Page 70 of Tempting the Highland Devil
Her body was pressed against his, and he lifted her skirts up so he could touch the bare skin under her garters. Arran moved his lips down her neck and kissed her sweet pulse till she murmured his name.
“Yvaine,” he whispered to, sounding huskier than ever as he lifted a hand full of hair and raised it to his nostrils. “I want ye…I want ye now more than ever.”
She took his lips and moved to straddle his thighs in a way Arran could not resist. He planted his hands over her waist and grounded her over him to feel her closeness. Arran did not need her to plead with him. This was what he spent nights dreaming of.
As he bunched her skirts up to her waist to gain access to her garters, she ran her hands down his leine and undid the buttons. Their pleasurable hums surrounded them and drowned out every other sound in the night.
He peeled down her garters when she raised her hips a little, and one finger stroked her sweet, feminine spot. When he heard her whimper, he slid his tongue into her mouth again and muffled her sounds.
Yvaine gasped when he thrust into her fully, and they stayed poised there for a long second, their gazes merged into one, so they were locked in their own world. Every stroke of his body in hers pulled him higher on the edge of his climax. Arran shuddered and struggled to hold out.
Her body sheathed him in warmth, and he feasted on her lips again as they rocked against each other till they peaked. He rested his sweaty forehead over hers, and his haggard breathing matched hers till they were both unmoving.
Arran did not want to let go of her yet, so he locked his hands around her body and kept her pressed against him till the rush of energy surging through him finally subsided.
They made it back to the castle while giggling and holding hands. Arran’s pulse and heart kept the racy beat as they arrived at the keep, and they were still grinning at each other.
Arran steps slowed when he spotted James and two other guards standing by the stairs.
“Me laird,” James called the moment he spotted Arran and bowed his head. “We have a report from the messenger Isabella wrote to. This requires yer immediate attention, me laird.”
He slowly released Yvaine’s hand, and her eyes widened as she watched him step forward then collect the scroll James held out to him.
“It bears the red seal,” James observed.
“Where is Isabella right now?” Arran asked when he shifted his eyes from the scroll to James. “Bring her to me.”
James bowed then marched away from them, and Arran faced Yvaine again while holding the scroll.
“Are ye goin’ to open that?” she asked after they both stared at the scroll for a long time. Arran feared what he might find in the scroll. He did not want to think of another war.
But I will fight any war if it means keeping Yvaine safe.
He faced her in the hallway and sighed one more time. “Promise me this one thin’, Yvaine,” he said as he stared at her. “Promise me that ye will always believe in me, nay matter what happens, Yvaine.”
Her faith in him was the one thing Arran cherished. It was what he needed to believe in himself too. Once Arran opened the scroll and found out what the response to his letters was, he would know his next course of action.
He would know if it was time for war.
37
Yvaine followed Arran into his study, and Duncan joined them with Lily and Killian a while later.
“What does the message say?” Lily asked with curiosity as they walked closer to where Arran and Yvaine stood.
Arran opened the letter and read it out loud to everyone.
Meet me at the Golden Loch at midnight tomorrow.
Yvaine swallowed after Arran turned to look at her again. “We might be walkin’ into a trap if we honor this message.”
“But it also yer one chance to learn who is behind all of this,” Duncan pointed out, and Yvaine noticed the grim look that spanned out on all their faces.
She licked her lips as the cold tendrils of fear slowly crept into her heart. In this room right now were all the people she cared about, and she could not let any of them get hurt because of her.
“We should ride out immediately, so we make it to the Golden Loch by mid-night tomorrow. We dinnae ken what lays ahead, so we must prepare for the worse and go with enough men for our own protection.”
“I rode here with some of me trusted men,” Killian said and joined Duncan at Arran’s table when Arran drew out a map of the Highlands.
