by Lynsay Sands
“And you are chill,” she exclaimed. “Come. We should build a fire to warm you.”
Tugging her hand free, she hurried away toward the fireplace and Keeran stared after her. Had she bothered to look, he knew she would have found amazement on his face, for that’s what he was feeling at the moment—amazement at her concern and kindness in wishing to see to his well-being. Of course, Keeran was not feeling chilled and the fire would do him no good, but he was touched and even surprised by her concern for him.
She had given him one surprise after another tonight. Earlier, when Mrs. MacBain had been here, he had noted the affectionate way Emily touched and patted the hand of the older woman as she spoke to her and had actually felt jealous of those touches and the women’s easy affection. But then she had touched him while they spoke as well, and he had realized it was in her nature. Still, he drank in every smile and touch like a flower soaking up sunshine, and he had felt himself bloom beneath it just as a flower might, his defenses unfolding and opening to allow her near. Dangerously near, he feared. It had been decades since he had found anything to smile about. As for laughter, he couldn’t recall doing so since the night Carlotta had killed his father and changed Keeran forever. Yet tonight he had smiled several times and even laughed once or twice. He had also simply enjoyed talking to her.
Emily was an intelligent woman, with surprising wisdom for someone who had lived so few years. He found he liked her, and this was a sad thing to Keeran. Her life span would be just a blink of time in his life. Soon her beauty would fade, her body would begin to wear out, and then she would leave this life and pass on to her just reward. Keeran would most likely be alive long after she had turned to dust. It was heartbreaking for him to even consider this, which was why he usually avoided allowing people into his life.
Realizing that he was being most unchivalrous, Keeran roused himself and moved to join her in kneeling on the cold stone before the hearth. He took over the task of building the fire, loading several more logs into the fireplace, then using the candle she fetched to set the kindling alight. Within moments a cheery fire was burning, giving off a good amount of heat.
“There.” Keeran glanced to Emily to see that she had sat back on her haunches to survey the results of their efforts. She smiled at him now with satisfaction. “That should soon warm you.”
Keeran found a rusty return smile and offered it to her, then stiffened when dismay suddenly crossed her face.
“Oh. You have hurt yourself.”
“No, I haven’t,” was his surprised response.
“Yes, you did.” Leaning forward, she brushed one finger gently over his lower lip. Keeran was so startled by the action that he didn’t move. Then he was so startled by his own reaction to that one brief touch that he simply stared at her as she examined her finger, turning it for him to see. “You must have bit your lip without realizing it.”
Keeran stared at the drop of blood on the finger a bare inch from his face. The faint scent of it mingled with her own to make a heady perfume. Without even thinking, he found himself leaning forward that last inch and slipping his tongue out to lick the pearl of liquid off her soft flesh. Realizing what he was doing, he froze, then glanced to Emily’s face. Her eyes were wide, but with surprise, not alarm, and even as he watched, he could sense the changes taking place within her as she curled her fingers closed as if to hold on to the sensation of his touch, letting her hand drop to rest in her lap. He could almost hear the blood suddenly rushing through her body as excitement stirred within her, and certainly could smell that intoxicating elixir as it rose to the surface of her skin to make her blush prettily. Her beauty in the flickering firelight combined with that mixed scent to make him almost dizzy.
“Keeran.”
It was the first time Emily had spoken his name. It slid from her lips on a soft sigh, tinged with a heartfelt pleading that was echoed in the luminous depths of her eyes, and he knew instinctively that while she had not lived as long as he, she was certainly as lonely as he. Here was a kindred soul, yearning for love as he was, yet fearful it would never be given. Without considering what he was doing, Keeran gave in to his wants for a change and closed the last bit of distance between them, this time to press his lips softly over her own.
It was like kissing a sun-baked apple, warm and sweet, with a hint of tang. As a human, Keeran had always had a weakness for apples, and now he was like a starving man presented with a whole apple pie still warm from the oven. He devoured her lips. He licked them, slid his tongue out to urge them apart, then slid his tongue between them to taste her inner sweetness.
Emily moaned as his tongue invaded her mouth. She had never been kissed like this. In truth, she had never been kissed. But she liked it. She only wished he would hold her as he had in both her dream and when he had carried her up here. She longed to feel his arms around her, making her feel safe again, for at that moment, she felt rather as if she might be falling off a precipice.
As if reading her thoughts, Keeran slid his arms around her, tilting his head to the side as he drew her deeper into the kiss. Emily moaned again and allowed her own arms to creep around his shoulders, tightening the embrace they shared until her breasts were pressed nearly flat between them. That aroused a whole new series of sensations within her, ones that were overwhelming and frightening, yet exhilarating at the same time. Gasping a breath of protest when Keeran broke the kiss, Emily let her head drop and pressed her mouth to his neck. In her excitement, she nipped at the roughened flesh there. The sudden short, breathless laugh Keeran gave then confused her almost as much as his words when he teased, “That’s my job.”
Emily would have asked what he meant by that comment, but a startled look had come over his face as if he were stunned by his own teasing, and he started to withdraw. Desperate not to see this interlude end, Emily tightened her hold on his neck and pressed her lips to his again. When he stilled in surprise, but did not kiss her back, she moved her mouth across his, then shyly slid her own tongue out to brush it across his lips as he had done to her.
The response she got to this ploy was startling. Apparently she had done it correctly, she decided with pleasure, as he began to kiss her again with a sudden urgency. This time his arms did not remain still around her, merely holding her close. His hands began to roam over her back, then slid around to smooth up over the cool cloth of her gown to cup her breasts. Emily gasped, her back straightening in a jerk that lifted the generous mounds upward out of his touch. Fortunately, his lovely hands followed, and Emily shuddered and quivered as excitement began shooting through her, little bolts of lightning that centered at her nipples but ran down to her stomach and lower still, causing an ache between her legs.
“My lord,” Emily moaned as he broke the kiss and his mouth began to travel down her neck.
“Yes,” he groaned back, not bothering to correct her reference to his title as he had on the stairs. He continued to palm and knead at the tightening flesh of one breast, but his other hand slid away, encircling her to urge her lower body closer as he pressed her upper body away with his caress. Both of them were still on their knees, and Emily gasped as his knee nudged between both of hers. But she couldn’t seem to draw breath at all when his hand dropped to catch her beneath her bottom and urge her upward until she rode his thigh. Their bodies came together like two pieces of a puzzle.
“Keeran.” She breathed his name and let her head drop back, offering his nibbling lips better access to her throat as his thigh rubbed against her, building her excitement.
Keeran gave a low groan as she offered her throat to him and his hunger became confused. The sweetness she unknowingly offered was tempting and, had he not just fed, he wasn’t sure he would have been able to resist a taste of her sweet-smelling blood. But he had just eaten and another hunger consumed him now, one he had not really suffered for many a year. Just the same, he withdrew his mouth from the area of her neck and the temptation it offered, allowing it to drop toward her breast. He
could feel the hard, excited pebble her nipple had become and tongued it through the cloth of her gown, but soon became frustrated with the hindrance.
With a growl, he tore at the cloth, rending it downward to expose the flesh he hungered for. Emily gasped out what might have been an “oh” or a “no”—Keeran wasn’t sure which. It was enough to make him hesitate, panting with effort as he struggled to regain control of himself. He could have wept with relief when she then slid her hands into his hair and drew his mouth hungrily back to her own. It had been a surprised “oh,” not a request for him to stop.
Keeran wanted to roar with triumph as he reclaimed her lips. He thrust his tongue deep and found one naked breast with his hand. The heat of her seemed to encompass him as he touched and kissed her. She felt like a living flame in his arms, and she seemed to grow warmer with every passing moment, with every new caress. She was searing his cooler skin with her heat. Keeran wanted to feel that heat everywhere. He wanted to feel her skin burn against every portion of his flesh. She made him feel alive.
Keeran knew she was innocent, that he had nothing to offer her. All he could do was take, but he couldn’t help himself. Breaking their kiss yet again, he ducked his head down and caught the warm flesh of her breast in his mouth to suckle eagerly. Her skin was salty and sweet all at once, a pleasure to his palate.
“Ohhh.” Emily tightened her grip on Keeran’s hair and pressed herself into him as he suckled. The ruined gown was drifting off her shoulders, leaving half her back bare to be heated by the fire. Keeran’s cool caress of her flesh had been an exciting counterpoint as he had palmed her breast and teased her nipples. Now he was driving her wild with his mouth, showing her pleasure as she had never known, while at the same time causing a yearning she didn’t understand. She wanted more, but what more could there be? How much excitement could she stand? And what would happen when she could stand it no more?
Cool fingers slid under her gown and brushed along the flesh of her inner leg. Emily instinctively clenched her legs around his thigh, trapping his hand there. She was suddenly aware that she had been riding his leg for several moments, unconsciously grinding herself against him, but she had no chance to feel embarrassed at this boldness. His hand did not remain trapped for long and was already creeping upward again. Emily found herself clutching at his hair reflexively, then tearing his head away from her bosom so that she might find his lips again. She seemed suddenly to need his mouth on hers more than she needed breath.
Keeran obliged her, claiming her lips, then urging them open so that he could thrust his tongue deep even as his fingers finally reached the center of her, the spot where all of her excitement and yearning were pooling. His touch was ice to fire and she felt the moisture created between her legs, then all she was aware of was that she was burning up as he caressed her.
Emily arched against him, her hands now slipping from his hair to clutch the cloth of his shirt. She was hardly aware that she had done so and that she was tugging at the expensive material until it rent apart, baring his chest. Though she had ruined the item of clothing, she felt no regret since the action allowed their flesh to meet. Emily groaned her pleasure into his mouth as her burning nipples rubbed across his chest. And she reveled in an answering groan from Keeran, pleased to know that he enjoyed it as much as she. His pleasure hadn’t occurred to her until then. Emily had been too swept away by the sensations overwhelming her to even consider his enjoyment, but now her mind was turned in that direction and she wished to please him as he was pleasing her. The problem was, she was unsure how to do so and it was most difficult to think with him touching her the way he was.
Emily never got the chance to come up with an idea—if her poor woolly mind could have at that point—for it was at that moment that a shriek came from the hallway.
“Oh! Get away, ye silly cat, or ye’ll be tripping me up and sending me to an early grave.” More was said, but in an incomprehensible mutter that Emily couldn’t make out. Not that she was paying much attention by that point. She and Keeran both froze at the first sound of the housekeeper’s voice, then jerked apart to stare in horror at the open door leading into the hall. Emily had forgotten herself so much that the fact that the door was open had quite fled her mind. Not only had she behaved shamelessly, she had done so with the door wide open for anyone to see. Not that there was anyone to see but Mrs. MacBain and her husband. Still, Emily could not believe she could behave so badly. Where had all her propriety gone? She was settling into a nice round of self-recrimination when Keeran reminded her of the more important matter at hand by releasing her from his embrace and attempting to draw the torn edges of her gown together to cover her nakedness.
Flushing wildly, Emily glanced down to avoid his eyes and noted the damage she had done to his shirt as well. Reaching out, she tried to repair that damage at the same time, but she simply got in the way of Keeran’s efforts.
“Never mind,” he said, suddenly turning her away and urging her toward the bed. “I shall stop Mrs. MacBain in the hall and tell her that you are tired and taking yourself off to bed. I’ll order her not to disturb you.”
Emily nodded, then just as quickly shook her head. “But what of your shirt?”
Keeran drew the two sides to overlap, then tucked the shirt more firmly into the top of his black breeches. “It will be fine,” he assured her when she looked doubtful. He started to turn away, then paused and turned back, pulling her close for another kiss. She suspected he had intended it to merely be a quick goodnight peck, but their passions were close to the surface yet and rekindled swiftly. The peck became a passionate melding of mouths that had Emily moaning in a heartbeat.
“Silly kitty. Get along with ye now. I’ve no time to be standing here petting the likes of ye.”
Keeran pulled away with a curse as Mrs. MacBain’s voice intruded again. It sounded terribly loud to Emily, as if she stood just outside the door or was speaking in an unusually loud tone.
“I had better go before she comes in here.”
“Yes.” Emily offered him a tremulous smile. “Thank goodness for the cat or she might already have come in.”
Keeran paused, blinked, then nodded slowly and turned away. He pulled the door closed behind him. The moment it clicked into place, Emily hurried forward and pressed her ear to the wood to listen to what took place in the hall.
Mrs. MacBain’s voice was loud and clear as she said, “Oh, sir. I was just coming to see if ye would care for more cocoa.”
Keeran’s voice was less loud and Emily couldn’t quite make out what he said, then Mrs. MacBain spoke more quietly so that she couldn’t be heard, either. Presuming they had moved off down the hall, Emily heaved a sigh and turned back to her room. It was aglow with candlelight and appeared terribly romantic. The dirt and dust were hardly noticeable in this soft light. Smiling, she drifted around the room, blowing out candles. Then she removed the torn gown, donned a fresh one, and climbed beneath the bedclothes. It was only once she was there, warm under the blankets and wrapped in the safe darkness of night, that she allowed herself to think about what had just taken place.
Keeran MacKay was an exceptional man who had done exceptional things to her. She couldn’t wait for morning to come so that she could see him again.
He would have to avoid her from now on. Keeran told himself that sternly as he stared into the fireplace in the library. He was sitting in the same chair he had found Emily sleeping in when he had returned earlier, and he fancied he could still feel a trace of her heat there. He could definitely smell the sweet soap she had used in her bath. It seemed to cling to the fabric of the chair, a gentle reminder of her presence.
Keeran would have to content himself with that reminder. He had learned tonight that he didn’t have the control he had always prided himself on. For over two hundred years, control had been an issue of utmost importance to him. The hunger, when it struck, was almost crippling in its strength, and the urge to drink and drink until his victim was dry, ra
ther than stop and find another to feed from, could be strong, but he had fought these urges for what seemed like forever. Yet tonight another hunger had overwhelmed his supposed control, and it had taken only a matter of minutes. Seconds, perhaps. The scent of her, the taste of her mingled with that drop of blood he had unthinkingly licked from her finger, the look of yearning in her eyes ... All of these things had combined to leave him helpless before desires he hadn’t felt since his turning, in ways he hadn’t even realized he still could feel.
Keeran wanted to tell himself that it had been so long since he had even felt these desires that he was simply taken by surprise, that the next time he would be more in control. But he knew it wasn’t so. While it was true he hadn’t felt desire for several decades, he knew that the next time he would not be more in control. Even now his body still ached for her, and he was fighting the insane urge to return to her room, climb into bed with her, and take all the sweetness and innocence she had to offer. The problem was that he had nothing to offer her in return. Eternal damnation and a waking death hardly seemed a fair trade for the passion, companionship, and love he was sure he could have with Emily. No. He would rather see her married to the earl of Sinclair than make her his partner in death. He definitely had to stay away from her. It would be hard to resist her, and he doubted she would aid in the endeavor, but for her own sake he had to.
Chapter Four
Emily finished applying the last bit of paint to the wall of the dining room, then stood back to survey her efforts. This was the special chore she had returned to the village for, earlier in the week. She had gone to purchase paint for the castle. Of course, it’d had to be ordered from the south and carted up to the village, but she had convinced the store owner—with the promise of a generous bribe— to leave his store in his wife’s care and travel down to collect the paint himself to get it here quicker. Emily had been sure to order colors as close as possible to those that had already been peeling off the walls of the castle. She hadn’t wished to upset Keeran unduly with too much change.