The Highlander’s Rescued Maiden by Anna Campbell

Chapter 14

Will stirred in the big bed, not sure what had disturbed him. He was sleepy and content in a way he hadn’t been in days. Ellen lay naked in his arms, cuddled up to his side as if she couldn’t bear being more than an inch away. Her breasts pressed soft and warm into his side.

He angled his head to stare down into her face. He’d always thought her beautiful. How could he think anything else? But after the joy they’d found through the night just past, he saw that she was lovely right to the bone. Her generosity left him in awe. More than that, she’d met him as an equal, every step of the way. Brave, spirited, giving. She was a woman in a million. He wanted to go on his knees to his Maker and thank him for this treasure, hidden on the far edges of the Hebrides.

Except lying here with his lover was so delightful that he had no intention of shifting.

Despite everything they’d done to each other, he’d kept his promise and she remained a virgin, if not near as innocent as she had been. He found that almost impossible to believe. They’d veered excruciatingly close to consummation so many times, but he’d managed to control his impulses. Heaven knew how.

Even at the extreme limits of desire, he’d never forgotten what trust she’d placed in him.

In the dim light of the shuttered room, those delicate features snatched anew at his heart. She looked exhausted, thoroughly tousled. Happy. Her hair was a tangled skein of gold, and pink marked her skin where his beard had caught her.

It wasn’t long since they’d collapsed exhausted onto the bed. After that unforgettable encounter in front of the kitchen fire, she’d brought him to climax again. That time, she used what she’d learned from her first attempt to tease him to insanity.

He’d wondered if his needy, gasping release might repulse her. It was why he’d left her alone upstairs while he escaped to find relief. Will should have known better. His darling might look like she dwelled in ethereal realms, but what they’d done proved that she relished earthier pleasures. He’d soon realized that touching him excited her.

Twice more, he’d used his hands and his mouth to bring her to her peak. By the last time, she was so weary that the climax washed over her like a soft warm ocean.

After the passion, he’d kissed her softly. Tenderness lingered as she moved her mouth against his with a sweetness that turned his blood to warm syrup.

Somewhere in the wee small hours, he’d bathed her. Then she’d returned the favor. Washing the traces of the long night from her slender body felt like a holy act. Odd that their carnal experiments resulted in reverence. He’d never felt that with a lover before.

Also bizarre that this night with Ellen should be the most intimate experience of his life. A night when the final intimacy hadn’t taken place. He felt closer to this woman than he ever had to any mistress.

Even now, when he had a cock-stand of epic proportions, it was enough to lie beside her in this rumpled bed and watch her sleep. Early morning stillness wrapped around him like an embrace.

Early morning stillness…

Hell and damnation. What the deuce was he doing?

Now he knew what had woken him. The wind howling around Ellen’s tower had become part of his world, the counterpoint to every minute he spent on Bortha.

This morning, all he could hear were gulls and blackbirds and the crash of waves below the cliff. The gale might have passed, but the sea remained rough.

The wild wind had kept him and Ellen safe. Its departure promised disaster.

Yet only with the greatest reluctance did he bend his head to kiss Ellen’s disheveled golden crown. He tightened his hold. For one last moment, he pretended that they had all the time in the world to discover each other.

With a sleepy murmur, she kissed his chest, although she wasn’t yet awake. He inhaled her warm floral scent. “Ellen, my darling, wake up.”

She shifted again. The slide of her body sent arousal crashing through him, and he pictured how they might have filled the day.

Then he pushed away all thoughts of languorous hours here in Ellen’s luxurious bedroom. He drew her up and kissed her. How he wished they had more time. But wishes were dangerous now.

Her lips moved beneath his and when he raised his head, she was awake. He stared into misty blue eyes as she gave him a smile that wordlessly conveyed her delight in him.

“Good morrow, Will,” she said, her voice hoarse with sleep.

“Good morrow, mo chridhe.”

She frowned to hear him call her his heart. He kissed her again to cut off the inevitable protest. She curved into him with a readiness that did nothing to bolster his restraint. He’d risen over her and started to caress her breast before he recalled the looming threat. It was early, only just past five on the ormolu clock, but every minute counted.

He made an almighty effort and pulled free. Her disappointed sigh almost made him kiss her again. But that was the path of madness.

“Ellen, listen…”

“Aye?”

Despite his worry, he couldn’t help smiling. “No, my bonny, listen.”

Another frown contracted her fine dark gold eyebrows. “But I dinnae hear anything.”

“Exactly.”

Will watched fear replace melting surrender. He hated that change. Even more, he hated what followed. A devastation so stark, it threatened to break his heart.

She sat up and caught him by the shoulders, hands frantic instead of caressing. She reminded him of the determined lady who had threatened to shoot him. Was that only three days ago? It felt like a lifetime. He was no longer that brash, shallow man. Fair Ellen had turned him into a new and better version of himself.

“Will, for the love of heaven, why do ye delay? You’re in mortal danger. My father will send the guards over, the moment they can launch a boat.”

“Ellen, I cannae go like this.”

“Aye, you can. You must.” Her voice vibrated with urgency. “I willnae live with the idea that I brought harm to ye. If my father’s men find you, they’ll kill you.”

His jaw set firm. “I’m well able to defend myself, lassie.”

She shook her head, as pale and desperate as last night she’d been soft and rosy with female satisfaction. “I’m sure ye are, but I dinnae want my kinsmen murdered either. And my father will only send more men across.”

“I dinnae want to leave ye.”

“Dinnae make me watch you die.” Eyes alight with terror fastened on his face. “I can bear to be lonely and alone, as long as I ken that you’re alive somewhere.”

He shrugged out of her hold and caught her hands, ignoring her struggles to pull away. “You dinnae have to be lonely and alone, Ellen. Ye can come with me.”