Page 106 of The Laird’s Sinful Obsession

"Ye're sure?" he asked, giving her one last chance to stop it.

"I've never been more certain of anythin'."

His mouth found hers again as his hand slid down her body, learning the curves he'd only imagined before. Alba gasped against his lips when his fingers found the heat between her thighs, her hips arching into his touch.

"Lachlann—"

"I've got ye, lass." He kissed down her throat, her collarbone, lower. "Let me taste ye. Please."

Her answer was a breathless yes that dissolved into a moan as his mouth replaced his fingers.

Time became meaningless on that hidden beach.

There was only Alba—her taste, her sounds, the way she trembled and gasped his name as he brought her to peak after shuddering peak with his mouth and hands.

When she finally pulled him up, her face flushed and her breathing ragged, she kissed him deeply.

"I can taste meself on ye," she whispered, sounding awed and scandalized in equal measure.

"Aye." Lachlann's voice was wrecked. "And it's the most beautiful thing I've ever experienced."

They lay tangled together afterward, their breathing slowly returning to normal, the sun warm on their bare skin.

"We should swim," Alba said eventually, tracing patterns on his chest. "Before we have tae go back."

"Aye." Lachlann kissed her temple. "One more perfect moment before reality returns."

They stood and ran naked into the waves, laughing like children, splashing and diving beneath the crystal-clear water. The cold was shocking but invigorating, washing away sweat and sand and leaving them clean and breathless.

Alba floated on her back, her dark hair spreading around her like a halo. "I wish we could stay here forever."

"So dae I, lass." Lachlann swam to her side. "So dae I."

But eventually, they had to leave their sanctuary.

They dressed in comfortable silence, both knowing that returning to the castle meant returning to duty and danger and all the complications they'd briefly escaped.

The ride home felt too short.

As the castle came into view, Lachlann reached over and caught Alba's hand.

"Whatever happens," he said quietly, "with Calum's response or Torquil's threats or anythin' else, today was worth it. Ye're worth it."

Alba squeezed his fingers. "Aye. We are."

And Lachlann held onto that certainty as they rode through the gates and back into the waiting storm.

CHAPTER TWENTY-SEVEN

"Ye're very quiet."

Lachlann's voice broke the comfortable silence as their horses picked their way along the final stretch of path toward the castle gates.

Alba glanced over to find him watching her with that particular expression she was beginning to recognize, the one that meant he was thinking carefully about what he was about to say.

"I'm just..." She searched for the right word. "Content. Is that strange?"

"Nay." His mouth curved. "It's perfect, actually. I'd hate tae think I'd done somethin' wrong back there."