Chapter 24
Alightness filled Dominik that he could put into words.
It had been ages since he had had such a time as today.
The visit of his friends, the ceilidh, had been wonderful, of course, but today was…
different. It felt simple and unhurried.
He hadn’t stopped to think over his many responsibilities, even though he knew he should have.
Too many worries, English officials, an abduction scandal, it all hung on his shoulders, a yoke weighing down the sturdiest of animals. There was no avoiding it, and yet, being with Rose as he had today made it all disappear.
He’d forgotten about the aching need to protect his people from rumors that should only affect him.
Hell, they shouldn’t exist at all. Dominik had even forgotten about their guest who had come to tell them the dreadful news.
Mirren had been such a friend to provide them with a chance to get ahead of this situation, and he was so incredibly grateful.
And still that had not stopped him from becoming so distracted by the allure of his wife that he hardly remembered bidding her good evening.
Now, Dominik stood with Rose outside her bedchambers, poised at the door. And the thought of leaving her was as painful to him as the notion of leaping from the window.
Stay close to her. Remain at her side. Do whatever it takes.
His thoughts were urgent, pleading. Dominik could see them tangled up in each other in his mind’s eyes. He wished for that more than could be reasonable, but it was as undeniable as the stars above.
“Today was lovely, Dominik. I so appreciate the chance to enjoy the countryside as we did this afternoon.”
The Laird smiled. “It was a bonny day, indeed. Especially…” He paused, leaning in toward Rose as he smirked. “…taking me win in quoits.”
Rose chuckled, throwing her hands up and shaking her head. “Will you never let me hear the end of that?”
“I may consider it, but it willnae come easy, lass.”
Cheeks flushing that delightful pink, Rose ducked her stare away, turning to reach for the handle of her door. Dominik took her arm, stopping her before shifting her to face him once more. They could not part, not yet. Not now. Not…ever.
“Where are ye going, lass?”
Her brow raised, one reaching up higher than the other, and then Rose was gesturing into her room, stepping inside as Dominik refused to let go of her.
“I am going to bed. What are you doing, my laird?”
There was a hint of mischief in Rose’s voice, and Dominik smiled.
It was just the air that he needed, wanted.
Following her into the room, the Laird shut the door behind them, bolting it so that they would not be interrupted this time.
He would certainly not take any chances when he was so determined to get the evening he wished for.
Still, just as his mouth opened, Dominik hesitated.
What he was about to ask for was not duty.
He had already made this mistake once, touching his sweet Rose before that blasted letter arrived.
Was it wise to do this again? Did he even care?
He could admit to himself that he’d been overwhelmed with emotion the previous time they had found themselves alone together.
He was much more level-headed now, but the need for her was still strong in his blood.
Ye daenae care, Dominik. Ye havenae cared about duty all day.
“I would like me wish, lass.” His voice was intense, without any hint of reservation, when he spoke.
Rose chuckled, tossing her head back as she proceeded further into the room, draping her shawl over the back of the chair set before her mirror.
“Oh, do you? Well, then, I suppose I am obligated to deliver. You did win our match, even if the opponents were not evenly matched.”
Dominik grinned, walking right up to his wife and wrapping his arms around her waist. Her eyes flared for a moment, surprised, and she looked up into his eyes as he feasted on just the sight of her.
“I would like a kiss.”
The furious blush in Rose’s cheeks brightened all the more. “You don’t need to ask me for that, Dominik. We’ve kissed several times now.”
“Och, I am well aware of that, lass.” He swept one of the long, loose hairs that fell in her face behind her ear, keeping his hand on her cheek. “But I daenae wish to kiss yer mouth.”
Confusion lit up Rose’s face, her brows pinching together. She shook her head slightly, not dislodging his touch but trying to wrap her mind around what he was saying. Frankly, it was adorable to see his lass so flustered.
“I’m afraid I don’t understand your meaning. What on earth are you referring to then? Do you wish to kiss my feet?”
She made her joke, and Dominik snorted before shaking his head back at her, yanking her closer to his body abruptly.
As the shock played over her face, Dominik hoisted Rose up from the floor a few inches, striding to the bed behind her and laying her down across the soft surface.
He reached for the plentiful hem of her skirts, beginning to drag them upward.
His wife’s stare was pinned on him, and Dominik smirked as she blinked.
“I would like to kiss ye…” Smoothing his hand up her leg, winding higher until he found her thigh, Dominik gently brushed the seam of her center, remembering how beautiful she had looked for him when he touched her before. “…here.”
Rose shoved up onto her elbow, her eye as wide as saucers and twice as scandalized.
“Why on earth would you want to do that?” She couldn’t keep the squeak from her voice, and Dominik chuckled, still gliding his hand across her thigh and relishing in the warmth of her skin.
“It isnae as strange as ye may think, lass. Have ye nae thought of kissing more than simply me mouth?”
Taking a moment, her eyes fluttering in a stream of blinks, Rose sank back down to the bed, cocking her head in a less than confident nod.
“I may have considered it…” She shot her eyes to him. “But I was thinking about your chest or neck!”
Smirking as he towered over her, Dominik wandered his touch higher again, saying, “Ye enjoyed me touch earlier, enjoy it now. It will please ye. I am certain. And I will take pleasure in it as well, claiming yer body for me own in this new and exciting way. Knowing yer most intimate taste.”
She did not respond to him immediately, but as Dominik touched her, teasing that seam, he could feel the slickness of her arousal, the indication of her desire, and his length swelled all the more as his own desire burned hotter.
“Lass, I need ye to speak to me,” he whispered, lowering his face to the side of her neck as he continued the slow brushes of her most intimate flesh.
“I…Oh God, Dominik.” She arched against his touch, that need for more than what he was giving her clearly gripping her tightly. “Yes. Yes. Just please don’t stop. I cannot be left with this cloying feeling again.”
Dominik chuckled, but it was dark and devious. “I willnae leave ye so unsatisfied, lass. Ye will be exhausted when I am through with ye.”
With no further words, the Laird traveled his kisses down Rose’s throat, his fingers dancing over his wife’s core as he began to do more than simply tease, now exploring her.
Rose’s breath grew short and quickened, her chest rising and falling so much that he could see the outline of her breasts as they pressed against the fabric of her shift, her stays not shielding the tops of them from his view.
But he wanted that blasted garment gone.
“Take off the stays, lass. Let me see ye.”
As Rose immediately reached for the laces, Dominik kissed her fingers, nibbling at the skin as he swirled his fingertips through her secret curls.
His wife’s arousal was warm against his skin, and the Laird slowly began to slip inward, finding the softest flesh he’d ever touched between Rose’s thighs.
She let out a breathy moan, struggling but then at last ridding herself of her stays.
Dominik assisted her with flinging the item to the floor, dropping his kisses to the thin fabric of her shift above her nipples.
The Laird kissed his wife through the soft linen, leaving damp fabric behind as he released one and then the other, making his way further down her body.
“Dominik…”
The needy sound of her voice was music to his ears.
Dominik massaged the slick center of her as he continued to sink lower and lower until he was poised over her hips and threw the layers of her skirts over his head.
Gripping the inside of Rose’s thigh, he pressed her leg to the side, opening her up for him.
Even in the dim light beneath her skirts, Dominik admired the beauty of his wife’s pale flesh and watched for a moment as he danced his fingers through her.
“Ah!”
Rose cried out, her hips pumping upward as he slid a finger inside.
As she lifted her body like that, Dominik worked his other hand underneath her leg and then pulled her down toward him.
His mouth landed on the tip of her, and without any further teasing, Dominik lapped his tongue across the slick skin set within her folds.
Her taste was divine, and Dominik felt himself grow starving for her as he was possessed by some ravenous spirit that demanded he devour her. And so, he did, licking and sucking as he glided his finger in and out of her channel.
Cool air hit him suddenly as the skirts over his head were pulled away, likely landing somewhere higher on Rose’s body. As soon as it struck him to question what was going on, her fingers were entwined in his hair, squeezing and gripping in rhythmic pulls as she rocked her hips up and down.
It was truly a delight to see his wife so worked up like this.
He relished every moment, using his tongue to swirl over her sensitive regions and his finger to replace his manhood in stimulating her walls.
As it was, he was aching to claim her, but there was something about giving her this pleasure, this treasured experience that was all about her.
Besides, I’ll likely find me own release from just the taste of her.
Dominik focused solely on delivering the best treatment possible to his wife, tracking her moans and the movements of her body to determine exactly what to do.
He found that the combination of suckling on her front while hooking his fingers deep within her and up made Rose buck against him the hardest, cry out the loudest.
“Oh!” She ground herself against his mouth, hips lifting from the bed. “Oh, please…I shall burst…”
Knowing precisely how she felt, Dominik continued to do just that to Rose, sucking and licking as he massaged the unique spot at the top of her walls. His length pressed against the bed, and he could not stop himself from rocking his hips, the sensation enough to work him to the edge.
Rose’s thighs began to quiver, her intimate skin pulsing around him, and he felt the telltale burn of need in the tip of his erection. Giving everything he had to the moment, he counted in his head.
Three, two, one—
“Dominik!” His wife exploded from his touch, and he shuddered as his own need boiled over, spilling onto the bed covering as he pleasured his wife through the climax.
As she fought to catch her breath, Dominik peeked up at her for a moment, his finger still warm in her channel.
“Catch yer breath, lass. I intend to do that at least twice more.”