Chapter 17
Kissing Violet always made Ruaridh burn with lust hotter than anything he had ever felt, and it made him feel almost guilty, like he had insulted his past lovers.
Her full lips were sweet and pliant beneath his, and while she had once been shy and tentative, now she hungrily matched him, her hands moving to the nape of his neck, where she fisted his hair.
The pain shot from his scalp to his toes and returned to his cock, heightening his lust. He drank in her pants and little sighs, unable to keep himself from groaning into her mouth.
He pulled her against his chest with an arm around her waist, and his other hand cupped her cheek.
“We have to stop, lass,” he said, pulling away slightly.
“Why?” she whispered, trying to kiss him again.
“I daenae want to frighten ye,” he murmured.
And he meant it because he did not think himself capable of moving slowly with her should he continue. Already, his hands itched to peel away the flimsy nightgown she wore and feast on her flesh until she was screaming his name.
Ruaridh had known that stepping into her chambers when she wore nothing but the translucent fabric was a mistake, but he had been powerless to resist the curves that the candle had shown him.
Hearing that it had been him she had chosen to complete her list with, and not Callum, had been the final straw that broke his resolve.
“You do not scare me, my Laird,” she retorted, eyes flashing with fire.
Lord, she was beautiful. His little spitfire challenged him at every turn.
He pulled her tighter against him so she would feel just how much he burned for her. Her eyes widened, letting him know she understood his meaning.
“Ye have every reason to fear me, Violet,” he growled. “I may nae be able to be gentle with ye, nae when I burn with such hunger for ye.”
She placed her hands against his chest and leaned up to place a small kiss on his lips. “You don’t have to keep holding back,” she told him. “I want you.”
His eyes searched hers, wanting to see if he had perhaps intimidated her into giving in to him, but then she nodded, her eyes hooded with desire.
He kissed her then, fighting against his raging lust as his hands moved to the laces at her neck that kept her nightgown fastened.
Once he loosened them, the nightgown gaped, and it was easy to slide it off her shoulders.
She did the rest, removing her arms from the sleeves.
It pooled at her feet, and he stepped back to take her in.
She was a perfect craftsmanship of soft, feminine curves, with long legs made for loving. The dark tips of her perfectly full breasts made his mouth water with the need to taste them, and the blonde curls at the junction of her thighs called to him to see her and taste her.
She was a goddess in the golden candlelight, with the long tresses of her blonde hair hanging behind her. He was almost at a loss for where to begin.
She lowered her eyes and bit her lip in a manner that showed her unease. He tilted her face up to his with a finger under her chin.
“Ye’re very bonny,” he purred, before kissing her softly.
He took his time, slowly walking her back till the back of her knees hit the edge of her bed, and she flopped down. He climbed over her.
The intimacy of this new position had his cock swelling, but he made sure not to frighten her.
He kissed down her lips to her chin and then her neck, nipping gently as he went and smiling when she gasped softly. She was so responsive that it was torture for him.
He kissed the swell of her breasts, going on his knees so his hands were free to cup the full mounds. He groaned, moving down to capture one erect nipple between his lips, nipping softly before sucking. She gasped, her back arching off the bed, but he didn’t relent.
Her hands gripped the sheets tightly, but he wished they were in his hair instead. With her, he realized he found the pain she inflicted with her nails pleasurable.
He moved to her other breast, lavishing the same attention on it, and her left hand slid into his hair, gripping it tightly. Her nails raked across his scalp, and he groaned against her.
He moved further down her body to her belly, letting his tongue dip into her navel, and then moved down to the nest of curls at the junction of her thighs.
The scent of her arousal reached him first, and his mouth watered, wanting to taste her.
She had teased him for having a sweet tooth, and she wasn’t wrong. He had a weakness for sweet treats, and he was sure her taste would be the new weakness that would plague his waking and sleeping hours.
“What… what are you doing?” she asked, biting her lip.
“I wish to taste ye,” he answered, meeting her eyes.
“Is that…” She swallowed. “Is that what is typically done?”
She looked nervous, and he immediately wished to remove the expression on her face and replace it with the hooded gaze she had had earlier.
“Aye,” he answered. “Only when a man is pleased with ye.”
She swallowed again. “And are you pleased with me, my Laird?”
His cock jumped at the sheer innocence of her question, and at that moment, he itched to corrupt her.
“Aye,” he answered, brushing his knuckles over her curls. “I’m very pleased with ye.”
She smiled softly, and he moved up to kiss her long and slow, before pulling back to look at her again.
“Will ye trust me, Violet?” he asked.
“Yes, my Laird.”
“I want ye to call me by me name.”
He had hated hearing Callum’s name fall from her lips, for she was his and his alone.
She swallowed thickly and nodded, but it wasn’t enough.
“Say me name, Violet.”
She swallowed again and lowered her eyes. “Ruaridh.”
It was the sweetest sound he had ever heard her make, and he instantly wished to hear her scream out his name when she reached her peak.
He kissed her again, and this time he didn’t stop until he was breathing in her arousal. Using one hand to part the folds of her sex, he licked her with one long, gentle stroke of his tongue, unable to stop himself.
It took her time to give herself to the pleasure, but once she did, her hips began to move against his tongue, her moans turning into breathless gasps.
He slid a finger into her and hissed as her warmth wrapped around him. His cock twitched in his breeches, aching to sink into her, but he focused on pleasuring her.
He kept the thrusts of his fingers slow to help her adjust, and once she relaxed again, he added a second finger, unable to look away from her weeping sex.
They were obscene and beautiful, the wet sounds of his fingers sliding in and out of her, a cacophony that had him gritting his teeth to rein in his lust. Her eyes were closed, her lips parted as breathless gasps escaped them.
She was a beauty to behold, and from the spasm of her inner walls around his fingers, he knew she was close. He leaned forward to kiss her nub, as his fingers slid in and out of her, and her back arched off the bed, her hands curling into his hair.
“Please, my Laird,” she gasped.
He nipped her lightly. “I told ye to call me by name. Shall I stop?”
“No,” she gasped. “Please, Ruaridh.”
He groaned and lowered his head again, increasing the pace of his fingers and matching it with his tongue. It didn’t take long for her to reach her peak.
When she screamed out his name in ecstasy, Ruaridh felt his cock harden even more painfully, and he bit back a groan. He craved release, but he wanted to do right by her. She might claim not to care, but he wanted their first time together to be after they were wed and not before.
So instead of seeking his release, he kissed his way up her body and rolled onto the side, pulling her to lie across his chest as his heart pounded madly.
If anyone had told Violet that she would feel so completely sated and yet hungry with a burning need for the Laird a few days prior, she would have thought the person insane. But here she was, satisfied to the bone as she lay draped across his chest.
His warm hand held her close against his warm body, which was regrettably clothed, unlike hers, but the rapid pounding of his heart made her smile, knowing he was just as affected as she had been.
For a man so rough-looking, he had been a gentle and attentive lover, and while she had once feared the consummation of marriage, now she looked forward to it.
She breathed him in deeper, loving the rich, masculine scent that made her feel safe, and sighed contentedly. She never wanted this to end.
When she felt him move to rise, she opened her eyes and sat up quickly.
“Where are you going??” she asked.
The cold draft that kissed her skin as the bed covers slipped down made her aware of the fact that she was very naked. Her body warmed as Ruaridh’s eyes raked over her heatedly, but the expression soon vanished when he looked up into her eyes.
“I have to return to me chambers before anyone notices I am here,” he answered gruffly, straightening his clothes and running a hand through his hair.
“Why?”
It wasn’t as though there would be a big scandal if anyone saw him leaving her chambers so late at night. They were going to be wed anyway.
Shocked by the improper thought, she giggled to herself.
A few weeks ago, she never would have considered thinking such improper thoughts, but her body was still reeling from the memory of his lips and hands on her skin, and the blinding heat that had seared her when he had lapped at her sex.
Thinking about it had her pulsing with the need to feel him again, but the stubborn man was insistent on leaving, though his eyes stubbornly refused to stay on her face.
It wouldn’t take much to get him into her bed, she thought, bemused as she watched him clench his hands into fists at his sides.
The telling bulge at the front of his breeches made her mouth go dry, but she didn’t want to be distracted.
So she sat up higher and pulled the covers up to cover herself, tossing her hair over one shoulder.
She resisted the urge to smile when he groaned softly, his nostrils flaring.
His reaction to her made her feel desirable, like a woman and not the girl she had thought herself to be. It was such a heady feeling, she didn’t know what to do with it.
“Ye’re torturing me, lass,” he groaned, closing his eyes.
“You don’t have to leave,” she coaxed.
“Ye daenae ken how much I want ye,” he whispered. “I daenae ken if I will be able to stop if I touch ye again.”
Her heart thudded hard in her chest at the thought of him ravishing her. If only kissing her and touching her had stoked such a fire within her that she couldn’t help but want him, would she be able to survive him claiming her completely?
“What if I don’t want you to stop?” she asked in a small voice.
He growled, moving quicker than she had expected, and soon his lips were on hers again. She smiled against his mouth as he groaned, his frustration evident.
He kissed his way down her lips to her chin and then her neck, stopping at that junction that scrambled her senses till all she could think of was him. His mouth barely grazed the swell of her breasts when they heard footsteps and voices outside her door.
He pulled away from her just as quickly, smoothing his clothes as if remembering his earlier resolve.
“I bid ye good night, Violet,” he whispered. “I shall see ye tomorrow.”
The door closed with a soft click, and she sighed, pulling the covers tighter around her. Even the slight friction of the fabric against her heated flesh had her burning with a need she now knew how to soothe.
She hadn’t known that there were such delights to be had when one was married, and now that she did, she wanted to experience it over and over again.
Tomorrow, she would tell Ruaridh that she accepted his proposal and that they didn’t need to complete her darned list any longer. They might not love each other yet, but what they had was more than enough to start.
She rolled onto her side, and the kiss of the cool fabric against her sex made her moan softly.
She really hoped she would survive the wait until they were man and wife, and he would no longer deny her the ecstasy he had shown her today.