Page 56 of Dark Side of the Laird
“But it’s true.”
I sensed his struggle, his body tightening, his jaw clenching. “’Tis the same for me.” His voice cracked. “Bloody hell, but I want to hold ye.”
Tears did fall down my cheeks then and I swiped them away. “I want you to hold me, too, so you’d better not let them kill you.”
He chuckled, a weak, half-hearted sound, but when he spoke, his words were intense and powerful. “I’ll try my damnedest, Emma, ye can count on it.”
“With every breath I will,” I said, capturing his lips in a fiery kiss. I wanted to forget this conversation. Forget that he was strapped to a table in the bowels of a castle I had little hope of getting him out of without a miracle. This wasn’tThe Princess Bride, and I didn’t have a Fezzik to carry him out or a Miracle Max to heal his injuries. Ha, I wasn’t a princess bride either… But it didn’t matter, I had to believe in magic, that Fate would save us both.
So I kissed him hard. Kissed away the pain, the fear. Forced us both into a place where only pleasure, sensation and love reigned. And with that kiss, I rode him. Hips swaying in time with his thrusts, stopping and teasing us both with a swivel here and there. Pulling up until his cock nearly left me, and then crushing us both with a forceful push down.
Normally when I teased like that, Logan would grab my hips, steady me, and pound up inside me like there was no tomorrow. Now, when there really might be no tomorrow he couldn’t do it. Couldn’t make the taunting pleasure cease. But that didn’t seem to matter, because in spite of how many times I paused to catch my breath, my pleasure only increased. Heart beat rapidly, breaths quick and shallow. My ears rang. My fingers tingled, and seductive ripples of the beginnings of an orgasm licked at my center.
Still, I tried to drag it out. Tried to make it last forever.
“Dinna make me wait, lass. Give meeverything.”
As always, my body was his to command. An orgasm ripped through me, likely the strongest I’d ever felt. I jolted, a deep shudder taking over, thighs clenching tight to his hips as I ground my pelvis against his. I clutched at one of my breasts, imagining it was Logan’s grip on my flesh, and kept my other hand tightly squeezed with his. Wave after luscious wave lapped at my senses. Every nerve-ending sang with pleasure, and I cried out, unable to keep my pleasure hidden. Riding out my carnal bliss, I tried to keep some shred of control in order not to hurt Logan, but he bucked with frenzy upward, his cock spearing me deep as he trembled violently and called out his own cry of release.
I smiled, opening my eyes to look down on him, but all I saw was the dewy grass of dawn beneath my knees and the sacred stones surrounding me.
“No!” I cried out, leaping to my feet, turning in frantic, dreary circles. “Logan!”
But the only answering call was that of a bird cawing from a nearby tree.
“No!” I collapsed to my knees again, allowing myself a moment to grieve the loss of Logan.
I cried into my hands and prayed hard that whatever forces had helped us to be together, helped him to stay alive, too.
Dragging myself to my feet, I found my discarded garments and slowly pulled them on. Mourning the emptiness of my life without Logan readily in it.
What we’d shared was magical, spiritual, and I couldn’t have been more grateful for its happening. But I didn’t want it to end.
And I feared going back to Gealach.
I stared through the circle toward the pathway I’d need to take to get there. What horrors would await me upon my return?
18
Logan
Agasp tore into my mouth with painful clarity. Parched, cracked lips. Swollen tongue. Raw, sore throat. I was severely dehydrated.
And completely fucking aware.
A flash of memory. Isabella shoving me to the ground, her vicious smile as she loomed over me, tore at my clothes. Me trying to push her away, but limbs so heavy, I barely got them off the floor. Her frowning at my cock and murmuring about how it wouldn’t work. Numbness, tugging. She cursed, then she wrenched the dagger from the loop on her belt, the blade catching the light of the candle. I thought she was going to stab me. Tried to tell her not to, but no words came. The blade came down, ending on her finger, drawing blood. She smeared it on me, then stood, and hissed that she’d seem me hang. Then she faded away.
I clenched my fists, barely able to make my fingertips touch my palms. Thank God, I’d not fucked her. It was all a ruse. One she and the king had fashioned. How deep was their bond? I shivered. But not from relief or fear. My body was on fire. Fever most likely, in addition to being nude in the dank, bowels of a dungeon in the middle of winter.
But there was hope! I’d not betrayed Emma!
Puffs of steam rose from my mouth, showing just how frigid it was. The only time I’d felt warmth was when I’d envisioned Emma, an exquisite life-giving dream. Though, she wasn’t here, I could still feel the warmth of her breath on my face, the light touch of her fingers on my shoulder, the heated silk of her body as she pleasured me.
Was it real?
It felt so real… and in my vision, Emma had thought it real. Even I’d convinced her that we were together in spirit. Or was it just a fantasy? The mad imaginings of a man in chains? A man with no hope of escape? Was I retreating into the recesses of my mind in order to maintain some semblance of humanity and hope?
Hope had been restored with the discovery that Isabella had not been able to fornicate with me. Oh, what vile trickery that was! She’d known I’d not remember. Knew that it would tear at my insides and had hoped that I would give in. Well, I wouldn’t! Strength penetrated the dullness of my body, the power that had been stripped from me. But I knew that without help, healing, food, warmth, I’d not last many more days.
