Possession of a Highlander

by Madeline Martin

  He curled his hand around her breast and closed his lips over the delicate bud of her nipple. Her breathing turned ragged, frenzied. The silent mark of yearning he’d been seeking.

  Colin’s muscles drew tight and his body screamed for her, demanding the lust raging within him be slaked. He could hardly bear the throbbing ache of his cock.

  His lips moved against her soft, warm skin, nuzzling and nipping the fullness of her breasts until her fingers tangled in his hair.

  She writhed beneath him. “Do what you did before. Please.” Her voice was breathless, her words quick with an urgency he knew all too well.

  His cock lurched beneath the stroke of her words, his body aflame with anticipation for her cries of pleasure. His hands glided over her nightrail to the cleft between her thighs.

  “Yes,” she whimpered. “Please.”

  He stroked his finger against the damp fabric. He shook with a demanding need he hadn’t known before.

  Brianna pressed her hips against his cupped hand, her moan insistent.

  Colin grasped the nightrail where it crumpled at her waist and slid it lower, under the tantalizing curve of her bottom, down, down, down the length of her long, slender legs.

  His hands slid back up her body from her shapely ankles and tantalizing thighs to the sweet temptation that now demanded his attention. Her shapely hips rolled beneath the power of her longing, her flat stomach and narrow waist gently bending and flexing with each subtle movement. She was even more beautiful than he’d imagined.

  He covered her body with his, laying the hardness of his battle-scarred body upon the velvety warmth of her soft innocence. Each movement was made with a forced leisure, and his muscles ached with the force of his restraint. His lips came down on hers, rapacious in the need to catch her gasp of pleasure. His hand slipped between them and eased between her thighs. Naked, wet heat met his fingertips. Her body stiffened and she sighed into his mouth.

  She was swollen. Slick.

  His thumb rolled against her sensitive little nub. Her breathless cries filled the room, her hips matching every stroke, every touch.

  Her lashes fluttered closed and her head fell back. Colin watched the pleasure play out on her face. This exquisite creature was his wife.

  He captured her heart-shaped lips once more with a kiss that branded her as his. She tightened against his fingers and he knew she was about to come. He withdrew his hand from between her legs and grinned. It was time to savor everything his bride had to offer.

  Her lips fell open, and confused injustice sparked hot in her gaze.

  Colin smiled down at her. “I made ye a promise.”

  Before she could protest, his lips found her breasts and skimmed over each rounded globe, savoring her rosy nipples before continuing his descent downward.

  Her gasp echoed off the stone wall. “What? No.”

  The bed creaked beneath them as he shifted his body lower to allow for better access. He kissed the tops of her legs and slid his hands across the smooth expanse of her inner thighs to keep her from closing her legs.

  “No.” Her hips lurched away from him, but her plea was husky with want.

  He exhaled through his mouth, teasing her with the heat of his breath.

  “Please.” She squirmed beneath him.

  Colin kept his hands fixed on her legs and kissed the inside of her right thigh before shifting to the left.

  Tonight, his wife would learn he did not make empty threats.

  Heat fanned over Brianna’s thighs in delicious torment. She clenched her eyes closed against the image of his head between her legs.

  What he intended to do was wrong. Sinful. His slight shift forward whispered against her flesh, and her breath hitched. She should push away, scream for him to stop, and yet she was locked into place by the edge of her curiosity.

  The warmth of Colin’s mouth passed over her, alternating kisses on either side of her innermost thighs with an excruciating slowness. He stilled between her legs. Heart hammering, she peeked her eyes open. His hot stare burned into her, watching as he ducked his head and dragged his tongue against her most sensitive flesh.

  She cried out and jerked her hips away from him. Her cheeks burned and her heart squeezed the breath from her chest. His mouth was too close, too intimate. Aching hunger clawed within her, and moisture pooled where his tongue had swept.

  His hands slid under her buttocks, toward her waist, and curled around her thighs, trapping her. “Let me love ye, wife.”

  He brushed the softness of his lips against her, and her nipples drew tight with pleasure. She shook her head against the pillow. “It’s sinful. It’s not-it’s not…”

  “In yer pamphlet?” He pulled her hips upward, lifting her slightly off the bed and the full warmth of his mouth closed over her.

  The wet heat of his tongue parted her the way his fingers had done before. The way he had promised. She clutched blindly at fistfuls of blanket beneath her, and the argument on her lips slipped into an agreeable moan.

  His tongue pressed the source of her delight and flicked once, twice. Fire tingled through Brianna, and her ragged breath battled the silence of the room. His tongue continued a maddening, lazy circle, and the tip of his finger gently slipped inside of her.

  His muffled groan against her sent a thrilling vibration through her core.

  Her body tensed and her hips arched in reflex. He pulled her tighter within his arms, his mouth following her impatient gyrations.

  A gentle scrape of his teeth and she slid over the edge. Pleasure exploded within her body, beneath Colin’s mouth, and mated with the flame of his merciless tongue. Quivers of bliss spiraled through her, and a breathless cry whimpered between her lips.

  Colin propped up on an elbow with a lazy smile as the final waves of euphoria lapped within her.

  “It wasna as bad as ye thought it’d be, aye?” His eyebrows rose suggestively.

  She couldn’t help her carefree grin anymore than she could keep her eyes from lingering on his gloriously naked chest. “I wouldn’t complain if it were done again.”

  “Ah, wife, we will have a lifetime to do that again, I promise ye.” He rose to his knees and rested his hand on the belt securing the plaid to his waist. “There’s still more to teach ye tonight.”

  Her gaze fell to where his fingers pulled at the thick leaver strap, to where his hardness bulged beneath his plaid. A blend of excitement and trepidation quickened her pulse.

  Colin pulled the belt from its buckle and tugged it from his waist so the kilt slipped down his narrow hips. Brianna succumbed to the tantalizing lure of her curiosity and followed the trail of auburn hair that trickled from his navel down, down, down.

  She gasped and wrenched her eyes away. Not that it mattered. She could not clear her mind of what she’d seen.

  Tight muscles ran rigid along the lower portion of Colin’s torso, carving lines on either side of his hips. She drew a shaky breath. The thin line of hair trailed down his banded stomach to where it grew thick between his legs, where his flesh jutted proudly from his body.

  Her pamphlet stated he would place his lance within the softness between her legs. It had sounded so easy. No mention had been made of a man’s lance being so large, so intimidating.

  She shuddered at the thought of that massive thing between Colin’s legs pressing inside of her.

  “Brianna.” The burr of his Highland brogue was thick, and the n’s in her name came out in a soothing purr. “Ye can look upon me if ye like.”

  She stared miserably at the rumpled coverlet and shook her head. “I would prefer not to.”

  There was a pause. “Ye find me displeasing?”

  Her eyes flew to his face. “Of course not, I find you—”

  He grinned at her, and the dimple appeared in his left cheek. “Ye find me what?”

  The churl! “I find you too large.”

  “Ach, ye know how to warm a man’s heart.” He folded his hand around hers and brushed his lips a
gainst her knuckles.

  The familiar heat of desire settled in her belly, and the slow, sensual pulse hummed to life once more. He guided her hand down his smooth, powerful chest to the hard muscles along his abdomen. He stared at her, his movements slow, as if gauging her reaction before continuing. Her fingertips brushed the coarse hair and she trembled. She knew where he drew her, where she would touch next.

  Brianna hesitated, but Colin eased her hand lower. His jaw clenched tight and his heavy breath matched her own. He removed his hand from hers, leaving her free to touch him without aid. To make her own decision.

  She looked again upon his rigid flesh. He wanted to feel her hands on him, yet she doubted she could wrap her fingers completely around him. The top of the thick column was rounded, smooth with a bead of moisture glinting at its tip.

  Brianna bit into her bottom lip and tentatively trailed her finger against his length from where it rose from his body to its swollen end. Colin gave a strangled groan, a sound so tortured it drew her from her study. Pain did not glint in his eyes, but something darker, more primitive.

  He enjoyed the stroke of her hand, the same as she enjoyed his. Only this time, she wielded the power.

  She curled her fingers around the base and proved her initial observation correct. He was too big.

  Touching his lance was not unpleasant, as she had assumed it might be. The pulse of his ardor thrummed against her palm, rigid as bone beneath satin flesh. How could something so hard possess such softness?

  She continued her exploration, caress by timid, curious caress. Colin’s breathing grew deeper, heavier. Moisture warmed between her legs once more.

  The tip was spongy beneath her fingers compared to the steely shaft. She brushed the pearl of moisture with the pad of her middle finger and smeared it in a delicate circle around the smooth head.

  Colin caught her wrist and pulled her hand away. “Enough.”

  He grasped her shoulders and applied light pressure, pushing her to the bed. She complied because she knew not what else to do. The coverlet was cool against her naked back, a comforting contrast to the heat of her unease. He crawled over her until his taut body hovered over hers. His skin did not touch hers, yet she could sense his warmth. Her pulse quickened with nervous anticipation. Frantic thoughts jumbled in her mind—acknowledgement of the finality of their act, fear of the unknown, primal excitement for what she sensed would come.

  His mouth claimed hers and his tongue stroked hers with savage yearning. He slipped his fingers between her thighs once more, caressing, enticing, probing. She tried steeling herself against the pleasure he gave, but then he brushed that incredible place he always seemed to find, and her hips moved of their own volition. All thoughts fled her mind, save the need to quell the fire raging within her.

  The weight of his body settled on top of her. Something blunt nudged her sex and replaced the teasing of his fingertips. She arched instinctively toward him, and a low groan purred in the back of her throat.

  Colin nuzzled against her neck, his voice like dark velvet in her ear. “Do ye want this, wife?”

  Colin silently cursed himself for even posing the question to Brianna. His cock pulsed against her slick cleft, all the desire, all the longing, poised for relief.

  “Yes.” The glorious word came on an exhaled moan.

  He breathed a sigh against her glossy hair. If she had said no, he wasn’t sure stopping would be possible.

  He braced his arms on either side of her and gently pushed. Her narrow opening gripped his sensitive tip, and his hands fisted in the coverlet. Raw lust pumped in his veins, tempted him to thrust hard and fast. He tightened his hold on the bedding.

  Brianna rolled her hips against him, nudging him deeper until he felt the barrier of her maidenhead.

  This was going to be more difficult than he realized, especially when she was so damn tight.

  Sweat pricked his brow. He needed to focus, to control himself. He leaned over her and swept his lips against hers. “Forgive me,” he whispered against her mouth.

  He felt her lips fall open in question, but did not wait for her to speak before he broke through her delicate wall.

  She gasped sharply. Her body stiffened beneath him. He gritted his teeth against the ache of pleasure and forced his body still so she could adjust to him.

  Colin looked down at her and found unshed tears glimmering in her wide eyes. He lowered his head and touched his lips against each eyelid, then caressed the sweetness of her mouth with his own.

  “I dinna mean to hurt ye,” he said.

  “I know,” she said softly. “I read this would happen.”

  He bit back a grin. “Are ye all right?”

  She gave a tense nod. “You can do what you need to now. I’m ready.”

  What he needed to? What the hell kind of a pamphlet had she read?

  He pressed his lips to the soft skin at the base of her throat. “It’s no what I need to do, lass. It’s what our bodies want.” He caught the tip of her lobe between his teeth and let his breath tease her ear. “Yers as well as mine, aye?”

  She nodded against his cheek, but her body remained stiff. He brushed the curve of her breast and pulled her lower lip into his mouth. The muscles along his back burned from holding his position for so long, and his cock throbbed brutally with unsated need.

  The fingers of his free hand found the tender bud of her nipple and rolled it beneath his thumb. Brianna’s sigh melted against his lips like a decadent sweet, and her body relaxed beneath him. With great care, Colin shifted his hips back and groaned with the jolt of pleasure firing through his body.

  He pressed his fist into the mattress, his breath hissing through his clenched teeth. Slowly, he nudged himself inside her once more. Her thighs tightened around his waist, and the uncertainty on her puckered brow smoothed.

  He would see her expression cleared. He did not move again. This time he teased the bud of her lust as he eased back, gently circling when he pushed back in. She arched to meet his slow plunge, and a husky moan echoed a deep desire he didn’t want her to ever hide. Her eyes were glassy, her cheeks flushed. This was what he wanted.

  He increased his tempo, and an incredible friction gripped her in the tightness of her sheath. She moved with him, awkward at first, her rhythm clumsy, before finding the steady pulse of their passion. Her breath came in excited pants.

  She gasped and rocked against him, perfectly timed to meet his thrust. “Can I come with you inside me?” she asked between breaths.

  The thought of her tight heat squeezing her release around him was almost more than he could bear. “That’s the idea,” he said raggedly.

  He slid one hand over her hip, guiding her natural movements, and shoved deeper, burying himself in the most incredible moist warmth.

  Gone were her apprehensions. Her hands roamed over his back, her body arching in fluid, graceful swells against him.

  Her heavy-lidded eyes sparkled in the low light, and her kiss-reddened lips parted with pleasure. Something deep within his chest stirred. God, she was beautiful.

  Her body ground against him with a sense of urgency, and she grew tense around him. His bollocks tightened in preparation for his own release. Damn it, he would not come before she did. He pulled her nipple into his mouth and swept his thumb against the swollen bud just above where they joined.

  She gave a sharp cry and her core spasmed around him, tight, tighter, tight, tighter. Colin thrust forward one final time and gritted his teeth against the pleasure exploding through him. His skin prickled, his muscles tensing with the glorious wave of release that eased out in a low growl.

  His heart raced and his lungs could hold no air, not while he lay cradled between the sweet thighs of his beautiful wife.

  He smoothed damp curls from her forehead and waited for her breathing to return to normal before his lips brushed hers one final time. Careful not to squash her, he rolled to the side and wrapped her small frame in his arms.

  She n
estled against him and lay her head on his chest with a contented sigh. His body was sated, and his woman was safe in his arms. He wound a lock of her hair around his finger. What more could a man ask for?

  His chin brushed the top of her silky head.

  Tonight was for loving and pleasing, but tomorrow—tomorrow would be for answers.

  Chapter Eighteen

  Sunlight bathed the haven of tangled sheets. A goddess had slept beside Colin. Well, perhaps not slept.

  The room was silent, save the calming of their racing breaths. Pools of candle wax dotted the room, evidence of a night with little rest. Not that Colin minded.

  He cradled Brianna’s curvy body against him and breathed in her scent. The sun had long since been up, but thus far their only attempt to remove themselves from the private room had resulted in a kiss that quickly led to greater things.

  Brianna’s hand skimmed the hair of his chest, tickling the skin beneath. Her gaze was distant, her lips lifted in a soft, wistful smile.

  He couldn’t keep the grin from his own face. “So, was it like what ye read?”

  She looked up at him and a pretty blush colored her cheeks. “It was different.” Her voice was still husky, a sensual reminder of the passion recently shared.

  She rolled back and peered up at him, her expression shy. Though truth be told, he found his attention drifting to the roundness of her breasts thrust out in tempting display. Desire warmed to life in his loins. He should be exhausted by now.

  But she was his, and he would never allow himself to miss an opportunity to remind himself of that. His finger traced an invisible path down the silky curve of her breast to her narrow waist. Her nipples drew tight and tiny bumps rose across her skin.

  “Mmmm…and how was it different from yer pamphlet?” He tore his gaze from her body and met her sleepy-lidded gaze.

  “You did more than was indicated.” She looked away, and a flush of color spread over her lovely chest. “The way you made me feel. I didn’t expect that.”