When Ryanfinally loosened his grip on Margaret, the deer had fled the clearing. While she was sure that she’d kept her excitement tempered, clearly she hadn’t done all that well. Still, she couldn’t bring herself to care, not when Ryan seemed to be just as thrilled as she was about the pregnancy.
His brown eyesbore into hers with so many emotions flickering within them that she was unable to name a single one. Then, he was coming closer again. She met him in the middle, smiling into the kiss.
It was fierce and all-consuming.His lips, insistent against hers, spoke sentiments that couldn’t be articulated with simple words. They swelled, spilling from his chest into hers, filling her with so much love that her head spun.
When his handsfound her waist, she gripped tightly onto his shoulders to keep herself anchored to the moment. The way he kissed her made her knees weak. It was as though he were cutting right to her core, her very soul.
Needingto be closer to Ryan, Margaret stepped forward, pressing her chest against his. He made a low noise, growling in response before pushing his hard length against her hipbone. The thrill of it ran through her, and her stomach swooped pleasantly.
“Ach,ye have nay idea the things ye do to me, Sassenach,” he said against her lips. The next kiss he gave was off-center, hitting the corner of her mouth and her cheek. Then, as he left a kiss along the column of her throat, he said, “Ye drive me absolutely wild. Ye make me into the beast ye claim me to be.”
“Perhaps,”Margaret said, her breath hitching as he kissed even lower, “there are some situations where I don’t mind that you’re a beast.”
“Best be careful what ye say,”he warned, continuing to kiss her neck as he reached behind her back to unlace her dress.
“Ryan!”she gasped, looking around the clearing. “What if someone sees?”
“Nay one’s goin’to come over here,” he said as he started to slip the gown from her shoulders. “But if ye daenae want to be seen, I can arrange that.”
“What do you—”she began before he aborted removing her clothing and lifted her.
“Perhaps ye’d feel betterif we were beneath a tree,” he said as he walked her to the edge of the forest. Softly, he set her down, letting his fingers brush her cheek once she was firmly on the grass. “Now, I’m going to get rid of yer gown, lay me kilt on the ground, and then we’re going to celebrate that bairn ye’re growin’. Aye?”
“Yes,”she said, with an undeniable pressure coiling in her belly.
With steady hands,Ryan finally slipped her gown off and dropped it to the ground. Then, he moved on to her corset and stays. When he was finished, she stood before him in nothing more than her chemise.
“Ye truly arethe bonniest lass I’ve ever laid eyes on,” he said before unfastening his kilt and laying it on the ground.
Margaret knewthat she was supposed to settle onto it, but she couldn’t look away from his hard length. Her thighs clenched together, trying to find some relief for the sensations at her core. She knew he’d satisfy her needs though.
If it weren’tfor him, I wouldn’t know how good being intimate with someone could feel. I suppose Cali was right when she said that Highlanders keep their women happy.
“Ye’re starin’,”he said with a chuckle, slowly guiding her onto the material.
“I…”she began, her face burning with embarrassment at being caught.
“Nay need to be embarrassed,”he said, tossing his doublet onto the pile with her garments. “Ye can look all ye want. Ye ken I quite like lookin’ at ye.”
With that,he shimmied her out of her chemise, baring her body to the air around them. His strong hands caressed her curves, his fingertips ghosting over her breasts. Gooseflesh erupted over every inch of her skin, and she arched into his palms, seeking his touch.
“Ye’re so bonnie,”he said, settling himself between her legs and kissing her again. “Ye’re the bonniest in all the Highlands, and ye’ll only be even more bonnie as ye grow our bairn.”
Ryan didn’t giveher a chance to respond before he connected their mouths again. His arousal dug into the soft flesh of her inner thigh, promising that she’d get the relief she wanted desperately. She shifted against him, giving him permission without breaking away from his kiss.
“I’ll giveye what ye’re askin’ for,” he said before lining himself up and pushing into her core.
Margaret whimpered into his mouth,the sound being swallowed up by him before it got the chance to echo around the clearing. The intrusion was pressure and delight all wrapped up into one toe-curling sensation. She held onto his back, her nails digging into his firm muscles.
“Ye’venay idea how much I love ye,” Ryan said as he slowly began the steady rhythm of his hips. “And I cannae tell ye how happy I am that we’re going to have a bairn runnin’ around soon.”
She was unable to respond,her mind overwhelmed by the feelings he was giving her. His words combined with the way he worked her body was enough to make heat coil in her abdomen. This Highlander knew exactly how to bring her to the edge of a cliff she was coming to know as pleasure.
When he connectedtheir lips again, every nerve in her body lit up. Her affection, her love for him grew, filling her up. Then, with one particularly hard and precise thrust, all of those sentiments spilled over.
Ryan’s namespilled from her lips, and she held onto him tighter. Her peak was intense, flashes of light dancing behind her eyelids as he continued to play on her senses as though she were an instrument. Then, as her hands opened and closed against the powerful flesh of his back, he growled low and possessive before joining her on her plunge over the edge.
They heldonto each other as they rode out wave after wave, Ryan rocking into her and drawing out the sensations. Just as Margaret began to think she’d float away, leave the ground and never return, he slowed, pressing a kiss to her temple.