Page 54 of The Highlander's Captured Bride
The coupling took on a sweet turn, now it was not just slaking of lust, it was an emotion of the heart, acted out by their bodies. Ethan’s mouth never left hers, and the soft desire from their coupling flared hotter. The newness of them being joined this way, the intimacy of his touch, and the smoldering need she saw in his eyes made her want him more.
His movement was slow but like a constant tide, the momentum built and soon she was toeing the line of bliss. Her ears were ringing, her skin hot, her body trembling, as so many sensations bombarded her from all points; where he touched her, where he kissed her and the slow movement of him inside her.
“Let it out, love, let me hear ye,” Ethan breath was hot against her cheek as he began to speed up. “There’s nothing to be ashamed of. Let me hear ye.”
White erupted in her mind as her body exploded in sensation, in her mind and she gasped his name out as her body squeezed his shaft in spasm after spasm. He stilled her hips, and he pulled himself out but continued to shudder against him. His face was in her neck and she felt him gasp and curse under his breath.
She did not know what he was doing as her pleasure was still lingering in her body but began to ebb away. When time started again, and Ethan slipped to her side, she felt him tug her to his chest and press a kiss to her cheek.
“I hope I dinnae hurt ye,” he whispered.
“Nay,” her word was hushed and her throat was working. “Nay, ye dinnae.” She shifted and cocked her knee over his. “I feel…” After thinking. she realized that they were no words to describe what she felt. Twisting, she laid a soft kiss on his lips. “Thank ye. I’ll never forget that.”
“Me neither,” he replied. “But I still want ye on a real bed.”
Her heart punched her ribs, “Are ye saying ye’d like…to dae it again?”
His body shook with laughter as he bent to kiss her, “Aye. I told ye I love ye? I’d like to show ye that, as much as I can, but only if ye’ll have me.”
She giggled, “I’m sure I won’t refuse ye.”
20
Pausing to wipe sweat from his eyes, Ethan glanced at the cabin to see Violet duck her head guiltily. He knew she had been watching him cut the wood they’d need for their fire from the moment he had stepped out into the backyard and shucked his shirt off.
He could see her through the small window; her head was down but her eyes kept flicking up. He knew what she saw. The sunlight was transforming his hair into a halo and sweat was glistening over his chest and forearms. His body took a supple curve as he lifted and swung the ax splitting log on the chopping block neatly in two.
Firming his fingers around the wooden handle, he went back to chopping with a smile. After that night when she had surrendered her body to him, the last two days were sublime. Most of yesterday they had spent in the makeshift bed, and Violet’s shyness when it came to voicing her pleasure had become something of the past. And he was more than satisfied carrying her to completion time after time.
His happy circumstances did not fully banish the worry about his father and Mister O’Cain that had a permanent place at the back of his mind. Were they all right? Had this murderer attempted on his promise to kill his father? Had they caught him?
He centered the ax’s blade on the log, heaved back and swung, slicing completely through it and bent to grab both halves. Lobbying them unto the stack of cut wood near him he reached for another log.
If that bastard has even laid a finger on me faither—
The two pieces of wood flew apart and the jarring handle told him he had used too much force on this one. Resolutely reaching for another log, he channeled his anger into the swing and the pieces blasted apart even harder. He reached for another when Violet’s hand rested on his and he spun. When had she even approached him?
“Why daenae ye rest a little, hm?” She asked, holding up a goblet to him and angling her head to the trees. “I’ll join ye.”
Heaving a breath out, he stuck the ax into the stump and nodded. Under the cool shade of the trees, he sat and used the shirt he’d hung up on a limb to dab the sweat on his chest and arms. Slumping to the ground, he took the goblet with an uttered thanks, and found it held cool water.
The horses were merrily munching on grass while their separate buckets filled with water stood at the sides of the trees. He drank his fill and laid his hand on his bent knee.
Dangling the cup he nodded, “I needed that, thank ye.”
Leaning on his side, she hummed, “I ken we have enough wood for a few days, ye needn’t cut so much.”
Viewing the fair skies through the tree’s shifting boughs, Ethan shrugged, “It may be summer but we arenae strange to having sudden storms roll in at times. It’s better to be prepared and have it on hand than to have to need it in the middle of a tempest.”
She settled in closer and her hair brushed his nose, “Me mind keeps wondering about our faithers. Dae ye ken they’ve made any progress with the killer?”
“I hope so,” he replied, shifting to let her rest more on his chest than his arm. “Otherwise…” he snorted he nodded to the chopping block behind them, “Daes it makes me a bad person to visualize that cutthroat’s head laying across it?”
“I wouldnae ken so,” she replied, her tone taking on a soft, sleepy inflection. “When someone hurts yer family, it’s natural to want revenge.”
Nosing her hair, he asked with a smile, “Ye have all the right answers, daenae ye?”
“I’d like to ken so, but,” she shrugged, “I tend to get it wrong a lot. Yer lucky I’ve been right on some things so far.”
