Page 20

C ampbell knew that kissing his wife was a mistake. But at the first taste of her lips, after denying himself of it for so long, he had damned himself.

He should never have touched her or carried her out of the boys’ room.

He shouldn’t have helped her undress when he had heard her sleepy plea, but he had loved dancing on the edge of the knife, thinking himself strong.

Now, the hot stream of lust pooling in his blood had won, and he was tasting the sinfully sweet mouth of his warm and willing wife.

She made such erotic sounds that had him groaning and burying one hand in her hair, taking care not to crush her with his weight by propping himself on one elbow.

She was so small beneath him, yet her lush curves were so womanly and made for sinful pleasures that he didn’t think he could resist.

Her hand moved to his hair, yanking as she returned his kisses, and he couldn’t help but grin against her mouth at her wild reaction. Sweet moans spilled out of her mouth as her nails dragged across his scalp, and the sensation went straight to his straining cock.

He ached to sink himself inside her, but he knew she was a maiden; he would scare her if he rushed to take his pleasure.

“Please,” she begged, not even knowing what she was asking for.

Her eyes were glazed over with passion, and she had relaxed into his hold. She looked so delectable and ripe that he wanted to quench his desire and punish her for the many cold dips he had taken in the loch, but her innocence stayed him.

“Ye dinnae ken what ye’re asking for, lass,” he groaned, grinding himself against her.

The friction of his kilt against his sensitive cock threatened to drive him insane, but he held back, calling on every last bit of his frayed restraint.

As much as he didn’t want to hurt her in his desire, he was so close to spilling his seed that he didn’t think he could control himself if he slid into her warm sheath. He didn’t want to test how fertile his new wife would be if he made the mistake of spilling his seed inside her.

“Teach me then, husband,” she begged. “I feel as though I am dying with this heat inside me.”

He groaned, taking her lips with his.

How could a man reject such a plea?

He moved to her ear, nipping gently, and then her neck, stopping at the junction that had her breathless. The left strap of her shift slipped off her shoulder, and he nipped the path, before peeling off the other one to bare her beautiful, tantalizing breasts.

He groaned at the sight, admiring the perfectly full, pale globes and the dark tips.

He knew what he was going to do next. He would spend time feasting on her beautiful breasts until she was weeping with need.

He palmed one luscious globe and then the other, and leaned down to capture one pebbled peak between his lips, smiling when she shot up and clapped a hand over her mouth to muffle her cries.

“Dinnae muffle yer cries, wife,” he purred, nipping lightly again.

“But everyone will hear me,” she whimpered as he nipped her again, adding suction to drive her wild.

He wanted her whimpering and crying out for more, just as he had the past few nights.

“It pleases me to hear ye, wife,” he insisted, meeting her eyes. “What matters more? Yer husband’s pleasure or the others?”

“Yer pleasure, Me Laird.”

Shite.

He felt blood shoot to his already throbbing member and gritted his teeth at the torture.

He palmed her breasts again, feasting on her peaks till her cries turned into a soundless scream that he felt through her whole body. He continued even as she went limp beneath him, starting the next cycle.

He wasn’t going to let her go so easily. Not when she had wrecked him so soundly that he had struggled to function.

“Have I pleased ye, Me Laird?” she breathed.

“Nae yet,” he said softly. “There is still one thing I require from ye.”

“What is that, Me Laird?” she asked.

“Lie back.”

She looked uneasy, which coaxed a laugh from him.

“Are ye laughing at me, Me Laird?” she asked with a pout.

He laughed even harder, flicking her nose gently.

“Yer ire is beautiful,” he said with a smile.

She wrinkled her nose, which caused him to reach up and kiss the look off her face.

“I would much rather see yer eyes widen with pleasure when I lick ye.”

Her eyes widened with curiosity.

“Let me show ye,” he murmured. “Lie back and trust me to give ye pleasure.”

The look on her face was wary and so innocent that he had to sit back on his haunches and admire her.

“I trust ye, Me Laird.”

If he lacked any motivation to continue before, he finally had it.

“I want to taste ye, but if ye arenae comfortable with anythin’, ye can stop me.”

She nodded.

He ran a hand along her calf to her thigh, pushing up her shift until she was bared to his hungry gaze. She instinctively tried to cover herself, but he stilled her with a hand on her thigh.

“Dinnae cover yerself,” he said, leaning forward. “Ye’re beautiful.”

She reddened, and he saw that she indeed flushed just as beautifully everywhere.

“I want to taste ye now,” he whispered.

She nodded and squeezed her eyes shut.

He smiled against her inner thigh, knowing that soon her eyes would fly open.

He groaned as her scent hit him first. She smelled sweeter than anything he could recall. The only thing he could compare it to was the orchard in summer, but she smelled even sweeter.

He kissed his way up from her calf, leaving gentle nips and caresses in his wake, until he finally reached her sex. She was quivering already, but she remembered to keep her legs apart. He so desperately wanted to see if she’d remember to when his tongue was between her folds.

He used the fingers of one hand to part her folds and leaned forward to take his first taste. He had promised to go easy on her, but as soon as her nectar burst on his tongue, there was no way he could hold back from savoring her fully.

Grabbing her thighs to hold them apart, he feasted on her as though she were made to be savored. Her hand found its way to his head, and she was torn between pushing him away and pulling him closer.

He gave particular attention to her throbbing nub, and she shot up like he had expected her to, on a scream he knew the entire castle would hear.

He continued lapping at her when he felt the burst of her pleasure, not stopping until he had fully quenched the thirst that would no doubt kill him when he chose to leave.

“That was…” she trailed off when he fixed her shift around her. “I thank ye.”

He bit back a smile and nodded.

No woman had ever thanked him for giving her pleasure before, but he didn’t need her to know that. He pulled the bedcovers around her, then went to stoke the fire so she wouldn’t catch a chill.

She looked so peaceful as she snuggled beneath the covers that he was immediately struck by guilt for having tainted her.

He turned to the door but stopped when he heard her shift.

“Ye should rest,” he advised.

“Are ye leaving?” she asked.

“Aye.”

“Why? I thought…” She bit her lip.

“I cannae stay for yer sake.” He smiled ruefully. “I dinnae think I can control meself around ye.”

“Why? Ye dinnae want to have bairns with me?”

“‘Tis also a reason.”

He didn’t owe her any honesty, but she had been so open and giving with him that it only felt right to return the favor. Come morning, he could resume avoiding her as he had before.

“Why do ye want nay heirs of yer own, Me Laird?”

He lowered his eyes to hide the grief in them, waiting till he was sure the emotion was under control before he turned to her.

She had a pitying look on her face, as though she understood. But she couldn’t, not really.

No one could understand the pain and guilt that ate at him every time he looked into the boys’ cherubic faces. Every time they looked at him like a stranger and they ran to her because their mother had told them about her and their father hadn’t done the same.

But he wouldn’t burden her with his grief, or she would make it her own.

He walked to her, placing one last kiss on her forehead.

“Because I feel guilty,” he said. When she furrowed her brow in confusion, he quickly added, “Dinnae try to understand it. Sleep now.”

She pouted but nodded, nonetheless. “I bid ye good night, Me Laird.”

He nodded and stepped out of her chamber with a sigh.

Their last conversation had doused the lust that had been raging in his blood, and his only option was to retire early to face the day ahead.

He was grateful to have her in the castle, even if she didn’t know it. She was keeping her end of the deal so well, he couldn’t help but feel he needed to do something more for her.

Thinking deeply, he added her as well as the twins to the list of people he owed. He needed to think of a way to ease their lives.