Highlander Unchained (35 page)

She traced the tight bands of stomach muscle with her fingers and noticed how he tensed as she drew closer to his arousal, straining against the leather confines of his trews. Slowly, teasingly, she began to work the ties, allowing her hands to brush over him, lingering as if she might mold her hand around him. He drew in his breath at her gentle teasing. Now loosened, the trews slid down past his waist, revealing the enormity of his desire.

If she didn’t know it for fact, she would have thought it impossible that he could fit inside her. She ran her finger down the long length of him, still amazed by the softness of the skin that covered hard steel. He groaned as she explored him, tracing the ridges and rolling her thumb over the thick head, feeling his impatience. Finally, she circled him with her hand. He tightened as she pumped him long and hard as he’d shown her, gradually increasing the speed as she felt the passion inside him build. She could feel the throbbing under her fingertips, the force of his desire straining to break free.

His face was tight and his eyes dark with burgeoning passion. He looked impossibly fierce and not a little dangerous, but she knew it was all for her—frantic desire that could not be chained. She loved that she could give him such pleasure, as he gave her.

Her mouth was level with him, and she caught the inkling of an idea. An idea that she would have been far too embarrassed to voice, but the need to hold on to him, to make it so that he would never think of wanting another woman, gave her courage to be bold.

He was watching her, his jaw clenched in a hard line, as if he knew what she was thinking.

She wet her lips. “Could I…” Somehow the words would not form. She peeked up at him from beneath her lashes and saw the sudden flare in his eyes. “Would it—”

“God, yes,” he said roughly.

She leaned forward and tentatively placed her mouth on him.

His reaction was instantaneous. The surge of lust that powered through Lachlan was as hot and heavy as molten steel. Never had he felt such an intense rush of pleasure. Pleasure so powerful, it penetrated every part of his body. His knees nearly buckled when she pressed her moist, soft lips on the head of his cock. He jerked against her, the pressure nearly unbearable. The blood roared in his ears, and he could barely think.

It wasn’t supposed to be like this. He’d wanted tonight to be about her, so that he could show her the depth of his love for her. But Flora had completely surprised him. Her instincts hinted at a sensuality that, once given flight, would rival his own. He’d sensed she would be adventuresome and spirited, but he hadn’t expected it so quickly. The streak of boldness, the fire he admired in her character, just might prove his undoing.

She already had him on his knees.

Her kiss was tentative at first. It took every ounce of his strength not to guide her warm, inviting mouth around him. She let her soft lips trail down the length of him and then drew up her tongue, licking him in one long stroke.

He watched her through half-lidded eyes, her blond hair shimmering in the candlelight, her feathery lashes fluttering against her pale cheek. But it was the sight of that sensuous mouth around him that gripped his heart. She would do this for him. Never had a woman wrought such emotion and pleasure from him.

His body strained against the base demands she was calling with her innocent kiss. All he could think about was being inside the hot cavern of her mouth.

She circled him with her tongue, and a fresh surge of lust hit him hard. He beaded, the pleasure too intense to deny. But nothing prepared him for seeing her tongue flick out to lick the drop that seeped from him.

He groaned and, unable to take it anymore, guided her mouth over him.

His mind went black as he drowned in the chasm of her moist, hot mouth surrounding him, taking him deeper and deeper. He clenched his body, forcing himself not to thrust, giving her time to adjust to the feel of him in her mouth.

The haze cleared when she released him, but then only for a moment.

“Tell me what to do.”

His heart pounded. His muscles, too long flexed, were feeling the pain of control. It took him a moment to get out the words. “Suck me with your mouth the way you do with your hand.”

She scooted up a little closer and tentatively placed her hands on his backside, before lowering her mouth around him again.

This time he didn’t think, just surrendered completely to the erotic satisfaction she was giving him. The soft pull of her mouth was as close to paradise as he would ever come. He couldn’t take it, watching her lips stretch around him, the way she took him so eagerly into her mouth, the way her hands grabbed his buttocks to pull him deeper. The pressure was so intense, the need to explode primal. His entire body went rigid, and knowing he was about to come, he pulled himself from her mouth.

She looked at him with surprise.

“I need to be inside you, right now.”

Realizing his trews were still bunched around his knees, he pulled them off and tossed them on the ground beside the bed as his body came down hard on top of her.

He kissed her mouth, her neck, her breasts, as his hands slipped between her thighs. He realized how much she’d enjoyed pleasuring him; she was wet and hot and ready for him. He placed his hands beside her shoulders and lifted his chest so he could watch her as he entered her.

He rubbed the head of his cock against her, and her legs opened around him. He pushed into her gently, wanting to draw out the moment, savoring the sensation of sliding in inch by inch. She gripped him like a tight glove, enfolding him into her body. He groaned, the wave of pleasure so hot and sweet.

She was everything to him, and he wanted her to feel the significance of their joining. Of how their bodies came together in perfect symmetry. When he was fully inside her, he held her gaze, telling her with his eyes everything he was feeling. Still holding her gaze, he pushed a little deeper and stilled. Her soft moan of pleasure, the pure poignancy of the moment, touched the deepest part of him.

For the first time in his life, he felt complete.

Flora didn’t think that she could feel any closer to him than when she’d taken him in her mouth, tasting the salty masculine essence of him.

At first, she thought all she would do was kiss him, but the more she kissed him, the more she understood that he was holding something back. She never realized…

It had never occurred to her to take him in her mouth—there was simply too much of him. But her mouth stretched around him, and knowing the pleasure she was giving him, she relaxed and took him deeper. She still wasn’t convinced she was doing it right, but he hadn’t seemed to mind. It was the oddest sensation, using her mouth to give pleasure to such an intimate part of his body. But it made her feel closer to him than ever before.

Until he slid inside her, looking deep into her eyes, and touched a part of her she hadn’t even known existed.

He’d opened up her heart, revealing everything she’d held safely inside. Emotions so intense, it almost scared her. Because she realized what she’d done. She’d given him the most important part of herself—not her body, but her heart. He held power over her that no man had before. A power she trusted him with completely.

But the most wondrous part was that everything she was feeling, she could see mirrored in his eyes. The tender way he touched her and made love to her said in every way that was important how he felt. Lachlan Maclean was not a man who would write sonnets or make heartfelt declarations about his emotions. She suspected those words had not come easily, and she would wager that before today, he’d never told another woman he’d loved her.

But she knew as he gathered her against him, cradling her in his arms, simply holding himself inside her, that he did.

Lachlan had never known what true desire was. It wasn’t simply lust, but wanting someone with every fiber of his being and wanting to prolong the experience for as long as he could. With Flora it wasn’t just about finding release, but about savoring every sensation and every moment leading up to it. He stroked her long silky hair, sliding his hand down the curve of her spine to cup the soft flesh of her bottom, lifting her even closer to him.

She moaned, rubbing her lush breasts against his chest, melting against him.

He caught her mouth with his, kissing her slowly and deeply as he began to move inside her with long, languid strokes, stretching every second of connection between them.

Legs entwined, he taught her how to lift her hips to meet his thrust, how to tilt her hips to take him deeper, how to clench her body around him and draw out the pleasure.

God, it felt good.
She was so tight and hot around him. He watched where their bodies joined as he slid out of her almost completely, felt the cold emptiness grab him, and then sank right back into her warm, delicious heat.

With each deep thrust he felt her squeeze around him, milking him with her body.

He’d never made love with such deliberateness and purpose. Or with such tenderness. It was incredible. Less wildfire and more a controlled burn, but the results were the same—utter physical devastation.

He saw the wonder in her eyes and heard the startled cry catch in her throat as her climax took hold. Holding her gaze, he plunged inside her full hilt and gave over the most powerful climax of his life. It gripped not just his manhood, but every part of his body. Not in a sudden cataclysmic explosion, but in a slow building eruption that seemed to go on forever, wringing every bit of energy from his body.

But even as the last twinges of passion faded away, he still could not bring himself to leave her. He gathered her in his arms and held her against him, feeling the beat of her heart against his.

They stayed like that for some time, both too moved to speak.

It was Flora who broke the silence. “I still can’t believe it.”

Lachlan groaned, knowing to what she referred. “If I have to try to prove my feelings to you again, I might not survive.”

“Not that.” She swiped at him playfully. “How could I doubt it after that? I just never thought that something like this would happen to me.” Her mouth twisted in a wry smile. “I never thought I’d meet a man who wanted me just for myself. It was something my mother was never able to find and I thought would never be for me.” She brought her hand up to his face and cradled his cheek in her hand. He could see the unshed tears glistening in her eyes. “I feel so lucky.”

Lachlan felt his chest squeeze, the reality of the situation brought back to him full force. He held her a little tighter in his arms. His plan to rescue his brother would work.

Chapter 17

Three days later, while practicing with his men for the coming battle to reclaim Breacachadh, Lachlan had his answer.

“I’m sorry, my laird,” Allan said, standing before him, his face streaked with dirt and sweat. Lachlan knew he’d just arrived—the smell of the moors and wind still clung to him.

Disappointment sank through him like a rock.
The rescue hadn’t worked.
“What happened?” he asked, steeling himself for the worst.

“Everything went as planned. Hugh made it past the guards and smuggled in the rope to John. We were waiting for him in the
birlinn
below the tower as he started his descent. He was about halfway down when all hell broke loose. He’d been seen. We waited as long as possible and barely escaped without being captured ourselves.”

They were fortunate in that. It might be suspected who was behind the rescue, but at least it couldn’t be tied directly to him.

“And John?” His hands clenched. “What happened to my brother?”

“They pulled the rope back up. We feared they might let him go and the fall would have killed him.”

Thank God. He could have been the cause of his brother’s death. “I don’t understand how this could have happened. John was supposed to descend on the side opposite the watchtower—where no one could see him.”

“He was. We found out later a guard on watch left his post to relieve himself. He happened to look up and noticed a movement.”

Lachlan clenched his jaw. He couldn’t believe that their plan had worked only to be foiled by a man who couldn’t hold his piss.

He could tell by Allan’s expression that there was more. Lachlan’s fingers tightened around the hilt of his claymore. “What else?”

Allan met his gaze. “Our man inside the castle did as instructed if something went wrong and found us in the village of Kinneil near the port.” He paused. “John has been taken to the pit.”

Lachlan swore, tossing down his sword before he flung it out to sea in frustration. His brother had been moved from the tower to the pit prison—a place usually reserved for lowborn criminals. Blackness Castle had a particularly macabre feature. At high tide, the water from the sea poured through a grate, filling the bottom of the pit with icy water.

John wouldn’t last a week.

He wouldn’t have to. Lachlan’s fear of losing Flora had made him grasp at any straw. And now he’d made it worse. He hardened his heart and knew his options had just run out. He needed Argyll. Flora would have to understand that he had no choice.