Page 43 of In Bed with a Highland Beast

Lucia craved to have Alaric inside her. She couldn’t take it anymore, and so she brought his manhood to her opening, rubbing the tip over her wet folds. With a quiet moan, Alaric rolled his hips helplessly, just as eager as Lucia was, but she kept teasing him for a few moments, not allowing him to enter her just yet.

“Ye’re such a bonnie thing,” Alaric said, sounding as breathless as she felt. “An’ such an infernal creature.”

Lucia couldn’t help but laugh at that. “Am I infernal because I’m takin’ me time?”

“Aye,” said Alaric. “I need ye. I need ye more than I need air, please. Please, lass, dae it.”

Lucia could hardly refuse such a plea, and so she slowly, torturously so, sank onto Alaric’s manhood. The moment he was inside her, twin moans escaped them, the sound soft in the small space between them. Lucia could feel him stretching her walls, filling her up completely, and the feeling cut her breath short, her entire body trembling as she finally took him all the way to the hilt.

For a moment, she merely sat in his lap, catching her breath. Alaric was writhing under her, unable to sit still, but he only placed his hands on her hips and held on, waiting for her to do as she pleased. Then, Lucia began to roll her hips in a slow, sensuous rhythm, planting her hands on Alaric’s shoulders to steady herself. It was easy, then, for the two of them to move, their rhythm second nature to them, as they fit perfectlytogether. Alaric’s hands roamed all over her body, sliding up her waist, cupping her breasts, his fingers pinching and rolling her nipples between them. The attention drove Lucia crazy with need, and she bounced on Alaric’s length with abandon, the slick sounds of their coupling and their soft, ragged breaths filling the otherwise quiet room.

It was the way Alaric was looking at her, though, which affected Lucia the most; like she was someone worth loving, like she was not so strange or different or monstrous, after all. He was looking at her with so much love that it brought a knot to her throat, one that threatened to choke her if she examined that feeling for too long.

She, too, loved him. She knew it in her very core, a fact as immutable as any law of nature.

Lucia’s hands found Alaric’s as she rolled her hips again and again, lacing their fingers together. The friction was delicious, that pressure building up inside Lucia once more, and she held onto Alaric’s hands with all she had as she bounced on him a few more times before once again reaching her climax. This one was even stronger than the last, wave after wave of pleasure crashing over her, her entire body trembling over Alaric as she rode her orgasm. Alaric, too was close behind. Letting go of her hands, he grabbed her hips instead and thrusted up into her once, twice, three times, before emptying himself inside her with a groan, satisfied and exhausted at the same time.

Lucia collapsed on top of him, unable to move any farther, and Alaric was quick to wrap his arms around her and hold her close.Neither of them spoke; they didn’t have to. Even though Lucia hadn’t said it since Alaric had confessed his love to her, she wanted to believe she didn’t have to. She wanted to believe he already knew just how much he meant to her without her having to say it.

I love him, I truly dae. An’ he must ken that.

Perhaps one day, soon, she could utter those words too.

CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE

Aknock on the door woke Alaric with a start. His eyes flew open and the first thing he saw was Lucia right next to him, also wide awake, staring at the door. Alaric cursed under his breath. Whoever it was behind that door, they couldn’t see Lucia in there.

“Alaric?” a vaguely familiar voice called and Alaric soon realized with horror that it belonged to none other than Kayla. There could not have possibly been a worse moment for her to visit him in his chambers, Alaric thought as he jumped right out of bed, frantically gathering his and Lucia’s clothes off the floor. She, too, was out of bed, but she was hovering near it, looking at Alaric with a panicked expression that betrayed the fact she didn’t know what to do.

“One moment!” Alaric called. Tossing Lucia’s clothes to her, he put on his own in a hurry, trying to look as presentable as possible in the few seconds he had at his disposal, but by the time he was done, Lucia had barely managed to pull anything on.

It would have to do, Alaric decided.

“Under the bed,” he whispered to her, shepherding her towards it. Lucia tried to protest, but Alaric shushed her quickly and urged her to get under, but for a moment, Lucia only stared at him in disbelief.

“Seriously?” she hissed.

“Aye,” Alaric said. “Quickly!”

With an exasperated sigh and a roll of her eyes, Lucia crawled in the small space under the bed along with all her clothes. Alaric frantically tried to pull the covers in a way that they would hang over the side of the bed, making sure she was entirely hidden, before he paused and took a deep breath, composing himself.

He could do this. It was only a woman, he told himself. He had spoken to plenty of them before.

“Miss Sinclair, good mornin’,” Alaric said with a smile as he opened the door. He felt hot, sweating all over despite the chill in the room, and he was certain he looked disheveled and more than a little strange, judging by the look Kayla was giving him.

“Please, I dinnae think there is any reason fer such formalities,” Kayla said, recovering quickly and smiling back at him. “Call me Kayla. Did I wake ye?”

“Nay, nay,” Alaric said with a dismissive wave of his hand. “I simply wasnae decent fer company. Is there somethin’ with which I can help ye?”

Kayla looked at him for a moment before she laughed softly and walked past him, into the room. Alaric cursed under his breath once more. He had stood by the door in the hopes that it would dissuade Kayla from walking in, but he had had no such luck, and now he had to find a way to get her out.

“I wanted tae thank ye fer yer warm welcome yesterday,” Kayla said. “An’ tae apologize once again fer bein’ delayed.”

“It’s quite alright,” Alaric assured her as he walked towards the bed and stood in front of it, desperate to make sure Lucia was hidden. “I only arrived yesterday meself, so I’m glad ye were delayed. I would have felt terrible if ye had been waitin’ fer me.”

Just as he was finishing his sentence, Alaric felt a sharp pain on the back of his leg, right above his ankle, and he jumped, choking on air. Kayla looked at him with concern, taking a few steps towards him but stopping when Alaric plastered himself against the bed frame.

She bit me! That infernal creature bit me!

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