Trepidation pumped through my veins, teetering toward full-blown anxiety. My nerves had become a runaway coach. I inhaled, grabbing the reins, refusing to succumb to feeling out of control. Firm hands encircled my wrists, pulling me from the wall, urging me to recline.
I resisted.
He insisted.
His body stretched alongside mine. Evidence of his arousal pressed into my thigh and enormous heat radiating into my skin told me that he’d stripped naked while my back had been turned. Panicked, I tried to scoot back, but the rock wall prevented my retreat.
Trapped. In his world. In a situation not of my making.
“Velloc, I can’t do this.”
I arched away from his touch, only to find I’d given his mouth access to my neck. Frantic to tell him to stop, I pressed a hand to his chest, giving a forceful shove. He grabbed my arm by the wrist again and pinned it over my head, leaning his weight forward. With a quick shift of his body, his legs locked over my shins, spreading my legs. His sheer strength and deft leverage held me restrained. His short, hot breaths steamed my lips. He waited. I tensed. His firm hold gave me no leeway.
Unconsciously, I licked my lips. Velloc growled low in response. I couldn’t figure out if he’d seen the involuntary movement or heard it, because I couldn’t see a thing. He curved his hips into mine, his erection pressing down in perfect alignment to every nerve beginning to light up.
My pulse quickened as heat flooded deep within me. On an instant throb, I arched my hips up without control. The unnerving reaction—born of a fierce arousal I failed to understand—confused me. My body betrayed everything I’d once held sacred and true, but faster than the wingbeat of a hummingbird, fear had transformed into a fiery awakening, instinct ruling my actions.
Tired of being lost and afraid, I clung to the heady drug washing through me as it cleansed away any last obstructing inhibitions. Ravenous hunger overtook me as an all-encompassing sensory awareness poured into my body, seeking to feed until the fire burning through every cell had been quenched.
Velloc growled louder, capturing my lips in a bruising kiss as he plunged his tongue into my mouth. My response matched his fervor, the animal that had been unleashed within me biting his lower lip. I rolled my hips, trying to gain relief from the growing ache inside. He ground down onto me, restricting my movement, but gave me what I sought as he dragged his shaft along sparking nerves.
I moaned at the torturous movements. The contact wasn’t enough. I needed more. He pulled my deerskin halter down beneath my breasts, tracing calloused fingertips across sensitized flesh. A hard pinch of my nipple arced fire between my thighs, and I gasped. His hot mouth seized the other, suckling until teeth bit down. I cried out from the erotic pain.
Moisture slicked down between my bare upper thighs, the undeniable scent of my arousal surrounding us. He scraped up my skirt with his hand, and his erection slid through abundant juices, coating his length as he glided through. I shuddered from the pleasure. He arched and flexed, setting my every nerve ablaze. When he pulled back again, the tip caught at my entrance, and he thrust hard. My loud gasp echoed off the stone walls as he slammed his hips down, filling me completely.
My body tried to accommodate him, stretching around the invasion. I groaned when he stayed motionless, my ache for release intensifying. I squirmed, lighting up a circuit board of nerves. The overload hurtled me over the brink, a powerful orgasm jerking my body.
I cried out into the darkness. Velloc remained embedded, laying claim to me as my pulsing muscles accepted his assertion with pleasure. He rocked back and rammed forward, a hard, bruising impact drenched in urgency. With methodical precision, he withdrew slowly and pounded forcefully. The jarring blows kept my orgasm pulsing, every thrust pulling a soft whimper from my lips. I met every strike with a curve of my hips, charging flaming nerve centers, prolonging the ecstasy.
He freed my clamped wrist, pressing his palms on either side of me, bracing for leverage as he pumped hard. I skimmed my hands down his back, gripping the muscles of his ass as they flexed and released beneath my hold. His body tensed as an animalistic growl ripped from his chest. He thrust once more before collapsing down around me, his body a muscular cage containing a willing prisoner.
His rough beard scratched against my cheek as he shifted, rolling over, pulling me with him. My body sprawled halfway across his as his strong arms locked me tight to his chest. I hid my face into the dip below his collarbone and closed my eyes.
Like I’d done with so many things of late, I surrendered to forces beyond my control, letting the blessed oblivion of sleep be the second thing to claim me tonight.
Regret hung heavy in my chest as harsh consciousness tore into the blissful numbness. Velloc had exerted his ownership, expressing his passion for me repeatedly throughout the night. Raw need fueled my eager participation. I’d drowned in the euphoric chemicals, quenching my body and sedating my mind. I drew in a ragged lungful of air, untangling my limbs as I tried to push him away. His grip around me tightened, crumpling me back down onto him in an inelegant slump. I forced a loud sigh through puffed-out cheeks, marking my protest to an unbelievable scenario.
I’d only been married for eleven days, and already I’d cheated. One could claim I had no choice in the matter. The point could be further argued that I might well have been raped had I not submitted. The glaring reality of the situation, however, refused to be ignored. The moment he’d held me down, I’d wanted him.
How is this possible?
I knew I hadn’t gone from virginal innocent to insatiable slut in under two weeks. Stress had clearly played a role. Loneliness and fear had sought pacification. The solid arms of a warrior, shielding me from harm in a world from which I had no means of escape, had become an intoxicating potion I’d been helpless to resist . . . or so I reasoned.
Tension eased from my rigid shoulders the moment I allowed myself to be human in the least forgiving set of circumstances I’d never imagined. My foundation was shaken as self-sufficient me had become very dependent on not one man, but two in as many weeks. Relying on another for advice or directions had been one thing I’d never minded. But being tethered to a man for all my needs proved a challenging adaptation for an independent woman to handle . . . twice.
When I cast the not-so-minor indiscretion aside to focus on my bigger problem, I groaned. No amount of reasoning or justification for my actions in either century changed my state of affairs. I’d become entangled in a complex web of time, subject to the bidding of something larger than lowly little me. With no way to ascertain whether each experience had been a test for my reaction, or if all these events had been fated in the grander plan of things, I fell back on truths I knew for certain.
I’d become a survivor, using intrinsic strengths to my advantage in attaining goals. My forté happened to be archaeology and language. The natural optimist in me rose to the challenge, determined to learn everything possible about and from Velloc’s indigenous Highland tribe. Only through my ever-growing cache of knowledge, would I learn the secrets of that box.
My role as victim ceased to exist every time I stole back control of my world.
CHAPTER Sixteen
Highlands of Scotland—Ancient Reign of the Picts, Thirty-Two Days Later
The hard vibration of metal striking metal traveled deep into my arm as I deflected with the short blade in my right hand. I arced down a forceful blow with the ax in my left. Velloc blocked my attempt with his longer, broader sword. Piercing rings from each impact reverberated out into the meadow. Hot from the bright rays of the midday sun, a bead of sweat trickled between my breasts, and my ponytailed hair had plastered to the skin between my shoulder blades.