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He nodded, and she stepped aside, leading him in. She fetched them both a drink from the jug on her little table, and they sat together on her small couch, each wrapped in their own thoughts.
It was strange, Cicilia reflected, how much safer she felt just with his presence. Having him here, in such close proximity, made her feel sure that whoever was threatening her was far, far away. Being beside Alexander was like a wave of security she could not explain.
Speakin’ o’ explanations…
“Do ye want to continue?” Cicilia asked, sipping at her drink.
Alexander raised an eyebrow. “Continue?”
“Aye,” she pressed. “Ye were sayin’ somethin’, an’ I interrupted. Ye said that…somethin’ has happened?”
Alexander went quiet, drinking deep, and Cicilia started to suspect that he was never going to answer her. She even felt a little bad, wondering if putting him on the spot like this was at all polite. After all, she was supposed to be his guest!
“Alexander, it’s all right. Ye dinnae need to—”
“Cicilia,” he interrupted, and she fell silent instantly. There was a fierce spark in his blue eyes, and she found herself staring, hypnotized, as they talked. “What I was tryin’ to say is…ye’re one o’ the most maddenin’ people I ever met. Ye make nae sense, inside an’ out.”
Her lip twitched. “Flatterin’,” she said ironically.
“Oh, dinnae tease me. Ye ken what I mean. An’ yet…an’ yet the thought o’ anythin’ happenin’ to ye, it drives me up the wall,” he told her. His expression was open, earnest, as he said, “I’ve nae been so angry in me life as I was when ye showed me that accursed note. I couldn’ae send anyone else to guard yer room because I couldn’ae stand the thought o’ somethin’ happenin’ without me kennin’ about it.”
What is he sayin’? I’ve never seen him so passionate!
Cicilia’s pulse quickened, and she felt unable to look away from the intense look on his face, unable to break his gaze. “Ye were tryin’ to protect me?”
“Best I can,” Alexander agreed. “I dinnae understand what I feel about ye, but I ken I cannae let anythin’ happen to ye. Ye’re good, an’ kind, an’ smart, an’…”
“Alexander…” Cicilia started. She wasn’t sure what she was going to say. Did she want to thank him? Berate him? She honestly didn’t know for sure.
He swallowed. “When…when ye kissed me in the stables, Cicilia, whether I like to admit it or nae, it changed somethin’ in me. It changed somethin’ in us both.”
A wave of heat rippled from her head to her toes at those words, lighting up parts of her body she hadn’t known existed until now. She could hear a note of need buried just below the surface, and it filled her with a longing she barely understood.
“Aye,” she whispered. “An’ I’ve been waitin’ ever since for ye to do it again.”
He didn’t need any more invitation, and his lips met hers in a hurried crash. Cicilia’s hands were in his hair in a second, pulling him closer even as his hands tightened around her waist.
The passion from the kiss ignited precisely as if the previous one had never ended, and they were lost in each other in moments, their lips and tongues and hands exploring everywhere they could.
Eventually, they surfaced for air, and Alexander was looking at her with those vulnerable wide eyes. “I…Cicilia, I dinnae come here for that,” he said roughly, though the throbbing in his voice suggested otherwise. “I swear to ye, I just wanted to keep ye safe.”
“I ken,” she replied throatily. “An’ that’s why I’m nae gonnae stop. Laird, I dinnae like the idea o’ yer esteemed self sleepin’ on the cold hard floor alone. Mayhap ye’d like to share me bed on this night?”
It was with some satisfaction that Cicilia saw Alexander’s pupils dilate, his Adam’s apple bobbing in his throat as he gulped, and the unmistakable desire mixed with the shock in his eyes.
“Cicilia,” he said quietly. She could tell he was trying to be calm, but it sounded almost like a groan. “Ye dinnae owe me that. I would never ask ye to—”
“I ken,” she said softly. She stood up, offering her hand, and he accepted it and allowed himself to be pulled to his feet like a man spellbound. ?e was so much taller than she, but as she led him across the room, he may as well have been an obedient doll.
They reached the bed, and she shoved very lightly at his chest. He fell back as though she’d pushed him hard, his knees buckling under him as he sprawled on the bed and stared up at her.
Her heart was beating so fast that she could hear it in her ears, but she ignored it as she began to take off her nightgown, slowly but with confidence, ready for him to see—and needing to see in return. Her clothes pooled to the floor, and Alexander’s breath stuttered as he took in the sight of her.
I dinnae ken I could have that effect on a man. It’s certainly havin’ an effect on me.
The crisp air caressing her skin felt like a gentle embrace as she moved forward and began to undo Alexander’s clothing, too. Without a word, he shifted to help her—but she wouldn’t let him get up, not yet.
When he was naked, she stood back to survey her prize for a moment. She had seen nude men before, a mistaken glance at a farmhand stripping down a little too publicly. This, though, was like nothing she’d ever experienced.
