Page 40 of Married to the Icy Highlander
Ceana’s eyes fluttered shut, her pleasure building as Neil’s teeth grazed her neck, biting and sucking until she couldn’t take it anymore. She couldn’t climb up any higher. And then his hand shifted.
She cried out in frustration as the pleasure started to fade away. Her grip on him tightened, and she lifted her head, ready to demand that he resume what he was doing, but the smug, satisfied look on his face almost made her want to hit him.
“Is it like this when ye touch yerself, wife?” Neil asked, his voice a low, delicious rumble that made her thoughts fuzzy.
“When I—” Ceana flushed, the implications of his words washing over her.
She hadn’t… she had never done that…
Neil chuckled as he slid his fingers back inside her, twisting and curling them until she damn near saw stars. He worked her body as if he knew it so much better than she ever could, her pleasure building until it erupted and washed over her in waves, until every part of her felt like it was on fire. Until she could barely draw breath.
She couldn’t move, wholly pliant in her husband’s arms as he kissed her softly and withdrew his fingers. But he didn’t put her down, not even as he took his fingers into his mouth, savoring the taste of her with a sinful gleam in his eyes.
“Ye look beautiful when ye fall apart for me.”
He kissed her again, slowly lowering her back to her feet but not letting her go.
Suddenly, she couldn’t wait to get back to the castle.
Ceana couldn’t even remember the walk back to the castle. She was fairly certain that her feet hadn’t touched the ground once the entire way. She was still lost in her husband. In the background, the soft sounds of the festival were starting to fade as more people either passed out from drink or turned in for the night because of the late hour.
Jeanie had decided to stay with Peter and Ida for the night. They would fetch her in the morning. Which was rather perfect because tonight, Ceana wanted to only focus on the man who couldn’t seem to keep his hands off her.
Before she knew it, they were outside the heavy wooden door to her chambers. She hadn’t thought that she would feel this… excited. She had thought that she would feel a sense of duty, perhaps dread or even fear that it might hurt, or that it would somehow change something inside her.
But everything with Neil only felt good. She wanted more of him. She wanted to explore every scar and sinew, and she wanted his tongue to trace every inch of her. She wanted to fall apart in his arms and have him pull her back together.
She reached behind her, blindly fumbling for the door handle as his lips found her neck again. “Ye have been verra good to me tonight, husband,” she teased, unlocking the door and pushing it open.
But instead of walking them back to her bed, Neil set her back down on her feet and kept kissing her. Slowly, her fingers tugged at the fabric of his shirt, pulling it from beneath his kilt.
“I want to do something for ye in return,” she whispered as she slid one hand beneath his shirt.
She was desperate to feel more of his skin. She almost felt giddy as her fingers traced his ridged abdomen, slowly climbing higher, only for his hand to stop her exploration.
“Out of duty, wife?” he challenged, but his voice was low and soft.
It felt akin to cold water being dumped over her head. “What? Nay, that’s nae what I meant at all…”
Neil sighed and shook his head, his thumb stroking the back of her hand. Ceana didn’t understand what was happening. Why did he stop her? Had she not been clear enough? She was only doing this because she wanted to. He had asked her to bed, and she had pleaded… and now…
“I will protect ye, whether ye want me to or nae, Ceana,” Neil said gently. “I’m yer husband. Ye dinnae need to do anything to have that.”
She furrowed her brow, her fingers curling and raking down his skin. “But I want to…”
“Because ye’re grateful,” he insisted.
Was he truly going to make her spell it out for him? Did she really have to say the words?
Embarrassment flooded her cheeks, but she said the words anyway. “Because ye’ve been drivin’ me mad every day since I met ye!”
There it was. Now that it was out in the open, she couldn’t take it back. She didn’t want to take it back anyway.
“But ye have to ruin the mood every time. One time it’s yer braither’s letter, another is a jest that ye took the wrong way. Can ye nae stop thinkin’ about everything so much and trust yer wife for once?”
What else did she need to do to prove that she didn’t have some hidden agenda, that she wasn’t out to get him? They were man and wife, and that meant something to her! She had agreed to all of his rules. She had done everything that he had asked of her. She was trying to fulfill another one of those rules at this very moment, and he wouldn’t come into her room with her.
Why? What had changed? Why couldn’t he just open up enough for her to know why he had suddenly changed his mind?
