A grin he had feared he would never see again flashed on her face. “Let go of yer control. I’ll be yer strength as ye have been mine.”
He arched his eyebrows, and she nodded. Strands of her fiery hair swept across her face, and slowly, with a trembling hand, he reached up, brushed the strands away, and then carefully tucked them behind her ear. He glanced at her to see if she’d flinched, but she had not. She watched him with wide eyes. Her teeth had caught her lower lip between them, and he wondered briefly if it would be too much for her to trail his fingers to her lips and simply touch them.
As if she read his thoughts, she said, “I will tell ye nay if I wish ye to stop.”
He nodded before brushing his fingers across her warm lips, need tightening his loins, and he could not hold back any longer. “Bridgette,” he whispered hoarsely, his heart thundering. “May I kiss ye?”
“I’m scairt,” she whispered. But she did not pull away.
“Aye,m’eudail, so am I.”
She raised her fingertips to his mouth. “Give me a new memory, Lachlan. As ye did that day so long ago in the woods.”
He drew her gently to him, slid his hands into her hair, and cupped her head. For a moment, he simply reveled in the heat of her closeness, the silkiness of her hair between his fingers, her scent of heather encircling him, and the trust she was once more offering him. He brought his lips to hers and brushed them ever so gently across her mouth.
When she moaned and moved nearer, the desire to once again taste her, claim her, remind her of what was between them, rushed through him in hot waves. He forced himself to go slow and let her reaction lead him. Every touch of her lips to his was a treasure. He pressed his lips once more to hers, then gently covered her mouth with his.
Bridgette’s heart pounded, at first with fear and then desire. Lachlan’s kisses sang through her veins and beat back the darkness, shedding new light with each caress, each nip. He kissed her gently, like a breeze in the summer, and his care allowed her to abandon her worries and simply melt into him.
When his tongue gently slid across her upper lip and then lower lip, and then tentatively touched the crease between, she opened her mouth to allow him entry. The joining of his mouth fully to hers gave strength to her weary soul and awoke the desire she had thought was forever gone. A ragged moan ripped from deep within her, and when it did, Lachlan’s lips became more demanding, more urgent, more passionate.
With every slide of his tongue into her mouth, he claimed her back bit by bit, and the horrors she had lived through receded to a shadowy corner in her memory. His hands roamed her back and down over her bottom, and in turn, she explored his chest, his arms, and his face, burning the feel of him once more into her brain.
When his hands moved to cup her breasts, her body froze, unaccustomed as it was to allow such intimacy anymore, and he immediately pulled back. She caught his hands and pressed them to her breasts. It was the moment for her to decide. She could choose fear or faith, and God’s teeth, Lachlan gave her faith. He always had.
“I want ye to destroy the memory of his hands on me with the memory of yers. I’m ready. I’m weary of being afraid of myself and of ye. I dunnae need to fear ye. I ken this.”
She felt his body tremble at her words, and that she could affect this man, who was so strong, made her feel strong. With every word he said, every touch, he gave her back the power Colin had stolen from her, and Lachlan instilled in her the belief that, together, they could face anything.
His fingers gently glided over her breasts as he spoke. “If at any moment ye wish me to stop simply say the words.”
She nodded, and then she reached down and pulled off her gown and léine and bared herself to him, body and soul. He quickly undressed, laid his plaid on the grass, and gently lowered her to it. “What if one of the men comes?” she asked, only just then thinking upon it.
He shook his head. “I threatened them with death if they simply thought of coming outside.”
Bridgette chuckled as she ran her hand down his chest and over the hard muscles of his stomach. Sweet desire quickened her heartbeat and her breathing. His body twitched beneath her fingertips as she trailed them lower over his hip bones, then down to the juncture between his thighs. He was very ready for her by the feel of him—painfully so.
Heat pooled in her belly as need slowly warmed her body, made her breasts grow heavy, and tightened her core. “I will nae be afraid anymore,” she said aloud, both for him and for her.
“Nay,” he agreed. “Give yer fear over to me now and let me destroy it.”
A cry of relief wrenched from her lips as she crushed her body to his and let the thundering beat of his heart become one with hers. His hands came to her slowly, roaming with tentative care over her arms, shoulders, neck, belly, and chest. He splayed his large hands over her heart and stared into her eyes.
“What are ye doing?” she whispered.
“I’m thanking God for bringing ye back to me,” he said before he brought his mouth to hers in a slow, thoughtful kiss. She knew he was restraining himself, so she opened her mouth and invited him to take what belonged to him.
He growled as their tongues met, tangled, and met again. Hunger filled his kiss, and the caress of his lips on her mouth set her body to flames. His kisses became more demanding, and her body cried out with the wish to meet his need. He seared a hot path down her neck with his lips as her hands clutched at the bulging muscles of his thighs. His mouth grazed over one breast and then the other, and when he pulled up, she would have screamed out a protest but he captured her mouth once more, and without words he branded her as his.
She felt her knees weaken as he moved to her breasts and suckled hungrily as if she were all he needed to live. Each time he drew her into his mouth, her desire built until she was arched toward him, gripping his head to her breast, nearly sobbing. His tongue circled her nipples teasingly, and when she thought she could take no more, he lay her back on the plaid and parted her thighs, then immediately disappeared between them.
The first gentle slide of his tongue to her tender, swollen flesh made her scream with pleasure. As he gave to her with abandon and tender care, she relinquished herself as he’d asked. All her fear was left in the wake of her love for him. He took her first to the heights of pleasure with his tongue, and then when she begged for him to do so, he entered her with care.
Holding himself perfectly still above her, he looked into her eyes. “Ye are mine.”
“I’m yers,” she gasped as he slid out slowly to his tip, only to come back in with sweet ease and fill her completely.
“Ye will always be mine,” he said, repeating the delicious, torturous movement.
