Seduction of a Highland Lass (21 page)

She was captivated by the picture they presented. Their bodies meshed together in the warm glow of firelight, his mouth at her breast and her skin gleaming from wetness. It was every romantic dream she’d ever hatched. He was her warrior. Though she’d saved him in the beginning, he saved her each and every day.

Her warrior. Her love.

“Love me, Alaric,” she whispered.

“Aye, I do, lass. I do. And I will. Tonight is mine. You’re my captive to do with as I see fit. Never will you feel more cherished and loved than you do this night.”

He left her for the barest moment and returned with a drying blanket. As soon as she stepped from the tub, he wrapped her in it and guided her toward the fire.

Carefully he worked all the excess water from her hair until it lay damply against her back. Then he collected her comb and began patiently working the tangles from her hair.

No one had ever attended her thus. It was a marvelous feeling. She felt important. Like she was the lady of the keep and beloved by her laird.

He pressed his lips to the back of her head and kept them there a long moment. “Tonight you will obey my every command. Aye, I’ll see to your every need because ’tis my wish. But this night you are mine and will cede to my wishes.”

His hands slid up and down her arms, and his mouth moved to the side of her neck. “Think you that you can agree to not say me nay?”

Her insides squeezed unbearably and she was breathing so rapidly that she was light-headed. The power and sensuality in his voice excited her beyond measure. Didn’t he know she would never deny him anything?

She nodded, unable to voice a single word around the knot in her throat.

He turned her head so that their gazes met. His eyes burned into her and his expression was fierce, every inch the warrior he was. “The words, Keeley. I would have the words from you.”

“Aye, I agree,” she whispered.

CHAPTER 26

Alaric lifted Keeley into his arms and strode toward the bed. The linen that he’d wrapped around her body loosened and fell to the floor, leaving her naked. He eased her onto the mattress and took a step back, his gaze never leaving her.

She felt intensely vulnerable and she swallowed with nervous excitement as he slowly began to disrobe.

His arms and shoulders rippled and bulged, and his taut abdomen stretched over tightly corded muscles. Her fingers itched to trace the lean lines and explore every hard spot on his body.

“Spread your thighs for me, Keeley. Let me look upon your womanly softness.”

Blushing, she relaxed her legs and then slowly drew them apart. Alaric reached down and circled her ankles with his fingers and then pushed upward until her heels were dug into the mattress and her knees were bent double.

The position bared her completely to him. Left her open and aching for his touch.

He knelt at the bedside and ran one finger through her damp petals, pausing at her entrance before pushing ever so slightly inside.

She gasped and arched her hips, wanting more. He withdrew and then lowered his mouth.

She held her breath until she was light-headed. Every part of her body tightened in anticipation of the brush of his lips.

But it wasn’t his lips that touched her. He licked from her entrance to the tight, straining bud sheltered under the hood of flesh at her apex.

She cried out and her body convulsed. He gripped her thighs and held her in place as he continued to lap at her. The roughness of his tongue sent indescribable flashes of pleasure splintering through her belly up to her breasts where her nipples beaded painfully.

Gently he sucked at the tiny mound and then flicked his tongue back over it, coaxing it to a hardened point.

It was simply too much. Her body shattered. It was as if she were leaves scattered on a windy day. After so much pressure and unbearable tightening, suddenly she was so light that she floated, drifting downward in a gentle spiral.

Bewildered by the intensity of her release she raised her head. “Alaric?” she whispered.

But he didn’t answer. Instead he gently turned her onto her belly and drew one hand behind her back. To her shock, he wrapped a linen strip around her wrist and then pulled her other arm back to bind her wrists together.

Butterflies swarmed in her belly and her knees trembled uncontrollably.

When he was finished, he tested the binding and it held firm. Then he pushed her onto her knees so that her cheek rested against the mattress and her behind was high in the air, her hands tied securely behind her back.

As he rose, his palm caressed the curve of her buttocks. Then he palmed both of her cheeks and pushed upward and out so that she was spread to him.

“I hurt you this way when you were nearly a virgin still. Tonight I’ll only give you pleasure.”

One hand left her and then she felt the brush of his knuckles as he positioned his cock at her opening. He pushed and his thickness filled her, stretching her around his shaft.

She moaned softly. It was a wondrous sensation as he forced himself deeper. Her body clasped tightly to him and rippled over his hardness. When he pulled back, her swollen tissues protested the movement and clamped wetly around his cock.

“Does it pain you?” he asked.

“Nay,” she whispered.

He thrust into her, harder this time. Never had she felt so stretched, so full. After he was assured that she could take him this way, he began to ride her more vigorously.

He reached up and grabbed on to her bound wrists. Holding her tightly, he pulled back as he thrust forward.

The smacking sound of his thighs pounding against her bottom filled the air. As gentle as he’d been before, now he took her ruthlessly, setting a pace to please himself.

Faster and harder and then he paused, buried deeply inside her. She was opened wide and defenseless against whatever he wanted to do. It only heightened her excitement. She wiggled impatiently, but he held her still as he remained lodged inside her.

Then he withdrew and pounded forward. Much slower and methodical this time. He was in control, his thrusts measured. Hard. Deep. Over and over he retreated and then plunged forward until she was begging him to give her release. She needed more. She needed him to move fast and hard, to provide sweet friction.

“Have not I said that you are to obey me this night?” he asked huskily. “ ’Tis I who say the commands, Keeley. You will say naught but aye to whatever I ask.”

She squeezed her eyes shut and clenched her teeth in sweet agony as he powered forward in a particularly forceful thrust as if to reinforce his words. Aye, he was in control. She had none.

She had to bite her lip to keep from protesting when he pulled from the tight clasp of her body. He pulled her to her feet and held her until he was sure she was steady. Then he grasped her shoulders and pushed her to her knees on the floor.

His cock was hugely erect, stiff and distended just inches from her face. It gleamed with her wetness and the skin was stretched tight over the broad tip.

“Open your mouth, Keeley.”

He thrust one hand into her hair and cupped her nape, at the same time he grasped the base of his cock with his other hand and guided it toward her parted lips.

Her mouth stretched around his swollen girth and he pushed deep. At first she struggled to accommodate him, but he was patient, giving her time to adjust and to breathe from her nose.

Wanting to please him, she took more, but he pulled at her hair to prevent her action. “Nay, just remain still,” he murmured.

Holding her head with both hands, he began to thrust inside her mouth. Slowly at first. He glided across her tongue and to the back of her throat. As she relaxed more, he became more demanding, pushing deeper and holding himself there before retreating so she could draw breath.

The only sounds that she could hear was the wet sucking noises as he powered in and out of her mouth and his own harsh breathing.

He groaned when a tiny amount of liquid spurted onto her tongue. Salty and tangy. She prepared herself for more, but he pulled himself roughly from her mouth and then pulled forcefully at his shaft with his hand.

Hot semen splashed onto her chest. He held her neck and tilted her head upward as he directed more over her breasts. His fingers tightened at her nape and he groaned as he worked the last of his release onto her skin.

He stood there, his breaths coming hard while she knelt in front of him trying to catch her breath as well. Never had she imagined such a thing between a man and a woman. It invoked a primitive response deep in her being. She felt owned by the warrior. His possession to do with as he wished. Never had she wished so hard for anything to be true.

He bent and kissed the top of her head and then helped her to rise. He led her over to the wash basin and gently cleaned his semen from her body.

He washed himself and she could see that he was still rigidly erect. She wasn’t overly knowledgeable about such things, but she was sure this couldn’t be normal.

Leaving her hands secured behind her back, he took her back over to the bed where he piled pillows on the side. Then he simply nudged her until she lay over the pillows, belly down, her legs splayed wide with her feet planted on the floor.

This time when he slid into her from behind, he lacked some of the urgency of before. Almost as if he’d sated himself and could be more patient this time.

He pushed back and forth, setting a slow and steady rhythm, almost exploratory in nature. He squeezed her plump bottom with both hands and massaged as his cock disappeared into her body over and over.

He worked into her until her body started to respond. Soon she arched upward to take him and she tingled in anticipation, her womb clenching with desperate need. She gasped and curled her fingers into tight fists in their bonds.

Then he reached between the pillow and her body and his fingers found the sensitive nub between her legs. He stroked and caressed until she was wild in her need for release. Still, he continued his relentless assault, never deviating from the steady pace he’d begun.

She was nearly weeping with her need. Her body was strung too tight. The pressure was painful.

And still, he pushed back and forth, infinitely patient.

His fingers stroked gently over her flesh until finally she was as taut as a bowstring at full draw. And then finally, all the tension released in one huge burst of exquisite, mind-numbing pleasure.

Her vision blurred. She cried out his name over and over until all she could hear were her own sobs. Wave after wave, seemingly unending until she melted into the pillows holding her up to him.

She lost awareness as she floated on some distant cloud. For several long moments she had no understanding of her surroundings or that he continued to push into her.

Gradually she became aware of the slapping of flesh against flesh and realized that he was still inside her, riding her ruthlessly.

She hadn’t the strength to do more than lie there as he commanded her body. Unbelievably she felt the stirrings deep within her core as he continued to thrust.

He was less patient now. He grasped her hips, his fingers digging into her flesh. He pounded into her, now seemingly determined to build the fire within her anew.

It was sharper, faster, and more intense this time. He whispered her name. Then he leaned forward, his hips powering against her behind with bruising strength.

“You’re mine,” he uttered. “Mine. You belong to me. No man will ever have you as I’ve had you this night.”

Warmth traveled through her blood, curling low in her pelvis. Nay, no man would ever lay claim to her in the way that Alaric McCabe had.

She gave herself over to the rising tide. She surrendered. She wanted nothing more than to belong to this man. She shuddered in the throes of her release and opened her body fully to receive him.

He pulled from her, his retreat nearly painful around her swollen, tender flesh. Then she felt his seed against her back as he lay against her, his chest heaving with exertion.

He kissed her nape and whispered soft words she couldn’t even hear.

For a long moment he lay against her, his cock pulsing against her flesh. Then slowly he pushed himself off and untied her wrists. He held each one and massaged her hands until all the tingles had gone away.

“Stay here,” he said as he left the bed.

He returned a moment later with a warm cloth and gently wiped the remnants of his passion from her back and buttocks. When he was done, he rolled her over and pulled her into his arms.

“Never have I acted thusly with a woman,” he admitted as he stroked her hair. “ ’Tis something primitive within me that roars at me to claim you, to make you mine and to mark you in some permanent way.”

She smiled and cuddled closer to him. She was deliciously sore and sated. “I like that you mark me yours. I never dreamed that something like this existed between a man and a woman.”

“Neither did I,” Alaric said ruefully. “You inspire me, lass.”

She chuckled and then yawned. Alaric kissed her brow and pulled her even tighter against him.

“What do we do, Alaric?” she whispered. “ ’Twas only supposed to be one night.”

He ran his fingers through her hair and laid his cheek against her forehead. “We take it one day at a time and savor every moment together. When the time comes to say good-bye, we’ll have these nights to look back upon and remember how fierce the passion was between us.”