Chapter Twenty
Skye realized she was safe in the bed with Brodie. Shuddering, she snuggled closer to his warm body.
“Yer awake, love.”
“Aye.” Her throat scratched and ached as if the drowning in her nightmares really had torn the breath from her. She’d have to make some tea. “I just had an awful dream.”
He sat up and skimmed his hand down her jaw as his brown eyes beckoned with warmth. “Ye are safe here now.” The low, sleepy burr of his voice grounded her. “But I willnae ever let ye scare me like that again. When the weather warms, even if I have to come to that awful island, someone will be teaching ye how to swim, and ye willnae have a choice in the matter.”
Memories crashed over her just like the punishing currents had, and her breath caught. She had been in the river and had struggled to break through the surface to get to the bank.
“Ye are the Raven?” Shivering, she closed her eyes, not really wanting to know the answer. From all the accounts, he was one of Argyll’s most wanted, a dangerous spy capable of sneaking in and out of places undetected and gaining deadly secrets, many of them leading to successful skirmishes against the Covenanter crusaders. Although the Raven’s actions were in the best interest of anyone supporting King Charles and the Catholic faith, the brutality and dangers of that kind of lifestyle were unimaginable.
When he didn’t reply, she opened her eyes to see him focused on the ceiling. Slowly, he nodded, and her breath caught in her throat. How could he have become mixed up with such dangerous people?
“’Tis why I cannae ask ye to stay.” Twisting toward her, he kept her pulled close and continued, “Ye arenae safe with me.”
Inhaling sharply, she tried to let all the implications wash over her. “Why?”
“If the Earl of Argyll finds out who I am, he’ll go after anyone I care about.”
“How did ye get started?”
“I was spying for the old Cameron laird before ye left. ’Tis why I disappeared all the time and couldnae tell ye where I was.”
“Ye were spying the whole time.”
“When I realized ye were no’ coming back, I spiraled down and started drinking and staying out all night. To give me a purpose, Lachlan’s father sent me on more missions, but with the ruse of a wastrel. It just kept growing from there.”
“The drinking and the wenching?”
“’Twas all a lie. Part of my disguise. No one expects a drunken rogue to be stealing secrets.”
He’d not been a lecherous toad, but was a wanted man.
“Were ye no’ scared?”
“Nae, at least I had a purpose again.”
Her chest felt as if it would cave in—she’d pushed him into that life. “Ye have to stop.”
“I cannae, and ’tis why ye must leave. I’ve received word yer uncle will be here tomorrow.”
The last thing she wanted to do was think about her lonely nights ahead and his spent as a hunted spy. It was too painful and raw to talk about. She just wanted to enjoy this last night with him. Knowing he could not give up his missions to stay with her, she would have to sacrifice him to the Royalist cause. Life suddenly seemed crueler because she was betrothed to another, and according to Parliament, Brodie was a notorious criminal.
Pushing away the pain, she vowed to make the most of their last night, to hold him and make love to him one more time. The memory would have to last her a lifetime because tomorrow, she would have to leave.
His fingers massaged her scalp and sent tingles vibrating through her as her thoughts scattered and his head dipped to gently place his lips on her forehead. The wall she was attempting to resurrect around her heart crumbled a little more.
He shifted up on an elbow; the movement caused her body to slide impossibly close to his. His velvety, tender lips gently touched hers. They were warm and soft, reverent, like he was worshiping her mouth with his. He lingered there, and then his teeth playfully nipped at her lower lip, and a shimmer of desire sparked. It sent needy chills extending into her core, awakening that familiar ache inside her. She arched and moaned.
When he pulled free to gaze down at her, his warm breath was so close she could still taste his honey on her lips.
“That makes me tingle.” The words spilled out in a throaty rasp she barely recognized and let him know how affected she was by his touch. Closing the gap between them, he kissed her again, this time with a little more force. When he pulled back, his eyes focused on hers for just a brief moment, and she could have sworn they turned darker.
He claimed her lips, but this time was different. The delicious kiss stole her breath and left her completely at his mercy. The heat of his mouth seared her all the way to her core with each swipe of his tongue. She matched each stroke with her own fevered desire. As their tongues mingled, she thought, This is heaven.
Moaning, she reached out for him. Her hand trailed up his taut waist and landed on his ribs, urging him closer. Cherishing the feel of his warm flesh under her palms, she held on to keep herself grounded in this moment, and to let him know she was his and completely lost to the desire coursing inside her.
Brodie’s hand fisted in her hair and pulled her closer. She didn’t know how it was possible, but the kiss deepened. This man owned her. She had been branded by him, and her heart would never belong to anyone else.
When they broke apart, they gazed at each other. Skye licked her lips as she thirsted for his again. He shifted and kissed her as his arm snaked around her waist to pull her body flush with his. Her sensitive breasts felt hot and swollen against the flesh of his chest.
The caress was slower and more deliberate, as if he had all the time in the world, as if he was intentionally drawing out the moment to savor the taste of her. She didn’t mind the leisurely pace. It was pure ecstasy just being in his arms with his lips pressed hers. But that would not be enough as the ache between her legs grew. Her body was ready to feel him plunge inside her tight, slick sheath.
Brodie’s lips closed around the most sensitive spot on her neck, the one that always sent waves of need pulsating through her. Her back arched involuntarily, and she felt his long thick shaft hard against her belly. She groaned at the desire to have it buried deep within her.
The ache that was building, and begging for release became a growing desperation. Moisture pooled at her center. His lips followed the curve of her flesh slowly up to her ear.
“Ye are so beautiful, love. I want this to go on forever.”
Oh, she did, too, but she also yearned to feel that sweet pressure filling her. Everything outside of this moment ceased to exist; nothing else mattered when she was wrapped in his arms with his body pressed to hers.
His mouth trailed back to the sensitive spot on her neck that screamed for attention. She trembled as his moist heat clenched around her tender skin, and he suckled as he gently moved his head in small circles.
She closed her eyes and tilted her head farther to the side, allowing him full access. She gasped, and his teeth tugged and his lips clasped around the spot as he gently sucked again. A stark primal need raced through her. She could feel herself becoming wetter and knew she was fully ready for him.
The need was urgent now. The desire to have him buried inside her was all-encompassing. She wanted to feel the length of his shaft deep inside her as he drove into her again and again. Her body wanted him. Her heart wanted him.
“Please,” escaped from her as she struggled with the need for release.
He pulled back and gazed directly into her soul with a look of desperation, like he was on the verge of losing her. She blinked and looked back at him in confusion.
“Ye are safe now.” His hand rose and softly caressed her cheek. It was like he was reassuring himself more than her, then his lips returned to her neck and his hand trailed down her ribs, leaving her skin on fire in its wake. His hot palm landed on her hip and held her.
When he rose up on his knees, the loss of his warmth left her shivering. His gaze fastened on her with such hunger she knew he was walking a thin line on the edge of control.
If she tried, could she send him over that precipice? She was already there, and was on the verge of pushing him to his back and climbing astride him. A wicked smile curved his lips, and his head tilted slightly to the side as if he could read her thoughts.
She expected him to fill her in that moment, to give her body the release it craved. His scorching gaze seared her heart, putting a hot brand there that said I belong to Brodie Cameron.
He did not enter her. His head dipped to her breast, and his body slid down hers, igniting fires down her belly and thighs. His hot, searching mouth landed on her breast as his hand sank lower to play in the curls at her apex. Her eyes fluttered back, and her hands clutched at the covers as she surrendered to the feel of his urgent attentions.
When his fingers dipped lower and one skimmed the sensitive nub between her legs, she thought she would cry out at the pleasure.
He briefly stilled, his finger resting on that pressure point that was on the verge of pulling her under the blissful currents about to envelop her. She rotated her hips to urge him to give her that release. He smiled against her chest, and she was afraid he would make her beg.
His mouth covered her breast again and instead of reverent kisses, he took her nipple and the surrounding area into his mouth and sucked, gentle at first, then fevered and urgent. Fire shot through every part of her body. His finger rubbed up and down, over her sensitive nub again and again. It was too much. It was just right. She tried to look down at him and he must have sensed her movement, because his eyes tilted up to watch her with her breast still between his lips.
The climax enveloped her as pleasure rippled from her core outward. Wave after delicious wave assaulted her senses as gasps of undeniable euphoria escaped from her lips. He released her breast and rose slightly, and his eyes devoured her moans of ecstasy. His finger still worked on her apex as the sensations continued to claim her.
Just as the currents started to fade, Brodie removed his fingers and slid back up her body. His chest rose up but his hips impaled hers to the bed. His hard length was poised just outside her entrance. “Ye are so beautiful.”
The tip of his cock touched her, and her hips shimmied to coat it in her juices. Despite her release, her body was not done with his. She still craved the pressure of his hard manhood filling her completely.
His warm gaze met hers, and he seemed to struggle with something. “I love ye. I always have,” he said, and her heart clenched with happiness and despair.
It was the truth. His soul could not lie to her, so she gave him the truth in return. “I love ye, Brodie Cameron.”
He entered her deliberately and painfully slowly. His gaze told her they belonged together, and she recognized the emotion because she felt it also. Her heart almost broke, knowing she would have to go to another and that he could be discovered at any moment.
He started to move, not so much pulling out, but thrusting while grinding his hips into her, reaching her very core. It was as if his body had merged with hers and recognized its home. The primitive dance caused his pelvis to rub against her sensitive nub again, sending renewed waves of urgency flooding through her.
The fullness in her core and the crushing pressure at her center was too much, and a second wave of orgasms, even more intense than the first, rocked through her.
“Brodie,” she managed to breath out as her hands reached up to clutch both sides of his head.
His pace increased, becoming fevered and urgent. His mouth fell open to gasps that matched her own. His eyes glazed over as his hot seed filled her. Her chest swelled, and she soared in the pleasure of knowing that it had been she who had put that look on his face.
He gently sank down on her chest and lay there as his breath slowly returned to normal. Her fingers wove in and out of his thick hair, the silky strands tickling the place where her fingers met. Neither moved. She wanted to remember this, the feeling of sharing their souls.
This night would end too soon, so even when his body slackened into slumber, she was reluctant to slide out from under him. Eventually, the weight became too much, and she maneuvered to the side, leaving his shoulder resting on hers and his arm draped across her belly.
Nestling her head next to his, she caught a whiff of his unique woodsy scent. She would miss that about him, too.
She wanted to cry, but remembered she was supposed to be savoring the night because tomorrow she would leave her heart here with the Raven.