Page 51 of Highlander of Steel
Nothing would warm Ailis faster than Killian could. He could take her shivers and turn them into tremors of pleasure, thaw the ice in her veins with a wildfire of bliss and make her forget that she had ever wanted to be far from his side.
We’ll be wed tomorrow. She’s already mine.
That thought was a jar of whiskey tossed on the fire of his longing that not even the rushing sea or the hammering downpour could have doused.
He kissed Ailis with all the pent-up yearning of the past week. He kissed her with all the frustration of being forced to keep his distance, and all the relief of being allowed so close again. He wouldn’t waste the opportunity.
She kissed him back with equal fervor, clinging to him as if they were back out in the icy-cold water and he was her only hopeof survival. Fingernails sank into his upper arms, her mouth hungry, her body pressing against him insistently, as if she meant to draw all of his heat into her. He would have given it gladly.
Ye daenae ken what havoc I’d cause if ye’d been stolen from me. Ye daenae ken the fury that would seize me.
He pulled her roughly to him, his hand cradling the side of her neck, his thumb running up the column of her throat. After the past week, he didn’t want to be gentle with her; he wanted her to understand that he would never be parted from her again. He wanted to leave his mark, so everyone would know, without a doubt, to whom she belonged.
With that in his mind, he kissed away from her lips and down her throat. He considered leaving a bite there, to stake his claim, but he thought about what had made her run from her bedchamber and considered a more discreet spot. She didn’t need to have a bruiseto fret over, however small and seductively created.
At her shoulder, he gently nipped her soft flesh, his loins stirring as he heard her gasp. With a smile against her skin, he sucked, feeling her neck arch as he did so, the movement pushing her breasts against his chest.
Now, nay one can argue…
He pulled back slightly to admire the small bruise, then sought her mouth again in a searing kiss of pure need, pure desire. Afteralmost losing her tonight, there was no way he would ever get enough of holding her close and kissing her as he pleased.
But that was just the beginning.
“Thank ye,” Ailis whispered against his mouth as she held his face and kissed him harder.
“For what?” he murmured. He had done nothing yet.
She paused, breathless, a shy smile on her lips. “For bein’ there when I thought nay one was comin’.”
“I told ye,” he said, kissing her brow, her cheek, her mouth, her jaw. “I’m here. Ye’re mine to protect… and more.”
Her body melted into him, his arms wrapping tightly around her as their kiss deepened, their shadows intertwined on the cave walls.
The drum of the waves striking the cliffs outside could have been the percussion of his heart as he indulged in the slow, sensual moment. It would be a long while until the downpour stopped; he didn’t have to rush anything. Indeed, if the rain became a storm, they might have all night.
Ailis could have kissed him forever. That cave could have become their home, away from the chaos of the clans and thewar, and she would have been overjoyed. A peaceful bubble, where no one could find or threaten them.
With her arms looped lazily around his neck, her fingertips running through his damp hair, she relished the ebb and flow of his lips. A tide that could never give her nightmares.
Indeed, it was strange to think that he was the first man she had ever kissed, and would be the last, and that didn’t seem to frighten her at all.
Tomorrow, he’ll be me husband.
Instead of the overwhelming panic that had sent her fleeing from her chambers, a warm sensation fizzed in her chest. A pleasant possessiveness that made her kiss him more fiercely, as if to let him know that he was as much hers as she was his.
He responded in kind, whirling her around like they were at a gathering and he had asked her to join him in a reel. A yelp escaped her lips, for she had never been much of a dancer. Rather, she had never had much opportunity to dance.
“Did I hurt ye?” he asked, pulling back to search her face.
She shook her head. “Nae at all.”
His eyes gleamed in the dim light. A faint smile tugged at the corners of his lips as he slowly walked her backward, the light push of his body directing hers.
Only when the back of her knees struck the flat rock where they had been sitting earlier did she stop, the bump knocking her off balance. Killian kept his arm around her as she sank down onto the blanket-covered rock and peered up at him, uncertain of what was happening.
Oh…
Slowly, he sank to his knees in front of her, his strong hands resting on her thighs. Kneeling, he was still a head taller than her, but there was an unusual power in seeing a man like him on his knees before her, looking at her like that. A sort of… confidence, a feeling that she might be beautiful after all, if his appreciative gaze was any indication.
