He caught her hand and dragged it across his mouth, settling his lips into her palm. He kissed the smooth skin and then tucked each fingertip into his mouth, kissing them in turn.
“I want you too, lass. So much I ache. I want to burn the memory of you in my arms into my mind so that it never leaves me no matter how old I may grow.”
She smiled, her eyes glinting with sadness as she cupped his cheek. “Give me tonight so that we make just such a memory for the both of us.”
“Aye, lass. I’ll love you well.”
When he would have gotten to his feet, she put out a hand and he paused on one knee.
“There is something I would say before we go any further.”
He cocked his head, studying her sudden nervousness and the quick intake of her breath.
He smoothed the hair from her face and tangled his fingers in the long tresses in an effort to soothe the worry creasing her brow. “Speak then.”
She looked briefly away before returning her gaze to his. The beauty of her eyes was dampened by worry and … shame.
“ ’Tis important you know this. I was cast from the McDonald clan. They are my family. I was a McDonald born.”
His brow furrowed with confusion as he grappled with what she’d said. A McDonald? He hadn’t given much thought to where he’d ended up after being injured. The whole time was a blur. His brothers hadn’t mentioned how close they’d been to McDonald land when they’d come to take him home.
And she’d been cast out? Anger pricked at him. He touched her chin to stop the silent quiver and nudged upward until she stared him directly in the eye.
“Why, lass? Why would your own kin turn you out?”
“The laird made improper advances toward me when I was but a young girl, barely on the cusp of womanhood. His wife walked in as he tried to rape me, and she cried me whore. I was turned out for trying to seduce the laird.”
Alaric was momentarily speechless. His hand fell away from her chin as his mind grappled with the implications.
“Sweet Jesu,” he whispered.
His nostrils flared and he clenched his jaw as he imagined his sweet Keeley, a much younger Keeley, trying to fend off a much older, stronger man. It made him ill.
It made him furious.
“It wasn’t true,” she said in a fierce whisper.
“Nay!” he denied, his hand flying back to caress her cheek. “Of course it wasn’t. I hope you don’t think I thought so even for a moment. I’m furious that you were treated so unjustly and that you paid the sins of the laird. His job is to protect his clan. To be deserving of the mantle of leadership. To prey on a young girl is a betrayal of all he is foresworn to do.”
She closed her eyes as relief washed in a clear line across her face. Alaric’s heart twinged for what she’d endured. But more than that, he had a strong urge to hie himself to McDonald keep and beat Laird McDonald until he was incapable of ever forcing himself on another woman. To think he’d supped with the man in the McCabe hall. He’d welcomed the man on his land as an ally and as a future father through marriage. His lips curled in disgust and his head ached when he realized there was naught to do. He couldn’t set aside an alliance by making an enemy of McDonald.
It was a damnable position to be in.
Determined not to dwell on things beyond his control, he turned his attention to the one thing he could.
He stroked his palm over Keeley’s silken flesh, his thumb lingering over her full lips and to the slight indention at her chin. His fingers stroked down the slim column of her neck to rest on her chest just above the swell of her breasts.
He could feel the slight flutter of her pulse, and he heard the swift intake of her breath when he lowered his hand to cup the swell through the thin material of her night dress.
“I wonder if you have any idea of your beauty, lass. Your flesh is soft and as pale as moonlight on the snow. ’Tis unmarred by a single blemish or defect. I could spend forever just touching you.”
She sighed and moved closer, filling his palm with her warmth. Her nipple tightened against his thumb and he brushed over the tip, bringing it to a hardened bud.
Their mouths hovered precariously close. His gaze slid over her face, meeting the piercing beauty of her eyes just as he touched her lips with his.
It was a shock. Like kissing the moon and being illuminated by a thousand silver rays. Desire snaked down his spine and spread through his limbs until they were laden.
He licked over her mouth and delved between her lips to the sweetness inside. Hot and damp and so sinful that it sent shivers of intense desire quaking over his body.
She was breathing hard, little huffs blowing over his face as she pulled away, her eyes glazed with tiny little sparks of green and gold that reminded him of the highlands in the spring.
“ ’Tis the truth I’ve never lain with another man. No one has ever touched me as you have.”
Her admission awoke a primitive, possessive urge deep inside him. At the same time he was filled with tenderness and the desire to make this night one she’d never forget.
“I’ll be gentle, love. I swear it.”
She smiled and cupped his face in her hands as she drew him close. “I know you will, warrior.”
He pulled her into his arms, trapping her against his chest. She smelled sweet and delicate, so much female flesh, soft and supple. He nuzzled against her neck, inhaling her scent and marking her with his teeth. Gentle nips, she shivered with each one.
“Aye, you taste sweet, lass. The sweetest I’ve ever tasted.”
He felt her smile against his temple.
“And you have honeyed lips, warrior. The sweetest I’ve ever heard.”
“ ’Tis not pretty words in which to woo you. ’Tis the truth as I’ve never spoken it.”
She looped her arms around his neck and melted into him with a sigh. “I like the kissing part very much, but something tells me there’s a whole lot more to the matter of loving.”
He smiled and brushed his lips across her brow. “Aye, you are right there. ’Tis much more and I plan to show you in great detail.”
Her lips found his again, this time at her instigation. Her breathy sigh spilled into his mouth and he swallowed her breath, taking her deep into his chest.
He allowed her to take the direction of the kiss, allowed her to take as much as she would from him.
Always before, a quick tup had been to his liking. He took lasses to his bed who enjoyed a fast, playful romp. But here and now, he wanted to savor every moment. He wanted it to last forever. He’d take his time and show her the delights of the flesh—and the heart.
Rising before her, he lowered her onto the bed and pressed his palms into the mattress on either side of her head. Her hair spread out over the sheets like a silken mass. The strands glowed like spun gold in the light from the fire. He ran his fingertips over the glints of color and the varying shades intermixed in the thick pelt of her hair.
She stared up at him, her eyes aglow with trust. It humbled him that she offered him what she’d never granted another man. That she had such faith in him staggered him.
She stretched and twisted beneath him before raising her arms invitingly. Gently he gathered her hands, kissed her knuckles and then lowered them back down to her belly. He slid his hands up her arms, caught her sleeves and slowly pulled them over her shoulders, baring the creamy flesh.
Unable to resist such a temptation, he bent down and kissed the top of her shoulder and teased a line to the curve of her neck. Chill bumps broke out over her skin and danced beneath his lips. He chuckled softly when he took the lobe of her ear between his teeth and she shuddered violently.
“You have a wicked mouth, warrior.”