The Highlander's Destiny (Highland Rogues #2) - Mary Wine Page 0,70

demanded. “More, Faolan.”

He growled again, moving against her in hard, deep thrusts. The pleasure grew from every motion of his hips. Cora met him every time, feeling the moment building. Inside her, something was tightening. It was like a string being stretched to the very breaking point.

When it came, it was explosive. Cora twisted in its grip, grinding herself up to meet Faolan’s next thrust. He let out a cry as his body drew taut. She’d never felt so connected to another person, and in that exact second, she wasn’t sure where she ended, and he began.

They were simply part of one another.

“Come now, lass.” Faolan lifted his head from where it had been resting on her shoulder. “I’ve got to get ye inside before ye freeze.”

Her legs were weak when he let them down. The water on the stones beneath her feet was cold. A shiver went up her body as Faolan grasped her hand and tugged her behind him. Across the top of the tower and inside. They both left a trail of water on their way into his chamber.

“Christ… I’m sorry, Cora.” Faolan ripped his wet clothes off. His kilt made a wet sound as it hit the floor.

“I should have brought ye inside.” He turned to stoke up the fire and pushed some new wood into it. Crimson light illuminated him. Every inch of his body was sculpted with hard ridges. Cora found herself mesmerized by the sight of him in nothing but his skin and firelight.

Was it selfish for her to look at him in such a way?

Perhaps, and yet at that moment, it simply felt intimate.

And her chemise didn’t suit the moment. She plucked the wet hem off her thighs and pulled it up her body, but the fabric was stubborn. Faolan moved, straightening and coming to her rescue. His greater height allowed him to tug the stiff fabric free. It made a little wet plop as it joined his clothing.

“I liked it,” she muttered. Reaching up, she smoothed away the frown marring his face. “I wasn’t cold.”

He moved her so she was close to the fire. She felt the heat drying the water still coating her skin and driving the chill from her body. More water was running down from her wet hair to puddle around her heels.

“Ye astound me, Cora.” His voice was a rough whisper. “I want to be tender…for ye.”

He reached out to stroke the hair back from her face. His fingers trembling as he struggled to control his strength.

“I like yer touch, Faolan.”

One side of his mouth twitched and curved upward. “I saw the sheet, Cora. I truly meant to leave ye in peace tonight, to heal.”

“Oh…so that is why ye did no’ come to me chamber.” The words were across her lips before she realized how exposing they were.

She suddenly felt shy. Cora shifted, unable to master the impulse to squirm. “That is expected…and well, it seems to be valued by many.”

He laid his hand on the side of her face, stilling her with the simple gesture. Cora lifted her face and looked into his eyes.

“I’m a beast, Cora, but it pleases me to know ye came to me pure.”

His tone was edged with rough emotion. Was it brutish? To enjoy knowing he’d spilled her virgin blood? Cora wasn’t sure, but the flicker of contentment in his eyes didn’t strike her as possessive. At least not in the same way that other men had looked at her. Faolan seemed to see her and not just the things she brought with her to their marriage.

Ye’re looking too deep…

Perhaps she was.

“Ye are a treasure, lass. Never doubt that I understand yer worth.”

He turned her so her front was facing the fire. Faolan came up behind her, wrapping his arms around her as he buried his face in the hair on the back of her head, which was half dry. He drew his hands up her belly, across her ribs, up further until he was cupping her breasts.

“Ye are perfection, Cora.”

Outside, the storm was still raging. The walls buffeted them from the wind and the rain. It was more than the walls, though. What Cora felt surrounding her most was Faolan. His hard body pressed up against hers. Suddenly she understood why a woman was softer. It was so she might fit against a man more completely.

She felt like her curves were melting into Faolan.

Cora felt more complete against Faolan than she’d ever felt in her life. It was as though