Page 69 of Fallen
Coira obeyed. She moved slowly toward the furs, noting the sudden flush across his cheek bones and the huge tent in his tight breeches.
Coira’s breath caught. She couldn’t believe she was actually doing this, that after so many years, she wanted this.
She’d never lusted after a man. Those years atThe Goat and Goosehadn’t been about pleasure for her. No encounter she’d had there ever left her breathless and aching. It had been a mere transaction: flesh for silver.
But with Craeg, everything was different. With this man, she was willing to give up her soul.
Coira lowered herself onto her knees beside Craeg, and then, gathering her courage, straddled him. She bowed her head, gazing deep into his eyes.
“Sweet Lord have mercy,” he murmured. “Is this a dream?”
Coira’s mouth curved. “If it is, then it is a good one.”
And with that, she lowered her lips to his.
28
Tainted Blood
CRAEG FELT AS if he’d died and gone to heaven. Strange really, since after everything he’d done over the years, he was sure he’d have ended up with Satan and all his demons.
Coira’s mouth, tentatively moving over his, was divine. The nearness of her luscious, naked body, made his groin ache. She was long-limbed and lean, yet with large, high breasts that begged to be touched.
He was going to go insane if he didn’t.
And when her tongue parted his lips, he knew this woman was going to make him lose his wits altogether.
He’d longed for this, hadn’t been able to sleep tonight for wanting her.
Craeg hadn’t enjoyed taking supper with the abbess. Mother Shona had brought up subjects he’d have preferred to ignore. And every time he’d shifted his attention to Coira—clad in a simple blue kirtle that hugged her long, supple body—he’d found it difficult to keep his train of thought.
It had been awkward when they’d bid each other goodnight outside the abbess’s hall. He’d watched her walk off toward the nun’s lodgings, and had almost called out to her, almost asked her to spend the night with him.
But after everything Coira had been through, it seemed too aggressive.
Although it frustrated him, he had to let this woman come to him. If they lay together, he wanted it to be Coira’s choice. She needed to leap the abyss between them and take the initiative—as she did now.
Coira cupped his face with her hands as she deepened the kiss. Their tongues danced and tangled, and when she gently bit his lower lip, the dull ache in his groin grew unbearable.
Reaching up, Craeg unfastened the heavy braid down her back, his fingers tangling in the waves, still damp from bathing. Then he stroked the curve of her back. Her skin was so smooth, so soft. He could hardly bear it. And when his hands moved to her breasts, his fingertips brushing across her nipples, Coira groaned low in her throat.
It was too much. Craeg tore his mouth from hers, took hold of her hips and pulled her against him as he buried his face in her breasts.
His mouth fastened on a nipple, and he suckled, lust exploding through him when Coira gave a voluptuous moan. She arched back, pressing her breasts hard against him.
They were both breathing hard when she finally drew back and their gazes fused once more.
It was an intense moment, almost too much.
The want he saw in those violet eyes made an ache rise in Craeg’s chest. This woman completely unraveled him, stripped away the mask he’d worn his whole life. Aye, since becoming an outlaw he’d amassed a loyal band of followers. Craeg knew folk were drawn to him, that they looked to him as if he was their savior. For years, he’d played the role and enjoyed it even.
But Coira saw past all that. She saw into his heart, understood his loneliness, the belief he held deep down that he was as worthless as Duncan MacKinnon had told him.
He didn’t need to explain himself to her, for when she looked into his eyes, she saw it all.
Coira’s hands explored the planes of his face before sliding down his neck, to his shoulders and then his chest. She traced the lines of his body with rapt attention, as if she was committing them to memory.
The turmoil of the world they lived in made this moment even more intense.
