“I know what you’re thinking,” he said, his mouth against her ear. “But ye can’t leave me. Ye can’t.”
When he hiked up her nightshift, the roughness of his shirt against her breasts sent tingles of awareness through her. She felt the familiar soft scratch of the calluses on his palms as he ran his hand up her side and over her back.
Tomorrow, she would think it all through, but right now she just wanted to be with him. Tonight, he was still hers. She wanted to touch him, to feel his warm skin and strong muscles under her hands, to be surrounded by his heat and passion.
He drew in a sharp breath when she reached between them and ran her hand up his shaft through his clothes. While their tongues entwined in a slow, sensual kiss, he unfastened his trews. When she wrapped her hand around his freed shaft, he deepened their kiss and sucked on her tongue.
“I’m going to show ye that you’re mine,” he said in a ragged voice against her ear.
He dropped to his knees and covered her breasts with his hands. His breath was hot and moist on her skin as he kissed and ran his tongue along her breastbone. All the while, he rubbed her nipples between his fingers and thumbs, sending jolts of desire sparking through her and causing a throbbing ache between her legs.
She clenched her fingers in his long hair as he sank lower and encircled her thighs with his hands. Tension curled inside her like a spring as he teased her with his tongue and mouth, planting moist kisses across her abdomen and down her hip.
“Aye,” she gasped when he finally dipped his tongue between her legs. Her breasts ached, and her breathing grew shallow as she watched him pleasure her. But then she dropped her head back against the door. She gave herself over to the sensations coursing through her body as he worked his magic, licking and circling and sucking, until her knees grew weak.
He gripped her buttocks, holding her up and pulling her harder against his mouth. When he slid a finger inside her, her vision went black behind her eyelids. She heard herself cry out as if from a distance as bursts of bright light sparked and shimmered through her in waves.
Connor rose to his feet and lifted her off hers. Her nipples were so sensitive that she gasped when they brushed against his chest.
“I need to be inside ye,” he said between frantic kisses. “Now.”
“Aye,” burst from her throat as he thrust deep inside her in one stroke, and her body clenched around him in another spasm of pleasure. Before she could catch her breath, he thrust into her faster and harder. Her back was banging against the door, but she didn’t care. She could never get enough of him, never. She held on to him more tightly as he moved against her, sending hot shards of pleasure darting through her that were almost painful. He shuddered, and she cried out again as he called her name and exploded inside her.
He rested his forehead on the door and held her up, which was good because she could not have stood on her own. They were both panting and sweaty. After a long while, he leaned back just far enough to look into her face with his silvery blue eyes.
“I love ye with all my heart,” he said, rubbing his thumb across her cheek. “You’re part of me, and I am part of you. We are two halves of one whole.”
***
Connor turned to Ilysa again and again in the night, trying to persuade her with his body to stay, to show her how much he loved and needed her. As he watched the room in the eerie light of dawn, lack of sleep made him feel as if he were floating. And yet, he did not want to close his eyes for fear she would slip away from him while he slept.
She stirred, restless in her sleep. When she opened her eyes, he saw farewell in them.
No, I cannot let her go.He caught her tear with his finger, and then her arms came around his neck. He breathed in the familiar scent of lilies and held her.
“Make love to me as if it were the last time,” she said.
He did as she asked.
He pressed his lips to her palm, then he laid her on her back and kissed every inch of her, starting with her toes. Though he already had her body embedded in his memory, he memorized it again as he traced the arch of her foot, her slender ankle, the softness on the back of her knee.
He let the gold and red strands of her hair slide through his fingers.
He knew her, knew how to make her sigh, knew what the slight hitch in her breath meant. He used it all against her, trying to convince the stubborn woman he loved that what was between them was all that mattered. That it was enough.
She was quivering with need before they finally joined.
“Ye belong to me,” he told her. She did not argue, but with Ilysa that never meant agreement.
They made love with a desperate passion.
***
Ilysa held Connor to her a final time, then she forced herself to pry her arms loose and slide out of bed—and out of his reach. She slipped on her nightshift before she changed her mind.
“I thought I could do this,” she said, swallowing back her tears. “But I’ve met her now, and I can’t.”
“Ilysa, please,” Connor said but stopped when she held up her hand.