Trailing her fingers along the collar of his shirt, the touch was heating his skin and making him wish he could shed the annoying clothing separating them. As if Isla had the same thought, she began to undo the buttons, skimming her fingers tips through his chest hair.
Slipping his hands from her hair, he ran them down to cup her behind, pressing her hips closer. Understanding, Isla wrapped her legs around his waist, and Gavin groaned into her mouth. There was nothing sweeter than the feel of her legs gripping him.
He nearly lost it then. Wild thoughts flitted through his mind where he ripped off her pantaloons and plunged deep inside her. The movement of her hips said that she would welcome him. His hands trembled as he remembered touching her in the most intimate of places.
Reaching the last button, she pushed his shirt from his skin, running her hands over every inch of his chest and back.
“Isla,” his voice was ragged as he spoke. “What are you doing?”
“I want to touch you the way you touched me yesterday.” She panted as her lips sought his again.
Blood rushed to his head, making it nearly impossible to think. “Sweetheart, I want to touch you too, every part of you.” He had to stop because she was nibbling at his skin in a most delicious way. “But we should wait, lass―”
“Wait? Why would we wait?” She tightened her legs around him with her words.
He caught his breath. Her legs were so strong. Walking a few steps to the wall, he trapped her between with his body―mostly to gain some measure of control and partly to support her weight. “I want to see every part of you, my love, but I want you to be my wife first. You deserve the respect due the finest woman. I don’t want―”
“I don’t want to wait. I want you to ease this ache and I want to show you pleasure. Will you teach me how? Why wait? We are here now.” She reached down, her hands finding their way up his legs and under his kilt.
“Isla,” he gasped as her tentative fingers touched his tip and then explored down his shaft. “Where did you learn that?”
“I didn’t learn it anywhere.” Giving him an impish grin, she started rubbing her hands up and down his length. “But I enjoyed what you did so much I thought you might like the same.” She paused, “Well, not the same but―”
He brought his lips down on hers, silencing her words. Their tongues tangled again, and as she moved her body over him he fought to control his rising desire. No woman had driven him mad like this, but her smell, her lips, her hands were making him wild with passion.
The urge to bury himself deep between her legs was building inside him. But he had to resist. He wanted to save that part until they were married. Then there would be no more trysts with their clothes on. He would strip her naked and kiss every inch of her body before he claimed her as his own.
As he pictured it in his mind, his body went taut and he groaned out a climax, spilling his seed.
“Oh, how wonderful.” Isla gave him a cat-like grin that instantly made him hard again. He wouldn’t take her, but they didn’t have to be done.
Picking her up, he carried her to the middle of the room and laid her down on the plush carpet.
Unfastening the first few stays on her gown, he pulled it down so only her chemise covered her breasts. Holding them in his hands, he tested their weight. Deciding, they were perfect, he lowered his mouth to kiss the tip of one cloth-covered nipple. Isla let out a tiny sound somewhere between a moan and gasp. The fire within him roared and, reaching for the other breast, he pulled at the fabric. Gavin uncovered the other completely and sucked it into his mouth. Isla went wild underneath him and all reason left his mind.
As he slid his hands up her legs, pushing her skirt and petticoat around her waist. He let his fingers dance up her thighs, desperately wishing, again, that he could strip her naked, but the slit in her pantaloons allowed him exactly the access he needed.
As he parted the fabric, he brushed his fingertips along her most intimate area, and she gasped as she arched her back, eager for his touch. Hells bells, but she was lovely. So brave and strong and fearless. He wanted to kiss her forever, spend years worshipping her in the way she deserved.
She rubbed against his fingers, little knowing what he had in store for her. Lowering his mouth from her breast he slid his body down to settle between her legs. He gave the gentlest lick, her heady scent and taste filling his senses.
She bucked, grabbing his hair in her fists. He deepened the contact as she thrashed, grinding against him. “Yes,” she moaned. He could feel her quivering, shaking muscles as he increased the pressure.
Her legs were locked around his head, and a weaker man may have blacked out from the pressure, but it fueled him on. As he drank every drop of her, she began to shake uncontrollably until she shattered against him.
* * *
***
* * *
THOUGH SHE WAS LYING on the carpet, Isla had the distinct impression she was floating like she did when the stream was calm on a summer day with soothing water lapping at her body and the sunshine making her warm and sleepy.
Gavin slipped his hands up her body and cupped her breasts again. “Lovely,” he murmured as he held them in his palms.
His body pressed against hers, he kissed along her neck, and then she felt it, his manhood, hard and wanting, pushing against his kilt and pressing into her thigh. Twice now, he had given her pleasure beyond measure and she needed to return it. Dimly, she was aware, that not only was it generally the thing to do, but specifically Gavin needed to know that whatever he gave, she would return with all her heart.
Her hands to slip down his body as she touched the ridges of his muscles. “Isla,” he growled out. “I don’t have much control left. You’re so beautiful, and touching you like this…”
“I don’t need your control,” she whispered in his ear as her hand reached under his kilt to grab the hard shaft. She rubbed her fingers along it, tracing its edges. He sucked in his breath. “But I do need you to show me how. I don’t know what I am doing.”
“You seem to know fine to me, lass.” He sucked in his breath as she squeezed a little.
She giggled and then pushed him onto his back as his manhood sprang forth. Some women may have been shocked, but Isla was filled with a secret thrill to see it like this. Her sleepy haze was gone, replaced with… longing?
Clasping her hands around it and, remembering that his touch had been gentle, she softly mimicked his movements. A hissing, “Yes,” emitted from the back of his throat as his gaze devoured her, his hand groping into her hair, sending the last remaining pins scattering to the floor.
Somehow, Isla wanted more from him, more than her hands on him. He had tasted her, and she wanted to know what he might feel like in her mouth, so she pressed her lips to the tip. His body jerked, then began to tremble, and with a heaving cry, he erupted.
Desire filled Isla again. It was as if what they had been done was just a prelude. She was a woman with stamina after all, and like every new experience she enjoyed, she wanted to do it over and over ‘til she knew everything about it. Perfected it to the smallest detail. “Can we do it again?” she whispered breathlessly, climbing up to kiss him eagerly.
“Isla,” he gasped, but she looked down to see his soft manhood growing firm again. “Nothing would make me happier, but we have to get you back to your room before your absence is noticed.”
“Why?” she cocked one eyebrow. “We’re already getting married.”
“Yes, I need to make it to that wedding alive and whole. If your family ever found us…” but he pulled her to him, giving her a fierce kiss.
“When?” It was her turn to wind her fingers through his hair, pulling him closer, their bodies pressed together.
“As soon as we are married, we will spend days in bed.” His hands were everywhere again, touching every part of her. It slowly dawned on her, however, that he was straightening, rather than removing her clothing.
Disappointment filled her and she
turned down her lips but his touch soon soothed her. “Promise?” she asked.
His chuckle was low and deep. “I swear it. You will be begging me to leave you be before you know it.”
She pulled away then and looked into the steal gray of his eyes. “Not possible,” she murmured stroking his cheek with her fingertips.
“Oh, Isla,” he kissed her nose and then her cheeks and chin, then moved to her ear. “I never expected to find someone like you. In my wildest dreams, I didn’t know it could be like this. I lo…” he stopped, looking in her eyes.
She gave him a glowing smile. It was exactly what she had been thinking. It wasn’t just attraction, but an emotion so deep they couldn’t deny it. “I love you too.”
Squeezing her tight, he murmured, “Come on, let’s get you to bed.” He picked her up and, setting her on her feet, he reached down to collect her fallen hairpins. Then taking her hand, he led her to the door.
“We have the rest of our lives, Isla. It’s going to be glorious.”
“I think so too.” She radiated happiness as she noted the matching softness in his own gaze. Lifting up on tiptoe, she gave him a final kiss. “You go that way. If anyone asks, I’ll say I was looking in on the children.”
A slight frown marked his brow, but he gave nod. “I wish I could hold you close all night.” He brushed her hair back from her face.
“Soon.” She kissed him, slipping her hands around his waist.
Rubbing his nose against hers he gave her one more squeeze. With a sigh, he gave her a gentle nudge in the other direction.
She walked slowly down the hall, glancing back at him until she finally reached a corner. With one final look, she waved to him as he stood in the doorway.
Keeping her gaze on him until she made it around the bend, she wasn’t paying attention to where she was walking when, suddenly, she hit a wall of flesh.
“Oh, I’m sorry.” She fumbled, her eyes snapping forward. Angus stood in front of her.
“Not as sorry as you’re going to be.” He spat through clenched teeth and then clamped his hand over her mouth, wrapping a brawny arm around her waist, trapping her arms to her side.
Isla only had one second, and with that she brought her knee up into his privates with all the force she possessed. She heard him grunt, but he continued to pull her down the hall.
She searched for Gavin, hoping he heard them, though she didn’t see him. Didn’t he hear the struggle? Fear gripped her insides. She pushed it back down because she had to keep thinking.
Angus forced her down the back stairs and out the servants’ entrance. She fought with everything in her power, but he was a strong man and she couldn’t break his hold.
Tied to the railing of the porch steps was a draft horse. Angus grabbed the beast’s waiting reins and climbed in the saddle, swinging her up with him. “Now you hold still, or I’ll have to knock you out. You know how this works. If you fall, you could perish.”
Isla stopped moving then. He was right. There was no sense being trampled by a horse. Besides, she wouldn’t break free this way. Angus was built like an ox, but he was about as smart as one too. Surely, she should save her energy for the right moment. He hadn’t even tied her up yet. What an imbecile.
He kicked the horse into motion and began heading north. It didn’t appear he was even attempting to hide the fact he was carrying her straight to Scotland.
12
TAMING A LAIRD’S WILD LADY
Gavin watched her go, using all his will not to call her back. Hells bells, he was in love. Part of him marveled at how quickly this all happened while the other side of him wondered how he hadn’t seen it sooner.
In terms of intimacy, they had barely scratched the surface, but what they had done bonded him to her in ways he hadn’t dreamed possible. Never in his life had a physical experience been so emotionally charged.
Perhaps it was the promise of what was to come. Isla never did anything in half measures. If she loved it, then she was voracious in her appetite until she was the best there was. Like her horseman ship, she put everything she had into her endeavors. He might be the luckiest man alive if she chose to love him like that.
Lord have mercy, his future wife had the potential to be the best lover there was. Gavin swayed on his feet, dizziness making him light headed. Campbell estate may fail because he would be unable to leave his bedroom with his new wife. A grin split his face. He wouldn’t let it happen, of course, but it was heady to think about.
A strange noise caught his attention. It sounded almost like flesh hitting flesh. Taking long strides, he followed Isla around the corner. He could have sworn he saw the edge of her skirt before it disappeared down the servants’ steps.
Without thinking, Gavin began racing down them and out the back door. The moon was bright and he could clearly see Isla being held on a horse with Angus.
He emitted a noise very nearly like a howl. For the briefest second, he debated going back in for help but then took off at a run for the stables. Catching sight of a groom, he barked for his horse to be saddled and then yelled to another man to run back to the house. “Tell them Dougal has taken her.”
Running to Hermes’ stall, he peeked his head in. “She’s in trouble. I need your help.” The horse bucked, but Gavin didn’t have time to worry about his temperament. He said a prayer that the horse didn’t trample him and then brought him out of the stall and placed a bit in its mouth. Isla wouldn’t need a saddle. Climbing on his own horse, he pulled Hermes along behind him.
One rider was significantly lighter than two, and easier to cover ground. Angus’ draft horse was strong but not very fast. It still took him close to an hour to cover the distance between Angus and himself. A white rage was filling him, slowly eating his insides. If anything happened to Isla, Angus would suffer beyond his wildest imaginings. Isla was his to love and protect.
Up ahead, he could see Angus at a full gallop with Isla across his horse. Experiencing a moment of triumph, he pushed forward, but then cold dread gripped him. There were several lanterns just in the distance, and Angus was headed straight for them. The realization Angus was meeting others slashed through Gavin. The bastard had planned this and in a few minutes, he would have the men he needed to keep Isla. Gavin snapped the reins, attempting to close the gap between them.
Before he knew what was happening, a flash of something as it arced through the air caught his eye. The moonlight was glistening off an object in Isla’s hand. Angus doubled over and the horse slowed. Angus, unable to stop her, reached in vain as Isla jumped and rolled. For a sickening moment, fear gripped his chest. What if she didn’t get up? But then she rolled straight into a stand and began sprinting toward him. Gavin yanked on the reins of his horse, and Isla near launched herself onto Hermes’ back. Spinning, she kicked Hermes into a run as fast as the wind itself. Gavin gave a wolfish smile knowing he’d be lucky to keep up.
Revenge against Angus would have to wait. Keeping Isla safe was all that mattered now.
Hoof beats behind him spurred him faster, but his horse was tiring. Isla changed course, subtly, but they were moving closer to the tree line and clouds were beginning to crowd the moonlight. A glance at the sky told him that, within a minute, the light would be gone. Isla was going to lose them in the woods with the darkness.
A musket ball whizzed past his head, and Gavin pushed his horse faster. They needed the moonlight snuffed out. As the last sliver of light illuminated their way, Isla veered into the trees.
He squinted in the dark, glad she was getting away but worried even he wouldn’t be able to find her.
“Gavin,” she hissed. “Get off your horse, this way.”
Grinning, he did as he was told. Grabbing Max’s reins, they began leading their horses through the woods. The ground was relatively smooth. His smile widened as he realized they were on a trail. Would Angus know it was here? Gavin doubted it. This was Isla’s land.
A noise caught his attention and both stopped moving.
The group of men was passing by them, they seemed to be moving parallel to himself and Isla.
“Where’d they go?” one shouted.
“Bloody Hell, I can’t see a thing.”
“Do you think they’ve gone in the woods?”
“It’s a fool’s errand in the dark like this. They must be skirting it for the cover.”
They kept talking but their voices faded.
Hermes gave a small stamp. “Let’s go.” Isla whispered. “There’s a barn a few miles ahead. If we hurry, we can beat the rain.”
It wasn’t a bad plan. They would be safe from the rain and it would wash away any sign of their tracks. Angus would assume they were heading back to the house. Her father would be furious if she were gone all night. If Lord Maddox didn’t kill him, then he’d be married on the morrow. A night with Isla was likely worth it. “Lead the way,” he answered. Even in the dark, he was completely in tune with her body, her movements. His awareness was predatory.
Her footsteps quickened and Gavin followed suit. She had been amazing with Angus, though at the first opportunity he’d ask her exactly what happened. He found her exhilarating, and now that they were safe, he needed to touch her.
The vague outline of the barn came into view as the first drops of rain began to fall. Isla opened the door and both horses trotted in with their owners, happy to escape the weather.
It was drafty and unused, but it would keep them safe enough. Isla disappeared and came back with some blankets. Gavin took one and began wiping down the horses. Hermes suffered it well enough. “I can’t believe he let you lead him to me.” Isla whispered in the dark.
“Aye,” he answered gruffly, not really wanting to talk about the horse. “How did you escape from Angus?”
She dipped her head, a smile playing about her lips. “He didn’t tie me up, so I waited for the right moment. As soon as I saw you, I knew if I escaped his grasp, I had a chance of getting away.” Her small smile turned into a full-fledged grin. “His knife was holstered to his belt. I grabbed it and gave him a nice shallow wound on the arm. Nothing serious but it’ll pain him for a few days.”
Taming a Laird's Wild Lady: Taming the Heart Series Page 10
