The Highlander’s Rescued Maiden by Anna Campbell

Chapter 12

Ellen called out Will’s name in a hoarse voice as yet again the world flared into blinding light. Pleasure gushed through her veins, and she clung to the ecstatic peak as long as she could.

It felt like a long time later when she floated down from some mysterious place in the stars. It was an effort to open her eyes, they felt so heavy.

Will leaned on one elbow and watched her, his golden gaze hungry. His hand draped across her bare stomach with tender possession. Only a few days ago, she’d have resented that hint of ownership, but tonight it just seemed part of the powerful bond uniting them.

He’d promised to leave her a virgin, but with every touch, every spark of pleasure, she realized that while he might preserve her physical chastity, he stole more of her emotional innocence. Even more unexpected, she welcomed his claim on her. She’d been so lonely on her rocky island. With Will, she didn’t feel lonely at all.

Which foretold a loneliness to beggar even her wretched experience, once he sailed away.

Because their time together was so short, she found the courage to slide her hand around the back of his neck and draw him down toward her. “Kiss me, Will.”

Somewhere in these last days, she’d come to trust him. Her trust was a rare gift. Too many people had wronged Ellen for her to have any confidence in a promise. Yet she believed Will would keep his word. Because of that, a painful tightness inside her loosened and spread its wings. She felt ready to fly.

Ready to fly? His touch had already flung her into the core of the sun and back. The memory of those extraordinary moments when she’d lost contact with earth still shuddered through her.

She waited for one of his wild, passionate kisses. Already she knew that his kisses covered a delightful range, from a sweetness that made her toes curl, to a rapacity that should terrify her but that instead made her blood thunder.

Rather than hunger, she met soul-piercing tenderness. Much more dangerous than passion. Dangerous, when she struggled to remember that what they did was a once-in-a-lifetime experience and that he’d leave her on her island. Leave her with nothing to sustain the long years ahead, except memories of a man’s touch, a man’s smile, and a man’s care for her.

Nothing but memories. And, she feared, a broken heart.

She thought she’d learned the meaning of longing during her hours with Will Mackinnon. Grim foreboding grew that she’d discover the true meaning of longing, once she faced life without him.

Now when it was too late to save herself, Ellen recognized her peril.

Even knowing that, she was helpless to resist his kiss. She strained up against him and nipped and sucked at his lips and dared to slide her tongue into his mouth as she feasted on his sublime taste. Greedy hands ran over his arms and shoulders and chest. She was so new to this sensual world that she found his physical reality enthralling. The heat and smoothness of his skin, the ball of a shoulder, the flex of a tendon under her palm. The soft prickle of hair on his chest and arms.

To think, she now had an inkling of what pleasure was. To think, she now knew how to lure and seduce with a kiss. Murmuring appreciation against his lips, she plunged seeking hands into that wealth of hair to bring him closer. Through the tenderness, she felt his rising need.

It seemed an eternity before they drew apart, gasping. She stared into eyes alight with desire. “Are ye ready for more?” he asked.

Anticipation ripped through her. “More? I’ll be a quivering mess.”

“Och, you’re a doughty lassie.” Ellen loved the way amusement lit his eyes. “You’ll come through.”

Her short laugh was self-deprecating. “I’m glad ye have such confidence in me.”

His humor faded, replaced by something she couldn’t entirely interpret but which made her heart turn over in her breast. Devil take him, he kept catching her out like this, trapping her in emotion that she was too afraid to acknowledge.

“I believe ye can do anything, Ellen.”

Shocked, she stared into that striking face. Her heart gave another of those giddy wobbles. “I cannae dance. I cannae run. I cannae get off this island.”

Will frowned. “You’re braver than ye ken.”

Heaven help her, she needed to back away from this cliff edge looming in front of her. If she peered too far over, she’d lose her balance and fall. For a few hours in this secret tower on a lost island, Will Mackinnon almost convinced her that she was perfect. But they both knew that wasn’t true.

His frown deepened. “Stop it.”

“Stop what?” she stammered, her fingers pressing into his shoulders.

This…attraction or whatever it was that drew them together was a product of unique circumstances, a fragile plant that would thrive nowhere else but on rocky Bortha. In the light of life off the isle, Will would see her for the broken creature she was.

“Stop listening to your father in your head.”

“How…”

Will went on before she could argue with his unwelcome perception. She wasn’t sure she wanted him to see her so clearly. He already wielded too much power.

“I can always tell. Ye get a look in your eyes, as if you’re retreating behind a barrier where nobody can hurt you.”

Her throat was so constricted that it was painful to squeeze out a reply. “I fear that ye might hurt me.”

Fear? More than that. She knew he would. He invited her into a radiant new world, but when the doors of paradise closed, that exile would sting more than anything her clumsy idiot of a father had ever done.

She watched denial dull Will’s bright gaze. “Ye still don’t trust me?”

Ellen could say something about their short acquaintance, but they both knew that was only a lying excuse. “Of course I do. Look at where I am and what I’m doing.”

He shook his head. “I want more.”

“Why?”

To her surprise, he smiled. The upward kick of the corners of his lips made her light-headed with enchantment. She was in such trouble here, and it was too late to save herself. Will Mackinnon’s glowing eyes and skillful hands trapped her, just as much as her father’s repudiation trapped her on this island.

“The pity of it is I dinnae know. But nae woman has ever put me in a spin the way you have, Ellen Cameron.”

She tunneled her fingers through his hair as to her surprise, she smiled back. What was the use of trying to protect herself? It had been too late the day she waved a gun at him and told him to get out. “I like that.”

“I thought you might.” His smile hinted at devilry. “Now let me put ye in a spin.”

“Ye said there was more.”

“There is, bonny lassie. Lie back and spread your legs.”

She stretched out across the sheets, then gave a gasp as he caught her by the waist and arranged her until her legs flopped over the side of the bed.

“Will?” she asked on a rising note, as he rolled off the mattress to kneel between her parted knees. She struggled up onto her elbows so she could look down the length of her naked body to meet his glittering eyes.

He dropped a kiss on the top of her thigh. “I said I’d shock ye.”

“You…you do. Ye have already.”

She was achingly conscious that he could see her sex. Even as she told herself that she’d forsaken modesty when she stood naked before him, this new intimacy seemed a step too far. A shaking hand reached down to cover her mound.

“I promised ye pleasure,” he murmured, to her relief, looking at her face rather than…down there. “Let me show ye.”

“You’ve given me pleasure.” Ellen cursed the quaver in her voice. She sounded as if she was terrified, and while she might have her issues with Will’s view of her as brave and daring, her soul expanded every time he said it.

“I want to give ye more.”

“But ye can…see me.” He’d touched her in ways she’d never imagined in her wildest dreams, but nonetheless it seemed beyond shocking that she lay on brazen display.

“You’re beautiful from head to toe, lassie. And everything in between.” He kissed her again, this time on the soft flesh of her stomach. Her interior muscles contracted in response. How bizarre to be afraid and at the same time consumed with lecherous curiosity.

“Can we no’ do what we did before?” she asked, wondering how she could sound so childish about such a blatantly adult activity.

Will kept smiling. “We could, but I promise you’ll like what I’ve got planned.”

“Ye want to look at me?”

“I do indeed.”

“Yet ye keep yourself covered.”

Self-mockery tinged the smile. “That’s out of necessity.”

God forgive her, she was avid to see his naked body. Now her eyes rounded in amazement. “Will it frighten me?”

When he burst into laughter, the note of fondness beneath his amusement stopped her prickling up. He moved along her body until he kissed her.

She tried to hold back. He was altogether too charming for his own good – and hers. But it was useless. One touch of those lips, and she was lost. How did he do that? A simple kiss made her believe that they shared one soul.

He lifted his head to stare into her eyes. “What’s under there might make ye a little nervous. At first anyway.”

“I’m nervous now.”

More fondness softened his features. “I know, sweetheart.”

“Are ye…deformed?”

Another huff of amusement. “No’ yet. But what we’re doing tonight makes me fear for my health.”

“Will…”

“I’m in agony wanting you, Ellen.” He kissed her quickly. “The kilt reminds me that I swore to keep ye pure.”

Realization sent the breath whooshing out of her lungs. She knew he wanted her, but in her innocence, she hadn’t counted what it cost him to hold back. “I didnae understand what I asked of you.”

“It’s a bargain I was willing to make.”

Her chest started to hurt. Stupid girl, she’d forgotten to breathe. She sucked in some air, and her vision cleared. What she saw made her heart ache.

That striking face was drawn, and his eyes blazed. A flush marked the edge of his cheekbones, and he looked as if he clung to honor by mere fingertips.

When Ellen had agreed to this, she’d only thought of herself. That here was a chance to discover what other women felt with a lover. And more mortifying, that she’d have Will’s complete attention. When she was with him, she felt like the Ellen he described. Beautiful. Free. Bold. That feeling was as addictive as his touch.

Now she saw that what he did came at a price. The man before her was in pain.

“I’m sorry.”

“Dinnae be. I count it a privilege to show ye the delights of your body.”

“What about your body?”

A dismissive grunt. “That’s why the Good Lord invented kilts.”

She couldn’t help laughing. “I dinnae want ye to suffer.”

He shook his head. “All in a good cause.”

“It doesnae seem fair that you give me such pleasure when there’s nothing in it for ye.”

A teasing light brightened his eyes. “I wouldnae say that. I get to touch ye and kiss ye and watch ye climax. A banquet of rewards, in fact.”

“But ye want more.” It wasn’t a question. “You’re doing this for my benefit, no’ your own.”

“Ellen, if you’re determined to see me as a saint, I willnae argue.”

“A saint?” She laughed. “Perhaps no’ quite that.”

He kissed her until she stretched beneath him, boneless with surrender. “I’m feeling rather saintly, which isnae the thing at all. Will ye give me my way?”

“If…if it’s what ye want.” She felt like she signed her life over to him.

“It is.”

Ellen read amusement in his eyes, but also a ferocious appetite whose extent she’d only just recognized. Delightful trepidation twined its way through her. “Then go ahead.”

Will took his time, kissing a trail down her body, lingering at her breasts. By the time he kneeled between her thighs once more, she was shaking. This time she didn’t hide herself. Instead she spread her legs to make room for him.

It still shocked her that he could see her private places, but she was happy to give him his way. Even if her cheeks were hotter than the fire crackling in the hearth.

For a long moment, nothing seemed to happen. She rose on her elbows again to check what he was doing.

Will was staring at her sex. When his nostrils flared, she realized that he inhaled the scent of her arousal. Another voluptuous shiver rushed through her.

Then to her disbelief, she watched him dip his head. For an extraordinary moment, she felt the warmth of his breath. Then the wet heat of his mouth on her cleft.

“Will, you…” she choked out, burying trembling hands in his hair.

She tugged hard to pull him away. What he did was too sinful.

Instead of obeying the demands of her hands, he began to use his tongue, lapping at her with a sensual persistence that turned her blood to lava. Her frantic grip eased into a caress as response burgeoned like a towering wave.

Ellen now knew where this particular coiling suspense led. The spiraling sensation rose higher and higher and crested on a peak of luminous bliss. With a cry, she ceded to the insistent, blinding pleasure. By the time she descended from a fierce heaven that had her writhing on the sheets, Will was sitting up and watching her with intent eyes.

She raised an unsteady hand to wipe cheeks that were wet with tears. “That was extraordinary.”

He smiled. “I hate to be smug…”

She smiled back, wondering if she’d ever find the strength to move again. “No, you don’t. Ye love it.”

He laughed and kissed her thigh. Her legs felt like wet string. The touch of his lips on her bare skin didn’t help. “Ye could be right. Are ye sorry that I followed my inclinations?”

“Never.”

Was that admiration in his eyes? Or something more profound?

Before Ellen could be sure, he rose to his feet. When her usually sure-footed lover stumbled, she felt rather smug, too.

He found his balance and lit a candle at the fireplace before he headed to the staircase. “Are ye hungry?”

For you.

She feared what her face might reveal, so she blinked up at the beams on the ceiling and realized that, yes, she was hungry. “Aye.”

“I’ll get us something to eat. Dinnae go away.”

She liked his teasing. Nobody ever teased her. He made her feel part of the human race. She smiled toward the roof, in part at his joke, in part because her body felt weighted with pleasure. It took far too long to recognize that she was happy. “I willnae.”

As she listened to Will run lightly down the stairs, she made a heroic effort not to dwell on the future. Instead, she let her pulse slow from its wild race, while she did her best to store every sensation in her memory. The night had been so crammed with new experiences, she feared that she might forget some detail.

***

Ellen waited in increasing impatience for Will to return. For pity’s sake, what was he doing down there? Preparing a state banquet? She was too aware of time passing, when they had so little time. Once the wind died down, he’d sail away and never come back. Every minute with him was more valuable than rubies.

Those minutes ticked away one by one, while she lingered in her bedroom and he did whatever he did in the kitchen two floors below.

She left the bed, shrugging her peignoir over her nakedness. Although she had no more secrets from Will when it came to what her body looked like. Heat pricked her cheeks, as she recalled the slide of his tongue along her cleft.

She added peat to the fire and stoked it to a blaze. It might be summer, but a stormy night in the Hebrides was always cold. Then she lit her own candle.

With more care than he had – an unwelcome reminder of her infirmity – she made her way downstairs. The wind was howling as if it wanted to level the isolated tower. She hardly heard it.

Once she reached the top of the last flight of steps before the kitchen, she blew out her candle. Will must have lit a couple of lamps because she could see her way.

Ellen frowned as she descended. She could hear a rhythmic grunting. What on earth was wrong with Will? Was he sick?

Lost in the shadows, she poised on the last step and surveyed the room. On the table sat a tray with a plate of oatcakes and cheese and a full decanter and glasses. Will was in a chair before the fire, in profile to her.

Ellen needed a moment to realize what he was doing.

The unfastened kilt draped to the floor, and his long legs sprawled across the flagstones. His fist closed hard around his rod, moving up and down with a violent speed that made the breath catch in her throat. His head tilted back, and his Adam’s apple protruded from his powerful throat. His lips drew back over his teeth, and his ragged breath emerged in time with his sliding hand. The other hand clutched the arm of the oak chair so hard that his knuckles shone white in the flickering firelight. His eyes were closed, and his skin clung tight to his arresting bone structure. He looked as if he fought a mighty enemy.

She must have made some smothered sound, although she meant to stay quiet and leave him some privacy. Even in her innocence, she understood that he had no intention of sharing this moment with an observer.

He froze into motionlessness and opened his eyes. With a slow turn of his head, he looked in her direction. Even at this distance, she read how blank and lightless his gaze was. What he was doing didn’t seem to give him joy.

“Ellen…” he said in a choked voice, shamed color flooding his features. His hand went still, but he didn’t lift it away from his rod.

She swallowed to ease a parched throat. On unsteady legs, she descended to the kitchen floor. “Ye were so long, I wondered what you were doing.”

A grim smile lengthened his lips. “After what happened upstairs, I didnae trust myself to keep my word. I thought that if I took the edge off…”

“So this is for me?”

He shrugged, although the tension in his lean frame remained visible. “If ye like.”

Wondering where her boldness came from, she ventured closer. “Then perhaps ye should let me help.”