IntoEternity (12 page)

Now he thought to play a game. He had not made a sound to
give himself away but she knew he was there. He brought the scent of all things
earthy with him. The smell of the great outdoors clung to him, the smell of
grass and pine forest, horse sweat and leather.

Maybe she should have been more stubborn about the
arrangement she found herself in but in truth she was content. During a long
conversation with Suisan and Melinda while they cleaned her rooms she had
learned of Alexander’s reputation as a fierce Highland warrior. According to
the maids, many feared the laird of the Sutherland clan and his fierce
warriors…but Alexander did not frighten her.

She found herself attracted to him despite the short time
they had been together, which was a good thing if she had to spend the next
year living with him. She found security behind his fortress walls and she was
willing to put herself into the safety of his gentle hands, at least for the
time being. There was a sense of rightness with what was happening to her. In analyzing
her feelings on the matter, she’d been surprised to find that being in this
keep felt as if she’d come home after a long absence.

Clearly her grandparents wanted this for her. Why else would
Hagen trick her and basically pawn her as if she were a prize brood mare? She
frowned at the thought. She should be angry with him but in her heart she knew
he had done this in her best interest. If she didn’t love him and Maeve, Gusty
would consider hunting the old fool down and making him pay for his
deceitfulness. Had Maeve known about his betrayal? She had planned on Gusty
marrying the Ross and now…?

She really hated the idea of being railroaded into a
marriage. Her grandparents had worked hard to convince her that it was her
destiny as the long-lost daughter of a mighty Scottish laird. But when she had asked
about her father they had become evasive. They would say only that he was one
of the greatest warriors in all the Highlands. Alexander knew her father. He
had admitted as much to Black Bart. Why hadn’t he said anything to her about
him? Was it her father who sent Alexander to claim her?
Men.
Who could
understand them?

Gusty wanted to fall in love before she married. Was it too
much to ask if she waited a while before agreeing to marry a perfect stranger?
Get to know him first. A shudder ran down her back at the thought. It did not
matter to her if he was a powerful Scottish laird or a peasant—she wanted a man
who loved her.

As she grew out of her adolescent years into womanhood she
had taken with her the dreams she’d developed after reading hundreds of romance
novels and watching nearly as many romantic films. In her mind, every woman on
Earth had one true love. But in the last two years of her life she had begun to
doubt she would ever find her soulmate. Was it possible she had finally found him?
Was Alexander the man of her dreams?

She smiled at the thought but kept her eyes closed as she
leaned back in the large wooden tub filled with steaming-hot water and some
wonderful-smelling scent. Let him get an eyeful of what she had to offer and
then she would turn on him and blast him with pretend outrage. Feeling rather
bold and wanting to see just how far she could push him, Gusty held out her
hand and feigned ignorance of his presence.

“Violet, please hand me that ball of soap from the stool.”
She waited, wondering if Alexander would play lady’s maid for her.

The soap was placed in her hand without a word.

Keeping her eyes closed, Gusty raised her arms and began to
lather herself, using long, graceful strokes. The soft sound of shuffling feet
in the rushes behind her gave away her husband’s restlessness. She heard a
heavy thud and then a low curse. Heavens, had she distracted him so badly he
was now running into the furniture? She grinned and snorted back a laugh. She
rather liked being the seductress. Again she held out her hand.

“Violet.” She would teach him to come into the room and
pretend to be someone else. “Could you please hand me that washing cloth?”

A small square of soft cloth was placed in her hand but Alexander
remained stubbornly mute. By the time she was finished running the cloth over
her neck and face and down over her breasts and belly in slow, seductive
movements, she was ready to give up and scream at him for being so mule-headed.
What more did he expect from her? She was definitely not putting on a strip
show for his benefit. She’d only intended to tease him a little.

A horrible thought crossed her mind, bringing to a
screeching halt all her well-laid plans. What if Alexander did not find her all
that desirable? What if he stood behind her, looking at her with a critical eye
and finding her lacking? She clutched the sides of the tub in a white-knuckled
grip at the alarming thought but the sound of heavy breathing behind her gave
her hope and she relaxed. Maybe she shouldn’t give up quite yet.
One
more
try
, she thought and held out her hand.

“Could you please bring me some of that delicious-smelling
shampoo?”

No sound of movement met her ears and her hand remained
empty. She waited and waited and then waited some more. She opened her mouth to
ask again, fearing he had not heard her, when finally he spoke.

“What is shampoo?”

With a squeak of surprise, Gusty sank low in the water so
that the high walls of the tub concealed her exposed flesh. She drew up her
knees to her chest as she hunched herself forward, her eyes wide with shock.

Momentarily stunned, she turned her head and found herself
looking into the innocent face of the little, red-headed boy. He gazed at her
over the side of the bathtub with large silver eyes.

“What is shampoo?” he asked her once again, his brows
scrunched together and a slight frown on his face.

For a moment Gusty swore she caught a devilish twinkle in
his now-innocent gaze.

“You? What are
you
doing in here?” Gusty demanded.

“I am Duncan Sinclair and I came up to ask Alexander if he
would let me go hunting with his men tomorrow.”

“Duncan is it? Well, although I am pleased to finally know
your name, it is not appropriate for you to be spying on a lady while she is
bathing.”

“Oh do not worry. I have seen naked lassies before.”

“Why you little pervert! Where did you see a naked…lassie?”

“Down at the seashore. The dairymaids go down and take a dip
every once in a while. They do not mind me watching them. Sometimes they let me
bathe with them. They are so silly though. They giggle too much for my taste.
You have nice, big titties, Gusty.”

“Duncan! You should not say such things! Now get out of
here!”

“I want to ask Alexander if I can go hunting.”

“Well as you can see he is not here.” Then curiosity got the
best of her. “Why did you stay when you knew he was not here?”

“You seemed to need help bathing and since Violet wasn’t
here, I figured I should help.”

That explained why he stayed but not why he had not made his
presence known to her.

“Why didn’t you say something when you first came in?”

The little imp grinned widely and shuffled toward the door. “I
wanted to see what a real selkie looked like without her clothes. I heard a selkie
is so beautiful a man would do anything to possess her.” He winked at her,
causing her cheeks to grow warm. “I think that it might be true.”

“You precocious little devil. You came in here just to peek
at me while I was bathing. I should tell your cousin about your rudeness.”

Duncan shrugged and his grin grew wider, a rakish imitation
of his older cousin.

“What are Alexander and his men hunting tomorrow?”

“They are hunting Viking scum! Aye the bastards keep coming
up the coast and causing trouble north of here.”

His eyes lit up. Apparently he found the prospect of being
part of a hunting party that would probably kill other human beings quite
exciting.

A chill skittered down Gusty’s back. At that moment she felt
more of an outlander than she had since arriving in this century. How would she
survive in a barbaric world such as this where kill or be killed was as common
to everyday life as breathing? The idea was nearly too much for her to
contemplate.

“Could you please go now? I would like to get out of this
tub.”

“Of course, my lady.” Duncan started to leave but stopped at
the door. “By the by, what is shampoo?”

“I’ll tell you some other time, all right?”

He seemed content enough with that answer because he
departed, leaving Gusty alone with her dark thoughts. She really needed to talk
to Maeve or Hagen. If she was going to survive in this century, she needed some
reassurance. Perhaps Alexander would let her go visit them.

Perhaps while he was away…hunting.

Gusty watched Alexander enter the dimly lit chamber,
stopping to bolt the door behind him. His gaze traversed the room. Did he see
her there, already ensconced in his bed? She lay very still, pretending to be
asleep. After watching her for a few moments he turned away and she breathed a
quiet sigh of relief. She wanted to observe him for a bit, unnoticed…

On silent feet he moved to the hearth, just out of her line
of sight and threw a couple of logs on the dying fire. She shifted in the bed
behind him and smiled at the sight of his fine physique, highlighted in the
glow of the newly stoked flames. For several long minutes he stood staring into
the fire until it grew into a roaring blaze, brightening the chamber. What was
he thinking, she wondered? Had he thought about tonight and what he wanted to
happen between them as she had done? Had he worried about how he would take her?
She longed to be seduced with gentle caresses and sweet words to make up for
the first time he had taken her on the grass above the seashore, when he’d acted
more like a rutting animal than a gentle lover. He glanced at the bed again and
Gusty lay still. After a moment he shook his head.

Gusty adjusted her position on the bed again as
unobtrusively as she could manage on a mattress stuffed with noisy straw. She
watched every movement Alexander made.

She had originally thought to keep him at arm’s distance
until she had time to consider the strange circumstances surrounding their
relationship. Should she stay with Alexander or find her way back to her
grandparents and demand they fix the mess they’d created? The situation had
grown more complicated. Not only did she want his kisses and caresses, she
wanted to touch him, to kiss him in return…but was that enough?

The thought of having sex with Alexander again, kissing him
as he took her and brought her to an orgasm so fierce she screamed long and
loud had her stomach clenching in anticipation. The memory of the first time
with him had her tingling all over. She watched through half-closed eyes as Alexander
sat on a stool and untied the lacings that held up his boots. He slipped them
off and set them aside before he stood and stripped out of his clothing.

As he turned slowly to give her a full frontal view, Gusty
gasped with awe. Alexander literally took her breath away. He was definitely
the most perfectly formed man she had ever seen. He was beautifully sculptured,
not like the bodybuilders she had seen on television who were so bulked up that
their muscles were grotesque. The muscle Alexander carried came from daily hard
work and hours spent on the practice field. Alexander Sinclair was indeed a
magnificent specimen of manhood. His tremendous strength was evident, beautiful
and deadly.

Alexander reminded Gusty of the magnificent statue she had
seen on display in a museum. Adonis, God’s gift to women, only in the flesh. A
mat of dark, curly hair covered his massive chest, tapered to a thin line down
over his abdomen, trailed down to his groin and flared into a thick thatch from
which his erection stood out, taut and tumescent. She could not pull away her
gaze. The thought of getting her hands on his beautiful body had her cheeks
heating up, her heart beating faster and her breath coming in small, panting
gasps. Luckily the lighting in the chamber was poor or he might have been able
to read the wicked thoughts that were no doubt reflected in her eyes.

Alexander turned his head and looked straight at her. She lay
in the middle of the bed, studying him with wide eyes.

As if he were a wolf stalking his prey, he crossed the
chamber slowly until he reached the end of the large bed. The smoldering look
in his eyes bolstered her confidence. She had been somewhat worried about spending
this night in his bed but apparently she had worried needlessly. Even if she
didn’t acknowledge her desire aloud, she wanted him as much as he wanted her.
This would be a night neither of them would soon forget.

With a not-quite-steady hand, he lifted the bedcovers and
slid in beside her. “We have to discuss something of great importance, my
sweet.”

His weight tilted the mattress, throwing her against him,
and her hands landed in the middle of his chest, her body molded against the
length of his.

“What is it you want to discuss?” Gusty whispered huskily.

He shook his head, as if chasing away some errant thought,
and Gusty chewed on her lower lip.

“Stop,” he said, placing a finger on her lips. “You’ll
distract me and I cannot afford to be distracted just yet.”

She reached up to push a curl of hair back from her face and
he imprisoned her hand and brought it back to rest on his chest.

With her hand pressed against his chest, her breathing
stilled for a moment. She could feel the pounding of his heart beneath her
fingertips and she stared at his hand that covered hers, avoiding his gaze.

“My beautiful selkie,” Alexander whispered, running his free
hand up over her hip, caressing her waist and then moving higher, across her
shoulder, until he reached the nape of her neck where he tunneled his fingers
into her hair. “Do not be frightened, sweet Augusta.”

She shivered in his arms and a sigh escaped her parted lips.
“I am not afraid of you, Alexander,” she said in a low, raspy voice.

He grinned at her statement and she chose that moment to
look up at him. She gazed at his mouth and sighed and then she lifted her head
and leaned into him, her lips parting slightly as he bent his head. She closed
her eyes at the last moment and instead of feeling his lips on hers, he turned
to bring his mouth to her ear.

“Why won’t you look at me?” he murmured, placing a whisper-soft
kiss on the sensitive spot beneath her earlobe then licking her flesh.

She shivered and tilted her head ever so slightly, giving
him better access to her neck.

“I am looking at you.” She paused a moment. “I can see your
broad shoulder and your strong arm.”

At her answer he raised his head and stared down into her
eyes.

“I am looking at your strong chin and your wonderfully firm,
warm lips and…” She paused as her gaze met his and she swallowed. “I’m looking
at your beautiful silver eyes.” Her voice had dropped to barely a whisper.

He groaned and his lips covered hers in a kiss that told her
he understood exactly what she was trying to say.

She found him attractive.

She wanted him.

“Trust me, sweet Augusta. I will be gentle with you.”

His words were a soft murmur against her skin as his lips
burned a fiery trail across her cheek. She sighed, letting his warm, honeyed
voice flow over her, giving herself up to his sweet caresses.

He lowered his head and his teeth grazed the skin at the
hollow of her shoulder, pushing the neck of her gown aside. His lips moved over
her flesh, placing little kisses and nips, setting small fires of desire with
every inch revealed. She answered him with soft gasps and sighs of pleasure.

Lost in the feel and smell and taste of her great Highland
laird, she paid little attention to the words he mumbled as he made love to her
with his mouth. Her heart pounded madly, her stomach muscles clenched and hot
blood pooled low in her abdomen. She wanted more. She needed to feel every part
of him. Her hands moved frantically over his broad chest and shoulders and down
his back, exploring, caressing him. He was as hard as steel and hot. So hot!

He raised his head to gaze down at her.

“This is only the beginning, my sweet Augusta.” He covered
her mouth with his, molding, shaping his lips over hers, gently exploring, as
if he were tasting a fine wine.

Gusty placed her hands on his shoulders and leaned forward
until their mouths were a breath apart, but instead of kissing him she turned
her head and brushed his cheek with her lips, trailed a path of soft kisses to
his ear, where she took the lobe into her mouth and suckled then nipped him
with her teeth.

She could not tell from his low growl if he was pleased or
not at her boldness but he was definitely hot and bothered. He thrust his
swollen, hard erection against her thigh.

Somewhere along the way he had eased back against the
pillows until she lay sprawled across his chest, letting her have her way with
him. The idea intrigued and excited her. She tortured him with her mouth and
lips and hands, hoping to drive him mad with desire. But to her consternation,
he lay passive, eyes closed and hands fisted at his sides.

When she finally worked her way back to his chin he stiffened
and she smiled with satisfaction. At last a reaction… She moved her mouth
toward his but at the last moment she hesitated. She stared solemnly down at
him. Alexander opened his eyes.

“What is it, my sweet? Tell me.”

“I…I’ve never…”

She paused and her face and neck grew warm. She dropped her
gaze shyly. How to tell him? He studied her for a moment and then smiled,
obviously catching her meaning.

“I’ve never done this sort of thing. I have never seduced a
man and I’m not sure how to proceed,” she whispered, her voice strained and
cracking.

“I would expect no less from an innocent, sweet Augusta. You
are mine now, to have, to hold and to protect from this day forward. I will
teach you how to please only one man, your man. I am your first and I will be
your last. Forever,” Alexander declared passionately, sweeping her onto her
back with one great motion.

He pressed light kisses over her brows, her eyes, her nose
and down over her cheeks to her neck, then finally settling on her mouth. She
sighed and wrapped her arms tightly around his neck, pulling him closer. Gusty
gave back in equal measure the passion she received.

“Touch me, Gusty. I want to feel your hands on me,”
Alexander whispered against her lips. “Make me burn!”

Gathering her courage, Gusty let instinct take control of
her hands and slowly began to explore his body. Smoothing her palms down over
the hard muscles of his brawny back, she reveled in the heat under her
fingertips. She caressed the smooth skin along his flanks, ran her hands down
over his hips and buttocks. With her fingers splayed, she clutched his ass,
squeezing and kneading. She raked her nails lightly over his skin and his groan
of pleasure encouraged her to continue.

Hesitantly she moved her exploration to the front of him,
feeling, touching every inch of him as her hands trailed down the line of crisp
hair that ran down to his abdomen and lower. But when she moved to take hold of
his thick erection he grabbed her hand and stopped her.

“I won’t last if you continue, Augusta.” He placed kisses on
both of her hands before placing them on his shoulders. His head dipped and he
whispered a command. “Open your mouth, sweet selkie.”

He flicked the seam of her lips with the tip of his tongue
to show her what he wanted. She parted her lips and he thrust his tongue into
her mouth, stroked his velvety tongue against hers and she responded by
tentatively imitating his motions. He teased and caressed until she lay
writhing beneath him, pulling at him, arching against him as if she could
burrow right into him.

As he ravaged her with his mouth, his hands moved over the
sensitive skin of her neck and shoulders, stroking her gently. She moved
beneath him, trying to ease the tightening and tingling of her flesh, her
nipples pebbled against the movement of the fabric of her nightgown. She ached for
his touch, wanted to feel his hands on her breasts, caressing them with his
strong, calloused fingers.

“I want to feel you, Gusty. I need to touch you.”

She nodded her encouragement, burning up with a feverish
lust she did not know how to relieve. She knew only that she needed his touch,
wanted him to caress her and make her skin dance with pleasure.

Silently thanking Violet for her choice of nightgowns,
Alexander moved his hands down until he found the hem of the delicate garment.
With a flip of his wrists he had it up and over her head, and he tossed it
aside. Then he pulled her into his arms, his mouth covering hers, his tongue
laying siege to hers. The sensation of bare skin against bare skin sent him
reeling with passion. His hips moved against hers, adding a new urgency to the
mixture.

Alexander felt her hardened nipples against his chest and
moved ever so slightly to add to her pleasure. She moaned and he smiled and
moved again. And then he lowered his head and gave her pleasure with his mouth
and tongue. He took one dusky-tipped breast into his mouth, suckling it until
she writhed beneath him. Then he switched to lavish the same attention on her
other breast. She clutched at his hair, pulled him closer, arched up, offered
him more.

He proceeded with care, not wanting to rush things, wanting
to linger over every little inch of her. They had all night to discover each
other and he would not take his new bride in a rough, hurried fashion. As his
kiss deepened, Gusty responded to his passionate fervor. She threaded her
fingers in his hair, keeping him pressed to her, rubbing her breasts against
his chest. His hard cock pressed against the inside of her thigh.

“Say you want this, Augusta. Let me love you. Dear God! I
want you now. Say you want me as well.”

Alexander moved against her, letting her feel how badly he
needed her. The sweet, passionate kiss she gave him was all the answer he
needed, told him better than words that she trusted him and was ready to accept
him completely as her husband. She greeted his tongue with hers and he deepened
their kiss. Leaving her lips swollen and thoroughly ravished, Alexander moved
on to other territory.

“Open yourself for me, my selkie,” he whispered as he moved
over her, his knee coming between hers, spreading her silky white thighs wide.

“Sweet, sweet Gusty,” he murmured, taking her lips once
more. “You are so beautiful.” His hand found the soft curls between her legs.