Chapter 31
Murdock’s hands trembled as he touched her.
Not from uncertainty, but from the sheer overwhelming emotion of finally being allowed to have this. To have her. After weeks of wanting, of restraining himself, of believing he could never deserve something this good.
“Ye’re shaking,” Leona whispered, her fingers threading through his hair.
“Aye.” He pressed his forehead against hers, breathing her in. “I’m terrified I’ll wake up, and this will have been a dream.”
“Then let me prove it’s real.” She pulled his mouth to hers, kissing him with a tenderness that made his chest ache.
Murdock returned the kiss slowly, reverently, pouring everything he couldn’t say into the slide of his lips against hers. His hands moved to the laces of her gown, fingers fumbling slightly in his haste.
“Let me,” Leona said softly, her hands covering his. “We have time. All the time in the world now.”
“Do we?” His voice came out rougher than he had intended. “Because I’ve already wasted so much of it being a fool.”
“Then stop wastin' more.” She guided his hands to her shoulders, holding his gaze as she spoke. “Touch me, Murdock. Love me. Show me what ye’ve been too afraid to say.”
Something in him broke at those words, or perhaps it was something finally healing. Years of careful control, of holding himself back, of believing he wasn’t allowed to want this much.
All of it crumbled away, leaving only the man beneath. The one who loved her so desperately it hurt.
His hands moved with new purpose, unlacing her gown with trembling fingers.
Each layer of fabric that fell away revealed more of her—the curve of her shoulder, the swell of her breasts, the gentle dip of her waist. He took his time, savoring every inch of newly exposed skin, pressing kisses to each freckle and scar he discovered.
“Ye’re so beautiful,” he murmured against her collarbone. “So perfect.”
“I’m nae perfect.” Leona’s breath hitched as his mouth found the sensitive spot below her ear. “I’m stubborn and reckless and…”
“Perfect,” he insisted, pulling back to look at her. “For me, ye’re perfect.”
Her eyes shimmered with tears. “Murdock…”
“Leona.” He cupped her face in his hands, needing her to understand. “I need ye to ken… this isnae just desire for me. This is everythin''. Ye’re everythin.”
“I ken.” Her hands moved to his clothes, working at the fastenings with steady fingers. “I feel it, too. This… this significance. Like we’re choosin' each other in a way that cannae be undone.”
“Aye.” He helped her remove his tunic, feeling exposed in more ways than one as she looked at him. At the scars that marked his body, evidence of a lifetime of violence. “Is it… Are ye certain? Because we can wait. I want ye to be—”
“I’m certain.” Leona’s hands splayed across his chest, her touch gentle on the raised scars. “I’ve never been more certain of anythin'.”
He took her hands and brought them to his lips. “Then let me love ye properly. The way ye deserve.”
What followed was a revelation.
Murdock had bedded women before. But this… this was different. This was Leona, and she made everything feel new. Made every touch, every kiss, every breathless moment feel like the first time.
He laid her back against the pillows, his eyes drinking in the sight of her. Dark hair spread like silk across the linens, green eyes heavy-lidded with desire, lips swollen from his kisses.
She was the most beautiful thing he’d ever seen.
“Let me worship ye,” he whispered, trailing kisses down her throat. “Let me show ye how much I love ye.”
He took his time, mapping every inch of her skin with his mouth. The hollow of her throat where her pulse fluttered wildly. The delicate line of her collarbone. The soft swell of her breasts.
When his lips closed around one erect nipple, Leona arched off the bed with a gasp that went straight to his core. He lavished attention on the sensitive flesh, using teeth and tongue until she was writhing beneath him, her hands fisting in his hair.
“Murdock,” she breathed, her voice breaking on his name. “Please…”
“Patience, love.” He moved to her other breast, giving it the same devoted attention. “I’ve waited so long for this. For ye. Let me savor it.”
He kissed his way down her body, pausing to trace the curve of her ribs with his tongue, to press kisses to her belly, to nuzzle the sensitive skin of her inner thighs.
Every touch drew sweet sounds from her throat, gasps and whimpers and broken pleas that made him ache with need.
“Beautiful,” he murmured against her skin. “So beautiful. And all mine.”
“Yers,” Leona agreed, her voice shaking. “Always yers.”
When he finally lowered his mouth to her core, when he tasted her properly for the first time, the sound she made, half-sob, half-moan, nearly undid him. He took his time there, learning what made her gasp, what made her arch and writhe, what drew his name from her lips like a prayer.
“Murdock,” she panted, her fingers tangling in his hair. “I need… Please, I need…”
“Tell me,” he demanded, looking up at her. “Tell me what ye need.”
“Ye. Now.”
He moved back up her body, settling between her thighs with a reverence that made his hands shake.
“If it hurts, tell me to stop, and I will.”
Leona shook her head desperately and pulled him closer, her hands trailing his arms and back.
“I trust ye,” she whispered. “Please, daenae make me wait anymore, I cannae take it. I need…” She moaned when she felt him at her entrance.
His control snapped. He took her lips in a violent kiss.
When he finally entered her, when he felt her body accept him with a gasp of pleasure, he had to pause. Had to breathe. Had to convince himself this was real.
“I love ye,” he whispered against her mouth. “God, Leona, I love ye so much.”
“Show me,” she demanded, wrapping her legs around his waist. “Show me how much.”
So he did.
He made love to her slowly at first, savoring every sensation, every sound, every flutter of her body around his. The way she fit him perfectly. The way she moved with him, meeting him thrust for thrust. The way she said his name like it was sacred.
Then faster as she urged him on, her nails scoring his back, her breath hot against his ear as she told him exactly what she wanted. How deep. How hard. What she needed from him.
It was raw and honest and vulnerable in ways he’d never allowed himself to be before. No walls, no control, no careful distance. Just him and Leona and the truth of what they felt for each other.
When she came apart in his arms, her walls clenching around him, his name on her lips like a prayer, he followed her over the edge with a groan that came from somewhere deep in his soul.
And in that moment, tangled together in the aftermath, he felt something he’d never expected to feel.
Complete.
Later, much later, they lay together, Leona’s head resting on his chest, his fingers tracing lazy patterns on her bare shoulder.
“I love ye,” Murdock said again, because he couldn’t seem to stop saying it now that he’d started.
Leona lifted her head to look at him, her eyes soft and warm. “Took ye long enough to admit it.”
“Aye, well.” He tugged gently on a strand of dark hair. “I’m a stubborn bastard. Ye’ll have to get used to that.”
“I think I can manage.” She pressed a kiss to his chest, right over his heart. “I’m fairly stubborn meself.”
He pulled her up for a kiss, deep and thorough. When they finally broke apart, he pressed his forehead against hers.
“Marry me,” he said again. “Soon. I daenae want to wait.”
“I already told ye I will, me Laird.”
“And please never use me title again. I hate it.”
Leona giggled. “So I’ve noticed.”
“Ah, so ye’re teasing me again, lass. Ye should be punished.” He pulled her closer.
“Ye can punish me all ye want, ye’re still marrying me.”
He smiled.
“What kind of wedding do ye want?” he asked, tracing the line of her jaw.
She was quiet for a moment. “I want me maither to see me marry for love. The way she did with me faither.”
“Then we’ll have it here,” Murdock said decisively. “At Kerr. With yer whole clan as a witness.”
“Ye’d do that?”
“Leona, I’d marry ye in a ditch if that’s what ye wanted.” He kissed her forehead. “As long as I get to call ye me wife, I daenae care where it happens.”
Tears welled up in her eyes. “How did I get so lucky?”
“I’m the lucky one.” He pulled her close again. “I was drownin', and ye pulled me from the water.”
“Then we saved each other,” Leona whispered.
They fell into comfortable silence, holding each other.
“When should we have the ceremony?” Leona asked, eventually.
“Tomorrow.”
She laughed. “Murdock, there are preparations to be made.”
“Then as soon as we’re ready.” He tilted her face up to his. “I’ve already wasted too much time being afraid.”
“A couple of weeks, then.” Her eyes sparkled. “Can ye wait that long?”
“Barely.” He kissed her again, slow and deep. “But aye. For ye, I’ll wait.”
They lost themselves in each other again, hands roaming, mouths meeting, bodies moving together. It was different this time, less desperate, more playful. Learning each other, discovering what brought them pleasure.
And when they came together once more, when Leona cried out his name and he buried his face in her hair to muffle his grunt of completion, he knew with absolute certainty that he’d finally found home.
Not in a castle or a clan or a piece of land. But in her.
They were kissing lazily in satisfied exhaustion, when a knock sounded at the door.
“Leona?” Skye’s voice called, muffled but clearly impatient. “Are ye done talking yet? I’m hungry, and Nyx is demandin' dinner, and everyone keeps asking where Da is.”
Murdock bit back a laugh at Leona’s mortified expression. “We should probably…”
“Aye.” Leona sat up, pulling the sheet with her. “Just a moment, Skye!”
“Are ye gettin' dressed?” Skye asked with the blunt perception of a child. “Because it’s taking a very long time.”
Murdock couldn’t help it; he laughed, deep and genuine, the sound surprising them both.
When was the last time he’d laughed like that? Free and unguarded.
“Yer daughter is very perceptive,” Leona said, trying to glare at him but failing as her own lips twitched.
“She gets it from her maither,” Murdock said, then caught himself. “From Moira, I mean. She was always too clever for her own good.”
“It’s all right.” Leona touched his face gently. “Ye can talk about her. She was part of yer life. Part of what made Skye who she is.”
“Aye.” He caught her hand, kissing her palm. “But ye’re me future. Ye and Skye, both.”
“Leona!” Skye knocked again. “Nyx says she’s starvin'!”
“We’re comin'!” Leona called, scrambling for her clothes.
Murdock watched her dress with appreciation, earning himself a thrown stocking.
“Stop starin' and help me with the laces,” she demanded, turning her back to him.
Murdock rose from the bed, wrapping his own kilt before moving to help her. But instead of immediately tying the laces, he pressed a kiss to the back of her neck.
“I love ye,” he murmured.
“I ken.” She turned in his arms, smiling up at him. “And I love ye. Now, help me dress before yer daughter breaks down the door.”
He chuckled at how flushed she was. They managed to make themselves presentable just as Skye knocked a third time. When Leona finally opened the door, the little girl stood there with Nyx in her arms and an expression that was far too knowing.
“Were ye kissin'?” Skye asked.
“Skye…” Murdock warned.
“Because that’s good. Da needs to kiss ye lots. That’s what people who love each other do.” She beamed at them. “Are ye married now?”
“Nae yet,” Leona said, her cheeks pink again. “But soon.”
“How soon?” Skye bounced on her toes. “Tomorrow? Next week? Can I wear a pretty dress? Can Nyx be there, too?”
“In a couple of weeks,” Murdock said, scooping her up into a hug. “And aye, ye can wear the prettiest dress ye want. And Nyx can attend if she promises to behave.”
Nyx meowed, sounding highly offended at the suggestion she might not behave.
“See? She promises.” Skye kissed her father’s cheek. “I’m so happy, Da. I told ye Leona would come back if ye asked nicely.”
“Ye were right, wee one.” Murdock looked over at Leona, his heart so full it hurt. “Ye were right.”
“Of course I was.” Skye wiggled to be put down. “Now, can we eat? I’m starvin', and Nyx—”
“Is starvin', aye, we heard.” Leona laughed, taking Murdock’s hand. “Come on. Let’s go find the kitchens.”
As they walked through the corridors of Kerr Castle, Skye skipping ahead with Nyx, Murdock pulled Leona close.
“We should probably tell everyone I’ll be stayin' for a while,” he murmured in her ear. “Make an official announcement.”
Leona grinned up at him, mischief sparkling in her green eyes. “Let them figure it out when we announce the weddin'.”
“Scandalous.” He kissed her temple. “I like it.”
“Ye’ll have to get used to it.” She squeezed his hand. “I plan to scandalize ye regularly.”
“I look forward to it,” Murdock said, and meant it with every fiber of his being.
For the first time in his life, the future looked bright.
And it was all because of the stubborn, beautiful woman walking beside him.
His future wife. His love. His home.