by Ruth Langan
Kylia knelt beside him and began to probe the wounds. She could feel the shallow breaths of the animal, and the trembling as shock set in. The pup’s eyes closed, as though ready to accept its fate.
She moved aside their food and began wrapping the pup in the fur throw. Then she lifted the bundle in her arms and sat with her back against the trunk of a tree, crooning softly.
Grant dropped to one knee beside her. “You needn’t do this, my lady. It’s but a small creature of the wild. Death comes often here in the forests of the Highlands. You need to save yourself for the daunting task ahead.”
She shook her head, sending dark curls dancing. “No life is insignificant, my lord. Even one such as this. Rest now, while I do what I can.”
Instead of lying beside the fire he got to his feet and began to walk just outside the circle of firelight. He told himself it was because he wanted to see to their safety. But there was no denying the real reason. He needed to keep his distance from the lovely Kylia. Whenever he got too close, he was torn by the temptation to take what he had no right to. Just kneeling beside her, watching her cradle a wounded animal in her arms, had him thinking about things that were better left alone.
And so, while she rocked and crooned to a simple wolf pup, he stayed in the shadows and watched from a distance. And hoped with all his heart that when this was finished, and they had accomplished what they sought in his kingdom, he could return her to hers as he’d found her. Unspoiled by the evils of his world.
The night had grown silent. Except for the hooting of a nearby owl, and the gentle whisper of the breeze among the leaves, the forest creatures slept.
Kylia brushed a finger over the soft fur of the wolf pup and was rewarded by a quick lick of its tongue. This time when it closed its eyes, it wasn’t to face death, but peaceful rest.
Drawing the fur throw around the sleeping creature, she laid it close to the fire for warmth before crossing the distance to the bubbling stream. There she knelt and scooped water to her mouth. Satisfied, she got to her feet and brushed down her skirts. As she turned, she saw a shadow looming over her and gave a gasp of alarm.
“My lord.” Recognizing Grant, she sighed. “You startled me.”
“Forgive me. How does the pup fare?”
“His wounds are healing. He’s sleeping as peacefully as a baby.”
“You should be doing the same. Our journey on the morrow will be long and arduous, if we’re to reach my fortress before dark.”
She tossed her head. “I’m not tired. In fact, I feel strangely invigorated. Perhaps it’s the presence of the wolf pup.” Even as she said the words, she felt shamed, knowing the pup was only a tiny part of these strange feelings. The real reason for the tumult in her heart was the man standing before her. He could rouse her, lift her, seduce her with but a look. Because it wasn’t possible for her to lie, or even evade the truth, she blurted, “Nay, it isn’t the presence of the pup. It’s you, my lord.”
He stepped back, eyeing her with a puzzled frown. “What are you saying?”
“I’m not feeling invigorated because of the wolf pup, but because of you.” She took a step closer, narrowing the distance between them. She lifted a finger to his mouth. Just the merest touch, but she felt its repercussions clear to her toes. “It’s knowing we’re alone here.”
Grant was determined to ignore the rush of heat. But there was no ignoring the way his heart was pumping furiously. “You’re in a strange new land, far away from home and family for the first time, my lady. That is the only reason you can’t sleep.”
“Deny it if you must, my lord. But I know what my heart is feeling.”
She saw him go very still.
When at last he spoke, even his tone was hushed. “What is your heart feeling, my lady?”
“Strangely elated. As though on the verge of some new and wonderful discovery.” She traced the outline of his mouth with her finger.
He closed his hand around her wrist, stopping the movement. His eyes were narrowed on her with such intensity she felt a quick twist of fear.
“Do you know what happens when you tempt a sleeping wolf, my lady?”
When she said nothing, he whispered, “You become its prey. The wolf, once awakened, devours you.”
He released her hand and turned away. His snub was like a knife to her heart.
Over his shoulder, he said softly, “Go now and rest for the morrow’s journey.”
Kylia felt tears spring to her eyes and brushed them away with the back of her hand. She watched as Grant took up his sword and stepped back into the shadows. As she started toward the fire, she blinked away the rest of her tears. She would not permit herself to weep over this man. Nor any man.
If she’d thought he would simply take what she offered, she was sadly mistaken.
She had, she realized, a great deal to learn about his world.
Chapter Ten
Grant stalked off into the darkness, filled with feelings of self-revulsion. He’d seen the pain in her eyes when he’d rejected what she was offering. But how could he allow himself to take advantage of her, when she had no idea what she was doing? If she wouldn’t protect herself, someone had to. Foolish female. She’d spent a lifetime in paradise, where there existed no false pretense or dishonesty. How could she hope to survive in a land where such things thrived? Added to that, after only days away from her family, she had convinced herself that she was in love.
Love. If only it were so. He’d never met a finer woman. So sweet, so gentle, so generous with her gifts. It hurt him to hurt her, for she deserved only good things. But it was better this way. He would cut her off, quickly, deeply, to save her from even greater pain later.
But if her pain were anything like his, he hoped one day she would forgive him. For right now, this minute, he would give anything to forget about honor and integrity and simply take what she’d offered. He wanted her so desperately, it was a wonder that his heart was still beating. In truth, death would be preferable to this pain.
With a muttered oath he clenched the dirk at his side and almost prayed he would find some creature to fight. There was nothing like a good, satisfying battle to take his mind off what he really wanted to do.
Kylia drew her cloak around her and stormed back toward the campfire, her mind in turmoil. Was that how the lord of the MacCallum clan saw her? A foolish female seeking the thrill of a mere kiss?
She’d come offering him her heart. Did he have any idea what it had cost her to admit the truth? To bare her soul to him. Yet he had calmly, coldly rejected it. Rejected her.
He may have wrapped his rejection in pretty words about a wolf and its prey, but the meaning was perfectly clear. He didn’t want her. Didn’t want to be awakened from sleep to devour her.
Devour.
Kylia stopped in midstride as the meaning of his words washed over her. An aroused wolf devouring its prey.
Could it be that he hadn’t rejected her love out of disinterest, but out of fear for her? She clapped a hand to her mouth as the realization dawned. He’d been protecting her. Her virtue. Afraid to take what she offered. Afraid that, by satisfying his own hunger, he would bring harm to her.
Her heart swelled with love for the man who would put her needs ahead of his own desire. No wonder his people had chosen him laird of their clan. Could they have found a more noble, honorable man than Grant MacCallum?
In her mind he had become a hero. A warrior and protector, determined to save her at any cost.
She turned back in time to see him disappear into the shadowy fringe of the forest, where he blended into the darkness. Moving quickly she followed.
Hearing the crunch of leaves and the snap of branches, he whirled, sword drawn.
When he saw that it was Kylia, his eyes narrowed. “You shouldn’t be here.”
She ignored the thread of anger in his tone. “I know now what you were doing.”
He watched the uneven rise and fall of her chest as she struggled to calm her b
reathing. Nerves? he wondered. Or merely the exertion of following him?
“And what is it you think I was doing?”
“Protecting me, my lord.”
His frown deepened. “Such a clever woman, my lady. If I’m not careful you’ll soon uncover all my secrets, and figure out all the ways of my world, as well.”
“Perhaps not all of them. But this much I know. You are not as disinterested in me as you pretend to be.”
He couldn’t hide his surprise. “And how would you know that?”
“For one thing, you have never once called me by name. Is it because you find my name so distasteful on your tongue? Or do you think, by refusing to do so, you keep a distance between us?”
For a moment he simply stared at her as he mulled her words. “I think perhaps you’re far too clever by half, my la—” He stopped. “I see what you mean. Very well. I’ll agree to call you by name if you’ll do the same for me.”
She swallowed and folded her hands primly at her waist before lifting her chin. “Grant.” It was spoken in a whisper.
The smile returned to his lips. This time he allowed it to reach his eyes. “I can’t hear you.”
She cleared her throat. Met his look. “Grant.” She spoke the word clearly. “There you have it. And now mine, my lord.”
His smile faded, replaced by a frown. His fingers gripped the hilt of his sword until they were white. Why was this such an effort? He couldn’t say. But he did manage to say, “Kylia.”
“I don’t believe I heard you, my lord.”
She was teasing him. He could see the laughter in those heather eyes. Teasing him as a maiden would tease a lover. The realization had him thrusting his sword deep into the ground before reaching out to close his hands around her upper arms and draw her closer.
“Kylia.” His voice was a growl of pleasure and pain. “Kylia. Kylia. It is the loveliest name in the land. And I have long wanted to say it aloud.”
He dragged her into his arms and pressed his mouth to the hair at her temple, breathing her in. “Kylia. My beautiful Kylia. As lovely as your name.”
“Grant…”
He cut off her words with a kiss that seemed to steal her very breath. His mouth moved over hers, drinking her in, tasting, devouring.
She was caught by surprise. Always before, his kisses had been hesitant, almost reluctant. As though testing her, and allowing her to test him. To explore the unknown. But this time it was different. There was a boldness, a possessiveness about this kiss that had her head spinning, her heart thundering. He took it deep, draining her even as he filled her. As his arms tightened around her, he took the kiss deeper still, until she had no choice but to wrap her arms around his neck and give herself up fully to him.
“Grant.”
“I love the sound of my name on your lips.” He spoke the words against her mouth, then inside her mouth.
She couldn’t catch her breath. Couldn’t think. All she could do was hold on as his kisses took her higher and higher.
The hands holding her were almost bruising as they moved over her with a hunger that spoke to an answering hunger in her. And all the while that warm, clever mouth plundered hers.
She was hot where he touched her. So very hot. Yet icy needles slithered along her spine with each brush of his mouth on hers. She absorbed the rush of heat.
She moaned when he lifted his head, breaking contact. But instead of pulling away he merely changed the angle of the kiss and took it deeper, causing her to sigh with pleasure.
Her blood heated and pulsed and her breathing became ragged as his strong, clever hands moved over her, touching her everywhere, unlocking feelings she’d never even known existed. She wondered that her frantically beating heart didn’t simply give up from exertion.
Grant could feel the change in her. She’d gone from surprise to a gradual awareness of herself as a woman. From surrender to desire. From desire to need. A need that was as compelling as his. Now what he wanted, what they both wanted, was within their grasp. They need only to take it.
Still he held back, concerned with her welfare. “Think, Kylia, what it is we’re about to do.”
“I can think of nothing else, Grant.”
Nor could he. He nearly smiled, but this was far too grave an issue for levity. “Once we do this thing, we can never go back.” He stared deeply into her eyes and saw the little fear that flickered there.
“You worry over me. Over my virtue.”
“One of us must look out for you.”
“Aye. And for that I’m grateful.”
His tone roughened. “It isn’t your gratitude I desire.”
“Nay. It is this.” She lifted her face to him. In her eyes was a look of such love, it nearly melted his heart. “I have no wish to go back, Grant. Only forward. With you.” She lifted herself on tiptoe and pressed her mouth to his throat.
Such a simple gesture, but the tenderness of it was his undoing.
The blood roared in his temples. His vision was nearly blinded by a mist of passion. His heart beat a thunderous tattoo in his chest. With each touch of her, each taste, the need grew until he was beyond thought, beyond reason.
With a growl that seemed more animal than human he drove her back against the trunk of a tree and savaged her mouth with kisses that left them both gasping for breath. Though this change in him had her fearful, she clung to him, offering more, wanting him to end this terrible need inside her.
Needs unlike any she’d ever experienced writhed and twisted, demanding to be satisfied. Deep inside, a small fist pulsed and throbbed like a hollow ache. Her breasts felt swollen and tender, as her body strained toward his.
He ran hot, wet kisses along the smooth column of her throat, sending delicious curls of pleasure down her spine. But when his mouth dipped lower, to capture her breast, she could do nothing but gasp his name.
Despite the barrier of her gown, he nibbled and suckled until she moaned and writhed in his arms. “Grant, please…”
He lifted his head. “Do you wish me to stop?”
“Nay. I…” She couldn’t speak over the dryness in her throat.
“Tell me that you want this, Kylia.” He waited, afraid to breathe. If she should change her mind now, he would surely die.
There was a light in her eyes he’d never seen before. A gleam of desire that had her tossing aside her cloak and reaching up to twine her arms around his neck. She drew his head close for a slow kiss as she whispered against his lips, “I want this, Grant. Only this. And you. Only…”
He cut off her words with a kiss so hot, so hungry, it seemed to steal her breath.
And then there were no words as he tore her gown aside in his haste. It pooled in the grass at her feet while he untied the ribbons of her chemise. As the fabric parted, he studied her in the moonlight. “Oh, my sweet Kylia. You’re even more beautiful than I’d imagined.”
He ran soft, nibbling kisses across her shoulder to her collarbone, then lower to her breast. He could feel the way she shivered, and he gathered her close, taking her nipple into his mouth.
She was seized with the most unbelievable wave of heat that nearly staggered her. She had a need to touch him as he was touching her. She reached blindly for him, and when her fingers fumbled, he helped her until his clothing joined hers in the grass at their feet.
He caught her hands and drew her down to her knees, before gathering her close to press kisses to her upturned face. He struggled to bank his needs as he kissed her eyelids, her cheeks, the tip of her nose. He could feel her relax in his arms as he ran his fingers lightly down her back, drawing her even closer, until his body was imprinting itself on hers.
“Do you know how much I want you, Kylia?”
When she didn’t respond he drew her down, until she was lying beside him, with nothing but the cloak beneath to cushion her from the grass. “I would move heaven and earth for you, my lady. I would face the wrath of an army, or walk through a wall of fire, just to be with you.”
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She reached a fingertip to his mouth, tracing the outline of his lips. “I ask none of those things, Grant. I ask only that you feel about me on the morrow the way you feel about me this moment.”
“I fear I cannot promise that, my lady.” His eyes took on a light that had her heart stopping. “For I know that on the morrow my feelings for you will be even stronger.”
“Oh, Grant.” Her heart soared at his words.
He moved over her, touching her, kissing her, with a skill that had her shuddering with need. And though at first she was timid, she had a powerful need to touch him, as well. And did, until she heard his moan of pleasure. That only made her bolder, until she pressed her mouth to his throat and was rewarded by a wolfish growl from low in his throat.
He leaned over her, his eyes hot. “I warned you, Kylia. Beware. For now that the wolf has been wakened, it will devour you.”
“I’m not afraid, Grant. For the wolf has been awakened in me, as well.”
They came together in a kiss that spoke of wild, primitive hunger. Of hard, driving need. Of desperate, raging passion. The forest that surrounded them no longer mattered. The night creatures that scurried through the brush were ignored. The wind that whispered in the leaves overhead went unnoticed. The darkness covered them with its mantle, shutting out the world. All they could hear was each labored breath. All they could feel was the heat that rose between them, clogging their lungs, leaving their bodies slick with sheen. All they could feel was this intense pleasure building, building with each touch, each kiss.
No man had ever touched her like this. One moment, so gently she nearly wept. The next, taking her on a wild climb until her heart was racing, her breath panting from between parted lips. Taking her higher, faster, until her head was spinning and her mind was so clouded she could no longer form a single coherent thought.
All she could do now was feel. The most incredible feelings as, with teeth and tongue and fingertips he drove her up and up until she thought she would go mad from the wanting. She didn’t think it possible to want more. But each time she believed him ready to end this terrible need, he simply took her higher.
