Page 51 of Kidnapped By her Highland Enemy
She turned to him, “What do ye believe?”
He shrugged, “I’m nay the fanciful sort but I believe it’s a sign of better days to come, happiness, love, all those great things. I ken ye would love it too and that is why I swear to ye by these lights, I will love ye for the rest of me life.”
Maisie’s eyes misted over, and her heart burned inside her. She gently turned in the rocking boat and maneuvered herself to fall into his arms. “I love ye, Lucas.”
He kissed her passionately, his fingers wandering freely, seeking the softest places on her body. She loved his intensity, his touch, his voice, his scent… it never failed to put her into a daze. It wasprecarious but she clung to him, her tiny hands slipping up his arms, then laced together behind his neck. She leaned into him, her full breasts pressed against his chest.
“Steady lass,” he said. “We’re atop deep waters. While I would love to make love to ye here, there’s nay space.”
“That was nay what I was expectin’,” Maisie laughed. “At least kiss me again.”
Her entire body warmed and tingled as he laid his lips over hers, his tongue parting her lips and sweeping through her mouth while his hands held her close. Tendrils of heat and wanton passion sparked within her and spread throughout her body. Her pulse thrummed, and the place between her thighs grew damp.
She wanted more of this—she wanted more of him. Inching toward him, she hoped he was distracted just enough that he would hold her that much closer and felt satisfied when he cupped her bottom. Maisie kissed him harder, inched a little closer—and then the boat rocked.
Mired in desire, she felt when Lucas stretched out a leg, it hitched on the oar, and leaned to the left—and then they capsized into the water. She did even have time to scream when the icy-water rushed into her nose and engulfed her body.
She struck out, reaching for the surface when arm circled her waist, and she was buoyed up. Just after breaking the surface,Maisie gasped in a lungful of air and saw the boat drifting a few yards away. Lucas held her tight, suddenly chuckling in her ear.
Drenched, unhappy and scowling, Maisie grumbled, “That was me fault. I’m sorry.”
He laughed harder, “Aye, it was, but I had me part in it too. Well, our romantic night might be ruined, but I must admit, it was wonderous.”
Clinging to him, she smiled and looked at the skies again. “Aye, it was. Thank ye.”
He dropped a kiss on her shoulder, “Nay ye worry, we’ll have many more to come, and then, I’ll bring a bigger boat.”
18
The castle was in a state of frenzied preparation for the wedding, but even so, Lucas, after spending morning with his father to prepare for any attack, took her out to explore the lands beyond the castle walls. Hills, plains, sacred grottoes, and the village below, she saw them all. A night ago, they had sat before his firepit, on thick rugs, sipping wine while talking about the many ways they could join their clans.
They had fallen asleep that way, and Lucas could not find another memory he treasured more than waking with her in his arms, pillowed on his chest.
On the third night of preparation, after a long day of riding in the woods and lands, Maisie ached for a bath. It had been a few days since he had touched her, and as they headed to his rooms, he planned to change that.
“The bath is ready,” he said while peeling off his tunic.
“Wonderful,” she smiled. “And thank ye for getting the seamstress to make me a new wardrobe. The dresses are lovely.”
“Good,” he smiled, “Wear one for dinner tonight.”
She left for the bathing chamber and Lucas allowed her the time to slip into the tub, then, with a sly smile, went in as well. She was leaning back, her head resting on a rolled towel on the edge of the tub with her eyes closed. The tips of her breast were above the water, and he traced the supple line of her body underneath the surface.
Doing away with his clothes, he stepped in and her eyes flew wide open. Silently, she watched as he settled in and reached for her, turning her so she rested between his legs.
“Ye kent I wouldnae take this chance to be with ye?” he murmured in her ear. “Ye draw me like iron to lodestone, Maisie.”
His hands roamed over her at will, stroking, caressing, her, drinking in the soft sighs of pleasure she let out. She moaned softly as he nibbled at a tender earlobe, sending piercing shivers of passion through her body, while suddenly lifted her set her down ever so slowly upon his lap.
Wordlessly, he wrung out one of the cloths in the hot water and gently bathed her slender body. Her alabaster skin was flushed, glowing with a fine sheen of the oil she had added to the water. She was pressed on his arousal, and with how her eyes darkened, he knew her blood was heating.
Dipping his head, he kissed her, his hands stroked the curved indentation of her waist and the swell of her hips, while his lips gradually became more demanding, plundering her mouth. He then trailed a molten path of fiery kisses down one delicately boned shoulder to the crest of her breast, his tongue tentatively flicking the pale nipple.
Cupping the perfect mound with his hand, he suckled hungrily. Maisie arched her back at this new sensation, her fingers unconsciously entwining in Lucas’s blond hair. He stroked the silken skin of her inner thigh ever so lightly. Then his hand strayed purposefully to the moist core of her, probing, searching.
“Ah, love…” Lucas murmured thickly, kissing her breasts, her throat, her kiss-swollen lips.
A ragged sigh tore from her as his expert fingers found the sensitive point he had been seeking.
