Page 43 of Taken By the Heartless Highlander
He rubbed absently at the spot where the pain was most acute and remembered what Keira had advised him to do.
Breathe as though ye are havin’ a bairn.
He scoffed. Perhaps those had not been her exact words, but it was close enough. He glared at the clouds scudding across the moon outside the window and counted slowly to ten. He could feel the tension building. He hadn’t had it this badly for a long while.
Despite his reluctance, and feeling somewhat foolish, he drew in a deep breath and let it out as slowly as he could. He repeated the action twice more and felt a little of the pain recede, but not by much.
“What else did the little witch suggest?” he muttered, staring into his glass as though it were a crystal ball that might depict the past for him.
They had been in his room, and she had been attending him. He had made a foolish comment about the coolness of her skin and massaged her hands because he could not bear to be separated from her for a moment longer.
He had only just stopped himself from begging her to touch him, imagining her cool hands brushing all over his skin as he pulled her into his lap and buried his face against her smooth neck.
He took a sip of the whisky and rubbed absently at his chest. The pain appeared to have relented a little. He frowned. She had told him to distract his mind, and clearly, thinking of her had helped more than deep breathing seemed to have done.
He looked at the door to ensure that it was shut and then leaned back in his chair, closing his eyes.
Alright, lass,ye want me to distract meself, I shall do it with pleasure.
He imagined Keira was in his study with him, her hair falling effortlessly over her shoulders, her dark eyes glaring at him through those thick black lashes. She was somewhat stern with him whenever she tended to him, and it always gave him a wicked thrill to defy her.
He imagined her leaning against the door, the shawl she had worn at dinner falling from her shoulders. She would seductively walk toward him. There would be no hesitation in her movements now as she rounded the desk, moving to straddle his lap in one swift movement. Her legs spreading open for him, their hips connecting as her hair fell against his face.
Noah groaned, feeling himself come to full hardness in seconds as he focused on the memory of her body against his, of her lips and tongue warring with his own as he had been able to touch her for the first time.
He had nearly lost control. It had taken all of his strength to pull back when he did, and even then, he had wanted her to follow through with her requests—take me as yer mistress.
How those words had haunted him over the intervening hours. To be given permission—nay asked—to take her for his own, when in the deepest part of his heart, that was all he desired. He was proud that he had stepped away from her when he did. He had been seconds from lowering her to the floor, stripping her bare and pushing home inside her.
A desperate sound erupted from the back of his throat as he thought of how she might have responded if he had just had the courage to do it. His hand moved beneath his kilt to his hard length, stroking himself as he let his head roll back, his mind clearing of all thought except her beautiful body.
He was jolted violently from his fantasies by the door to his study bursting open, and the object of his lustful daydreams suddenly standing before him.
* * *
“I came to check on ye me laird,” Keira stated clumsily as he stared at her, seemingly in shock.Perhaps I should have knocked first.
“Leave, lass,” MacAllen stated, his throat working as his eyes skimmed over her body. They did not quite return to her face, hovering somewhere beneath her chin.
“Why?” she asked frowning at him, “I only wish to help.”
His eyes were almost black now, and so full of lust she felt her breath catch in her lungs. His gaze ran over her again, as good as a caress and she trembled in the face of it.
She was suddenly aware that the borrowed dress from Fenella was at least two sizes too small and she moved her hands to cover herself, feeling on display under his dark stare.
“Tomorrow, ye and I will go shoppin’,” he said gruffly, finally dragging his gaze away from her dress.
“The maid who lent this to me is tiny,” she protested.
“I noticed,” Noah muttered and then he sighed, his left hand moving beneath the desk as though adjusting himself. “Since ye are so intent on stayin’, can ye at least explain what it is ye need?”
Giving up on shielding her body from view, she lowered her arms and took another step into the room. His eyes tracked her every movement.
“Did the chest pain return?” she asked, noticing the familiar hard line at the edge of his mouth. She was surprised at her reaction to his discomfort. She was desperate to attend to him and help him. It was no longer simply a matter of professional pride; she wanted him to think she was skilled. She wanted to wipe the tension from his face. The idea of him being in pain was unpleasant. She needed to fix it.
“Aye, it did, as a matter of fact,” he said. “And imaginin’ I was with child dinnae help,” he added scathingly.
Keira gave a surprised laugh as a smile spread over his lips.
