The kiss shifted, from tender longing to a blazing heat that threatened to consume them both. He wound his fingers into her drying hair as his tongue slipped past her lips to grapple with her own. Jonet gripped his shirt, feeling those familiar sparks of feminine yearning throughout her body and she knew she would not be able to hold back. Whatever self-control she had left diminished in the light of everything that had happened.
She needed him right now. Every inch of him he was willing to give her.
As if he could read her thoughts, Matthew let out a primal groan. His roaming hand slid from her face down her neck as his lips broke away from hers. He tilted her head aside and his mouth descended onto her neck.
Jonet’s legs grew weak, but Matthew had a strong arm banded around her lower back. She gasped at the feel of his teeth grazing her tender neck, his tongue licking the area as if to smooth it all away. It traveled from the base of her neck, to her ear and then back down, leaving her a trembling mess.
“Matthew…” she gasped.
He was spurred on by her words. He held her tighter, his hand palming her breast through her dress. Jonet could do nothing except feel—his tongue on her neck, his hand pulling her dress down, his hard body pressed against hers. She could still feel his length against her thigh from the loch and now, her body was positively thrumming with anticipation. She wanted nothing more than to see that again, to feel its strenuous power and have it take her to release.
Once he had managed to be rid of all her clothing, her mind drew a blank. Jonet could think of nothing but her need, her desperation, her silent cry when he nipped her chin while his fingers tugged her nipple. The mixture of pain with pleasure was so euphoric that she did not think anything could possibly feel better.
Yet, when he dipped his lips down to that nipple, tugging lightly with his teeth before sucking, she knew she was wrong. How she managed to stay on her feet was a miracle, but it seemed Matthew could tell she would not be able to keep herself upright for much longer. He swooped her into his arms, switching his lips to the other nipple, as though he were a starved man that could not bear to get enough.
He lowered her down onto the bed, finally pulling away. Jonet had a few moments of clarity, her head clearing enough to see that he was beginning to undress. She held her breath in anticipation. She had seen his bare chest before, her mouth nearly turning dry in sight of it. Yet she had never seen him fully naked and she was already trembling.
Matthew shed his clothing quickly, as if he could not bear to be apart from her for too long. The air sizzled with intense sexual energy, driving his movements that were filled with acute craving. The moment all his clothing was off, he tried to crawl onto the bed, but she stopped him with a foot to his chest.
“Wait,” she whispered. “I want to see ye.”
Matthew’s eyes were dark. Slowly, he came to a stand while she sat up, drinking him in. She had never expected him to disappoint her, but she had not been prepared for this.
He was simply beautiful. The epitome of a man, from the hard jaw, to the curling hair over his broad chest, to the powerful legs… and the appendage he boasted between them. She could not take her eyes off it and when he cleared his throat, she was positive he was laughing.
“Do ye like what ye see, Jonet?” he asked her, whispering as well. As if they did not dare to let their voices break this beautiful moment.
She could not care to be coy or shy. She nodded. “I do. Very much.”
This time, she heard his laugh. He came towards her and pushed her back onto the bed as he crawled on top. “That’s wonderful. Because I have never seen a woman as beautiful as ye are.”
To accentuate his words, he began to rain kisses onto her neck again, trailing downwards. Jonet enjoyed the feel of it, the not-so-innocent direction of his kisses that had her filled with expectation. When his lips finally found her breasts again, she let out a sigh of contentment. Her eyes drifted shut, and a smile covered her lips.
He squeezed one while he sucked on the other. With his free hand, he caressed her. He ran a hand down to her waist, the pad of this thumb rubbing gently over her smooth skin. Then he gripped her hip, his fingers sliding under to do the same for her bum. It kept her on edge, kept her waiting for the final destination that would conclude his tease.
Matthew broke away from her nipple, running his tonge down the length of her stomach. It dipped into her navel, a sensation that she had not expected to feel so good, before it went lower.
When it passed her hips, Jonet sat up halfway, gasping, “Matthew…”
He did not respond. He only parted her legs with his hands and came to a stop right atop the triangle of dark hair.
A finger touched her there, slipping easily over the sensitive nubbin. Jonet lost all the strength in her arms and collapsed back onto the bed, her eyes closing again. He continued to move his finger around… and around and around until he slipped it inside.
Next, she felt his tongue.
Jonet did not know this sort of pleasure was ever possible. She took to grasping the bed sheet, and panted desperately, with words impossible. She could hardly think straight, could hardly bring herself to do anything except lie there in ecstacy, nearly writhing. As if he had known that was how she would react, he had a strong hand pressed against her stomach as he continued his torture with his tongue and with his fingers.
Something was building within her. Jonet could not place it, and could not control it. It only grew stronger as he moved faster. It was as if he could sense what was happening to her and was trying to make it worse.
There was nothing Jonet could do to stop what happened next. She dug her nails into the bed beneath her, her back arching off the mattress as her eyes rolled into the back of her head.
There were no words to explain what happened to her. Her body was no longer her own, her mind had drifted to a beautiful colorful world that did not exist. It felt as if she had ascended her own body, as if she had left this world to live in harmony with the man she loved. All too soon, she came crashing into reailty, realizing that her body was still trembling through the climax she realized it was.
Matthew’s hand was covering her mouth.
She stared up at him, watching him grin. “I like it when ye call me name like that,” he said to her, kissing her lightly on the side of her mouth.
Jonet could not recover quickly enough to respond. Her body felt numb, sated. Yet there was something lingering within her, something that told her she needed more.
Matthew continued kissing her, as though he knew her unspoken need. She could feel him against her thigh again, nudging against her entrance. To her surprise, she did not feel scared. She was excited for what would happen next.
He positioned himself over her, capturing her mouth with his as he slowly slid inside. Jonet tensed at the feel of him, but after a few moments, she began to adjust. He moved in all the way, then slid back.
Gradually, he built his speed. They did not stop kissing, not until he was going fast enough to keep them both on their toes. After that, Matthew buried his face into the crook of her neck and she wrapped her arms around him, moving to the rhythm that he had created.
Faster and faster they went, until that now familiar feeling rose within her again. She managed to say as much to him, that she could feel it coming, and he spurred her on with kisses to the neck. Faster and faster, he continued.
Something magical happened. He grunted, his body going rigid. Jonet had half a second to register what it was before her world exploded around her as well. Together, they soared high, past the room, towards the clouds.
Together, they came back to Earth.
Matthew fell to the side of her, breathing heavy. He gathered her into his arms and Jonet slung her leg over his, resting her head on his chest. She had never been so happy.
Matthew kissed her on her forehead. “Ye daenae need to worry about anythin’ when ye’re in me arms, Jonet,” he whispered to her. “I want ye to ken that.”<
br />
Jonet could not hold back her smile. She would have lifted her head to look at him had happy tears not pricked her eyes. A little embarrassed by that, she tried blinking them away.
“I ken,” she replied. “And I’ve never felt safer.”
Chapter 21
“Ye wished to see me?”
Matthew looked up at the door where an uncertain Georgie peeked his head into the room. He shot to his feet, putting his hand on the windowsill he had been sitting by as he grinned. “It took ye long enough.”
“Sorry,” he mumbled, slipping into Matthew’s bedroom all the way. “It took me a little longer than I expected to get away from the horses. I dinnae expect ye to call me all the way up here. Is somethin’ the matter?”
“Nothing at all, young Georgie,” Matthew sang, “though it warms me heart to see ye worry for me so. What would ye say? Havenae we grown quite close over the past few weeks?”
Georgie’s brows dipped in question, even though his usual smile was slowly creeping over his face. Matthew supposed it was difficult for a boy like Georgie not to be happy in the face of Matthew’s obvious excitement.
“Of course, I think we are friends, Matthew!” he said readily. “Ye are the most interestin’ man I ken.”
“Now, ye’re just pullin’ me leg,” Matthew smiled, but he waved his hand dismissively. “Never mind all that. I need yer help with somethin’.”
Georgie came closer. Matthew was standing by the window of his bedroom, where he had been ever since he returned after breakfast. He was just now realizing how when he stood at a certain angle by the window, he had a good view of the training yard where Dougal and Jonathan spent most of their time.
It would be useless information if it were not for the fact that Jonet had opted to watch their mock battle after breakfast, as per Jonathan’s request. Matthew had taken this as his chance to do something he had been thinking to do for the past few days, and he needed Georgie’s help for that.
Georgie came to stand by his side, trying to take a look at what Matthew was staring at so intently. Jonet was shaking her head, a broad smile on her face as the wind whipped her hair out of its braid. It had been three days since they had made love and they had been inseparable ever since. Matthew, as impossible as it felt, had fallen even deeper in love with her and now, he felt he needed to find a way to show it.
“Ah, Miss Jonet is quite bonnie, isnae she?” Georgie said.
“The most beautiful creature on Earth,” Matthew agreed without hesitation. He could not wait to marry her. He wanted to put aside any remnants of fear she might be harboring, so that they could be happy forever.
That nagging guilt he had been trying his best to suppress reared its ugly head and, as per usual, Matthew shoved it aside. Right now, he wanted to do something nice for her. To show her just how much he loved her. There was no time to bemoan the things he had done in the past.
Though, the longer I take to tell her the truth, the worse it will be. She’ll never forgive me.
That thought rushed through his head at least twenty times a day. Half that time, he told himself that she loved him enough to forgive his wrongs. The way she looked at him—boldly, without a care in the world who might be watching—told him that she had not only given over her body, but her heart and soul.
“So,” Georgie dragged out the sound. It drew Matthew’s attention away from Jonet’s laughing face. “What did ye call me here for?”
“I want to do somethin’ nice for Jonet.”
“Oh, well that should be easy enough for ye. I’ve been watchin’ ye do nice things for her durin’ the whole time ye’ve been here.”
“Aye, I have, havenae I?” Matthew’s eyes drifted back to her. Now, she was moving out of view, waving a hand at Jonathan and Dougal as she joined Freya’s side. Jonathan stared after them. After Freya, Matthew guessed.
“But, now, I cannae seem to think of a single thing that would be perfect enough for her,” he went on, turning his back to the window now that she was gone. “I want to make her so happy that she will never have another bad thought.”
“That may be the sweetest thing I’ve ever heard, Matthew,” Georgie grinned from ear to ear. “But I daenae ken how I can help. I daenae ken anythin’ about wooin’ a woman. Especially nae a woman like Miss Jonet.”
“Oh, come now, ye’ve kent her for most yer life. Surely there is somethin’ ye will be able to tell me that will help me think of somethin’?”
Georgie cupped his chin in thought. He wandered away from Matthew, toward the bed.
“Ye could go huntin’,” he suggested. “Ye could bring back her favorite meat. Maybe that would be romantic?”
Matthew chuckled, mimicking Georgie’s cupped chin. “Aye, that’s a good idea, I think. But let’s see if we can come up with somethin’ better.”
Georgie visibly sank deeper in thought, his brows furrowing. He sat on the bed, then frowned even deeper as he rose again. “Oh, Matthew,” he pointed to the side table. “It seems ye have a letter.”
“A letter?”
Georgie flipped it back and forth before handing it to Matthew. “There’s nay name. Maybe it’s from Miss Jonet? Maybe she left ye somethin’ while ye were havin’ breakfast.”
Matthew did not cling to that possibility. Yes, it could very well be Jonet, but he doubted she would leave it unaddressed. The simple fold of the paper filled him with confusion.
This letter had not been there when he had left the room that morning. Georgie was right about that. Whoever left this here had slipped in when he was not present, and Matthew had been so caught up with watching Jonet from his window that he had not seen it when he came back.
His chest felt weird as he proceeded to open it. An unusual wary feeling wrapped around him. Once it was open, something slid to the floor.
“What’s that?” Georgie asked as Matthew bent to pick it up.
His heart began to hammer in his chest. That wary feeling grew to dread and then evolved into a fear that he could taste on his tongue.
It was a lock of Jonet’s black hair. The end seemed to have been dipped in blood, now dried and matting the strands together.
Georgie was as silent as he was. Matthew stared at the lock of hair in his palm, tied in place by a simple piece of string. He did not know what to do. He stood there, his body so still that the world seemed to move around him.
“What does the letter say?” came Georgie’s voice, sounding very far away.
Matthew gripped the hair tightly in his fist as he lifted the letter to read.
It was only one line, simply put to leave nothing to the imagination.
If ye daenae leave this Castle, then both ye and Jonet will die a painful death.
Matthew felt as if the world was tilting around him. Somehow, he managed to make it to the bed before his legs gave way beneath him. He could sense that Georgie had also read it over his shoulder and the stableboy was silent.
It wasnae all a coincidence. All this time, Jonet’s beliefs had been true.
No matter how many times he had thought about it, Matthew had dismissed the idea. He could not believe that she truly was cursed, that everyone she grew close to romantically would die. Despite the odd things happening—the arrow, the weird smell of his wine, the brigands attacking them—he had written it off as mere chance.
But now, he could no longer fool himself.
Matthew could not permit himself to be thrown by the information for very long. He jumped to his feet, looking at Georgie who was still very taken aback by what he had just read.
“Ye will nae speak a word of this to a soul,” Matthew told him firmly.
Georgie lifted his eyes to Matthew’s and nodded, his lips tightening. “What should I do then?”
“For now, nothin’. Ye will go about yer day as if nothin’ happened. I will speak to the Laird about this matter.”
“And Miss Jonet?”
Matthew hesitated. He did not want to worry her. The very last t
hing he wanted was for her to be afraid again after he had worked so hard to make her relax. Yet he knew that she would never forgive him if he withheld this information from her.
“Aye. She will have to ken about this as well.”
He looked back down at the hair in his hand, the trepidation coursing through him. The fact that it looked so much like Jonet’s hair bothered him greatly, but the real fear came from the blood tinging the end. The testament to the truth that laid on the words in the letter.
A threat that they would not hesitate to carry out.
Though the nature of their meeting was not revealed, it did not take long for the MacTavish family, along with Jonathan, to gather in the Laird’s preferred sitting room. Laird MacLagain already had a goblet of wine in his hand before Matthew could even think of how he would begin what he needed to say.
Highlander's Trials of Fire: A Steamy Scottish Historical Romance Novel Page 18
