Chapter 15 #2
But when his calloused palm found the bare skin above her stocking, when his fingers traced higher with clear intent, she didn’t push him away. She pulled him closer.
“Please,” she heard herself whisper against his mouth. “Murdock, please…”
A burst of laughter from the festival cut through the haze of desire.
They both froze, breathing hard, staring at each other in the darkness.
Murdock cursed viciously, his hand stilling on her thigh. “We need to stop.”
“I ken,” Leona agreed, though her body screamed in protest.
But neither of them moved. They stayed pressed together, her leg still hitched around his hip, his hand still on her bare thigh, both trembling with need.
“We cannae do this here,” Murdock said, though his thumb stroked her skin in maddening circles. “Ye deserve better than to be taken against a tree in the dark.”
“I daenae care!”
He released her leg, stepping back before his control shattered completely. But his hand stayed on her face, his thumb tracing her swollen lips.
They stood there in the darkness, reluctant to break the spell, both knowing that once they returned to the festival, they’d have to pretend again. Smile and act like nothing had happened. Like they weren’t both burning with unfulfilled desire.
“Murdock?” Leona finally found her voice.
“Aye?”
“I daenae want to dance with anyone else.”
Something in his expression shifted. The last thread of his control snapped, and she saw it happen. Saw the moment the Beast of Ainsley gave up fighting what he wanted.
“Christ,” he breathed. “Ye’ll be the death of me, lass.”
His mouth crashed down onto hers again, and this time there was no hesitation. No attempt at restraint. Just raw, unfiltered need.
He walked her backward, deeper into the trees, away from the path where anyone might stumble upon them. Her back hit another tree trunk, but before she could register the impact, his hands were everywhere.
One tangled in her hair, angling her head to deepen the kiss. The other traced down her side, over her ribs, her waist, her hip, leaving fire in its wake. His tongue swept into her mouth with devastating skill, and she moaned into the kiss.
“Quiet, lass,” he murmured against her lips. “We’re nae that far away. The whole village will ken if ye keep this up.”
“I daenae care,” she gasped, her nails digging into his shoulders.
“Aye, ye do.” His hand cupped her breast, kneading it roughly through the fabric. “Ye’ll care tomorrow when they look at ye and ken exactly what happened in these woods.”
He was right, damn him. But it was hard to think about tomorrow when his thumb was circling her nipple, when pleasure was spiking through her with every deliberate touch.
His mouth left hers to trail down her throat, teeth scraping over sensitive skin. He found the pulse point at the base of her neck and sucked, hard enough to leave a mark.
“Murdock!” She tried to push him away, horrified. “That’ll bruise!”
“Good.” His voice was dark, possessive. “Let them see. Let every man at that festival ken ye’re taken.”
Before she could protest, his hand left her breast to grip her thigh again, hitching it around his hip.
“I need to touch ye,” he said roughly, his hand finding her thigh. “Need to feel ye. Will ye let me, lass?”
Leona knew she should say no. Should stop this before it went too far. But her body was screaming yes, her core aching with a need she didn’t fully understand.
“Aye,” she whispered. “Please.”
His hand bunched her skirts higher, past her stockings, past her garters, finding the damp fabric between her legs. They both shuddered at the contact.
“Hell,” Murdock breathed, his fingers stroking her through the thin material. “Ye’re soaked for me.”
Leona whimpered, her hips rolling forward, seeking more pressure. More friction. More of whatever this was that felt so devastatingly good.
“Easy,” he soothed, though his own breathing was ragged. “I’ll take care of ye. I promise.”
His fingers found the edge of her undergarments, and then, oh God, he was touching bare skin. The sensation was overwhelming, pleasure so acute it bordered on pain.
“Murdock,” she gasped, her head falling back against the tree. “I daenae… I’ve never…”
“I ken.” His mouth found her throat again, kissing, sucking, marking. “I’ll go slow. I’ll make it good for ye.”
His fingers explored her with devastating thoroughness, learning what made her gasp, what made her moan, what made her hips buck against his hand. He found a spot that made her cry out, and he focused on it, circling with maddening precision.
Leona bit her lip, trying to stifle the sounds building in her throat. But it was impossible. Every stroke of his fingers sent lightning through her veins, building toward something she couldn’t name but desperately needed.
Then his fingers moved lower, and she felt him teasing her entrance. The sensation was foreign, slightly uncomfortable, and she tensed.
“Easy,” Murdock soothed, his mouth finding hers in a gentle kiss. “Relax for me. Let me make ye feel good.”
He slid one finger inside her, and the fullness made her gasp. It didn’t hurt, but it was strange. Different.
“Breathe, lass,” he instructed, his thumb still circling that spot that made her see stars. “Just breathe and let yer body adjust.”
He moved slowly, carefully, giving her time to accommodate the intrusion. And then he was stroking inside her, finding a rhythm that made her hips move of their own accord.
“That’s it,” he praised, his voice rough with arousal. “That’s me good lass. Ye’re doing so well.”
The combination of his thumb on that sensitive bundle of nerves and his finger inside her was too much. Pleasure built and built, coiling tighter in her belly until she thought she might shatter from it.
“Murdock,” she whimpered, her nails digging into his shoulders. “Something’s… I feel…”
“I ken.” He added a second finger, stretching her, and the fullness made her cry out. “Let go, Leona. I’ve got ye. Let go.”
His thumb pressed harder, his fingers curled inside her, and the world exploded.
Pleasure crashed over her in waves so intense she couldn’t breathe, couldn’t think, couldn’t do anything but shake and gasp as her body came apart. Her core clenched around his fingers, pulsing with release, and she buried her face in his shoulder to muffle her cries.
“That’s it,” Murdock murmured, working her through it. “That’s me lass. So beautiful when ye come undone.”
The aftershocks rolled through her, leaving her trembling and weak. If not for his body pinning her to the tree, she would have collapsed.
Slowly, carefully, he withdrew his fingers. She whimpered at the loss, suddenly feeling empty, and he hushed her with a gentle kiss.
“Shh, I’ve got ye,” he soothed, wrapping both arms around her. “Ye did so well, lass. So perfect.”
Leona sagged against him, her legs unable to support her weight. Her heart hammered against her ribs, and her breath came in ragged gasps. She’d never felt anything like that. Never imagined her body was capable of such pleasure.
Murdock held her while she trembled, one hand stroking her hair, the other rubbing soothing circles on her back. His touch was tender now, protective, so different from the desperate passion of moments ago.
“Are ye all right?” he asked quietly.
“I…” Leona struggled to find words. “That was…”
“Intense?” he supplied, a hint of satisfaction in his voice.
“Aye.” She buried her face in his chest, suddenly shy despite what they’d just done. “I daenae ken what that was, but it was great.”
“Good.” He tilted her face up, his eyes searching hers in the darkness. “Because nay other man is ever going to make ye feel that way. Only me. Understand?”
The possessiveness should have annoyed her. Should have made her bristle at his presumption. Instead, it sent a fresh wave of heat through her.
“This is more than just business, is it nae?” The words escaped before she could stop them. “More than just a convenient arrangement?”
Murdock’s jaw tightened. She watched him war with himself, watched the walls he kept so carefully maintained struggle against something that wanted to break free.
“Aye,” he finally admitted, his voice rough. “It’s more. God help us both, but it’s so much more.”
The confession made her chest tighten. Made something warm and dangerous bloom in her heart.
She reached up, cupping his face in her hands. “I’m glad.”
Before he could respond, before he could say something that might ruin the moment, she pulled him down for a kiss. This one was softer, sweeter, full of feelings she wasn’t ready to name but couldn’t deny.
He kissed her back with a tenderness that made tears prick her eyes. His hands cradled her face like she was something precious, something worth cherishing.
When they finally broke apart, they were both breathing hard again, but for different reasons this time.
Murdock rested his forehead against hers, his eyes closed. “I’ve never felt like this,” he admitted quietly. “Never wanted someone the way I want ye. Never felt so… undone.”
“Is that bad?” Leona asked, her heart in her throat.
“I daenae ken.” His eyes opened, and the vulnerability in them stole her breath. “All I ken is that ye terrify me. What ye make me feel. What ye make me want.”
“What do ye want?”
“Everythin'.” The word was a confession. A surrender. “I want everythin' with ye, Leona. And that’s what scares me most.”
She opened her mouth to respond, to tell him that she felt the same terrifying pull, when voices drifted through the trees.
They both froze.
“This way, I think,” a woman’s voice said, closer than was comfortable.
“Are ye sure? I thought—”
“Just come on!”
Laughter followed, and Murdock cursed under his breath. He stepped back from Leona, his hands already smoothing her skirts, fixing what he’d disheveled.
“We need to go,” he said quietly. “Separately.”
“What?” Leona’s still-foggy mind struggled to catch up.
“If we return together looking like this…” His eyes raked over her, taking in her swollen lips, her flushed cheeks, the marks he’d left on her throat. “Everyone will ken what we’ve been doing.”
Heat flooded her face. “Oh.”
“I’ll go first. Give it a few minutes, then follow.” He pressed one more quick kiss to her lips. “Fix yer hair. Try to look less thoroughly ravished.”
Heat flooded her cheeks, even as indignation sparked. “Maybe ye shouldnae have thoroughly ravished me then.”
The laugh that escaped him was low and rich, genuine amusement lighting up his face in a way that made him look years younger.
“Fair point, lass. Fair point.”
Before she could say anything more, before she could tell him she didn’t want to be separated from him, he melted into the shadows and was gone.
Leona sagged against the tree, her legs still unsteady, her body still humming with aftershocks. She raised a trembling hand to her lips, touching them wonderingly.
That had been…
She had no words. No frame of reference for what had just happened. But as she stood there in the darkness, listening to the distant sounds of the festival, one thing became clear.
This arrangement, this fake betrothal that was meant to solve practical problems, wasn’t fake anymore. Maybe it had never been.
And that realization was more terrifying than anything else that had happened tonight.
Because if this were real, if these feelings were real, then she had far more to lose than just her freedom.
She had her heart to protect.
And judging by the way it raced in her chest at the memory of Murdock’s touch, at the echo of his words, I want everythin', it wouldn’t be easy.
It wouldn’t be easy at all.