Chapter 21 #2
Oscar sat beside her. “Tell me, Ceana. Where do ye want me to touch ye?”
Ceana took his hand and placed it below the soreness along her ribs. “Here. And everywhere else. Well, everywhere that doesnae hurt.”
A smirk curved his mouth before he bent and kissed the inside of her unbound wrist. His mouth trailed up her forearm, stopping before the first bruise. He pressed another kiss to the clear skin above it.
When he reached her shoulder, his lips lingered there while his hand slid up her waist, his thumb stroking the underside of her breast.
Ceana exhaled. “Closer.”
Oscar supported the back of her neck and kissed her. His mouth opened over hers with slow pressure, tasting of clean water and the smoke that still clung to him. She threaded her fingers through his hair and drew him nearer. The movement pulled at her side, and she winced.
Oscar lifted his head at once. “What? What is it?”
“It is only me ribs. Keep me flat.”
He removed a pillow from beneath her and waited until her breathing steadied. Then his mouth returned to her throat. He kissed along her collarbone before closing his lips around one nipple.
Ceana curled her fingers into his hair. His tongue slid over the sensitive peak, slow enough that she felt each stroke.
When she pressed her breast toward him, he drew more of it into his mouth and sucked.
Low heat gathered between her legs. She shifted beneath him, seeking pressure that his careful position denied her.
“Oscar.”
He released her nipple and kissed down her stomach. His hand remained spread across her waist, clear of every bruise.
“Is it all right if I move yer legs?” he asked.
“Aye.”
He lifted one knee and waited while she lifted the other. The position exposed her fully to him. He looked between her thighs, then raised his gaze to her face.
“Please.”
He settled on his knees on the floor at the edge of the bed. His hands slid beneath her thighs, supporting their weight as he lowered his mouth to her sex.
The first touch of his tongue made her breath catch. He licked from her entrance to her bud, then repeated the stroke with firmer pressure. Her thighs trembled around his shoulders.
He parted her with his thumbs, and cool air kissed her wet flesh before his mouth closed over her. He drew gently on her swollen bud, and her hips lifted off the bed, a sharp sound escaping her. She covered her mouth with the back of her hand.
Oscar stopped and looked up. “Did I hurt ye?”
“Nay.”
“Then let me hear ye.”
He bent again, and his tongue circled her slowly, pausing whenever her body tightened so he could repeat the motion. Ceana watched the dark crown of his head between her thighs until the sight became too much. Her eyes closed, and her hand returned to his hair.
“Again,” she whispered.
Oscar drew her sensitive bud between his lips while the tip of his tongue pressed against it. The pleasure forced her legs wider. When her hips jerked, his hand closed around one of them to steady her.
She suddenly tensed. Oscar released her and lifted his head at once, his chest heaving against the edge of the mattress.
“Where?”
“Yer hand.” She swallowed and placed her palm over his fingers. “Keep it open. Daenae grip me there.”
His fingers spread beneath hers. “All right.”
“Continue.”
He remained still.
Ceana stroked his hair back from his brow. “I want ye to continue, Oscar.”
He pressed a kiss to the inside of her thigh before returning his mouth to her. This time, his palm rested open on her hip. Every part of her remained free to move. His tongue found the same rhythm, and she guided him with small tugs on his hair.
“There,” she moaned. “Keep doin’ that.”
Oscar obeyed. He licked her sensitive bud with short, steady strokes before taking it between his lips. Her lower belly clenched, and her toes curled into the bedding. He made a low sound against her, and the vibrations tore through her like nothing she had ever felt before.
She was close. She could feel it.
Soon enough, she arched as far as her ribs allowed. Pleasure tightened through her until her whole body shook around his mouth. She cried out and pressed her palm against the mattress, unable to grasp anything without hurting her wrist.
Oscar kept the same rhythm through every hard pulse. When she grew too sensitive, she tugged at his hair.
“Enough.”
He stopped immediately.
Her legs trembled as he kissed the damp skin above her knee. He rested his cheek against her inner thigh and looked up at her, his mouth slick with her release.
Ceana struggled to draw an even breath. “Do ye believe me now?”
Oscar slid his open palm to her belly. He watched it rise and fall beneath his hand. “Aye,” he said. “I believe ye.”
He brought warm water and a fresh cloth from the washstand before gently cleaning between her thighs. His shoulders had relaxed, though his gaze still returned to each breath she took.
Afterward, Oscar slipped the warmed night rail over her head. He guided her bound hand through one sleeve and settled the linen around her body without catching her wrist.
When he leaned across her to pull back the covers, Ceana saw the hard bulge beneath his plaid. Instinctively, she reached for the fastening at his waist.
Oscar laid his hand over hers.
“And ye?” she asked.
“I have what I need.”
Her gaze moved to his face and then back to his groin. “There is nay way that is comfortable.”
“It will pass.” He raised her fingers to his lips. “Let me hold ye.”
She searched his face and found no withdrawal there. His gaze moved over her with open hunger, softened by the care in his hands.
“All right.”
Oscar washed the remaining blood from his face and throat. He stripped away his ruined shirt, cleaned his chest, then pulled on fresh linen before joining her beneath the covers.
“Will ye stay?” she asked.
He settled beside her and curved one arm around her waist. “Try to send me away.”
She rested her cheek over his heart while his palm lay open against her stomach, and each breath moved them together. Eventually, exhaustion pulled her under to the slow strokes of his thumb.
She couldn’t tell how long she had been out for. All she knew was that the room had become brighter when she woke up, and another unusual weight had pinned her to the mattress.
Her eyes snapped open. Something lay across her lower torso, and another weight covered her left arm. She tried to draw a deeper breath and stopped when her ribs protested.
“Easy,” Oscar whispered behind her, his voice sending chills down her spine.
The morning light showed Tommy asleep across her hips, one arm flung over her. Paisley had curled up against her uninjured side with both hands wrapped around her forearm. At the foot of the bed, Ness lay across the blanket. One hoof had become tangled in the fold near Ceana’s ankle.
Oscar was awake beside them, his head propped on one hand. Ceana turned to look at him and saw the glint of amusement in his eyes.
“Should I be offended that all of them chose yer side of the bed?” he muttered.
She pressed her lips together to keep from laughing. The movement, however, still jarred her sore ribs. “Ye must have let them in.”
“They arrived at first light. Tommy reminded me of me promise.”
Ness shifted, and her trapped hoof pulled the blanket tighter around Ceana’s feet. Oscar reached down and freed it without disturbing the goat.
Ceana poked Tommy’s cheek, and his face burrowed deeper into her night rail.
“We only wanted to make sure ye were all right,” he mumbled without opening his eyes.
Paisley tightened her hold as though she had heard him.
Oscar placed his hand on Tommy’s back and left the boy where he was.
Eventually, Ceana reached across the children, and Oscar turned his palm beneath hers and laced their fingers together.
At that moment, she didn’t know if she had ever been as happy as she was. And frankly, all she could see going forward was this level of happiness.