Chapter Twelve #2
“Forgive me,” he breathed. “You were right, Emllyn; you were so right. I was brutal and barbaric when we first met. I took a possession, a prize, an object and nothing more. In the heat of battle you represented everything I hated and everything I was fighting against, but now… God forgive me for the way I treated you. I am so very sorry. I tell you this because… because I have missed you so terribly. I thought never to see you again with all that has happened and now that you are here, all I can feel is utter happiness. Please… for what I have done to you in the past, I beg your forgiveness.”
Emllyn’s hands were on his wrists; they had been since the moment his lips had claimed hers, clinging to him as he held her head and kissed her.
There was joy and relief in her heart that she couldn’t begin to describe, a euphoria that was enveloping her in a warm and liquid embrace until she could hardly stand.
In fact, her knees gave out and Devlin picked her up, holding her against him as his mouth ravaged her.
Emllyn wrapped her arms around his neck as if to never let go, tears of joy and adoration falling from her eyes.
“You are forgiven,” she whispered. “I know it was war that drove you to do what you did. That barbarian is not the Devlin I have come to know.”
He pulled his mouth away from her, nearly ripping himself free, and his dark blue eyes bore into her as if to reach in and clamp onto her very soul.
“I love you,” he whispered, his mouth quivering with emotion. “I think I have known it from the start but I did not want to admit it. I did not want to admit that I could love you, a Fitzgerald, but when I look at you I do not see Irish or English. I only see joy and comfort as I have never known.”
Emllyn’s eyes were wide with shock at his admission and, after a moment, the tears of joy fell faster.
She put her hands on his face, touching the red stubble, before kissing both cheeks in a manner so tender that Devlin audibly gasped.
Each kiss was like an arrow through his heart, drawing him to her even more closely until all he could think or feel was Emllyn.
She kissed his nose, and finally his soft lips.
They were kisses of pure and unadulterated worship.
“I did not want to admit I could love a man such as you, either,” she whispered, her eyes glimmering with happy tears.
“You were right when you said that I belonged to you, Devlin. I have always belonged to you. I love your strength, your humor, and your sense of justice. You are noble and wise. I know that you are a hated rebel, a warrior to be feared, but I do not see those things in you any longer. I only see the man that you are and I love him so very much.”
Devlin’s emotion was written all over his face. It was greater than he had hoped for and more than he could bear. He stumbled over his words. “My God,” he breathed. “But… but what of Trevor? You followed the man into battle because you loved him and…”
Emllyn put her fingers over his lips to stop him.
“I was a fool,” she murmured. “I know he does not love me and in hindsight, I did not love him, really. Mayhap it was my pride that made me follow him, the desperation of a woman who was terrified she would be an old spinster if she did not coerce a man into marrying her.”
“You will not be an old spinster.”
“I realize that now,” she said softly. “Oh… my sweetest darling, I realize that now.”
Devlin emitted a noise that sounded strangely like a giggle.
Coming from a man of his nature, a serious and intense warrior, it was an odd sound.
But Emllyn giggled, too, and soon they were giggling together between heated and joyful kisses.
Devlin carried her over to the big bed, ended up tripping on a pillow on the floor, and fell down upon the mattress with Emllyn in his arms.
Their kisses were passionate, fueled by emotion and fed by dreams, and Devlin knew that he very much wanted to take her.
He wanted to feel her body against his, feel her respond to his touch as he had once dreamed of, but he didn’t want to make a move against her because she was no longer an object of lust or revenge.
She was the woman he loved and a lady to be respected.
He was about to tell her so when she suddenly began unfastening her robe.
“Give me your son, Devlin,” she murmured as she pulled off the beautiful brocade robe and began untying the neckline of her shift. “Tell me how much you love me and give me your son. I would be filled by you and only you. Touch me as you did before only this time, I will touch you in return.”
He wanted to so badly but he hesitated. “Are you sure?” he whispered, concerned. “I do not want you to think I am that barbarian, Emllyn. I only want to show you the greatest esteem.”
She smiled, running a finger over his wet, red lips. “I no longer think of you as that barbarian,” she murmured. “I want you to touch me, Devlin. Show me the man I have come to love.”
Of course he couldn’t refuse. Her heated words had his resistance shattering and he yanked the shift over her head, his hungry gaze on her shapely body and his nostrils filled with the rose scent of her skin.
Quickly, he removed his raggedy tunic and hose, tossing them aside, his big and naked body swiftly covering her softness.
He lay atop of her, rubbing himself against her, as a big arm cradled her neck while he kissed her.
His hand, so big and rough, fondled her breasts gently before his mouth moved from her lips to claim a rosy nipple.
Emllyn groaned, her hands on his stubbled head, as he nursed furiously at one breast and then the other.
His fingers moved to her thighs, stroking them, before moving to the junction between her legs.
Like a flower unfurling its petals, he stroked her gently, feeling her quiver, opening her to his attentions, and then inserted two big fingers into her already-wet body.
Emllyn groaned and brought her knees up, her legs opening wide in preparation for welcoming him inside her.
Devlin didn’t wait; he mounted her swiftly, driving his massive erection deep into her body and listening to her gasp.
Her hands caressed his arms, his shoulders, until he took one and put it on his buttocks.
She was timid at first but as he thrust into her, she gained in confidence and tenderly caressed his buttocks as well.
In fact, she got a good grip on him and pulled her to him as he thrust, as if urging him onward.
Her hands on his buttocks were driving him mad with lust. He bit gently on her upper arm and shoulder, suckling her nipples as he drove into her sweet and yielding body, being very careful of her bandaged left leg as he moved.
Emllyn seemed to be very interested in touching him everywhere, even his heated phallus as it plunged into her body, but the moment she touched him there, he erupted in a powerful climax.
Feeling his manhood twitching and pulsing inside of her caused Emllyn to explode in a euphoric release.
She began to gasp loudly and Devlin covered her mouth with his, kissing her passionately to drown out her cries of passion.
After all, he had promised Lady Elyse he wouldn’t molest Emllyn.
He didn’t want the woman to hear evidence that he’d broken his promise.
“I love you,” he whispered against her lips. “With all that I am, I am yours, Lady Emllyn Fitzgerald. Never forget that.”
Emllyn snaked her arms around his neck, feeling him as he continued to thrust into her, gently now after their passion had peaked.
His massive member was still hard, still stroking her sensitive core, and she trembled again as a weaker climax rolled over her.
It was an overwhelming sensation, so raw and delightful.
As the ripples died away, she kissed his mouth tenderly.
“Everything I am belongs to you,” she murmured. “I will love you until I die.”
Exhausted, emotional, Devlin lay on top of her, struggling to catch his breath and feeling her body heave breathlessly underneath him. It was an experience liked he’d never imagined, something beyond the lust or need he’d experienced in the past. Nay; this was something far different.
This was joy.
Devlin kissed her hair, the side of her face, eventually shifting himself off of her and holding her tightly.
There was a warm and gentle silence between them as they held each other close, lost to their own thoughts.
Devlin thought she might have actually fallen asleep because she was so still and silent.
However, the moment he closed his eyes, she stirred.
“Why is de Noble sending you away?” she whispered. “Where are you going to go?”
Devlin’s eyes opened. “I told him that I was a farmer who sold my wares at Black Castle,” he murmured.
“We discussed a great many things, including you. He was clear in his opinion that I am no longer responsible for you now that you are under his roof, but I resisted him. I asked to see you and to inquire on your health. De Noble is a clever man, however. He knows how to get what he wants. Since I am able to move in and out of Black Castle freely, as a farmer selling wares, he intends to use that to his advantage. He told me that if I return to Black Castle to gather information on Black Sword, then he would let me see you again and even speak with you. Somehow, I have agreed to spy on myself.”
Emllyn didn’t react for a moment. Finally, she shifted enough so that she was gazing up at him, her face very close to his. He smoothed her lovely mussed hairstyle with a big hand as he gazed back.
“You agreed to do this because of me?” she asked, incredulously.