Taming the Scotsman (12 page)

It was intimate and touching, and made her feel very strange. The rich, masculine scent of him invaded her senses, warming every part of her.

She was acutely aware of the strength of him. Of his hard muscles sheltering her. Her body exploded with heat and an aching throb she didn’t understand.

Clearing her throat, she pointed up at the constellation of Orion. “Do you know of Orion the Hunter?”

“Nay.”

She moved her hand over them, showing him Orion’s belt, head, arms and legs. “Can you see the outline of him?”

“Aye, I see it.”

“Well, long ago in ancient Greece, Orion was a mighty hunter. Born the son of Poseidon and Euryale, he searched the world for his one true love…”

Ewan listened in silence as she told him how Orion tried for years to win the hand of Merope and to gain the approval of her father for their marriage. And how Orion had become so tired of the wait that he forced himself on Merope. As punishment her father blinded Orion, who later traveled until he found the Greek goddess Artemis, who then fell in love with him. Her brother Apollo, angered by their love, tricked Artemis into killing Orion, who was then lifted up to the heavens by the goddess so that she could remember him always.

“Must all your stories involve love gone awry?” Ewan asked. “Is there no such thing as someone actually marrying his love and living a happy life with her?”

She turned her head into his shoulder and smiled up at him. His stomach tightened.

“There is the story of Cupid and Psyche. They live together in happiness. Would you rather hear that one?”

“Aye, lass. Please.”

As Ewan listened to the sweet cadence of her voice, he ran his hand idly down her arm to her
hand. Her fingers were so delicate compared to his. So soft. He took her hand in his palm and ran the pad of his thumb over the careful curve of her well-manicured nails.

The urge to lift that hand to his mouth and suckle her fingers was so fierce that he wasn’t sure how he managed to deny it. He tilted his head to look down at her while she talked. A light pink stained her cheeks as spoke in a gentle tone of love and trust.

How he wanted her.

Right now while she lay so peacefully in his arms.

What would it be like to have her sliding against him? To feel her warm and welcoming beneath him?

Instead, he laid his cheek against the top of her head and contented himself with just holding her like that. Letting her feminine softness soothe him.

By the time Nora had finished her tale, she realized Ewan was completely relaxed.

More to the point, he was completely asleep.

“Ewan?” she whispered, looking up at him.

He didn’t stir.

Her bear lay with his lips slightly parted, her braid laced between his large fingers. She hadn’t even realized he’d touched her hair.

But she had known every other move he’d made.

She had felt his tender caress as he held her hand in his and ran his fingers over her wrist and forearm.

And when he had leaned his cheek against her head, she had melted.

Rolling over, she lifted herself up on her arms to look down at him while he slumbered. A lock of black hair fell over his forehead. She brushed it back, then traced the slash of his eyebrow with her fingertip.

He was so delectably handsome. So strong and powerful even while he rested.

Why had he indulged her tonight? She had half expected him to chastise her and send her back to camp like some errant child.

Instead he had listened to her. Held her.

Encouraged her to tell him her stories.

What she wouldn’t give for a husband to treat her thusly. She bit her lip as that thought played around in her mind.

Would Ewan be like this if she belonged to him?

He is unfitting for you
.

Was he?

He played music for her and he did listen to her. He had even handed her his sword.

Surely such moments made up for his more unrefined ways.

It takes two to make a marriage
. Her mother’s words echoed in her head. Her mother had oft lectured her on wifely duties and what it took to make a marriage sound.

Marriage is a contract between man and woman. The wife is to care for the husband. To see to his needs, and he in turn is to protect and provide for her. But if
the marriage is to be a happy one, then the two must respect each other. They must never belittle or discount the other’s feelings. Take your father for instance. He would sooner cut out his own heart than make me cry. Your husband should always listen to you, just as you should always listen to him
.

Nora studied him closely. Ewan didn’t seem to be the kind of man to ever discount someone.

She traced the line of his lips, remembering what they had tasted like. The way they looked on the rare occasions when he smiled.

You’ll have to marry someone. Why not
—

“Don’t even think it,” she breathed.

True, she did have to have a husband, but Ewan MacAllister?

He lived in a cave!

Granted, it was a nice cave with glorious furnishings, but it was still a cave.

What kind of life could they have together?

Before she realized what she was doing, she was peeling back the corner of his shirt. She’d never before realized just how interesting a man’s throat was. How inviting the skin of it could be.

She stroked his Adam’s apple with her fingertips, feeling the roughness of his masculine skin and whiskers. He was all prickly and hard.

And his jaw…

Truly it was superb. Strong and well shaped. She’d never touched a man like this before.

Her parents would have vapors. Her father would have his sword after them both.

Ewan himself would most likely be terse from her exploration and study.

He didn’t seem to like her touching him overmuch.

Tonight being the exception.

If you touch me, I’ll kiss you, and if I kiss you
…

Did she perchance drive him wild with desire? Could he feel the same urging for her that she felt for him?

Her mother had warned her much about men and their voracious, rutting ways. But instead of dishonoring her, Ewan had fallen asleep like a harmless pup.

Harmless pup, indeed! She laughed at the very thought.

There was certainly nothing harmless about a man as fierce as this one.

Nora laid her head back down on his chest and listened to his heart thumping under her ear. She’d only imagined lying with a man like this. It was something she had thought to share with her husband, never with a man she barely knew.

Ewan turned then, drawing her in closer to him. His arms tightened.

“Ewan?” she said. “You’re crushing me.”

His hold loosened a bit so that she could breathe, but he didn’t release her. Instead he snuggled closer.

It wasn’t so bad really.

It was actually quite nice.

Relaxing, Nora let the sound of his deep breaths lull her into sleep, too.

For the first time in years, Ewan dreamed of pleasantries. There was no Kieran to haunt his sleep. No sign of Isobail and her cruelty.

Only Nora was there with her catlike eyes and her barrage of questions.

He sighed in his sleep as he saw her out in a peaceful green meadow beckoning to him.

“Come, my lord, and be seated.” She pulled him down by her side so that she could offer him cake and ale.

In his dream, Ewan closed his eyes to savor the taste of her fingers as she fed him the cake from her hand. ’Twas the sweetest thing he’d ever known.

He drank of the ale, then set the food and drink aside so that he could stare at the woman who made him desire again. She made him yearn for dreams he had forsaken long ago. Dreams he had purposefully thrown away.

He pulled her across him, then rolled over, pinning her beneath him.

“I want you, Nora,” he breathed.

Her smile welcomed him.

Accepting her invitation, he lowered his mouth and tasted the sweetness of her lips. She laced her hands through his hair, raising chills over him as he teased her mouth with his tongue.

He groaned her name as he moved his mouth lower, down to the cream of her neck where he had been dying to taste her. She arched her back against him, thrusting her breasts against his chest.

Unable to stand the torment of her, he cupped her breast in his hand and teased the taut nipple with his palm…

Nora moaned as she was stirred from her dreams by the heat of someone kissing her. By the feel of someone touching her body in a way no one had ever dared before.

Startled, she opened her eyes to find Ewan holding her. His lips were hot and demanding on her neck while his left leg was buried between both of hers. His warm hand cupped her breast.

“Ewan,” she said.

He pulled back groggily and blinked. “Nora?”

“Aye. Did you not know it was me?”

She expected him to withdraw, to at least pull his hand away from her breast.

He didn’t.

“I knew it was you. I thought I was dreaming it.” Before she realized what he was doing, he dipped his head to kiss her again.

Nora moaned at the fierce taste of him.

He tore away from her lips.

“Push me away, Nora,” he said suddenly. “Tell me that I repulse you and that you don’t want anything to do with a sullen, self-pitying drunkard.”

She frowned at his words.

Who had said such to him?

“I don’t find you repulsive, Ewan. Far from it.”

He cupped her face in his large hand and stared at her. His eyes were dark and pain-filled.

“Tell me, Nora,” he insisted. “Because if you don’t, I’m going to make love to you out here in the woods like an animal.”

His words shocked her as much for his honesty as for the desperation she heard in his voice.

Her Aunt Eleanor had once told her that the most precious thing a woman possessed was her maidenhead. If a woman was lucky, she would get to choose whom she gave it to.

If not, ’twould be her father’s choice.

Ryan’s face drifted through her mind and she fought the urge to cringe. If they failed to make it to England, he would be her fate.

He would never make her feel the way Ewan did.

Her body was hot and shivery. Needful.

What if no man save Ewan ever made her feel this way again? If she turned him aside, she would go to her husband with her body intact.

Ryan cared not a whit about her virginity; ’twas only her coffers that concerned him.

But Ewan…

He needed her. She felt it deep inside.

She’d always wondered what it would be like to lie with a man. In her mind, she had always pictured a softspoken troubadour who won her heart.

But it was the quiet bear who called out to her.

Don’t
.

The word hovered in her mind. If she did this, it would change her forever. She would no longer be innocent. She might even conceive his child.

But something deep down inside told her that carrying this man’s child would be far from a hardship.

In the end, it was her curiosity and desire that got the better of her. Her mother had always said it would lead her astray.

Tonight it had led her to Ewan MacAllister, and here she was where she wanted to be.

“Make love to me, Ewan.”

E
wan was dumbfounded by Nora’s words. He had expected Nora to turn him away, not welcome him to her body.

She wasn’t supposed to want him.

A decent man would pull away from her. But he wasn’t decent.

He was feral and hard. The kind of man who took what he wanted without thoughts about tomorrow.

It was what had gotten him into trouble with Isobail. He had acted in the heat of passion and then paid dearly for it.

Decorum and he were strangers.

He’d never been that kind of man. He’d left man
ners and refinement to his brothers, while he had made his own way without those strict bindings that society and his mother would have placed on him.

Now he wished he did know the words to tell Nora how much this moment meant to him.

How much
she
meant to him.

He’d been so long without the comfort. So long without the warmth of a tender caress.

How could he walk away now? Especially since her sweet, precious taste was branded on his tongue. The silken heaven of her mouth was more than he could resist.

He was a mere mortal, not some saint.

Nay, he’d never been a saint.

Ewan traced the curve of her swollen lips with his fingertip before he parted her lips and kissed her deeply.

He closed his eyes and inhaled the sweetness of her breath as he let loose his tongue to dart against hers, to sweep up to the palate of her mouth until she moaned and writhed from it. Her supple body pressed against his while he loosened the stays of her chemise.

“You should push me away,” he said, pulling back from her kiss to stare down into her gentle, welcoming eyes.

“Perhaps, but I oft do the opposite of what I should do.”

“Aye, lass, you do. And that is one of your more endearing qualities.”

“Are you mocking me?”

“Nay, love, I would never mock you.”

Nora’s heart fluttered as he offered her a real smile. It was unexpected and breathtaking.

His eyes fair glowed in the faint moonlight. His heat surrounded her as his arms cushioned her from the cold, damp ground. The heat and strength of him surrounded her.

And she wanted more.

She actually purred as he returned to her lips to kiss her softly. She’d never been touched like this. Never thought a mere kiss could be such a wondrous experience.

And when his warm, callused hand closed around her breast, she jumped in nervous excitement. Pain and pleasure stabbed through her body as heat pooled itself between her legs.

What was this burning in her body? This strange ache that craved him?

She didn’t understand these foreign sensations. They were confusing and consuming.

Electrifying. Tormenting. And they left her wanting more of him.

Ewan left her lips to kiss a trail down her throat to the breast he cupped. Nora swallowed at the sight of his dark head at her breast, at the feel of his tongue teasing her taut nipple. His tongue was rough and hot, his lips soothing and tender.

She clasped his head to her, and let the locks of his hair tease her fingers.

He was so beautiful there, tasting her, teasing
her. His beautiful face showed the pleasure he received just from touching her.

She sighed in contentment and let the incredible earthy sensations sweep her away until she was nothing but an extension of the man holding her.

Tonight she would be his.

Ewan had never tasted anything like her body. She was so warm, so inviting. More so because he knew she was sharing with him what she had shared with no one else.

He was her first.

Why she would choose him, he couldn’t imagine. He was so unworthy of what she offered. So unworthy of her, period.

She was lightness and joy.

He was darkness and sorrow.

But he was glad that tonight, for this one moment and for whatever reason, she was with him.

Nora tugged at his shirt.

Eager to oblige her, he pulled it off, and his trewes followed soon after.

She gasped audibly as she ran her hands over his tense arms. He clenched his teeth as his head reeled from pleasure.

The things her touch did to him…

It was incredible. Invigorating. It made him feel virile and wild.

He was hard and aching. Most of all, he felt vulnerable to her.

But he couldn’t pull back. Nay, he needed more
of her. Needed to touch every inch of her body and to claim it as his own.

Nora felt a moment of panic as he removed her chemise from her. She was suddenly exposed to him.

It was scary and strangely erotic. She couldn’t recall ever being naked in front of another person. No one knew what she looked like bare.

No one but Ewan.

Her heart pounding, she stared at the large size of him and tried to imagine what it would feel like to take that into her body. Surely it would cleave her in two.

“Will you hurt me?” she asked hesitantly.

He stroked her cheek with his fingers. “I will do my best not to.”

She smiled up at him, trusting him completely even though she wasn’t too sure he spoke honestly. How could
that
not hurt? It was huge.

He lay down on top of her and gathered her into his arms. Her thoughts scattered at the glorious feeling of his skin against hers. Of his heavy weight that felt good instead of oppressive.

Ewan took her hand into his and guided it back to him. “Don’t be afraid of me, Nora,” he whispered.

Nora ran her hand down his shaft as the tip of it probed her maidenhead.

“Tell me to stop and I will.”

She smiled up at him, knowing most men would
not offer her that. It made her even more tender toward him. “Don’t stop.”

He kissed her again, then drove himself deep inside her.

She tensed at the burning pain of him filling her.

Ewan whispered sweet encouragements in her ear while he used his tongue to toy with the tender flesh of her neck.

She panted against the pain and tried to relax as he coaxed her. She had never imagined a man would feel like this, but she was glad it was Ewan who was inside her.

Glad for the strength of his arms around her and the sound of his deep voice in her ear.

She wrapped her arms around his shoulders and buried her face against his muscled neck and inhaled the warm scent of him. It gave her courage and strength not to push him away.

She wanted this. She wanted to share her body with him and to have it be Ewan who filled her for the very first time.

Ewan ached with want as he forced himself not to thrust even deeper into her.

But it was hard.

He wanted her in a way unimaginable. She surrounded him with heat, and her breath against his neck sent a thousand chills over him.

She felt wonderful and he never wanted to let her go.

“Relax, love,” he said gently. “I promise I won’t move until you’re ready for it.”

He waited until her hold on him loosened. She looked up at him, her face trusting.

He smiled at her courage and at the sight of her lying underneath him, her body bare and joined to his.

It was the most incredible thing he’d ever seen. A wave of fierce possession tore through him then, especially when he looked down to see them joined.

“You feel so strange inside me,” she said.

Ewan laughed at that. He’d never had a woman speak of such things. But then talking was what she did best, and he found her innate curiosity fascinating. She was completely uninhibited with her questions and comments.

“How do I feel?” he asked.

“Full and deep. I can feel you all the way to my core.”

He sucked his breath in at her words and the image they created. He liked to hear her speak of such things. “Can you now?”

She nodded.

He pulled back, then thrust his hips against hers.

They moaned in unison.

“Did that hurt?” he asked.

“Nay,” she said breathlessly.

Ewan moved slowly against her, driving himself in as deep as he dared.

“Oh that feels so good.” She sighed. “Is it supposed to be like this?”

“Are you ever out of questions?”

“Am I not supposed to talk?”

Ewan rolled over with them still joined. He sat her on top of him and watched her in the moonlight.

Her eyes widened even more. “Am I supposed to be up here like this?”

He actually laughed at that. “Do you like it?”

She bit her lip and nodded enthusiastically.

“Then we’re supposed to do it.”

Ewan showed her how to ride him slow and easy. He ran his hands down her thighs and watched the way the moonlight cut across her pale skin.

“May I ask another question?”

His mind was dazed from the feel of her naked body sliding against his, and it took a few seconds before he could respond. “By all means talk, my lady, if it gives you pleasure to do so. Tell me more about how I feel inside you.”

“You are so hard and strong. I can even feel you throbbing here.” She pointed to her lower abdomen.

She sight of her hand stroking her stomach almost shattered his control. He took her hand into his and led it away before he succumbed too early to the orgasm he longed for.

Nora wiggled her bottom against him. “What am I supposed to do?”

He lifted his hips up, driving himself deeper into her. “Whatever you want to do.”

She ground herself against him in a way so sublime that he growled in satisfaction.

Nora felt so strangely free with him. She ran her hands over the hard muscles of his chest and abdomen. It was so odd to see him lying there under her, between her spread thighs.

He held her hips in his hands and guided her movements. But what held her transfixed was the bliss on his face. His cheeks were flushed, his eyes dark and unfocused.

She moaned as he ran his hands up from her hips, to her breasts, where he toyed with their swollen nipples.

Had anyone ever told her she would sit on a man like this and enjoy it, she would have called him a liar, and yet here she sat with his thick hardness inside her.

“What do I feel like to you, Ewan?”

“Wet and soft.”

“Have you been with many women?”

He stopped moving. “Nay, not many.”

She smiled at that. It made this moment all the more special to her. “I’m glad. I want this to be special between us.”

Ewan cupped her face in his hands. “Believe me, love, it is.” He pulled her down and kissed her fiercely.

Nora trembled at the passion she tasted, at the way he teased her lips with his and twined his tongue around hers. His muscles bulged around her, making her tremble.

Ewan pulled back from the kiss, then rolled over with her and took control.

Nora arched her back as he moved faster. Harder. It was as if he were racing for something.

What was this wondrous sensation of him sliding in and out of her body?

Every stroke brought more pleasure. Every kiss and touch reverberated through her.

“Make me yours, Ewan.”

But in her heart, she knew he already had.

He claimed her lips again as he slammed himself into her even deeper than he’d been before.

She wrapped her legs around his hips and let his passion sweep her away.

He lowered his head down to her shoulder and growled as he released himself inside her.

She drew a ragged breath as he collapsed on top of her and held her tight.

“Thank you, Nora,” he whispered in her ear as he panted fiercely. Then he kissed her lips again in a tender caress that sent chills through her.

He withdrew from her and rolled over onto his back and pulled her against his side.

She assumed he was through with her, so it surprised her when he spread her legs and touched the most private place of her body.

“What are you doing?” she asked.

“I want you to have your pleasure.”

“I already had it.”

He smiled wickedly at that. “Nay, my innocent dove, you didn’t.”

Nora swallowed as his long, lean fingers delved deep into her body. She tensed a bit as they burned the tender flesh of her nether lips.

“Don’t dry out on me, Nora.”

Confused as to what he meant, she frowned.

Ewan pulled her plaid to him and used it to wipe her between her legs. She blushed at his actions.

“What are you doing?”

His eyes were warm. “Trust me. I promise you’ll like this.”

He laid his body between her legs and spread her thighs wide.

Nora’s face flamed as she realized he was staring at the center of her body.

He ran his long, tapered finger down her cleft. She shivered. Then he used his fingers to spread her open and dipped his head down.

Nora jerked as his mouth covered her. Every nerve ending in her body sizzled as she cried out in surprise. He stroked her with his tongue and lips.

She hissed and moaned as she cupped his head to her. No longer able to speak, all she could do was feel each and every luscious lick he gave her.

Who could have imagined? His breath was hot against her bared flesh, and when he slid a finger deep inside her and rotated it, she thought she would die.

She looked down to see him staring up at her while he tormented her with ecstasy.

He pulled back, but left his finger inside her. A strange sensation of intimacy overwhelmed her.

“Don’t be embarrassed, dove,” he whispered, then he returned to taunt her with his mouth.

With a mind of its own, her body writhed to his touch and kisses.

“Oh Ewan,” she groaned.

And as he continued, she found herself unable to speak anymore. Unable to do anything other than feel him. Feel his tongue sliding around her, his finger swirling.

Her pleasure built to an unimaginable height, until she was sure that she would explode with the weight of it.

Then, in the span of one heartbeat, she did explode. Her body splintered apart, and she cried out.

Ewan didn’t stop. He stayed there, licking and teasing until she’d come for him twice more.

When he seemed content to tease her more, she begged him for mercy. “Please, Ewan,” she whimpered. “If I do that one more time, I fear I shall die of it.”

He chuckled at her plea, then turned his face to suckle the tender flesh of her thigh.