Highlander Unchained

by Monica McCarty

  But she didn’t want to wait until they were married. She couldn’t wait a moment longer. His reverent touch and devouring gaze had made every inch of her tingle with need. The shattering sensations he’d awakened in her the last time teased the edges of her memory but were still too new to be fully recalled. She felt that strange restlessness building inside her, the powerful urgency. She ached for his mouth, his hands, his fullness inside her. For the fulfillment of his promise.

  His naked chest gleamed like polished bronze in the candlelight. The rock-hard muscles of his arms and stomach were so clearly defined, they could have been chipped from slate. She would never cease to be impressed by his size and strength. Noticing the fresh bandage, she frowned.

  He’d started to unfasten his trews, but she grabbed his wrist, stopping him, realizing there might have been another reason for his reluctance tonight. “Your arm. It is not bothering you?”

  “It’s fine.”

  “You had it stitched?”

  He nodded. “The healer tended to it after the evening meal.”

  “Oh.” The healer. He meant Seonaid. She bit her lip, knowing she was being ridiculous but unable to resist the surge of jealousy that his leman had touched him and admired the same chest she did. He might claim to love her, but he’d never made any promises of fidelity. Nor would such an arrangement be expected, except that she found she did—very much so. The thought of him with another woman tore her heart out. She vowed to do everything she could to ensure he never wanted anyone else but her. But how?

  “Why the frown, my sweet?”

  She shook her head. “It’s nothing.” She released her hold around his wrist, encouraging him to continue.

  He laughed and kissed the frown from her mouth. “Jealous, Flora? You have no reason.”

  “I’m not jealous.”

  He smiled, the familiar handsome features devilishly sharp and angled in the shadows.

  Her eyes narrowed, not appreciating his expression. “It’s not the least amusing. How would you like it if I were alone in a bedchamber with a man with whom I’d shared intimacies?” It gave her no small amount of pleasure to see his eyes turn black.

  “I’d kill him. And since I am the only man you shall ever be intimate with, the issue shan’t arise.”

  “And does the same hold true for you, my laird? You’ll find I won’t be a very accommodating wife.”

  It took him a moment to get her meaning, and then he chuckled. “Lass, your fears are unfounded. When I make a vow, I keep it.”

  She stilled, not daring to hope. “You will not take a leman?”

  He held her gaze. “I would never dishonor you.”

  Flora didn’t think she could be happier, but she was wrong. At that moment, it felt as if the world were at her feet. Forgetting her state of undress, she leaned up and threw her arms around his neck.

  The shock that coursed through her was as powerful as lightning. The heat of his skin drove all other thoughts from her mind but the wicked sensation of her bare breasts pressed against the solid strength of his naked chest.

  She moaned and snuggled against him, wanting to dissolve into him, loving the delicious friction of rubbing against his smooth, warm skin.

  His mouth was on hers again, hot and demanding. She opened against his determined onslaught, taking him deeper and deeper. She splayed her hands against the taut skin of his back, digging in her fingers as the kiss intensified. An inexplicable urgency rose up inside her.

  His hands covered her, cupping her breasts, squeezing as his tongue circled and thrust in her mouth. The sensual rhythm sent shards of white hot pleasure shooting through her body. She felt her body dampen as desire spread between her legs.

  He released her mouth and slowly kissed his way down to her chest. Taking his own sweet time, drawing out every sensation as his lips and tongue blazed a path across her fevered skin. His mouth was so warm and the night air so cool, her skin tingled in his wake. He kissed her ear, her neck, the hollow at her throat, and finally he dipped between her breasts, licking and nuzzling with the gentle scrape of his beard as he teased her mercilessly with the deft stroke of his tongue—coming achingly close to the sensitive tip, but never close enough.

  He was killing her. Her nipples were so tight that they hurt, straining for the pleasure of his mouth. He circled the taut peaks with his tongue, and the warmth of his breath blowing across her chest made her shiver. Finally, when she didn’t think she could take it a minute longer, he took her in his mouth and sucked. She moaned, arching against him. The bolt of pleasure that went through her seemed to link his mouth to her heart. She plunged her fingers through the soft wave of his hair, pulling him closer. He sucked her until she writhed against him. Until she felt the place between her legs start to quiver.

  She experienced a moment of disappointment when he released her, his mouth sliding down the length of her belly. But then she remembered what he’d done to her last time. How he’d kissed her in the most intimate of places.

  Perhaps, knowing what he intended, she should object. Surely such a kiss was wicked? But she found herself unable to fight the virulent demands of her body. Demands made all the more pressing as he sank lower and lower, until his head rested between her legs.

  He kissed the top of her thigh, and she shuddered. His finger swept her, as if testing her readiness. She’d never been more primed for anything. She was wet and hot and aching for the soothing press of his mouth. It was all she could think about. How it felt to have him kiss her, slide his tongue inside her, and suck. Desire pooled low in her belly with a fiery intensity that would not be denied. His hands slid around to grip her hips, lifting her to his mouth.

  She couldn’t wait. Her body wept for his touch.

  Their eyes met as his tongue swept over her. The shock made her cry out as intense bolts of pleasure racked her with tremors. He licked her again, pressing a little harder against the now frantic pulse. God, it felt amazing. So warm and hot and deliciously erotic. She melted as a heavy warmth descended over her.

  And then he was sucking her, slipping his tongue deep inside her until she thought she would die from the intensity of sensation building inside her. Until the quivering turned into spasms. Until the pressure inside her started to shatter. The force of her release was so intense, she cried out, lifting her hips and dissolving into his mouth. He held her there, wringing every last bit of pleasure from her. Only then did he release her.

  Flora was utterly spent, her body warm and heavy, as though she could slip into a deep slumber. But she knew this was only the beginning. Lachlan had risen to his knees and started to unfasten his trews again when she stopped him.

  “Let me.” She needed to touch him and feel the sheer power harnessed under her fingertips.

  He lowered his hands. The heat in his eyes made her feel warm and tingly all over again.

  Sitting up, she let her eyes roam over the powerfully sculpted chest that loomed before her—a warrior’s body. The wide shoulders, the heavily muscled arms from years of wielding the claymore, the scars that peppered his torso giving proof of the battles he’d fought—and won. Never would she have imagined the strength of her attraction to such raw physicality. But there was no denying the primal response to his muscled body and the warm shiver of anticipation running through her. But the powerful physical attraction paled in comparison with the love she felt for the man.

  She traced the tight bands of stomach muscle with her fingers and noticed how he tensed as she drew closer to his arousal, straining against the leather confines of his trews. Slowly, teasingly, she began to work the ties, allowing her hands to brush over him, lingering as if she might mold her hand around him. He drew in his breath at her gentle teasing. Now loosened, the trews slid down past his waist, revealing the enormity of his desire.

  If she didn’t know it for fact, she would have thought it impossible that he could fit inside her. She ran her finger down the long length of him, still amazed by the softness of the
skin that covered hard steel. He groaned as she explored him, tracing the ridges and rolling her thumb over the thick head, feeling his impatience. Finally, she circled him with her hand. He tightened as she pumped him long and hard as he’d shown her, gradually increasing the speed as she felt the passion inside him build. She could feel the throbbing under her fingertips, the force of his desire straining to break free.

  His face was tight and his eyes dark with burgeoning passion. He looked impossibly fierce and not a little dangerous, but she knew it was all for her—frantic desire that could not be chained. She loved that she could give him such pleasure, as he gave her.

  Her mouth was level with him, and she caught the inkling of an idea. An idea that she would have been far too embarrassed to voice, but the need to hold on to him, to make it so that he would never think of wanting another woman, gave her courage to be bold.

  He was watching her, his jaw clenched in a hard line, as if he knew what she was thinking.

  She wet her lips. “Could I…” Somehow the words would not form. She peeked up at him from beneath her lashes and saw the sudden flare in his eyes. “Would it—”

  “God, yes,” he said roughly.

  She leaned forward and tentatively placed her mouth on him.

  His reaction was instantaneous. The surge of lust that powered through Lachlan was as hot and heavy as molten steel. Never had he felt such an intense rush of pleasure. Pleasure so powerful, it penetrated every part of his body. His knees nearly buckled when she pressed her moist, soft lips on the head of his cock. He jerked against her, the pressure nearly unbearable. The blood roared in his ears, and he could barely think.

  It wasn’t supposed to be like this. He’d wanted tonight to be about her, so that he could show her the depth of his love for her. But Flora had completely surprised him. Her instincts hinted at a sensuality that, once given flight, would rival his own. He’d sensed she would be adventuresome and spirited, but he hadn’t expected it so quickly. The streak of boldness, the fire he admired in her character, just might prove his undoing.

  She already had him on his knees.

  Her kiss was tentative at first. It took every ounce of his strength not to guide her warm, inviting mouth around him. She let her soft lips trail down the length of him and then drew up her tongue, licking him in one long stroke.

  He watched her through half-lidded eyes, her blond hair shimmering in the candlelight, her feathery lashes fluttering against her pale cheek. But it was the sight of that sensuous mouth around him that gripped his heart. She would do this for him. Never had a woman wrought such emotion and pleasure from him.

  His body strained against the base demands she was calling with her innocent kiss. All he could think about was being inside the hot cavern of her mouth.

  She circled him with her tongue, and a fresh surge of lust hit him hard. He beaded, the pleasure too intense to deny. But nothing prepared him for seeing her tongue flick out to lick the drop that seeped from him.

  He groaned and, unable to take it anymore, guided her mouth over him.

  His mind went black as he drowned in the chasm of her moist, hot mouth surrounding him, taking him deeper and deeper. He clenched his body, forcing himself not to thrust, giving her time to adjust to the feel of him in her mouth.

  The haze cleared when she released him, but then only for a moment.

  “Tell me what to do.”

  His heart pounded. His muscles, too long flexed, were feeling the pain of control. It took him a moment to get out the words. “Suck me with your mouth the way you do with your hand.”

  She scooted up a little closer and tentatively placed her hands on his backside, before lowering her mouth around him again.

  This time he didn’t think, just surrendered completely to the erotic satisfaction she was giving him. The soft pull of her mouth was as close to paradise as he would ever come. He couldn’t take it, watching her lips stretch around him, the way she took him so eagerly into her mouth, the way her hands grabbed his buttocks to pull him deeper. The pressure was so intense, the need to explode primal. His entire body went rigid, and knowing he was about to come, he pulled himself from her mouth.

  She looked at him with surprise.

  “I need to be inside you, right now.”

  Realizing his trews were still bunched around his knees, he pulled them off and tossed them on the ground beside the bed as his body came down hard on top of her.

  He kissed her mouth, her neck, her breasts, as his hands slipped between her thighs. He realized how much she’d enjoyed pleasuring him; she was wet and hot and ready for him. He placed his hands beside her shoulders and lifted his chest so he could watch her as he entered her.

  He rubbed the head of his cock against her, and her legs opened around him. He pushed into her gently, wanting to draw out the moment, savoring the sensation of sliding in inch by inch. She gripped him like a tight glove, enfolding him into her body. He groaned, the wave of pleasure so hot and sweet.

  She was everything to him, and he wanted her to feel the significance of their joining. Of how their bodies came together in perfect symmetry. When he was fully inside her, he held her gaze, telling her with his eyes everything he was feeling. Still holding her gaze, he pushed a little deeper and stilled. Her soft moan of pleasure, the pure poignancy of the moment, touched the deepest part of him.

  For the first time in his life, he felt complete.

  Flora didn’t think that she could feel any closer to him than when she’d taken him in her mouth, tasting the salty masculine essence of him.

  At first, she thought all she would do was kiss him, but the more she kissed him, the more she understood that he was holding something back. She never realized…

  It had never occurred to her to take him in her mouth—there was simply too much of him. But her mouth stretched around him, and knowing the pleasure she was giving him, she relaxed and took him deeper. She still wasn’t convinced she was doing it right, but he hadn’t seemed to mind. It was the oddest sensation, using her mouth to give pleasure to such an intimate part of his body. But it made her feel closer to him than ever before.

  Until he slid inside her, looking deep into her eyes, and touched a part of her she hadn’t even known existed.

  He’d opened up her heart, revealing everything she’d held safely inside. Emotions so intense, it almost scared her. Because she realized what she’d done. She’d given him the most important part of herself—not her body, but her heart. He held power over her that no man had before. A power she trusted him with completely.

  But the most wondrous part was that everything she was feeling, she could see mirrored in his eyes. The tender way he touched her and made love to her said in every way that was important how he felt. Lachlan Maclean was not a man who would write sonnets or make heartfelt declarations about his emotions. She suspected those words had not come easily, and she would wager that before today, he’d never told another woman he’d loved her.

  But she knew as he gathered her against him, cradling her in his arms, simply holding himself inside her, that he did.

  Lachlan had never known what true desire was. It wasn’t simply lust, but wanting someone with every fiber of his being and wanting to prolong the experience for as long as he could. With Flora it wasn’t just about finding release, but about savoring every sensation and every moment leading up to it. He stroked her long silky hair, sliding his hand down the curve of her spine to cup the soft flesh of her bottom, lifting her even closer to him.

  She moaned, rubbing her lush breasts against his chest, melting against him.

  He caught her mouth with his, kissing her slowly and deeply as he began to move inside her with long, languid strokes, stretching every second of connection between them.

  Legs entwined, he taught her how to lift her hips to meet his thrust, how to tilt her hips to take him deeper, how to clench her body around him and draw out the pleasure.

  God, it felt good. She was so tight and
hot around him. He watched where their bodies joined as he slid out of her almost completely, felt the cold emptiness grab him, and then sank right back into her warm, delicious heat.

  With each deep thrust he felt her squeeze around him, milking him with her body.

  He’d never made love with such deliberateness and purpose. Or with such tenderness. It was incredible. Less wildfire and more a controlled burn, but the results were the same—utter physical devastation.

  He saw the wonder in her eyes and heard the startled cry catch in her throat as her climax took hold. Holding her gaze, he plunged inside her full hilt and gave over the most powerful climax of his life. It gripped not just his manhood, but every part of his body. Not in a sudden cataclysmic explosion, but in a slow building eruption that seemed to go on forever, wringing every bit of energy from his body.

  But even as the last twinges of passion faded away, he still could not bring himself to leave her. He gathered her in his arms and held her against him, feeling the beat of her heart against his.

  They stayed like that for some time, both too moved to speak.

  It was Flora who broke the silence. “I still can’t believe it.”

  Lachlan groaned, knowing to what she referred. “If I have to try to prove my feelings to you again, I might not survive.”

  “Not that.” She swiped at him playfully. “How could I doubt it after that? I just never thought that something like this would happen to me.” Her mouth twisted in a wry smile. “I never thought I’d meet a man who wanted me just for myself. It was something my mother was never able to find and I thought would never be for me.” She brought her hand up to his face and cradled his cheek in her hand. He could see the unshed tears glistening in her eyes. “I feel so lucky.”

  Lachlan felt his chest squeeze, the reality of the situation brought back to him full force. He held her a little tighter in his arms. His plan to rescue his brother would work.