Taming the Wild Highlander 04 (17 page)

Keary had left with his men, demanding his sister come home with him. But Lady Allison stayed with the Chattan clan, interested in meeting Edana
's brothers and not wishing to incur her brother's wrath for having freed the MacNeills and Edana and run away with them.

When Angus saw Edana dressed in green this time
, the bodice of her léine trimmed in gold threads, the gown showing off her soft curves, he smiled. She was beautiful. Every bit of her from her dark reddish brown hair shiny and curling about her shoulders, her rosy lips smiling at him, her blue eyes wide with expectation, to her cheeks turning rosy with his perusal.

He loved her with all his heart. Truth was he would prefer to leave her home in the safety of the keep, but she might be able to help them locate he
r brothers. He didn't trust she'd stay at home if he left her behind while he searched for them with her father and his men.

This time he said his vows with Ed
ana, kissed her as chastely as he could, considering how much farther he wished to go, and even then, she blushed beautifully. Everyone, her people and his cousin and Gunnolf smiled broadly at them as they made their way out of the kirk and headed for the great hall where the feasting would begin.

He hoped as late as it was getting and knowing the early start they
'd have to make in the morn, that everyone would leave them in peace before long.

But it was not to happen that way. After much drinking and celebrating and finally
Allison and Una hauling Edana off to her chamber, Gunnolf and Niall gave Angus a difficult time.

"
I was never more surprised than to see Gunnolf taking your place to guard because the lovely lass distracted you so much," Niall said, lifting another tankard of ale.

"
We had others to guard, unlike the previous nights that we travelled," Angus said, defending himself. Truth be told, he had felt guilty for ignoring his duties.

"
Och," Gunnolf said, "Angus
was
guarding."

Niall laughed.
"Aye, one bonny lass."

"
All night long," Gunnolf said.

Angus
shook his head at them, amused by all the good-natured ribbing and looked at the doorway to the great hall again. What was taking the ladies so long in fetching him to join his wife? He rose from the bench.

Much
of the conversation died as everyone waited expectantly for Angus to say something.

"
He is just like Dougald. Impatient," Gunnolf said. "Go to her, mon. We have a long journey tomorrow, and I doubt you will get much sleep this eve."

Both Gunnolf and Niall stood then, and gave him a brother
ly slap on the back and a shove toward the door.

Edana
's father raised his tankard to Angus, "Take care with my precious daughter."

"
Aye," Angus said, bowing his head a little. "It will be my pleasure." He strode toward the doorway with purpose while everyone cheered him from the great hall, many of the men adding their coarse comments concerning keeping the lass well satisfied the whole night through.

A
mused at their good-hearted cheer, he was still a little apprehensive. He prayed he would not alarm or hurt the lass when he made love to her.

When he approached the
bedchamber door, he heard giggling inside and smiled. He hoped that the ladies had helped to allay Edana's concerns about his bedding her. He knocked at the door. Silence.

Then hurried feminine footsteps. The door open
ed. Una grinned at Angus, then quickly stepped out of his way. Allison hastened across the floor, grabbed Una's hand, and rushed her out the door. As he shut it, he listened to their giggles as they continued down the corridor.

His new wife
was hidden by the drapes surrounding the bed. But as he went to her, hoping he would not find a frightened rabbit, she tossed aside the covers and hurried out of the bed dressed in only a chemise, and threw herself at him.

"
The anticipation is killing me," she said, hugging him tightly against her soft body. "Is it no' you?"

"
Aye," he said smiling down at her, more than he, a braw Highland warrior, wished to admit.

To put Edana at ease, Una and Allison had shared with her scanty details of dalliances between men and women they had witnessed or gossip they
'd overheard as servants had revealed their experiences. Edana had been so nervous—particularly when she heard the knock on her chamber door and knew Angus stood on the other side of it—that she thought she'd die from expectation.

The ladies told her the first time would be…
sore. After a couple of days, she would feel more comfortable and could stand to do it again. She would do her duty, though she couldn't wait for more of Angus's kisses. They had to hurry, though, because the sooner they got this over, the faster she would heal and then be ready for him again.

Angus entered Edana
's bedchamber and shut the door. Sitting on the bed, half hidden by the curtains draped around it, she couldn't see him. And she couldn't fight the anticipation any longer as he walked toward the bed.

She
threw the curtains aside, fairly leapt off the bed, and rushed to embrace him. His eyes widened a bit to see her flying across the room to join him. She hoped he didn't mind that she threw herself at him right after he entered her chamber.

Smiling, h
e enveloped her in his arms at once. "Bonny lass."

She tugged at his
belt, eager to get this over with. But he cupped her face and looked down at her, his dark brown eyes swimming with desire, his mouth seeking hers. At first his kisses were gentle, unassuming, loving. She adored this part of the sharing between a man and a woman. Wanting to touch every bit of him, she ran her hands over his waist and down his hips. His kisses became more urgent and she enjoyed knowing her caresses made him crave her even more.

She used her tongue on him again, just as she had seen Una doing with
Seumas. The technique had worked wonders with Angus the last time. Except this time, he growled or mayhap groaned, she could not say for certain. But his kisses grew more intense, capturing her mouth, his tongue sliding into
her
mouth this time. She nearly collapsed as he thrust his tongue between her parted lips, and she realized just what this was like. A man tupping a woman. The experience was most pleasurable. And wickedly decadent.

She sucked on his tongue
, enjoying the sweet honeyed mead. He groaned, a growly, sensuous sound that she delighted in. His hands shifted down her shoulders to her waist, and then her arse. She felt lost in his touch as he ran his fingers over her body until he pulled her tight against his manhood. Hard, huge, he was ready for her, thrilling her.

T
hat her hands or tongue on him could arouse him that quickly fascinated her. She loved the way his big hands caressed her, stroked her, making her hot and wet for him. Every bit of her tingled with eagerness and need. She wanted his hands touching every part of her, felt the tension pool in her belly, a restlessness to experience more.

Again
, she tried to remove his belt when he jerked her chemise down and exposed her breasts. The room was cool and her breasts felt heavy and hot. Her nipples puckered and then Angus did the most extraordinary thing. He kissed her breast, while one hand cupped the other. She thought she would die and go to heaven as his thumb stroked over the nipple and his mouth captured the other. This time he suckled and she groaned.

The ladies had not said one thing about a man touching a woman
's breasts and just how pleasurable that could be.

Her fingers attempted to work on his belt, but he quickly removed his sword and
sgian dubh
, belt, and boots. Then he dispensed with his plaid, wearing only his tunic now. The neckline of her chemise was resting at her hips, and she wanted his chest bared to her also so she could run her hands over his muscles and skin. But if she pulled his tunic down over his shoulders, it would slip to the floor, and he would be completely naked. She didn't believe she was quite ready for that.

As quick as it was for him to remove his plaid
, she didn't have time to breathe before he was kissing her again, his mouth on hers, his hands on her breasts. Her insides turned into heated wax as she felt every bit of her melting deep within.

Yearning
to touch him, she lifted his tunic to run her hands underneath the fabric so she could stroke his chest. Being so close, she wouldn't see all of him—not unless she stepped away from him. She hadn't expected him to stop everything he was undertaking with her while he concentrated on her touching him.

She didn
't want him to quit caressing her. "Continue what you were doing," she said.

He only gave her a pained smile. She barely not
iced as she swept her hands up his torso, felt the rigid muscles tightening, skimmed her fingers over his smooth chest except for streaks of raised skin where she knew he'd fought and been cut. Her father had them as well, so she was well aware of what that meant. She praised God that the injuries had not proved fatal.

He still held her so close she couldn
't see what he actually looked like, though running her hands along his lightly haired chest felt pleasurable indeed. She tried to lift his tunic higher, to remove it so she could see him—his broad chest, his muscled shoulders. Mayhap she was not ready to witness the lower part of him yet, but it could not be helped.

"
In a hurry, lass?" he asked, his hushed words strained as he kissed her forehead, a smile in his voice.

"
I want to see you," she said, quite plainly.

As if she
had said the magic words, he quickly shucked his tunic and then yanked at her chemise so that it puddled around her ankles.

He stepped back to observe her and the cool air in the bedchamber swept around her
. Taking a deep breath, she took in his nakedness, her skin hot from his touching her. For a moment, they studied each other. Her skin felt flushed with his perusal. She tried not to think of how he regarded her as she relished viewing his magnificent body from this hardened muscles and scars, to the dark hair that trailed down to his manhood, that part of him that stood firm and proud.

She gawked
at his staff, realizing now why the women said it would hurt the first time because it was so much bigger than she had imagined. She reached out and touched the weeping top and slid the moisture over him.

H
e sucked in his breath, rested his hands on her shoulders, and watched what she did. He held very still as she ran her fingers lightly down the rigid male appendage that responded instantly to her touch. Now, she knew just what
that
part of his body looked like that had pressed so very indecently against her back on the ride to her castle and when she had tried to sleep next to him. Now, every time he held her close, she would no longer have to guess.

"
Harder," he said, his voice ragged.

She looked up at him, not comprehending.
His eyes were dark and heavily lidded.

He took her hand and place
d it on his staff, squeezed her fingers around him until she was holding him firmly, and then he guided her up and down.

He looked like he was ready to die—with pleasure.
And she loved that her touching him proved just as pleasurable for him.

Then as if he couldn
't take any more, he moved her hand to his hip, renewed his deliciously decadent kisses on her mouth, and touched his fingers to the place between her legs that had never been explored before. His remarkable fingers swept all over that very sensitive part of her, skipping, and teasing and slipping inside her as her heart pounded and her knees weakened. She couldn't describe the feelings—nothing that she'd ever experienced before—of pleasure and lightness and a heavenly uplifting, though she held on tight to him so that she wouldn't fall. She pressed her body wantonly against his fingers, his assault on her senses making her crave having him finish her off in a hurry. She had to appear as though
she
was ready to die—with pleasure.

The
n the most amazing feelings rushed through her. She cried out at the sense of joy and enlightenment washing over her. She hardly noticed when he swept her off her feet in the next instant and deposited her on the bed.

She tensed a little, apprehensive again about the part
of their lovemaking that would hurt. For all the rest, she'd eagerly do it over and over again.

His mouth covered
hers now, his tongue stroking hers again, his body rubbing against her as if waiting for her to give permission to come inside. She loved every bit of the way he brought her to another pleasure pitch, and she cried out, "Oh aye, aye."

As if she had signaled him to enter her, he thrust that massive part
him of into her feminine heat him that fascinated her so. A pinch of pain resulted, and she tensed. But he was inside her, warming her very core. Her husband, her lover, her Highlander.