Chapter 13
Greer realized she had been wrong about so many things.
Drake had regretted the previous night out of respect for her, out of fear he’d lose her.
Then there was Lady Graham and her impossible beauty—yet he thought Greer was lovelier.
Such a thing did not even seem possible, but he’d said it with such sincerity and affection in his dark eyes that she couldn’t not believe it.
Certainly, she could not allow herself to long for him as she did if his heart belonged to another.
But it did not.
Quite the opposite, it seemed.
The prospect of such a thing left her feeling heady.
But not so much that she forgot her original purpose for requesting to come to Drake’s room.
Being in the castle was an opportunity she could ill afford to squander, especially with the fifty marks resting in her purse.
It would be far easier to approach the guard while she was within the thick stone walls.
The last time she’d entered the castle, she had to use deceit to gain her admittance—a story about looking for a fictional husband who had gone to see the earl and had not returned.
This time she wouldn’t have to try to convince someone to let her in.
Her location inside the castle was half the battle already won. Having the coin was the other. Such weight for such a slight bag!
But then, she imagined it was fitting for a purse of such heft to be worthy of a lad’s life, of his freedom.
If she could somehow find the soldier tonight, the dark-haired man named Tavish, she and Mac might wake up the next morning in their own beds, in the small hut beside the loch. They could have their life back, pretend as though none of this had ever happened.
Except that she would never forget Drake. Her heart tugged at the thought of leaving him. Of never seeing him again.
It was on the tip of her tongue to tell him about her brother. Except Drake was there to train soldiers and surely that did not include instruction on accepting bribes. She couldn’t do anything to jeopardize the one guard who could guarantee Mac’s liberation.
A knot of tension squeezed at the back of her throat, but she forced it down. Now was not for crying. Now was for celebrating this incredible man, for cherishing the incredible gift he had given her. It was a night for him.
For them both, together.
“Drake.” She went to him, blocking the door this time. “Let me stay with ye tonight.” Her hand went to his chest, stopping him even as she reveled in the strong warmth of his body under her palm.
He didn’t move from her touch, and she remained where she stood, savoring the feel of him. A true warrior. One who looked at her now with the soft gaze of a lover.
“I’ve never been in so fine a room,” she said shyly.
It was true. The chamber within was far more luxurious than any room she had ever seen outside of the Great Hall of Lochmaben Castle.
Not only was the room itself large, but so were the furnishings, with two carved chairs set before a fire, and a bed whose posts stretched up to the ceiling where a canopy draped over the structure.
Those heavy, crimson curtains that hung on all four sides would cradle them in obscurity, so their entire world would be only one another.
“I’ll sleep in the village,” Drake replied, as obdurate as ever.
“Nay, I want ye to sleep here. With me.” She ran her tongue over her bottom lip, recalling the sensation of his mouth on hers. “I havena been able to stop thinking of ye.”
His gaze flicked to her mouth, and his nostrils flared slightly. He knew exactly what she referred to.
“I want ye to kiss me again,” she whispered. “Touch me again, make me come undone again—as ye did before.”
He shook his head, tensing. “I dinna give ye the money for this—”
“I know.” And she did. However, that he gifted her the money was part of the reason she was doing it.
Not out of obligation, but out of appreciation for the man he was, out of gratitude that he saw beneath her facade.
And she did it out of affection, for the way she couldn’t stop recalling his touch, his kiss. The way he had ignited her blood.
The coin was a considerable sum, especially to someone who had nothing. And regardless of what his social standing might be now, for most of his life, he’d had nothing. He knew what he gave her and asked for nothing in return.
Her chest warmed at such generosity—that someone would do something like that for her. Her heart, which had opened to no one but Mac, parted now for Drake.
It was dangerous and thrilling and exciting. She wanted to fall headlong into this feeling and embrace it completely. With him.
He shook his head again. “Ye dinna owe me—”
“I know.” Then, she pushed up on her toes and kissed him, capturing his mouth with her own, teasing her tongue between his lips to allay any protest.
She didn’t know what would happen to them after Mac was free. If anything could happen between them, or if their worlds were too far apart, too complicated to join together.
What she did know was that she could have this night with him, which was more than she’d ever dreamed she’d want. She would not squander such a gift.
The instant he succumbed to his longing for her was evident in how his muscles relaxed beneath her hands and his fingers threaded up into her hair, loosening her braid.
“Greer.” He groaned her name and paused kissing her to study her face. “Ye’re so verra beautiful.”
She gazed up into his eyes, lost in their dark depths. “Love me, Drake.”
He kissed her again, this time taking possession of her as she had with him, branding her with the force of his desire. Greer’s blood ran hot in her veins and thundered with longing between her thighs, the memory of last night’s pleasure fresh in her mind.
And she wanted more.
Where Drake had been reserved previously, his actions now were sure. He cupped her bottom with a firm grip, fitting her pelvis against his with their layers of clothing between. Still, it was not enough to mask his hard prick. Never had she thought such a thing would ever be welcome.
Now she knew exactly how welcome it could be, how it made her knees go weak, and her sex twitch in anticipation.
His leg nudged between hers as he offered his strong thigh for her to stroke her body against. The sensation was exquisite and led to a breathy gasp from her lips, which he caught with eager, delicious kisses.
Her hands roamed over his warrior’s body in an exploration of the carved ridges of his physique.
She lifted the hem of his tunic, desperate for the heat of his skin beneath her palms. Distractedly, he yanked it over his head and tossed it to the floor, so only the thin leine he wore beneath separated his nakedness from her greedy touch.
It was not enough.
With a hungry whimper, she dragged the hem of the leine higher.
At last, she jerked it from his torso, this time unveiling his glorious strength as she did so.
The firelight played over his powerful frame, not hiding anything, each well-honed muscle flexing and shifting with the slightest movement. Truly, the man was a sight to behold.
And it was only fair to return the favor. She set her fingers to the rough leather laces that bound her kirtle in place over her breasts and, as she watched him, slipped it free.
Drake couldn’t take his eyes off Greer as she tugged the ties of her kirtle, her bright green eyes fixed on him.
The leather gave a little pop as it came undone, followed by the drag of the coarse ties through the homespun cloth.
Her fingers were graceful as they moved over the lacing, unraveling it until the bodice began to gape open to reveal her white chemise beneath.
The breath caught in his lungs as the garment loosened enough to expose her smooth shoulders, almost concealed beneath a curtain of her silky red hair. He should stop her, put an end to this before it could begin. But his blood was on fire, his cock solid as stone, his mind too hazy with lust.
She swept both chemise and kirtle down her arms, baring her firm breasts and pink-tipped nipples. An ache clenched through him to drag his tongue over the taut buds once more, to make her cry out.
Lower the garment went, revealing her narrow waist and the divot of her small navel, then down even farther over the swell of her hips to reveal a triangle of red hair above slender, perfect thighs.
The kirtle fell away, and she straightened, naked and indescribably beautiful with her skin gleaming like a pearl in the candlelight.
Drake let a rare curse slip from under his breath.
Warm color spread over Greer’s cheeks as she stepped over her discarded clothes and reached for him. “I’ve no’ ever heard ye say that word before.”
His gaze skimmed over her once more as she gracefully stepped closer, her body lithe and sensual. “I’ve no’ ever seen a goddess undress before.”
“No one has called me a goddess before.” Her arms slid over his shoulders and curled around the back of his neck, so her breasts stretched higher on her chest. Chills skittered over his skin, so delightful he nearly groaned.
“The world is full of fools.” He enfolded his arms around her, caressing her silky, cool skin and drew her against him. Her breasts pressed to his chest, and her willowy form arched into him, to where his cock raged against his trews.
A low growl escaped him, and he lowered his face to hers to claim her lips.
All the pent-up longing broke free at that moment, with their naked skin gliding against one another as their kisses became deeper, more frantic.
Their hands roamed over one another’s bodies as they learned each other’s exquisite shapes.
Her fingernails skimmed over his skin in her exploration, sending fresh waves of goosebumps while her mouth eased down his throat to his earlobe that she caught gently in her teeth, sending a huff of her warm breath against his ear.
His hands smoothed down her waist to the flare of her hips, which he fit against his pelvis, so the friction of their grinding bodies teased them both with every undulation.
Drake kissed down the column of her throat, trailing lower to her breasts.
Greer tossed her head back with a gasp and arched her torso toward him, her nipples already rosy and tight with desire.
He caught one bud in his mouth and flicked his tongue against it in a way that made her writhe in his arms.
His fingers descended beyond her delicate navel to the thatch of hair. Her breath came faster as she read his intent. He glided a fingertip along the seam of her sex, and her knees buckled, causing her nearly to collapse.
In a single motion, he swept her into his arms, carried her to the bed and nudged aside the heavy curtain with his elbow. He lowered her gently to the bed and crawled over her. Her chest rose and fell with her lusty pants as she watched him, her eyes bright with anticipation and lust.
He kissed her mouth first, enjoying her with his lips and tongue—as he intended to do with the whole of her body.
She tried to rise onto her elbows to deepen their kiss, but he shifted downward, pressing his lips to the column of her graceful throat, and tracing the line of her collarbone with the tip of his tongue.
She sucked in a breath and began to lie back as his mouth descended to her breasts once more, and his hand glided over her sex.
Her legs parting to give him better access as he probed her lightly with his finger while his tongue teased over her nipple.
She whimpered with little cries of pleasure, each one encouraging his hard cock that now strained with such force against his trews, he thought he might go mad with wanting.
“Please, Drake,” she gasped. “I want ye.”
I want ye.
The words were an invitation to heaven. One he ought to decline. If he were as good and honorable as he tried to be, he would satisfy her with his hands, then cradle her in his arms as they slept.
But hadn’t he been good and honorable long enough?
Could he not take this one thing he wanted, this woman who did something to his heart as much as she did something to his body?
Before he could find the words to protest, he shifted off the mattress and tugged at the ties of his trews. His cock burst free, jutting out with a readiness he could not hide.
Greer squirmed on the bed, rubbing her thighs against one another in anticipation. Drake shoved his trews down his legs and approached the bed.
She lay there on the mattress with her auburn hair shimmering against the deep crimson coverlet, her eyes bright with longing, her cheeks flushed. God, she was beautiful.
His.
Aye, he wanted to make her his.
He moved over the top of her, and she spread her legs, shifting beneath him so his erection clumsily bumped against her sex. Bracing himself on one arm, he took his cock in hand, angling it toward her center.
And hesitated.
This was the one moment where he could stop. Where he could do the right thing.
But he did not.
He plunged into her in a single thrust, burying the pulsing force of his prick into her tight, wet sheath. Her grip on his phallus was far too intense, and her body went rigid, her eyes wide with surprise.
God, he’d hurt her. But he didn’t understand…
She blinked up at him, tears in her eyes. “Forgive me.”
Understanding dawned and in that instant, he realized the depth of what he had done. What his lust had cost her.
“Greer,” he said raggedly. “Ye’re a…”
A tear ran from her eye. “Was. A maiden, aye.”