Page 63 of Awoken
Leanna flushed at the compliment.
Ross reached out and pulled her close, positioning Leanna so that she sat astride him. Her breathing quickened then, for she felt his erection pressed hard up against her. She wriggled against him, and he gasped. “Temptress.”
Gazing down at him, Leanna undulated her hips once more, this time eliciting a deep groan. A thrill went through her. She loved this.
Ross started to stroke her then, his hands sliding up her thighs, to her buttocks, back and then belly. And all the while, Leanna rubbed herself up against him, a delicious heat building in the cradle of her belly.
“Lean forward, my love,” he whispered. “Kiss me.”
She did as bid, her mouth capturing his. They kissed hungrily, a tangle of lips and tongues, and then Ross’s hands fastened upon her hips, lifting her up, and settling her onto his engorged shaft.
The feeling of him penetrating her made a cry rise within Leanna. She’d enjoyed their first coupling, but she’d been a maid, and it had hurt at first. This time was different—there was no pain, just aching pleasure. She sank onto him, taking him in fully, as their kisses deepened.
Then, still holding her hips, Ross started to rock her against him.
Leanna gasped into his mouth as delight shivered through her loins. With a groan of his own, Ross tore his lips from hers and greedily feasted upon her breasts, suckling them hard.
Writhing against him, Leanna started to experiment, lifting herself up so that she could slide down the full length of him. The sensation that movement caused made her quiver, and made Ross groan into her breasts.
Again, she lifted herself up, and again she slid down his hard rod, impaling herself to the root.
Ross threw his head back then, growling a curse.
She began to ride Ross, bringing him deeper inside her with each thrust of her hips, before heat and a deep throbbing pleasure exploded in her core. Leanna arched back, her cry filling the annex.
A heartbeat later Ross thrust up against her, his shout joining hers as he too found his release.
Pulse racing, her body slick with sweat, Leanna collapsed against him.
Heat pulsed through her, a wildness that she’d never known possessing her. She wanted to claim this man, wanted to brand herself upon his skin. Maybe if she did, she could chase away all the things that threatened their happiness.
29
A Long Time Dead
THEY WERE AT the dock before sunrise, as instructed. The rest of Knock still slumbered as two figures moved down the waterfront, hand-in-hand. The moon had long since set, and the faint glow upon the eastern horizon warned that dawn was very close to breaking.
Leanna squeezed Ross’s hand, scanning her surroundings nervously as she walked. Initially, upon leaving the annex, she’d been wary of the darkness. However, now that her eyes had gotten used to it, she could make out her surroundings with more ease.
Apart from the gentle lapping of the water against the dock, the morning was eerily silent. It was too early even for the dawn chorus.
They arrived at the merchant’s birlinn to find the man already there and loading the boat up with supplies. The birlinn was a wooden vessel common to Skye and the surrounding isles. The boat, which could be sailed or rowed, had a small furled sail and a streamlined look—hailing back to its Viking origins—and was made of thin wooden planks of pine.
“Good to see ye both managed to rise so early,” the merchant observed. “Help me with the last of these crates, and we’ll be off.”
No sooner had the merchant spoken when a gruff male voice—younger and deeper than the merchant’s—intruded. “Going somewhere?”
Leanna went still. She knew that voice.
A moment later, a broad-shouldered figure with close-cropped blond hair stepped out of the shadows on the dock behind them.
Leanna’s heart started to race.Carr Broderick.
Somehow, MacKinnon had found them.
Ross gently squeezed the hand he still held, warning her to keep quiet and calm. Of course, he knew Broderick much better than she did—he would have to handle this.
“Aye, Carr,” Ross replied, his voice soft in the pre-dawn hush. “We’re leaving Skye for good.”
