“This is about you,” he said, removing herléineat last. “I want to pleasure you until you can’t hold back your scream.”
But she was finding her own pleasure in touching him. In the darkness, she could almost pretend that she was a woman of beauty, that he truly didn’t see the scars. When she transformed her rhythm, moving her hand up and down, he suddenly forced her back, pinning her wrists to the ground.
“Enough,” he said. “I won’t last if you keep doing that.” He kissed her again, and she pulled his hips on top of her. The feeling of his hard length nestled against her curls was so tempting. His tongue entered and withdrew, just as he reached down to slide his finger inside her. The sensation drove her wild, and she arched against him.
She was desperate for more, and he guided the tip of himself into her wet entrance. Taryn braced herself for the joining that would come, knowing there would be pain when she surrendered her virginity.
Instead, Killian didn’t move. He remained barely inside her, and with one hand, he began stroking the hooded flesh above her opening. Every part of her was sensitive to him, craving his body inside hers.
“I won’t join with you until you’ve been well pleasured,” he swore. Though she didn’t understand what he meant by that, she gasped when he began suckling her breast. It felt as if her body were turning itself inside out, fighting against the onslaught of arousing feelings. She was unable to stop herself from moving her hips, and he kept up the rhythm, stroking her into a frenzy. Her body was trembling hard, and a white-hot core of need began to shimmer within her. He had found a hidden place, and as he stroked it, she heard herself begging him for more.
She was pressing against his hand, feeling the blunt head of him teasing her. And the shimmer transformed into an ache. He sensed her need and began rubbing harder, driving her toward the brink of surrender. He sucked hard against her nipple, and she couldn’t stop herself from arching her back while a thousand pieces inside her shattered into a molten blast of desire. She let out a gasp as a release slammed into her, and her fingers dug into his shoulders.
My God, she’d never felt anything like this in her life.
He surged forward, and she felt a slight pain as he breached her. The pain was quickly forgotten as their bodies joined together. She raised up her knees, and he filled her completely, taking a moment to catch his breath.
It was right having him buried deep inside her. The weight of his body upon hers was welcome, but the yearning had not diminished. He kissed her gently. “We haven’t finished yet,amhuírnín.“ With that, he withdrew lightly and filled her again. Her breath hitched as he began thrusting in a slow rhythm. It was like being caressed on the inside, and she welcomed the intrusion.
Instinctively, she tightened herself against his erection, and he groaned at the sensation. “Do that again.”
“Does it feel good to you?” she asked.
“Aye, Taryn. It does.”
She obeyed, and he kept up the slow penetrations until her body began quaking with the tremors. “More, Killian.”
“I’m trying to be gentle with you.”
She realized that he was holding back for her sake. When he was deeply embedded within her, she framed his face with her hands. “I don’t need you to be gentle right now. I want you to feel the way I did.”
He rewarded her by increasing the pace. “Am I hurting you?”
The sensation was so overwhelming, she was hardly aware of anything else. “Only if you stop.”
She knew the moment he surrendered to his own desires. He began plunging hard, lifting her leg against his waist, and she could hardly breathe from the pleasure of being filled. She gave everything of herself to him, meeting him thrust for thrust.
Then he gripped her hips and let out a groan, shuddering hard as he emptied himself within her. They were one flesh, joined together as only a man and a woman could be.
For a moment, she lay beneath him, savoring his touch. She would not think of the weeks ahead, when he would leave her. Nor would she let herself dwell on the reality that it was unlikely any man would touch her like this again.
For now, she would be with this man and pretend that the lies were real. That he was her husband and not her guard.
And she held no regrets at all.
Chapter Eleven
They reached the High King’s fortress by the second night. Killian led their traveling party with Taryn following behind him. He was conscious of her every move, and he could not stop watching over her. During the past two nights in their shared tent, he’d spent most of the hours in her arms, finding all the ways to pleasure her.
And yet, it still wasn’t enough. She had indulged in their night trysts, but she had grown quieter within the past day, hiding her thoughts from him. He knew not what would happen when they met with King Rory. But he would guard Taryn with his life.
“Will we seek an audience with the High King this night?” she asked, after she led her horse beside his. The cat was curled up in the basket upon her saddle, and he saw her quietly stroking Harold’s ears.
“Not yet.” He wanted to slip inside the fortress and disappear among the folk while he learned what he could about Rory. “Stay here and make camp,” he told her. “I will go alone and find out what I can about your father’s fate.”
“When will you come back? By midnight, do you think?” There was a tendril of worry within her voice.
He leaned across to take her hand, kissing the knuckles. “If I don’t, I’ve no doubt you will come riding in after me.”
