Chapter Eighteen #3
She squirmed beneath his attentions even as she opened to him, urging him on with the arching of her body and entangling her fingers in his thick hair.
When she felt her crest draw near, she pulled at him, calling out to him.
A guttural cry of relief escaped her when he fiercely joined their bodies.
She wrapped herself around him as he took them to the sweet oblivion they both so desperately craved.
Moira lifted her head off Tavig’s chest long enough so she could peek at him through her tousled hair.
He was holding her so closely, so tenderly, she knew he felt no shock or distaste over what he had just done or her enjoyment of it.
She relaxed, her uncertainty fading. Murmuring with the warm remnants of sated pleasure, she cuddled up to him.
“I suppose there is no chance of forging a treaty with your cousin Iver,” she said quietly, absently toying with the small dark curls encircling his navel.
“Nay. My cousin has been blinded by his greed and envy. In truth, I waited too long to respond to his threat. ’Tis why my friends were murdered and I have lost months in running and hiding.
I didnae want to draw a sword on my own kinsmon, didnae want it to come to that between us.
He didnae suffer the same qualms. To Iver our blood ties are not binding, they are simply another weapon to use against me.
The mon sensed my hesitation, played upon my wish to solve our differences without bloodshed, and used them against me.
Those feelings became my weaknesses, and my weaknesses cost the lives of my friends. ”
“Nay,” she said against his skin, idly counting his ribs with her fingers as she kissed his chest. “Ye carry no guilt for those murders. ’Tis all Iver’s burden.
’Tis no weakness to expect loyalty from your own kinsmon.
’Tis certainly no weakness not to see that he would kill innocent men just to draw you into a trap.
” She tentatively caressed his stomach, felt him tremble faintly as he held her a little tighter, and she grew bolder.
“I but pray he doesnae succeed in his treachery.”
“Ah, so ye would care if I fell beneath Iver’s sword.” Tavig threaded his fingers through her hair, murmuring his pleasure as she warmed his stomach with kisses, the touch of her tongue against his skin stirring his desire until it was difficult to think clearly.
“Ye do ask some verra stupid questions at times, Sir Tavig.” She gently nipped at the insides of his thighs and savored his soft moan.
“A mon likes to ken that he will be missed.”
“Ah, ye seek to have your vanity stroked.”
“Aye, amongst other things.” He shivered with pleasure and the strong bite of anticipation when she laughed against the hollow where his leg joined his torso.
“Lass, neither Mungan nor I wish to lose our lives and the lives of our men. Dinnae fret o’er the coming battle with Iver.
Aye, it willnae be easy or bloodless but we willnae be hurling ourselves into the fray in senseless fury.
” He smiled faintly over the thick huskiness in his voice.
“The battle facing me isnae of any great interest to me at the moment.”
“Nay?” Resting her arms on his hips, she smiled at him as she lightly stroked his groin with her fingers. “What is of interest to you, my fine knight?”
“My wedding night.” Tavig did not think Moira had ever looked so exciting as she did now, sprawled between his legs, her breath and fingers teasing his loins. “’Tis custom for a newly wed couple to spend the wedding night in frenzied lovemaking until they are all asweat and too exhausted to move.”
“Are ye certain such exertion is good for a mon who must soon go to battle?”
“Aye, ’twill make him stronger.” He grinned when she laughed, closing his eyes with pleasure as she encircled his navel with tiny kisses. “Lass, I dinnae think ye ought to torment a mon so,” he said, his voice a low groan as she touched kisses all around the place he ached to feel her lips.
“Patience is a virtue.”
“I have ne’er claimed to be particularly virtuous. Sweet Moira, if ye dinnae put your mouth on me soon, I shall go mad,” he whispered and cried out with pleasure when she obeyed his urgent request.
Tavig fought to control the desire rippling through him. He wanted to savor the pleasure of her lips, her stroking tongue. When she obeyed his silent urgings and took him into the warmth of her mouth, he felt his control rapidly unravel.
Only a moment later, he grabbed her beneath the arms, dragging her up his body. She settled on top of him, easing their bodies together with an instinctive skill that left him gasping. She needed little prompting from him to move, quickly taking them both shuddering into passion’s blinding heights.
He caught her in his arms as she sagged against him, holding her tightly as he released his seed deep inside her.
As he savored the way that felt, he suddenly realized he had a way to hold Moira at his side.
It was not particularly honorable, even unfair, but he could get her with child.
He smoothed his hands over her slim body and decided that if all else failed, he would indeed stoop to that.
Reluctantly he admitted that he needed her that badly.