Chapter 27 #2
His own gaze dropped to her lips. In response, she stepped in closer. He stared at her pulse racing against her neck. Slowly, his hands slid to her waist. He dug his fingertips into the softness that had blossomed there. A beat passed. Then, he pulled her gently against him.
“Darragh,” she whispered again, her fingers curling into his shirt.
The slight trembling of her hands subsided as she felt the steadiness of his presence. All he wanted was her safety. He would do whatever it took to deliver it to her.
His hands roamed then, coming to rest at her lower back. He pulled her the rest of the way toward him. Her skirt rustled as she shifted closer.
As Amelia tilted her head up further, Darragh met her in the middle. Their lips collided, and he was overcome by the same sense of rightness he’d felt when they’d kissed twice before. They fit together perfectly.
Her soft lips became less hesitant as he took complete control. His tongue pressed against the seam of her mouth, and she opened for him, letting him claim her. A growl slipped between them as he deepened the kiss.
He pulled back slightly, pressing his forehead against hers. With his eyes closed, he let her catch her breath for a beat. Then, his nose nudging against hers, he whispered, “Amelia…”
The next kiss he gave her was deeper, claiming her as his. She whimpered, a noise that shot through his entire body and landed in his groin. He pressed his stiffening length against her, continuing to greedily drink down each noise that escaped.
Deliberately, he shifted his touch down her thigh. Even through her gown, her skin was hot, and as he picked up her skirt, slipping his hand beneath the fabric, she opened her legs to him.
His fingertips brushed against her burning, wet heat. A full-body shudder tore through Amelia. Something between a gasp and a moan that sounded suspiciously like his name worked its way from her chest as she seized into him.
“I’ve got ye, lass,” he said, swiping through the evidence of her arousal more firmly. “I’ll take care of ye. I will always take care of ye.”
“I ken,” she gasped, her hands gripping onto his biceps, digging into the muscle.
The words, though they were a breathless utterance, didn’t sound mindless. It was an admission that had been desperately trying to be heard. Whether she intended it to be or not, it was a direct acknowledgment of his intentions.
Pressing his fingers into her opening, Darragh kissed Amelia again. As he stroked her walls, she went slack against him. It was almost as if she were trying to get even closer.
“Darragh,” she gasped, tossing her head back when he hooked his fingers up, pushing against nerve endings that seemed to drive her crazy.
He focused his ministrations in that same spot, watching the way her throat worked around a whine.
Leaning in and pressing his lips to her collarbones, he brought his thumb to the nub just above her folds.
The reaction it brokered was so loud that if anyone were passing by, they’d surely know what was happening.
“Let me hear ye, lass,” he groaned, inserting another finger.
Amelia pushed herself forward again, a litany of things he couldn’t quite catch on her tongue. He didn’t let her search for his mouth long, claiming her lips once more. This time, her movement was frantic, imprecise.
It was so much more compelling. This woman had been nothing but controlled since they’d met, and now, he was taking that facade apart with nothing more than his fingers between her legs.
He felt her center flutter around him at the same time that her cries began to grow in pitch.
With a smirk, he leaned in, capturing her mouth once more.
She couldn’t keep up with the fervor of his claiming, her tongue pressing against his with a kind of desperation that made it clear she was close to teetering over the edge.
“Let go, lass,” he commanded, leaning back so he could watch the symphony of pleasure dance across her face.
Amelia’s entire body tensed all at once, the tightness around his fingers clenching. Then, her face went slack. A low, wild whine sounded as she shook in his hold.
Her fingers tightened in his doublet as she held onto him. A new wave of her climax slammed into her, and her eyes fluttered open and closed. His own arousal ached, pressing against the front of his trews, demanding he claim Amelia in every sense of the word.
“That’s it,” he praised as she exhaled sharply with the force of her unbearable pleasure. “I’ve got ye, lass.”
“Darragh,” she whimpered, jerking back slightly as the pleasure tipped over into overstimulation.
With great difficulty, he removed his fingers from inside her wet warmth. She shuddered at the loss, her hands tightening and loosening where they were still fisted in his shirt. It took everything in him to take a step away.
“I have to stop here, lass,” he said, resting his forehead against hers, keeping as much distance as he could stand between his hips and the alluring softness of her thigh. When he spoke again, his voice was still rough and uneven. “If I stay longer, I willnae stop meself. I cannae.”
She nodded, her breath shaky as he stepped away. There was still a dream-like quality to her expression, her eyes glazed over with the depth of her delight. Her hands fell away from his biceps, hanging limply at her sides.
“Tomorrow is the hunt,” he said softly. “Let us finish that feast… and then…” He reached out, cradling her cheek in his palm. His thumb brushed the downy skin just below her eye. “Then, I’ll teach ye more.”
He didn’t let her go until she nodded in understanding. There was something strange, conflicted, about the way she watched him. He held her gaze, trying to decipher all of the things that were playing through her mind as he took another measured step back.
“I’ll leave ye with the candle,” he said, giving her a final decisive nod.
As he left, he could feel the confusion, pleasure, and vulnerability rolling off Amelia in waves. Each step he took down the narrow servants’ stairway felt wrong on a fundamental level. When he reached the landing, he forced himself to keep a brisk pace back to his chambers.
If I linger too long, I’ll take meself back to her and won’t leave until she kens exactly who she belongs to.