Page 41 of To Wed a Laird
Rose stood outside Cormac’s study that evening after Elspeth had gone to bed, her heart beating wildly. She had come to ask him to order some French books for Elspeth to read, or so she told herself, but she knew that what she really wanted was to see him.
She knocked on the door and heard his deep voice asking her to enter. She opened the door and stepped through it to find his bright blue eyes already waiting for her. Their gazes locked, and at that moment, neither could look away.
“I was hoping it was you,” he said huskily as he stood up and moved around his desk.
“I came to—” Rose began, then her voice faltered.
“I know what you came for.” Cormac crossed the room in a few long strides, then wrapped his arms around her, taking her unresisting lips in a passionate kiss. He cupped her backside in his big hands and pulled her against him so that she could feel the long ridge of his erection pressing against her belly.
“Oh, god,” she whispered as his lips moved down her neck and his hands covered her breasts. Then he stopped to look down at her, his eyes dark with desire.
“More?” he asked.
“Yes, oh yes,” Rose whispered desperately, raising her mouth for another kiss. Her whole body was thrumming with desire, her nipples tingling, her private parts warm and wet. “Hurry,” she begged. “Don’t wait, Cormac. I need you now.”
Cormac backed Rose against the desk, then lifted her until she was sitting on it and pushed up her skirts before he touched her on her sweetest spot. She cried out his name and her hips arched upwards without her volition, almost toppling her from the desk. Cormac’s hands, holding her in place, saved her.
Rose had no time to think any more as she suddenly felt the plunge of his entry into her body, and this time there was no pain. Neither was there any preparation or tenderness, but the roughness and haste was just what she wanted and needed at that moment.
She wrapped her legs around his hips and completely surrendered herself to him, pulling his lips down to hers in a kiss that was so overwhelmingly passionate that it made her head spin. Her hands gripped the muscles of his arms so hard that he had bruises afterwards, then once more she felt the pleasure within her building.
“Cormac, please!” she gasped.
“Please what?” Cormac asked hoarsely. He was almost at the limit of his endurance, and knew that in a moment he wouldspend inside her, but he had to hold on until Rose was satisfied. “Tell me what you want.”
“Please make me—” She broke off as once more the pleasure inside her exploded into a storm of ecstasy, and she cried out in sheer rapture.
Cormac watched her face at the moment when she came to fulfilment, and a second later he withdrew from her and spilled his seed after the most titanic orgasm he had ever experienced.
He moaned in satisfaction as his body was wracked with spasms of pleasure, and stood between Rose’s legs while they both came back to earth. Rose could have stayed like that for a long, long time, but Cormac picked her up in his arms and carried her over to the couch in front of the fireplace. There, he sat her down and lay across her with his head on her lap. Rose stroked his hair and thought how wonderful it was to have a big, powerful man like this submitting to her so completely.
“I think you will have to pay me more visits like this,” he said, smiling wickedly. “I enjoy them very much.”
“So do I,” she replied, laughing softly, then asked a question she had been wanting to ask since their first encounter. “What does it feel like for you? When you reach your climax?”
Cormac sighed. “I have no words to describe the pleasure, Rose. It is the most blissful feeling I have ever experienced.” He shook his head. “Is it the same for you?”
“Yes,” she replied. “But I think there is an added pleasure in hiding and keeping it a secret!”
Cormac burst out laughing. “Of course there is,” he agreed, pulling her down for another short kiss. “I never thought of that, you wicked woman.”
They sat for a long time talking about inconsequential things like the Captain of the Guard who had fallen in love with one of the maidservants, the new stallion Cormac had just bought, and other such trivialities.
It might not have been stimulating, intellectual conversation, but Rose loved the intimacy of being here with the man she loved, holding his warm strength in her lap. She wanted to make it last forever.
“Elspeth and I were talking today,” Rose said, “about why she liked me. She said it is a mother’s job to teach her children, and that was what she believed until now. She said that none of the other governesses were kind, and shouted at her when she threw things. I asked her why she threw things, and she told me it was because it made her feel better, and I can understand that. She is a wonderful child, Cormac. You should be very proud of her.”
That was when the guilt smote him. As he looked up into Rose’s deep brown eyes, he felt a pain so sharp he almost cried out. These were not Catherine’s eyes; they were not the eyes of the woman he had married, not the eyes of the woman who had borne his child.
No. They were the eyes of someone he had lusted after since the first moment he saw her, who had completely fascinated him and cast a spell over him.
No, he was seeking comfort in the arms of another while his daughter was still mourning her mother. What kind of creature was he? He could answer that question straightaway. He was a shallow, selfish man who was satisfying his carnal desires at the expense of his daughter’s happiness. Shame washed over him, and he could no longer look Rose in the eye.
He tensed, and Rose felt the difference in him at once. His gaze slid away from hers, and he sat up then eased away from her. He rested his elbows on his knees and covered his face with his hands, not wanting Rose to see the expression in his eyes.
She was about to speak, but at the last moment, Rose decided to say nothing. Cormac might be silent, but it was quite clear what had happened, and the guilt he was feeling was suddenly hers too.
Why had she been trying to replace the love of Cormac’s life, Elspeth’s mother, when it was clear to her that neither of them was ready? It might have been four years since his wife’s death, but no one could feel what someone else felt, or tell them how long to grieve.
