An Oath Broken (16 page)

His eyes searched hers with a desperate tenderness.

When she thought he would draw her to him, her body trembling with anticipation for his touch, he took her hand instead.

“There is more.”

“More?” she asked, trying not to show her disappointment.

“Aye.” He led her along the steep ledge rimming the gorge.

She glanced down the ice-slicked rocks to where the water pounded far below. “Should we walk so close to the edge?”

A smile touched his mouth. “’Tis the only way to get where we are going.”

The land dipped then curved toward a stand of firs. After pushing the heavy boughs away, a cave stood before them.

Confused, she glanced over. “You wanted to show me a cave?”

“I want you to see something inside,” Giric said with irresistible charm.

“Oh.”

He led her inside. In the murky light, several smaller tunnels branched out before her, the rush of water beyond but a muted roar.

“Where do these tunnels lead?”

In the dimness she caught the twinkle in his eyes. “It depends on what you are trying to find.”

At the desire roughening his burr, prickles of sensation wove through her. And in that moment, however wrong, she wanted him more than anything else in her life. “And what am I trying to find?” she asked, her words breathless.

“A question for you to answer,” he whispered, his burr thick. Giric guided her toward the tunnel the farthest to the left.

Blackness swallowed them, but he continued along the twists and turns with familiar ease along the underground passageway.

“Have you never been given a surprise?”

She hesitated. “No.”

“I am sorry for that,” he said, his voice as tender as sincere. “Then this will be my surprise to you.”

Her breathing grew unsteady. She trembled in his hold.

He paused and after a long moment continued on.

What had she expected, that he would kiss her? Yes, foolish thoughts she had no rights thinking.

With each step, the thunder of the waterfall grew. As they rounded the next bend, a large cavern unfolded before them.

Sunlight streamed through the rush of water, bursting into a riot of color. Enchanted, she walked into the prismed light, paused several feet before the falls, the mist cold against her face. “’Tis wondrous.”

“As are you.” Giric kissed her, soft, slow, and with a hint of desperation.

Wanting him, Sarra gave in to the emotions, drowned in his taste. At this moment, however wrong, she needed him as much as he needed her.

When he skimmed his mouth along her jaw, she moaned with the tenderness of it. “Giric . . .” But his fingers were already working their magic, sliding through her hair, as his mouth took, teased until need ignited into a scorching flame.

The roar of the water dimmed, the cool shimmers of mist against her skin lay forgotten. When he drew her against him until their bodies merged as one, she ached for more.

On a shudder, he caught her face in his hands, his own unsteady. “God forgive me, I want you.”

A
myriad of emotions flickered in Sarra’s eyes—desire, innocence—but Giric focused on one, utterly amazed: love. Never having expected her to look at him with such tenderness, the need that thrummed him seconds before churned into a riotous demand.

Reasons he’d erected why their marriage wouldna work fell away. Bedamned her guardian and bedamned his son Lord Sinclair. To Hades with his own meager means. What they had here, now, would bind them forever. Although she’d nae spoken the words, she loved him. It shone in her eyes as bright as the midday sun, and was proven in the gentleness of her every touch. Together they could overcome any obstacles life chose to wield.

Giric lost himself in the taste of her lips, basked in the rightness of this moment.

On a moan she pressed herself against him demanding, giving, her innocent response seducing him until his body ached for her.

Though he’d made love before, never had anyone moved him like Sarra. How could he have ever doubted his feelings toward her? She was everything he could ever want in a woman and more.

And she was his.

Would always be.

Forever.

Overwhelmed by emotion, his hands trembled as they slid beneath her cape until they met skin.

She drew back, her eyes dark, tangled with nerves and desire. “Giric, I . . .”

He brushed his mouth over hers in a tender kiss, understanding her shyness, but tasting her passion. So he moved with slow strokes until her hesitancy fell away, her hands skimmed over his shoulders, and her lips moved against his with an urgent demand.

In moments his garb as well as hers lay discarded in a tangled heap, save for his woolen cloak, which he laid on the ground.

She stood before him, her nipples taut in the cool air, and the questions in her eyes those of an innocent.

Giric interlaced his fingers with hers. “Trust me. In this. In our life together.” He brought her hands to his lips. Turning one hand over palm up, he kissed the sensitive center.

A blush stained her cheeks, and she started to look away.

“Nay,” he said, “never be ashamed when you are with me.”

“But I . . . I do not know how to . . .”

“Follow your heart.” He drew her into a tender kiss, stunned at how his body fit perfectly against hers. “You are beautiful.”

Her eyes searched his as if afraid to accept his words as truth.

And at that moment, he would do whatever it took to make her believe.

He grazed kisses over her face as he cupped her breast. A tremor shuddered over her skin, and he slid his thumb across her taut nub. “I am going to make love to you.” He pressed soft kisses against the slender column of her throat, and reveled in the feel.

On a soft moan, she arched her neck giving him better access. “I want you, too,” she said in a rough whisper.

Emotions stormed his every coherent thought as Giric laid her upon his woolen cloak. Her slender form, accented by firm, round breasts, the wedge of downy hair that lured him to look, invited him to taste.

 

Emboldened by his sensual perusal, Sarra slid her fingers across the ripple of muscle over his chest.

He tensed beneath her touch.

Nervous, she glanced up. “I did something wrong?”

His face twisted in a half-pleasure, half-pained expression, Giric shook his head. “Nay, lass, you are doing everything right.”

She hesitated.

“I enjoy your touch, immensely so.”

With a steadying breath, she continued, enjoying the feel of his skin, the hard silk of honed muscle along the flat of his stomach. As she moved lower, took in his impressive size, she stilled. Nerves edged through her, and she lifted her eyes to his.

“Everything will be all right,” he whispered, his eyes darkening.

And she believed him. She released a slow breath, ashamed at her ignorance when she wanted to show him how much she . . . By the rood, she loved him!

The anguish of trying to sort out her feelings toward him all made sense. The turmoil she’d struggled over as they’d traveled was due to what her heart already knew.

Overwhelmed with emotion, when Giric lowered his mouth to hers, she tumbled into the kiss. He laid siege to her mouth in a devastating plunder. As his hands stroked her breast, a coil of heat ignited and she arched against him. “Giric,” she moaned.

His eyes hot with passion held hers as he slid his tongue over the tip of her breast.

Flames burst hot inside, the warmth wonderfully destroying.

Hunger in his eyes, he brought an icicle to her nipple and traced the cold length over her sensitive flesh.

A tremor rippled through her, then the heat of his mouth replaced the icy tingle and she gasped with delight.

Water rushed several feet away, the cool mist tingling against her flesh as he used the wand of ice to trace a slow curve along the flat of her stomach, his tongue following with excruciating slowness. Then his fingers brushed against her most private place.

Sensation stormed her, and she arched against his touch.

His eyes flicked to meet hers, hot with desire. “I want to taste you.”

At the explicit request, a tremor ran through her. She felt exposed, but wonderfully so. Never had she imagined making love could be so incredible, but wrapped in his intimate embrace, she wanted everything and more.

With their gazes bound, he dipped his head and tasted her in the most erotic caress.

Heat poured through her with a potent force. The world tilted, and before she could grasp a fragment of sanity, his finger slid inside her moist heat.

And she was lost, caught in an unearthly ride filled with unspoken promises, of blistering heat, and mind-spinning pleasure.

Then his finger began to move in rhythm to his tongue.

And she shattered.

The world spun around her, sweet like honey, warm like summer heat. As she floated back, dazed from the pleasure of his lovemaking, his hands held her while his tongue continued its sweet torment.

She gasped as again she was spinning up. On a ragged cry, she again plunged over the edge.

Giric moved beside her and held her until her tremors subsided.

Embraced by a soft warmth of her release, on a sigh she laid her cheek against his neck. “I never knew it could be so wonderful.”

A tender smile curved his mouth, and the love in his eyes almost brought her to tears. “There is so much more I want to show you.”

“More?” Sarra blushed remembering the intimacy of his actions, but her body tingled at his sensual promise.

“Much more.” Giric outlined her finger with his tongue then swirled it along the crevice.

Heat slid through her. Before she could regain control, he drew her finger into his mouth and began to suck.

Sarra shuddered, the familiar desire thrumming through her veins straight to her core.

“There is so much more.” As if to further prove his claim, one at a time, he drew each finger into his mouth for the same, thorough caress.

Pulse racing, she tried to catch her breath, but his other hand slid to caress her breast, then moved to cup her moist heat. He slid his finger inside her while his mouth suckled and his eyes watched, and she could only whimper from the pleasure of it.

 

Giric continued to stroke Sarra, loving watching her every shiver, how her body tightened around him, and how with his each stroke, she now arched against him.

Need to claim her stormed him. With her body trembling from her release, confident he’d prepared her for their joining, he pressed kisses along the soft curve of her neck as he eased inside her slick folds. As he nudged her barrier, he stilled.

Her tight sheath closed around him and her body began to shudder. “Giric!”

His fragile control shattered and he drove deep, then stilled, witnessing the surprise in her eyes and the pain. “I am sorry.” His body raging to take her, he held, honored to be her first lover, vowing no man would ever touch the woman who belonged to him. He brushed a damp tendril from her cheek. “I promise from now on you will only feel pleasure.”

The hurt in her eyes of moments before faded to trust.. “I love you.”

“Sarra I . . .” Humbled by her words, and however much he wanted to whisper the same, fear tore through him. With gentle strokes, he began to move within her; though he hadna spoken the words, he would show her.

As he increased the pace, her nails clung to his back. “I—”

He drove deep.

On a moan, she threw her head back.

Her moist rush engulfed him, and his body began to quake. Blast it, there was so much more to show her. And he would, he promised himself, if it took forever. “Sarra,” he breathed as he spilled into her, her cries of release matching his own. Enwrapped within the rush of emotions pouring through him, he drew her against his chest, amazed how this one woman had reached his soul.

“You love me?” he asked, his throat tight, needing to hear the words.

With her heart in her eyes, she nodded. “Yes. I never thought that I could . . .” A blush spread up her cheeks.

Joy filled him. “Love knows no bounds. You have my heart and so much more.” Sarra watched him, her eyes filled with hope.

His happiness of moments before faded. And why would she nae? They’d made love and she’d shared her feelings. Now, she waited to hear his declaration in return.

Except she didna know that he was a reiver.

She shivered.

“You must be cold.” Giric gathered her clothes. The time to speak of his past would come soon enough. They would have this one night. On the morrow he would tell her, and he prayed that she would understand.

Confusion touched her face. “A bit.”

“Once we have dressed, there is something I would like to show you.”

She lifted a questioning brow, her confused look lost to one of curiosity. “If ’tis anything like this, we shall be a while.”

Warmth filled him at her teasing, and then he grew somber. “Naught could be as special to me as you.” He claimed her mouth, pouring his love for her into his kiss. On an unsteady breath, he drew back. “From this moment we are man and wife. I vow that no one will ever break what we have, the love we feel for each other.”

Eyes raw with hope searched his. “But what of—”

He pressed his finger against her lips. “We will have this day. On the morrow we will discuss the future.
Our future
.” Her skin tingled from the growing cold, and goose bumps dotted her flesh. “Let us hurry before you freeze.”

“It did not feel so cold a moment ago,” Sarra said, yanking on her dress, the warm glow of their lovemaking glistening in her eyes.

However tempted he was to strip her naked and make love with her again, her body needed time to rest. After Giric secured her cape, he took her hand.

Curious eyes met his. “Where are we going?”

“To show you what I brought you here to see in the first place.” He led her to the edge of the cavern wall where water spilled past with a thunderous rage.

Sunlight slipped between the edge of the cave and the wall of water to entwine in a spectacular prism. Encased within the mist of colors along the floor’s border grew green stalks that arched toward the sun, each stem tipped with a slender-petaled white flower, the inner leaves tipped with a swath of green.

Sarra crouched, cupped a crisp bloom, and lifted it to her nose. She smiled.

“Snowdrops.” He knelt beside her. “Because the waterfall protects the ledge, these flowers bloom here up to a month earlier than the surrounding forest.”

She inhaled the flower’s scent one last time then released it. Her eyes misted with tears as she pressed her lips against his. “Thank you.” When she drew back, a smile curved her mouth, one that shot straight to his heart. “I would never have guessed you to be a man who would be aware of when snowdrops bloom.”

“I care about many things great and small.” He stroked his fingers over her cheek, afraid he might be caught in a wondrous dream and suddenly wake up. But the silkiness of her flesh was real, and he sent up a silent prayer for the precious gift of her love. “You know little about me.”

A shadow of doubt crossed her eyes. As quick, it vanished. “True, but in the years ahead I will discover what it seems I originally dismissed.”

The cold, skeptical woman he’d first met came to mind. “Perhaps you will nae like all that you find?”

She angled her chin with the familiar defiance he adored. “For too long I have lived bound by my past,” Sarra said, her eyes growing reminiscent. “During our travels, you have shown me that I was wrong to condemn the Scots for the actions of a few. ’Twould seem that I chastised many people who hold the same values as I do without ever giving them a chance.” She exhaled. “I am ashamed that for years I have allowed hatred to rule my life. Not all Scots live the brutal lifestyle of the reivers. But now, because of you, I can move forward.”

The regret in his gut grew twofold. He should tell her about his past, but doubts slid through him, and he remained silent. He would tell her on the morrow. ’Twould be soon enough.

Shaking off his somber mood, he stood, forced a tender smile. “ ’Tis time we return.”

She joined him, her eyes bright. “I am looking forward to the evening’s festivities.”

Sarra started to turn, and he caught her hand. “Wait here.” Giric walked to where the flowers bloomed. He picked one, returned, and handed her the snowdrop. “To remember this moment.”

A tear slid down her cheek as she lifted the flower to her nose, and inhaled the fragrant scent. “As if I could ever forget?”

Nor would he. After one last kiss, Giric led her from the chamber. Though the oncoming night held promises of passion, what of tomorrow? Could his telling her of his past destroy their newfound love?