Page 29 of Savage Kilted Highlander (Temptation in Tartan #9)

CHAPTER TWENTY-NINE

B ane was engrossed in brushing down his stallion in the dimly lit tranquillity of the stables when he heard a light step behind him. Recognizing it immediately, a jolt of excitement ran through him. He turned around, and there she was.

He was silent for a moment, simply drinking in the sight of her. She was scrubbed clean, her skin pink and white, her cheeks rosy, her eyes sparkling as she smiled at him. Her long auburn hair shone like autumn leaves. It was piled loosely upon her head in a way that made his fingers itch to take it down and run through its silken lengths. The lantern light behind her outlined her enticing curves in a pale blue dress he had never seen her wear before but could not help thinking he would like to peel off her in leisurely stages.

Enough . ’Tis best nae tae think that way. It’ll probably end in heartbreak.

“Bane,” she said breathlessly, hurrying towards him across the straw, worry written all over her lovely face. “Are you all right? I’m sorry it took me so long to come and see ye. I’ve come straight from supper with my father and Agnes. She showed me the way here afterwards so I could come and check on you.”

She went right up to him, rested her palms against his chest, and looked up into his eyes, her usual earnestness shining through.” The urge to take her in his arms and kiss her was almost overwhelming, but he forced himself to resist, unsure of how things stood between them.

“I’ve been so worried about you. I feel terrible that my father is making you stay out here in the stables. Agnes says it is better than you being locked up or sent away, and at least we can still see each other. I still do not like it though.”

“Ye shouldnae be here, Constance. Ye ken yer faither wouldnae like it,” he told her, feeling her hands burning through his shirt to his skin. He knew he ought to move away but he just could not seem to make himself.

She frowned slightly. “I do not care about that. I am here.” She peered at his head, and the frown deepened. “Look what they have done to you. Your face is black and blue! I told my father that his man should be punished for the way he hit you.” She stroked his cheek gently, sending thrills coursing through his body, making it even harder for him to resist her.

“Have you had something to eat and drink?”

“Aye, Tav brought me some broth and some ale earlier and the healer came and gave me some salve tae rub on me bruises and some tea fer the pain,” he told her.

Instantly, her expression of concern vanished, to be replaced by a smile that made his heart skip a beat. “Oh, thank goodness. That has set my mind at rest a little, but I wish I could be with you to tend to you.”

“That wouldnae be very sensible. If ye were found here, yer faither would likely lynch me.”

“I know,” she replied sadly. “But I miss you.” The artless admission both touched and wounded him. She had no idea how she made his heart ache for her when she added, “This will be the first night we have spent apart for two weeks. It will be very strange being without you and sleeping in a bed again. But Agnes insisted I move into her chambers with her, and we have such a lot to catch up on, I doubt we will be doing much sleeping.”

“Aye, ye’ll have a lot tae talk about. I’m truly happy fer ye. It sounds like ye already have a bond between ye.”

“Yes, we have. But when I lie down, I shan’t be able to help thinking of you out here all alone.”

He managed a casual chuckle, wanting to ease her obvious anxiety, while at the same time very much wishing she could spend the night with him in the stables. “I’m nae alone, Constance. He gestured at their horses in the stall next door as well as the other horses. “Ye should ken better than tae worry about me. I’ve bedded down in far less comfortable places than this, as ye ken. And I’ve plenty of company.”

“Oh yes, so you do. There’s my darling Lucy!” Clearly delighted, she went over and petted the mare, who whickered softly and rubbed her head against Constance’s face as she lovingly stroked her nose and whispered endearments to her.

Constance beamed at Bane over her shoulder. “Yes, I suppose this is luxury accommodation in comparison to the cave where we stayed that first night, or that awful broken-down cabin. Do you remember?”

He shook his head. “Constance, d’ye think that blow tae me head has affected me memory? Of course, I remember.”

I’ll never forget it as long as I live.

“I shall certainly never forget. And you as well, dear,” she told the stallion, who snorted and went right up to her to receive his customary caresses.

“He’s missed ye as well,” Bane said before realizing he had given himself away.

Constance rubbed the horse’s neck as she smiled over her shoulder at him and said, “So, you admit you have missed me.”

The smile would not be suppressed. She was breaking down his defences again, as she always managed to do. “Aye, I’ve missed ye. How could I nae miss ye? Especially after the way ye stood up and defended me in front of the laird like that. I really believed I was done fer. I thought I’d be swingin’ from a rope or loosin’ me head. That was what I deserved fer abductin’ the laird’s daughter. But here I am, sleepin’ in the lap of luxury, all because of ye, Constance. Ye saved me life.”

“Just as you have saved my life before, more than once. And of course, I defended you. I told you I was going to. Did you not believe me?”

“I always believe ye, Constance. Ye’re the most honest person I’ve ever met. But I didnae ken how ye were gonnae react when ye stood before yer faither, and I’d already resigned mesel’ tae me fate. He’s nae exactly the warm, welcomin’ type, and he has a reputation fer bein’ harsh. And in truth, I was so battered, I could hardly think.”

Her face crumpled, and she put her arms around his waist and hugged him, her head against his chest. “Oh, I know, you were in a terrible state. I was so relieved when you woke up, even though anyone could see you were in dreadful pain. Father made me so angry when he would not let me or Tav help you.”

It was too much. Bane put his arms around her and held her close, as he had been longing to do all along. The tension that had been knotted up inside him drained away, and he felt almost at peace.

“Bane?”

“Mmm?” He had his nose in her hair, breathing in the sweet scent of lavender, his arms around her relishing her soft warmth.

“Something is different. You seem… distant.” She spoke into his shirt without looking at him.

Bane felt suddenly naked, vulnerable. He was not used to expressing his emotions, not like this, in words. And the emotions he felt for her were so powerful and all encompassing, he felt like he was back in that rushing river again, when he had pulled her from the water half drowned. But he knew he had to risk telling her the truth if there was to be any hope of happiness for him at all.

“Constance, I’m afraid.” It came out as a whisper.

She lifted her head and looked into his eyes. Hers were soft, melting. “What are ye afraid of?”

“The future. I dinnae ken what it holds. All I’m sure of is… that I dinnae wantae loose ye.” There, he had said it. He held his breath for her response. “I love ye.”

Constance stood on her tiptoes and curled her arms around his neck, pulling him down towards her. Then, she kissed him softly. “I love ye too. I’m nae going anywhere,” she whispered and then kissed him again, her soft lips insistent as they pressed against his. Swept away by a riptide of joy, desire, love for her, Bane crushed her to him, unleashing all the passion he had been keeping inside into his kiss.

Constance melted against Bane as he seized her waist and crushed her against him, returning her kiss with a hungry intensity that was deliciously overwhelming. Her entire body lit up from head to toe to feel the passion flowing from him and into her, thrilled to know she was the cause of it, the reason for it. She did not hesitate at all, tangling her tongue with his in a frantic, sensual dance of exploration. She gasped as he caught her lower lip between his teeth, gently teasing it before plundering her mouth once more, his arms tightening about her body, making it sing with excitement.

She gasped when he suddenly lifted her off her feet and tumbled her into the bed of straw in Lucy’s stall, pinning her down beneath him. Their hands roved over each other’s bodies, his tracing her every curve, her breasts waist, hips, and behind, sending her into a daze of desire. She needed to touch him too, running her palms all over him, excited beyond reason by the feel of his muscles flexing beneath her hands. Hungry for him, she entwined her arms around his neck and wrapped her legs around his waist, pulling him into her while their kisses grew fiercer and more demanding.

With a guttural growl that turned her belly molten, Bane eased down the top of her dress, making her gasp as his lips broke from hers and began moving lower, trailing small, hot kisses down her throat, and lower still, tantalizing her flesh and making her arch her back in pleasure. She buried her fingers in his hair, moaning as he unleashed her breasts.

“Ye’re so beautiful, Constance,” he murmured, sending her into an intoxicated frenzy as he rolled the soft globes in his warm, rough palms, squeezing the flesh and toying with her already hardened nipples, sending shivers of pleasure traveling the length of her body. His mouth and hands roved greedily over every bit of her exposed flesh, kissing, nuzzling, sucking, and biting at her breasts, teasing her in ways she had never known existed and now never wanted to end.

She trembled with anticipation as Bane’s hands slid beneath her skirts, up her legs, cupping her behind, knowing what glorious pleasure awaited her. She moaned and wriggled in pleasure when his fingers skimmed her sex and parted the soft, curling nest between her thighs.

Carried on a wave of sheer wantonness, she lay back, opening her legs wider, revelling in the feel him toying with her breasts while the other cupped her entire sex in his palm, his fingers caressing her rosebud and delved inside her, making her wet.

She panted and squealed “Oh, Bane!” as his hot, questing mouth descended on her, greedily plundering her sex, his tongue flickering like lightening in and out of her alongside his fingers until she threw her head back and let out a small scream of ecstasy.

Powerful waves of intoxicating pleasure coiled up from her now molten centre and swept over her body. She held Bane’s head, pressing herself to him as he continued with the onslaught of pleasure, he was giving her with his mouth and tongue.

“Oh, Bane, please, don’t stop,” she cried out softly, gripping his head, matching every thrust of his fingers with her hips, riding him as the inexorable waves of pleasure began moving up her body like concentric rings, drawing her once more by slow, deliberate degrees to the delicious edge of delirium.

Her head thrown back, she bucked against his hand as the pleasure reached its ultimate peak and shook her entire being with its intensity as the waves crashed down over her in a sudden, blissful rush.

“Ye taste so sweet,” he murmured against her belly, his face wet with her juices as she fell against him, panting, her exposed flesh slick with sweat, still trembling from her climax. As she regained her breath, she could feel pressed against her the hardness of what she knew was his manhood. She wanted to give him the same pleasure, so she boldly gripped him through his trews.

“Constance, what are ye daein’?” he muttered, laughing, trying to pull back. But she held him and shook her head.

“I want you, Bane, I want to make you feel as you do me,” she told him, rubbing her hand up and down the growing bulge. “Show me how to give you pleasure.”

“But Constance, ach, God!” he hissed as she slid her hand down the front of his trews and gripped him. His groan only spurred her on.

“Constance, we should nae be daein’ that,” he told her, half laughing, half protesting.

“I want to know your body as you know mine,” she whispered fiercely, still rubbing her hand up and down his length. “

“We havetae stop!”

“You do not sound very convincing,” she teased, finding that the more she rubbed him, the harder he grew. “Will you undo these trousers, please? I wish to get to you properly.”

“Constance!”

“Very well, I will do it myself.” She slid her hand out of his trews and began working on the fastenings and soon had them undone, pulling out his shirt until his erection sprang out at her. Taking it in her hand again she kissed the tip of his erection, enjoying the deep groan that came from his lips.

“Jaysus, Constance, oh, Christ Almighty,” he mumbled as she began trailing tiny kisses up and down his length.

“Show me, Bane, show me what gives you pleasure.” She smiled when he relented, finally putting his hand over hers and guiding her movements. She slipped the head of his erection into her mouth, caressing it with her lips and tongue, revelling in the groans she was eliciting from Bane, who watch her through slitted eyes as she moved her mouth over his length and worked her hand up and down as he had shown her, making her hotter between her legs and more needful of him.

“Bane, I need you,” she said in a breathless whisper, sensing his rising excitement along with her own. “

The smile he gave her then made her feel as though her heart had burst into flame. “Are ye truly mine, Constance?”

“I am yours, and you are mine, and we shall never be parted,” she told him with utter conviction.

“Aye, ye’re mine, and I’m yers,” he said, suddenly changing position between her legs, propping himself above her on his elbows.

“Oh, oh, Bane,” she moaned, clutching at his neck as he slid inside her, once again amazed at how easily he fitted inside her, and how good he felt as he began moving slowly back and forth. He looked in her eyes between peppering her with kisses and tiny nips of building excitement, realizing the hunger she saw in his must be reflected in her own. How she desired him! Instinctively, she clung to him, her hips pushing up to meet his as his pace increased, the rhythmic thrusts harder, driving into her, taking her to heaven with every stroke. When the final, intoxicating wave came and swept her away, she screamed his name as she clung to him in her rapture, “I love you, Bane, I love you!”

“I love ye too, Constance,” he breathed into her ear as he she felt him stiffen, then groan low in his throat, and collapse against her.

They had only been lying there in each other’s arms, recovering their breath, for a few sublime minutes when the world erupted around them with a deafening cacophony. They both shot up out of the straw, staring at each other.

“What is it?!” Constance cried about the clamour.

“The alarm. There must be an attack on the castle,” Bane told her, pulling up his trews before helping Constance to stand. They hastily rearranged their clothing.