Chapter 20
CHAPTER TWENTY
Selene straightened, as if she sensed the weight behind his words.
“Maureen told me a little of Aidan and his need to revenge himself for the death of the lady he loved.”
Kenneth drew a breath, as if pulling the past up from somewhere deep. “Lady Eilidh Fraser was me betrothed.” His jaw tightened. “She died the day after she reached Castle Duntulm.”
Selene’s expression softened instantly.
“Few outside these walls kens the truth,” he said quietly. “She fell ill during her journey. A fever. The healers did all they could, but she… she didnae last the night.”
He looked away, his voice roughening. “She was a gentle soul, but I didnae love her. I was young and obeyed the commands of me faither and the clan. I kent naught of Aidan and his love and that she, too, had nay wish fer our marriage.” He ran his fingers through his dark hair. There was so much to regret.
“Rumors began the next morning. That I’d killed her because I didnae want tae marry her. That I’d forced the healers tae lie. That I’d hidden the body.”
Selene stared at him in stunned silence.
“Aidan MacLeay believed it more than any other,” Kenneth continued. “He loved her. Or thought he did. He swore I’d taken her from him.” His fists clenched at his sides. “He’s hated me ever since. And now… now I believe he’s going after ye because he thinks it will destroy me.”
Selene rose slowly, crossing the space between them. Her eyes softened with a tenderness he hadn’t expected, as if she could see the raw wound still living beneath his skin.
“Kenneth,” she whispered, “why didn’t you tell people the truth?”
“Because it daesnae matter what I say,” he answered. “Most have already chosen what they wish tae believe. But I didnae want ye tae look at me the way they dae.”
She reached up and touched his face with her fingertips. Her soft touch was enough to cause him to draw in a sharp breath.
“I see you,” she murmured. “Not the rumors.”
The tension between them shifted – no longer was their fear hanging between them, instead it was replaced was something gleaming bright, warm and strong.
Kenneth reached over, gently brushing a loose strand of hair from her cheek.
Their lips found each other as if pulled by the movement of the moon and stars, as certain as the tide.
The kiss grew deeper, urgent, fueled by everything they had survived and everything they hadn’t yet said.
Selene pressed closer, her hands sliding beneath the fabric of his shirt, feeling the heat of his skin.
Kenneth took her in his arms, lifting her, and carried her to the bed, his heart overflowing, his body throbbing with need. He put her down laying her head on the pillows, her hair spreading her on the fur coverlet.
She lay before him, her eyes dark and wide, her lips a little swollen and red with their kisses.
He groaned. “Selene, I’ve ne’er seen such a rare beauty as ye are. I cannae believe that ye are here, like this wi’ me.” He leaned over her, his hands on either side, and to his unswerving delight she reached up and pulled him down.
“Kenneth, there’s no place I would wish to be other than here with you.”
They kissed again, the world and its travails forgotten as their bodies moved together with rising hunger.
He gazed at her, her cheeks were flushed, her breath ragged, her lips parted enticingly.
He ached for her, wanting nothing more than to run his hands over the soft curves that had tormented him for so long.
He longed to feel the satin of her skin under his hands.
His breath hitched with the surge of desire in his veins.
He groaned at the thought of plundering her breasts with his mouth and teasing the puckered nubs he’d glimpsed when he’d stumbled upon her as she struggled with the laces on her bodice.
She wriggled against him, her lips seeking his, her breath panting, little moans coming from deep in her throat.
Then, as if suddenly becoming aware of her own movements, she pulled away a little and gazed at him.
Her beautiful gray-blue eyes seemed to see straight to his very soul. He met her gaze as rivers of heat coursed through him.
“Oh lord, Kenneth. I… I never knew it was possible to burn with pleasure and desire.”
“Nor did I, milady. I’ve naught felt like this. As if all the delights of the earth were running in me veins.”
She raised a hand to stroke against his chest. “I can think of no other place I would wish to be but here with you. In your arms.” She sighed, a soft smile playing at her lips. “Just as we are.”
She leaned into him and kissed him again, their lips melding, their tongues dancing together.
She tasted like flowers, like hope, like something he had wanted for far longer than he’d ever admitted to himself.
With reverent boldness he loosened the laces of her bodice and just as it had done once before, it slipped lower.
Her breath hitched, but she did not pull away, instead she slipped her arms from the sleeves, allowing the bodice to fall, leaving her bare to the waist. And to his touch.
He bent to kiss the little hollow at the base of her throat, his fingers stroking across the smoothness of her shoulders.
Selene moved against his hand, tempting it lower.
Her warmth and the feel of her against him, the sight of her round breasts with their rosy nubs drove the breath from his lungs.
His desire rose higher and, as he felt himself harden further inside his britches, he bent his head to take her breasts.
He kissed first one, then the other, smiling as the tips puckered and grew hard, echoing his own wanting.
He toyed with them each in turn, licking and suckling as she arched her back into his hand, her head thrown back, her only sound a series of deep guttural moans as she clutched her fingers in his hair.
Lifting his head, he whispered “Dae ye like this, Selene?” He twirled her nub between finger and thumb, enjoying the sound of her gasps and moans.
“Yes, yes…” She moaned again. “It is heaven.”
He moved a little so he could reach the hem of her gown and slowly raised it above her knee.
The ache of his desire for her grew more intense as his fingers brushed the silky skin of her inner thigh. His shaft throbbed, painful with his need for her.
He rolled so that she was almost underneath him and her hand reached out, moving against his britches, lingering to stroke his shaft through the fabric.
“This part of you is very hard under my hand.”
“Aye lass.” He gritted his teeth. “It is… ye make me hard. The thought of ye is enough…” He groaned as she increased the pressure.
“And this?” She stroked again, almost driving him to madness. “Do you like this?”
He managed a sharp laugh. “’Tis, as ye say, heaven. Yet it is purgatory also.”
“Oh my.” She gasped in a breath, closing her eyes. “I don’t want this ever to stop. I want you to touch me like this forever.”
“’Tis me utmost desire, Selene.” He was on fire for her, every breath taking them both higher, toward ecstasy. His hand slipped further on her thigh until he felt the crinkly hairs of her mound under his questing fingers.
She gasped, bucking against his hand as he opened her, his fingers sliding between her folds. She was all heat and wetness as she moaned and sobbed against him.
But just when the last barrier between them might have fallen, Kenneth stilled. His forehead rested against her shoulder; a tremor of restraint battling the urgent, growing need for her.
“Selene…” His voice was a rasp. “If we continue, there’s nay turning back.”
She cupped his face, desperate, breathless. “I don’t care. I want—”
“Nay.” He kissed her again, slower, more tender, his body shuddering with his restraint and the unbearable ache of wanting her. “Nae like this. Nae because of fear. Nae because of what just happened.” His thumb stroked her jaw. “Ye deserve more than tae be taken in the shadow of danger.”
She held him close, her embrace as fierce and needy as his own. Yet acknowledgment flickered in her eyes, telling him she was torn between her desire for him and the understanding of his refusal.
That night of bloodshed and terror was not the night for them to consummate the passion swirling between them.
Their breathing quietened, the haze of their desire began to recede and, slowly, he eased her against him, and they lay together in the peace that followed, their limbs entwined, their hearts still beating fast, the air warm with everything they had shared.
Whatever had existed of the walls between them, built over weeks of secrets and mistrust, finally crumbled.
They slept in one another’s arms until the cold, grey, light of dawn crept into the bedchamber, stirring them from their dreams.
They were sharing breakfast when the sound of shouting brought them to their feet. Wrapping her robe tight around her in sudden terror Selene rushed to the window just as Kenneth tugged on his clothing.
MacLeod banners rippled in the wind.
Halvard’s colors.
Kenneth met the men at the gates, his expression a mask of caution. He was joined moments later by Callum.
Halvard’s leader rode forward, behind him stood a contingent of no more than half a dozen soldiers. This was a far cry from the numbers in the pack that had besieged Castle Duntulm the evening before.
“What brings ye and yer men tae Duntulm?” Kenneth enquired, keeping his tone light and his suspicions guarded.
The man dipped his head politely.
“I am Baird MacLeod, cousin and advisor tae the Laird Halvard MacLeod. I am here on his business. Tae whom am I speaking?”
“I am the Laird Kenneth MacDonald and I assume this business of yer laird concerns meself.”
“Indeed, Laird MacDonald. It concerns ye and the Lady Selene Montgomery, who I believe is yer guest here at Castle Duntulm.”
Kenneth signaled to the guard and moments later the creaking iron portcullis was slowly raised.
He swallowed the lump forming in his throat.
These men were the escorts he’d been dreading. The men who would take Selene to Raasay.
Once Baird MacLeod had dismounted, his horse had been taken by the grooms, and his men were being seen to by two of Kenneth’s men-at-arms, Callum and Kenneth escorted him into the keep.
First things first.
“After sailing from Raasay, I daresay ye would welcome a little nourishment. Before discussing yer business wi’ me, please join wi’ meself and me advisor and captain, Callum MacLean, fer nourishment and warmth in the dining hall.”
The man grinned. “Aye. I would be most grateful tae ease the empty space in me belly and warm me hands at yer fire.”
Leaving Callum to seat this new guest, Kenneth excused himself. Selene would be waiting anxiously to hear what was happening.