The Highlander's Lady (24 page)

Glowering, she took a step around Daniel toward the hearth where he’d sought solace from her moments before. How had she gotten into this mess? When she’d left Foulis, she’d had three goals—take Rose to safety, relay the message
to
the Bruce and return to Foulis where she could ascertain the dama
ge done and set about fixing it. All that had been blow
n
away in the wind the moment Daniel placed his lips on hers.

This was his fault. Her feelings, both love and mortification, were all his doing. But what could she do about it? Heat leapt from the fire, warming her more than she wished. She was already overheated. Frustration ran deep and Myra had to keep herself from stomping her foot or running from Eilean Donan screaming.

The question was, what did
she
want? What did she want from Daniel, from life
, from herself
?

“Myra…” Daniel’s voice sounded strained, as though there was so much he too wanted to say but didn’t.

‘Twas good to know she wasn’t alone, even if she didn’t know what it was he was thinking. Slowly, she turned, watching the way her skirt swished about her ankles, wishing to be back in time. Back in a place where she didn’t feel so exposed.

“Myra, what did I say this time?”

How could she say it was more what he didn’t say? She couldn’t. Wouldn’t.

“Listen, lass, ‘twould seem we both got turned around somewhere. When we first met…‘twas, I dinna know how to say it, but perfection comes to mind. Ye are the most amazing woman I’ve ever met. One I am proud to call my wife, if ye’d still have me.”

“Daniel—“

He held up his hand stopping her. “Let me finish, please.”

Myra nodded, intensely curious about what he would say.

“I
admit to being hard on ye, to saying things that might have hurt your feelings, but I want ye to know, I would never change who ye are. Your spirit, your fire, they are some of the reasons why I knew the first moment I met ye that ye’d make me a good wife. But not just a wife, a companion. I want a woman that I can grow old with, that enjoys my company, not the coin in my coffers. I thought ye could be that woman, and I still hope that ye can.”

His words made her soar on the inside. Even if he didn’t admit to feelings stronger than simply caring, Myra realized that he did in fact have them. For a man like Daniel to have come out and admitted such was nothing short of a miracle. He was intensely private. Kept things inside. She’d watched him rage, as it showed on his face and in the storm of his eyes, but he’d kept his thoughts to himself. He had an amazing control that rivaled all others. He was a master at keeping himself calm—and the only time she’d seen him lose that calm was with her. Why? Because she affected him.

Realizing all she did
,
left her breathless. But what stopped her heart was that she wanted it too. Wanted him to be her companion, her lover. Wanted to look across the table in the great hall of whoever’s castle they ended up in and see his
face, now and when he was more wrinkled than a crumpled linen shift at the bottom of her wardrobe.

“I want to, I do.”

Ther
e,
she’d said it. The heavy weight that had made her shoulders sag lifted some, but what lifted it completely was seeing the brilliant light that flashed inside his eyes.

“Ye do?”

The insecurity in his tone made her laugh. “Aye, Daniel. ‘Twould be an honor.”

“Nay, lass, the honor would be all mine.” Daniel covered the space between them in long strides.

Air rushed around her as he moved to quickly stand within inches of her. The scent of him surrounded her, intoxicated her even more than all the wine or whisky. She could become drunk on just him. For a very brief moment
,
she thought he would kiss her. His lips were so close, his eyes heavily lidded. Every inch of her body leaned toward him, begging for him to touch her. But he didn’t. Daniel kept that small distance, torturing her with how close they were, with how she couldn’t take another step forward if she wanted to.

“Ye want to be my wife?”

“I already agreed by the burn.”

“But ye didna know me then?”

“Nay. But does it matter?”

“Aye. I’ve spilled my heart to ye, tell me what’s in yours.”

Why was it so much harder for her to express how she felt than for her to hear him say the words?

“I didna recognize ye for ye, Daniel, but that doesna mean I wasn’t drawn to ye. I know ye had the impression a few years ago that I left ye there, that I was not interested, but that was far beyond the truth.
I went to get my handkerchief for ye.  A token of my affection, hoping ye’d return my esteem. But then when I returned and ye were surrounded by ladies… I thought myself a fool.
I watched ye. Stood behind the walls
, peering through the cracks
or eyeholes
and saw ye brooding.
Saw ye playing cards and making merry. Saw the distant look in your eyes while ye did it. If I’d been honest with myself
,
I would have recognized that ye…were waiting for me. That ye were hurting from my having left ye. And I admit, I did. I did run away. I was hiding. Because my feelings were hurt. I’d never felt so…”

“
Drawn
?”

“Aye, I was, from the moment I laid eyes on ye, I was compelled, and then when we danced… That’s when I knew. ‘
T
was the same magic in your arms.”

“I want to make magic with ye.”

“Dinna make me wait, Daniel. Kiss me now.”

Chapter Twenty-Two

M
yra’s mouth was hot, demanding and tasted of wine and desire. There had been desperation in her voice, but it matched his and it wasn’t the type of desperation that turned him
away
,
but
exactly the opposite. A rampant need. A hunger, a burning. They’d been dancing around each other for nearly a week. Hell more like several years if his dreams counted for anything.

He wanted her.
Outrageously
so.

And he wasn’t going to stop this time with a kiss. Or a mere lesson in the ways he could love her. Daniel wanted it all. He needed to show her how he felt about her. To worship her as she’d wished he’d done all those years ago. He wouldn’t disappoint her now. If anything he would prove his worth. Right the wrongs of both their mistakes.

Threading his fingers into her long, glorious hair, Daniel massaged her scalp. Took in the scent of lemons that curled through his nose. Myra. She was all his and he was never going to let her go.

The heat of her body was
a
balm on his cold limbs, more so than the fire in the hearth because she had the power to heal him, soul and all. He swept his tongue inside to taste her, reveling in how she eagerly curled her tongue around his. One thing was for sure, she was damn better at kissing now than she had been in the woods. Hell, she was the best kisser he’d ever laid his lips upon—and there had been more than he could count. She was passionate, curious, sensual. The woman knew how to turn a man upside down. His damn toes were curling.

Myra
wound
her arms around his waist, her fingers digging into the muscles of his back and massaging upward.
He resisted the urge to howl like a wild animal ready to pounce on his mate.

“Oh, Myra,” he murmured against her wet, plush lips. “Ye take my breath away.”

“Dinna stop, Daniel. I canna bear it if ye do.”

“I willna. Not now, not ever.”

He circled his arms around her, stroking along her spine. He loved how soft she was, so feminine. Daniel gripped her rear, feeling the muscles
along with the feminine curve. Sh
e’d bared her body to him before, but he’d not had the chance to see her arse… And he so wanted to watch her walk, to touch each plush globe, massage her, kiss the soft flesh.

About ready to rip her gown off, Daniel had to force himself to calm. To remember that this was her first time to make love, even if he’d already introduced her to it when he placed his mouth along the silken folds of her sex. Calm. He needed to calm. Needed to think of her pleasure only. With that in mind, he kissed her deeper, harder, his hands exploring the length of her back, her belly, the sides of her breasts.

Myra sighed, whimpered, arched her back so that her breasts crushed against his chest. Turgid nipples pressed hard against his chest, easy to feel through his leine shirt. Daniel growled, and rubbed his thumbs over each nipple. She gasped into his mouth, bit his lower lip hard.

“O
c
h, lass, we must go slow…”

At that she leaned back a little, her eyes cloudy with desire. “Why, Daniel?”

Why?
That was a good question. “Because, ‘twill be your first time.”

“Aye… But I canna wait too long. I…I…”
She bit her lip, her face flushed a pretty pink and for a moment she looked away.

Daniel was sure she was going to say that if they didn’t hurry through the act then she would regret it or change her mind. But then she looked back up at him, her eyes blazing.

“I dinna want to wait. I want ye to make love to me. Tonight.”

Oh, dear sweet Heaven. Daniel never thought he’d hear those words come out of her mouth—well maybe he prayed they would down the line, but he’d certainly not expected to hear the
m
from her so soon. Now.

His veins pumped with blood, surging through his limbs and especially to his cock. He was hard before, but now he was rock solid and his desire to make love to his wife was potent.

Daniel nodded. “Aye, lass. I want to make love to ye…all night.”

Myra shivered, a smile curling her lips. “Then let us not wait.”

Mesmerized, Daniel watched as Myra undid the
gilded
belt at her waist, and peeled away her
soft woolen
gown.
Her
chemise clung to her curves, outlined her breasts and vividly showed the hardened pink buds of her nipples.

“Lovely,” Daniel murmured. He stroked the sides of her breasts, gripped them in his hands, weighing and measuring them. “Och, lass…the things I’m going to do to ye tonight…”

Myra’s heart had never
beaten
so fast. Her breaths had never hitched the way they did now. Indeed, she’d never felt this way before in her life. Not even when Daniel had laid his head between her thighs and licked her
there
.

This was completely different. She was acting the bold temptress. Urging Daniel to make love to her, to touch her. And his promise…the things he would do… It only heightened her desire. She reached for the strings of her
chemise. Tugged them slowly until the two sides fell open exposing most of her breasts on down to the middle of her belly. Daniel’s eyes were riveted to the spot. His hands were hot on the outside of her chemise as he’d cupped her breasts. That heat was nothing compared to his fingers skimming inside the opening of her chemise, shifting the fabric until her breasts were fully exposed.

Myra’s nipples tingled. She shivered. Wanted, ached for him to place his mouth on her breasts. She didn’t have to wait too long. Daniel bent low, his hair brushing over her collarbones, her chest, and tickling her breasts. He too smelled clean, like soap, but also full man. A unique scent to him that drove her wild.

Hot breath caressed her sensitive flesh and then his tongue flicked over her nipple and she cried out. Myra raked her hands into Daniel’s unruly hair, tugging him closer.
Her nails dug into his scalp as he sucked a nipple into his mouth. Sparks shot from that spot and straight to the pulsing knot of flesh between her thighs. How could touching like this be so moving?

“Daniel… That feels so good.”

“Mmm, lass, I only want to please ye.”

But she didn’t want to be the only one experiencing pleasure. Thinking back on the moments she’d taken to watch lovers at Foulis, she did recall seeing a woman doing to her lover what Daniel was doing now. Myra tugged on Daniel’s shirt. “Take this off.”

He
grunted. Unpinned his plaid from his shirt and untied the ribbons at his throat without removing his mouth from her breasts. She couldn’t wait for him to finish. Myra tugged his shirt from where it was tucked inside his plaid, splaying her fingers on the solid ridges of his abdomen. She slid her hands up, marveling at the different textures of their skin. He was all hard muscle,
taut
skin, crisp hairs tickling her fingertips. Completely the opposite of her softer, more supple
skin. She continued her exploration upward until her hands stroked over his chest, the tight hardness of his smaller nipples scraping over her palms.

Daniel sucked in his breath, a ragged gasp that puffed against her own
nipple as she played with his. She liked to hear him gasp, knowing that it was because of something she was doing. Knowing that she was giving him pleasure. But touching him wasn’t all she wanted to do. Myra wanted to lick him.

She tugged his shirt upward, until he had to pull away from her breasts. The cold air hit her wet skin sending shivers to wrack over her, but she didn’t mind. Her mission was to strip this
brawny Highlander
from his shirt. Daniel smiled wickedly at her.

“In a hurry, I see.”

“Aye,” she said with a little laugh.

Daniel pulled his shirt all the way off, tossing it to the floor. Myra didn’t know where it landed. Didn’t care. She was completely mesmerized by the vision before her.
Bronzed
chest, crisp dark hair, muscles that bespoke of hours and hours of
physical
training every day. He was pure strength.
Myra licked her lips, hungry to touch him. She reached out her hands, stroking from his shoulders down to his belly, watching his belly suck in as he gasped.

She stroked back upward, pinching his nipples lightly between two fingers. Myra took a step forward, glancing up at Daniel, to see that his eyes were heavily lidded. He watched her, the intensity of his gaze giving her the last b
i
t of courage she needed to keep going forward.

Leaning in, she nuzzled his flesh, breathing in his masculine scent, then slid upward, scraping her lips over his chest until she reached a hardened nipple. Daniel let out a breath, the air whooshing in her hair. He stroked over the back of her head lightly, holding the base of her skull.

“Lass…” he breathed out low and gruff.

“Aye, Daniel?” she said in a voice she’d not heard before. 'Twas husky, sultry, utterly sensual and hard to imagine that it was her own. Myra flicked her tongue over his nipple before he could answer. “Do ye like it when I do this?” she asked.

“Oh, aye.”

Myra smiled against his skin, stroking her tongue in lazy circles around his nipple before sucking on it gently. He jerked against her.

“Och, lass. Enough of that or this will be over before—”

“Shh…” she said, cutting him off. She was far from done with him.
Oh, where had this wanton boldness come from? ‘Twas like she’d been
lying
dormant for years on end, waiting just for this moment to occur so she could ravish Daniel. She wasn’t a bit ashamed about it. In fact she fully reveled in this new powerful role.

“The things I’m going to do to ye, my laird,” she said with a teasing smile, even though her cheeks
heat
ed
to burning
. Appeared there was still a bit of the virgin inside her, but she wasn’t going to let that stop her.

Myra gripped the leather of Daniel’s belt, wrenched it free and watched with fascination as his plaid unwhirled to land in a pool of colors at his feet. From there she glanced up over his muscled calves, knees, sinewy thighs and… Well, the vulgar men of Foulis were not wrong
about large feet
. Daniel’s manhood was long, thick an
d stood upright, pointed toward
her, like it was waiting for her. Her face heated even more. She wasn’t embarrassed per
se, but felt almost as though
she’d bit off more than she could chew. That thing was certainly not going to fit inside her. None of the lovers she’d watched had a length or breadth like his. Daniel was a giant in every way. She glanced up at him, about to ask him if it would work.

“Ye look frightened, lass.” He gripped her hand in his and pulled her close so that his shaft brushed against her belly, the
chemise so thin it hid nothing. She shivered. “Dinna be afraid
.
I promise to be gentle.”

She licked her lips, shook her head. “’Tis not that. I but worry that…ye willna fit.”

Daniel chuckled. “I promise it will work just fine.”