When she and I will be as one
* * *
Duncan should not have sung that song to her again and bared his soul to her so utterly. Yet there was no point in attempting to hide his feelings. Moira knew he had lost his heart to her seven years ago, and he was not a man whose feelings changed.
Seeing her here in his humble home made the situation clear to him. Yet when Moira stood in front of his chair and looked down at him with violet eyes as soft as her velvet gown, Duncan knew he would give his life to keep her.
She took his harp from him, set it on the floor, and held out her hands to him. “Take me to bed.”
Chapter 22
I’m glad ye came.” Duncan framed her face in his hands and gave her a long, lingering kiss.
When he picked her up and carried her into the other room, Moira laughed because he had to turn sideways and duck his head to get through the low doorway. A simple, wood-framed bed covered with thick blankets filled most of his bedchamber, which Moira guessed had been converted from what was usually the cow’s half of a cottage.
Behind the bed, the single window was tightly shuttered against the winter winds. Moira imagined that when it was open on a fine day, Duncan could lie in bed and have a grand view of the sea and mountains.
Without exchanging a word, they undressed quickly in the small space beside the bed. As they crawled under the heavy blankets, the ropes holding the mattress creaked beneath their weight. The bedchamber was so small and the bed so cozy that Moira felt as if she were locked away with Duncan in a warm cocoon.
She put her arms around his neck and gazed into his face. His features were all hard angles and his expression was serious, but his gold-flecked hazel eyes were warm. When he slid his hand over the curve of her hip, she sighed.
With the MacCrimmons, Duncan had been patient with her, giving her time to trust his touch. Under his gentle ministrations, her body had come alive again. And now that she had seen herself in the mirror, she knew that it was not just her beauty that made him want her.
You are the only woman who ever mattered to me. Rhona knows it. Everyone does.
The cottage, the creaking bed, and Duncan’s strong, warrior’s body all made her feel protected. And after Sean, she needed to feel safe and wanted for herself before she could share her body fully.
Was she ready? She ran her hands over Duncan’s chest, enjoying the feel of the taut muscles and rough hair beneath her palms. When he splayed his hand against her back and drew her into a deep kiss, she closed her eyes and melted into him. Aye, she was ready.
Moira moved against him like a cat to feel the friction of his chest on her sensitive breasts. He groaned and pulled her more tightly to him. Their kisses grew more fevered, and the hardness of his shaft poking against her belly aroused a deep need in her. She held him tightly, needing to be closer still, as their tongues moved together in a rhythm as old as time.
When he rolled her on her back, she wrapped her legs around his waist, instinctively urging him forward. Aye, this was what she wanted. No more waiting. Flashes from that long-ago summer came back to her—of Duncan deep inside her, crying out his love for her when he could not say it any other time. How she wanted him like that again.
She moaned aloud when the tip of his shaft touched her center. For a long, long moment, Duncan held still above her, the muscles of his shoulders straining beneath her fingers. As the tension between them became unbearable, she dug her fingers into his shoulders and lifted her hips.
“Please, Duncan.”
Instead of doing as she urged, he covered her breasts with his callused hands and moved down her body. He teased her nipples between his fingers and thumbs while he kissed her throat and ran his tongue down her breastbone. Liquid heat pooled deep in her belly as he moved lower and lower with his warm lips and tongue.
Anticipation sang through her body as he lifted her leg over his shoulder and kissed the inside of her thigh. A high moan came from the back of her throat when he finally ran his tongue over the sensitive spot between her legs. As he worked his magic with his lips and tongue, she gripped the bedclothes in her hands and bit her lip.
She came in waves of white light.
It was wonderful, but this time it was not enough.
* * *
When Duncan moved to lie beside her, Moira pulled him down on top of her.
“I want to feel ye inside me,” she said, still breathing hard.
Oh, Jesu. Did she mean it?
“Are ye certain?” Duncan forced out the question. “We don’t have to do this yet.”
“I want us to be as one,” she said, echoing the words of the song he had sung to her. “And I don’t want to wait another moment.”
This time, when she tightened her legs around him, urging him forward, Duncan did not resist her. They both gasped as he thrust deep inside her in one stroke. Sweat beaded on his forehead as he forced himself to take long, deep breaths and hold still. His body was so hungry for her, and for release, that the urge to pound into her again and again until he exploded was nearly irresistible.