Page 76 of Bride of the Wicked Laird
“So he switched his rage tae ye?”
“Aye. He ordered his guards tae take me tae the depths of the castle, where they laced me hands and anchored me tae the iron rings in the wall so that I couldnae move.”
He looked at her with stricken eyes and she could see that it pained him greatly to relate this dreadful tale. Her heart melted and she took his hand in hers.
“D’ye recall the vows we made this night?” She laid a soft kiss on his hand. “I vowed that me hands would heal ye and wipe away yer hurt. I am with ye now and I’ll dae whatever I can tae lessen yer pain.”
He gulped in a deep breath, and then another, exhaling slowly. “I thank ye from the bottom of me heart.”
He waited a few moments before continuing. “Ye can guess what comes next. Me faither took his whip and thrashed me until I was bloody and senseless.”
His face was a mirror of his pain. She wanted to reach out to him and sooth his twisted features, but she held back, not wishing to break into his thoughts.
“He left me there with nay food or water fer another day and a night.” His voice broke.
“Oh, me dear heart, ye’ve suffered at the hands of one who should have cared fer ye, just as I have. We are more alike than ever ye could tell. I ken only too well how yer soul must have cried out fer justice.” She leaned in and ran a gentle finger down his cheek and across his jaw. “And, he left ye scarred so that ye never wished another soul in this world tae look upon ye.”
He nodded.
“I’ll nae ask ye tae take off yer shirt again, now I understand the depth of yer sorrow,” she said quietly.
He gave a soft laugh and raised his arms to take his shirt in his hands and haul it over his head. “Nay. I am yers now. Only Maxwell and ye have the right tae me story. Even me wee sister daesnae ken what happened on her account. And she will ne’er ken. I dinnae wish her tae have tae wear such a thing on her conscience.”
He slowly turned so that she could look upon his back. She could scarcely contain a gasp at the sight of the deep ridges and raised scars that went from his shoulders all the way to his buttocks, some even wrapping his ribcage.
“I see the marks of yer agony. I understand how ye must have suffered.”
She bent and kissed his scars with the softest, gentlest kisses, following the cruel lines from his shoulders all the way to the lowest of them.
“Ah, lass,” were his only words.
She made no attempt to move away, staying close to him, her naked breasts against the roughness of his back, while she fluttered fingers across his shoulders and down the long, solid, mass of his strong arms.
He sat without moving, then as she raised herself again, he swung around reaching for her, taking her in his arms. There was a brightness in his face, the pain of memory gone.
As their eyes met, a silent promise hung in the air between them.
“I want ye, Everard,” she said, her heart stuttering in her chest. She looked up at him from beneath her lashes. “Aileen told me what happens between a lass and a lad in their bed and, if it’s what ye want, then I wish tae ken it too.”
He gave a soft laugh and rose to his knees on the bed before her. “First, I must grant yer wish tae see the whole part of me that me shirt covered.”
She squealed at the sight of his shaft standing rigid and proud and, laughing now, covered her eyes with her hands.
He threw back his head in a great guffaw as she peeked through her fingers at him.
“Come now.” He sank to be bed beside her, gently prizing her fingers from her eyes. “Yer hands would be better placed… here…” He took her hand and curled her fingers around his steel-hard rod. He groaned loudly as she tightened her grip, moving her hand along the length of him and up again.
Shifting closer, he seized her in his arms. Hooking one of his legs around her ankles, he drew her close to him, so that all of her nakedness lay against his.
Squirming and breathless, she reveled in the sensuous feel of her body against his warmth and her smoothness against the rough hair of his chest and thighs.
Releasing a huge sigh, she unthinkingly parted her lips, inviting his mouth, unaware of anything but the taste of him, the honey-mead still on his tongue, and his man-scent, smoky and sweaty. Their kiss began with healing and joy and the special delight of two souls finding solace in each other. The air blessed them with glowing warmth and the sparks under her skin ignited one by one.
His hand stroked shoulders and down the bare flesh of her body to cup her breast and tease its nub. She moaned into his kiss as his hand slipped lower, raising her hips to meet his touch as he circled her mound and dipped lower.
He took his mouth from her lips and lowered it to the place where his so very talented fingers were tracing divine delight. His hands eased her knees apart so that she was open to his lips and tongue. Her last thought before she disappeared into the wildest depths of her passion was that this was the bliss that she and Aileen had spoken of.
She shifted so that she placed her thighs on either side of him, feeling the rapture of his fingers, gasping as he slipped one finger inside her, but wishing for more, wantinghim.
