by Mary Wine
Her restraint ended the moment he shoved the larger door to his chamber shut behind them.
“Put me down, you brute.”
He complied instantly, although not in a manner that pleased her. Torin tossed her down in the center of his bed. Her hair was tangled around her, and her gown twisted up above her knees. The bed shook when she landed on it, making it a struggle to sit up and fix the man in her sights.
She froze when she got a look at him. Torin yanked his shirt off and threw it across the room.
“I am nae a brute, Shannon McBoyd, even if I’m tempted to act like one because ye have called me such.”
“What do ye call carrying me in here, then? Gentle behavior? Are ye courting me? Is that it?”
His eyes flashed with warning. His hand moved to the wide belt holding his kilt around his waist, and she swallowed roughly. There was no hiding the excitement that twisted inside her. She wanted to see him, all of him, just as she had the night she’d arrived.
“I call carrying ye to my bed a better idea than the one ye had that would have seen both of us spending the night alone.”
“Spending it together is nae such a grand idea either.”
He pulled the tail of his belt back to release the double brass pins that held it secure. He held the belt up in one hand and caught his kilt in the other. Years of practice must have made it possible, because it looked like a clumsy task to her eyes. Torin managed it without any trouble; nothing but smooth motions of his hands, and his kilt was laid aside on a table in mere moments.
“If it is nae such a grand idea, why are you watching me like ye are, Shannon?”
He turned and caught her staring at him, his lips curving into a grin to confirm that he’d only been guessing that she was looking at him. His voice was coated in satisfaction with having caught her doing exactly that. “It appears to me that you like what ye see. A very great deal.”
How could she not?
Everything about him drew her closer. Her lips had gone dry, and she ran her tongue across her lower one. A soft gasp became lodged in her throat when she noticed him staring at her mouth. Hunger shone in his eyes, and his lips thinned as he pressed his mouth into a tight line. He turned in a fluid motion that once again betrayed how much strength there was in it. It was more than his strength that captivated her; it was his sure command of that power. His body was honed to perfection.
And his cock stood hard and erect.
His soft male chuckle bounced around the chamber. She heard his steps on the floor, a mere whisper of a sound as he moved closer to her. His hand slid across her face and into her unbound hair. He combed it with his fingers while another soft male sound rumbled through his chest.
“Yer face says ye enjoy being right here.” The hand in her hair cupped the back of her head, raising her face. “So do nae call me brute.”
“You are a brute, Torin McLeren, and I do nae think ye are sorry for it.”
His gaze lowered to her mouth, and her lips tingled.
“Aye, lass, ye have that bit correct.” His hand tightened in her hair, and the bed moved as he placed one knee on it. “What I still don’t understand is why you turned so cold yesterday.” His eyes glittered with determination. “Tell me why ye hid in the kitchens today.”
His demand was like a bucket of icy winter water being tossed at her. His scent was teasing her senses, but his question shattered her rising passion, souring it with harsh reality.
“It does nae matter why, only that I have made my choice.” She extended one arm and pushed against his chest. “Ye should respect my decision.”
One of his dark eyebrows rose. “Careful, lass, no brute would respect anything but what he wanted. A barbarian takes what he wishes. There is no gentle courting involved, only hard possession.”
He was using her words against her, neatly trapping her between what she thought was right and what his touch made her seek out.
“You were acting the brute when ye tied me about ye and brought me here, but that is nae the man whom I went riding with yesterday.”
His expression darkened before she finished speaking. The fingers resting on her nape tightened.
“I can be that man, lass. Didna I prove that to ye? That was no’ ravishing that happened between us. Ye surrendered to me.”
“I never accused ye of any wrongdoing.”
His eyes flashed a warning at her. “Nay, ye only turned cold, pushing me away without sharing the reason. That is not the way of it between lovers, Shannon.”
She’d wounded him by doing so; the proof was in his tone.
“Is that why ye set yer men to guarding me?”
Something flashed in his eyes that looked as formidable as it did exciting.
“Aye.” His tone was gruff. “Call me brute if ye like, but I was nae going to take the chance that you might try to escape me before I had another chance to lie with you and work my way into yer affections.”
“Why would ye care if I have affection for you?”
His eyes narrowed. “It does nae matter why, only that I do, and like the Highlander ye have called me, I will nae lose what I crave.”
He leaned down and took her mouth, pressing a hard kiss against it while pushing her down into the bed. It was his bed, and the feeling of it against her back sent a surge of anticipation through her. Her thoughts abandoned her as his mouth demanded that she part her lips for a deeper kiss.
She wanted to…
And desire was not far behind. His scent surrounded her, drowning her rational thinking in a flood of sensation. Sweet and pleasurable, her body eagerly reached for what she had forbidden it all day long. The endless hours had left her starving, and there was no refusing her appetite now that what she craved was within her grasp.
She opened her mouth, and his tongue thrust boldly inside. A welcome invader, she teased it with her own tongue. His bare chest was a delight for her hands. She slid her fingers and palms along the hard ridges that her eyes had enjoyed so much.
“Yer hair is beautiful, lass. A pure delight. Part of me is glad that ye saved it for my eyes alone.”
Torin buried his head in the cloud that lay across his sheets. He drew in a deep breath, his chest vibrating with a sound of male enjoyment.
“But—”
“Leave me my imaginings, Shannon.” He lifted his head out of her hair and looked at her. “If for nothing more than I have never left May Day for any woman like I did tonight for ye.”
“Ye left?”
One eyebrow rose. “I couldn’t bear the thought of ye undressing without me there to enjoy it.”
“But… surely there were others…”
“I want ye, Shannon. It has never been my way to tumble many lasses, only to tumble the one lass whom I consider mine, very often.”
He suddenly sat back on his knees with his thighs spread on either side of her body. Her breath lodged in her throat because he looked so powerful. He was once again cast in shadow, with only a teasing of scarlet coming from the coals gently glowing in the fireplace across the chamber. Determination was etched into his face. He reached down and grasped her gown in both hands. With a hard tug, he pulled her undergown up her body. She sat up with the motion and ended up flopping back down onto the bed in a cloud of her own hair. The night air brushed her newly bared skin. She felt so completely at his mercy, with nothing to shield her at all.
“And now I shall enjoy my barbarian stolen prize.”
Her pride rebelled, needed to somehow even things between them. She reached out and grasped his erect length with one hand. It was bold and possibly wicked, but she could not resist the urge to touch him as boldly he had done to her. All the whispers she’d heard from other girls swirled around inside her head like a storm, pushing her frail protests off balance. He sucked in a harsh breath that whistled through his clenched teeth
.
“Do you like this?” She worked her hand down the length of his cock. “Because if you do, ye had better notice that I am nae acting like a stolen prize.” She slid her hand up and down his erection, marveling at the way his face drew taut. The strain pulled his lips until they were thin, baring his teeth slightly. But she could see the intense enjoyment in his expression. It was primal, and it drew a flicker of desire from her own body.
“I am happy to be corrected.”
She chuckled at his words. His voice was husky with need, a need that she was building. Confidence surged into her, making it easy to continue to moving her hand along his length. She teased the slit on the head, her thumb slipping through a drop of fluid that had appeared there. Pulling her legs up, she rolled onto one hip so that she was lying across the width of the bed. The position was much more to her liking.
“Happy, ye say…”
His breath grew rapid. “Yer touch makes me far more than happy, lass.”
Sharply edged, his tone was laced with passion, not soft and flowery like a sonnet, but as hard as the flesh in her hand. She preferred it that way; there was nothing about sweet words that she craved.
But she would not give in to those cravings yet. Her pride wanted to have its way, wanted to prove that she was no prize to be consumed at his will. She planned to give as good as she received.
Leaning down, she blew a soft breath over the ruby head of his cock.
“Sweet Christ.”
Torin spoke through gritted teeth. She could see the muscles along the column of his neck, corded and tight. Yet he did not move away. Instead he looked down at her, anticipation glimmering in his eyes. He was waiting on her. Power surged into her and washed away the last traces of hesitation.
Torin cursed in Gaelic when she closed her lips around his cock. His hands tangled in her hair while she tasted him for the first time. There was nothing unpleasant about it. Her senses were filled with his scent, and his skin was smooth inside her mouth. Moving her tongue around the crown on the top of his cock, she heard him gasp. It was a deep male sound of enjoyment. Opening her mouth wider, she took more of his length inside. Another drop of fluid was resting in the slit on top of the head. It was salty against her tongue when she licked it away. His hips jerked, thrusting his cock toward her face. It slid deeper into her mouth, but she remained relaxed, allowing it to penetrate.
Torin growled.
The sound was praise. She soaked it up while returning to teasing him with her tongue. She flicked it over the head and across the skin beneath the ridge of flesh that encircled it. His hips thrust in a short, jerky motion toward her, the hands in her hair gently gripping to keep her in place. More drops of fluid appeared at the slit, and she sucked them away the instant she tasted them. Sending her hand back down his length, she teased the twin sacs hanging from the base.
“Enough, lass, else I’ll lose my seed in yer mouth.”
He pulled his cock from her mouth, keeping her from following him by his grasp on her hair. Frustration bit into her.
“I hear some men prefer it that way.”
He reached down and hooked an arm around her body, beneath her arms. With one powerful motion, he lifted her up until she was on her knees just as he was. The arm remained, looping lower across her waist to bind her against his body.
“Some women prefer to climax beneath the tongue of their lover too. Shall we discover if ye are one of them?”
“What?” Her voice was a ghost of a whisper, shock holding her in a tight grasp. But hidden between the folds of her sex, her bud began to throb in earnest. She’d only heard of such a thing once, and she’d doubted that it was true.
Torin chuckled and scooped her off her knees. He didn’t seem to have any difficulty lifting her and laying her down on her back. He rose up above her, looking every inch like a legend once again. Moonlight glittered off his torso, illuminating the ridges of muscles packed onto his chest.
“If ye knew to take my member between yer sweet lips, ye must have heard that a man can repay the favor.”
“I did nae believe it…”
He chuckled, but it was not a happy sound. Instead it was full of wicked intent. He lowered his body to cover hers, his hands cupping each of her breasts. She felt his breath against her lips while he teased her nipples with his thumbs.
“I will be more happy to give you reason to believe.”
“Torin—”
He pressed a hard kiss against her mouth, trapping her words of protest. This was no gentle kiss. Torin took her mouth with a hunger that stole her breath. His cock was hard and pressed against her thigh. Feeling that ridged flesh made her yearn to be filled. She was eager for it, her hands slipping down the sides of his body to grasp his hips.
“Nae yet, my sweet. The night is young, and we’ve plenty of time to sample each other.”
He slid down her body, sending a rush of sensation through her as his warm male skin lay against her own. His hands parted her thighs, pushing them apart and up on either side of her hips. Anticipation spiked into her, making it nearly impossible to draw breath.
He toyed with the curls on her mons for a moment, pulling on the strands with delicate motions before venturing lower to touch the skin guarding her passage. She jerked, that first touch too much to remain still for.
She gained another husky chuckle from him.
“Amazing, isn’t it? The amount of pleasure yer body can feel from so slight a touch.”
His fingers played over her folds, stroking each side before he trailed one fingertip down the center. She shivered, her body arching toward that touch while she feared that the level of intensity might leave her insane.
“Torin—”
“Shh, my sweet. I enjoyed yer lips around my cock, and it is a selfish man who fails to repay his lover.”
Her eyes widened at the determination in his tone. His fingers returned to stroking the seam between her folds, slipping between them with the aid of her arousal.
“I see yer body is receptive to my ideas, even if yer mind needs a bit of convincing.” Even in the dark she saw his eyes flash. “A task I will be most happy to apply myself to, sweet Shannon.
He leaned down, and she felt his breath against her wet folds. Another shiver shook her, this one almost violently. Her hands grasped at the bedding beneath her as he opened his mouth and pressed a soft kiss against her sex.
“Torin, you cannot.”
“Oh but I can, lass. This little pearl is the center of yer pleasure, and it is a wise man who learns to stroke it correctly.”
She suddenly frowned. “Ye’ve practiced? A great many times?”
“No’ with as many women as ye are thinking, Shannon.” His eyes glittered with something hard. “I’ve had a few mistresses, but I’ve nae bastards that I know of, because I kept to each one of them without straying.”
It was an uncommon thing, and something she never might have thought of him. “But ye’re laird now…”
“Aye, and there is even more reason for me to make sure where I place my seed. Connor was a bastard, and it is no’ an easy life.”
Shannon turned over and heard him make a frustrated sound beneath his breath, but he allowed her to move away from him.
“Then I should nae make any mistakes that might change the fact that ye have no bastards.”
“Ye need to trust that I’ll nae simply take my pleasure and discard ye the moment I’m spent between yer thighs.”
Torin crossed the distance between them, his hands diving into her hair and holding her face for a kiss. He smoothed his hands down her back and cupped each side of her hips before he lifted her up and lay back down on the bed, settling his shoulders against the bedding.
“What are ye doing, Torin McLeren?”
“Gaining a better view.” He held her above him for a moment before settli
ng her over his lower body. Her thighs spread as she descended, and her knees pressed into the bed on either side of his hips. Trapped between them was his erect cock, taunting her with how hard it was.
“I’ve felt ye beneath me, lass. Now I want to know if ye have the courage to ride what yer passion craves.”
“Ride?”
“Aye.” His voice had become raspy again. He grasped her hips, lifting her up enough so that his cock sprang up, standing rigidly beneath her opening. His words suddenly made perfect sense, and the image they produced sparked excitement in her. That same urge that had seen her wrapping her lips around his cock rose to the challenge of being the one to set the pace of their coupling.
He began to lower her onto his length, the head of his cock burrowing easily into the wet sheath above it. A soft moan crossed her lips, satisfaction at last rippling through her as he lowered her until his member was fully lodged inside her. She took him in this time with only a twinge of discomfort.
“Show me what ye crave, Shannon. Ride me.”
“I will.”
There was determination in her tone, and she spoke too loudly, because her words bounced off the chamber wall. Torin didn’t seem to mind. His hands gripped her hips, beginning to raise her, but Shannon lifted her body up with her thighs, all the way until only the head of his cock remained inside her. Then she allowed her body to lower, taking his cock back inside her with the motion. His face tightened, betraying how much he enjoyed her actions. Shannon lifted herself once again, watching his expression, allowing it to fill her with confidence. She craved him for more than the pleasure his body gave hers; this was the only place that she had ever felt his equal. For the moment, there was only the pair of them, and neither was superior to the other. They fit together like two halves of something that was stronger when united.
