Chapter 15
Their camp had dried off to a more acceptable state by the time they finally arrived home.
Noah was cooking a rabbit over the fire, while Theon and Briana sat nearby, whispering to each other, their faces close together.
Elin smiled to see how much they loved one another and wondered idly if perhaps one day she and Keir would look at each other the same way.
When Briana looked up and saw her looking, she abruptly stopped talking, but Theon put an arm around her shoulders and waved.
“Welcome back,” he called. “Any trouble?”
“None,” Keir replied. “Smoothest mission of me life.”
As the brothers talked, Elin walked the horse, Mayweather, back to the little stable. She found Graeme there, feeding the other horses, and smiled when she saw him petting Nightwind. He turned as she secured Mayweather to the hitching post.
“Nice wee jaunt?” he asked. “Did Keir try anythin’ funny?”
“Must ye tease him so?” she replied.
Graeme laughed. “Aye, I must. He’s too serious. The lad needs a wee bit of levity before he disappears completely. Though, I’m guessin’ I’m nae alone in that mission anymore?”
It was impossible to miss the implication, and though Elin blushed, she smiled and gave a slight nod.
Graeme grinned and squeezed her shoulder.
He petted Mayweather then said, “Come on then. I ken ye’ve been trainin’ with that skinny lout of a man, but I’ve a thing or two I can show ye about self-defense. ”
“Ye want tae train me?” Elin asked, surprise coloring her tone and expression alike.
He shrugged. “Aye, of course. I’ll nae have any wee sister of mine loose in the world without the ability to defend herself.”
He said it lightly, almost as a joke, but the words pierced straight down into Elin’s heart.
Sister. She’d never been a sister, not really, only a guardian to the younger orphans.
She’d never had a family. How was it that she had been so blessed as to not only find the man she loved, but brothers and a sister who cared for her?
When had she started to think of them that way, and how had she not noticed that the affection was being returned?
She had spent far too long of her life blind, and she was looking forward to what else awaited her now that she could see again at last.
“All right,” she said. “I’m ready tae learn.”
An owl hooted in the forest as night fell deep and comforting upon the camp that was now Elin’s home.
It was a dry night, so cloudless that the storm from yesterday seemed half a dream, but the calm did nothing to help Elin sleep.
She lay there for a few minutes, tossing and turning, her body urging her to sate it.
Her hands trailed down her own belly, but she stopped, knowing that even that wouldn’t be enough to quench the flame.
She sat up, took a breath, then walked to the door, opening it to find Keir lying on his back and looking up at the stars just outside.
“Ye dinnae need tae sleep out there tonight. Or ever again. Nae if ye dinnae want tae,” she told him.
He turned his head to look up at her, smiling. “How is it ye’re somehow bonnier than all the stars and the moon combined?” He sat up. “I dinnae want tae take advantage, Elin. There’s nae pressure tae…”
“I dinnae feel pressured,” she said immediately.
He sighed, running a hand through his hair. “Noah saw the way we were lookin’ at each other, I think. I’m a terror at keepin’ secrets.”
“Oh?” Elin asked, not telling him yet that she suspected Graeme and Briana, and probably now Theon, knew the same anyway. “And what had he tae say about it?”
Keir shrugged. “Nae much. He told me tae be careful, that’s all. He’s always been the gentleman among us. Nae doubt he wishes tae protect ye.”
A tingle ran down Elin’s spine, and a delicious fire burned in her heart and belly. “Aye? Well what if I dinnae want tae be protected?” She reached out her hand, allowing her hunger to sound in her voice at last. “What if I dinnae want tae be careful?”
Keir’s eyes darkened, and he took her hand. His skin was somehow both rough and smooth, and something sparked between them as he got to his feet. “Then who am I tae deny ye?”
Elin led him inside, stopping only to allow him to kick the door closed, and led him to the bed.
She turned to face him and stepped into his kiss, closing her eyes as their tongues and mouths found their harmony.
The urgency of the night before was not there; this was a languid, passion-filled certainty that awakened something new inside her.
Not an itch to be scratched, but an eager pot waiting to be filled.
She ended the kiss and stepped back, dropping his hand, and reached for the tie on his breeches.
“Nay,” he said, catching her hands again and kissing her knuckles. “Let me.”
Elin’s breath caught in her throat, but she did not object as he released her hands and moved to work on the ties of her dress.
His kisses trailed her cheek to her ear as he worked, his breath warm as he whispered, “How are ye so perfect?” His lips found the crook of her neck, and she rolled her head to the side, her back arching toward him without her realizing as he nibbled and tasted, longing pooling between her legs as one hand held her up and the other released her from her dress.
It fell away, pooling at her feet and leaving her only in her underskirt, her breasts bare and exposed.
She gasped as Keir lifted her bridal style, his arm catching her between her knees and the other supporting her back. He carried her to the bed and laid her down gently, then sat beside her, staring down at her. Her nipples hardened, and her whole body shivered with its demand to be touched.
“How would ye like me tae please ye, m’lady?” he asked. His finger idly brushed the curve of one breast, then, achingly slowly, swirled around her nipple. She gasped, a desperate sound, as her body responded. “Do ye like that?”
She nodded, barely able to speak.
He arched over her and lowered his head, taking one nipple in his mouth and reaching for the other with his free hand, his tongue and fingers working in harmony.
Shocks of pleasure and electricity shot through Elin, and it was all she could do not to cry out at the sensation.
She gripped the sheets and gasped out his name.
Keir raised his head. She saw her own hunger shining back in his eyes, but there was a kind of restraint there too. “Tell me what ye want,” he whispered.
“I want ye,” she gasped.
“Ye want me where?” he asked. “Here?” He brushed her breast again.
“Here?” His hand trailed up her leg, pushing up her underskirt to settled between her thighs, finding her dampness.
His fingers traced the outside of her, tantalizing, never crossing the barrier.
“How do I give ye the pleasure ye deserve?”
Elin could hardly breathe. Men had touched her, claimed her, before now, but never like this.
Her body had never felt so on edge, so wound up, so desperate.
But there was one thing they had never done, one thing she had heard the other women whisper about and wondered about when she was alone at night and dreaming of love.
One thing she had mentioned only to one other man and been laughed at and shamed for wanting, enough that she had never even thought about it again.
But she trusted Keir, and, somehow, she knew that he was waiting for her words.
“I want ye tae taste me,” she breathed. “Like I did ye.”
It was all the invitation he needed. He kissed her deeply on the lips and then made his way down, pushing up her underskirt to fully expose her as he went.
He took his time, gently kissing her thighs, before reaching the core of her.
She shuddered and moaned as his tongue brushed against her, tightening her legs automatically.
He hummed, the vibration almost sending her over the edge at once, and gently pushed her thighs apart, gripping them as he worked.
His mouth moved against her, creating sensations she’d never known she could feel, a desperate, burning desperation with each lick and suck that sent her hands scrabbling on the sheets.
Her head tossed, her hair tangling as she panted and moaned, sweat pooling between her breasts.
“More,” she urged, the word escaping from some dark center inside of her she hadn’t even known existed. “More.”
He rose from her, only to briefly meet her eyes, then released one of her thighs.
Slowly, he pressed one finger into her, then another, curling deep inside of her, before lowering his head to return to his work.
The combination of the sensations made it hard to see, and she cried out his name, her body writhing, burning, begging, her hips bucking against his hand and face, a frantic energy setting her ablaze.
Her legs wrapped around him, drawing him closer, demanding more, needing everything. All of her muscles grew tight, almost painfully so, and then, at the moment she thought she could bear it no longer, everything released.
Pleasure rolled over her, enveloping her, drowning her, and no air reached her as she blindly shouted her ecstasy.
Her movements slowed, and Keir raised his head, his fingers still gently rubbing her until she let out a deep, contented sigh.
He withdrew his hand then and moved to kiss her, very gently, once on the lips and once on top of her head.
“Are ye satisfied?” he murmured into her hair.