Authors: Jenna Stone
His hips pressed
against me in response to his name. My body reacted instantly, surging my hips
up to meet his. His fingers left my breast and slid down the length of my
body.
No! Don’t
stop…please don’t stop!
I sighed in relief
as he worked his way up under the tail of my shirt, gliding his fingers over my
flushed skin and back up to my breast. The feeling of his fingers against my
bare skin without the barrier of the linen shirt was exquisite.
When his fingers
returned to my breast and he began to tease my nipple skin to skin, I became
wild with desire, calling out his name again and pressing my hips up against
him again. I had never before felt such delicious passion and I threw my head
back against the pillow, succumbing to Devon’s expert fingers as they played my
breast.
Devon trailed
kisses down my neck as he continued to tease my sensitive nipple with his
fingers. His breath was warm above my breast and his lips hovered just above
his skilled fingers as his eyes watched me respond to his touch. His mouth
came down on my nipple through the linen fabric and I came undone. The
sensation of his wet mouth on my breast was so foreign, so arousing. I arched
my back in response to his assault and when I thought that I could take no
more, he began to suckle through the fabric, teasing my nipple with his tongue
and his teeth.
My hands were
everywhere, clawing his back, running through his hair, pulling him closer.
His teeth nipped
playfully at me through the fabric and his eyes met mine. They were clouded
with desire. He smiled that lopsided smile as he continued to torment my
nipple with his fingers. Playfully, he blew on the wet fabric, and I inhaled
sharply as the chill of his breath caused a tantalizing sensation on my skin.
“Ye like that do ye?”
he whispered devilishly, as he held eye contact with me and shifted the
neckline of his shirt so as to bare my breast. His palm cupped me and he again
flicked his thumb gently over my nipple, eliciting a groan from me at I
anticipated his sweet torment. “Yes,” I whispered,
unashamed that I did like what he was doing to me.
Ever so slowly, he
brought his mouth down to my breast, taking me into his mouth – flesh against
flesh. I writhed in ecstasy beneath him, as his tongue licked my sensitive
skin and caused my nipple to harden with arousal. I came undone when he began
so suckle, growling deep in his throat.
He groaned loudly
and suckled my naked breast, teasing me with his tongue and biting me gently.
He worshiped my body with unflagging joy, finding his own pleasure by giving
pleasure to me.
“Oh my sweet
Katherine,” he growled, pressing himself against me.
I froze, tensing
beneath him. My passion was instantly gone, and my thoughts sprung back to
reality.
“What’s wrong,
sweetheart?” he asked, now looking up at me with concerned worry in his green
eyes.
I watched as the
passion faded from his eyes. His overwhelming concern for me, his innocence in
this situation coupled with the fact that he had just cried out
her
name
brought my walls crashing down.
He’s falling in
love with her. With Katherine Berkshire, not me.
Hot tears stained
my cheeks and I sat up abruptly, covering myself with his shirt. Devon looked
confused, hurt and unsure of how to proceed. He raised a hand to touch me and
then thought better of it, retracting his hand and placing it on the bed
between us.
Seeing him like
this was painful. It was all because of my lies.
“I’m sorry, Kate,”
he whispered, raking a hand through his just-tousled hair. “I’ve pushed ye tae
soon, and I’m sorry.” His eyes searched mine for a response and he still did
not more to touch me.
I wiped away my
tears and looked away from him, biting my lip. I remembered how that drove him
wild, and promptly stopped biting my lip.
“It’s not you, Devon…it’s
alright. You didn’t do anything wrong,” I stammered, flustered by my overreaction.
“It’s just that my father used to call me that – Katherine, and…”
“Hush, love, it’s
alright,” he said as he cautiously brushed my hair back from my face, gauging
how I would react to his touch. Seeing that I did not flinch or move away from
him, he reached up and wiped the remnants of my tears away with his thumbs.
“Ye doona need tae explain it tae me now,” he purred, gentling me and gathering
me softly against his chest.
I was so
confused. I had let down my guard with Devon, had almost been successful at
forgetting about Katherine Berkshire. I was so embarrassed by my overreaction and
I wondered what Devon must be thinking about me now.
“Lay yer head,
lass,” he whispered as he rubbed my back soothingly and settled me next to him
in the massive bed.
I curled against
him, feeling supported and safe. His hands stroked my skin reassuringly, but I
could tell that he had been caught off guard by my unexpected reaction.
“Hush,
Kate…everything’s going tae be alright. I’m here now,” he whispered.
My heart wrenched
at his statement. There was simply no way that everything was going to be
alright. It was only a matter of time…
Chapter Eleven
“No, no, no! Not
like that!” Leti exclaimed, dropping her own knitting into her lap and grabbing
my hands, which were hopelessly twisted in the grips of the tangled yarn.
“Urrghhh,” I
grumbled in frustration.
“Ye wrap the yarn
with this hand,” she instructed, firmly holding my left hand in the correct
position, “And then ye use the point of the needle in yer right hand to come
from behind the yarn and loop it,” she continued, guiding the movement of my
hands. She guided me through a few more slow, tedious stitched, then
cautiously removed her hands from guiding mine, eyes remaining watchful as I
tried to follow her instruction.
The yarn felt foreign
between my fingers, and I couldn’t quite wrap my brain around how exactly one
was to hold the knitting needles, and the yarn, and loop the yarn, while still
holding both the needles. There was simply too much going on, and I needed at
least one more if not two more hands to make this knitting thing possible.
Slowly, and cautiously, I churned out two more stitches under Leti’s watchful
eye.
“There ye go,” she
encouraged, picking up her knitting, and resuming the clicking sound that the
needles made as she knitted the yarn into something useful.
“Can’t I just buy
him socks?” I questioned.
“Hmmph,” Leti
snorted, clearly disapproving of the fact that her new sister-in-law was
completely incompetent in all of the womanly arts. “That would cost a fortune,
Kate! Every girl learns to knit in the Highlands. I still can’t fathom how ye
never learned to klickit. What did ye do all winter?”
“If only you
knew,” I muttered under my breath. Thoughts of reading next to a cozy fire
danced in my head. In England, I had enjoyed a life of privilege and never had
the need to learn ordinary skills such as knitting. Suddenly, I was ashamed at
just how spoiled my upbringing had been. In a place as rugged as the Highlands,
my skill set was utterly useless.
“Were ye sheltered
as a lass? I mean, it’s unheard of for a girl to not learn to ride a horse, ye
don’t knit, and …..”
“I guess that I
was a bit sheltered now that I think of it. My training was a bit different. I
just learned to do different things.” I tried to keep my answer as vague as
possible to avoid spinning a web deluded with more lies. My heart ached to
tell Leti the truth. I was not Katherine Berkshire. I wanted so badly to tell
the truth and I looked her face over cautiously, weighing my options. She
would never believe me. “I think I just might get the hang of this knitting,
though. Give me a few more years and I might end up with a sock.” I smiled,
refusing to be disheartened by the meager stitches that had collected in my
lap.
“Ye’ll learn,
although I’d say yer not the quickest study,” Leti clucked, her needles making
a rhythmic clicking as the sock dangling beneath them began to take shape. She
paused to pull more yarn out of the ball resting in the basket beside her
chair.
I painstakingly
looped the yarn around my needle again, using the tip of the needle in my right
hand to pull the yarn back through the loop. Now I had successfully made about
three stitches. The dream of one day knitting and entire sock loomed far, very
far in the distant future. I
wanted
to do this for Devon. I wanted
badly to please him and make him happy.
“Ye’ve taken tae him, I
can see that.” Leti continued knitting, not looking up to meet my eyes. “It’s
good for him, ye ken, having a wife. He misses his Da, we both do, and I can
see how ye have added a spark back into him. I was worrit for him when Da
passed.”
“It’s not what
either of us wanted, or expected, but I have to admit that your brother isn’t
half bad,” I responded, feeling the butterflies go wild in my stomach as I
thought about my husband. He was much better than half bad. He was
wonderful. My thoughts wandered to kissing him.
“Was he kind tae
ye?” she questioned, eyes still cast down in a way that was not usual for the
always bold Leti that I had grown to know and love. “I’ll kill him if he wasna,”
she added as an afterthought.
“Of course he’s
kind to me,” I responded, trying my hardest to continue knitting and keep up
with the conversation.
“I mean, well, I
mean was he
kind
to ye?” she questioned, probing further. “On yer
wedding night,”
“Oh,” I stopped
knitting, loosing my train of thought. I felt the color rise to my cheeks.
She was asking me if her brother had been kind to me on our wedding night!
“Yes, he was kind,” I said unsure of how much detail was expected in my answer.
“I’m nervous about
it, ye ken. Brennan tells me that it will be wonderful, magical, but I have a
hard time believing him.” Now it was her face that was flushed with color.
“I’ve heard stories. I’ve heard stories from women that scare me to death.”
“It is wonderful, Leti,”
I said, seeking to alleviate her fears. “Brennan is a good man, and it will be
wonderful. You don’t need to be afraid,” I smiled, looking over at her. She
was frantically knitting, eyes focused on her work, not wanting to make eye
contact.
“I’ll take yer word
for it, but I think that I’ll still be worrit right up until the deed is done.
I just don’t see how it could be wonderful. I’ve seen goats, and sheep, and
even a pair of horses one time, and weel…” she trailed off, embarrassed.
I chuckled, and
gave up on my knitting, tossing it into the basket on the floor beside my
chair. “It’s not like that, I promise. You know how when Brennan kisses you,
it drives you mad with the wanting of him? You know that feeling that grows
deep within your belly, and you’re not quite sure what it is, but you want
more?”
“I do,” she said,
eyes intent on the clicking needles in her lap.
“It’s like that,
but only better.” I hated myself for embellishing, myself knowing no more about
the actual act of lovemaking than Leti. I couldn’t tell her that Devon and I
had not actually consummated our marriage.
“I’ll take yer
word for it.” She smiled. “Thanks, sister.”
Reluctantly, I
picked up my knitting again, resolving to conquer this seemingly impossible
project. From Leti’s silence, I deemed it likely that a change of subject was
warranted.
“I hope that Devon
has a good supply of socks built up, because at this rate, it will be awhile
before he gets any new ones,” I smiled, resuming the looping and twisting of
the yarn. “When do you and Brennan plan to marry?” I questioned, enjoying the
comfort of some much needed feminine talk.
Leti’s face
immediately lit up. She was so in love with Brennan that it was hard for her
to contain her feelings. “This spring, I expect, but sooner if Collin will
allow it. We’d be marrit tomorrow if Collin would allow it, but he wants us to
wait until the Gathering in the spring.”
“Why would he want
you to wait?” This idea struck me as strange being that Collin had such haste
when marrying me off to his brother. I guess being on the receiving end of the
dowry had sped things along.
“Who knows,” Leti
responded. “Collin and I have never been close and he isna one to share the
reasons for his decisions. Father had already given us his blessing, but had
not yet chosen a date for the ceremony. Unfortunately, now that Collin is
Laird, we are at his mercy.”
“Knowing Brennan,
I’m surprised that he hasn’t just run off with you and married you anyway!” I
chuckled, knowing that Brennan must be driven mad by the power that Collin
wielded in this situation.
“The idea has
crossed both of our minds,” Leti smiled devilishly. “But, my Da would have
hated that, I mean, hated the idea of us stealing away. He would have wanted
us marrit proper, in front of the Clan. And for that, for honoring his wishes,
I will insist that we wait for Collin’s blessing.”
“It’s going to be
a long winter!”
“Och, tell me
about it! I’m just trying tae enjoy having him home for awhile. Qsually, he’s
off gallivanting and raiding with Devon, but his leg has kept him home more
than usual. I’ve a feeling that he’ll be trying tae go with them this time though,
he won’t want tae miss out on a good row with the Camerons. He hasn’t
mentioned it yet, but a woman knows when her man’s about to leave.”
“Go with them
where?” I questioned, suddenly concerned. My knitting lay still in my lap, my
concentration lost.