Tempting the Highlander (28 page)

She paused and looked him in the eye. She was laying a trap. No effort had been made to conceal her objective and any man could have avoided becoming ensnared, but Crevan opted to do what he had always done. She knew the truth anyway. “Aye, I promise.”

Hearing those three words, Raelynd moved in close once again. “You know me better than anyone. Even better than my father because he refuses to acknowledge my faults. Meriel wants to be honest, but we are too close and her nature won’t allow her to see me as anything but her sister. But not you. You have always seen me as I am. Look at me. I see you. All of you. And I love everything that I see. You cannot refuse my heart for I have already given it to you.”

Crevan swallowed and studied how the moonlight was playing against her. Waves of gold tumbled over her shoulders and he remembered how her softly rounded breasts felt in his hands and tasted in his mouth. Every muscle in his body tensed and he forced his eyes to close in an effort to block out her beauty. His memory, however, could not be ceased so easily. His self-control was at its breaking point. He could no longer deny that her feelings for him ran just as deep, just as strong as his did for her. But it changed nothing.

Crevan’s jaw tightened and his gaze swept over her in one swift, heated glance. “You need to leave, Raelynd. Now.”

“I’m not going anywhere. I came here to talk to you. I want the truth.”

“Fine, here is the truth. You should not be here and you know that. Hasn’t sneaking out like this already put you in enough danger? Why aren’t you in bed?”

Raelynd ignored his bark and without warning leaned against him, resting her hands on his chest. “I beg you do not treat me as a child. I know that something happened today and tomorrow everything might change, but here, right now, I need you and you need me.”

Her innocently whispered plea ended the internal battle Crevan had been waging with himself. No longer did he possess the will to resist. Giving in to his primal desires, he whispered her name and taking her face into his hands, closed his mouth roughly over hers, searing her lips to his. Raelynd did not resist. With a muffled cry, she threw her arms around his neck and returned the feverish embrace.

Holding her face gently between his hands, he refused to let her go long after the time the kiss should have come to an end. Instead, he lingered against her lips, kissing them soft and deep, capturing her tongue and drawing it into his own mouth. She was offering the essence of her vibrant spirit and he accepted fully, completely knowing that it would forever consume his soul. Never would there be another woman for him.

Raelynd sucked in a quivering breath when he finally released her lips. But he was not letting her go. Hot, intense, dangerously compelling sexual desire blazed in his eyes. There were so many questions still between them, but she could not remember what they were. All she knew was that she loved Crevan with every bit of her heart and that he felt the same about her. That was all that mattered.

Urging Raelynd to her tiptoes, Crevan curved his hand around the nape of her neck and bent his head to kiss her again, softer this time. Breathing in her scent, he moved to bury his face in her neck, delighting in the softness of her skin. She moaned and it sent sparks flying through his body. He began to stroke her back, keeping her body pressed to his, half hoping, half fearing that his evident desire would make her stop him. But she didn’t pull away. Instead, her fingers clenched around his shoulders and he knew then that he was not going to be able to stop. His want for Raelynd was too great. She was his and tonight he would stake his claim. No one else would ever know her like him.

Moving from her neck, his lips traveled lower, as his fingers caught the edge of her gown and began to slide it off her shoulder. Crevan pulled her close to him and he heard her gasp as he cradled one of her breasts in his hand. Slowly he kneaded the soft mound through the velvet barrier as he continued to assault her shoulder and neck with kisses. He waited until she was quivering so violently she could no longer stand before he scooped her up in his arms.

Taken by surprise, Raelynd instinctively clutched Crevan’s shoulders as he carried her to the soft grass where he had placed his plaid. His strength belied the fact that while she was not large, she was tall and far from being considered lightweight. And yet he moved as though she were weightless. In a handful of steps, they were by the fire and she felt her slippered feet once again touch ground. Apprehensive he might change his mind and try to send her away again, Raelynd threw her arms around him and kissed him with renewed eagerness, relieved when he returned the embrace.

Crevan had no intention of sending Raelynd away. Short of her ordering him to stop he doubted he could end what he had started. He was clinging to the fleeting remnants of his self-control just enough to keep things slow lest he frighten her away. Burying his head once again in her nape, he reassured himself that Raelynd really was in his arms, wanting him, desiring him just as much as he did her.

Returning to her lips, he kissed her, lingering, savoring every moment as he began to untie the laces of her bliaut. Once loose, he drugged her with a mind-numbing kiss and then quickly pulled the heavy gown over her head. Then, not daring to raise his mouth from hers for fear that he might somehow lose her, he pushed the chemise off her shoulders and finished undressing her. Naked in his arms, she was perfection and Crevan knew he would never again see another to compare. Gently, he picked her up again and settled her on his soft, worn plaid. A moment later, he reclaimed her mouth as he lowered himself along the length of her.

Raelynd moaned with partial comprehension of her undressed state. Crevan was kissing her with an intimate aggression that seared her senses, making her think only of what her body was telling her and that it wanted more, not less. Whenever he started to stop and pull away, her fingers clenched around his shoulders and kept him from leaving.

Wanting to touch and caress him, Raelynd reached and tried to pull free his leine. Need, not experience, caused her to release his buckle, freeing his belted plaid from his waist. With a groan, Crevan tore his mouth free from hers and sat up, causing the cool night air to tease her overheated skin. Quickly he stripped off his leine and carelessly tossed it aside. For an instant, he stood naked in the moonlight and black hair formed a triangle on his chest, accentuating the muscled breadth of his torso. Her eyes scanned downward to rest on his lean hips, long powerful legs, and what was between them. Raelynd’s pulse increased, running hotter and faster. She wanted him. God, she wanted him. She closed her eyes, afraid he might see her blatant lust for his body.

The feel of his weight let her know that he had rejoined her side. When his fingertips lightly stroked her cheeks, her eyes fluttered open and were captured by the intensity of his gaze. Her heart raced. Blue pools burrowed deep into her, communicating directly to her soul.
I know you. I know you as no one ever has. I want you. I will have you.
And offering no resistance, she pulled his mouth down to hers. His kiss held so much tenderness she thought her heart would swell in her chest and choke her.

Crevan slowly lavished kisses over every inch of her face. As he did so, his thick mat of hair rubbed against her nipples, causing her to moan with true pleasure. He had intended to be gentle and slow, knowing Raelynd was riding on a river of emotions and sensations that he had created, but her jutting breasts and narrow waist were playing havoc with his remaining self-control.

His eyes became shadowed with excitement as his mouth trailed down her throat and his hand found her breast, cupping it gently, almost reverently. Sexual tension seized his insides and he allowed his thumb to slide over the hardened nub. Slowly he made his way down to her breasts.

“You’re so beautiful . . . so incredibly beautiful,” Crevan whispered, just before he took the nipple into his mouth. The taste of it sent a shudder of excitement through him and he thought he would go out of his mind with the steadily growing craving to know every morsel of her delectable body.

At first, Raelynd thought she was in heaven as Crevan held her between his lips, flicking his tongue over her sensitive flesh, but then he began to suckle. The added stimulus was too much, and Raelynd lost restraint and began to writhe beneath him. A wanting so intense pulsed throughout her body causing her most secret place to dew. But he was not done. Turning his attention to the other breast, his tongue was velvet torture. She twisted and moaned while her hands clung to his shoulders as Crevan transported her to a realm where torture and delight were one.

He kissed the curve of her breast and she felt his hands encircle her slender form, clinching her, and then slowly slide downward. Lost in a liquid fire, Raelynd held her breath as Crevan began an intimate caress of her thighs. Remembering what he had done before, she found that it was exactly the relief she had been wishing for and arched her back in eagerness for his touch.

Up and down, closer, closer, his fingertips teased her until the blood pounded in her veins and she felt her knees tremble. Her entire body began to shake as his hands finally drifted over her mound and his fingers laced through the soft thatch of hair between her legs. They stilled and soon the pressure of his palm was not enough for her. Raelynd crushed his plaid in her grip as her hips lifted involuntarily off the ground in demand of more.

“Crevan, please,” she pleaded.

“Shhhh . . .” he whispered in her ear, but complied with her demand and touched her in that most intimate of places.

Raelynd sucked in her breath. Desire scorched through her, igniting sensations he had only just begun to introduce to her and she longed to experience them again. Slowly he parted her with one finger, then another, opening her as she rocked against his hand.

Crevan smiled, letting his finger tease the rim of her melting wet core. Her uninhibited response was more than he could have ever dreamed. He languidly explored her with a deliberate possessiveness, finding all the secret, hidden places and making them tingle with need. She was hot, wet, and more than ready. And it all belonged to him.

Her female scent filled his senses, making Crevan only desire her even more. He continued to tease, touch, and play, stroking the flames of her heat until she was writhing, crying out in demand for more. The overwhelming invitation was one he could no longer deny. With the increasing urgency of her body’s unconscious demands, he was at last close to the prospect of his own satisfaction.

Settling himself between her legs, he continued his attentions until she cried out in a desperate plea, “Please
. . .
please, Crevan.”

Crevan grinned and began to move his hips, allowing his arousal to rub against her. Cupping her breast with his hand, he kissed her deeply. “There is nothing to be afraid of,” he whispered in her ear. “Trust me, love. Never doubt me again.”

Raelynd was drowning in a world of sensations, her mouth, her breasts, everything was competing with her lower body, and they were losing. She heard him talking, making promises, but all she could say was please. She was on the brink of something and Crevan was the only one who could give it to her. Without it, she was sure she would perish.

She felt his hand on her thighs, urging them to part as he slowly lifted her hips and began to penetrate. Then he stopped. “Raelynd . . . open your eyes.”

The tip of his manhood was just touching her sex and yet he refused to continue. “Raelynd . . . look at me.”

The request finally penetrated her passion-filled senses and she did as requested. At the same time, instinct took over and she twisted, forcing Crevan to drive forward and slide into her in one swift thrust. Sharp pain enveloped her. Raelynd closed her eyes and she cried out in astonishment, despite being foretold years earlier by her chambermaid of what to expect. But what her maid had failed to account for was Crevan’s size. He was big. Very big. He was opening her, stretching her, making a place for himself in the very heart of her.

Crevan gathered every scrap of his remaining self-control and paused, allowing her to adjust before going any further. The pain, so evident on her face when he entered her, soon disappeared and Crevan could refrain no longer.

Making love to Raelynd was like entering the gates of heaven. She was so warm and soft, the throbbing in his loins was near unbearable. He could not stop himself and tried to slow his pace, but with each thrust she greeted him more eagerly.

“Put your legs around me.” Crevan groaned the barely audible instruction. His face fell against her neck. When he felt her legs gather to obey him, he began to move, with each thrust growing in need and force.

Crevan rose to see her face. He was close, but Raelynd was even closer. Her eyes were wide open, iridescent-gold-ringed peridots brimming with love. Then with a loud cry, she began to shake with pleasure as it engulfed her body. With each shudder, her velvety tightness gripped him. Exquisite, intense, primal pleasure—it was so much more than he had imagined.

Delirious, she lay beneath him, her body still quivering from pure sensation and yet she refused to let him go. He could not recall a single time he had been with someone who held on to him the way she was and he knew why. Raelynd would never let him go.

With that knowledge, Crevan drove into her one last time, filling her completely, and in that instant his entire body suddenly became rigid. He felt himself disassembling as his passion raged beyond his control. He buried his face in the pillow of her hair to filter the savagery of his cry. Ecstasy met sensation in a way he had not thought possible.

Long minutes passed and gradually Raelynd came back to earth. Crevan had done the impossible. He had gained her trust, so completely that she let go of every bit of control and gave herself completely. She was now his. He had taken her, possessed her, claimed her, in ways she had never dreamed. She had not thought it possible to love him more, but she did.

Crevan didn’t have the strength left in him to roll away and he was unfazed by the prospect of staying right where he was forever. Raelynd was the perfect lover. She was natural, unself-conscious, and incredibly seductive. Just then, Raelynd pulled away and fear struck his heart in that half second before she moved to curl into the curve of his body. Safe in his arms, she gazed up and traced a finger along his jawline.