Highland Heat (13 page)

“Yes, ye were, hellion.” He thrust back into her, his hard flesh gaining more ground this time. A sound of satisfaction passed her lips even as her passage protested being stretched around his girth.

“Ye would nae spread yer thighs for any man who does nae impress ye.”

He whispered his words against her ear as he began to drive his length in and out of her. His tone was raspy and edged with what had to be wickedness, because she felt like she was caught in his spell. Her body strained toward his, her hips eager to take the next thrust. She craved it insanely, every muscle she had tightening in her effort to match his pace.

“Ye need to be taken, Deirdre, and I swear to ye, I am the man bold enough to give ye what ye crave.” The table creaked as he drove his member harder and faster into her. His lips brushed over her ear and down to the tender skin behind it.

A moment later he bit her. She bit him in return, but the small bite heightened her enjoyment, rippling down her body while the pleasure of his hard cock being worked against her clitoris spread upward. It was too much and yet not enough. The first climax he’d wrung from her had only taken the edge off her hunger. Now her body wanted a deeper release. She lifted her hips, trying to take all his flesh while her thighs clasped around his hips and her head fell all the way back. There was no reason to keep her eyes open or to worry that her heart might burst because of how violently it was pounding.

All that mattered was keeping pace with her lover. She needed to be closer to him, and her thighs ached with the strength she used to bind him to her.

“That’s it, hellion… demand what ye want of me.”

His breath was rasping through his teeth, but she couldn’t pay attention to such details. Her body was beginning to erupt in a climax that was far greater than any she had ever experienced. It tore through her, she arched her back to take his member as deep as possible while she used her legs to clamp him against her. He snarled and pounded her, thrusting while pleasure lashed her in waves so intense that she cried out.

Her lover didn’t lack for pleasure either. He tightened his grip around her hips as he drove his length deep and groaned savagely against her neck. She felt his seed hit her womb, the hot spurt unleashing a second tremor of enjoyment, which was deeply rooted inside her belly.

Her lungs burned, caught between breaths, and she sucked in a huge amount of air as she collapsed backward. Her hands tried to support her but slipped on the polished surface of the table.

Quinton held her, raising his arms from her hips in a flash to catch her before she fell backward.

“Sweet Christ, that was intense,” he muttered before lifting her off the table and cradling her against his chest. “But too fast. Too bloody quick for how many nights I’ve dreamed of having ye in my bed.”

He crossed the chamber, the lack of light never giving him a moment’s pause. He lowered her legs, and she felt her knees quiver as she was forced to take her own weight.

“But I always imagined ye nude.”

Deirdre frowned. “And how did ye do that? Ye have never seen me without me robes.” She was being surly, and he caught her head, tangling his fingers in the strands of her hair. He pulled them slightly, but once again the tiny pain only managed to accent the moment and her awareness of him.

It was a truth she enjoyed feeling his strength; the fact that he controlled it excited her. Only a mere whisper of pain went through her scalp, but it sent sensation rippling across her skin.

“I enjoyed contemplating all the possibilities.”

He pressed a hard kiss against her mouth, the hand in her hair holding her prisoner while his mouth played over hers, teasing the delicate skin before pressing her to open her mouth for a deeper kiss. In spite of the fact that satisfaction was still glowing warmly inside her belly, his kiss was intoxicating. Or maybe it was the scent of his skin or the grip in her hair… Deirdre didn’t know. She only knew she wanted to kiss him back, and the consequences could wait until later to contemplate.

He broke their kiss and released her. She heard a soft sound of disappointment rise from her chest as he severed their connection.

“Do nae fret. It would take an army at me gates to take me away from ye this night.”

“Ye assume I want ye to stay.”

He framed her face between his warm hands, gently brushing his thumb over her lower lip. A breath got caught in her throat and emerged as a raspy sigh.

“The way ye tremble says ye want me to remain.” His words were soft and tender. He placed a simple kiss against her lips before lifting his hands away from her face. The night air was chilly by comparison, and she shivered.

But a moment later he tore her sheer underrobe in half.

“Are ye mad?” She jumped away from him, but he maintained his grip on the two sides of the robe, and she ended up aiding him in baring her.

“That robe is no’ mine.”

He chuckled and tossed the twin pieces aside. “Joan Beaufort should have her servants pack more appropriate garments for where she is traveling. The Highlands can be a harsh place for such delicate items.”

The single shutter she had left open allowed enough moonlight in to cast him in silver. He looked more at ease in the night than he had sitting in the fine room where he attended to his duty as a noble peer. He pulled the end of his belt and caught the wool of his kilt before it hit the floor.

“But I admit seeing yer rose-tipped nipples through that silk was enough to make me drool.”

“Ye could see…” Her voice trailed off as she heard him laughing. He pulled his shirt off and tossed it over the chair his kilt rested on.

“The candles served their purpose quite well, illuminating ye like an angel.”

“Stop it. Yer words are too bold. Angels are heavenly creatures, above earthly sins.”

He patted the surface of the bed. “Agreed. I’ll call ye a siren, for I find myself more interested in earthly pleasures.”

She stepped back, and the meager light allowed him to see her frown. “Ye’ve had that.” Her voice dipped with disappointment because she’d known full well his interest in her was fueled by lust, and yet she had failed to resist him. She’d suffer for it once he was sated and gone, while the gossips enjoyed telling the tale.

“And ye think my only interest was to fuck ye on a tabletop? Is that it, Deirdre?”

She stiffened. “Ye need no’ insult me, but I suppose I should nae be surprised to hear it, for men often spit on the women they’ve used to ease their lust.”

He watched her for a moment, a long moment that felt like an eternity. She swore she could feel his gaze cutting into her, but what it truly did was mesmerize her, for he moved while she was frozen in place, wrapping his arms around her and binding her to his body.

“Do nae compare me to that bastard Melor Douglas who used ye to strike against Connor Lindsey. I did nae whisper promises in yer ear to get ye to allow me to part yer thighs.”

She strained against his hold but accomplished nothing but a renewed shaft of pain from her wound. “I am nae a whore to want promises of what ye will give me for my favors. I learned that lesson from Melor, sure enough.”

He cupped the back of her head to hold her face steady while he loomed over her. Completely nude, she felt his warm skin against every inch of her body, and sensation began to course through her.

“Nay, hellion, ye couldnae ignore the passion that has sparked between us since the moment I set eyes on ye in yer father’s home. Ye spit in me eye then, just to see if I would take the challenge. That is who ye are, and ye will no’ ever be content unless ye accept it.”

He lowered his face until she could feel the brush of his breath against her still-wet lower lip. “It filled me with need, Deirdre. I have no’ wanted a woman as fiercely as I did ye in that moment when ye refused to let me name and title make ye meek. No quick fuck is going to satisfy either of us.”

He swept her off her feet and deposited her in the bed. The bed ropes groaned as she was dropped onto the surface. He didn’t follow her immediately but sat down on a small stool to remove his boots.

But he never took his eyes off her. She felt his gaze slipping over the mounds of her nude breasts and lingering on the hard points of her nipples. He looked at her like he was contemplating the best way to consume her, and God help her, she felt excitement burning brightly inside her once more. He was correct; she wasn’t truly satisfied.

“My nature is a curse,” she muttered.

The bed rocked when he entered it. He crawled onto it like a large animal stalking his prey.

“Ye’re a hellion, and I find it irresistible.”

She shivered, enjoying the compliment even if there were many who wouldn’t have considered his words kind.

She did, because they were honestly spoken. Quinton Cameron was a Highlander, and pretty words were something he’d only ever learned to be polite. He pressed her back against the plump pillows, sliding his hands over her bare skin slowly. It was bold and sensual, taking her back into the sweet intoxication that had seen her clinging to him.

“I cannae wait for yer leg to heal so ye can ride me, and I’ll be free to watch these teats bounce.” He cupped her breasts, drawing a hiss from her as sensation spiked through her. Her body seemed to respond faster to him now that it had experienced the pleasure he might give her.

“Who says I’ll be sharing yer bed ever again?” She reached up and grasped a handful of his dark hair. He groaned as she pulled the strands hard and sat up so their faces were only inches apart. “Do nae be so presumptuous with someone ye call a hellion. I’ll be on my way to take the place I have earned by freezing in those silk robes.”

He brushed the hard points of her nipples with his thumbs. “That leaves me the option of impressing ye so that ye’ll be wanting more of me company.” He cupped her breasts completely, sending little ripples of enjoyment through her. “I’m agreeable to that course of action.”

Deirdre kissed him. Maintaining her hold on his hair, she pressed her mouth against his, mimicking the way he’d used his lips to drive her so insane. She wanted to meet him halfway in the middle of their passion, not be bent beneath the power of his boldness. He was a man who preferred action and she discovered she did too.

He pressed her back down when he met her kiss, his mouth demanding she open hers for the thrust of his tongue. He released her breasts to cover her, using his greater size and weight to pin her beneath him but he propped his elbows on either side of her head to support enough of his weight to save her from being smothered.

“We’ll take it slower this time lass… so ye will nae think me a complete brute.”

His member was hard again and he sent it deep into her once more. This time his thrusts were smooth and even. Need built inside her but he refused to rush the pace even when she became eager for more of what they had shared earlier.

“Nae, lass… there are rewards for those with patience.”

He was mocking her, teasing her, and she growled at him. He laughed at her, earning a well-deserved slap, which she delivered to his shoulder. The sound popped in the quiet room.

“Oh well… I suppose I’ll have to learn to deal with yer demanding nature, hellion.”

He began to give her what she craved, the bed rocking almost violently as his large body labored above hers. She arched to meet each thrust, eagerly keeping time with his pace. Pleasure spiked through her again, too quickly, but there was no resisting it. Like a bolt of lightning splitting the clouds open with a light so brilliant her eyes stung, her release left her gasping on the surface of the bed with her lover groaning out his release in the next moment.

***

She must have slept because she awoke to discover Quinton toying with her hair. He lay beside her, both of them still on top of the covers. Her heart had slowed, and she shivered as she grew cold now that she wasn’t demanding so much activity from her body.

Quinton grunted. “We’ll be wanting the bedding now.”

He sat up and used one hand placed on her hip to roll her onto her side so that he might free the thick coverlet. But he stopped with it only half over her.

“Ye did nae tell me how that wound came to happen. I want to know.”

She knew what he meant but turned onto her good side to avoid conversation. Her passage ached, marking the place he had been but satisfaction was still wrapping her in tranquility so she closed her eyes to dismiss the unpleasant harshness that would certainly arise soon enough with the dawn.

Quinton refused to leave the matter alone. He reached over and cupped the side of her face to turn her attention back toward him.

“Ye’ll answer me, Deirdre, or I’ll have every man who brought ye to me in this chamber to discuss the matter. Immediately.”

“Oh, curse and rot yer arrogant persistence, Quinton. Have no’ ye had enough from me tonight?” She rolled over and stood up next to the bed with a hiss.

“I’m the master of this fortress Deirdre and I’ll no’ have any man serving me who takes a knife to a woman.”

He stood up, but Deirdre refused to let the fact that he was so much larger than herself bother her. She walked back to the table and picked up the forgotten ale that Amber had poured into a goblet for her. Lifting it up, she took a long drink of it.

Quinton did the same but he righted the candelabrum and set the candles back in it. He reached for a small box sitting on the table and sparks flew out as he struck a flint stone against a piece of iron. The wick of one candle quickly lit, brightening the chamber almost painfully and illuminating the fact that they were both still nude.

Harsh reality had arrived to sting her with shame before dawn it seemed.

Her nature was a curse… no doubt about it.

“Shall I send one of me men to summon Coalan or no’? The privacy of this chamber is the only reason I’m giving ye the choice lass. If I’d learned of that wound below stairs, me men would already be lined up in front of me to account for it.”

“Ye do nae need to threaten me.”

He shook his head. “I’m trying to tell ye that in this chamber, I do nae expect ye to keep to any place which the rest of the world says is yers.”