IntoEternity

by Christina James

  Her gasp let him know she was just as affected by the intimate contact. He lowered his head and his mouth covered hers in a sweet exploration of lips. She opened her mouth and her tongue timidly touched his but after a moment he pulled back. He wanted her, thought about taking her to the ground and slaking his need then and there but he owed her better.

  “Sweet selkie.”

  She stepped away and he allowed her to slip out of his hands. She looked down the beach and then back at him.

  “Come. Let’s walk a bit.” She invited him and then she shyly slipped her hand into his.

  The sight of his large, sun-darkened hand holding her small pale one gave him more pleasure than he could have thought possible.

  They walked side by side to a large, sun-bleached log and sat holding hands, staring out at the incoming waves that crashed onto the shore and then receded. The sound of seabirds and the roar of the crashing waves hitting the rocks down the beach provided relaxing background noise, and they sat and talked for hours. He watched her watching him when she thought he wasn’t looking. At some point he had realized he was wooing his lady. Something he had meant to do but he hadn’t known how to proceed. She had made the task easy. The lass was very knowledgeable, a serious woman who listened to his views on war, horses and the needs of men. Not many women would understand such matters. He would have to thank whoever had educated the lass.

  * * * * *

  Gusty sat in the wooden tub, her hair piled high on her head with just a few curling tendrils escaping her combs and clinging to the damp skin of her face and neck. Her shoulders and the tops of her breasts were visible above the waterline as she soaked in the comforting hot water. She sensed Alexander’s presence the moment he entered the room but she pretended otherwise.

  She smiled, thinking back on the afternoon they had spent at the beach. He had been kind and patient and instead of having a hot sexual romp on the sand they had talked. Actually talked. Their conversation had been enlightening. He was a medieval Scottish warrior, a Highland laird, a man’s man and yet he was gentle, kissing her sweetly when he left her at their bedroom door.

  Now he thought to play a game. He had not made a sound to give himself away but she knew he was there. He brought the scent of all things earthy with him. The smell of the great outdoors clung to him, the smell of grass and pine forest, horse sweat and leather.

  Maybe she should have been more stubborn about the arrangement she found herself in but in truth she was content. During a long conversation with Suisan and Melinda while they cleaned her rooms she had learned of Alexander’s reputation as a fierce Highland warrior. According to the maids, many feared the laird of the Sutherland clan and his fierce warriors…but Alexander did not frighten her.

  She found herself attracted to him despite the short time they had been together, which was a good thing if she had to spend the next year living with him. She found security behind his fortress walls and she was willing to put herself into the safety of his gentle hands, at least for the time being. There was a sense of rightness with what was happening to her. In analyzing her feelings on the matter, she’d been surprised to find that being in this keep felt as if she’d come home after a long absence.

  Clearly her grandparents wanted this for her. Why else would Hagen trick her and basically pawn her as if she were a prize brood mare? She frowned at the thought. She should be angry with him but in her heart she knew he had done this in her best interest. If she didn’t love him and Maeve, Gusty would consider hunting the old fool down and making him pay for his deceitfulness. Had Maeve known about his betrayal? She had planned on Gusty marrying the Ross and now…?

  She really hated the idea of being railroaded into a marriage. Her grandparents had worked hard to convince her that it was her destiny as the long-lost daughter of a mighty Scottish laird. But when she had asked about her father they had become evasive. They would say only that he was one of the greatest warriors in all the Highlands. Alexander knew her father. He had admitted as much to Black Bart. Why hadn’t he said anything to her about him? Was it her father who sent Alexander to claim her? Men. Who could understand them?

  Gusty wanted to fall in love before she married. Was it too much to ask if she waited a while before agreeing to marry a perfect stranger? Get to know him first. A shudder ran down her back at the thought. It did not matter to her if he was a powerful Scottish laird or a peasant—she wanted a man who loved her.

  As she grew out of her adolescent years into womanhood she had taken with her the dreams she’d developed after reading hundreds of romance novels and watching nearly as many romantic films. In her mind, every woman on Earth had one true love. But in the last two years of her life she had begun to doubt she would ever find her soulmate. Was it possible she had finally found him? Was Alexander the man of her dreams?

  She smiled at the thought but kept her eyes closed as she leaned back in the large wooden tub filled with steaming-hot water and some wonderful-smelling scent. Let him get an eyeful of what she had to offer and then she would turn on him and blast him with pretend outrage. Feeling rather bold and wanting to see just how far she could push him, Gusty held out her hand and feigned ignorance of his presence.

  “Violet, please hand me that ball of soap from the stool.” She waited, wondering if Alexander would play lady’s maid for her.

  The soap was placed in her hand without a word.

  Keeping her eyes closed, Gusty raised her arms and began to lather herself, using long, graceful strokes. The soft sound of shuffling feet in the rushes behind her gave away her husband’s restlessness. She heard a heavy thud and then a low curse. Heavens, had she distracted him so badly he was now running into the furniture? She grinned and snorted back a laugh. She rather liked being the seductress. Again she held out her hand.

  “Violet.” She would teach him to come into the room and pretend to be someone else. “Could you please hand me that washing cloth?”

  A small square of soft cloth was placed in her hand but Alexander remained stubbornly mute. By the time she was finished running the cloth over her neck and face and down over her breasts and belly in slow, seductive movements, she was ready to give up and scream at him for being so mule-headed. What more did he expect from her? She was definitely not putting on a strip show for his benefit. She’d only intended to tease him a little.

  A horrible thought crossed her mind, bringing to a screeching halt all her well-laid plans. What if Alexander did not find her all that desirable? What if he stood behind her, looking at her with a critical eye and finding her lacking? She clutched the sides of the tub in a white-knuckled grip at the alarming thought but the sound of heavy breathing behind her gave her hope and she relaxed. Maybe she shouldn’t give up quite yet. One more try, she thought and held out her hand.

  “Could you please bring me some of that delicious-smelling shampoo?”

  No sound of movement met her ears and her hand remained empty. She waited and waited and then waited some more. She opened her mouth to ask again, fearing he had not heard her, when finally he spoke.

  “What is shampoo?”

  With a squeak of surprise, Gusty sank low in the water so that the high walls of the tub concealed her exposed flesh. She drew up her knees to her chest as she hunched herself forward, her eyes wide with shock.

  Momentarily stunned, she turned her head and found herself looking into the innocent face of the little, red-headed boy. He gazed at her over the side of the bathtub with large silver eyes.

  “What is shampoo?” he asked her once again, his brows scrunched together and a slight frown on his face.

  For a moment Gusty swore she caught a devilish twinkle in his now-innocent gaze.

  “You? What are you doing in here?” Gusty demanded.

  “I am Duncan Sinclair and I came up to ask Alexander if he would let me go hunting with his men tomorrow.”

  “Duncan is it? Well, although I am pleased to finally know your name, it is not appropriate fo
r you to be spying on a lady while she is bathing.”

  “Oh do not worry. I have seen naked lassies before.”

  “Why you little pervert! Where did you see a naked…lassie?”

  “Down at the seashore. The dairymaids go down and take a dip every once in a while. They do not mind me watching them. Sometimes they let me bathe with them. They are so silly though. They giggle too much for my taste. You have nice, big titties, Gusty.”

  “Duncan! You should not say such things! Now get out of here!”

  “I want to ask Alexander if I can go hunting.”

  “Well as you can see he is not here.” Then curiosity got the best of her. “Why did you stay when you knew he was not here?”

  “You seemed to need help bathing and since Violet wasn’t here, I figured I should help.”

  That explained why he stayed but not why he had not made his presence known to her.

  “Why didn’t you say something when you first came in?”

  The little imp grinned widely and shuffled toward the door. “I wanted to see what a real selkie looked like without her clothes. I heard a selkie is so beautiful a man would do anything to possess her.” He winked at her, causing her cheeks to grow warm. “I think that it might be true.”

  “You precocious little devil. You came in here just to peek at me while I was bathing. I should tell your cousin about your rudeness.”

  Duncan shrugged and his grin grew wider, a rakish imitation of his older cousin.

  “What are Alexander and his men hunting tomorrow?”

  “They are hunting Viking scum! Aye the bastards keep coming up the coast and causing trouble north of here.”

  His eyes lit up. Apparently he found the prospect of being part of a hunting party that would probably kill other human beings quite exciting.

  A chill skittered down Gusty’s back. At that moment she felt more of an outlander than she had since arriving in this century. How would she survive in a barbaric world such as this where kill or be killed was as common to everyday life as breathing? The idea was nearly too much for her to contemplate.

  “Could you please go now? I would like to get out of this tub.”

  “Of course, my lady.” Duncan started to leave but stopped at the door. “By the by, what is shampoo?”

  “I’ll tell you some other time, all right?”

  He seemed content enough with that answer because he departed, leaving Gusty alone with her dark thoughts. She really needed to talk to Maeve or Hagen. If she was going to survive in this century, she needed some reassurance. Perhaps Alexander would let her go visit them.

  Perhaps while he was away…hunting.

  Chapter Eleven

  Gusty watched Alexander enter the dimly lit chamber, stopping to bolt the door behind him. His gaze traversed the room. Did he see her there, already ensconced in his bed? She lay very still, pretending to be asleep. After watching her for a few moments he turned away and she breathed a quiet sigh of relief. She wanted to observe him for a bit, unnoticed…

  On silent feet he moved to the hearth, just out of her line of sight and threw a couple of logs on the dying fire. She shifted in the bed behind him and smiled at the sight of his fine physique, highlighted in the glow of the newly stoked flames. For several long minutes he stood staring into the fire until it grew into a roaring blaze, brightening the chamber. What was he thinking, she wondered? Had he thought about tonight and what he wanted to happen between them as she had done? Had he worried about how he would take her? She longed to be seduced with gentle caresses and sweet words to make up for the first time he had taken her on the grass above the seashore, when he’d acted more like a rutting animal than a gentle lover. He glanced at the bed again and Gusty lay still. After a moment he shook his head.

  Gusty adjusted her position on the bed again as unobtrusively as she could manage on a mattress stuffed with noisy straw. She watched every movement Alexander made.

  She had originally thought to keep him at arm’s distance until she had time to consider the strange circumstances surrounding their relationship. Should she stay with Alexander or find her way back to her grandparents and demand they fix the mess they’d created? The situation had grown more complicated. Not only did she want his kisses and caresses, she wanted to touch him, to kiss him in return…but was that enough?

  The thought of having sex with Alexander again, kissing him as he took her and brought her to an orgasm so fierce she screamed long and loud had her stomach clenching in anticipation. The memory of the first time with him had her tingling all over. She watched through half-closed eyes as Alexander sat on a stool and untied the lacings that held up his boots. He slipped them off and set them aside before he stood and stripped out of his clothing.

  As he turned slowly to give her a full frontal view, Gusty gasped with awe. Alexander literally took her breath away. He was definitely the most perfectly formed man she had ever seen. He was beautifully sculptured, not like the bodybuilders she had seen on television who were so bulked up that their muscles were grotesque. The muscle Alexander carried came from daily hard work and hours spent on the practice field. Alexander Sinclair was indeed a magnificent specimen of manhood. His tremendous strength was evident, beautiful and deadly.

  Alexander reminded Gusty of the magnificent statue she had seen on display in a museum. Adonis, God’s gift to women, only in the flesh. A mat of dark, curly hair covered his massive chest, tapered to a thin line down over his abdomen, trailed down to his groin and flared into a thick thatch from which his erection stood out, taut and tumescent. She could not pull away her gaze. The thought of getting her hands on his beautiful body had her cheeks heating up, her heart beating faster and her breath coming in small, panting gasps. Luckily the lighting in the chamber was poor or he might have been able to read the wicked thoughts that were no doubt reflected in her eyes.

  Alexander turned his head and looked straight at her. She lay in the middle of the bed, studying him with wide eyes.

  As if he were a wolf stalking his prey, he crossed the chamber slowly until he reached the end of the large bed. The smoldering look in his eyes bolstered her confidence. She had been somewhat worried about spending this night in his bed but apparently she had worried needlessly. Even if she didn’t acknowledge her desire aloud, she wanted him as much as he wanted her. This would be a night neither of them would soon forget.

  With a not-quite-steady hand, he lifted the bedcovers and slid in beside her. “We have to discuss something of great importance, my sweet.”

  His weight tilted the mattress, throwing her against him, and her hands landed in the middle of his chest, her body molded against the length of his.

  “What is it you want to discuss?” Gusty whispered huskily.

  He shook his head, as if chasing away some errant thought, and Gusty chewed on her lower lip.

  “Stop,” he said, placing a finger on her lips. “You’ll distract me and I cannot afford to be distracted just yet.”

  She reached up to push a curl of hair back from her face and he imprisoned her hand and brought it back to rest on his chest.

  With her hand pressed against his chest, her breathing stilled for a moment. She could feel the pounding of his heart beneath her fingertips and she stared at his hand that covered hers, avoiding his gaze.

  “My beautiful selkie,” Alexander whispered, running his free hand up over her hip, caressing her waist and then moving higher, across her shoulder, until he reached the nape of her neck where he tunneled his fingers into her hair. “Do not be frightened, sweet Augusta.”

  She shivered in his arms and a sigh escaped her parted lips. “I am not afraid of you, Alexander,” she said in a low, raspy voice.

  He grinned at her statement and she chose that moment to look up at him. She gazed at his mouth and sighed and then she lifted her head and leaned into him, her lips parting slightly as he bent his head. She closed her eyes at the last moment and instead of feeling his lips on hers, he turned to
bring his mouth to her ear.

  “Why won’t you look at me?” he murmured, placing a whisper-soft kiss on the sensitive spot beneath her earlobe then licking her flesh.

  She shivered and tilted her head ever so slightly, giving him better access to her neck.

  “I am looking at you.” She paused a moment. “I can see your broad shoulder and your strong arm.”

  At her answer he raised his head and stared down into her eyes.

  “I am looking at your strong chin and your wonderfully firm, warm lips and…” She paused as her gaze met his and she swallowed. “I’m looking at your beautiful silver eyes.” Her voice had dropped to barely a whisper.

  He groaned and his lips covered hers in a kiss that told her he understood exactly what she was trying to say.

  She found him attractive.

  She wanted him.

  “Trust me, sweet Augusta. I will be gentle with you.”

  His words were a soft murmur against her skin as his lips burned a fiery trail across her cheek. She sighed, letting his warm, honeyed voice flow over her, giving herself up to his sweet caresses.

  He lowered his head and his teeth grazed the skin at the hollow of her shoulder, pushing the neck of her gown aside. His lips moved over her flesh, placing little kisses and nips, setting small fires of desire with every inch revealed. She answered him with soft gasps and sighs of pleasure.

  Lost in the feel and smell and taste of her great Highland laird, she paid little attention to the words he mumbled as he made love to her with his mouth. Her heart pounded madly, her stomach muscles clenched and hot blood pooled low in her abdomen. She wanted more. She needed to feel every part of him. Her hands moved frantically over his broad chest and shoulders and down his back, exploring, caressing him. He was as hard as steel and hot. So hot!