Page 25 of When a Highlander Vows
“Are ye even real, Lass?” he asked in a breathless tone. “What have ye done to me?”
Only a small sound escaped her as his mouth finally touched hers. But a moan from inside her came anew when the warmth of his kiss overwhelmed her.Thiswas what she wanted, what made her blood sing, what brought to life all that she’d tried to stamp out. By instinct, she sank into him, wanting the feel of his hard body against hers. It helped keep her steady while her knees weakened with continual desire. As he turned his head, angling her mouth to his, her hands moved up to his neck, pulling him even closer.
His lips were hot, and her heart quickened as his hands pulled on her waist, fingertips brushing against the top of her backside. He held her close, closer than she’d ever been held in the whole of her life. Was this what it was like to be taken? But surely there was more.
Deepening the kiss, a little groan coming from him, Lucas taught her what she needed to do. Their mouths mingled as she opened hers to his, allowing him to do whatever he pleased. He took it hungrily, tasting her swollen lips first before moving his tongue inside her mouth to taste her further.
Caitlin’s body was on fire. Everything prickled all the way down to her bones, and tears sprang to her eyes as she allowed the rest of the world to fade away. This was what she’d wanted for so long. What she’d craved without really knowing what it was she needed.
“By God, Lass,” he said in a rough voice as he pulled away from her lips, turning her neck so that he could lay hot kisses along the line of her soft skin.
She trembled underneath the onslaught of desire as it rolled through her, just like the waves crashing nearby. It filled her up until she thought she’d burst or scream. She wanted more, and her fingertips dug into his muscled shoulders, silently begging him to give her more.
“Ye are exquisite,” he whispered gently before kissing her ear.
Quickly, she used her hands to guide him back to her mouth, never wanting it to end, continually wanting more with each movement of his hot tongue. The craving only grew as the kiss grew in passion.
Her fingertips slid across the rough stubble of his cheek until they met at the base of his neck, feeling the soft curls of dark hair. Cradled in his arms, feeling the savageness of his kiss, Caitlin felt hopeful for the first time in a long time. That not everything was bleak and dark, even though the man she was holding to her was like a piece of darkness itself. Yet he made something light up within her.
A sudden and sharp coldness at her ankles made her yelp, and the both of them stepped back from each other, looking at how close the wave had come to shore. The water covered both their boots, grasping at their ankles, and then went out to sea again.
When she looked back at Lucas’ face, his expression was shuttered, and she knew the moment was gone. Whatever had possessed him to kiss her as he did had now passed. Now, he was the laird she’d first met. Cold, distant, and hard.
“This shouldnae have happened. I am sorry, Caitlin. We should return. Nan wouldnae like ye to have wet boots. Come.” He waved at her to follow him, and stiffly, she obeyed him and allowed him to hoist her up into the saddle again.
They were silent the whole way home to the castle. He dropped her at the castle gates with a servant and then rode off into the distance with hardly a goodbye. Picking up her skirts, Caitlin took the servant’s arm as the young man helped her inside and up the stairs to change her clothes.
When she was left alone again, waiting for Arla, she touched her lips. The kiss felt like it was still there, waiting, unfinished. But then Lucas had run away, treating her as though what had happened was a bad thing or worse than that, was normal for him. An everyday occurrence that he could just finish as abruptly as he’d begun, thinking no more of it. But the fire that had flooded her veins because of his touch did not feel normal.
And now Caitlin feared she had given something away that she would never get back.
13
Lucas rode until he reached the top of a far hill. Searbas, breathless, turned, and they looked down upon the castle from afar. He straightened in the saddle and cursed himself for what he’d just done. He knew Seamus would be ashamed of his behavior, and Lucas was furious that he’d allowed the evil in his blood to take hold of him.
I couldnae wait until I’d found a willing woman to share me bed? To slake me lust for a time so that I could bear to live with Caitlin MacLennan so close?
Yet something inside him told him that it would not have helped. Perhaps for a time but not forever. Everything in him was drawn to Caitlin, his blood, his bones, his very being, and he had to keep his distance if he was going to do right by his vow. Seamus had not asked him to defile his sister but to protect her, give her shelter, help her.
I will leave tomorrow, give us both space. Nay doubt she hates me for what I did.
Guilt crept through him bit by bit until it was all he could feel. He had not asked to kiss her but had merely taken her mouth like a ravenous beast. But he could have sworn that she’d whispered ‘Kiss me’ right before he did.
That mouth. That tongue. She really was a witch. Never had a mouth so intoxicated him before. He could have drunk from her lips for the rest of his life and never been satisfied. And her hands. They’d explored him, touched him lovingly, and they’d pulled himcloser.
Could it be that she wanted it too, just as much as I?
Lucas growled as he kicked Searbas into running again, racing along the hillside. He didn’t want to return yet, for he was certain Nan would see what had happened written all over his face, and there was no way in bloody Hell, he was going to give her any satisfaction as to her matchmaking efforts.
He rode for another hour or so, until the sun was high in the sky, and the clouds had crowded over it, creating a gray tinge over the land. The weather matched his mood as he slowed Searbas’ gait, nearing the stable. He jumped off, spoke a few quick words to Daniel and returned to the castle, walking in through a back door.
Archie stopped him. “Och, yer Nan told me ye were out.”
Lucas glowered. “Aye. Forced to ferry the new lass about. But here we are. Have the preparations begun for the trip?”
“Aye, all is ready for whenever ye wish to leave.”
“And the men are at their stations?” he asked.
