Highlander's Reckoning (The Sinclair Brothers #3) (9 page)

She gasped at the flood of sensation, and he took
the opportunity to invade her mouth with his tongue. She met his caresses with
her own tongue, which drew a growl from him. His hands moved from their hard
hold on her back, one snaking into her loose hair and the other drifting lower
until he had a tight grip on her bottom, holding her firmly against his hips.

She could already feel that hard length growing
against her stomach. She distantly remembered how a shift of her hips when she
was sitting on his lap in the great hall had brought him pleasure. So she moved
a little against him, pushing into that length.

Just as she’d hoped, he growled in savage pleasure
again. The hand on her bottom squeezed hard, sending racing trails of heat
through her veins.

He drew back from their kiss suddenly. Her eyes flew
open in confusion at the loss of contact.

“Tell me now if you want to stop, Rona,” he said
huskily. “Because I want to be inside you so badly I can barely think.”

His bold, raw words startled her, but they didn’t
douse the flames licking at her body. “Nay,” she breathed. “Don’t stop. I want
this.”

His face shifted from pained control to undisguised
hunger at her words. His lips descended once again on hers, and his hands began
working on the ties running down the back of her wool dress.

Suddenly she felt like she was wearing twenty layers
of heavy, hot, itchy wool. She needed to be free of her clothes, and she longed
to feel his skin against hers.

As he tugged on her gown’s laces, she let her
fingertips run from his bristly jaw to the smooth, tanned column of his neck.
He swallowed, and she could feel the corded muscles there. Her fingers trailed
lower, to the little triangle of skin that was exposed at the loose collar of
his plain linen shirt.

Without thinking, she leaned forward and pressed her
lips into the pounding pulse in that little hollow. Suddenly, his hands left
her back and he yanked his shirt out from his belt and over his head. He tossed
it aside, then went back to work on her ties.

Her eyes flew everywhere at once, trying to absorb
the sight of so much exposed skin. He was all hard, smooth ridges and planes,
without an ounce of spare flesh on him. His broad shoulders and chest tapered
into a waist that rippled with muscles. She pressed her palms into his chest
and was surprised at how warm he was—like a hot stone pulled from the hearth.

He grunted in annoyance, and she realized that he
was still trying to loosen the ties on her dress.

“Is everything all right back there?” she said. He
craned his head over her shoulder to try to get a look at what his hands were
doing.

“Bloody hell,” he muttered. “I think it’s knotted.”

The intoxicating combination of their bodies so
close, of their heated kiss, and of his bare torso was making her feel giddy.
She laughed wildly.

“Just break the ties.”

He pulled her closer so that she was pressed against
his chest. Then he swept a hand around her hair to brush it over one of her
shoulders. He took the ties in hand, and she could feel his muscles flex as he
gave a tug. The ties popped and her dress loosened.

He set her back from him by a foot, and she helped
him pull down the thick woolen dress. Then she was standing before him in
nothing but her linen chemise. The relative coolness of the chamber against her
skin was like a breath of fresh air. But before she could get used to it, he
pressed his half-naked body against her once more, and heat suffused her.

He took control of her mouth with a deep kiss. She
clung to his shoulders, digging in her nails to stay anchored in the storm of
sensation barraging her. Without warning, he scooped her up in his arms as if
she were as light as a feather and placed her on his large bed.

He loomed over her, but he kept his weight on his
hands so as not to crush her. He leaned down to kiss her again, but instead of
finding her mouth, he sought her neck. His mouth and tongue worked up toward
her ear, causing her to shiver despite the heat coursing through her. Then he
moved to her collar and the edge of her chemise.

He shifted his weight onto an elbow so that one of
his hands was free. This time, he made quick work of the ties on her chemise,
and before she knew it, she felt cool air brushing against her breasts. He
remained motionless, though.

She lifted her head off the bed to see what he was
doing. He was frozen above her, gazing at her exposed chest.

“I have dreamed of this moment,” he said lowly, his
eyes devouring her.

“You have? Why?”

He glanced up at her with one dark eyebrow cocked.
“Because you are beautiful. And because we are making love.”

She frowned in confusion. “What do my breasts have
to do with it?”

“Do you know what making love entails, lass?”

She felt her cheeks heat, but she wouldn’t cower
like a silly girl. She knew the basics, at least.

“I know that it involves you putting your…” She
swallowed. Perhaps she
was
just a silly girl after all.

“Cock.”

Her pulse hitched with a combination of
embarrassment and anticipation at his voice.

“It involves you putting your…cock…inside me.”

His eyes seared her for a moment. “Aye, it does. But
it involves a lot more than that. It involves pleasure—for both of us. Tell me,
Rona, does this give you pleasure?”

He lowered his dark head toward one of her breasts
and flicked his tongue across her nipple.

A bolt of lightning could not have scorched her
deeper or hotter. She jerked and arched at the sensation, her head falling back
on the bed.

“How about this?” He took her nipple into his mouth
and laved it slowly, teasing and caressing with his velvety tongue.

She moaned in response. If she had thought her body
was enflamed before, now she was engulfed in a raging fire.

“What about this?” he said against her breast. One
of his hands slipped under the hem of her chemise and moved slowly up her inner
thigh. His fingers inched toward the crux of her legs torturously. When he
reached the juncture of her legs, he slid one finger down the seam of her sex.

She gasped, and her legs opened a bit more for him.
She suddenly realized that she was damp there, though she didn’t know why.

She didn’t have time to think about it, though, for
his mouth closed on her other breast as he parted the folds of her sex with his
fingers. He brushed against a spot above her opening, and she bucked and moaned
with abandon as pleasure consumed her.

The sensations kept piling on top of one another,
crashing into her relentlessly as she struggled for breath, struggled just to
feel it all. His fingers moved faster between her legs, and his mouth teased
first one breast and then the other. Time fell away, and all that existed was
pure sensation.

She felt like she was wheeling higher and higher,
climbing toward the sun, reaching for its warmth and light. Then suddenly she
was soaring through the radiant heavens. She cried out as pleasure broke over
her and she was suffused with it.

As she drifted back to earth, her eyes fluttered
open and she was met with Daniel’s hungry, penetrating stare.

“Open for me,” he commanded raggedly. Languidly, she
opened her legs wider, and he pushed her chemise up so that it pooled around
her waist on the bed.

Never taking his eyes from her, he fumbled with his
belt. Once it was unfastened, his kilt slid from his hips, and he tossed the
material aside. She raised her head slightly, and the sight before her cut
through her dreamy pleasure.

Daniel was illuminated from behind by the now-low
fire in the chamber’s brazier. The hard lines of his torso continued down the
rest of his body. But her eyes focused on one particularly rigid part of him.
His manhood—his cock, as he had called it—stood out from the dark patch of hair
between his legs. It was hard and long and very large.

She swallowed. She only knew one thing about
lovemaking, and she didn’t think it would work with his size.

Before she could voice her concerns, he was
positioning himself between her spread legs.

Seeming to read her mind, he lowered his body over
hers but paused. “It will only hurt the first time,” he breathed.

She swallowed again and nodded silently. She was no
coward, and she wanted this.

He guided the head of his swollen cock to her
entrance and then slowly pressed inside an inch. She tensed at the new
sensation, but it wasn’t entirely painful—just different. His fingers rose to
one of her breasts, and the heat she experienced before began to burn once
more. She relaxed a little, but then he pressed forward farther.

Now there was a pinch of pain, a tightness that was
growing uncomfortable. She tried to shift a little to alleviate it, which drew
a pained groan from Daniel. She darted a glance at his face, which was next to
hers, and she realized that his jaw was clenched and sweat beaded on his brow.
He looked like he was fighting for control—and losing.

She tried to shift again, and it was the last straw.
With something between a groan and a curse, Daniel plunged all the way inside
her.

She cried out as she was torn in two, the pain
searing through her. He covered her cry with a kiss, and then he slowly began
rocking their hips together. The rocking motion sent more tendrils of pain
through her, but her body began adjusting to the new fullness. She kissed him
back even as a few tears slipped down the sides of her face.

Just as the pain ebbed to a manageable level, he
withdrew slightly, and she suddenly felt empty where she had never before felt
full. But quickly he slid back inside her, and the fullness returned, this time
with less pain.

He began to build a slow rhythm with his thrusts,
all the while letting his fingers tease and caress her breasts. Somewhere along
the way, the pain shifted to pleasure, and she found herself climbing toward
the heavens once again.

He quickened his rhythm, sending her careening into
release. A mere heartbeat after she reached the pinnacle, he groaned, and she
felt him tense under her fingertips. Then he collapsed on top of her, even more
spent than she was.

Several moments passed where the only thing they
could do was try to catch their breath. But eventually, he rolled onto his back
next to her.

“I see what you mean now about lovemaking involving
pleasure,” she said breathily, casting him a sideways glance.

To her surprise, he chuckled. His normally serious
face transformed in the firelight, and he looked much less fearsome.

“Aye, when it’s done right.”

That sparked her curiosity. “Are there other ways of
doing it?”

He turned fully toward her and pinned her with a
heated look.

“Aye, there are. We’ll have to do some exploring
later. But you need your rest. You might be a bit sore.” He sobered suddenly.
“I’m…I’m sorry I doubted you, Rona. I’m sorry I questioned your honor.”

His apology, awkward and halting as it was, struck
her like an arrow in the heart. “Thank you,” she whispered.

But then she blushed and averted her eyes. “But you
had reason to doubt me. I
gave
you reason.”

He frowned and opened his mouth, and Rona was sure
that he would ask her again about what she was keeping from him. But then he
stopped himself and sighed. Finally, he spoke.

“I suppose that’s the rub when it comes to trust,”
he said quietly.

She lay silently next to him, contemplating his
words. She wanted him to trust her, but she didn’t want to risk telling him her
secret. He wanted her to tell him the truth, but he couldn’t force it out of
her.

Even these troubled thoughts couldn’t keep sleep at
bay for long, though. She drifted into oblivion as Daniel pulled her into his
arms.

Rona woke just before dawn. She was disoriented at
first, but then slowly the memories of her fight with Daniel, their lovemaking,
and a night of sleep in his embrace filtered back to her. Despite her fatigue,
she had slept fitfully, chewing on her thoughts like a bitter cud all night.

She had to tell him the truth. Mairi was right—if
she could share a bed with him, then she’d better be able to share more than that.
If their marriage was ever going to be a happy one, she had to take a leap of
faith.

But the secret she kept wasn’t just hers. It was
also Ian and Mairi’s—and they would pay the higher cost. She had to speak with
them before she told Daniel about their falcons.

Even in just the two weeks she’d known him, she
sensed intuitively that he was fair and just. But he also placed a high value
on respect and loyalty. Would he see their practice of falconry as a dangerous
act of rebellion against their King? Would he see her as disloyal or even
traitorous?

The risk was great, but she couldn’t continue lying
and hiding things from him. She just hoped that Mairi and Ian would give her
their blessing to reveal their secret to Daniel.

She disentangled herself from Daniel and rose from
the bed slowly. As she gathered her discarded clothes, she cast a glance at his
sleeping form. She sent up a prayer that he would understand, then silently
slipped out of his chamber.

Daniel remained motionless as Rona moved quietly around
the chamber. He counted to ten after she closed the door behind her and then
sat up.

Could the lass be shy even after the incredible
night they had shared? Perhaps she just wanted to go to her chamber to freshen
up. He tossed the coverlet back and decided to do the same.

He found his discarded kilt and belt and slowly went
about the task of repleating and buckling the plaid. He let his mind roam over
the events of last night. Christ, he’d never had such a powerful connection
with a lass before. Her body, her little noises of pleasure, her responsiveness
to his touch—she drove him half-mad with desire.

To watch her come under his touch had almost been
his undoing. But then when he had entered her and she’d been so tight and
wet—he still couldn’t believe he’d held on long enough to bring her to another
pleasurable release again before he’d come undone.

She’d been a virgin, as she’d professed. But then
what secret was she still guarding? He longed to know, but more than that, he
wanted her to tell him herself. She was right: he couldn’t force it out of her.
He’d just have to trust her.

He donned his linen shirt and quickly tucked it into
his belted kilt. Then he went to the window, where dawn was just breaking in a
blue-gray sky. Mornings always invigorated him. A fresh day lay before him,
filled with possibilities. And he and Rona were finally making progress in
their relationship. As much as he hadn’t wanted to be married initially, now
that he was, he wanted to make the best of it. Based on last night, the two of
them would have plenty of heat between the sheets. Now they just had to learn
to trust each other.

Just as he was turning away from the window, a
flicker of movement caught his eye in the courtyard below. A solitary hooded
figure was moving through the yard, but instead of going toward the main gate,
where the portcullis stood lowered, the figure strode toward the postern gate.

A flutter of wind ruffled the figure’s cloak, and
the hood fell back slightly. A few wavy red locks appeared before the figure
could pull the hood back down.

Rona!

She was sneaking out of the castle yet again. His
bed was still warm, and yet she was slinking away.

But not to be with a lover, he reminded himself. She
had told the truth about being a virgin. And yet, it stung to see her sneaking
away after their lovemaking. Here he was telling himself that he wanted to
trust her, to make something good come of this arranged marriage, when she was
carrying on with her deception.

Had he been so blinded by lust that he didn’t notice
her manipulating him?

Nay, he thought, quickly running over the events in
his mind. Unless she was the most skilled deceptress he’d ever encountered, she
had been just as taken by desire as he’d been.

A darker, more disturbing thought came to him. He’d been
sent to Loch Doon by the Bruce because there were rumors that her father’s
allegiance was questionable. Though Daniel was almost certain that Gilbert
Kennedy’s failings ran more toward ineptness rather than skullduggery, could he
say the same about Kennedy’s daughter?

Rona had always defended her father’s allegiance to
Daniel, insisting that he’d made the best out of an impossible situation, and
that he was still loyal to Scotland and the Bruce. But if the rumors were to be
believed, and someone within Loch Doon was allied with the English, could it be
Rona?

Even though his body rejected such a thought, he had
to admit that there could be truth to it. If the man in the woods wasn’t her
lover, could it be an English connection?

Part of their argument from the night before
suddenly came back to him. He’d asked her why she couldn’t tell him where she
was always sneaking off to.

Because you were sent here by the King
,
she’d said cryptically.

What does the Bruce have to do with it?
he’d asked.

He spun from the window, ready to charge after her,
but his eyes fell on the tousled bed they had just shared. The weak morning
light from the window illuminated the chamber enough to make the red stain on
the linen sheets clearly visible.

They were married. And she’d given him her
virginity.

Let me show you that you can trust me
,
she’d said. And she had shown him.

Daniel’s stomach twisted. If he chased after her now
and she was innocent in every way, he would destroy the delicate thread of
trust that now linked them. But if he didn’t get to the bottom of whatever
secret she was keeping from him, her actions could threaten the entire cause
for Scottish freedom.

More was at stake than just his marriage. He was
charged by the King of Scotland to protect this castle and further the cause
for independence. He strapped his great sword to his hip, then spun a cloak
around his shoulders and slipped from the chamber.

He had to go after her.