Chapter 7 #2
“Thank you, Nora,” he whispered in her ear as he panted fiercely. Then, he kissed her lips again in a tender caress that sent chills through her.
He withdrew from her and rolled over onto his back and pulled her against his side.
She assumed he was through with her so it surprised her when he spread her legs and touched the most private place of her body.
“What are you doing?” she asked.
“I want you to have your pleasure.”
“I already had it.”
He smiled wickedly at that. “Nay, my innocent dove, you didn’t.”
Nora swallowed as his long, lean fingers delved deep into her body. She tensed a bit as they burned the tender flesh of her nether lips.
“Don’t dry out on me, Nora.”
Confused as to what he meant, she frowned.
Ewan pulled her plaid to him and used it to wipe her between her legs. She blushed at his actions.
“What are you doing?”
His eyes were warm. “Trust me. I promise you’ll like this.”
He laid his body between her legs and spread her thighs wide.
Nora’s face flamed as she realized he was staring at the center of her body.
He ran his finger down her cleft. She shivered. Then, he used his fingers to spread her open and dipped his head down.
Nora jerked as his mouth covered her. Every nerve ending in her body sizzled as she cried out in surprise. He stroked her with his tongue and lips.
She hissed and moaned as she cupped his head to her. No longer able to speak, all she could do was feel each and every luscious lick he gave her.
Who could have imagined? His breath was hot against her bared flesh and when he slid a finger deep inside her and rotated it, she thought she would die.
She looked down to see him staring up at her while he tormented her with ecstasy.
He pulled back, but left his finger inside her. A strange sensation of intimacy overwhelmed her.
“Don’t be embarrassed, dove,” he whispered, then he returned to taunt her with his mouth.
With a mind of its own, her body writhed to his touch and kisses.
“Oh Ewan,” she groaned.
And as he continued, she found herself unable to speak anymore. Unable to do anything other than feel him. Feel his tongue sliding around her, his finger swirling.
Her pleasure built to an unimaginable height. Until she was sure that she would explode with the weight of it.
Then, in the span of one heartbeat, she did explode. Her body splintered apart and she cried out.
Ewan didn’t stop. He stayed there, licking and teasing until she’d come for him twice more.
When he seemed content to tease her more, she begged him for mercy. “Please, Ewan,” she whimpered. “If I do that one more time, I fear I shall die of it.”
He chuckled at her plea, then turned his face to suckle the tender flesh of her thigh.
Nora lay there, completely spent and weak. She breathed raggedly as Ewan gathered her into his arms and held her close.
“You weren’t jesting,” she said while her body slowly returned to normal. “I had no idea that existed.”
He kissed her brow and cradled her head with his hands. “Neither did I,” he whispered softly.
Nora smiled and snuggled into him, wanting to be as close as she could.
This was the single best night of her life and she was so glad that she had shared this with him. If tomorrow forced her to marry Ryan, at least she had known one night of true passion. A night of lying in the arms of a man who wanted and respected her.
She would treasure it always.
Ewan listened to Nora as she fell back asleep. Guilt and regret overwhelmed him.
What he had done tonight was inexcusable. He had taken her virginity, something that was a husband’s right, not his.
Her father and betrothed would be furious when they found out.
A fierce wave of rage swept through him at the thought of another man touching her as he had tonight.
At the thought of her encouraging another man with her words.
She was his!
You’ve no right to her.
Besides, what could you offer her?
Ewan covered them with her plaid and ran his hands through her pale blond hair. He had nothing to offer her. All he knew was what he felt when he held her like this.
The way he felt every time she looked at him.
God help them both for they were bound to pay for this night. But he would make sure he paid the lion’s share of it. No one would ever hurt the lady for what she had given him.
He would make sure of it.
Catarina rose just after dawn.
Everyone was still abed and she didn’t notice that Nora wasn’t in her pallet until she grabbed her bucket and headed for the stream for fresh water.
Whistling the lullaby her mother had taught her, she found Ewan and Nora lying entwined underneath a plaid. Though they were mostly covered, it was still apparent they were both naked.
And it didn’t take a genius to figure out why the two of them were lying naked in the woods underneath a plaid.
She smiled, then tiptoed silently backwards so as not to disturb them.
Against all of Nora’s protestations, the lady was enamored of the man.
Catarina felt a momentary stab of jealousy. How she wished she could find a man of her own to love.
Still, she wouldn’t let that destroy the happiness she felt for Nora. Love was a beautiful thing and everyone deserved to find their perfect mate.
She believed in love at first sight. More than that, Cat believed in pre-destiny. There was someone out there for everyone, one day she would find a love of her own.
But that would wait.
Right now Ewan and Nora needed her help.
“Oh not that look.”
She turned to see Viktor sitting up in his pallet, looking at her.
“What look is that?” she asked.
“You’ve got mischief on your mind, cherie. Just please tell me it doesn’t involve me this time.”
She laughed. “Nay, Viktor, you are safe.”
He let out a relieved breath. “Thanks be for that small favor. So who is the fish about to be snared by your hook?”
“‘Tis no worry of yours.”
Viktor groaned. “You’re planning on putting the two of them together, aren’t you?”
“And if I were?”
“I think Ewan would rather we have poisoned him than drugged him.”
“Viktor! He loves the lady.”
“Cat,” he said, his voice gruff. “I know you’ve got your mother in you. She let her heart lead her astray and what did it get her? Other than you, all she’s gotten for her wayward love is a broken heart. To this day, she waits for your father’s notice. Is that what you’d have for them?”
“My father had no choice on whom he married, but he loved my mother, you know that. Had he been anyone else, he would have married her.”
“And Nora is promised to another. Did you know that? She is as bound to him as your father was—”
“Nay. Ewan won’t allow her to marry another. I know it.”
He shook his head. “Don’t play with their lives, Cat. I beg you. I’m doing this only because I was told to, but you know I never agreed with it. Leave them in peace.”
Cat understood his warning. He was right. In spite of her parents’ love, they had been forced to live their lives apart. But it wasn’t her starry eyes that had put Ewan and Nora together. It was their own actions.
And if she could do anything to help them, she would.
Nora came awake to find herself still lying atop of Ewan. Heat exploded across her face as she remembered what they had done in the late-night hours.
Now in the light of day, she saw their naked bodies.
As she pulled back, Ewan jerked awake as if expecting to battle.
He relaxed as soon as he saw her. The tender smile he gave her went a long way in alleviating her embarrassment.
“Morning, sweeting.”
“Good morning.”
“Are you sore?” he asked.
The heat returned to her face. “Nay, are you?”
He laughed at that. Heaven, how she loved the sound of that deep rumble.
“Nay, love. Not a bit.”
He sat up and the plaid slipped back, exposing his body to her. Nora couldn’t stop her gaze from dropping down to see him hard again.
“Does it do that a lot?”
He looked down at himself, then met her gaze with a wicked grin. “Only when I look at you.”
His kiss was both light and demanding.
At least until they heard the gypsies moving about and talking.
Ewan pulled back. “We’d best dress before they come looking for us.”
Nora nodded.
As she reached for her chemise, she realized her thighs were coated in blood.
Ewan turned at her dismayed gasp. He picked her up from the ground and carried her to the stream and helped her bathe. He was so incredibly tender.
She saw the frown on his face as he removed all traces of what they’d done.
“Are you sorry for what we did?” she asked.
He looked up, his gaze a cross between shock and guilt. “I’m not sorry for what we did. How could I be? I’m only afraid of what might happen to you if someone else learns of this.”
“I won’t tell anyone. I promise I won’t ask anything more of you.”
Ewan froze.
Her words stunned him. He’d never known a woman so kind. He’d had countless friends forced to marry a wench because she quickly sought out her father with the tale of what they’d done.
Instead, Nora offered him immunity.
She was truly a unique lass.
One he wished he could spend a lifetime learning.
He hesitated at the thought.
Dare he chance it?
Dare he not?
He stood before her, unsure of what to do. Unsure of what he should do.
But in the end, he had one truth that resonated inside him.
Nora deserved better than him.
After he bathed her, they dressed while he considered what he should do with her.
They made their way back to the gypsies who were up and cooking.
“Where have you two been?” Viktor asked.
For the first time, Nora was at a loss for words as she blushed and looked up at him with fear in her eyes.
“We got up early and went for a walk,” Ewan said.
If the gypsies didn’t believe it, no one said anything. They merely kept on with their various tasks, ignoring them.
Catarina approached them with two platters of sausage and hard bread. “I figured the two of you would be a bit hungry this morning.”
She cocked her head as she looked at Nora. “Though you be looking a bit tired, my lady. Did you not sleep well?”
“Very well, thank you,” Nora said, quickly, taking her platter and moving away from Catarina’s inquisitive stare.
“And you, my lord?’