Page 25 of Claimed
Drew didn’t think, didn’t analyze. Instead, she responded with a hunger equal to his. Somehow facing him, kissing him, made her fear ebb. She felt reassured. Reaching up, she wound her arms around his neck, pulling him closer still, the aching tips of her breasts rubbing against the leather of his vest.
He took Drew slowly, purposefully, grinding his hips against hers in a sensual dance that had her clinging to him.
Trembling like a leaf in the wind, Drew held on. She’d thought the last position had been wonderful, but this one was even better. The intimacy of it made her ache for him unbearable. He filled her. The taste and smell of him overwhelmed her senses.
The sensual slide of Carr’s tongue against hers as he thrust into her was too much, and Drew spun out of control. She clutched at him and cried out against his mouth, yet this time he didn’t stop. This time he plowed her hard, until his body shuddered and arched against Drew, his mouth bruising hers.
Drew clung to him in the aftermath, gasping while the pleasure ebbed and a melting sensation suffused her body. She’d never felt so relaxed, so at peace in the moment. Nestling her face into his neck, she breathed in his warm, musky male scent. She placed a hand upon Carr’s chest then, her fingers spreading out over his racing heart.
Awe swept over her, the sensation so powerful that tears pricked her eyelids and a lump rose in her throat. He was still buried inside her, and she never wanted him to leave.
“That was wonderful,” she whispered, tracing feather-light kisses over the hollow of his throat. “Can we do it again?”
Laughter rumbled through Carr’s chest, and she felt his grip around her tighten. “Aye,” he rasped. “Just give me a few moments.”
Stretching languorously, Drew opened her eyes before rolling over onto her back. The first glimmers of dawn peeked through the smoke hole in the roof above her.
A dull ache pulsed between her thighs, yet her body had never felt so good. A smile spread across her face. She now understood why Coira gazed at Craeg with that secret, soft look—why she blushed when he lowered his mouth to her ear and whispered to her.
Until last night she’d always believed coupling to be an uncomfortable, animalistic urge. She’d never known that it could strip away the rest of the world, make all her worries and cares meaningless.
For a short time, she and Carr had been the only two people alive. And she’d wanted him like she needed air.
Drew’s eyes flickered open, and she pushed herself up. The murmur of men’s voices warned her that she couldn’t lie here any longer. Carr and his warriors were packing up, and shortly they would continue on their journey south.
Inishail Priory was only two days’ ride away.
The veil of contentment that had shrouded Drew for hours fell away, and her smile faded.
That was it. Carr has given ye a memory to treasure, but it ends here.
Heaviness settled over her then, as the full force of the realization hit her. She was greedy for more of him. She wanted to have days and days alone with Carr Broderick. She wanted to undress that strong body, to explore his skin with her lips, tongue, and fingertips.
Last night wasn’t enough.
Drew’s mouth compressed then.
It will have to be.
Getting to her feet, she grabbed the edge of the fur and started rolling it up. Sometimes she tired of herself—of her selfish will that railed against the confines of the life she’d been given. She had to quash it.
Last night had been a gift. However, Carr wasn’t hers and soon they’d part ways forever. She needed to remember that.
Fool.
Carr swallowed a mouthful of twice-baked oatcake and glared at the smoking remains of last night’s fire.
He should have known this would happen; it would have been obvious to anyone else. He was already sick with love for Drew MacKinnon, and last night had turned that sickness into a raging fever that now consumed him.
Being inside her, touching her, kissing her—it had unleashed a part of him that could no longer be caged.
I can’t let her take the veil.
Yet Lady Drew didn’t belong to him. He’d agreed to last night, knowing that it wouldn’t be repeated. But having a taste of the woman he loved, the woman who dominated his every waking thought, had broken through his usual self-control and reserve.
He couldn’t bear it.
A flash of movement to his left caught Carr’s eye. Glancing up, he watched Drew emerge from her tent, and try as he might to prevent his physical reaction, his breathing caught.
