Chapter 7 #2
As he skimmed the courtiers, his gaze was drawn by a flash of Highland plaid in the center of the tables where dancers were dancing.
His breath caught at the sight of his wife in Simon’s arms. Callie was leaning back against Simon’s chest and smiling up at him with an open, happy expression.
Sin saw red as possessive anger tore through him. How dare she look at Simon like that! The pain of it ate at him. He’d wanted her to greet him with that expression and now she directed it toward another man.
Wanting blood, he stalked toward them.
“Callie,” Simon said with a laugh as he reached for the goblet in her hand. “Give me that cup. You’ve had enough wine for one night.”
She pulled it away from Simon’s reach, then stepped away from him, spilling half the cup’s contents across the floor. “Pop and dandies, Simon,” she laughed back. “I want more of it, not less.”
“What goes here?” Sin demanded as he drew near.
Silence settled across the room. Sin felt the looks of all the courtiers on them as they watched on curiously.
“I was dancing,” Callie said, her gentle brogue a bit slurred and hard to understand. “And I was drinking.” She frowned at the cup in her hand as if unable to understand where her wine had gone. Pouting, she looked up at Sin. “But now Simon won’t let me do either.”
“I’m trying to get her into bed,” Simon confessed.
Sin arched a brow.
“Don’t give me that look. She’s drunk.”
He arched his brow even higher.
“Oh great Peter’s hairy toes, Sin, you know me better than that. I wasn’t going to do anything other than summon her maid to care for her.”
Callie snorted at that. “It’s a very bad thing when a woman is this far into her cups and still no man wants to tup her.”
The men exchanged a shocked look.
Seeking to get her away from the others before she entirely destroyed herself, Sin scooped her up in his arms and carried her from the hall.
She sighed, then wrapped her arms around his neck and laid her head on his shoulder. Sin trembled at the feel of her hand in his hair as she ran her fingers though it, lightly brushing them against his scalp.
“You are a strong one, aren’t you?” Her breath against his neck sent chills all over him. “I like the way your arms feel when you hold me.”
Then she gave a sharp yank on his hair.
“Ow!” he said sharply. “What was that for?”
“I thought you’d left me, ye bonnie arse.” She kicked her legs and squirmed in his arms. “Put me down. I’m mad at you.”
Sin tightened his hold on her. He wasn’t about to put her down. Not until he had her safely in her room.
“Mad at me?” he asked incredulously. “For what?”
“You’re a large, aggravating beastie. That’s what you are. Turning me head and making me want you, then leaving the first minute you can.”
In spite of himself, he grinned. There was something about this drunken lass’s outspokenness he liked. “Making you want me, eh?”
“Aye. I want a kiss from you, husband.”
He set her down only long enough to open the door to her room.
She swayed slightly, then threw her arms back around his neck and tried to kiss him. She missed his lips and planted a hot kiss on his jawbone.
Hot chills erupted like liquid fire all over his body.
He hissed as she licked his flesh with her tongue. “Mmmm,” she moaned. “You’re all prickly and hard.”
She had no idea just how hard he was.
Sin kicked the door closed as she pulled back.
“Where were you?” She tried to put her hands on her hips, but they fell limply to her sides.
“I was riding.”
“Oh. You’re favorite thing to do. How could I forget? It’s the only thing you enjoy doing.”
“Aye, and you like to dance. Tell me, were you drunk before or after you went downstairs?”
“Definitely after. There was this one tall man who said he’d be happy to take your place tonight if you didn’t feel up for it.”
“Oh, I’m up for it all right.”
Before he could think better of it, Sin stepped into her arms and pulled her close, then gave her a proper kiss.
Callie’s head swam even more from the taste of his lips. Oh she liked this man even when he made her mad. She ran her hands through his hair, delighting in the feel of it as she tasted the heavenly heat of his mouth. Moaning, she surrendered all her weight to him and clung to his broad shoulders.
She felt his hands roaming her back, pulling at the laces of her gown.
A shiver ran over her as she thought of what he was going to do to her tonight.
He was going to see her in ways no man had ever seen her before.
Touch her in places no one had before and do things with her she had only vaguely dreamed of.
The very thought made her blush.
“Are you going to hurt me?” she asked.
“I don’t plan on it.” He pulled back and frowned at her. “Why would you think that?”
“Aelfa said it would hurt when you stick your...um... male piece into me.”
Sin arched a brow at her choice of words. He always had the oddest conversations with this woman. “I’ll try and take care not to hurt you then.”
She laughed at that. “So, you are going to stick your—”
“Please, Callie, have mercy on me.”
Biting her lip so that he saw her little dimple, she slid her hands down his chest in innocent exploration of his body. Sin struggled to breathe as he fought the urge to take her wildly. He would have to be gentle with her. Careful. The last thing he ever wanted was to hurt this gentle lady.
“Such strength.” She fumbled with the laces of his tunic until she bared part of his chest to her eager eyes.
She peeled the edges of the collar back to see as much of his body as the tunic would allow.
Sin stood perfectly still, afraid to move lest it frighten her.
He would let her get used to him first, then. ..then she would be his.
“I like the way your skin looks. Can I touch it?”
“Madame, you may touch anything on me you like.”
She smiled at that. “Really?”
He nodded.
Callie untucked his under tunic and ran her hand over the hard planes of his muscles. Oh the man felt good beneath her hands. She pulled his tunic off wanting to see more of him. She touched the scars along his ribs, then traced the one that lashed across his right nipple.
She frowned at all she saw. They were everywhere. So much pain. So much strength.
Suddenly, she wanted to see all of him. She dropped his tunic to the floor, then reached for the laces of his chausses.
Sin held his breath as her fingers flicked against his lower abdomen while she undid his chausses. As soon as she untied the tabs, the heavy chain mail breeches sank to the floor exposing him to her.
Callie swallowed at the sight of his swollen shaft nestled amongst the dark hairs. He was huge! Surely such a thing would cleave her in two. No wonder Aelfa had warned her of pain.
Still, she’d never seen anything like it before.
Quite curious, she moved her hand slowly to touch him. As soon as her fingers brushed his velvety tip, he hissed and his body jerked, arching toward her hand.
She pulled back. “Did I hurt you?”
“Nay, love,” he said raggedly. He took her hand into his and led it back to his shaft.
She shivered at the velvety, hard feel of him in her hand as she curled her fingers around him. She stared in awe of the pleasure on his face. Aye, she liked giving him pleasure. Liked the way he stared at her as if he wanted to devour her.
With his hand on hers, he showed her how to caress him. How to run her hand up and down his shaft, then down to the soft sac below. Callie bit her lip at the power it gave her over him. She loved the way he felt in her hand.
Emboldened by his pleased look, she ran her hand down to gently cup his sac. He growled and hissed, then took her face into his hands and kissed her deeply.
Callie moaned at the taste of him as she gently kneaded him in her hand. He ran his hands through her hair, then down her back to the laces of her gown. Her heart pounded in sweet expectation.
In a matter of heartbeats, her gown sank to the floor and they stood bare skin to bare skin. She trembled at the sensation of his hot body against hers.
On fire, she clung to him.
Sin pulled back only long enough to look at her. She was slender and pale in the candlelight. Her body lithe and graceful. Picking her up, he carried her to the bed.
Callie sighed as soon as she sank into the feather mattress. A sudden wave of dizziness assailed her and the room spun about crazily.
Suddenly, everything went black.
Sin dipped his head down to kiss her, then froze.
“Caledonia?”
She didn’t move.
He shook her gently. “Callie?”
Again, no response. She was out cold.
Cursing, Sin pulled back, his groin burning like the fires of hell.
Aggravated, he watched her skin gleaming and taunting him. If not for his raging body that demanded hers so rawly, he would laugh at this. But there was nothing funny about the pain of his unspent lust.
“It’s just as well.” He pulled the blanket over her. Sin took this night as a sign. He had no right to her. Not really.
She deserved an honorable champion. A man like Simon. Someone who could love her and give her the children she wanted so much. His heart ached at the knowledge that he could never be that carefree man who could laugh with her and share her peaceful life.
So be it. He would heed this omen and content himself with just seeing her home to her family and Henry’s rebels brought out into the light and punished.
Still, as he watched her sleeping, a bitter ache settled deep in his heart, making him wish he were a different man. A better man.
Sin lay down beside her and pulled her into his arms. He would just hold her for a little while. Pretend that they had a future together. Pretend he had something to offer her that was worth having.
Callie came awake to a ferocious pounding in her head. Moaning, she blinked her eyes open and flinched at the bright daylight streaming through the room.
The door opened, sending spikes of pain through her skull. “Och, now, please walk softly,” she breathed.