“I’ve never felt this kind of desire for any other woman, not once, not ever.” A low growl rumbled within his chest. “You don’t mind kissing me?”
“I want far more than your kisses while the chance has arisen. My heart is beating so fast.” She wanted this moment even though he remained under Isla’s compulsion. He’d never recall anything once they parted ways, but he’d told her to hold onto hope and she damn well intended to. This was the first time she’d ever exhausted her fire and she intended to take full advantage of it.
She pressed her breasts against the wicked heat of his chest and ran her thumb over the fading mark she’d left on his neck. Her mouth watered with the need to bite him again, to bring that mark back to brilliant life and she leaned in and sucked his skin deep into her mouth then teeth firm, bit down, hard enough to leave a mark, just as she desired.
He lifted his head high and roared. Fur rippled across his chest and down his arms, a soft padding that was there one moment and gone the next.
“Do you need to shift?” She stepped back and he stepped forward, closing the distance between them as quickly as she’d instilled it.
“No, what I need to do is kiss you.”
“I like your kisses.” She stroked his shoulders and arms, so thick and strong and below the planes of his wide chest, his abs rippled, layer upon tight layer. She itched to touch more of him while her fire was doused, to run her fingers through the delicious tease of dark hair narrowing down his rigid belly and disappearing into his trews. Sweet heaven. She needed all the kisses he could give her right now, and with no delay. She ran her thumb across his warm lips and a little breathless, murmured, “May I touch more of you, just to make sure my fire has truly gone?”
“If you wish to touch me, then I’m all yours.” He caught her hands, pressed them against his chest. “Touch me wherever and however you please.”
“If you feel my heat, even the slightest flicker, then tell me, right away. Promise me.”
“I promise.”
She dragged in a deep breath and let her hands wander. She caressed down his chest, trailed one finger along the hard ridges of his abs then cupped his hips. Could she go further? Once, when she’d been out wandering in the woods, she’d stumbled upon a warrior and lass coupling. Shock had initially halted her step, then the knowledge she’d never experience such a joining had kept her rooted there. She’d ducked in behind a bush as the lass, on her knees before the warrior, hauled his trews down and covered his shaft with her mouth. He’d adored the attention, grunting and groaning before toppling the lass to the ground then rucking up her kirtle’s skirts. His head had disappeared under the layers of brown linen and the woman’s eyes had near rolled to the back of her head as pleasure had consumed her. It hadn’t taken long before the lass thrashed her head from side to side and the man lifted free of her, licked his lips in hearty appreciation then thrust his cock inside her. They’d come together in a loud and boisterous cry. That’s what she wanted. To take this stolen moment in time and claim it for them both.
“Do you still feel no heat?” She caressed his sides.
“Not a flicker of heat. That I promise you.”
“Finlay, what would you say if I asked you to bite me?”
“A shifter only allows the bite and touch of his mate, as his mate can only allow the same.” He walked her farther backward into the water, until her sark twisted around her legs and she had to seize his arms to keep from toppling over. “I allowed your bite for a reason, Arabel. You are my chosen one.”
“So that’s an aye?”
“It is, but I desire to do far more than bite you. We’re mated, and that I can sense to the depths of my soul.” He dipped his head and kissed her, so surely and with such breathless urgency.
Lost, she kissed him back and allowed herself to get caught up in his powerful embrace. Aye, they were mated and she couldn’t let him go, not now, not when she finally had a chance to claim him. Hope. It had now fluttered to vivid life in her chest and wouldn’t let go.
* * * *
Hunger for the woman before him consumed Finlay. When he’d first seen Arabel this morning in the great hall, her presence had nearly knocked his breath from his lungs. He’d known Julia had a twin who held the skill of fire, a dangerous ability, but something about this woman drew him directly toward her, made him long to touch her, to have her look at him with those beautiful blue eyes rimmed with sparks of gold. For three days he’d tossed and turned at night, his bear raging for release and his heart twisting in on itself. Fleeting images of a pool of water rippling under a moonlit sky had tormented him. Something had happened there, something important, but he couldn’t hold onto the memory before it was wrenched painfully away.
Now, all that torment had eased and this moment took precedence. Arabel was his and his bear had fought hard to track her down and keep her in his sight.
Kissing her deeply, he drank in her essence, devouring her. He had to make her his, to complete the bond and tie her to him, for now and for all time, while her skill lay dormant. The knowledge rode him hard, was impossible to ignore. Hope. There was hope.
He broke their kiss, looked deep into her eyes. “I want the right to touch you, as freely as any man does with his woman.”
“I want that too.”
“Once we join, you’ll be mine, just as I’ll be yours.” He traced one finger along the low-cut neckline of her shift where the upper swells of her breasts rose. Her nipples beaded and poked the cloth, the fabric wet and molding her full breasts. Those nipples were juicy morsels he couldn’t wait to taste. He scooped her up, pushed through the water with her in his arms toward the ledge that ran along each side of the pool and sat her on top of the chiseled rock. Water sluiced down her legs and dripped into the pool.
After hauling himself up beside her, he stood and lifted her to her feet then led her along the ledge and deeper into the darkened rear where a shower of fresh water sprayed into the cavern between two cracks high in the rock wall. She might have exhausted her fire, but he wouldn’t take any unnecessary risks, not when she worried so greatly about hurting him.
“This is perfect.” She stepped under the spray and with a giggle, twirled around. The water plastered her already wet shift to every curve of her body, outlining her trim waist and slim legs.
Hell, he couldn’t wait to strip that garment from her.
“It’s been far too long since I was last here.” She wrapped her arms around his neck, reached up on her toes and kissed his chin.
“You missed my lips by an inch.”
“Then bend a little.”
He swooped down, claimed her lips and kissed her as the spray covered them both. Breath melded with hers, his desire to complete the bond with his mate pulsed through him. “Since I arrived in this time, I’ve searched for you each and every day, and would never have given up. From this moment forth, we will be as one. Never will I be parted from you again.”
“You are the only one I want, always and forever.”
“I want to make love to you, to bury myself so deeply inside you that neither of us will know where one ends and the other begins.” Slowly, he skimmed her sides, stroked around to her bottom and brought her hard up against him. Sensations stormed through him. His heartbeat pounded. His blood rushed, hot and needy. His fingers twitched to touch more of her, and his tongue ached to taste.
“That is what I desire too.” A breathy answer, and all he needed to hear.
“Then let me do this right.” She wasn’t from the future, her time here quite different to his own. He removed the leather tie at the waist of his tan pants, clasped his right hand with her right and wrapped the thin strip of rawhide around both their wrists. The symbolic gesture brought all his protective urges to the forefront. “So there is no misunderstanding about our bond, I wish a handfast. Bind yourself to me as my wife for a year and a day, and before that time has passed, I’ll ensure we’re wed proper before our clans.”
“Are you certain?”
“Your fire has been exhausted, and we’ll find a way to exhaust it again, and as often as we can.” Finding an answer to do so would consume him. “You must hold the hope and faith that we will.”
“I will. You have my word I will.” Delight flared in her blue eyes. “I dinnae wish to lose this one precious moment. I’ve dreamed of being with you.”
“How is that since we just met?”
“Never mind.” She kissed him and his question flittered from his mind. “Is there to be a handfast?”
“There is.” He lowered to his knees, caught her hands and brought them to his lips. “Speak vows with me, Arabel. There is no other I’ll ever desire than you. I’ll begin.” He cleared his throat. “I, Finlay Michael Matheson, of Ivanson Castle, pledge my troth to Arabel, of the House of Clan Matheson. With this handfast, I take her as my wife for the next year and a day, and as my mate for all time.” He tightened his grip on her hand. “I want you as mine, in every single way.”
“As I want you. I cannae believe I am going to handfast with you.” She sank to her knees, her fingers twined with his. “I, Arabel, of the House of Clan Matheson, pledge my troth to Finlay Michael Matheson. With this handfast, I take him as my husband for the next year and a day, and as my mate for all time.” She stared at the leather around their wrists and smiled as she raised her gaze back to his. “My parents would have adored you for doing this.”
“As I adore you, my wife and my mate. Now we seal the vows with a kiss.” He captured her mouth and kissed her, until her soft body swayed forward and embedded his with a fierce heat that had nothing to do with her skill. His need to join with her increased tenfold, although his need to ensure she reached the heights of pleasure before he entered her, even more so. “Whatever you need from me, you’ll speak it. I want to know what you like, or what you don’t like. What you’d prefer for me to do, or not do.”
“I want to experience everything you can offer, while it’s possible for me to receive it, to be with you in every way, but if I sense my skill is reigniting then we stop, without question.”
“Of course. Safety comes first.” He tugged the leather strip binding their wrists free then rose to his feet and drew her to hers. “I’m going to remove your shift. Is that acceptable?”
“Very, provided you also remove your trews.”
“You’ve got a deal, but your clothing first.” He crouched, gripped her hem and lifted the fabric. He exposed her body to his hungry gaze, inch by incredible inch. Enticing calves, sweetly curving inner thighs, and a thatch of golden curls covering her mound. He breathed her honeyed scent deep into his lungs, his bear clawing at him as he did. Aye, everything about her called to him, as if she were a piece of his soul and he’d found her again.
“Finlay?” She swayed, braced her back against the rock wall, her palms flattened to its slick, sheer surface either side of her.
“Aye, what do you need?”
The spray showering through the rock misted over her and she licked her wet lips as she smiled at him. “Just you, all of you.”
“As I need you.” Arabel was all he’d ever hoped for in a mate. Feisty and strong, his match in every way. Now, he had her all to himself and he didn’t intend to allow one inch of her body to go untouched, not by his hands or his tongue. He peeled her shift up, over her flat belly and higher until the undersides of her breasts were exposed. His cock filled and lengthened, the head escaping his loosened waistband and poking out. “Hands up, my mate.”
She lifted them and he swept her shift over her head and exposed all of her.
“Hell, you’re so beautiful.” Her creamy skin beckoned and he trailed one finger down her neck and between the valley of her breasts until she arched her back and thrust her breasts out farther. Accepting the offering, he cupped their fullness, weighed them in his hands then eased them together and swiped his thumbs over her beaded nipples. So wet and shiny and hard under the cool, freshwater spray. He licked one nipple then the other and when she whimpered and her knees buckled, he caught her and lowered her to the ground on top of her shift.
“Trews off,” she whispered, the heated look in her eyes capturing his gaze.
“Aye, whatever you ask, I shall do.” He gripped his loosened waistband and shoved his leather pants down his legs and off. He tucked the leather underneath her, adding another layer of cushioning between her and the rock, his cock brushing her belly as he knelt between her spread legs.
Tentatively, she touched the head of his cock, swirled one finger along the slit and caught the drop of pre-come on the tip. She brought it to her lips, within an inch before the spray misting over them washed it away. Smiling, she gazed at him. “I never thought this moment would be possible, that I would be able to touch you so freely, that you and I might lie like this together. I still cannae raise any fire. None will come forth at all. Such a miracle, one I intend to take complete advantage of, and then discover how it occurred. This has never happened to a fire-wielder afore.”
He couldn’t deny the depth of their bond already roaring to glorious life. It was as if he already knew her, as if his soul had connected with hers and claimed her at some other time.
“Finlay?” She reached between them, gently cupped his balls with one hand and wrapped her fingers around his shaft with the other, her actions scattering his thoughts once again. “I am yours.”
“Aye, as I am yours.” He leaned in and kissed her, sucked her tongue between his lips and nibbled on her. She moaned into his mouth, tightened her grip on his cock and softly massaged his balls. She had the most exquisite touch, as if she was attuned with his body and knew exactly where he ached for her. His cock hardened further, pulsing with a throb from root to base that warned him he’d need to back off soon or else come before he’d even begun. He eased away, lost the delicious hold of her hands on him but gained her entire body as a platter to be gorged upon. And gorge he would. He couldn’t wait to sample all her sweet body offered. His. Always, his.
Chapter 8
Arabel lost her luscious grip on Finlay’s cock as he eased back and swept his burning gaze over her body. She should be nervous, but that emotion hadn’t once flickered through her. Amazement and desire had taken ahold of her since they’d entered this cavern and wouldn’t let go. Then from the moment Finlay had removed her sark, eased her breasts together and licked her sensitive nipples, a bolt a pleasure had coursed through her and a liquid heat had invaded her core, one fiery burn unlike anything she’d ever experienced before.
Could this really be happening? Could she complete the bond and join with him in all ways? He’d spoken vows with her, made her his handfast wife and she’d honor her vow to him, even if she only had this one moment in time to join with him. She would remain his and cherish this memory forever.
Exquisite sensations stormed through her and she sighed with a smile as Finlay knelt between her legs, his balls drawing tighter and higher into a thatch of black curls covering the apex of his groin. She feasted her gaze on every inch of him, took in his muscled thighs and his shaft as it brushed his belly, one very large cock with a plump head darkening to a ripe raspberry color. Mere moments ago, she’d palmed his balls and caressed his smooth skin, swiped a bead of his essence from the tip and almost tasted it before the mist spraying over them had stolen the treasure from her. How she wanted to take him in her mouth, just as the serving lass had done with the warrior when they’d coupled.
“What are you thinking, my sweet?” He raised her knees, flexed his fingers on top, his claws slicing out then retracting. “Because that hungry look in your eyes is making me very hard. My bear is greedy for everything, has waited a long time to find and claim you.”
“I ache for whatever you can offer me.” She lifted her hands to the spray, allowed the cool mist to coat her entire body. Relief poured through her. Still no fire, not even one whiff of it. She giggled, having never known such delight. She was normal, not a danger to a single soul, or
at least right in this moment she wasn’t. Aye, she could touch Finlay and know she couldn’t burn him, share her body with him and not harm a hair on his head, take him deep inside her and be as one, just as they both desired. This was a dream come true, one she didn’t wish to miss a moment of. She eased up a little and traced the ridged bands of his stomach. His hard muscles were honed to perfection, and his abs, they rippled as she brushed the head of his cock, fondled the tip and glided to the root. “You feel so hard, yet your skin is smooth like velvet.”
He hardened further and groaned. “I love how you touch me, and the freedom you take in doing so. I never want that to change. I need to feel your hands on me. Wherever you please.”
“You dinnae think I’m too forward?” She couldn’t be anything else if she didn’t want their time together here to be lost.
“Never. I’m most grateful you’re not frightened of what’s about to happen between us.” He leaned forward, touched his forehead to hers. “I do need to warn you though. With our joining, comes the merging of our minds. My shifter blood will demand a telepathic link, and my mind will tunnel into yours and find a pathway that is just for us. From this moment forth, you’ll be able to touch my mind at will, whenever you please, no matter the distance separating us, just as I will be able to do the same with you.”
A link she wanted, but also a link that would cause one glaring problem considering the compelling command upon him. “There is no way around it?”
“None whatsoever, and I can’t wait for that moment when our minds merge.” He grinned, toppled her back onto the soft bedding of his trews and kissed her, his tongue sweeping over hers then delving deep. A surge of desire flooded her and an ache pulsed between her thighs. All her thoughts scattered as Finlay scented the air and let out a low moan.
Highlander's Passion (The Matheson Brothers Book 2) Page 8
