Page 45 of When a Highlander Vows
Caitlin tried not to think about the other meanings of that phrase. The wine really was giving her the most elaborate imagination, especially with him so near. They walked in silence to her chamber, as she tried to tamp down the odd pathways of her imaginings. But unconsciously, she leaned on him as the world began to spin.
“I daenae think I have ever drunk so much wine in me life,” she giggled again and then hiccupped, just as they reached her door, and she could press her hand against it to hold her steady.
Lucas laughed under his breath, and he opened the door, scooping her up into his arms and pushing the door open with his shoulder. Fallows and Percy scampered inside and made themselves comfortable by the hearth.
“Ye are most welcome to it, Lass. Seamus would want ye to have a good time. I kenned the man well enough.”
Caitlin didn’t have much time to think about being held in Lucas’ arms because he quickly laid her down on the bed. But he did not straighten right away, and his hand reached up to brush a strand of hair out of her face. The feel of his fingertip on her skin made a little tingle of anticipation run down her spine.
“Ye should rest. It will feel better in the mornin’. Or rather, the dizziness will end but ye may have a headache when ye awake. It may feel like yer head is a drum and someone is beatin’ on it.”
“Ugh,” she groaned. “I daenae wish for that. But I suppose it was worth it for a few hours of joy and merriment.”
“Like I said, ye deserve it, Lass, and Seamus would want it for ye.” She watched as his eyes moved across her face as if studying it.
There was something like a smile on his face, but she wasn’t quite sure. He seemed disposed to always be smirking or looking fierce, but she hoped one day to see his bright, full smile and she acknowledged what a powerful thing it would be.
She sat up a little and reached forward to kiss him on the cheek, eager to feel the roughness of his beard under her lips. And to thank him for his help and kindness to her. But he’d sat up too far, and she couldn’t reach him.
So instead, she put out her hands and grabbed at his shoulders, pulling him down toward her. But either the wine or her blurred vision got in the way, and instead of kissing him on the cheek as she’d planned, she placed a kiss squarely on his lips.
23
Lucas drank more ale than he’d meant to, and his mind was a bit hazy. But when Caitlin’s lips touched his, even if by accident, his awareness sprang to life. He leaned over her as she fell back to the bed, her soft fingers still clutching at his shoulders and not letting go.
He was sure it was wrong to want a woman this much, especially a woman as kind and good as Caitlin. But in that moment, he hadn’t the power to stop, not when she pulled him close, making sounds of want and desire. When his tongue slid against the seam of her soft mouth, it opened to his, and he plunged inside, desperate to explore her again. It had been too long since last they’d touched, and each day only made his desire for her worse. It was like a burden he’d been carrying without realizing its true weight.
A hungry groan filled the air, and he realized it was him, desperate for her taste, for the warm wetness of her mouth, for the silky feel of her tongue. She pulled on his clothes, silentlyasking him to join her on the bed, and he followed the path down, laying atop her as their mouths tasted one another.
He pulled away only to taste and touch more of her. Caitlin’s soft moans in his ear had made him hard as a rock as his hips lay between her thighs. He moved forward a little, tempted to feel her against him, and she moaned again.
His mouth slid down her neck, kissing and nipping along the way. “Lass,” he breathed, “I cannae get enough of the taste of yer skin on me tongue.”
She smiled at him, her eyes bright. “Stay,” she said quietly, touching the sides of his face where his beard had begun to grow.
His fingers flew to her bodice, untying the laces that kept it together. She arched up when her bodice was open enough to free her breasts. With reverence, one hand slid inside to grasp one, and he leaned down.
Putting the nipple to his lips, he slid his tongue around it, looking up at Caitlin’s face. Her eyes were closed as she arched up into him, and she whispered his name. He moved to the other, sucking and laving his tongue on her soft, supple skin, pulling gently at her nipple until she made that sound again.
God, she was beautiful, and with her opening up to him, he wanted nothing more than to take her, and bring her to her fullest pleasure, showing her just how wonderful and perfect she was.
But a sudden pang of guilt went through him, and he sat up on his hands looking down at her pink skin and her glowing eyes.
“Caitlin, I am sorry, Lass, but we are drunk. We shouldnae be doin’ this.”
His body screamed otherwise, but his mind was set. This was his best friend’s sister, and on the eve of his funeral. It wasn’t right. Besides that, he had promised himself he wouldn’t get attached to anyone. His father had been a brute to both his child and his wife, and Lucas firmly believed he could do the same, if the same blood flowed in his veins.
Caitlin sat up on her elbows, her lips swollen from their kisses, her breasts still open to his view.
“I am sorry, nay, it is I. I should have kenned ye wouldnae want me. I pushed ye to it. I understand, Lucas. Ye are right.” She laid back and turned on her side.
Lucas was shocked. How could a woman like Caitlin think herself to be undesirable when his every fiber wished to be inside her, to hear her scream his name with ecstasy?
“I daenae ken what ye mean, Lass,” he said. “How could ye think that I wouldnae want ye?”
Her words slurred a little as she said, “Me eyesight. It will keep me a spinster for I can dae nothin’. I cannae have a normal life.”
“Bloody Hell! What does that matter?” he cried. “Sunshine, ye are the bonniest lass I have ever laid eyes on. Ye are perfect in every way, good and pure. Can ye nae feel it in me kiss and in me body? That I want ye more than I have ever wanted anyone?” He realized he was shouting a little, but she had to know this.
