Page 57 of Sins of the Highlander

He invaded her softly, spreading her gently. The whole world went liquid and warm. He pressed the wet cloth to her and squeezed till the water ran down her legs and puddled under her feet.

She was a river. A loch. A place of deep secrets and hidden magic, but he knew them all. She ached for him to dive into her so she could keep him forever, like the water horse keeps its mate. Greedily, hungrily, because need has no sense of right or wrong.

It just is.

He cast a spell with his fingers, stroking and teasing, working the convoluted charm on her flesh. Marking her as his with each caress. Her insides twisted back on themselves, coiling tighter.

He dropped to his knees before her and found her secret spot. Joy raced in her veins beside the anguish of longing. Bliss called to her, washed over her, bearing her up on its gentle waves, rushing her toward the fall.

Then he stroked harder. Her limbs jerked.

Elspeth’s eyes flew open. Her heart pounded between her legs in unrelieved wanting. Her thigh screamed at her, and her body’s deep need receded in the face of agony.

She welcomed the pain. Pain meant she was alive. Biting her lip to hold back a groan, she ran a hand under the coverlet and found a thick bandage on her leg. The bolt was gone, but she couldn’t remember anything about how that happened.

She poked about for a memory but couldn’t even find the dark hole that time had fallen into.

Dawn was creeping in through thin places in the thatch overhead. The blanket covering her was worn and much patched, but someone had tried to keep her warm and comfortable.

She didn’t recognize whose bedchamber she was in, but she knew the man lying beside her with his head on her pillow. And his hand resting on her breast. She couldn’t find it in her to be offended by the simple, possessive gesture.

Rob’s mouth gaped with the relaxation of sleep, but there were dark circles beneath his eyes.

She felt as if she’d journeyed a long time. Wherever she’d been, he’d obviously stayed with her. A warm knot of tenderness tangled itself in her chest. She smoothed his hair with one hand.

His eyes opened, and he blinked at her with a sleepy, puzzled expression.

“Am I dreaming?” he asked.

“If ye are, I’m having the same dream.”

He sat up suddenly. A smile, the first genuine smile she’d ever seen on him, lit his face. “Ye’re awake! And in your right mind.”

“In my right mind?” she repeated. “That’s high praise from a madman.”

“Ye canna ken a madman unless ye’re a bit daft yourself, they say.” He pulled her hand to his lips and pressed a kiss into her palm. “That’s two answers, in any case. Ye’re going to live. Ye’re awake. D’ye think ye can stand?”

“I dinna know,” she said as he leaped and ran around the bed to offer her his hands. “It looks as if I’m about to find out.”

He pulled back the blankets, and she didn’t recognize the shift she was wearing. She ran her fingers over the thin linen and looked askance at him.

“That belongs to Hepzibah Black.”

She tossed him a puzzled frown.

“Never mind. Ye dinna remember some things. She said ye might have a hole or two in your memory, but that’s a small matter. You’re awake now, and it all may come back to ye, though it might be a mercy if some of it did no’, she said.”

“Who said…what?”

“Dinna fret. It matters no’ a bit.” Very gently, he lifted her legs and set her feet on the floor beside the bed. Pain streaked up her leg, but she fought back the wince.

“Here, take my hands.” He didn’t give her a choice and fairly lifted her to her feet. “Aye, ye can stand! Ye’ll be walking again afore ye know it.”

“D’ye mind if I wait a little longer?” she said as she plopped back down. The pain made her slightly dizzy.

“Oh, aye, I’m a dunderhead.” He dropped to one knee before her. “It’s just I’m so glad to see ye awake and to see the light shining out of your face.”

“And I to see your face.” She cupped his cheek. His beard had grown long enough to be a soft pelt.