Page 62 of Highlander of Steel
She heard him approach, her heart rate quickening.
“I daenae want to talk about that right now,” he murmured. “I daenae want to speak of what’s out of me hands.”
Ailis focused fiercely on the fireplace, while her mind wandered down a wayward path, imagining what it would mean to beinhis hands. She cursed Paisley for putting the notion of a wedding night in her head, and Killian for coming to her door when she had been certain he wouldn’t.
“I ken that I upset ye this mornin’,” he continued. “It wasnae me intention.”
She froze.
“I had so much to think about, and I couldnae allow meself to be distracted,” he said. “I had alreadybeendistracted, ye see. By ye. Still, I shouldnae have avoided ye.”
Ailis sniffed, straightening her back. “It doesnae matter. Ye allowed me a glimpse of what me life here will be like.”
“That’s true,” he relented, and her heart sank. “But I think ye’ve mistaken which part to expect.”
He stopped in front of her, gazing down at her with his hand extended in a gesture of peace. His eyes glittered with hot desire, a smirk curving his kissable lips.
“I daenae understand,” she breathed.
“Let me enlighten ye.” He grabbed her hand and pulled her up, his arm sliding around her waist.
His kiss was a fierce thing that seared through the doubt and lingering hurt, like the sun burning off a sea mist, allowing her to think clearly. About him, at least. About this moment, if nothing else.
She grasped the fabric of his shirt and kissed him harder, surprised that less than a day’s absence from his attention could have such an effect. It was as if she had been starved of him for weeks, not hours. The fact that she had thought she would never get to kiss him like this again made the reunion all the sweeter.
They kissed with ravenous abandon, hands exploring, breath sawing, bodies moving together. The nerves that Killian had awakened last night roused from their dormancy, pulsing with anticipation, eager to feel that rush of exquisite, all-consuming pleasure again. And more. After all, they were married now.
As Ailis kissed him deeply, moaning against his mouth as he kneaded the soft flesh of her backside, she tried to remember what her sister had told her about wedding nights. The acts between a husband and wife.
Then again, Kristen had never mentioned anything about the ecstasy that Ailis had experienced in the sea cave. So perhaps it would be better just to have it all unveiled in due course, learning as Killian taught her each lesson.
Just then, as if he could hear her thoughts, Killian stopped. His hands came up to cradle her face, his eyes dark with passion as he stared down at her.
“So, ye want me to touch ye now?” he asked wryly.
She let out a husky laugh. “I’d say that’s fairly obvious.”
“Ye’d think so, but nay.” Then, he leaned in, whispering in her ear, “Tell me how much ye want to be touched. Beg for it, wife of mine, until I can be in nay doubt.”
She blinked in bashful surprise.
“Daenae blush now,” he murmured with a sly grin. “Tell me.”
Steeling herself, unwilling to let this night pass without knowing him intimately, she took a deep breath. “I daenae just want ye to touch me, husband. Iwantye,” she said, her voice trembling with need. “I want ye to make me feel everythin’. I want ye totouch me as ye did last night, and I want ye to touch me in every way that brings such bliss. I want ye to?—”
He kissed her with renewed vigor, his mouth catching hers, his arms wrapping around her to pull her as close as flesh and fabric allowed.
Apparently, she had said more than enough to leave him in no doubt.
Ailis smiled against his mouth and kissed him back hungrily, their tongues dancing. Eager to discover what came next, what new worlds of pleasure would be revealed to her.
She had never expected to be anyone’s wife, her father forever insisting that she had no value, unlike Kristen. So, being someone’s wife—Killian’s wife—and feeling that he wanted her in return, was miraculous.
She had never felt beautiful or worthy of admiration and attention until him, which was perhaps why his dismissal had stung so much. Still, he wasn’t ignoring her now. Far from it.
With his impressively strong arms, Killian lifted her in one smooth motion… and threw her over his shoulder. An echo of their first meeting, but without the fear and uncertainty ofthatparticular night. This was almost playful, bringing a laugh to her lips as she pretended to hit him in the back.
“Och, daenae provoke me, lass,” he said, a hint of laughter in his voice. “For every punch ye deliver, I’ll have to make ye cry out me name.”
