She sat up higher. “We must go! Tell my father now! We–”
He pressed his finger to her soft lips. “Ada, no’ the now. ‘Tis our wedding night, and I’ll no’ have anything, no’ even this feckin letter, keep me from you. That letter kept me from ye already, and I would not let it keep me from ye this night. Your father and I can deal with the letter on the morrow.”
The tension left her body and she lay back down with her head on his chest. “Ye are correct in that. I’d have nothing keep me from ye this night. So how did ye escape then?”
Sawny draped his arm over her shoulder. The tale, brief and undetailed as it was, had been difficult to share, and he was weary in the telling of it, left more ragged than he thought the outpouring of words could make him.
“The letter caused much excitement, and Kelso and his men were drunk on their discovery and whiskey. The lad, he left the gaol door open, and a horse at a hidden exit. I had hoped to try and take the letter with me, but Kelso had it with him in his study, and I was in no shape to fight him for it. He will destroy it or no’, either that night or later. One more day will no’ matter in the end. I decided discretion was the better part of valor and headed here. To ye.”
“To me.”
Their conversation fell away and they dozed together, entwined.
Adaira moved to adjust her arm caught under his, and Sawny twitched and grasped her wrist, hard.
His eyes were closed, his breathing steady. She brushed his lanky dark hair off his forehead.
“Sawny, are ye well?” she asked.
His grip tightened as one eye cracked open.
“Why are ye grabbing me so hard? I was only trying to find a comfortable position. . .” Her words trailed off as his grip loosened. His fingers, however, remained firm against her wrist.
“I thought ye were leaving,” he said in a craggy voice.
“Och, weel, I was no’ leaving. Merely rolling over.”
She did not move. Her eyes were riveted on his sleep-veiled face as her heartbeat echoed in her ears. What had prompted him to react so forcefully to her small movement?
“I was afraid I was losing ye,” he clarified.
His other eye opened as narrowly as the first, and he shifted his body so she could curl against him, her arm unimpeded.
“Why did ye think I would leave ye?” she whispered.
His chest heaved in a long breath, lifting her up and down like a ship at sea.
“’Twas no’ rational. But even the mere thought of ye pulling away made my throat close. I thought I had lost ye, before. ‘Twas my greatest fear realized. I’m a weak man when it comes to ye, lass, and I canna bear even the suggestion that I might lose ye again. Even if ‘tis ye rolling over in bed. In my sleep, ‘twas like ye were being pulled away.”
His words did not make the most sense, yet she understood. His sleep-addled mind was irrational and he grasped onto her to keep her close, fearing that she might somehow go away.
She had felt the same, wanting to cling to him, afraid that if she let him go, he’d disappear once more.
He closed his eyes again. “I dinna know if I will ever feel different. ‘Tis like I am afraid of losing ye every moment of the day.”
Adaira’s breath caught in her chest. She surged forward and kissed his full lips. It began as a tender kiss, a promise that she was with him and not going anywhere, then quickly became burning and lustful, sucking and biting.
His arms clasped her to his chest, his desire for her obvious, and he nudged her thigh. He craved her again, but his energies were sapped.
Instead, Adaira pushed herself upright and straddled his hips. He cupped her breasts and took in the view of her riding him.
“Ye can rest,” she whispered. “I’ll do the work to bring us to our heights.”
Then she gyrated her hips, sinking him in deep before lifting out and sliding back down his length. He groaned deep in his chest as her body’s erotic dance sparked that familiar, animal need deep in his groin. She shifted her movements, slowing her pace before slamming onto him again, bringing him to the edge and backing off.
She was taunting him, driving him senseless until he could not take it anymore. His hands dropped to her hips and he took control, pushing her down as his hips bucked up.
And they did indeed find their heights.
