AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Dougall immediately turned his own head to claim her lips as he dropped the bindings. At least Murine thought he must have released the cloth he'd been wrapping around her, because his hands were suddenly up under the gown she held in front of her and covering her breasts with no cloth between her flesh and his.
Murine first sighed into his mouth with relief when he began to kiss her, then followed that up with a moan as he began to pluck at her nipples with his thumbs and forefingers while still cupping the bottoms of her breasts with his palms. The sensation had her pushing in two different directions at once. She was twisting her head farther back so that he could deepen the kiss, while pressing her breasts forward into his caress. It put a bit of a strain on her neck and Murine was at first relieved when Dougall broke their kiss to switch to nibbling and kissing her neck and ear while he eagerly kneaded her breasts. But after a moment, she wanted his kisses again and tugged one arm free of the nightgown to reach back for his head even as she tried to turn enough to reach his lips again. The moment she started to try, Dougall released her and stood up.
For one moment, Murine feared he was going to put an end to things again as he had at the waterfall, but then he settled himself in front of her on the bed and caught her by the arms. He started to pull her forward and back into his embrace, but paused with her halfway there. Following his gaze, she saw that her gown dangled from one arm, leaving her bare to his view. His gaze stayed fixed there briefly, then rose to her face for a moment before slipping back to her breasts. He reminded her of a little boy trying to choose which pastry to pick from a tray. In the end, he was a greedy lad and went for all of it. Cupping both of her breasts, he pressed a kiss to each, then closed his hands over them as he lifted his head to claim her lips again.
Murine pressed forward into his caress and kissed him back eagerly. When his tongue invaded her mouth, she welcomed it and inched forward on her knees, desperate to get closer to him. She was vaguely aware of the linens and furs slipping and then dropping down to pool around her knees, but didn't really register what it meant, even when Dougall suddenly clasped one cheek of her bottom to urge her to rise up on her knees.
The action broke their kiss, but it also allowed him to trail his lips down to the breast he was no longer caressing and claim it. Murine gasped and clutched at his upper arms as he drew the better part of her breast into his mouth, sucking almost violently, before letting it slide out until only the nipple remained. He then set about nipping at it lightly while running his tongue over the tip.
"Oh, Dougall," Murine groaned, and then gasped with surprise when something brushed between her legs. Eyes blinking open, she glanced down, but all she could see was Dougall's mouth ministering to one breast and his hand at the other. She couldn't see his second hand, but was definitely feeling it as it brushed across her core again. Murine instinctively tried to close her legs, but his knees had somehow got between hers and now held them open, and then he caressed her again, more firmly, his fingers gliding across her wet flesh and milking a cry of mingled need and excitement from her.
Dougall released the nipple he'd been teasing and tipped his head up even as the hand that had been at her breast slid around her neck and up behind her head to pull her down for a kiss. Murine responded almost desperately to his kiss, her hips bucking under his touch, and then they both stilled as a crash sounded from above stairs. In the next moment, Dougall was off the bed, barking "Stay here" and rushing up the stairs.
Breathing heavily, Murine stared blankly after him and then slowly eased back to her haunches. It wasn't until she heard Dougall crossing the upper floor that she realized she was sitting there naked. Biting her lip, she quickly snatched up her nightgown that had somehow got pulled from her arm and lay pooled on the bed next to her. She recalled tugging it off her one arm, but had no idea how it had got off the other. Murine didn't ponder the matter, but merely pulled it on over her head, then brushed it down into place and slid to the edge of the bed.
She was debating getting up to follow Dougall and be sure all was well when she heard a crash from above. Swallowing, she shifted nervously and glanced around for a weapon as the sound was followed by a second crash. She'd barely begun to look, though, when footsteps moved back across the creaky upper floorboards. It was a great relief when Dougall appeared at the top of the stairs and started down.
"What was it?" she asked with a frown, noting his irritated expression.
Dougall shook his head as he stepped off the stairs. "One o' me brothers must ha'e left the shutters open above stairs. The wind was blowing them about so I closed them," he explained, and then paused as he saw that she was dressed.
Murine glanced at herself self-consciously, unsure what to do or say. She had only dressed because she'd worried there was someone above stairs. Now that she knew there wasn't, however, she would have liked to continue doing what they'd been doing before interrupted. Unfortunately, she didn't know how to let him know that. Or even if she should. He had told Aulay that they were to be married, but did that mean they could or should do the things they'd been doing? Would he think her a lightskirt if she--
"Ye're probably hungry."
Murine glanced up at his gruff voice to see that he'd turned his back and was moving to the pot simmering over the cooking pit and she sighed, knowing they wouldn't continue with the pleasure he'd been teaching her. Telling herself it was for the best, Murine got cautiously to her feet and when she found them a little less shaky than the first time she'd got up, moved slowly to the table.
Dougall turned from the fire with a trencher of what appeared to be a thick and hearty soup, then paused when he saw her seated at the table. A frown flickered across his face and she thought he would give her hell for getting out of bed, but the next moment the frown was gone and he crossed to set the trencher in front of her, then returned for a second one for himself. He then fetched spoons and two mugs of cider as well before sitting down next to her.
"It smells good," she murmured as she dipped her spoon in the soup. "Did you make it?"
Dougall smiled crookedly and nodded. "The lads hunted and cleaned the meat, but I did the rest."
"The lads?" she asked curiously.
"Geordie, Alick and Conran," he explained. "They came here with us."
Murine nodded, and glanced around, wondering where they were. They couldn't have been upstairs or one of them would have closed the shutters before Dougall could have got up there.
"They rode back to Buchanan fer supplies," Dougall announced now. "And to see if your brother showed up there."
"Oh," Murine murmured and, not even wanting to think of her brother, picked up her drink to take a sip. A heartbeat later she was spitting it back out and coughing up clumps of weed that had lodged in her throat.
"Damn!" Dougall jumped up and rushed around the table, but when Murine saw him raise his hand as if to slap her back, she squealed in alarm through her coughing and held up a hand to stop him. Dougall immediately froze. Fortunately, Murine had coughed up the worst of it by then and her coughing eased. She took a moment to catch her breath and then glanced to him with wide eyes.
"What the devil is in me cider?"
"One o' Rory's tinctures. 'Tis supposed to help build up yer strength," he explained, reaching for his own cider and offering it to her.
Murine took the drink and sipped cautiously, but needn't have bothered. His drink was weed free. It was also much more tasty than her vile drink.
"I guess I overdid the tincture," Dougall muttered and then explained, "I was a bit worried. Ye seemed to be sleeping a lot."
Murine relaxed and offered him a smile. "Thank ye fer seeing to me while I've been recovering."
"It was nothing," Dougall growled and moved back to reclaim his seat.
When he immediately began to eat his soup, Murine turned her attention to eating her own. It really was very good. It seemed Alick was not the only Buchanan man who knew how to cook, but Murine was enjoying it too much and
was suddenly so starved she didn't take the time to tell him so. As much as she enjoyed it, and as hungry as she was when she started the soup, Murine barely finished half of it before she had to set her spoon down.
"Ye don't like it?" he asked with a frown.
"Oh, nay!" she assured him, and then frowned as she realized that could be misconstrued and said, "Aye, I like it very much. 'Tis just that I'm full already." She glanced down at the remainder of her soup and added, "I actually ate to the point o' making meself uncomfortable it tasted so good." She peered at him and said, "Ye're a very good cook. Who taught ye?"
Finished with his own soup, Dougall pulled her half-full trencher before himself and picked up his spoon before answering, "Me parents. Ma and Saidh would often come to the lodge with us when Da brought me and me brothers hunting. We never brought servants though. Ma would cook what we caught and we'd all help with the meal and cleanup. It was family time," he explained with a small smile of remembrance. Scooping up a spoonful of soup, he added, "When she passed, Da took over the cooking and taught Aulay and me some more." He swallowed the spoonful of soup and added, "He said kenning how to cook a hearty meal was often thought a servant's business, but there are few servants traveling with ye in battle and it behooved a man to ken how to sustain himself."
Murine nodded and then smiled slightly and pointed out, "Ye didn't mention yer mother teaching Saidh to cook."
"She tried," Dougall said dryly and then assured her, "Our Saidh is no' verra good at it. She's no' got the patience."
"Ah," Murine said with a chuckle and watched him finish her soup.
Pushing the second trencher away, he hesitated and then stood, saying reluctantly, "I should probably put ye back in bed and let ye rest. Ye're most like tired."
Murine was tired, but noting his reluctance, and recalling his expression when he'd said she'd slept a lot, she shook her head at once. "Nay. I'm fine."
"Really?" Dougall asked with surprise.
"Aye. Besides, I think I must ha'e been abed too long. I'm a tad sore in spots other than me back."
"Oh." Dougall looked as if he weren't sure whether to allow his happiness that she wasn't tired show through, or show concern for her sore spots. Both emotions battled on his face briefly.
Murine saved him from making the decision by asking, "I do no' suppose ye ha'e a chess game here?"
