Chapter 26
The closer Nancy got to him, the more the rest of the world fell away, her thoughts focused solely on him, noting the details of his body: the cords of his neck, the flexing lines of his powerful forearms, the tempting shape of his mouth with its deep cupid’s bow, the hollow at the base of his throat, the way his hair moved in the wind, making her want to run her hands through it.
At last, she reached him, eager to know what came next.
“Kneel,” he purred.
She pushed herself up, sitting calmly at his feet, her gaze turned up toward him. There was serenity in the pose, her hands folded in her lap, thinking of nothing but his next instruction.
“Slide yer hand over yer chest and find yer heart,” he said thickly.
Holding his gaze, she did as he asked, surprised to find that her heartbeat was steady.
“Now, run yer hand over yer breast and slowly—and I do mean slowly—slide yer hand down yer stomach.”
She bit her lip as her hand moved, following his command without shame or embarrassment. She felt the swell of her breast and the point of her nipple, that pert flesh eager to feel Hunter’s mouth, and slowly let her palm glide down the satisfying silk of her corseted bodice.
“Lift yer skirts and put yer hand between yer thighs, but daenae touch until I tell ye,” he continued. “I want to see ye. I want ye to feel that pause, that anticipation, that longin’.”
As her breathing quickened, she slowly gathered her skirts up until all the fabric, the petticoats and overskirts, were rucked at her hips. A small smile crept onto her lips as she noticed his eyebrow rise in curiosity, likely because her underwear wasn’t exactly befitting of the 1700s.
“Is that a chastity belt?” he asked, dumbfounded.
She had to stifle a laugh, so as not to ruin the tension. “It’s what we wear underneath where I’m from. The future.”
“I like them.” He gave a wolfish grin before adding, “Touch yerself. Touch yerself as ye would if ye were alone.”
Swallowing thickly, she slid her hand beneath the waistband of her panties and closed her eyes.
“Eyes open,” he said, his voice a lusty growl that ignited her clit and made her entrance throb. “Look at me while ye do it. I want to see yer pleasure.”
She supposed it wasn’t a complete departure from him asking her to do what she’d have done if she were alone, considering she’d probably have been thinking of him if she were doing this alone.
And she found, with some delight, that she wanted to please him, wanted him to take pleasure from her pleasure, if such a thing was possible.
Sensing a fire in him too, she touched herself as he’d commanded, slowly strumming her sensitive clit. Her eyes never left his, watching as his posture changed, his demeanor becoming feral, the glint in his eyes like that of a ravenous wolf as his teeth grazed his lower lip.
He was enraptured, and there was such power in it that Nancy felt a surge of confidence, the power swelling within her.
She began to gasp as the pleasure built within her, spurred on by his intense gaze.
“Stop,” he growled. “Stop and get to yer feet.”
She was almost reluctant to obey, her body aching with the need for release, but she stopped what she was doing and rose to her feet.
“Lean there against the wall and put yer hands on the stone. Daenae move them unless I tell ye,” he instructed.
Excitement tingled through her as she switched places with him, her back pressing against the wall, her hands coming to rest on the edge. There wasn’t such a steep drop on this side of the parapet, but still, it wasn’t a height she fancied falling from.
Hunter stood before her, casting her entirely in shadow. All she could see was the glimmer in his eyes and feel the heat that radiated from him.
With his hands braced on either side of hers, he dipped his head and kissed her brow, her temple, her cheek, his lips unhurried, taking their time as he moved downward, kissing her jaw, the dimple at the side of her mouth, the point of her chin. As if he were deliberately avoiding her lips.
His kisses traveled toward her ear, his teeth lightly raking over the soft flesh of her earlobe, making her tingle. From there, he left a trail of searing kisses down the curve of her neck and back up the column of her throat, teasing along the slope of her collarbone and down to her chest.
As he moved further down, he sank to his knees in front of her, somehow the dominant one, even though he was in the position.
For a moment, she lifted her hand from the stone edge of the wall to feel the silkiness of his hair. He grabbed her by the wrist and placed her hand back where it was, his eyes sharp as he looked up at her.
“Daenae move them,” he said firmly.
She gave a slight nod.
He raised her skirts and tossed the bulk of the fabric over the wall, so he wouldn’t have to fight against them.
The cool wind kissed her bare thighs, her lower legs bare of stockings because, quite simply, she hated them.
Elsie would’ve lost her mind if she’d known that Nancy was wandering around stockingless, but Nancy didn’t care much.
Her breath hitched as Hunter hooked his thumbs under the elastic of her panties and slowly pulled them down her thighs, following their trajectory with his lips.
A moment later, she gripped the edge of the wall as his tongue found that sweet spot. A slow, teasing taste that made her legs tremble. But then he stopped and turned his head, kissing the inside of her thighs, leaving her wanting more… and fighting to keep her hands where they were.
Just when she was about to speak, to complain that this was pretty much cruelty, he rolled his tongue over her clit a second time. Longer, slower, her back arching at the shock of sensation, like her body wasn’t just craving him anymore, but greedy for him.
“Yes… Oh God, yes…” she moaned, and waited for him to tell her she couldn’t.
No such command came, but he drew back, kissing his way down the inside of her other thigh instead. Whether or not it was a punishment, she couldn’t tell.
To satisfy her confusion, his tongue found her again, curling around her clit and sucking gently. Her hips bucked, her fingernails clawing at the stone as bliss ripped through her, awakening all of those electric channels of ecstasy that would eventually send her soaring toward her climax.
He sucked to the point of it almost being too much, then backed off again, his fingertips now circling her entrance, teasing her afresh.
“If this is… how you distract me… It’s working,” she gasped.
At that moment, he pushed his fingers inside her, and his tongue returned to her clit. This time, there was no backing off, no hesitation.
Before she knew it, there was nothing bad in the world anymore. There was no room for haunting memories or regrets. There was just him and the rising bliss that pounded in her veins.
She felt as if she were leaning back over the opposite wall again, unafraid to hold out her arms and feel the thrill of danger. So free that she feared nothing, not even a fall, as long as she had him to hold her steady.
As that sweeping sense of power and liberty washed over her, it brought with it the crashing tide of euphoria.
“Yes… Fuck, yes… Oh God!” she cried out, not caring a bit if anyone saw or heard, though they were so high up that who would?
His tongue slowed, and the rhythm of his fingers became gentler, as she came to her shuddering conclusion, so overcome with the fierce flow of pleasure that she had to lean back to hold herself upright.
Her legs shook violently, her knees trying to buckle, while she moaned his name over and over, for he was the one who’d saved her from herself tonight.
At length, the pleasure began to subside, and Hunter carefully withdrew his fingers and kissed his way up her thighs and over her hip to the narrow expanse of stomach that her thrown-aside skirts had exposed.
He rose to his feet, and as he did, his mouth found hers in a slow, sensual kiss, while his arms wrapped tightly around her. Still dizzy with feeling, Nancy grasped for his shirt and kissed him back in kind, melting into the tender embrace of his strength.
I’m safe.
The thought came to her like a pleasant dream, the perfect antidote to the events of the evening.
Adeline had said that there was nowhere safer than being under the protection of a laird, but Nancy hadn’t appreciated the merit of that until now. Hunter wasn’t just a source of physical protection, but a guardian of her mind too, protecting her from all the things that might break her apart.
Instead of feeling like an empty shell, gutted by loss, she had never felt more whole, more fulfilled.
“Do ye see what I mean?” Hunter asked quietly as he reached for her skirts and pulled them back over the wall, letting gravity restore them to their former place.
Nancy chuckled as she rose on tiptoe and pulled his head back down.
“I think I do,” she whispered, before kissing him again, savoring every moment.
Honestly, she could have stayed there all night with him, learning how to let go. Maybe she would have if Jane’s voice hadn’t echoed up from the tower room below, her tone worried. “Nancy? Nancy, are you up there?”
Checking her dress to make sure nothing was out of place, Nancy cast a sly glance at Hunter, who smirked in reply as he took her hand and led her back to the wall where they’d started. There, they both looked out to sea as if that was all they’d been doing.