by Paula Quinn
She never thought such pleasure was real. She’d learned well the art of self-control. But there was no way to contain the fire rising up in her like a deluge. Every tender stroke that pulled her wider fanned the flames until she succumbed to the rhythm of his thrusts and let passion free her.
Everything went red before her as she climbed to the precipice with him, unencumbered and unafraid. She pushed and pulled beneath his body and arched her back, lost in ecstasy.
His mouth around her nipple cast her over the edge.
She cried out as her body writhed and pulsed with pleasure of release she’d never known. She clung to him as she let go, knowing she was safe in his arms.
Her eyes fluttered open in time to see him grind his jaw and pull himself out.
She watched, light-headed and breathless, while he rose up on one hand and took hold of himself with the other. She felt his seed spilling onto her belly and closed her eyes when his mouth sank to her neck.
He didn’t collapse on her but rose up off the bed and trudged to the basin of water atop an ornate table.
Sina watched him, admiring the back view. He dipped a cloth in the basin and returned to the bed.
She looked away from the front of him, but when he stood over her to clean her, she lost the desire to resist, and let her eyes take their fill.
He looked to have been carved from stone. His chest was dusted with dark hair. Shadows danced over his sleek curves. His belly was as tight as a bowstring. And below…
He was still hard enough to arouse her. She closed her eyes to sever her gaze, and let him cleanse her in silence. She wanted to rest with him for just a little while longer, take time to consider that this truly just happened—and she wanted it to happen again. But there wasn’t time now. He couldn’t stay.
Were they mad? What would her father do when he found out? How long could they keep it from him?
She began to shiver thinking about it all, and from being wet. He hurried and dried her with a cloth and then climbed into bed next to her and pulled the blankets up around them.
“Come closer, lass. I’ll keep ye warm.”
His voice played like deep, sensual music to her ears. She moved closer, pressing her ear to his chest and winding her limbs around him. She listened to the sound of his heart, his breath.
“This is very nice, but you cannot stay.”
“I know. A few moments before I go.” He held her close and spoke into her hair. “If I have things to do in my life, I want to do them with ye by my side. Will ye come home with me, Sina? Back to Camlochlin? I know ’tis no’ the life ye’re used to. Ye’re as oot of place there as I am here. I’m no’ askin’ ye to sacrifice alone. We’ll live in Camlochlin fer half the year and London, God help me, the other half.”
She wiggled closer in his embrace and looked up into his eyes.
“I dinna know where yer heart is with Standish,” he continued, while she contemplated her words, “but I know he willna be allowed near ye again. There is nothin’ ye can do fer him.”
“Though, I will not lie, the end of him pains me, my heart is no longer his.”
“I know ’tis painful,” he said. “I dinna know what I would do if Goliath ever turned on me.”
At the mention of his name, Goliath lifted his front paws onto the bed and stared at them, ears perked to attention.
“He would never turn on you.” Sina smiled warmly at the dog and thought about how fortunate Adam was to have such a loyal friend.
“Or on ye,” Adam told her. “He was jealous at first, but he’s come to love ye.”
She laughed. “He told you that, did he?”
“Aye, he did.” He smiled with her. “Words are no’ the only way to communicate.”
She agreed after what they had just done. There were few words spoken between them, and yet, they were both changed.
She reached her hand out to pet Goliath’s big head. Her heart still accelerated, but she wasn’t afraid of him anymore.
“I think,” she said, watching Goliath close his eyes while she scratched his head, “nine months there and three here would be better.”
She looked at him and grew serious. “But only if my father approves. I will not bring an army to Camlochlin.”
“Then I will make certain he approves,” he whispered, leaning in to kiss her. “Because I willna leave withoot ye. I love ye, lass. I want to take ye as my wife again, with ye happy this time.”
“So, then,” she whispered, biting his succulent lower lip, “I’m the first woman you’ve ever loved.”
“And ye’ll be the last.”
He took her mouth with sublime possession, tangling his fingers through her hair, then down her back.
“No, you have to leave!” She giggled and pushed him out of her bed before she couldn’t walk for the rest of the day.
She clutched him by the wrist just before his feet hit the ground.
“Adam.”
“Aye, lass?”
“I love you too.”
Chapter Thirty-Five
Gentlemen,” the king announced early the next morning as he reached his horse. “This is Lord Hamilton, grandson of the Duke of Hamilton. He’ll be joining the hunt today.”
Adam greeted the others and leaped into his saddle with Goliath at his side. He’d rather return to the palace, to Sina’s bed—but spending time with her father was part of getting her back.
“You’re a bit unconventional,” remarked Lord Somerset, coming up on his flank and glancing at Adam’s bare neck and kid breeches.
Adam set his pale eyes on him. “Are we going to hunt or dance?”
“He’s Scottish,” the king reminded Somerset with a chuckle.
“Where’s your pistol?” asked another stately noble, his back stiff in the saddle, his nose tilted upward.
“I do not hunt with a pistol,” Adam told him and pulled a short blade from his belt. “I hunt with this.”
The men around him looked equally horrified. Adam smiled, understanding more clearly now how savage his kin must have appeared to Sina the first time she saw them. He remembered how she’d wept and prayed and challenged him at every turn. She was braver than most of these men. She faced her fears about him, his kin, and Goliath and overcame them all.
“Yer Majesty,” he said, catching up to the king and cantering beside him. “What of Lord Standish?”
“He’s being released into his father’s care later today. If he’s seen anywhere near Sina, he will be caught and hanged.”
“Do ye think he’ll give her up that easily?” Adam asked him. He already knew the answer—and so did her father.
“The Earl of Chesterfield is an ally I cannot afford to lose presently. Showing mercy to his son is a favor he will not forget.”
“Unless his son is hanged,” Adam murmured.
“You question my decisions,” the king pointed out, slipping his gaze to him.
“With Sina’s safety in mind, Sire. He tried to strangle your daughter, whom he loves. She needs someone to guard her.”
The king tossed him a knowing half smile. “Hmm, yes. I was going to speak to you about your prowess the other day. Impressive.”
“I had the finest teachers in all of Great Britain. I can protect her.”
The king nodded. “I don’t doubt it. How are you and she getting along?”
“Verra well. In fact, I would have ye know that I’m falling deeply in love with her.”
The king’s face was unreadable. Adam knew the king loved his mistress. He’d never given her up and divorced his wife for her. Maybe love meant a little to him.
“And she’ll have you,” the king countered, “now that Lord Standish is out of the way.”
“She would have had me whether he was here or not. He used her to find his happiness. I will spend my days helping her find her own.”
George said nothing for a few moments while they rode, then said, “She won’t believe it, but I’ve always wanted her to be happy.”
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br /> “She wasn’t, Sire. She hasn’t been fer a long time. I can change that too.”
“I would like a chance to change it as well,” the king said quietly. “Do you think we can?”
Adam was glad her father wanted to try, but it meant staying long enough to give him time to do it. “Aye, I do.”
“Good.” The king took a breath of relief and slowed his horse. “You seem to know much about her. She’s opened up to you already.”
“She does not cloak what she’s feeling. One only has to look and listen.”
“You’ll tell me what she likes and dis—”
“Nae.” Adam shook his head and glanced at the others riding over the hillside and into a small forest. “Ask her yerself. Spend time with her. Get to know her. That’s how ye will make her happy. ’Tis what I am doing.”
George wanted to be angry with him for refusing. Adam could see it in his eyes, but at last they softened on him. He knew Adam was correct, and was not so proud that he wouldn’t concede. It was a good sign.
“In the meantime,” Adam told him, “I will speak favorably of ye in her presence.”
It occurred to Adam more in that moment than any other that he might not be able to continue this façade with Sina’s father. He’d always sworn to himself that he’d never kiss the arse of any king, and here he was doing just that, even sounding like a Lowlander to do it. Prostrating himself before a man who had gone back on his consent, who didn’t care how many times he went back on his word or if he started a war with the MacGregors.
But he wasn’t here to harbor ill will toward the king. If he had to kiss arse a little to have Sina or to save his clan, he would gladly do it.
They headed into the sparse forest and listened for any sign of the others.
“They have the dogs,” the king complained.
Adam pointed to his dog, heading deeper into the woods. “We have Goliath.” He kicked his horse forward to follow his hound.
He thought the king was just behind him a few moments later when he spotted the others beyond the brush. They were about to shoot a buck, so he remained still.
The shot rang out. The buck raced away, as did Goliath. The hound swung his head around, ears perked, and then took off in the direction they’d come.
Where the hell was the king?
Why had Goliath gone back?
Adam turned his horse around and flicked his reins.
He saw something moving in the bramble ahead of his dog. The flash of its overgrown teeth and the massive size of its shoulders proved what it was. A wild boar. A big male. The direction it was heading turned Adam’s heart cold.
The king was up ahead, going the wrong way.
Adam kicked his mount’s flanks to go faster and yanked his blade free. He wasn’t going to make it in time.
The boar reached the king’s horse and ploughed its large head into the mount’s leg. The horse went down, bringing the king with it.
The boar ran in a half circle and headed back for the king. It tipped its chin, pointing its sharp canines upward.
Goliath reached the beast on lightning-fast legs and, with a snarl that silenced the birds, sank his fangs into the boar’s neck.
The thick-skinned beast fought and kicked its hooves at Goliath’s belly. Its high-pitched, piercing cries echoed through the trees. Adam knew his dog couldn’t hold on to the boar’s thick neck too much longer.
He leaped from his saddle a few inches away from the roiling bodies, and without hesitation fell upon the boar and drove his blade deep into its neck.
When movement ended, Adam sat up and checked on Goliath. When he saw that his friend was unharmed, he drew him in for a kiss on his furry head, and then stood up, bringing the boar with him.
The king was standing beside his lame horse. The other nobles were watching Adam from a short distance away, too stunned to move.
“You and your dog saved my life.”
Adam came toward him. “’Twas nothing anyone else would not have done. Are ye hurt?”
“Only because I must shoot my favorite horse.” The king sighed and wiped his brow. “But tell me, do you truly think any one of those behind us would have leaped from their horse and killed that boar with their hands? I tell you not a one. You and Goliath have my gratitude. We will speak more of this later. Now, if you will wait with the others, I will take care of my horse.”
Adam did as he was asked, tied the boar to his horse, and then offered the king his mount to ride home. The others rode on ahead while the king kept pace with Adam and Goliath on their feet.
“Tell me, Hamilton, why did Goliath attack the boar when it turned on me? Did the order come from you?”
“There was no order given, Sire,” Adam told him truthfully. “Goliath and I came upon the men shooting at a deer, and the next thing I knew Goliath was racing back here. The shot must have startled the boar and sent it running in yer direction. Goliath knew where ’twas heading. He’s intelligent.”
“He’s incredible.”
“Aye, I know,” Adam agreed, looking down to wink at his dog. “I tell people all the time, but most have a hard time seeing it.”
“Would you consider selling him?”
“Nae. Never.”
The king smiled. “I didn’t think so.”
“Sit at my table tonight at dinner, Hamilton. We’ll discuss things.”
They saw the king’s staff hurrying toward them, alerted, no doubt, by the noblemen who’d raced back to tell the rest.
Adam watched the king dismount and reach out to pet Goliath on the head. “You’re invited too, of course.”
He ordered one of his servants to bring the boar to the kitchens and to bring to Lord Hamilton anything he requested.
Adam requested Sina.
Adam waited for her in a small library outside the palace. She’d sent Katie back with a note, asking him to meet her here. According to Sina, it was the least visited place on the grounds.
Light spilled in from the high windows to illuminate benches and bookshelves. There weren’t many books—not compared to Camlochlin’s library, and not enough candlelight by which to read them once the sun went down. Judging by the layers of dust on the books, Sina was correct. No one would come upon them here.
He liked the silence of it, the stillness that quieted his anxious thoughts.
He and Goliath had saved the king’s life. He couldn’t have hoped for any better way to gain George’s favor. Mayhap it was a good time to tell him the truth. Mayhap the king would gladly give his daughter’s hand to Adam now. They could be wed again here in London. Adam didn’t care where.
He shook his head. He was getting ahead of himself. He couldn’t be too hasty. He had one chance to save his clan from the king. He had to be certain his deception would be forgiven before he confessed.
But he wanted her. His body craved her, and not just his body, but also every chamber of his heart. She lurked in the corner of his every thought, pulling his attention back to her pert breasts in his mouth, her legs coiled around him, her body writhing beneath him. He’d fought himself all morning not to be distracted by the memory of her. He’d kept her at bay.
But now…she was coming to him and he couldn’t wait to hold her in his arms again. He loved her madly, hopelessly, and after last night, more than he ever thought possible. He’d let her in because he thought he had to. Now she filled every chasm of his heart. The only thing stopping him from having her was his name.
Goliath sprang from where he’d been sitting at Adam’s side and galloped to the front doors.
They opened and she entered on a summer breeze. Adam watched her lift her delicate fingers to push back her hood. She saw him as sunlight touched her face, and her smile nearly buckled his knees. She was happy to see him, happy to be here with him…and with Goliath. She actually bent her face to his black muzzle and planted a kiss on his furry head.
“Thank you,” Adam heard her whisper.
She had already heard of wha
t happened on the hunt. Her gratefulness told Adam much about how she felt about the king.
“I have your promise, then?” she asked Goliath next.
He responded by lowering his shoulders and dipping his tail between his legs.
Adam laughed, loving that she talked to his dog. “What have ye made him promise?”
“Goliath is never going to allow Catherine Newton to touch him again.”
“I see,” he said, unable to stop himself from moving toward her. “And what if she touches me?”
“Then I will tear out her throat myself.”
“Hmm”—he smiled, slipping his hand behind her nape—“this is a side of ye I’ve never seen before.”
She tilted her head back to receive him and whispered across his lips, “You’ve set my passions free.”
He descended, taking her mouth with tender possession. He breathed her, knowing her scent was growing more vital to his lungs than air. He closed his arms around her, knowing no one, not even a king, could take her from him.
She broke away, her cheeks and her lips red from kissing him. Her eyes danced with mischief. “Come with me.”
She took him by the hand, locked the doors, and then led him up the stairs.
Chapter Thirty-Six
Sina led Adam to the second-floor landing and to a giant, arched window made of glass, cut and soldered to extend overhead—the stroke of a master designer. Sunlight burst over brightly sewn pillows and coverings strewn about the cozy nook. She looked at her stack of books and parchments and she smiled.
“Ye’ve spent much time here.” Adam stepped beneath the grand window and looked out over the manmade landscape of rooftops and beyond.
“I discovered early that I needed a place to come to clear my head in peace and quiet.”
“Aye,” he agreed, looking out. “I often went to Bla Bheinn fer the same reason.” He turned from the window to gaze at her.
She had thought that once they were together again, he would cease to haunt her thoughts. She was wrong. He filled her every waking thought and her dreams. She was glad now that he’d gone hunting with her father, but she woke this morning missing him. If they were in Camlochlin, they wouldn’t have left their bed. She wanted him. She wanted to feel the size of him atop her, inside her.
