Chapter 6 #3
Nora trembled at his whispered words.
By the light in his eyes, she could see the truth of it. He wanted her.
Part of her wanted his touch and part of her was terrified of it. She was terrified of what she felt for him.
Here there were no lies. No hiding.
She could lie to Catarina, but not to herself.
Nora had never been with a man and until now she’d never really felt anything more than a passing curiosity about a man’s touch.
But for some reason, she was more than just curious about Ewan.
What would it feel like to hold a man like him?
One who was wild, untamed?
One who could make her quiver with nothing more than the sound of his deep, rich voice?
Would he be gentle with her or would he mount her like an animal whose only desire was to sate himself?
Touch him and see...
She stood in indecision. The air between them was rife with desire. Rife with need and hunger. Both of them wanted it.
All she had to do was reach out and take it.
She stepped back.
He released a relieved breath. “Go back to camp, lass,” he said. “I’ll return shortly.”
Nora watched him turn and leave.
Heartsick over what had happened and over the fact that she was a coward, Nora made her way back to camp where Catarina was waiting.
“Are you all right?” she asked.
“Honestly, I’m not sure.” Nora glanced back in the direction of where she had left Ewan. “I can’t understand what it is about Ewan that lures me so. It’s rather baffling.”
“No mystery there. He’s a fair one to be sure. Strong and handsome as any.”
“I’ve been around many handsome men in my life, but none of them...” Nora couldn’t bring herself to say it.
Catarina arched a brow. “None of them what?”
“Nothing,” she said hurriedly. “I am being foolish.” Nora excused herself to go sleep on her makeshift pallet that Ewan had made for her by the fire.
The ground was cold and uncomfortable, but she did her best not to notice that while her mind replayed everything that had happened between her and Ewan since the moment they met.
Catarina went to bed and Nora listened as the three men snored rather loudly.
For hours, she watched the stars cross the sky all the while Ewan didn’t return.
Ewan lost track of time while he lay in a small clearing, staring up at the sky. He should go back to camp, but he held no desire to be there where he would be forced to stare at something he couldn’t have.
Still, he could taste Nora. Her scent permeated his head and left him craving her like a starving beggar.
All he’d ever wanted in his life was to find a woman who could look at him as women looked at his brothers. Not to have a woman glance at him, then watch as her gaze slid over to one of the others and stayed there.
That was half of why he’d been so taken in by Isobail’s lies. He’d thought that maybe, just once, he wouldn’t have to compete for someone’s affections. That a woman could love him and not lust for his brothers instead.
And it had been a lie.
No doubt Nora would be the same. She’d see Lochlan and fall all over herself to gain his notice. What woman wouldn’t? His brother was tall, but unlike him, not freakishly so. And Lochlan held the golden fair looks that made most maids swoon.
Best of all, Lochlan was laird.
Ewan sighed. What did he have to offer a woman?
Nothing.
He had money of his own from lands his father had left him, but they were nowhere near the riches of his brothers’ holdings. It was more than enough to keep him and a wife quite comfortable, but he wouldn’t be able to be lavish with her.
And yet as he lay there, he knew it would never be enough to interest a woman. Especially not a woman like Nora. She was refined and graceful. A true gentlewoman.
She probably belonged to a wealthy lord who had spoiled her immensely. Her clothes and mare were the finest he’d ever seen and ‘twas obvious she had been well schooled.
She was refined. Delicate. Graceful.
Wonderful.
Such women were beyond his reach. They belonged to men like Lochlan who were refined in grace, form and tongue. Not to a man who was so tall he had to bend almost double just to enter a room.
“Ewan?”
He jumped in startled alarm at Nora’s voice coming out of the darkness.
“What are you doing here?” he said, his voice gruff.
“I couldn’t sleep.”
He sat up as she neared him. She wore only a thin shift and held a plaid wrapped around her shoulders. She’d braided her blond hair and it fell over one shoulder, all the way down to her hips. She was a vision in the bright moonlight.
One that stole his breath.
“You should have stayed in the camp, Nora. ‘Tis dangerous for you to be out in the woods alone.”
“I knew you were out here.”
“Aye, but what if you’d gotten lost?”
“You would find me.”
“What if I couldn’t?”
She knelt down beside him, her face bright by the light of the full moon. “I have a feeling that if you set your mind to it, you could move a mountain if needs be. Never mind find one lost woman in the woods.”
He felt an urge to smile at her. How did she do this? How could her mere presence lighten his heart?
Ewan studied the curve of her jaw, and wondered what it would be like to trace the beauty of it with his tongue. To taste her creamy skin with his lips.
To hear her moans of pleasure in his ears.
Against his will, his gaze fell to the drawstring of her chemise. It would be all too easy to reach out and pull the laces that held it closed.
Better yet, to pull it free with his teeth...
Blood rushed through his veins like fire, making him hard and throbbing for her. He wanted to taste her. Wanted to drown himself in her scent and warmth until he forgot all about everything except for her and how she made him feel.
It would be heaven.
Nora couldn’t breathe as she saw the heated look in Ewan’s light eyes. There was no ice in them tonight. They burned with need.
She wasn’t sure why she’d come to him. She’d felt a strange urging and it amazed her that he wasn’t drinking. He appeared perfectly sober and quiet.
“What were you doing out here?” she asked.
To her further astonishment, he answered. “I was looking up at the stars.”
She glanced up at the sky.
“And I was thinking about what you said earlier. About how each one held a story.”
She smiled at his unexpected words. “Do you know the stories?”
“Nay. I only know the one you told me. Would you tell me more of them?”
Nora trembled at his request. Something told her that he would normally never say such a thing to anyone.
He was reaching out to her and it made her feel special.
“Well, my lord, you know how much I cherish the sound of my own voice...”
He gave a half-hearted laugh at that, then lay back on the ground as he had been when she first saw him.
Thrilled at the sound of his laughter, she lay down beside him and grunted as she tried to find a comfortable position.
“Here,” Ewan pulled her closer to him so that she could lay her head on his shoulder.
Nora’s heart pounded as he cuddled her to his side. She’d never had a man hold her like this. Her head was pillowed on his shoulder while his arm was wrapped about her waist with his hand resting on her stomach.
It was intimate and touching, and made her feel very strange. The rich, masculine scent of him invaded her senses, warming every part of her.
She was acutely aware of the strength of him. Of his hard muscles sheltering her. Her body exploded with heat and an aching throb she didn’t understand.
Clearing her throat, she pointed up at the constellation of Orion. “Do you know of Orion the Hunter?”
“Nay.”
She moved her hand over them, showing him Orion’s belt, head, arms and legs. “Can you see the outline of him?”
“Aye, I see it.”
“Well, long ago, Orion was a mighty hunter. Born the son of Poseidon and Euryale, they say he searched the world for love...”
Ewan listened in silence as she told him how Orion tried for years to win the hand of Merope and to gain the approval of her father for the marriage.
And how Orion had become so tired of the wait, that he forced himself on Merope.
As punishment her father blinded Orion who later traveled until he found the Greek goddess Artemis who then fell in love with him.
Her brother, Apollo, angered by their love, then tricked Artemis into killing Orion who was then lifted up to the heavens by the goddess so that she could remember him.
“Must all your stories involve love gone awry?” Ewan asked. “Is there no such thing as someone actually marrying their love and living a happy life with them?”
She turned her head into his shoulder and smiled up at him. His stomach tightened.
“There is the story of Cupid and Psyche. They live together in happiness. Would you rather hear that one?”
“Aye, lass. Please.”
As Ewan listened to the sweet cadence of her voice, he ran his hand idly down her arm to her hand. Her fingers were so delicate compared to his. So soft. He took her hand in his palm and ran the pad of his thumb over the careful curve of her well-manicured nails.
The urge to lift that hand to his mouth and suckle her fingers was so fierce that he wasn’t sure how he managed to deny it. He tilted his head to look down at her while she talked. A light pink stained her cheeks as she spoke in a gentle tone of love and trust.
How he wanted her.
Right now while she lay so peacefully in his arms.
What would it be like to have her sliding against him? To feel her warm and welcoming beneath him?
Instead, he lay his cheek against the top of her head and contented himself with just holding her like this. Letting her feminine softness soothe him.
By the time Nora had finished her tale, she realized Ewan was completely relaxed.
More to the point, he was completely asleep.
“Ewan?” she whispered, looking up at him.
He didn’t stir.
Her bear lay with his lips slightly parted with her braid laced between his large fingers. She hadn’t even realized he’d touched her hair.
But she had known every other move he’d made.
She had felt his tender caress as he held her hand in his and ran his fingers over her wrist and forearm.