Taming the Highland Beauty (Guardians of the Isles #7)

Chapter Sixteen

C allum read the desire mixed with a hint of desperation in her eyes. He stepped closer. “Are you afraid?”

“Nay. I want to be here with you.” Gille’s features softened as desire lit her eyes.

“There is nowhere else I would rather be than with you right now.” He drew a deep breath of the earthy scents of heather, pine, musk that were uniquely hers. And he wanted more. He wanted so many things when it came to Gille. He wanted her trust. He wanted her companionship. He wanted to wrap her in his arms and protect her. And right now, he wanted to touch her as he never had before.

As though reading his thoughts, she smiled, and all reservations he might have seen in her eyes vanished. “I want you to touch me. I want you to love me.” She lifted her face to his and laid a soft kiss upon his lips. Her fingers fumbled with his jacket, his waistcoat, then his shirt, until he stood bare-chested before her.

He drew her to him and with a groan raided her mouth. He tasted her thoroughly, leaving no doubt that he wanted more. Heady with desire, he loosened the stays of her dress and slipped it over her head before sending it to the floor. When he moved to loosen her petticoat, she stopped him, removing a silk pouch, which she placed beneath a pillow. “The moonstone,” she said. “I want to keep it near us.” She shrugged. “To be safe.”

“I had hoped you would do such,” he said as his fingers returned to her petticoat. He released the bow, then grabbed the fullness, pulling it over her head and sending it to the floor atop her dress.

He divested himself of his shoes and stockings, his breeches, and drawers before settling beside her once more and pulling the bed curtains around them, creating a private chamber that was only theirs.

Reaching for her, he pushed her chemise over her arms, past her waist until it pooled at her hips, leaving her upper body exposed to him. He brushed his fingers gently over her breasts, then came back to engulf the tender fullness to find her nipples peaked and straining with a need that etched itself plainly on her skin. When he brushed his thumb across her nipple, she gasped her pleasure.

Callum bent his head, and his mouth hovered over one breast while his hand cupped the other. Gille bit back a cry as she arched her back, pressing herself more fully into his sensual caress. His teeth bit gently on the nipple he had brought to full arousal.

She groaned, her fingers entwined in his hair, pulling him closer. His body trembled, a storm of desire surging within them both. In the soft, diffused light filtering through the curtains, he looked down at her. Her fiery-red hair cascaded over the pillow, a seductive invitation. His gaze traced the curves of her body, the smooth skin that mirrored his own.

Why had he spent so many years condemning the fae? They were sentient beings, with hearts, minds, and emotions that mirrored those of humans. They drew magic from nature to protect the world around them. Perhaps humans had once possessed such abilities but had lost them by forsaking the magic inherent in the world?

Sensing his hesitation, Gille pressed closer, her fingers tracing the contours of his back. “What is it, Callum?”

“I apologise for treating you so unfairly when we first met,” he confessed. “My obsession with saving my mother clouded my judgement. I should have come to the forest to free you from your curse before asking for your help.”

She reached up, her touch gentle on his cheek. “If you had not come, I would still be trapped in misery. And without exploring your mother’s memories, we would not be here, together.”

Her words were balm to his soul even as desire burned within him, a fiery intensity that threatened to consume him as he tasted the sweet nectar of her lips again while he fully removed her chemise, which had been pooled around her hips, leaving her naked to his gaze and his touch.

Her lips moved along his jawline, down his neck, across his collarbone, igniting a passionate response. “Let us live for this moment, and for all the moments to come,” she whispered.

He knew she referred to their waning time together if they failed tomorrow, but instead of dwelling on the possibility, she wanted to stretch each moment into eternity, and he would happily follow along.

*

Her hands were trembling, Gille realised. From that first challenging look in the forest, she had felt a connection to the man in her arms that promised something profound. Whether their connection would be a fleeting passion, or a lifelong bond remained unknown. But Callum MacLeod, equal parts musician and warrior, would challenge her in ways no one else ever had.

In this moment, he challenged her to let go of trying to control the uncontrollable, to simply feel. To let her body, guided by his touch, reach the unreachable. With a breath, she surrendered as his warmth, his essence, his hands explored her breasts, her abdomen, and lower to tease the soft curls at the apex of her womanhood.

Glorious ripples of pleasure coiled through her. And when he slid lower, deeper, until two fingers gently entered her core and began a rhythmic stroking, she cried out. A hot throbbing inside her built almost to the point of pain, yet it wasn’t. Only an odd emptiness remained as he pulled his fingers away to shift over her.

Callum lifted her, cradling her hips in his hands. “Wrap your legs around me,” he commanded, his voice low and urgent.

She did as directed, and with extreme care, he entered her. She gasped, her body arching against his as she clung to him. His hands held her securely, sealing them together. A momentary stretch soon shifted to a surge of pleasure.

He withdrew and thrust again, his movements deliberate and powerful. She met each thrust with equal fervour, her body trembling with desire. A low groan escaped his lips as he lifted himself up on his arms.

She gazed at him; his eyes filled with a raw passion she had never seen before. His body was sculpted, perfect, as beautiful as any fae she had ever seen. With her hands, she traced the contours of his hips, guiding him deeper. The sight, the feel, the scent of him overwhelmed her senses. She cried out as she reached the precipice of ecstasy. Her legs wrapped around him, fusing their bodies together as she surrendered to the overwhelming sensations roiling through her.

Their pleasure mingled with the hazy darkness as they reached their peak together. Their bodies shook with the force of the ecstasy that rippled through each nerve, vessel, and fibre of their beings.

As the aftershocks subsided, she too seemed to share the sense of peace that cascaded through him. She held him tightly. His breath was laboured. He looked down at her, a strand of hair falling over his forehead. She brushed it away. “That was everything I had ever hoped for, even if it was a stolen moment before our true challenge begins,” she said, her breathing returning to normal. Even if this was their only moment together, it would be enough.

He nodded, kissing her again as he settled beside her.

As the silence of the night drifted around them, Gille’s thoughts turned to what still lay ahead of them. Doubts crept past the passion they had just shared. She swallowed roughly as she turned towards Callum. His features were as serious as her own. “Do you believe we can accomplish all we must tomorrow?”

He lifted on his elbow to look at her. “We must believe we have all the time we need.”

She forced a smile. “I know. I am trying to remain positive, but so many forces are working against us—”

“The MacLeods will stop at nothing to make sure you succeed. Everyone has offered to help us tomorrow. Only once you are free of your curse will the Beltane celebration continue. Besides,” he said with an arch of his brow, “what happened to living for the moment?” He bent and kissed her, and she couldn’t help but smile. He was trying to divert her attention, for which she was grateful.

“Perhaps I should try harder to distract you.” He chuckled. “I suddenly have the urge to see if I can wipe all worrisome thoughts from that active brain of yours.” He leaned down and ran his tongue over her nipple.

Heat stung her cheeks as her body responded immediately. She felt herself readying, warming once more at the very thought of him hard and hot within her. She inched back and clamped her hands into fists so she wouldn’t be tempted to touch him. “Let me say this first.”

He smiled. “You like the idea of me distracting you, then?” He reached for her and pulled her against him.

“Callum!”

“Talk quickly.” He turned onto his back and lifted her on top of him, sliding inside her. His hips moved upward, and she gasped at the fullness and the pleasure.

His face was flushed, his eyes glazing with an expression of primitive pleasure.

She could not talk, she could not think as he thrust deep, quickening the rhythm. This joining was incredible, basic, elemental. In only moments, wave after wave of pleasure washed over her.

An instant later she could feel Callum spasm again and again within her, shuddering helplessly as he poured his seed into her body.

She collapsed on top of him. His hips still moved yearningly, as if he could not stop even though he had reached his satisfaction again. A moment later he lay still, breathing heavily, his hot flesh nestled against her own. Satiated, she settled beside the man she loved. She had not said the words, and neither had he, but she hoped tomorrow there would be time for that and so much more.

Tomorrow.