Chapter Ten #2
She gripped his shoulders, holding him in place. “Is that all I am to you?”
A frown flickered at his brow. She felt the tremor of restraint rippling through him. “I dinna ken yer meaning.”
Isabella gulped. Why was she asking such questions when she could simply close her eyes and submit to the wonderful sensations he had kindled within her?
But this is important.
“I have heard that phrase so oft it has ceased to have meaning to me.” She tightened her hold of his shoulders, needing him to understand. “In all my years married, my husband rarely saw me as anything else.”
Hamish lowered himself onto his forearms, bringing his long, lean body tantalizingly close. “Are ye asking me if I see ye as more than a beautiful woman?”
Her throat ached. “I am.”
His breath fanned across her face as his eyes looked deep into hers. “I see all of ye, Isabella. I see yer courage, yer strength and yer love for yer family.”
She was close to tears.
“I see yer intelligence,” he continued. “Yer stubbornness. Yer pride.”
“What’s this?” Her eyes widened.
He dropped a light kiss onto her lips. “I begin to see ye have ne’er been worshipped the way ye should have been worshipped.”
A buzzing sensation started in Isabella’s ears as her eyes flickered closed.
Hamish kissed a line across her jaw and down her neck while his hands moved gently across her body, caressing and stroking until she writhed with wanting more.
She lifted her hips when he tugged at her skirts, and half sat up so he could draw the woolen gown over her head.
Her shift was sheer and she guessed the candlelight showed him all the curves and valleys of her body, but she felt no embarrassment, only a burning, liquid desire.
Hamish hovered above her and she impatiently grasped at his shirt. She wanted to feel him against her, flesh next to flesh.
“Take it off,” she whispered when he made no move to do so.
“Ye are certain ’tis what ye want?”
In answer, she reared up against him, sliding her palms beneath his shirt and encountering the warm planes of his flat belly.
Hamish tugged off his shirt, and she wasted no time moving her hands to the next item of clothing she wished him to remove.
When he was fully naked and holding her close, she knew a swell of contentment that was almost as deep as her desire.
This is where I am meant to be.
The log crackled in the gate as he stroked the length of her body, lingering in the places she wanted him most. This chamber, in which she had been so cold and lonely, was transformed into a place of golden warmth.
Sparks flew before her eyes as he tugged down her shift and fastened his lips around the rosy nub of her breast. She entwined her fingers in his hair and gave herself over.
She was molten when he gently removed that final garment and settled between her thighs.
“Isabella,” he said.
She thought for a frenzied moment that he was about to delay. ’Twas a delay she could not countenance, for she could not bear to be apart from him any longer. But when she whimpered in protest, it quickly turned into a groan of appreciation as he entered her, and they became as one.
Never had she known anything like this.
Hamish moved slowly inside her, coaxing her into higher waves of pleasure which spiraled from her core and made every inch of her tingle and dance.
She pressed her lips to his and wrapped her arms about his back, pulling him even closer, even deeper, until his hips ground against her and he called out that he could not hold on any longer.
But Isabella hardly heard his warning as her body had broken into shards and she was both breathless and senseless with the intensity of release. She floated serenely downwards, still bathing in a rosy glow of pleasure, as Hamish groaned deeply and sank against her.
They laid in a tangle of warm limbs. Isabella was not certain where her body ended and his began. No more did it matter. He rolled onto his side and gathered her against him, still breathing hard.
“I have wanted to do that since e’er I laid eyes on you. But ne’er did I think it would happen.”
She opened her eyes, sensing his gaze upon her. The chamber had darkened, with several candles having sputtered their last and the logs in the fire burnt almost to ashes. She could make out the gleam of his blue eyes and the silvery outline of his broad shoulders.
Had she wanted the same?
Nay, but she had not known what it was to lay with a man she truly desired.
I am become a different person.
Hamish’s hands stilled upon her. “Do ye regret it?”
“Nay.” She kissed him on the lips to prove it. “But right now, I have no words to explain myself.”
“Nor do ye need to.” He settled himself on the pillows. “So long as ye are happy.”
She rested her head on his chest and heard the rhythmic thud of his heart. A light, buoyant feeling rose in her breast.
“I am happy,” she said.
It is true.
His hand stroked her hair. “Then rest. ’Tis late.”
She lifted her head and met his gaze in the dim light. “Do you promise not to leave?”
“If ye want me to stay, I will stay.” He paused. “I want to stay.”
Isabella closed her eyes, comforted by his hand stroking her hair and the regular rise and fall of his chest. She had never fallen asleep beside a man before.
But it was the easiest thing in the world.