The Scot is Hers by Eliza Knight

17

The secret passage opened into Alec’s bedroom. The chamber was starkly masculine, embodying the tones of a wealthy, sophisticated bachelor. The curtains were dark green with gold tiebacks. The bed was massive, the largest Giselle had ever seen, with four thick posts the size of tree trunks and covered in a matching dark green counterpane.

The carpet on the floor was a massive, thick tartan of red, green and white. An oversized leather wingback chair sat before the hearth, singular in its accompaniment, as if the master of this room wanted to send a message that this was his domain not to be shared with anyone else.

Wood furnishings took up space against the walls—a wardrobe, tables, a sideboard, with books on every surface.

“They’ll no’ disturb us here.” He tugged her farther into the room. “Can I get ye a dram? Or a glass of wine?”

Giselle shook her head. “I want ye.” She didn’t want to set aside her time with him to have a drink. She wanted to keep on kissing him. To complete what they’d started before. To finally feel him, all of him.

To be alive with him.

Alec’s face darkened with desire, and he hauled her against him, lowering his mouth to hers. Whereas in the library, their kiss had been desperate, hungry, primal in its need to consume, this kiss was more tender. A promise of what lovemaking with him would be like, what a lifetime with him would be like.

“Are ye certain ye want to do this?” he asked.

“I do no’ want to wait another minute. I do no’ want to ask permission, or wait for the answer. I’ve been running from what others required of me my entire life. And now that I’ve found ye, nearly lost ye, I do no’ want to waste another minute trying to figure out what is right and wrong, acceptable or no’, when I know in my heart this is as it should be. Ye and me. I love ye, Alec.”

“I love ye, too, sweet Giselle. I only ever want to make ye happy.”

Giselle curled her fingers into his hair. “Then make me yours.”

Alec lifted her into the air, taking her to his bed, where he laid her gently upon the mattress. He came down beside her, kissing her gently and whispering how beautiful she was. His bare knee brushed hers where her gown had crept up toward her thigh, and she gasped at the delicious sensation of skin on skin. He placed his hand on her his, the heat of his palms searing through her dress.

Pinching the ribbon that held her hair in place, he pulled until the mass of curls that had been contained were free, and he spread them out on his pillow.

“When I saw ye this morning with your hair like this, I wished only to see it on my pillow,” he murmured.

“It is wild.” A point she was often self-conscious about.

“Like ye.” He winked, and her heart swelled. “Just the way I adore ye.”

He curled a tendril around his finger and brought it to his nose, breathing in deep before rubbing the length on his cheek. “So soft. Everything about ye is silky, tempting.”

Giselle smiled up at him, her eyes taking in the blue green of his gaze. “Ye are a verra handsome and kind.”

He chuckled. “Do no’ let anyone hear ye say ‘kind.’ I’ve a reputation to keep.”

Giselle urged him to lower for a kiss. “Your secret is safe with me.”

With his mouth on hers, Giselle reached for the buttons of his frockcoat, plucking one after the other until the jacket gaped open. She slid her hands inside, urging the fabric over his shoulders, down his arms until he shrugged the rest of the way out of it and sent it flying.

“I see now ye want me unclothed,” he teased, bringing back to mind the moment they’d shared during the naughty chess game.

“Aye. I’m ready.”

She pulled at the knots of his cravat, the fabric falling somewhere on the bed as he nuzzled her neck, and she continued with his shirt until it was loose, and he yanked it over his head, barely taking a break from his lips on her skin.

Alec’s shoulders were as broad and muscular as she’d imagined them to be. A dusting of freckles danced over his flesh. His chest had a sprinkling of hair so light it appeared gold, rather than the same ginger on his head. Little scars marred his skin, slashes and puckers from battle. Wounds that showed his bravery. She touched each one delicately, leaning up to press her lips to the center of his chest.

“The scars do no’ scare ye?” he asked, a hint of vulnerability in his voice.

“No’ in the least.”

He swooped down to capture her lips once more, his hands roving over the front of her bodice. She’d not bothered with stays in her haste to leave her bedroom this morning, and Alec groaned when his palm rubbed over her breasts. He skimmed his fingers along her hip and then her thigh, inching the fabric of her gown higher.

The slow movements were a torment when she longed to feel more of his flesh against hers. Thankfully, Alec too seemed to want her naked, and he rolled her to the side, plucking at the simple ties at the back of her bodice. The fabric loosened but not enough to free her. Giselle shoved at her sleeves until it slipped down her arms, gathering at her waist. But even that wasn’t enough because she still wore a chemise.

With a huff, she moved away from Alec and stood beside the bed.

“What’s the matter?” he asked, concern wrinkling his brow.

“I want to be free of this.” She plucked at the chemise. “I want to be all the way naked with ye.”

“My, ye are just the wicked woman for me.” He raised a brow as she stripped out of her clothes and stood there in only her riding boots and stockings.

The cold air licked at her skin, but his heated gaze warmed her quickly.

“Help me?” she asked sheepishly, putting her foot up for him to unlace her boots that her mother had insisted a maid tie when she’d entered the parlor earlier that morning.

He grinned, looking as roguish as ever. “Always.” He made quick work of one boot and then the other. But before she could remove her stockings, he picked her up and brought her back onto the bed beside him.

The mere touch of his hand on her waist sent a warm shiver through her. His chest collided with hers creating a delicious friction against her breasts and making her nipples taut. Jolts of desire zinged through her limbs. The roughness of his kilt scratched her thighs in a way that was delicious and tantalizing.

Alec covered her mouth with a kiss, his hands caressing and exploring her hips, belly and bare breasts. She sighed into his kiss. Every place he touched heated and prickled, sending wanton pulses of pleasure from the very spot to the center of her body. She rubbed her thighs together with need, and then his hand was there, cupping the heat of her sex, and she gasped.

His fingers slid through her curls, dipping into the damp heat, and she moaned as otherworldly sensations rippled through her.

“Ye’re so soft,” he murmured against her lips, then eased his way lower, flicking his tongue over her nipple before taking it in his mouth with alluring possessiveness.

Giselle arched her back. Every inch of her buzzed with anticipation, hunger. The tips of his fingers stroked over her bared flesh while his mouth traveled lower. She gasped, trying to remember how to breathe. Her gaze locked on his head as he maneuvered south of her breasts to her belly. Searing kisses and tiny grazes of his tongue. He nipped at her hip bone.

“Oh,” she gasped, and he grinned up at her wickedly before returning to his task.

Alec kissed his way down her thigh. Every inch lower sent trills of pleasure rushing through her. Over her knee, tracing the length of her calf to her ankle, touching his mouth to the delicate point of her bone.

She licked her lips and watched him trail his tongue up the length of her other leg, pausing at her inner thigh, just above her knee. Every kiss and lick and nip felt incredible. Oh, how she wanted more...more of whatever it was that his naughty gaze and the humming in her veins promised.

“Your legs are stunning,” he remarked as he continued to work his way higher up to the tops of her thighs, spreading them wider as he went. He paused, hovering his mouth over her sex.

“Thank ye,” she said, though her voice was barely above a whisper.

Alec blew lightly over the curls between her thighs, and Giselle gripped the coverlet to keep herself grounded as her body shuddered at the light fan of his breath. Of their own accord, her hips tilted slightly upward, as if seeking out a kiss, right there. But he wouldn’t, couldn’t. Could he? And how could she—

Giselle’s thoughts were cut short when his warm hands caressed over her hips and then beneath her arse, bringing her pulsing sex closer to his mouth. He would... He could…

“Ye’re going to like this,” he murmured with a grin that sent electrifying anticipation spiraling through her.

She didn’t get a chance to answer as his wicked, velvet tongue stroked along her folds.

Giselle cried out, biting her lower lip to keep from doing so again at the intense pleasure. Any sound from her would bring those searching for them running, and the wanton noises she wanted to make as he stroked up and down would surely alert them to exactly what was happening.

Giselle let go of the coverlet with one hand to thrust it through Alec’s hair, wanting to grip tight to him, to encourage more of the breathtaking pleasure that was taking her into the heights of heaven.

Alec’s hold on her arse—his tongue stroking, driving her mad with thrilling swirls over the very heat of her—enflamed a craving inside her that threatened to burst.

She bit the inside of her cheek hard, gasping unevenly through her nose, whimpers pushing past her lips as he increased his speed. She writhed with every lash of his tongue. Her thighs trembled; her hips rolled.

The little whimpers she’d tried to hold in turned to cries of earnest, begging him for more, for the release that was promised on the other end of this rapturous torment.

Every stroke and flick of his tongue had her climbing higher and higher until she feared tumbling over the edge as much as she wanted it. Her pelvis thrust forward, seeking more of what he gave. More pleasure, more everything. Her head was thrown back against the pillows, and she considered for a moment putting them over her face to stifle her cries of pleasure. A palm slipped from beneath her derriere, fingers edging to her pulsing core, and then he glided one inside of her. She tilted her hips, arched her back and moaned. Another finger dipped inside, stretching her most deliciously.

“I want ye to finish on my tongue, love. Let go.”

And then she was there, her body obeying his demand. All of the pleasure that piled on top of itself until it had built a tower to the heavens exploded. Every inch of her skin on fire and pulsing as her body shook with ecstasy.

Alec nuzzled her until the waves of bliss subsided, leaving her thighs shaking. The wicked curl of her lips as he caught her staring made her laugh in both surprise and delight.

“Ye were right. I did like that.”

He chuckled softly, then kissed the inside of her thigh. “I do no’ think I’ll ever get used to watching ye break apart like that.”

“I will happily do so again and again.”

Alec chuckled, the sound causing her skin tingle all the more. He climbed over her, the roughness of his kilt scratching her inner thighs and making her shudder. She reached for his belt, loosening it until his kilt unraveled, revealing the hard shaft she’d unwittingly gripped onto before.

That swollen appendage fell heavy against her belly, proud in its glory as it pointed toward her. Before, she thought she might be unnerved by his nakedness, but she was only captivated. She reached for him, this time curious about if she could make him feel the same way he made her feel. The skin was soft, heavy, firm. She gripped him, and Alec groaned.

“Be gentle with me, lass. I’m so close to the edge.”

The edge... She’d been there moments ago. Teetering on the cliff, as she’d been before he lifted her out of the mud. They were there to lift each other up, to hold on. To bring them back to life—and to take each other to earth-shattering bliss. She wanted him to feel that same awakening. Even as she touched him, she felt her insides flutter, the beginning stirrings of need returned, or had they ever fully left her?

“Och, lass, do no’ make me wait,” he groaned. “I want to be inside ye.”

Alec gripped her bottom, his cock resting over her most sensitive place, giving her another thrill of pulsing need. Her legs instinctively circled his waist. He rested on an elbow, his mouth on hers, his warm, thick shaft sliding with scorching pleasure at her center. But he didn’t enter her. Instead, he rubbed back and forth. Taking his time tormenting them both.

“Please,” she begged, elevating her hips, knowing instinctively that the delicious ache inside her would only go away with the joining of the two of them together.

“Are ye certain?” he asked. “We have no’ gone far enough yet that ye couldn’t—”

“I’m yours,” she said, cutting off his words. There was no going back. “Forever.”

“Aye, my love, forever. Nothing is going to come between us ever again.” Alec sealed his vow with a scorching kiss, one that branded her his for life.

As he kissed her, his hand crept between their two bodies, and he took hold of his shaft, skimming it through her folds until he came to the entrance. He hesitated a moment, and she thought he might ask her again if she was sure. Giselle slanted her hips, pushing against his cock, giving him permission. Alec eased inside, going slowly and gently. The stretch of her body accommodating him stung, but the caress of his tongue on hers, the groan of pleasure in his throat, increased her excitement enough that she barely felt the pain.

Buried inside her, he stilled and broke their kiss. “How does it feel?” Concern knitted his brows.

“Wonderful.” The weight of his body on hers, the feel of him inside her—it was exactly what she’d been craving. Uncomfortable at first, but only for a few breaths before the passion and desire building inside her returned with a vengeance.

“Thank God because ye feel so good.”

Giselle grinned up at him, amazed at how their two bodies could fit so well together and at the pleasure they were able to give one another. Her fingers danced over his shoulder to his neck, curling around the nape and threading into his hair as she gently urged him down to kiss her.

Alec pressed his lips to hers, his tongue dipping in to tangle with hers. They kissed, bodies still until she could barely stand it, and she wiggled beneath him. She moaned at the new sensations that undulated from within her and shifted again, this time angling her hips even closer.

“Oh, Alec, this is…” But she didn’t know how to describe what she was feeling, what was happening, other than to sigh and whisper, “heaven.”

“Ye have no idea,” he said, his voice strained. “I’ve never felt this good before. Ye make everything better.”

Alec burrowed against her neck, kissing the place where her pulse leapt. And then he too shifted above her, withdrawing his body from hers, but only a fraction before he thrust forward.

The sensation was incredible, and Giselle moaned softly at the pleasure. He did it again, farther this time, then driving back inside. His mouth progressed from her neck to her ear, back to her lips, and then down the front of her throat to her chest. He nuzzled her breasts. Drew a taut nipple into his mouth.

But Giselle wasn’t about to let Alec be the only one exploring, tasting. She mimicked his ministrations. Kissed his neck, nipping at his collarbone. She took his earlobe between her teeth and told him how much she liked his strong body and what he was doing to her.

What was happening between them was transcendent, and she was certain never to come back from it the same. She was also certain to want to do this over and over throughout the day, which might become a problem.

Alec brought her to new heights of pleasure. He thrust fast, then slow. Withdrew nearly all the way until she demanded he come back. Over and over, until at last, the torment was no match for the passion their bodies demanded to be released.

Rapture overtook her then, shattering her insides. She clamped her legs around him as her body exploded with pleasure. Tremors rocked her from the inside out as she arched into him, rising and falling with each thrust. Alec swallowed her cries of pleasure with his kiss, keeping this exquisite moment to themselves and not the entire castle.

Giselle clung to him, riding out the waves, kissing him back with all the love and passion she felt for him. Alec gasped against her lips, a guttural, primal sound climbing in his throat. He shuddered violently, his pelvis slamming against her own.

Sweat glistened on their flushed skin. Their kiss slowed, becoming more tender than hungry. And they stayed that way until their breaths became even. Alec rolled to the side, pulling her with him, her breasts against his chest, one leg hooked over his hip. His arm tucked protectively around her.

Giselle stroked the side of his face, smiling as her fingers curled into his ginger beard. She kissed him again, feeling so at peace, so full of bliss. The rest of the world could have melted away.

“If only I’d known in that darkened garden years ago that we’d be lying here like this, my world complete, I’d no’ have waited so long to ride toward your castle.”

“And if only I’d had the ballocks to pursue ye as I wanted. Alas, we’ve a lot of years to make up for.”

In the distance, she could hear the sound of her name being called from somewhere in the castle.

She let out a disappointed sigh. “In the meantime, I think we need to put the search party out of its misery.”

Alec chuckled, rocking her onto her back and rising above her. “Or we could make them wait a little longer.”