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He started moving his finger against her there, as though gathering her pleasure, winding it up, and coiling it like thread on a spindle, concentrating on one, single spot. It was unbearable. It was magical. Like starlight and sparkles, the sweet cravings moved through her in a wild, primal dance. She moaned, clutching at him, moving her hips, fisting the fur of the stag skin.

She was opening up, unraveling, and the pleasure was bigger, and deeper, and swallowing her whole.

She knew she was at the edge of something…something spectacular. Something godly. And she’d fall over the edge and dissolve and…

Only, she didn’t. He withdrew, and she gasped, disappointed and frustrated.

“David…” She looked at him.

He was watching her, his dark eyes a mix of predatory desire and reverence.

“I’m falling for you, Anna,” he whispered, his voice rough and hoarse.

Falling for her… Her soul sang. Her body was exposed, naked, swimming in an ocean of pleasure. And now her heart and her soul were raw and aching from his words.

Because she was falling for him, too. And distantly, in the echo of her logical mind, she knew this was bad. This would ruin her. It may feel sweet and blissful now, but she’d pay for this happiness.

Before she could say anything, he had moved from her side and now hung over her like a gorgeous mountain. He kissed and nibbled and gently bit her breasts, and moved his mouth down her stomach, and she thought this would be it, this would be the moment he’d take her like a man took a woman, and she’d lose her virginity…

He moved further, kissing her stomach, then moving lower…and even lower.

She gasped and sat up when his lips were on the inner side of her thigh, embarrassed and worried he’d want to kiss her there. Animals didn’t do that. She didn’t know if it was something that people did at all.

But that was exactly what he did.

He spread her folds with his fingers, exposing her flesh to him, and covered her with his lips.

She cried out, unable to stop her shock and her pleasure. It was so wanton and soft and oh dear, dear God almighty, so good!

His tongue stroked her over and over, right where his fingers were before. She tried to recoil but had nowhere to go. He lifted her thigh over his shoulder while his other arm kept her in place. Heat like boiling honey spread through her blood from the center of her pleasure. She couldn’t do anything but take it, dissolve in it, swim in it.

He growled like a hungry beast, licking and sucking and teasing her aching folds, as though knowing what she needed and giving it to her. Then she was shaking as if from fever, grinding herself against him, feeling her insides clenching with a strength she’d never known she had. And, as though blinded by the sun, she didn’t know she had come to an abyss, until with one more flick of his capable tongue, she was falling.

Clenching viciously.

Burning with pleasure.

Opening up and spilling from the skies like rain.

And a lifetime later, when she was lying in his arms, covered with a blanket, and breathing, blissfully safe and happy surrounded by his scent and his hot body, she fell asleep with one thought.

Like someone addicted to uisge, this was a blissful happiness. But the more she drank of it, the more it would hurt when she had to stop.

CHAPTER 16

David watched Anna stir in his arms. He couldn’t stop staring at her, drinking in every detail of her face, the way the morning sun left soft shadows under her long, dark eyelashes, the way her wavy hair lay on her shoulders. Her porcelain skin was delicate, her collarbones were graceful, and he ached to trace his lips along them, feeling every curve.

She opened her eyes and beamed at him, then nestled into his chest. He tugged her closer and kissed her head, inhaling the scent of her hair—sunshine, road dust, and an herbal scent that was all hers.

“Good morning,” he murmured. “You look delicious.”

“Good morning to ye,” she said.

He kissed her lips, the taste of her succulent and intimate, and stirring desire in him yet again. Last night, she’d fallen asleep after he’d made her come, and he hadn’t wanted to disturb her. She needed sleep, and even though he hadn’t gotten his release, it was for the best. He hadn’t been sure he’d be able to restrain himself much longer and not take her…

That would go against his promise to himself to never risk an unwanted pregnancy in the Middle Ages. And if he took her virginity, it could cause her in trouble in Stirling.

No. Last night was amazing, but it would be just one night.