When Maura reached the bottom of the staircase Kilern took a step toward her, but Daniel stepped in front of him and took Maura by the forearm, and led her away from the foyer.
Kilern possesed a look that could kill, laid across his face. Maura noticed it and was instantly at ease with Daniel so close by.
"Mr. Kilern ya are excused." Daniel stated firmly. "I shall be escortin' Miss McCoveny to her quarters this evening."
"As ya wish Captain." Kilern said, grudgingly, backing away bobbing his head, hat in hand. To that end Kilern made his departure from the main house. He was furious inside but took special care not to show his distain in front of his employer. He was definitely in a tare, though, as he dug his heels deep into the sides of the poor beast he rode away on.
"How dare he dismiss me! I'm runnin' out o’ time, I am. If he takes her tonight it will be to the detriment of my future wealth." He ranted to himself as he galloped from the house. "I'll not be forgettin' this Captain Hargendon. You will surely pay for ruinin' my plans. Yah!" He screeched as he disappeared into the darkness of the forest.
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Chapter Twenty-One
Maura felt instant relief once Kilern was out of sight. She also sensed he was irritated by the fact he would not be returning her to her quarters. But why she felt that way was still a mystery to her. She was distracted from her thoughts when Mary approached her in the foyer.
"Child, you look utterly exhausted." She motioned to Daniel to come over to them.
"Danny, take Maura back to the guest house. She's had quite enough of all this meetin' and greetin', I think." She handed Maura over to Daniel then turned to Aiden and said,
"And you, young man, had better take ya self up ta be with ya wife" she motion to Aiden pointing toward the staircase. "Quinn is not feelin’ well, I understand?" Mary gave her younger son a wink and a smile, and then she walked into the dining hall to direct the help in tidying up.
"I'll take care of things down here." Mary was happy to take over the role of lady of the house for one night, so her sons would be free to care for their women.
Daniel and Maura walked outside to the front porch. The air was balmy and thick with humidity. The sweet smell of mayflowers and lilacs filled the night air. The two scents, combined, created an ambiance that was both calming and intoxicating all at the same time.
Maura closed her eyes and took in a deep breath then slowly set it free. "Mmm, the smells in the air are wonderful, are they naught?"
Daniel had the urge to wrap his muscular arms about Maura's waist and run his mouth along the length of her soft ivory neck, while immersing himself in her clean scent. But he hesitated, not wanting to startle her or rush the progression of his passion for her..
"Yes I agree. The scents out here are wonderful, indeed." He came to stand along side her.
There was a long awkward silence between them. Oddly tense and at a loss for words, Daniel cleared his throat and nervously blurted out, "I'll go out back ta the carriage house and bring the rig around. Wait here." He started down the porch steps.
Maura, equally as nervous from the unnerving silence, began to sweat and her throat suddenly went dry. She clumsily descended the porch steps and asked, "M-may I accompany you out to the carriage house? 'Tis such a beautiful night for a walk, is it naught?" She was shy in her forwardness toward Daniel.
He could see the blush on her cheek, as she spoke to him. "If ya wish, lass, but I warn ya, now, 'tis quite a walk. At least a thousand yards back from the house."
"That be just fine, Daniel. I'm not a weakling school girl, now, am I?" Maura stated firmly. Maura bent to remove her shoes for the walk.
Daniel, preoccupied in his thoughts of having her finally alone and to himself, seemed not to notice. With each passing day he was learning just how much different Maura was from Mallory. Mallory fancied herself somewhat of a princess to be pampered and fussed over.
Whereas, Maura was more rugged and tempered, but with just enough delicate femininity to give ballast and still make her every bit as appealing as any finely born lady.
Maura noticed Daniel looking oddly in her direction, when she removed her shoes.
“Alright, so I like walkin' barefoot in the dirt and grass. There is a fresh earthiness about it. What's more, my feet are killin' me from the tightness of those new slippers" She breathed in deeply and then wrinkled her nose and curled her toes in response to the exhilaration she felt when her warm swollen bare feet touched the cool grass. "Oh my, but this does remind me of home." Maura remarked as they strolled along the carriage path.
"Tell me about home, Maura." Daniel's tone was compassionate for her obvious homesickness.
With her shoes in one hand and placing her forefinger to just aside her lips, Maura began to tell Daniel what it was like at this time of year in her home village. They conversed for quite some time, not realizing how quickly the time had passed. Daniel was constantly amazed how he and Maura could just go from one conversation to the next with such ease. He had never experienced this with any other woman. Once he’d bedded a woman, he generally had no other real interest in her. What would be the need, were usually his after thoughts.
But this woman was so very different. He respected her intelligence, revered her honor. In fact the only other woman that he had ever respected or revered was his own mother. He was just beginning to understand the gravity of importance this woman would have in his life. He knew he had finally fallen in love. That she was the woman he had been meant for all along.
Daniel's attention was averted from Maura as he caught sight of the carriage house. He walked a few yards ahead of Maura, instructing her to be careful in the dark, as they had lost their moonlight a ways back. "I'll be along in a minute or two with a torch to light the rest of the way to the carriage house." Daniel called out to Maura, while pulling back the heavy oak post from the carriage house doors.
While awaiting Daniel's return, Maura was playfully balancing on a rotted out birch log. She called back to him from the dark, "I'll be fine here Daniel, don't ya be worryin' about me."
And just as the last words were out of her mouth she let out a loud shriek. “Dammit!”
Daniel raced back to where he had left Maura to wait for him. "Maura!" Daniel shouted out from the dark.
"Oh Daniel, I'm afraid I've injured my foot." Maura's voice was shaky.
"Stay put. I'll get the torch lit and come to you." Daniel was at her side in an instant. "Can ya not stay out o' trouble for five minutes, lass?!" Daniel's voice sounded as annoyed, as ever. "Can ya stand?" Daniel asked.
"Yes, but I'll not be able ta walk very quickly." Maura limped a little and with each step she winced a bit. "I think I may have cut the bottom of my foot, as well." Maura was determined not to cry. She did not want Daniel to view her as a weak quisling.
Daniel knew she was putting up a front. That she was in agony. "Here, hop up on my back and I'll carry ya the rest o' the way." On the count of three she was upon Daniel's back as if he were a grand stallion. The bottom of her gown was now up around his shoulders. Her long legs draped over his forearms and her arms were wrapped tight about his chest.
As soon as they made their way into the carriage house, Daniel set Maura down by the horse trough.
"Godsey! Where the hell are ya at, man!" Daniel walked to the back of the carriage house but Godsey was nowhere to be found.
"I think my ankle is beginin' to swell, Daniel." Maura's voice was a bit shaky.
Daniel wasted no time. He did the only thing he could think of to keep Maura's foot from swelling. He lifted her up into his arms and walked her over to the horse trough.
Maura screeched. "Don't you dare throw me inta that tub o' water again, Captain Hargendon!"
Daniel bent to one knee and placed Maura's injured foot into the icy cold water of the trough. As he did this, they both looked into each other’s eyes and realized she had remembered he had thrown her into the tub of steaming water, aboard his ship. There was anoth
er long silence between them. Then Maura spoke of that night for the first time.
"Daniel, I remember being on your vessel. I remember I was dressed in a fine gown and I was very intoxicated and you picked me up and dropped me inta the tub o' steamin' hot water, ta sober me up, I suppose." With her eyes cast downward as if ashamed of her own thoughts, she said, "I remember...what...h-happened next, as well."Maura was seated upon Daniel's knee, with her leg dangling in the icy cold water of the horse trough. She was so intent on her own thoughts of what had taken place between them aboard the Arabella she hardly noticed Daniel had his arm underneath the waterline and was messaging her foot.
Daniel removed his hand from the trough and placed it beneath her chin. He tilted her face to meet his. She could not look into his eyes for not knowing what he must think of her for being a complete wanton, as she remembered it.
"I remember, as well, love." He turned her face to meet his. "Look ta me lass. There be no reason for ya ta be showin' a shameful expression ta ya face, now." His voice was deep and comforting. He leaned in and kissed her cheek in a most gentle and loving way. "I am glad ya are rememberin' our time together. I've been so alone in my remembrance of our lovemakin'." He had moved on down to her neck, his breath felt hot and his voice was muffled against her warm skin. The sound of all those R's rolling off his tongue in his thick Irish brogue was driving her wild for him to continue onward. Maura was quickly forgetting about the pain in her foot.
He reached back down below the waterline and caressed her calve.
She was beginning to find it difficult to breath.
He could also feel the changes in his own breathing. He ventured up a little further and stopped, just inches from her most private area. Maura sucked in her breath and then just stopped breathing completely.
Then she heard Daniel's deep seductive tones in her ear, gently coaxing her into breathing again. "Don't be frightened, love. Just breathe. I willna go any further than ya tell me is alright." His voice was intoxicating to her senses. Maura slowly began to breathe again.
Daniel let out a barely audible moan to the side of her neck. "That's better, love, breath." He ventured a bit further and discovered he was not meeting with any resistance. His mouth trailed down toward her décolletage area, just above the swell of her breasts.
When he left his kiss upon her breast, she breathed in heavy and deep. Her heart was racing and she felt as though he were branding her with his hot wet kisses.
Once more, Daniel was at the side of her neck and then continued upwards, to just behind her ear.
Maura recoiled, ever so slightly, in her response.
Daniel nuzzled her neck, once more, and then pulled away.
Maura opened her eyes to find Daniel's mouth just inches from her own. She could feel his breath in her mouth. It was like the sweetest nectar, to her.
They stared into one another’s eyes for what seemed like an eternity. His eyes were deep pools of sapphire, staring her down, daring her to let him take her. His eyes crinkled just a bit at the corners. She had come to recall this as a comforting sign. Her breathing slowed just a bit. Then she did that thing that drove him wild. Maura innocently wet her lips with her tongue, to relieve them of their dryness. He could wait no longer to kiss her full, luscious, seductive mouth. He told himself to go slow.
Daniel leaned in and with an intense demanding roughness he claimed her mouth as though he were proclaiming a astounding victory. "God, woman, you've no thoughts a ‘tall how soft and warm ya mouth feels on mine." His breathing was a bit more ragged.
Maura sensed there would be no stopping him from this point onward.
Daniel reached up out of the trough and captured Maura's face with one hand. The cool water from the trough rippled down his forearm and onto her breasts, cooling her skin of its heated blush. Daniel gently reclaimed her soft lips, tugging gently on her full bottom lip, as he began to pull himself from her.
In one fluid move, He lifted her into his arms and walked beyond the rig towards the back of the carriage house, grabbing a blue and green wool tartan blanket off the harness wall and splayed it out over fresh hay bedding. Daniel gently placed Maura atop the bedding and stepped back from her.
As he began to unfasten the ties of his white linen shirt, Maura's shyness got the better of her and she turned away, tucking her knees up under her gown.
Daniel wasted no time in discarding his shirt. He knelt behind Maura wrapping his arms about her waist and gently kissed the back of her neck. Maura arched her back and sucked in her breath, in response to his advances.
One by one, Daniel began to unfasten the lacings on the back of Maura's gown, down to her waist. Slowly and methodically, He unclothed Maura's shoulders, one at a time. He tucked in close to her and drew her body between his thighs, his arms wrapped firmly around her waist, and then he ran his open mouth along each side of her neckline, stopping momentarily to place a gentle kiss on each shoulder. Daniel laid his hands along the sides of Maura's thighs, and then grasping the blanket tight within his fists, in one quick jerking motion, he turned Maura to face him.
Her reaction was one of surprise, as she sucked in her breath.
With their eyes locked in a heated stalemate, Daniel placed his roughened palm to the side of her face and gently kissed her cheek. He reached forward and began to undo the tiny pale satin ribbons on the front of her chemise. With the release of the second ribbon, Maura could feel her breasts were in danger of becoming exposed and she instinctively lifted her hand to shield them from his view.
Daniel reached up, gently nudging her hand aside and slowly shook his head side to side. "No, love, this you will not deny me." His tone, unyielding, yet was comforting.
Daniel sat for a long moment and drank in the whole of her beauty. No other woman has he ever taken this much time to bed. Why, he thought, by now I would have bedded her and been on my way. But this girl, no, this woman has surely proven to be like no other before her.
Maura knew he was awaiting permission to move forward. She slid her arms out from beneath the straps of her chemise and let it fall to her waist.
Daniel sucked in his breath, now, then let out a low groan in the back of his throat.
She leaned in closer to him and firmly placed her palms upon his bare chest. He slid his hands to her soft curvatious hips and drew her in closer so she was straddling his lap and there was barely space between them. He grasped her firm buttocks in his masculine palms and forced her down onto his pelvis.
Maura felt his rigid mass press up against her and she was somewhat surprised by how much she liked this feeling. She began to squirm a bit with excitement.
Daniel could feel her heat through his trousers.
Maura placed a soft kiss on his lips then she ran her tongue along his bottom lip.
He immediately responded in kind by placing a firm grip on her lower jaw with one hand and with a low animal-like growl forced her lips apart, with his own, and ran his tongue along the inside of her mouth. He let go of her face, just as quickly, giving her time to adjust to this necessary roughness and to retreat if she wanted to stop.
Maura moved her hands up to Daniel's shoulders and pushed herself to her feet, letting her gown fall into a pastel heap about her ankles. Daniel ran his forefinger up and around the outer strap of her pantalettes and tugged on them gently until, they too, fell to her ankles.
As she stepped out of her gown and pantalettes, Daniel pulled them away and threw them far out of reach. Maura's eyes grew wide with excitement.
Daniel pulled her back down toward him, and gently laid her backward onto the hay bedding. His emotions were running wild. He had lusted after many women, but he had never made love to a woman he was in love with. These feelings were all new to him. He wanted this to be perfect for Maura...and for him.
He stood to finish disrobing and quickly returned to Maura's side. To ease her of any embarrassment, he pulled the tartan over both of them and tucked in close to her. He thought he wou
ld lose complete control when his bare skin touched hers.
Maura felt his firm manhood up against her outer thigh and the warmth from his body heat was warm and comforting. She felt protected. She felt loved.
Daniel gently cupped the side of one breast and bent his head to place light soft kisses to the outer aspect of her of her delicate porcelain skin. Then at long last, he made his way to her nipple where he ran his tongue gently over it and created a stimulation effect so profound, she could not control her feelings of lust for him. She arched her back in response and pulled him tight to her breasts, grasping the sides of his face giving in to the exhilarating pleasure.
"Oh, God, Daniel, do naught stop" Maura squealed a high-pitched sound of satisfaction, Daniel interpreted to be her first outpourings of lust for him.
He did stop, but only for a moment. Just long enough to look deep into those beautiful emerald pools of which he was beginning to drown. He was lying with his head resting atop his bent forearm, looking down at her breasts and her stomach. He gently ran his hand over the outer aspect of her breast again and then down to her soft, flat stomach.
Maura felt a fluttering sensation as his hand passed over skin. She laughed lightly. "Sorry, Daniel, but that gave me butterflies" She drew her knees up a bit.
"Oh I'll be wantin' ta give ya more than butterflies before this night is through, woman." He joked as he flashed that great white smile of his. Once again, it got very quiet between them and Maura knew Daniel was not going to wait much longer.
Daniel moved his palm over toward her well-rounded hip, then down to her slender outer thigh.
Maura thought his hands were rough, but felt good on her skin.
Daniel moved further on down to her most private area. He thought his hand was afire as he laid it upon her warm velvet curls. Her heat was amazing. He leaned in, kissed her to relax her, and in doing so gently nudged her thighs apart. He slid his fingers into her moist warm sheath.
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