He frowned, still reluctant. But she had a right to know, didn’t she? “He was last seen in Carlisle.”
“Where that?”
“Just south of the Scottish–English border.”
She frowned, not understanding.
“I’ll show ye on a map when we get back,” he offered.
She nodded. “Good.”
He covered her hand where it lay burning a hole in his chest. “Nae running off?” he persisted.
She smiled slightly. “Nae running off.”
“Good,” he said, relieved. “Ye could come to harm, lass, on yer own in a strange country. Not all men are as nice as me.”
“I can protect myself,” she said calmly.
“Aye, I know, one to one, but can ye fight off a whole pack of men or prevent yerself being duped, or robbed? Ye’re learningthe language right well, lass, but ye’re not up to snuff yet. And yer beautiful face will make ye a target.”
“Ye care?” she asked with a shy dip of her head and a look up through her lashes that fair sent him to the grass.
“Of course I bloody care!” he said roughly.
She reached up then and kissed him. His arms came round her instinctively, and it was last night all over again. Except they were standing in the middle of a field in the moonlight, with Hector sniffing round their legs and Gussie God knew where.
His cock was hard in his breeches, and he wanted to lay her down in the grass and—He broke the kiss and said, a trifle breathless, “Did ye prepare, lass?”
She shook her head. “Not yet.”
He cupped her face and kissed her forehead. “Go back to the house, and I’ll meet ye in yer room when I’ve found Gussie. That is, if ye want to?” he asked.
“Aye,” she said, reaching up and giving him a lingering kiss. Then she whipped away, heading back to the house, and he whistled for Gussie. Not that he had high hopes she’d come. The wee besom had a mind of her own and would come when she wanted, and not before. It was half an hour later that he made his way up the stairs, trailing both dogs, and knocked quietly on Aihan’s door.
She opened it and let him in. Stepping over the threshold, he saw she was wearing a loose robe in fuchsia pink, embroidered with green and gold leaves. The sight of it caused him a pang. He recognised it as one of Cat’s, of course. And for a moment his heart turned over.Can I do this?Then she shut the door and slid her arms round his neck and his arms came round her and her mouth was under his, and he stopped thinking with his brain.
He pulled her tight against him, his hands slipping on the silky fabric, feeling the heat of her body through it, her slender limbs. He pushed the robe off her shoulders, baring her softskin to his wandering mouth. She loosened the tie at her waist, and the whole garment fell at her feet, revealing her whole body naked to his sight. She was slim and muscular, small boned and refined. Her waist narrow, her hips slim, her breasts, as he already knew, small. He took a moment to appreciate her.
Something he had resolutely refused to do when she was ill. He wondered at his restraint then, but now he looked his fill and cupped her breasts with their pinkish-brown nipples, fine and pointed. He took in the dark, crinkly hair covering her mound. He’d felt it last night, coarse and curly, but not seen it.
“Ye’re like a delicate bird,” he murmured, massaging those breasts in his great hands. She flung her head back, arching her neck, her eyes closed, and made a noise of appreciation. He kissed her neck. Then he scooped her up and deposited her on the bed and wrenched his clothes off in desperate haste. The dogs had settled before the hearth.
Approaching the bed naked, his cock jutting firmly from his groin, he knelt on the bed. “Ye’re sure about this, lass?”
She nodded, smiling and reaching for him. “Aye, Mac. If I wasn’t, ye wouldn’t be here.”
With a soft groan, he pushed her back into the pillows, his body trembling with the pent-up desire he’d been struggling with all day. He would have thought last night would have assuaged his hunger, but it seemed to have made it worse. He wanted her with an aching longing.
He covered her in kisses, his hands everywhere. Her skin was smooth and warm, her body pliable and responsive to his touch. He found her nipples with his mouth and suckled, first one, then the other, making her mewl and pant in a very satisfactory way.
His hand wandered lower and found her as wet as he’d hoped to. His fingers stroked and probed, slipping inside her, and she pushed up into his touch, moving her hips in that entrancing,sinuous way she had last night. Her eyes were almost closed, and she wore a half-smile as she helped him make her come.
“God in heaven, lass, ye’re beautiful,” he whispered as her face flushed and she panted, closing in on her orgasm with softly uttered moans and gasps that made his cock leak and twitch.
He worked at a nipple with his mouth while his fingers stroked her within and his thumb pleasured her without. She arched her body, crying out, and trembled with her crisis. He lifted his head to watch her face as her expression of desire twisted and disintegrated into satisfaction, her body relaxing in the aftermath.
He drew her close and kissed her softly on the forehead, waiting for her to come back to herself fully. Leaning over her, his weight on his elbows, he stroked a strand of black hair off her face as her eyes fluttered open, and she smiled up at him.
