Page 54 of Highlander the Conqueror

His manhood responded to her remark, rising quickly.

Sky smiled. “I see you have missed me too.”

“More than you will ever know,” he grumbled and hurried into the tub.

While she wanted him to wash quickly, she could tell from his soft grunt and the way he rested the back of his head on the rim of the tub and closed his eyes that he needed time in the heated water. So, she went to him and picked up a cloth off the stool, wet it, and began to wash the blood off his face.

He opened his eyes and could not stop the soft smile that rushed to his lips, seeing her lovely face and her two different colored eyes that shined with concern for him.

“Close your eyes and rest. We have all night,” she said and was pleased when he did as she said.

He kept his eyes closed as she tended to him. Her touch was gentle as she scrubbed the blood off his face, rinsing the cloth repeatedly until he was sure not a spot must have remained. Then she ran the cloth softly over his face. It felt so good that he did not want her to stop. When she did, he thought she would be done with him, but she took the cloth to his neck, then to his shoulders, scrubbing with a firmness that eased his muscles. She took extra care with his arms, stroking and squeezing his muscles until they surrendered to her touch, and he almost sighed with pleasure when she ran the soap over his chest with her bare hands.

“Let me wash your hair before the water loses its heat,” she said.

He lifted his head as she scooped up water with a tankard and poured it over his hair and after she lathered his hair with the soap, her fingers began scrubbing his scalp with a firmness that almost had him moaning with pleasure.

Never had he enjoyed a bath like he did now with his wife tending to him and it filled him with a sense of pleasure and peace and the thought that they would share many more moments like this together.

He raised his leg when she tugged at it and kept his eyes closed and loved that she washed his legs with the soap and her bare hands. She squeezed his calf muscles as she scrubbed, and he found himself almost moaning again.

When she finished with both legs, she touched him no more and he opened his eyes to see her standing there with the soap in her hands looking down into the tub and he understood her hesitation.

“No permission is needed to touch me, Sky. I will always welcome your touch,” he said, sensing her dilemma.

“I know. It’s just that…” Her cheeks turned pink, and she shook her head. “I sometimes think I desire you far too much.”

Slayer sat up fast, splashing water over the rim, and cupped her face with his wet hand. “I desire you even more, so you can never desire me too much. Never. Ever. Think that.” He leaned over the rim and kissed her gently and groaned low when her hand slipped beneath the water with the soap, and she began to tenderly wash him.

It took only a few strokes before he said, “That’s it.” He stood, letting the water drip off him before stepping out of the tub and snatching a cloth off the stool to dry himself quickly. “Disrobe,” he ordered and was glad she did without hesitation. With parts of his body still damp, and impatient to touch his wife, he reached out and snatched her up into his arms and carried her to the bed to announce, “My turn to touch.”

He caught a quick look at the kitten asleep in a makeshift bed by the hearth and almost shook his head. He would let her know tomorrow that the kitten would not be sleeping in their bedchamber. It was for Sky and him alone.

Sky kept her arms around her husband’s neck as he placed her on the bed, not letting him move off her and she spread her legs so that his manhood nestled between them just where she wanted it.

“While I would love you to touch me all over, I fear I may explode with passion born of washing you, so I need you inside me quickly, please,” she pleaded softly and wiggled beneath him.

He was only too glad to oblige her, being on the edge himself, and said, “As you wish, wife.”

He slipped into her, and he was overwhelmed not only with passion as he brought them both closer to the edge, but a sense of something else, something deeper and stronger, something that made him a part of Sky and she a part of him, as if at that moment they became one, forever united together… forever loved.

He looked down at his wife, her eyes filled with passion for him, her grip on him strong as if she never intended to let him go, and he knew at that moment what it felt like to be in love.

CHAPTER16

“You cannot do that,” Sky admonished Angel, her head peeking out of the pouch as she made her way to the wolfhounds’ pen. “If Slayer woke and found you on his head, I fear you would be banned from the keep and we do not want that. So, you will be good and sleep in your bed by the hearth.”

Sky sighed, knowing her brief lecture would do little good since cats did as they pleased. She did not want to think what Slayer would have done if he had woken to find Angel sleeping peacefully on top of his head. Thankfully, he slept deeply, exhausted from battle. She would have loved to linger beside him, but Angel needed to see to her needs and be fed and she wanted to visit the wolfhounds before the village woke for the day.

The day was just dawning when she finished tending to Angel and gathered bones for all the hounds. The two hounds she had given bones to the previous day were sitting at the fence waiting for her. The two hounds who had been with Slayer yesterday drifted closer to the fence in curiosity.

“Good morning to you all,” she said as she approached slowly. “I wanted to thank you for keeping the little lass, Oona, who fell into your pen yesterday, safe and for allowing me to retrieve her. That was very kind of you.” She nodded to the other two hounds who had ventured closer to their mates. “It is good to see you both again. You missed the bones I brought yesterday.” Their heads shot up as they sniffed the air while the other two hounds continued to sit in anticipation of the treat. “Fear not, there is enough for all, and I was able to get bones with marrow still in them.” She pulled out a bone from the sack she carried. “Be patient. There is one for each of you.”

The hounds appeared to understand her and waited patiently as she handed a bone to each of them. The last hound sniffed it, turned, and walked away. His reaction puzzled Sky. She wondered if he was trained not to accept food from anyone but Slayer, or perhaps he simply wasn’t feeling well today. She would keep an eye on him.

While the hounds lay enjoying their treat, she lifted Angel out of the shawl pouch and held her cupped snuggled in her hands for the hounds to see.

“This is Angel. She met two of your mates yesterday. She is my friend and helps me bring the bones to you. She means you no harm, so please cause her no harm.” Angel meowed and one of the hounds growled. “Nay, you must be nice to her. She helps me gather the bones.”

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