It seemed she hadn’t been the only one excited by that, just the only one who had found her release.
Conran didn’t encounter anyone in the hall on his way from Evina’s room to his own, and was grateful for it. Feasting on her body had been a delight. Her gasps and moans, and mewls of excitement and pleasure, had stirred a matching excitement and desire in him. The way she’d writhed and shuddered under his ministrations had been almost maddening, and his body had urged him to pin her down and sink himself into the moist depths he’d been tasting, but he’d managed to ignore those urgings and keep his promise. Only just. Now he was as hard as a sword under his plaid, his cock aching with the need to find its own release. Something he intended on seeing to as soon as he reached his room. Or at least that had been the plan, he acknowledged as he entered his room to find Aulay there, lounging on his bed with his hands intertwined behind his head.
“Ah! There ye are,” Aulay said, sitting up and slipping his feet to the floor as Conran paused in his open doorway. “I suspected ye’d be along soon enough when I heard Evina cry out. The girl has a fine set of lungs on her, and ye were obviously showing her the benefits o’ the marriage bed as I suggested. Those screams did no’ sound pained or angry.”
Conran closed his eyes on a sigh. It appeared he wouldn’t be tending his aching cock any time soon.
“Although, from the looks o’ ye, ye did no’ show her how the mating itself could be pleasurable, but stuck to pleasuring her alone.”
Conran’s eyes popped open and he noted without surprise that his brother was eyeing him below the waist with a combination of amusement and sympathy.
“No’ got that far yet, eh?” he asked.
“Nay,” Conran growled, moving forward again and pushing the door closed behind him. “What did ye want, Aulay?”
“Just to warn ye that Saidh and Greer arrived while ye were about yer business with Evina,” he said solemnly. “I expected them to be the last to arrive, so ye may no’ have the two weeks as I first thought.”
“What?” Conran asked with alarm.
Aulay shrugged apologetically and stood up. “I’m sure Dougall and Niels and their wives’ll no’ be far behind, so ye may want to speed up yer efforts with Evina while ye can.”
“Damn,” Conran breathed as his oldest brother left the room. He’d thought he still had a week and a couple days to manage the situation. It seemed likely though that if Saidh and Greer had already managed to get here, he only had a couple of days left, at best. He seriously needed to move matters along with Evina.
He’d take the next step after sup this evening, Conran thought grimly. From kissing to touching. But first he needed to tend to himself or he’d be hard-pressed not to move it along faster than he planned.
“Lady MacDonnell seems an interesting woman. Laird Conran’s sister, Saidh, married Greer MacDonell,” Tildy explained when Evina looked confused, and then continued, “She seems a lot like you. No’ dainty and fussy like a lot o’ the ladies o’ the nobility. She carries a sword as ye do, and I’m quite sure I spotted the bottom o’ braies peeking out from under her skirts as she sat down. She asked to come see ye, and I said I’d check to see if ye were awake. So . . .” Tildy paused, and raised her eyebrows. “Are ye up to meeting yer soon-to-be sister-in-law?”
Evina opened her mouth, closed it again and then sighed and started to sit up.
“Let me help ye, lass.” Tildy rushed forward at once, but Evina waved her away.
“I can manage, Tildy. Thank ye,” she murmured, shifting the pillows and furs back into place behind her back to lean against. Her wound wasn’t as painful as it had been at first and her breathing was much improved. She was actually feeling well enough that she was beginning to chafe at being stuck in her bed all the day long, and was thinking she may go below stairs the next day. Or mayhap tonight for the sup. If they had company, she should really make an effort to be a proper hostess.
“Ye’re looking better,” Tildy commented out of the blue, and when Evina glanced at the maid with surprise, she said, “Ye’ve got some color in yer