Chapter Twelve
LIAM WASN’T SURE what to make of Shannon’s stunned expression when she slid into her dress and looked at him. Truth be told, he hadn’t been sure of a lot since she woke him in the middle of the night and straddled him.
He was certain that moment would be etched in his memory forever.
The last thing he had expected after such a difficult night and how close she had come to death was waking to find her touching him. Stroking him.
Needinghim.
He had known she wasn’t entirely herself, but when she straddled him and her hot, moist center pressed against him, it became difficult to think clearly. More difficult still when she rubbed herself against his more-than-eager cock.
Even before she sank onto him, before he lost himself to flashes of another life, he knew he was in trouble. Somehow, some way, she felt different than all the rest. Different than anything he had ever experienced, and he wasn’t sure why. Not at first, anyway.
Not until sensual pleasure took on a whole new meaning.
He wasn’t sure what made her different from other lasses, only that she was. A thousand times over. Every move she made tested his ability to hold back. To refrain from releasing inside her shamefully early. Strangely, because it was less intensephysically for his poor arousal, it became almost too much to bear when she slowed her pace and kissed him.
Kissed him like he was all that mattered in the world.
That’s when holding back became impossible. When realities seemed to flicker betwixt this life and the last, and he couldn’t pull away if he wanted to. Everything about her consumed him. Drove him toward a peak he’d never reached with another. He religiously spilled his seed outside of a lass but could do no such thing with her. Something about letting go inside her,losinghimself inside her, felt almost transcendent.
And he wanted more.
As much as he could get.
If she hadn’t fallen asleep soon after they peaked, he would have. Over and over until she was too weak in the knees to ever leave his bed. A sentiment that came screaming back when he woke to her sitting up tousled and gorgeous, her lips still swollen from their kisses the night before.
He should have known she would turn him away upon waking, but he would be lying if he said he didn’t hope it would be otherwise. That she would have touched him as affectionately, even lovingly, as she had the night before and welcomed him inside her again.
While frustrated with his own false hope and the crushing sensation he’d felt when she didn’t, he knew better than to show it. Knew better than to show just how much she had affected him last night. Hell, before that.
From the moment he laid eyes on her in New Hampshire to this very moment.
Now he’d gone from being astounded and painfully aroused by how beautiful her nude body was to being confused by the way she looked at him when she slipped into her druidess dress.
“Mo ghrá,”she whispered, staring at him, gone someplace else in her mind as quickly as she had been the night before. “Iam so sorry....” She shook her head and teared up. “So very, very sorry.”
Worried for her, he chanted himself into trousers, leapt across the bed, and embraced her before she crumpled to the floor in what seemed like utter defeat.
“What is it, lass?” He sat on the edge of the bed and pulled her onto his lap. “What just happened?”
“More than I can ignore at this point,” she murmured, resting her head on his shoulder. “More than either of us can ignore.”
“Ta.”He might not know much about what was happening but knew she was right. “Once you’re able to, we need to talk. There are things about last night you need to remember.”
“No,” she said softly after a stretched silence. “The moment I slid the dress on, I remembered...and then I saw you.” She lifted her head and looked at him. “Riona implied as much last night in her trance or whatever that was, but I saw it clearly just now. You...her brother in that life. Brother to my druidess sister.” She shook her head and shivered. “A sister I sent to her death.”
So she wasn't talking about drowning? Dying? Being brought back to life? About Siobhán being there beforehand? Clearly not. Rather, she seemed focused on what had happened before all that.
While he might have denied the possibility of Riona being his sister in another life a week ago, looking back on things, it made sense. Felt right. How close he had become to her without feeling everything he typically would with any other lass who looked like her. Acted like her.
“No wonder you two connected so well,” Shannon said. “You loved Riona in a way you’d forgotten.” She swallowed hard. “Then you lost her because of me. Lost someone who had meant so much to you.”
When she went to get off his lap, he nearly stopped her and pulled her close again but instead let her go. Not just because she needed space but because she was right. She had taken someone from him who had meant a great deal. Yet as a knock came at the door and they were delivered food to break their fast, he couldn’t shake the feeling that there was more to this story. Much more. That Shannon wasn’t nearly the villain she thought herself to be.
While he sensed she wanted to talk about many things, most especially what had happened the night before when she retrieved her blade from his ship’s mast, she remained silent as they ate. Or, more pointedly, he ate, and she barely touched her food.
