20 STAY WITH ME

HIS MOUTH ON her breasts, the way he drew each nipple deep and sucked until she whimpered, turned Bree’s body molten.

Sprawled upon the furs underneath Cailean, her senses reeled.

How had this happened?

One moment, her gut had been twisted in misery as she faced the reality of her situation. And the next, he’d risen from his sleeping nook and taken a stool opposite, staring fiercely into her eyes.

It surprised her that Cailean didn’t want her to give up. He’d seemed vexed at her despair. She thought that he wanted her gone.

But, instead, he’d kissed her.

Bree hadn’t been trying to manipulate him. The misery that clutched at her breast wasn’t feigned. Her encounter with Flynn had left her shaken. After learning that she’d hunted and killed his brother like prey, he’d looked at her as if she were a monster. Unworthy of redemption.

The revulsion in his eyes had haunted her ever since.

But Cailean had challenged her; he wouldn’t let her give up.

And now, she couldn’t think about anything else except that they were both naked, firelight bathing their sweat-damp bodies, and that she ached for him.

He was taking his time though, sucking her sensitive nipples with agonizing sensuality. And all the while, an aching, melting sensation pulsed between her thighs.

Reaching down, she raked her fingers through his short hair and hooked a leg over his thigh, tugging him closer. “Please, Cailean,” she gasped. “More.”

Releasing the nipple he’d just been lathing with his tongue, he favored Bree with a smoldering look that made her belly clench and moved sideways, onto his back upon the furs. Then, he drew her up onto her knees. “Turn around.”

Trembling now, Bree complied, allowing him to slide underneath her, parting her legs wide as he did so. She now knelt over his face, looking directly at where his swollen shaft reared proudly toward her.

Bree’s breathing quickened at the sight of it, the crown glistening with his arousal. Sighing, she leaned forward, one hand wrapping around the base of his rod. Her lips parted then, and she greedily took him deep into her mouth. A moan escaped her as she did.

Breathing a curse, Cailean gripped her hips and lowered her down so that his breath whispered over the aching flesh between her thighs.

And then, an instant later, he was devouring her.

Hunger twisted in the cradle of her hips, and she sank against him, giving herself up to sensation.

Stroking his bollocks with one hand and gripping the base of his rod with the other, she sucked him, taking him in as deep as she could. The tip of him hit the back of her throat, and her eyes watered, but she didn’t stop.

She was as ravenous for him as he was for her—and the deep groans that rumbled through his chest now merely drove her wild.

This act was intense, so much so that it wasn’t long before she shattered against his wicked mouth, hot pleasure throbbing and rippling through her loins.

She gave a choked cry, even as she brought his rod deeper still.

And then, Cailean’s hips arched up to meet her mouth, a strangled sound ripping from his throat as he spilled.

She drank him deep before, still shuddering from her release, she licked the long, glistening length of him.

Panting, Cailean lifted her off his face.

She moved around so that he could pull her against him. And there they lay for a while, their bodies glistening with sweat, both breathing hard as the hearth popped and crackled.

They fit perfectly. Throat constricting, Bree traced her fingertips over his damp skin, following the inked swirls and designs, and the infinity serpent that coiled around a bicep.

New beginnings. She swallowed hard. If only it were that easy .

There was no getting away from it. She’d spilled too much blood, taken too many lives, to deserve a happy ending.

Cailean had tried to convince her that wasn’t the case, but the heaviness in her chest said otherwise. This encounter had been thrilling, and unexpected, but it changed nothing.

“Stay with me.” The words, softly spoken, drew her out of her thoughts.

Bree raised her head, meeting his eye. “What?”

His woad-blue eyes were dark in the firelight. “I was an arse earlier … and I’m sorry,” he said, his voice roughening. “But forget what I said. Don’t leave me tomorrow. Come with me to Cannich. Help me find Eilig.” His gaze grew limpid as it fused with hers. “Let’s start again.”

Bree’s lips parted, her heart slamming against her breastbone. “You don’t—”

“I do,” he cut her off, anticipating her protest. “I’m no good at this, Bree … but for you, I shall try.” He reached up then, his thumb skimming down her jaw and across the swell of her lower lip. She shivered under his touch.

Ancestors, she wanted him still. A needy ache now built deep in her womb.

“You’re not the only one with regrets,” he went on, his voice lowering once more. “I just don’t let myself dwell on them.” He brushed the back of his knuckles down Bree’s cheek. Her breathing grew shallow at the emotion that now glistened in his eyes. “But despite all my snarling and grumbling, I don’t regret you .”

Bree’s mouth tugged into a half-smile. “Even though I’ve brought you no end of trouble?”

He laughed, and his sudden mirth took years off his face. A moment later, his expression grew serious, his gaze softening. “You have,” he replied huskily. “My wild, willful wife.”

They stared at each other for a long moment then, while Bree’s pulse fluttered.

The despair that had choked her earlier, that had turned the world the color of smoke, lifted, and suddenly hope ignited deep in her chest.

“You were sent to test me,” Cailean continued, his fingers trailing down her neck to her collarbone. “To torment me.”

Bree wanted to answer him, yet she was finding it difficult to concentrate, especially now that his hand slid down to the swell of her breast. And when his thumb brushed the sensitized nipple, she gasped. A moment later, something hot and hard pushed against her hip.

Glancing down, her gaze met his shaft, ready for her once more.

The ache in the cradle of her hips started to throb.

“Ride me, Bree.”

Heat flushed across her chest. Her breathing coming in shallow bursts, she pushed herself up and climbed astride him.

“Fuck me,” he growled, his chest rising and falling sharply too. His erection now thrust up between them, jerking in eagerness.

Sweat beaded upon Bree’s skin once more. Nodding, she wrapped a hand around his girth and rose up onto her knees, positioning the tip of him at her entrance.

And then, she slowly lowered herself down upon him, a deep groan escaping her.

He was big, and this position was intense, for she took him deep. She stretched around him, and when she eventually settled herself upon his rod fully, the ache in her womb brushed the edges of pain.

Bree stilled, letting herself adjust to him—and all the while, her gaze never left his.

The expression on Cailean’s face was fierce, raw, and her heart started to thump hard, emotion swamping her.

She’d never felt this vulnerable during coupling, and the new sensation scared her a little. For the first time ever, she let a lover see beyond the shield she’d always presented to the world.

Reaching between her slick thighs, Cailean slid the pad of his thumb over the sensitive bud of flesh that he’d licked and sucked earlier, circling gently. A melting sensation flowed through Bree’s loins, and a groan escaped her. The discomfort deep inside her eased, and then she gave her hips a slow roll.

Cailean hissed a curse through his teeth, and she did it again, enjoying the way his cheekbones flushed and his eyes glittered.

And then, she rose up, sliding herself along the long, thick length of him before bearing down sharply upon him once more.

Their guttural cries echoed through the lean-to then. Pleasure gathered in her loins, as heavy and sweet as honey, and she circled her pelvis again, sucking in a sharp breath at the delicious sensations that now rippled through her lower belly.

“Fuck!” Cailean panted. “Bree … I—”

His voice cut off as she rode him now, her body shuddering with each long slide.

And as they coupled, she watched his face. Shades, how she loved seeing ecstasy ripple over his features, hearing the groans that tore from his throat, and watching his hard-won self-restraint unravel before her eyes.

But at the same time, she was struggling to hold herself together. Each time she bore down upon him, he stroked a place deep inside that turned her liquid. It wasn’t long before she was writhing upon his rod, wild pleasure pulsing and shuddering through her.

Bree cried out, clutching at him as she peaked.

Cailean took control then, gripping her by the hips and drawing her up and down the heft of his shaft, deep and hard now.

His face was taut, the tendons in his neck corded as he arched up into her with each thrust, his skin glistening with sweat.

And then, as Bree choked out his name—her body quivering like a sapling in the wind—he too shattered, a shout tearing from his throat.