Victoria paced the small bedroom and waited for the house to become quiet. With the ready excuse of becoming lost while searching for the library, she exited her chamber and made her way toward the study she'd spotted earlier.

From the study's doorway, she would have a clear view of Conor's chamber door.

The dark hallway forced her to slow her pace. Her steps growing more hesitant the nearer she got. Victoria hoped to find him in the study, a more proper place to meet with him alone. But if not, would she dare go to his bedroom?

From the hallway Victoria peered into the dark room, it was empty. Now that she'd not found him in the study she stood outside the door and waited in the darkness and prayed he'd appear. Thankfully, she didn't have to wait long.

Without a sound, Conor's large figure obscured the soft light at the end of the corridor. He walked past without noticing her and went directly into his chamber.

Her heart pounded so loud she wouldn't hear if another person approached so Victoria scanned the surrounding to ensure no one else was about. Finding the area empty, she scurried on soft-slippered feet to Conor's chamber. After a quick rap on the door, she turned the knob.

"Oh, God," Victoria whispered, losing her nerve. At the precise moment she lost the courage to enter and took a step back, the heavy door flew open.

"Damn it! Calum! Can we leave the conversation until…?" Conor, who obviously expected his brother, stopped mid-sentence when he saw her.

Wishing not to be seen at his doorway, she rushed inside and pushed the door closed. He continued to stare at her as if she'd lost her senses.

"I know it is compromising to be in your room at night...well really at any time," Victoria sputtered. "I must speak with you. It is of utmost importance."

Regaining his composure, his face became devoid of expression. Conor leaned on the doorjamb and crossed his arms over his broad chest. "I'm listening Miss Westcott."

Victoria hesitated. To find the right words and not sound like a ninny became impossible. She found herself in such close proximity to this magnificent man. He would never believe that she was afraid to be left behind at Somerset Keep. Not after the way she'd stood up to him and his men on the journey.

"I overheard your brother state you are leaving tomorrow." She flushed and looked away. "What will become of me? You said I am here as your guest. Will your brother allow me to remain as such with you gone?"

Conor nodded. "Aye. I confirmed with Calum you would remain my guest, for now. He agreed."

"For now?"

"Until I return. At which time, we can discuss your future," Conor explained with a bored tone.

Victoria wanted to shake him. He didn't seem to appreciate how unstable her life was at the moment, how precarious her hold on composure. Annoyed at the fear that threatened, she took a breath and could not suppress trembling. How could she not be distressed, after all not only was she here against her will, but now he planned to abandon her.

Victoria squared her shoulders and lifted her chin. "I have told you repeatedly. My brother is Captain Jamie Westcott, the well-known privateer. He is a force to be reckoned with. You should make every attempt to send him word that I am here and unharmed. My brother will come for me with haste."

"With a battle ship or two, no doubt?"

"Not if I send a letter explaining that you not only rescued me, but also kept me from harm."

"And why would you do it, when I murdered the lord of a family which you claimed to be a friend of?” His laugh was without mirth. "And your brother would he believe that I happened to be in England during an attack and dashed in to save you?"

"You didn't have to kill Darien. You...you could have resolved the matter in a different way."

"Lord Turner deserved to die Miss Westcott. He attacked my sister and killed her escorts. The changes to her life are permanent. I could not allow him to live."

Thinking of her cruel husband made Victoria cringe. Thankfully the expression could be mistaken for distress at his words. "I must admit that although I don't agree with your methods, I understand your need to avenge Lord Turner's brutal treatment of your sister and her escorts. Additionally, I don't wish any harm to come to your family, especially Cailyn. She has been through enough. I need to know you will do something and not just keep me for an undetermined amount of time in Scotland."

"I will consider it and discuss it with my brother upon my return." He turned toward the door, as he was about to dismiss her.

"No McDougall, you will decide now" Victoria insisted.

Without speaking he locked the door, moved to a chair by the lit fireplace and casually sat down. He motioned for her to be seated on the other chair. "If you wish to have a conversation, it may be best if we sit."

She remained standing and shook her head. "This is not a friendly visit. I demand to send word to my brother at daylight. I will accompany you on your travels in the meantime. I do not wish to remain here."

His eyebrows raised in surprise. "Why do you want to go with me?" Focused on her, he stood and moved closer, his bulk blocking the fireplace. "I don't believe you will enjoy the battlefield, Miss Westcott. You will be fine here. No need to be fearful. My brother will ensure you are kept safe."

"The battlefield?" Victoria paled. "What if you die?"

"It would be a pity, I suppose," he replied without worry. "Although it is but a border clash with a rival clan. Our presence more a show of force, really." He leaned closer. "Would you shed a tear for me if I were to meet my demise, Miss Westcott?"

He moved to stand between her and the doorway. The man exuded an essence that made Victoria want to lean into him. She wanted to beg him to allow her to go with him. Instead, she clenched her fists tight to keep from throwing herself into his arms. "Truth be told, I don't actually want to go with you. But I am astute enough to know I am not wanted here, therefore I have little choice. Your brother's wife does not wish me to remain. Her glares throughout dinner were a clear message." Victoria became more frantic with each word, angered not just at the stubborn Scot, but also at the trembling in her voice. "I can be of use. I grew up with two brothers. Between them and their friends, I have bandaged a wound or two."

He remained impassive without speaking, but instead rewarding her with a blank expression. She wouldn't beg. "Well, since it's clear you will not bend on this, I inform you now. If you leave me here I will run away and McDougall, I will succeed." She tried walking around him, but he caught her arm. She swung around to say something, but at once found herself flattened against his hard body.

"I have no intention of letting any harm come to you, Victoria. But I cannot allow you to come with me. It's too dangerous for a beauty like you. I cannot fight and safeguard you at the same time." It did not go unnoticed that for the first time, he used her given name.

"I can take care of myself," Victoria replied, deflated at his words. He would not change his mind.

"I need you to remain here, to wait for me."

She couldn't help but notice his enticing lips, dip in his strong chin. "I cannot."

At once, his mouth pressed down on hers with a hunger like she'd never experienced. It was a powerful demanding kiss. While in contrast, his hands were soft and gentle as he barely touched her arms to hold her in place.

Victoria's anger vanished. She parted her lips and moaned when his hot tongue entered, exploring her mouth fully.

Pure undiluted longing scorched a path down her body. A sensation so raw that Victoria feared she would melt into him. She allowed it free reign and became absorbed by the succulent waves of exquisite heat crashing against all her senses. Could she allow it to continue? To be his, and be made love to in a way she instinctively knew only Conor McDougall could?

When his arousal surged against her stomach, the answer became a clear yes. She wanted him to take her fully. It became a singular desire. There was no question in her mind he would instinctively know how to render her undone in a manner no man could compare.

His eyes alone had made love to her time and again. Now his lips sent her every sense to overflowing.

She longed to know what his hands could possibly do.

Victoria wrapped her arms around his neck and drew him closer, heaving a sigh of delight when his solid arms encircled her waist and crushed her against his heated muscular chest.

Conor's heart was beating hard against her breast, its rhythm making her desire him even more.

He lifted his head to look down at her. "I've wanted to be inside you, from the first moment when you came out of the water back at the stream." Conor's passion accompanied by the longing in his eyes, held her spellbound. "Having no thought other than to feel your heated wetness surround my cock, has been driving me mad."

A slight moan was her only reply.

He pulled the pins from her long auburn hair, allowing the tresses to float down her back.

His lips trailed down her throat and she fell captive again, this time with no desire to ever escape. Victoria urged him to continue the descent, her fingers dragging through his hair. She threw her head back to allow him more access.

"I will have you, Victoria." She gasped at Conor's heated words against her ear. "And then I will make love to you. But first it must be fast and hard for I cannot wait. I will not wait to have you."

He lifted up her skirts and slid his hand between her legs, his fingers exploring her center. Victoria bit her lip to keep from screaming. It had never been like this with her late husband, joining with him had been unpleasant and uncomfortable. Both times.

"Yes," she gasped, shocked at tingling sensations, bucking instinctively into his hand. She panted when his thumb pressed into her moist core. Like him, she could not wait another moment.

"Please," Victoria gasped, unsure what she asked from him. She moaned when he inserted a finger into her, followed by a second, which expanded her tightness.

"You feel like a virgin, so tight. It will be with pleasure that I comply with your request." Conor's hand continued its explorations between her folds, while he shoved at his breeches, freeing his cock with the other. He lifted her and pressed her back against the wall.

She gripped his shoulders when he once again slipped a finger inside of her, and when his thumb circled her sensitive core, Victoria fought not to cry out.

"Do something, I can't wait," she grunted out, pushing into his hand.

"Wrap your legs around me, so I can enter you, my beauty," Conor commanded, his strong hands surrounding her waist and lifting her. Victoria eagerly complied, wrapping her legs around his hips and crossing them at the ankles.

With a hard thrust, his engorged rod plunged into her, filling her completely.

"Augh!" Conor groaned, his warm breath against her neck. "You are more than I dreamed. You are mine now, Victoria, I cannot hold back."

He withdrew, she complained at the loss. "No," Victoria gasped, only to call out "Oh," when he drove back in.

With hard, fast strokes Conor drove in and out of her with such vigor that the slapping sounds of flesh hitting flesh battled with the sounds of their exclamations.

"So perfect, so hot and wet, just for me," Conor murmured, his words running together as he continued the delicious assault.

Victoria was so lost in her own whirlwind of sensations, that she could only repeat his name over and over, until her body shuddered and her inner walls quaked in release. She let out a long cry, which he muffled with his lips.

His tongue probed deep into her mouth keeping rhythm with his hips, until he too, cried out. With one last deep thrust, he released his heated seed within her. For a few moments, they clung to each other, both breathing hard.

Conor pulled out and lowered Victoria gently onto the floor keeping his hands on her waist.

"We'll make love now," his darkened eyes washed over her. "Can you make it to the bed?"

When she nodded, he released her and untied the stays holding his tunic together. Only when he lifted it over his head did he remove his gaze from her.

His lips curved when he noticed her eyes traveled across the plains of his exposed body. His well-formed wide shoulders seemed even larger without clothing to cover them. His muscular arms framed a fully developed chest and a rippled flat stomach. His hips were narrow, and his bulky manhood, once again eager for her.

"Can you handle me again so soon?" Conor seemed to read her thoughts.

"Teach me how to please you more", Victoria stammered. Her eyes locked onto his bulging shaft. Conor walked toward the bed and stood with arms hanging to his sides. "Remove your clothes first," he raised an eyebrow, daring her.

Victoria bit her lip. Two could play this game. Still a bit wobbly on her feet, she went to the side table, poured a glass of water and drank slowly, her gaze roaming from his eyes, to his lips, down his beautifully chiseled chest, to finally rest on his rigid display of arousal.

She placed the empty glass down, and with one hand pushed her blouse down from her shoulder, then mirrored the movement at the other. Cailyn's borrowed clothes were large on her, it was an easy task to loosen the skirt and allow it to fall and pool at her feet.

With only her sheer chemise left, she stepped away from the clothing and stood still. She lifted her gaze up to meet the eyes of the man who now owned her full attention.

After deciding it best to reveal herself to him from top to bottom, she finally worked at untying the ribbons at the front of the chemise. Victoria gasped when Conor picked her up, carried her to the bed, and laid her upon it, her legs dangling over the edge.

"I cannot wait any longer, wench. What have you done to me that I must have you again so soon?"

"But I wanted to pleasure you first," Victoria began but stopped when he spread her legs and stared down at the most private part of her. She attempted to pull her legs closed, but he held her exposed, wide-open to him.

"No do not cover yourself, not from me. You are beautiful to look upon, perfect even." He leaned closer and a rush of heated embarrassment surged over her.

"Conor, please stop, I don't know what you plan, but it cannot be right," Victoria hated the prudish words. But while married, her husband had not once seen her fully undressed, had actually ensured she dressed in full nightclothes before coming to bed.

The handsome man lifted his eyes to her. "To have this before me and not taste of it would be an injustice."

He lowered until his mouth covered her core, and Victoria lost her ability to breathe. When he suckled, pulled back, and flicked his tongue over her swollen nub, Victoria's hips came up off the bed, only to be pushed back into place and held down by Conor, who continued to savor her with his lips, teeth and tongue.

Unable to withstand the assault to her senses, Victoria lost total control and thrashed until she came with so much force, that everything went dark.

And through it, Conor's tongue continued to stroke, keeping her from descending.

"Oh, I can't believe it," she gasped when she finally settled.

"Would you like to soar again?" Conor murmured against her thigh, his hot tongue tracing a devilish circle.

"I couldn't possibly…"

"You can," His tongue flicked her center once again. Conor did not stop, bringing her to near release again before kissing his way up her body.

Even with her body pliant and so fully sated, Victoria would not go back on her decision to satisfy Conor. She must return the favor. Sliding his arm under her knees and arms, he lifted her up to allow her to slide onto the center of the bed. She used her legs as leverage, and pushed Conor over to his back.

He regarded her with a crooked smile, "You are aware that I allowed you to do this? I am far too large for you to have overcome me so easily."

Victoria shrugged and climbed over him. "I will pleasure you now, sir."

Instead of a reply, his eyes locked on her breasts. "I have yet to sample parts of you." As he reached for her, she stopped him.

"It will have to wait." Surprising her, he did not argue further. Instead, he lay back and did not resist her placing his arms down to his sides.

While he watched, Victoria ran her hand down his rippled stomach, astonished at the softness of the skin, which covered such hard muscles. She studied his body, amazed at how attractive it was. She'd never thought a man's body could be referred to as beautiful, but there was no other way to describe Conor's.

Victoria wondered how she could possibly make him approach a release as he'd done for her. She peered up to his face, but by the challenge in his expression, she knew he wouldn't be any help.

Not voluntarily anyway. He expected her to figure it out on her own. This was a game to him. She would ensure he would not have any reason to criticize later.

With her finger pads, she trailed a circular pattern on his thick thighs, suppressing a smile when his muscles bunched and his cock flicked in response.

She leaned forward and mimicked the pattern with her tongue on the one thigh, while continuing it with her fingers on the other.

At his moan a sense of triumph filled her.

She continued trailing her tongue to the top of his legs and wrapped her hand around his engorged member. His grunts of pleasure encouraged her to continue and pressing her lips against the soft skin of his inner thigh, she moved his cock aside to expose what lay beneath.

Conor's breath hitched and she knew instinctively this to be a sensitive place for a man. Victoria layered kisses on the soft sack, suckling it gently, until rewarded by a husky moan.

He liked it.

She became bolder sucking and licking his balls while she continued to stroke his shaft. Her fingers wrapped around tight as she slid them up and down the length.

Finally, she licked a path on the underside of the rigid member, trailing her flattened tongue up to the tip. When he bucked into her mouth, she moved back, not allowing him entrance. She circled the tip of him with her tongue, allowing her teeth a light scrape of the velvety skin.

"You will unman me," Conor's hoarse words were accompanied by a hard intake of breath when she took as much of him as she could into her mouth. "Victoria!"

She mimicked the motion of him entering her earlier. Mouth around him, Victoria moaned at the sensation of his silken length sliding past her lips.

"You must stop, I am too close," Conor panted.

She ignored him until his hands cupped her face and stayed her.

He lifted her up over him. "I don't want to spill into your mouth," he gasped for breath, yet strong enough to roll her onto her back and hold himself up over her.

"Kiss me, Conor." Victoria held her arms up, inviting him to her.

His lips met hers as he positioned himself between her legs, and she felt the tip of his cock nudge at her entrance.

"Please, now!" She begged him.

"I told you we'd make love this time," Conor whispered in her ear. The tip of his cock touched her center and she lifted up, wanting him inside of her.

Conor smiled at her. "No. Not yet. Making love is a slow, more intense process."

His hands covered her breasts, caressing them with strong, yet careful strokes. She closed her eyes in surrender. When his mouth took one nipple, Victoria began to ache again. Her hips pushed up and Conor chuckled against her skin. "Soon."

Conor lifted, his wet lips enticing her to reach for him. She got her wish when he kissed her again.

"Roll onto your stomach," Conor told her, his hands already guiding her.

Victoria complied, unsure of what he planned.

"Stunning." His hands caressed her buttocks, kneading them, before sliding his hands onto her hips and lifting until she was propped on her knees. When she attempted to lift to her elbows, gentle hands held her back down, so her head and shoulders rested on the plush linens of his bed. "Remain like this, a picture which will stay with me, forcing me to return with haste."

"Mmmm." Victoria closed her eyes when the first nip of his teeth on her bottom brought a tingle straight to her quivering center. His lips pressed against the sensitive skin of one cheek then the next, ensuring homage to both.

"I dreamt of taking you from behind, pounding into your moist tunnel until you screamed my name." Conor's hoarse words were like a balm over her already heated body.

He pulled her buttocks apart and his fingers penetrated first, the precise movement bringing her precariously close to breaking to pieces again. With his arm wrapped around her, his other hand mounted a merciless assault of her throbbing crux, and Victoria cried out and pushed into him.

"You've bewitched me, Victoria," Conor told her, positioning himself to enter her, the head of his hardened shaft at her entrance. "I cannot be gentle."

"Don't be," Victoria replied, once again pressing backward. "I want you as you are. Raw, masculine, and hard."

He thrust into her with such force that Victoria cried out again. "Yes."

Seated to the hilt, Conor groaned and she felt his body shake. She sensed this man was not a gentle lover, he'd held back for her sake.

"Now, Conor," Victoria urged.

He complied and pounded into her, pulling almost completely out before thrusting back into her fully. The long strokes were a feast of heat and hardness, combined with the silky fluidity of their bodies, melting from the friction brought by skin sliding against skin.

"You are so hot, so tight surrounding me," Conor ground out while not slowing his movements.

His drives soon lost rhythm. With control gone, both raced to reach their climax. His fingers stroking her to completion, Victoria came first. She reached between them and cupped his tightening sack and squeezed it gently, satisfied at the grunts coming from deep in his throat, just as he gushed into her.

Quaking hands tightened around her hips, ensuring she did not move while he stroked in and out of her a few more times, rendering all he had to her.

Finally satisfied, he collapsed onto the bed, deftly rolling them both to lie on their sides still joined.

They remained silent for a long moment. Victoria snuggled back into his warm embrace and sighed.

"Take me with you, Conor," she whispered, hoping he'd not fallen asleep.

He slipped out of her and waited for her to face him. Victoria turned and immediately burrowed against his chest. He tugged a thick fur over them. "I do not wish to be away from you but I cannot take you. It's not safe. I will not put you in harm's way."

"I cannot promise to wait for you."

"Then I will ensure it." His words left no room for argument.