Highlander's Ransom (29 page)

Tears were blurring her vision, but she smiled through
them. “I’m glad,” she said simply, and before her tears got the better of her,
she flung her arms around Robert’s neck and pulled him to her.

After a moment, Robert withdrew from her embrace, but
cupped her cheek and tilted her face toward his. His pale blue eyes bore into
her, searing her with heat. Her eyes dropped to his lips, which were curved
slightly. Her own lips tingled in expectation as his mouth moved toward hers.
When their lips connected, warmth seeped through her, chasing away the tears of
joy and replacing them with a longing. Robert tilted his head to the side,
deepening the kiss, shooting tingling anticipation through her limbs, and
especially in certain areas—

Burke coughed surreptitiously from his seat on
Robert’s left side. Startled and a little embarrassed, Alwin jumped and pulled
back from her intimate kiss with Robert, which happened to be taking place in
front of everyone gathered in the great hall for the midday meal. Robert turned
and raised an eyebrow at his second in command, trying to give him a fierce
glare. Alwin thought that for the briefest moment an expression that had the
faint appearance of a boy caught with his hand in the sweets pantry flitted
across his rugged face.

“I fear that we are disturbing Burke’s meal, wife,”
Robert said wryly. He pushed back from the table and stood, taking Alwin’s hand
in his and pulling her to stand alongside him.

“Forgive us, Burke. We will leave you in peace to sate
your appetite,” then on a whisper to Alwin that was loud enough for Burke to
hear, “while we sate ours.”

“Robert!” Alwin gasped and swatted his shoulder.

Without acknowledging her shock or Burke’s muffled
laughter, Robert pulled her around their table and through the filled tables
toward the stairs leading to their chamber, confident and proud as the leader
she knew he was.

He increased their pace until they were nearly running
up the stairs. By the time they reached their chamber door, she was panting and
laughing, one hand still captured in his, the other wrapped around her middle.

“No more, I beg of you! I am spent!” she gasped
through her giggles.

“Oh, but lass, I have so much more planned for you,”
he said darkly.

In one smooth motion, he managed to toss her over his
shoulder and sweep into the chamber, closing the door behind him with his boot.
She shrieked in shock and delight, slapping his back.

“Robert, it’s the middle of the day! The sun is
shining, and I think the entire clan knows what we are about! We cannot!”

He strode to the bed, undeterred by her playful swats
and the astonishment in her voice.

“Clearly I have not been a good enough lover to you,
lass. If I had, you would know that pleasure can and should be enjoyed at all
hours of the day, and you would be as hungry for this as I am.” He tossed her
on the bed, a predatory gleam in his eyes.

“I am…hungry,” she said, feeling a blush rise to her
cheeks but refusing to back down from his unspoken challenge.

He made a satisfied masculine growl in the back of his
throat, then raised one knee and placed it on the bed, bringing himself a few
inches closer to her. Picking up on the game, she scooted back a little to the
far side of the bed. His eyes gleamed fiercely, a wicked smile curving his
mouth up. He raised his other knee to the bed, and she inched back again,
keeping distance between them. Suddenly he lunged at her, but she moved quick enough
to avoid his embrace. She shot to the foot of the bed and leapt off, then
turned to stare triumphantly back at him sprawled across the bed.

Bending an elbow, he propped his head up with his hand
and sighed dramatically. “Will I ever capture you, lass?”

“Perhaps,” she said mischievously. “If I let you.”

Like lightening, he leapt from the bed and wrapped his
steely arms around her, crushing her against his stone-hard body. She gasped
but smiled, loving the feeling of his strength, her body melting against his.
She looked up into his eyes and saw that all the traces of their game had been
replaces with hard need.

“Will you let me now, lass?” he said huskily.

As an answer, she reached up and wove her hands
through his loose dark hair, then pulled his face toward hers. Ever so lightly,
she brushed her lips against his. He groaned, and she felt his chest rumble
against her breasts, which were crushed against him. She pulled him even
closer, deepening their kiss. Then she tentatively touched her tongue to his lips
and he seemed to snap. Their tongues intermingled, stroking and twisting. He
raised a hand to her hair and gripped, slightly pulling a handful of her loose
strands, but instead of pain, she felt a tingling pleasure shoot from her
scalp. His other hand dropped lower to grip her bottom, pressing her hips
against his already hard manhood. The aching need that was now familiar was
building between her legs, and she pressed back into him.

Pivoting, he spun them both around so that her back
was to the bed, then slowly walked them toward it, until the backs of her legs
bumped the mattress. But he didn’t stop moving forward, and she was forced to
sit down on the edge of the bed. Breaking their kiss, he went to his knees
before her. She leaned back, resting her weight on her hands, watching him. He
lowered his hands to skim down her skirts and to the hem of her dress, then
slipped under it, grazing his warm palms against her stockinged lower legs.
Even through the thick wool stockings, the heat and sensation of his touch
caused her to gasp. His hands went higher, and his fingertips brushed the backs
of her knees. She nearly kicked him, the sensation somewhere between a tickle
and an erotic caress. She squirmed and bit her lower lip to try to keep from
either giggling or moaning, she wasn’t sure which.

His touch lost all traces of play, however, as he
continued to inch upward. His fingers found the exposed skin of her upper thigh
at the top of her stockings, and a bolt of pleasure surged through her. He
shifted both hands to one leg and unhurriedly untied and began rolling down her
stocking, letting his fingers caress all the newly exposed skin as he moved
downward. She realized she was panting, her eyes locked on him as he moved
achingly slowly. Finally, he had the stocking down to her ankle, and past her
foot. But then he started all over on her other leg, and the feathery-hot
sensations shooting through her seemed to hitch impossibly higher. As he pulled
the second stocking free of her foot, she sighed, unsure if she could have
taken much more. But then he did something even more shocking.

He pushed her skirts, including her chemise, up and
up, exposing all of her legs, all the way to her waist. Then he lowered his
mouth to her naked flesh, first pressing a kiss to her inner thigh, then going
even higher.

Her eyes widened. “What are you doing?” Her voice
sounded breathier than she had anticipated, but her shock was still audible.

He looked up and speared her with his hard,
passion-filled eyes. “I want to taste you and make you come,” he replied
roughly.

Unable to form words, either to protest or inquire
what exactly he meant, she merely stared at him, her lips parted. Not waiting
for her to reply, he lowered his head again and placed a kiss directly on the
junction of her legs.

Her shock instantly transformed as jagged bolts of
pleasure caused her to moan. He repeated his kiss, then deepened it so that his
tongue caressed the most intimate and throbbing part of her. Her head fell back
as wave upon wave of heated sensation washed over her entire body. Her arms,
quivering under her, gave way, and she sagged back onto the bed. Just when she
thought his caresses and swirls of the tongue would drive her mad with ecstasy,
she felt a nudge of pressure at her opening, then his finger slipped inside
her, filling her and causing the wild aching to hitch up yet another notch. She
called out his name and begged him not to stop, twisting her hands in the bed
linens. He growled in response, and matched the caresses of his tongue to the
thrusts of his finger, going deeper, faster.

She climbed higher and higher until suddenly she felt
as if her whole body exploded. She cried out as she soared at the top of
pleasure, then slowly returned to earth, residual jolts rippling through her
now limp limbs. She was vaguely aware of Robert rising from his knees between
her legs and ripping off his simple white shirt. Then he was on the bed next to
her, and the haze of pleasure began to clear when she saw—both in his hungry
eyes and in the prominent bulge under his kilt—that he still longed to join her
in release.

“I didn’t know that was possible,” she said,
luxuriating in contentment. Then a thought occurred to her. “Can I do that…to
you?”

He cursed, but there was no anger in it, only pained
longing. “Aye, lass, but I can’t promise that I’ll last long.”

She gave him a quizzical look, but quirked him a
smile. “I think I could get used to the idea of you being at my mercy as I was
just at yours.”

He snorted, but didn’t want to waste any more time in
verbal parlance. His needy cock throbbed at just the mention of her sweet mouth
on it. Instead, he twisted her shoulders slightly so that he could work on the
ties running down the back of her dress. She pulled her honey-brown hair out of
the way, exposing her creamy, slim neck. He couldn’t help himself; he leaned in
and gave her a little nip with his teeth on the soft spot where her neck joined
her shoulder. Her breath hitched, but before he could administer any more
nibbles, she had twisted back around to face him, her dress loose enough now to
slide enticingly down her shoulders. As he tugged down her dress, chemise and
all, her hands went to his belt buckle, quickly unfastening it. The material of
his kilt no longer bound, it slid from him. Just as the air hit his aching and
hard member, he managed to pull Alwin’s dress down enough to free her breasts.
The combination had him groaning. He drank her in, longing to rub his slightly
bristled chin against those creamy curves, to lick and suck and tease each of
the pink tips, to feel her come again, but this time with him inside her.

She didn’t let him, though, for her hand wrapped
around his cock and he instinctively jerked with pleasure. In two torturous
strokes she already had him clenching his teeth and praying that he didn’t
finish right at that moment. Placing her other hand on his shoulder, she gave
him a little push backward so that he lay flat on the bed, completely naked.
She took the briefest moment to scoot her dress past her hips and kick it off
the side of the bed, then her hand was back on him, stroking. She leaned over
him in a crouch, her hair cascading all around him like a waterfall. Then she
did what he ached for—ever so slowly, she lowered herself down the length of
his body, trailing kisses down his neck, his chest, his stomach, then paused.
He raised his head to look down at her, her lips hovering tantalizingly over
his enlarged cock. With the slightest hint of uncertainty, she leaned forward
and placed a kiss on the head of his shaft. Heat jolted from her lips through
his cock and bollocks, and he moaned. That seemed to encourage her, for her
lips opened slightly and she took him partway into her mouth. This time he
groaned even louder, and his hips uncontrollably twitched.

“That’s it, lass,” he rasped.

She took him in farther, her tongue swirling as his
had on her clit. She pulled back a little, only to sink down with her mouth
once more. He cursed, thinking he might go blind trying to last. She was a
quick study. She gained in confidence, her mouth pulling him in as her breasts rubbed
against his upper thighs. He couldn’t take any more.

Suddenly he sat bolt upright and gripped her
shoulders, pulling her mouth from his cock, which felt like it would explode at
any moment.

Startled, she said, “Did I do something wrong?”

“Nay, lass,” he grated. “But I can’t last a second
longer if you keep that up, and I want to share this with you.”

Her surprise shifted instantly to pleasure, an eager
look spreading across her face. Releasing her shoulders, he lay back on the bed
once more. “I want you on top of me.”

A look of confusion flitted through her eyes, but when
she glanced down at his upright cock, he saw it replaced with understanding.
She swung a lean leg over his hip so that she was straddling him, her hands on
either side of his head and her perfect breasts nearly in his face. Taking her
hips in his hands he glided into her with a groan. She too gasped and arched
her back, jutting her breasts closer. He stretched his neck to capture a nipple
in his mouth and was rewarded with another, deeper moan from her. He lifted her
hips a few inches, then guided them back down so that she was fully settled
onto his cock. After only a few strokes, she seemed to gather what to do, and
took over, setting her own provocatively slow pace. He gritted his teeth,
willing himself to resist the urge to thrust into her hard and fast. Though he
wanted his release, he wanted her to join him, and he was even more turned on
by her slowly building passion.

He let his head fall back and take in the sight of
her. Her rosy lips were slightly parted and her cheeks were flushed with
desire. Her hair once again cascaded all around him, surrounding him with her
scent—roses and warmth. Glancing lower, he took in the sight of her pert
breasts bouncing in rhythm to their thrusts. Christ, he wasn’t going to last
any longer.