Chapter 18

18

" W hat do ye want from me, Adam? One moment ye are tellin' me we must live separately, that ye only want me as bait to lure Stewart to ye, the next ye tell me I belong to ye and ride out in the rain to find me and bring me here. What exactly are ye expectin' me to think?"

He stood up as well, and she was reminded of how enormous he was inside the tiny space.

"Did ye want me to leave ye here? Is that it?"

"Of course nae!" she replied. "But ye arenae being clear on what it is ye want from me."

"I dinnae want anythin' from ye!"

"Ye see? Ye are tellin' me one thing and then changin' yer mind the next. Ye kiss me one minute and say ye'll protect me, and in the next breath ye tell me I have nay say in anythin' ye do!"

"I am the Laird of me clan, and I'll command me people as I see fit."

"Command yer people ?" she scoffed. "I am nae yer ‘people,' and if ye think that's the position a wife would take in yer life, then I pity yer future."

Adam advanced on her angrily. "I expect me wife to do as she's bid."

"Then ye will be very disappointed in me," she spat. "Because I dinnae take orders from anyone, least of all ye."

Adam gripped her by the arms and shoved her against the wall. She felt a spike of arousal at the authority in his eyes, and her skin became hot where his fingers touched her.

"I am nae yer puppet to control, Adam Kane!" she said firmly. "Ye dinnae rule me. Ye never will."

"And if I force ye to take orders?" he said, his voice dropping to an intimate murmur, mimicking the thunder that rumbled outside. "What would ye do if I gave ye nay choice?"

"How would ye do that?" she asked incredulously. "Ye told me once that ye would throw me in yer dungeons, but ye never did."

She shivered as he lowered his head to her neck, the angry atmosphere between them morphing in an instant into taut desire. Emily's fingers clenched at her sides, fighting the urge to pull him to her. Her heartbeat thundered in her ears, her breath short and sharp. His body was a furnace, burning against her skin as his rumbling voice enveloped her.

He rubbed the tip of his nose against her skin as his lips skimmed over her flesh.

"Maybe I'll tie ye to me bed," he whispered as a low moan escaped her lips. "What if I willnae touch ye again unless ye beg me?"

He moved his big body against hers, and Emily gasped at the solid weight of him—she felt safe in his presence. He cleared her mind of thought. For the first time in a long while, there was nothing she needed to do but allow herself to feel.

The crackle of the fire as it caught the logs behind them merged with the hammering rain on the roof. It felt as though they were in their own private world, where nothing could touch them, and she was a slave to his will.

"I will never beg ye," she managed as his teeth scraped over her neck. She jolted violently, her hands coming up to grip his arms.

"I think ye will—ye'll do as yer Laird commands," he continued.

His hips rocked forward, and she felt his hard length beneath his kilt. Her legs opened of their own accord, and he groaned as he pushed between them. His hands tightened on her arms as he pulled her roughly away from the wall and dragged her toward the fire.

"I can still feel ye shiverin' beneath me," he said gruffly, pushing her down before the leaping flames.

She inhaled sharply as he lowered himself over her, his knees landing on either side of her hips as he straddled her body.

"Ye're mine," he whispered. "That's what I told ye, and that's the way things are."

"I dinnae belong to ye," she said forcefully.

"Do ye nae?"

Emily yelped as his hands shot out and took hold of her wrists, pinning them above her head. His huge hand could wrap around both her wrists at once, leaving the other free to explore her body.

Emily knew she should be protesting and pushing him away. And she would. In a moment. She wanted to feel his hands on her—she wanted him to kiss her again.

With one hand still holding her wrists against the floor, the other slid down over her breasts and caressed her waist.

"Ye've ruined the gown I gifted ye," he said reproachfully as his fingers tightened around her waist. A shiver ran through her, and he chuckled low in his throat. "But I cannae deny that me léine suits ye. I think ye'd do whatever I asked of ye now, lass."

His fingers moved down over her stomach and pushed lower. Their gazes locked and held as he looked up at her and moved his fingers lower, as though gauging her reaction. His fingertips smoothed over her mound above the thin fabric of the léine and hooked suddenly downwards. She felt a rush of pleasure as he massaged the secret spot between her legs.

"Ah, dinnae—ye cannae touch me—" she said, but even as she did so, her hips bucked against him, and he pushed her down.

"I can, and I will," he said fiercely. "I'm goin' to prove ye wrong, Emily Murray. Ye say ye dinnae take orders from any man? Well, I will show ye how pliant ye can be."

With that, he released her wrists. Suddenly, his hands were filled with the léine's thin folds, and he pushed it effortlessly up over her hips. She let out a startled cry at being so exposed, and she watched his eyes fall to the apex of her thighs hungrily.

"Will ye let me touch ye, lass?" he asked, looking back at her. "I'll make ye beg. I will have ye tell me ye want this."

She shook her head violently, even as her hips rose desperately, an emptiness forming in her body that she had never experienced before.

"Tell me what ye want, lass," he said, a low, rumbling command that set her skin alight.

"I cannae." She shuddered as his fingers moved over her inner thighs, and he lowered his head toward her flesh.

She jolted again as he blew over her nub, the heat within it cooling at his attention and then returning like wildfire.

"What do ye want, lass?"

"Ah! Touch me," she begged finally, and he needed no more encouragement.

Emily moaned so loudly that it drowned out the sound of the rain as his head dove between her legs, and she felt the first lap of his tongue against her flesh.

She had not even known a man could do that to a woman before tonight, but now she could imagine begging him to do it every day for the rest of her life.

The pleasure spiraled through her like a writhing snake of need, and she lifted her hips to greet him. His tongue lapped at her, repeated pulses of pleasure shooting through her.

Her back arched off the floor as she felt his tongue push inside her. Her legs trembled uncontrollably, her hands gripping the floor so tightly that she could feel the stone beneath her fingernails.

"Did ye like that?" he asked softly, pulling away to watch her, but she could make no answer.

The next moment, something hard and insistent was probing the entrance to her body. Emily looked down in shock as she watched his finger press against her flesh.

Her walls clenched around it instinctively, and she heard him groan at the feeling.

"Ye arenae shiverin' anymore, lass," he said finally.

Adam curled his finger inside her, and she threw her head back with a low moan as he began to thrust into her. The pleasure of it was indescribable; she could only take what he would give her with mounting hunger.

As a second finger joined the first, and the fullness increased, she could feel the pleasure building to a peak.

"I want to hear ye scream for me," he said as she gasped desperately, her hips lowering to the floor.

The new position meant that he could thrust even more forcefully into her.

She screamed again, unable to prevent it, as white-hot pleasure cascaded through her, her walls clenching around his fingers over and over as she found her release.

Before she could fully process what had happened, he lunged forward and took her mouth with his, thrusting his tongue inside her even as he gently withdrew his fingers. Their hips connected as he began to rub himself against her.

His hard length rubbed against her sex, sending wicked waves of fresh need through her.

Adam bit her lip and sucked on her tongue, making her wild with pleasure. Bracing his hands on either side of her shoulders, he lifted his body away from her, continuing to rub against her, his eyes fluttering shut with pleasure.

"Ye are the most beautiful woman I've ever seen," he grunted as one hand moved beneath his kilt and began to stroke his shaft urgently.

Emily could not look away as she saw his thick length for the first time. It was only for a few moments before he found his release. He shuddered above her, his seed staining the clean léine on her body and coating her heated flesh.

Adam collapsed above her, his mouth searching for hers again with slow, lazy kisses that made her shudder and moan. His tongue caressed hers, and his fingers stroked her breasts beneath the fabric of the léine. His fingers found the peaks, squeezing them softly, making her jolt in surprised pleasure.

After an eternity, he finally rolled away with a contented sigh, pulling her into his arms and throwing the blanket over their bodies.

She lay beside him, stunned at how he had made her body come alive for him. She listened to the crackle of the fire and the pouring rain and felt entirely content as sleep finally took her.