Midnight's Promise (22 page)

“Touch me,” she urged.

He had to make her understand that she needed someone else. Not him, not the fiend that he was. His hunger was too strong, his yearning too intense to attempt to restrain.

“Doona tease me.”

“I’m not. I’m offering myself to you.”

The last shred of Malcolm’s control snapped. In the next heartbeat he had her on the bed, his body covering hers as he took her mouth in a kiss meant to claim.

A kiss meant to possess.

CHAPTER
TWENTY-FIVE

The feel of Malcolm on top of her froze Evie’s lungs. His heat, his weight spurred her passion into a frenzy. He was solid, firm.

Powerful and fierce.

And it made her burn.

Evie sighed into his kisses. His mouth seized, captured. His hands caressed, stroked.

Everywhere he touched he seared her skin, raising her desire to new heights each time.

She plunged her hands into his silky locks and delighted in the feel of the golden strands through her fingers. A moan tore from her throat when his hand cupped her breast and squeezed.

Her nipples hardened and her breasts swelled. She clutched at the thick sinew on his shoulders. Her back arched when he pinched her nipple, sending a flood of wetness between her legs.

She lifted her hips to grind against him. A deep, guttural groan rumbled from his chest. His lips left hers to travel down her neck before clamping over her aching nipple.

His tongue flicked back and forth over the tiny nub, shooting pleasure through her body. Evie’s body went taut, the desire beginning to tighten low in her stomach.

He moved from one breast to the other, teasing her, arousing her until her body quivered. Only then did he kiss down her stomach to settle between her legs.

A cry of pleasure tore from her at the first touch of his tongue on her sex. He licked, he laved, he teased. Each flick of his tongue ignited a yearning that consumed her.

The pleasure was too formidable, too intense. She tried to hold her body back, but Malcolm refused to allow it. He demanded all of her.

And she was powerless to deny him.

The climax struck without warning, the power transporting her. She screamed his name as the rush of pleasure claimed her. He continued to lick her, prolonging her orgasm until she was thrashing her head from side to side and begging him to stop or continue. She wasn’t sure which.

When he rose up over her, Evie reached for him, needing to feel his muscles and heat beneath her palms. Malcolm’s azure eyes clashed with hers, desire blazing in his blue depths. Her heart missed a beat at the pure, unadulterated longing she saw there.

Her hands grasped the waist of his jeans and unbuttoned them. In a matter of seconds he discarded his clothes and loomed over her.

The light coming from the bathroom bathed him in a soft glow. Evie ran her hands up his arms and over his shoulders. The raised skin of his scars didn’t diminish her desire or take away from the perfection that was Malcolm.

Suddenly, he grabbed her wrists in one hand and pulled them over her head. She caught sight of his arousal and all the moisture of her body pooled between her legs.

He held her arms securely, but gently. The savage look in his eyes told her he had lost himself in his need. It made her flesh sizzle with anticipation, excitement.

She didn’t want soft and gentle. She wanted hard and quick. She wanted all that was Malcolm, all that he had to give.

Her breath came faster and faster when she saw his eyes flicker from azure to maroon several times. It wasn’t fear that took her but … delight.

“Don’t you dare stop,” she whispered.

“Too much,” he rasped.

Evie wrapped her legs around his hips and tugged him closer until the thick, blunt head of his arousal met her entrance. A muscle ticked in his jaw and his body began to shake.

When she couldn’t pull him closer, she lifted her hips until the tip of him entered her.

The moan that was pulled from him made her heart skip a beat. It was as if whatever had been holding him back snapped. He gave one hard thrust and filled her.

Her body jerked at the feel of his length filling her, stretching her. Several seconds ticked by as he remained still. Evie had never been so aroused, never been so close to orgasm after having one just a few minutes earlier.

But there was something about Malcolm that affected her as no other man could.

She tried to move, but he gripped her hip with his free hand. His lips were pinched as he struggled to hold back. Just the opposite of what she wanted.

“Please,” she begged, needing the release that was building again. “Don’t hold back. I need this. I need you.”

His eyes scorched her with his desire. He pulled out of her and began to move. With his face inches from hers, she couldn’t look away, couldn’t do anything but feel the incredible sensations each stroke of his cock gave her.

His hips jerked as he drove into her relentlessly, mercilessly. Her body silently reached for him, yearning for more, craving him.

Her heart pounded in her ears. Her blood was molten heat.

Her entire universe revolved around the mysterious, gorgeous man who was taking her body to places she hadn’t known existed.

She yearned to touch him, but he had control of her. And there would be no escape from him. Not now.

Not ever.

The desire tightened and twisted until she couldn’t take it anymore. Each thrust sent her spiraling toward bliss, and just when she thought she could give in, Malcolm would push her further.

“No’ yet,” he growled.

Evie tried to yank her arms loose, but he held tight. She tried to twist her body away so she could wait as he demanded, but he refused to give her an inch.

“Malcolm!” she screamed. “I can’t!”

He shifted her hips higher and drove into her deeper, harder. “No’ yet,” he demanded.

Evie tried to hold back the climax, but how could she when he felt so good? No matter what she did, her body was barreling toward release and there was nothing she could do to stop it.

“Now. Come for me, Druid,” Malcolm whispered.

As if on cue, her body exploded in an orgasm so intense white lights flashed behind her eyes. His thrusts grew quick and shallow as he wrested every drop from her before he gave a shout and stilled.

The feel of him pulsating inside her sent Evie to yet another climax before the previous one ended. She opened her magic and let it wrap around them, holding them, enveloping them in a cocoon of paradise.

For long moments they stayed as they were before she opened her eyes to find him gazing down at her with what looked like wonder.

With her body fully sated, Evie found herself relaxed and sleep pulling at her. She smiled as he released her hands and gently pulled out of her.

Her eyes closed on their own, and she could’ve sworn he ran a hand down her cheek. He said something in a language she didn’t understand.

She told herself to remember to ask him when she woke.

*   *   *

Malcolm stared down at the Druid long after she went to sleep. He couldn’t believe he’d given into his need. But more than that, he couldn’t believe the Druid hadn’t run.

Instead she had urged him on.

He had lost control and not harmed her, as he’d feared. It seemed too good to be true. He took one of her big curls and wrapped it around his finger.

He stroked the cool strand and contemplated the Druid. Foolishly, he’d thought he could forget her. He should’ve known better.

After one kiss, she’d gotten in his blood. Now, after having her, tasting her, she had somehow found what was left of his soul and claimed it.

Malcolm pulled the covers over her so she wouldn’t get chilled before he lay back on the pillow. With one hand under his head, he kept the other with her curl around his finger.

It was dangerous for the Druid if he stayed. Yet he couldn’t leave. He’d known it when he ran from her at Cairn Toul.

His chest tightened as he thought of the Druid’s accusing eyes when he returned. She had every right to be angry with him. His vow to protect her had come in second as he worried for himself.

And it had cost him because something had happened to her. He wasn’t sure if she’d ever tell him either. She didn’t trust him now, if she ever had to begin with.

Trust. Did he even deserve it? She knew he had betrayed Deirdre, and according to Larena that was more than acceptable since Deirdre had been evil.

But what of Duncan? What of the rest of those at the castle? He’d betrayed each and every one of them when he killed Duncan.

Malcolm pushed away the memories that kept replaying in his mind—of Duncan joking with him, trying to make him laugh, of Duncan trying to get him to take his side against something he and Ian had been arguing over, of Duncan covering his plate when Galen tried to steal his food.

But the one that never left him was Duncan’s furious gaze right before Malcolm killed him.

Shame and self-loathing consumed him. He didn’t merit friends, he didn’t warrant trust. And he certainly didn’t deserve the pleasure given to him by the Druid.

He wanted to know her name. She’d been right. He should have asked for it. He’d wanted to keep her at a distance, and thought he could do that by not knowing her name.

Just another of his mistakes.

Malcolm knew the only reason he was still welcome at MacLeod Castle was Larena, and he’d treated her badly.
Family,
she’d said,
it’s family no matter what
.

Was that the only reason she kept in touch with him? Malcolm hoped it wasn’t. He needed Larena now, now that it was probably too late.

The fact he had no idea how Larena was faring in her battle against the
drough
blood didn’t speak well of him. There was no excuse for him turning his back on her.

Malcolm hated himself even more. He should call Larena, but then he didn’t know what to say. The others didn’t need to know of the Druid. They would want to know where he was and what he was doing. He didn’t want to lie to them anymore. It was better if he held off talking to them.

He turned his head on the pillow to look at the Druid. But for how long could he hold off? He’d done the worst job imaginable in gaining the Druid’s trust, and he doubted she would tell him anything for months to come.

And what if the others called for him to battle Wallace again?

Malcolm was eager for another try at the bastard but leaving the Druid wasn’t an option after what had happened last time. Nor could he bring her with him.

The Druid turned on her side, facing him, as one of her hands came to rest on his chest. Malcolm stilled, afraid to move for fear that she would stop touching him.

Slowly, he pulled his arm from behind his head and gently placed his hand atop her small one. Her chest rose and fell evenly as she slept the sleep of the innocent.

“You’d have been better off with one of the other Warriors. I’m no’ good for you,” he whispered.

They were words he’d never be able to say if she were awake, but they needed to be said. She was a good person who was now tainted because of him.

“I’m no’ good for anyone.”

Not for the first time he thought of asking one of the Dragon Kings to take his head. Larena and Fallon would no longer have to worry about him. And perhaps his death might make up for some of the atrocities he’d committed in Deirdre’s name.

He had so much to make up for, so much to answer for. How he wished he could go back to feeling nothing, because the constant emotions were sending him an ever-changing landscape that he never quite got his footing on.

Malcolm closed his eyes and tried to find some semblance of quiet in his mind. He wanted just a few minutes in order to get his equilibrium back.

He was going to need all the help he could get regarding the Druid. Once she woke, he had some explaining to do. Firstly, she needed to know who he really was.

Then he could try and learn what had sent her running from Cairn Toul to a circle of stones he hadn’t known existed. How she knew of them was on the agenda as well.

Thinking of the Druid helped to calm his mind. The more he thought of her and felt her magic, the further away the memories that hounded him went.

Malcolm let out a deep breath and rubbed his thumb on the back of the Druid’s hand. Tomorrow would be a new day in more ways than one.

CHAPTER
TWENTY-SIX

Evie came awake with a start. She’d heard her name whispered in her mind. Gradually, she pulled her hand from under Malcolm’s and sat up so she could look out the window to the standing stones.

They were calling for her. Just as Cairn Toul was.

But whereas the rocks of Cairn Toul wanted her to return, the stone circle wanted her to do what she’d come for.

Evie looked at Malcolm to find his eyes closed. She wasn’t sure if he was asleep or not. A glance at the clock on the bedside table said she’d slept for almost two hours.

She still had a little time before she had to meet the kidnappers, but the more time she wasted, the more anxious she became. The only thing she could do was get out of the bed and see if Malcolm woke.

Evie crawled out of the bed at such a slow pace a snail could have passed her. By the time she was standing by the bed looking down at Malcolm, she wanted a drink to calm her nerves.

As quietly as she could, Evie gathered her clothes from the bathroom and hurried into the dining room to change. She pulled one of the chairs out in order to place her clothes down.

No sooner had her clothes left her hand than she was jerked around against a hard chest. She looked up into Malcolm’s azure gaze and her heart raced when she saw his desire.

“You thought to leave the bed without telling me,” he whispered in a deep, husky voice that sent chills of anticipation over her skin.

“You can’t make love to a lass like that and not expect her to get hungry,” she said as she quickly came up with the fib.

Evie’s stomach fluttered when he traced a finger along her jawline to her chin before tipping up her face to his. Some deep emotion moved across his gaze.