“How many? Just one.”
“I was nae going to ask how many,” Niall said, wishing he could wipe the sadness from her face along with the tears. “I was going to ask how it happened. Nae that ’tis my business.”
Annie clasped her hands in her lap and looked down. “I let a man I thought to marry ruin me. ’Twas my fault.”
“’Tisnaeyour fault!” Anger like a red-hot poker seared through Niall. “The bastard trifled with ye. If he still lives, I will kill him for ye.”
“He is nae worth it.” Annie managed a trembling smile. “Anyway, he ran off.”
“The man deserves to die if he made promises he did nae intend to keep.”
“I am thankful I did nae increase because of that mistake. ’Twas a bitter lesson,” Annie said, “but I have learned to live with the fact that I am spoiled goods—”
“Ye are nae spoiled goods.”
Annie studied him. “Ye truly do nae think so? Be honest.”
“I will be as honest as I can be.” Niall held out his arms. “Come here, lass.”
****
Annie felt her eyes widen as she looked into Niall’s face and found nothing of contempt or condescension or criticism there. Instead, his eyes darkened to near charcoal, burning into her with an intense gaze.
She moved closer. Niall’s arms came around her and his mouth descended on hers. It only took the first touch of his lips for her to have total recall of how pleasurable the morning experience had been. One of his hands crept up to cradle her head, angling it to better fit his intention and she parted her mouth willingly to accept him. He tasted slightly of whisky, the smoky flavor adding to the peat smell from the brazier and the fresh scent of the soap he had used earlier. But none of that mattered since the tantalizing things he was doing with his expert mouth made her thoughts blur. There was only sensation as he teased, his lips brushing along hers one minute, increasing the pressure the next, then nibbling at a corner and sucking her lower lip before deepening the kiss once again.
His tongue explored her mouth fully, while his hand slid down to cup a breast, his thumb grazing the nipple as lightly as a butterfly lighting on a leaf. The barely-there stroke came again and Annie felt herself arching into his hand for more. Niall chuckled and worked his way down her throat, his warm mouth making wet, sucking sounds as his clever fingers rolled her now taut nipple between them. Annie groaned and pressed closer.
And then she was on her back, with Niall looming over her. He shrugged out of his open shirt and, seconds later, her shirt was gone too, leaving her completely exposed to him.Instinctively, her arms moved to cover herself, but Niall caught her wrists.
“Ye will nae cover yourself to me.” He placed her hands down by her sides. “Ye are a beautiful woman, Annie Ferguson, and I intend to enjoy every square inch of ye.”
He took a moment to boldly savor her nakedness. Annie felt heat arise in her face and flow through her body, the fiery hotness following his roaming eyes as he slowly let his gaze travel from her breasts down her belly to her core and back to her face. She probably looked like a pickled beet.
Niall reached for her breasts again, cupping both of them this time, pushing them together, then bending over her to put his face between the plump mounds. Annie made a whimpering sound as his thumb began flicking fast and hard across a hardened peak. Then she moaned in earnest as his mouth covered the other one and he began to suckle, lightly at first, his tongue laving the areola, pressing the nipple flat and then catching it lightly between his teeth as it popped back to erectness. Niall tugged gently and Annie pulled his head down, demanding more. He obliged, suckling harder and drawing deep. Annie felt herself shudder as sharp tingles raced downward to the pulsing center of her core.
Growling, Niall sat back momentarily to remove his breeches. The cool air hit the wetness of her breast where his mouth had been and Annie shivered, not from cold so much as missing his body heat. And then she shivered again as he stood to shed the last of his clothes and she saw his proud manhood jutting out at her. She swallowed hard. She’d only seen one other man’s penis before and it hadn’t been so…big. Tentatively, she reached out to touch it. Niall grasped her hand.
“If ye do that right now, I will nae last to finish what I have planned.”
Annie looked up at him, a bit bewildered. “I ken what comes next.”
Niall grinned. “Do ye?”
“Aye. Ye will spill your seed in me.” She looked again at his thick, hard length. “I think ye are ready.”
Niall’s grin widened. “I am more than ready, but I have nae pleasured ye enough, lass.”
Annie stared at him. He didn’t think she’d enjoyed what he’d just done? Good heavens, she could practically feel herself dripping. “But ye have pleasured me. ’Tis your turn.”
“Nae yet.”
“What…” she started to say and then gasped as Niall spread her thighs apart and nestled between them. Before she had time to grasp what he intended to do, he’d placed her legs over his shoulders and she felt his warm tongue lapping at the juice that flowed from her like overspilt milk, taking his time before licking slowly and leisurely along her folds. Annie gasped again and then nearly levitated as his mouth covered her thrumming nub and he sucked on it hard. Something clenched deep inside her belly and her thigh muscles corded around his head, locking him in place as her body shattered.
“Oh, my…” The words were lost as Niall slid up her body and she felt the large tip of his shaft nudge her entrance. She barely had time to register that it felt smooth as satin over hard steel before he began to push and she felt herself being stretched wide. She stilled, adjusting to the strange sensation of slowly being filled.
Niall paused. “I am nae hurting ye, am I?”
“Nae!” And it was true. The first time had hurt like Hades, but Niall’s cock inside her only felt like heaven. Annie wiggled beneath him. “Nae! Doona stop.”
