Page 64 of Deception of a Highlander

His hand cupped her fine arse, gently opening her. The little sound of pleasure whimpered into a moan. He brushed the slick center of her desire with his fingertip, and she pressed back into his hand with a readiness that left him near bursting. No further encouragement was needed, not when he was already so hard. He positioned himself against her heat and eased deep inside of her.

They made love as the light of a new day warmed the room. Their frantic breaths and passionate cries melted into the walls, and they reached their climax together.

Kieran gazed down at Mariel, her face cradled in his hands. Her hair was mussed from their lovemaking, her cheeks and lips flushed from it. For all the times he had seen her, she had never looked more beautiful.

She had never looked more his.

They were in their private world, one no one else knew about, locked away in a cabin that smelled of peat, love, and roses. Her skin was silk beneath his calloused fingers, and the way she looked at him made him feel there was nothing he could not accomplish with her by his side. Never had he felt so blissfully happy, so content.

Never had he felt more certain.

“Mariel…” he began. Blood surged in his veins the way it did before a battle.

She lifted a perfectly shaped brow and tilted her head up at him. “Hmm?”

He touched her soft cheek with the tip of his middle finger. Yes, this was what he wanted. Forever. “Be my wife.”

CHAPTER 24

Silence stretched between them and wavered Kieran’s confidence. He’d never asked a woman to marry him before, but surely her lack of response didn’t bode well for him.

Sunlight filtered in through the heavy glass windows and streaked across her face, making her violet eyes glow with an emotion he could not name. He sat up in their makeshift bed, and hay bristled against his thighs.

He caught her cold fingers in his hand. Perhaps she had not heard him. He waited for her to rise to a sitting position before trying again.

“Marry me, lass,” he repeated. “Be my wife.”

A mirthless smile touched her lips. “My father is dead, Kieran. You have no one to atone to for the loss of my virginity. It held value to no one.” Her cheeks flushed. “Except to me, and I did with it what I wanted. I ask for nothing in return.”

She thought he sought her hand through obligation. Sadness coiled around his heart at her lack of self-regard.

“It held value to me, but that isna why I ask.” His thumb traced the delicate line of her cheekbone. “I ask ye because of the way I feel when I’m near ye. Ye’re selfless and beautiful, and I love the way ye smile. I want ye by my side for the rest of my life.”

Her eyes dropped to their clasped hands, and he felt her hesitation.

“The clan likes ye,” he continued. “They will support my decision. I’m probably saying something wrong, but this is how I feel. I want this.”

He caught her chin with his fingers and forced her to look up at him. She had to know how he felt. She had to understand the sincerity of his words. “I want ye. Marry me. Please.”

Her teeth sank into her lower lip, and that dreadful silence filled the room again.

“Kieran, I…” Her voice faltered. “I…can’t.”

He dropped his hands and stared at her unreadable expression. Had she not spent the night in his arms with a smile on her lips? Had she not given him her most precious gift and been glad for it?

The heat of anger replaced disbelief. Damn it. He should have known better. There was not a shadow of a doubt in his mind that Jack had something to do with this, regardless of what she’d stated previously. If he ever met the man, he’d have Jack skewered at the end of his blade.

“Is there someone else?” Kieran demanded, his voice harsh. He would be tortured by the other man no longer. Let her confess and be done with it.

Her brow furrowed. “Of course not. Surely, you don’t think I’m in love with Colin—”

“Ye know I dinna refer to Colin.” Kieran folded his arms over his chest.

“I told you I do not love another man. There is no one else.” Her fingers plucked at a loose string along the hem of his leine. “The reason I can’t marry you…” She shifted her gaze to her hands. “It’s because of who you are. Who I am.”

He frowned. What the hell was that supposed to mean? “I dinna understand.”

Her voice trembled. “You deserve a woman who deserves a man like you.” She swallowed thickly. “I do not.”