look at what’s mine.”
