“I heard your conversation below in the yard with Tavish. Cherub and I too have spoken.” She rolled her shoulders and straightened her back. She could do this. ’Twas time to show her mate exactly what he meant to her.
“About…” A world of encouragement graced that one word.
“Cherub said you’re my match in every way, and if I but open my heart to you, I’ll never regret it. She said you’d be lost without me, never at peace unless I allowed the bond. You are my destiny, just as I am yours, and if I take but one step toward you, you’ll be there to hold me.” She pushed one foot forward, then the next.
“She’s damn right.” He waited, his gaze not straying from hers.
“So either I accept that the fates have brought us both together, or I toss all that could be aside and lose my heart’s true desire.” She halted in front of him and he gripped her waist, his hands so big and warm and sending a thrill jolting through her. “I cannae deny I want you. Being near you excites me, soothes me, and that desire consumes my very soul.”
“Keep talking. This conversation is currently headed in the right direction.” He dipped his head, touched his forehead to hers. “You are my mate, the only woman I’ll ever desire, my match in every way. I’ll speak to Donnan, at the first possible opportunity. Ensure he knows there will be no marriage between the two of you.”
“Nay, I need to be the one to speak to him.”
“That’s not happening.” He stroked around to her bottom, squeezed her rear through the mountainous folds of royal blue velvet and rubbed his body against hers. “I don’t want you anywhere near Donnan. My bear is clawing to keep you by our side, and right now I need to smother you in my scent, bite you, lick you, and anything else you’ll permit.”
“We cannae complete the bond until I’ve spoken to Donnan and I’m no longer betrothed to him. The guilt would consume me otherwise.” She wrapped her arms around his neck, raked her nails lightly down the length of his golden skinned back. “You’re my bear, my mate, my fierce steward.”
“Do that again, but harder, and that’s an order.” He swung her around, pressed her back against the door, his body a hot flare of heat that surrounded her. “My bear’s rumbling for more.”
“’Tis best I warn you then that I’m terrible at following orders.” She lightly swished her fingers down his chest and along his trim waist. “Always have been and always will be.”
“I can tell.” He trailed one finger along the upper swells of her breasts exposed by the scalloped neckline. Licking his lips, he leaned in then buried his nose in the valley of her breasts. “You smell so wildly sweet.”
“Kiss me.” She caught his face in her hands, lifted his gaze back to hers. “No more do I intend to withhold myself from you.”
“You’re certain?”
“Kiss me.”
“Thank you.” He dipped his head, covered her mouth with his and took her breath away with a scorching kiss, one that made her sway into him, his hard body pressed into hers and blazing with heat. He licked across her tongue and she melted into him, reveling in his fresh outdoor scent, that of the sun and the sea and the wilds of her homeland. His delicious scent swirled all around and embedded itself deeply within her. How could she have ever thought she might turn away from him and accept another? Not for a moment could she have done so.
“More,” she demanded.
“Aye, more.” His breath whispered across her tongue, a sensuous caress that had her urging his lips farther apart to deepen their kiss.
Naught had ever felt so right and she indulged in her need for him, plunged her tongue inside his mouth and drank in his wickedly hot taste. She craved this raw intimacy, desired him and only him. “Tor,” she panted, pulling back a touch. “I’m about to lose myself.”
“Perfect, because I want you to get lost in me.” He caressed her sides, roamed down and scooped her bottom up then lifted her and carried her to her bed. He kissed her again as he laid her down on the soft bedcovers and moved in over top of her, his kiss deep, wild and completely untamed, their breath mingling as one and scattering every one of her thoughts.
“Mark me, just as your shifter kind do.” A panting, needy request. “Please, Tor.”
“My bite will be visible to one and all. It can be no other way.” A deep purr rumbled from him as he nibbled along her jaw then followed the smooth line of her neck down to where her shoulder and neck met. He ran this thumb in a soothing swirl over her rapidly beating pulse point. “Right here is where I wish to mark you, although it’s not the only place.”
“Where else?”
“Right here.” He swept his thumb along the top rise of her breasts then smoothed down her body and gripped the hem of her gown. He flipped the velvet up, and looking into her eyes, caressed up her leg before gently easing her knees apart and stroking along the sensitive skin of her inner thighs, first one side and then the other. “Here as well.”
“You truly do have a territorial bear.”
“Aye, are you ready?”
“I’m—” He dipped his head, sucked on her neck and scraped his teeth over the sensitive skin. “Ready.”
“So am I, beyond ready.” He pressed his entire length of his body against hers, teased his tongue over her neck and slid one finger under the shoulder of her gown and eased the velvet down her arm. A low rumble vibrated in his chest and made her arch her back and press more fully into him, her only need that of experiencing even more of his exquisite touch.
“Bite me. I cannae wait any longer.” Her heartbeat thumped and raced so fast.
“I never want to forget this moment.” He curved his palm around her exposed breast, flicked her peaked nipple then bit down on her neck.
Arousal hit her hard and fast, swept her away on its rampaging wave. She clutched his bare shoulders, her nails digging into his flesh then she scraped down his back. No more denial. She’d give him what he wanted, just as she too would take what she now needed.
“Are you all right?” He licked her skin, soothing the spot he’d just bitten. “Your skin is so flushed.”
“More. I tingle, everywhere. Give me more.”
“I really like this suddenly compliant side of you.” He rolled onto his side next to her then pulled her flush up against him, his hand firm on her thigh as he tucked his top leg between both of her legs, her skirts still rucked up between them and their bodies touching along their entire length. Slowly, he slid her hair back from her shoulder and eased the fabric of her gown down her other arm until both her breasts were bared to his ravenous gaze. “When a shifter bites his mate and his mate bites him, not only is it a mark of claim, but it’s also an aphrodisiac to both the giver and the receiver.” His hungry gaze roamed over her breasts. “Our bite excites sexual desire, which is why we only ever mark our chosen ones.”
“So when I bite you, you will feel the same flood of desire that just consumed me?”
“I’m already flooded with desire for you. If you bite me, I might not be able to control myself and since you’ve asked that we hold off on completing the bond until you’ve broken your betrothal, then you’d best wait and bite me only when you’re ready to join together in all ways.”
She smoothed one thumb over his neck and his heavily beating pulse. Warmth rippled through her, heating her all over. “I will be biting you. Now.”
“I just said—”
“I’m no’ good at following orders, remember?” She licked across his neck, sucked his skin into her mouth and razzed his flesh with her teeth. Her nipples hardened into fiercely tight points and she rubbed her breasts against his hot chest to ease the discomfort, except it only seemed to heighten her need even more. “Are you ready?”
“Aye,” he growled as he slid one hand around the back of her head to hold her mouth against him. “Bite me.”
“Thank you.” She sank her teeth into him and he clamped his teeth down onto the other side of her neck. A bolt of pleasure coursed through her, swept her away on an
avalanche of need. He was hers and she wanted everyone to know it and this mark she’d given him would ensure it.
“Layla, so good,” he hissed and rubbed his leg higher between hers.
“Tor,” she murmured, her desperate need for him raging even stronger. She’d been a fool to think for even one minute that she’d ever have been able to turn away from him.
“What do you want? Tell me and I’ll see to it.”
“I dinnae know. Bite me again. Touch me as you please. Just give me more. I need more.”
“I understand.” Gripping her bare thigh, his fingers firm on her flesh, he pressed his leg even higher against her entrance below and the sweet pressure had her moaning. “I’ve got you, my love.” He urged her to move on him. “Let go as you please.”
“Oh my.” The friction against her nub was sublime. She rubbed against him, seeking something beyond her grasp even though she knew not what. Dizzy with desire, she kissed him, with all the hunger and intensity rolling through her and he kissed her back.
“Give yourself to me. I promise to look after you.” He nipped down her neck, licked the first mark he’d given her then scraped his stubbly jaw along the tops of her breasts. He nipped and sucked at her flesh, dotting little bites all over both mounds before he drifted lower and edged down to the end of the bed.
His head disappeared under the folds of her skirts and even though she should be shocked, that emotion didn’t even flare to life within her. He was her mate and her body was his, just as his body was hers.
She gasped as he nibbled along her inner thighs, staking his claim and marking her, his hot breath a heavenly flutter across her lower folds.
“I’ll be gentle.” Softly whispered words as he swept one finger over her nub.
White-hot pleasure hit her, so swiftly, so completely. It sent her soaring from her body and a bright array of colors sizzled behind her closed eyelids as she flew.
Slowly, she came back down, her hands in his hair, fingers digging into his scalp. “Oh my, you are one very, very clever bear.”
“You liked my touch?”
“Immensely.” Panting, she tried to get her heartbeat back into order. “Come here, Tor. Kiss me again.”
* * * *
“I’m coming.” Tor gently nipped along Layla’s inner thigh, then the tops of her heaving breasts as he slid up her body. The last thing he wished to do was leave that heavenly spot between her legs where the heightened scent of her arousal had near made him come in his own pants. Watching her soar to the heavens from the touch of his finger alone had made both him and his bear deliriously happy and also incredibly fevered for more. He moaned as he gripped the burgundy and white patterned bedcovers either side of her head. If he let go, he’d tear her gown fully from her. As it was, her luscious breasts heaved as she still grappled for breath and her rosy nipples begged for his touch. He needed a taste of those sweet morsels, now.
“Are you hurting?” She blinked her eyes open, her beautiful brown eyes dazed.
“No, why would you ask?”
“You just whimpered as if hurt.”
“I’m struggling to hold back.” She was so responsive to his touch and he couldn’t have asked for anything more.
“So I see.” In a slow circle, she rubbed the spot on her neck where he’d first bitten her then palmed the mark and held it close. “No more biting me though. I’m no’ sure if I can handle another episode like that without first tearing the rest of your clothes off you.”
“That was hardly a warning if that was your intention. My cock is throbbing for release.” He’d never touched a woman the way he’d touched her, never had sex since his shifter kind always waited for their mate, but he’d certainly watched a few interesting movies which had enlightened him to the act of lovemaking. Right now all he wanted to do was strip every last piece of clothing from her, return to the sweet juncture between her thighs and feast on that part of her weeping for him.
“Is there aught more I can do to aid you in your release, as you did for me?” She stroked down his sides and caressed his shaft through his leather pants. “I would hate for you to be in pain.”
“I can handle the pain. I need to kiss you again.” He cupped her face in his hands and kissed her, moved his mouth over hers in a slow exploration that left them both ragged for breath when he pulled back. “When I come for the first time, it’ll be deep inside your body, right where I belong.”
“Is that so?” She smiled, so mischievously he didn’t doubt she would continue to tease him this mercilessly for the rest of his life. It was one life he couldn’t wait to live. Aye, he’d found his mate and now his soul rejoiced that they’d soon be one. “What are you thinking that has that intriguing smile on your face?” she murmured against his ear.
“My soul is rejoicing at being with you.”
“As mine is at being with you. You are the only man I ever want touching me, and after what you just did to me, I see the error of my ways. I should never have questioned whether or not I’d accept the bond. I shall, with all of my heart.”
“Those are the most beautiful words I’ve ever heard.” He grinned, beyond taken by the woman who was his. Well, almost his. Once her betrothal was broken, he would lay claim to every last inch of her. She would be his wife, not Donnan MacDonald’s.
Chapter 4
Before Tor lost all thought and took his mate just as he wished to, he instead lifted her bodice back over her breasts, righted her skirts and forced himself to rise from her bed. “I want you to stay right here.”
“Where are you going?” She sat up, her beautiful golden curls mussed and the circlet headband of red silk flowers with trailing red and white ribbons now completely askew. She appeared a vision in her royal blue gown with its lacy white embroidered scalloped neckline, cinched waist and leather girdle with blue tasseled ties draping down to her knees. All he wanted to do was climb back into bed with her and never leave her again.
“To my chamber to collect my belongings. I’ll pack what I need to and return. From now on, I sleep in here with you.” He strode to her door, unbolted and opened it. “I’ll also wash up and change since I’m already without a shirt. Give me ten minutes.”
“I’ll be waiting.” She grinned, her gaze roaming his body and halting with mischievous intent on his crotch. “Particularly since I enjoy your attention so well.”
“You’re a vixen.” He fixed his too tight pants.
“Aye, but I’m now your vixen.”
“No moving. Stay right there on that bed.” He closed her door then gathered his scrambled thoughts and strode down the corridor with its narrow window at the end emitting a stream of midday sunshine.
In his chamber, he shucked his clothes, donned a clean pair of pants in a soft, faded brown leather and tucked her red ribbon from the old pair into the pocket of his new ones. He chose a loose-sleeved black shirt with golden thread sewn in a circular Celtic belted design on the front pocket. The design surrounded a tiny symbol of a crown and sword-arm, his clan’s motto, Fac Et Spera, “Do and Hope,” emblazoned around the edge.
Shirt and boots on, sword once again belted around his waist, he collected his satchel, flipped open the leather flap then nabbed the remainder of his clothes from the trunk under the window and folded them inside. He crossed to the side table, his gut gnawing at him as he filled the basin with water from the jug and splashed his face. Even being only a few doors away from her was pure torture when all he wished to do was hold her in his arms and never let her go.
A knock sounded. “It’s Tavish.”
“Come in.”
His brother strode inside with the padded cotun he’d worn earlier during training slung over one shoulder. Tavish closed the door after himself, a determined look on his face, one that likely matched his own. “Kirk has welcomed the MacDonalds into the keep. Donnan and his men are partaking of the midday meal in the great hall. Word is Donnan’s here to stay until he and Layla have spoken vows at the end of the wee
k. How’d your conversation with her go?”
“Very well, although she can’t complete the bond with me until she’s no longer betrothed to him. The guilt would consume her otherwise. I’ve told her I’ll be the one who speaks to Donnan, which will need to be sooner rather than later.” Bar of soap in hand, he lathered it then slapped the suds on his jaw. He unsheathed his wrist dagger and set to work shaving in front of the looking glass propped against the wall behind the basin.
“You’re going to have a battle on your hands seeing to her release, but I’ll be right by your side as you do.” Tavish leaned his leather-clad backside on the stone windowsill, the forested hills rising high in the distance beyond the glass.
“I’m prepared for whatever battle it takes.” In a firm line, he ran his blade from his ear to his chin, right side first then his left. “Is Julia available to sit with Layla in her chamber while I speak to Donnan? I don’t want my mate anywhere near him.”
“Julia’s visiting kin at the fae village.” Tavish tapped his head. “I can ask her to return. She rode out so she can be back within twenty minutes or so.”
“Definitely ask her to come. You and I will wait with Layla until she arrives.” He swiped his blade down his neck and in the small space between his nose and lips then once done, splashed the remaining suds away and dabbed his jaw dry with a drying cloth. With his dagger sheathed, he slung his bag over his shoulder and opened the door. He’d already been away from her for far too long, itched badly to return.
Down the corridor, he strode with Tavish at his side then outside Layla’s door, he knocked and waited.
No answer.
“Layla?” He opened her door and the fresh breeze blew in through the open window and ruffled the thick burgundy curtains over her canopied bed. No Layla, not even a trace of her intoxicating wild cherry scent. “I told her to stay here.”
“I didn’t see her downstairs, or pass her on my way upstairs, so she can’t have been gone from her chamber for too long.” Tavish pulled his padded cotun on, palmed the hilt of his side-belted sword. “Gregor said she’s always been fiercely independent, and certainly not very good at following orders whenever he issued them.”
Highlander's Heart (Clan Matheson Book 2) Page 8
