Chapter 36

36

" W hat do ye have in this thing?" Adam asked as he lifted her trunk onto the back of the carriage, ignoring the servant trying to help him do it.

"The dresses ye bought me and some books," she answered innocently.

Adam groaned. "We dinnae need any more books in the castle."

"One can never have too many books," her father added, sounding scandalized at Adam's words.

Emily laughed and turned to face her brother, who was watching Adam with deep mistrust.

"If ye need to return, ye send for me, and I will be there in a moment," Bruce insisted.

Emily's heart sank at her brother's attitude toward Adam, but she could not blame him. All Bruce knew was that her husband was a kidnapper. He had not seen the fierce and protective man that she had grown to care for.

"I willnae need to," she reassured him, "but I want ye to come and visit as soon as ye can. It is right beside the sea, and I can best ye at archery in a new settin'."

That got her a smile as Bruce gave her a brief hug before he stepped back, nodding to Adam as he came up behind her. The heavy hand on her shoulder was a welcome comfort.

Her father stepped up to them both, shaking hands with Adam. "Take care of me daughter," he said, "and I shall see ye both soon."

Emily took one final look at her old home. She would miss it, of course, but it felt as though her life was finally moving in a new direction.

As they climbed into the carriage, she waved happily to her brother and father. She would miss them, but MacNiall Castle felt more like home to her now. She couldn't wait for them to visit, couldn't wait to welcome them as the new Lady MacNiall. Bruce was going to love the secret passageways.

She leaned back in her seat as Adam sat opposite her. There was hardly any room between them, and his knees brushed against hers as the carriage lurched forward.

"Are ye happy?" he asked.

"I am," she said. "Are ye?"

"Of course, I am. I have everythin' I could have wanted."

She smiled and watched the scenery pass them by.

"I was just thinkin' how MacNiall Castle felt like home as soon as I set foot in it," she said wistfully. "I didnae expect to miss it so much."

He cocked his head. "So ye have only missed the castle? Is that it?"

She chuckled. "Nae quite. I have also missed the gardens. And Freya."

Adam's gaze was growing darker by the minute, and in the confined space of the carriage, she was only too aware of their proximity.

"What else did ye miss?" he asked as he leaned forward, his hands coming to rest beside her thighs.

"The breakfasts," she added a little breathlessly. "And me room."

He leaned forward further, his nose brushing against her neck as he nuzzled her. He was so big that it felt like there wasn't an inch of space between them now.

"Which part of yer room did ye miss the most?" he asked casually. "Was it the chair before the fireplace?" His hands came up to her thighs, one of them running down the length of her leg and bunching the hem of her dress as he slowly pulled it up over her knee. "Or perhaps the view from yer window?" he continued.

She took a shuddering breath. "I dinnae ken."

"Or was it yer bed?" he asked as his hand moved up her thigh, and her legs fell open as he groaned against her neck. "I think ye missed yer bed most of all."

She gasped as he pulled her roughly forward so that she was only just able to balance on her seat. Her legs were spread open now, and he pulled her drawers down and over her feet, tossing them aside carelessly.

"Adam," she protested, "we are in a carriage."

She jolted as the tip of his tongue ran up her neck.

"Aye. But I lied to ye."

Emily stiffened as she pushed him away, glaring at him furiously. "What did ye lie about?" she asked darkly.

"Ye asked me if I was happy, and I said aye." Emily felt her heart clench. "I said that I had everythin' I could want."

She threw her head back with a soft cry as his fingers massaged the swell of flesh between her legs, finding the nub and rubbing against it mercilessly.

"But I dinnae have ye yet. That is what I want. I dinnae ever wish to hear another man say that our marriage isnae real," he said fiercely, pushing a finger into her body as she quivered beneath him.

Emily's head rested against the back of the carriage as he kneeled down on the floor between her legs.

"We cannae—nae here," she insisted, but his answer was to push his finger further in as he pulled her down, her back flat on the bench, her lower half supported by his hands as her thighs went over his shoulders.

"Ye dinnae tell me what to do," he said in that deep, authoritative voice as he withdrew his finger and replaced it with his tongue.

Emily's hand shot out to brace herself against the side of the carriage as he lapped insistently at her flesh. She was unable to stop moaning as her hips bucked against him, loving the sparks of pleasure his tongue forced through her.

"Adam," she murmured. "Ye cannae?—"

But even at her protests, he became more urgent, and she cried out as his hand reached around her and covered her mouth.

She writhed and shuddered beneath him as she felt her climax coming, much too quickly in this forbidden, cramped space.

He pulled back just as she was arching into her release, the pleasure building to an impossible degree.

He removed his hand from her mouth, only to brush two fingers against her bottom lip.

"Suck them into yer mouth," he whispered. "And hush now, we wouldnae want ye to be overheard coming apart for me."

She groaned as he pushed his fingers against her tongue, growling low in his throat as she took them deeper into her mouth.

"Lick them with yer tongue," he ordered, and she did it, worshipping his fingers for what felt like hours before he pulled back, surging forward even in her position and kissing her deeply.

They kissed with frantic abandon before Adam pulled back, kneeling on the floor and lifting one of her legs over his shoulder as he placed his fingers at her entrance.

"I wanted ye to watch as ye did before, when ye were minutes from ridin' me until dawn. But now I'll content meself with seein' if I can make ye scream. I want to make ye wild with it."

And without any warning, he pushed two fingers inside her body. Emily found herself bent double over the bench, balanced precariously over him. Her forehead rested on his shoulder as he pushed into her again and again.

Emily bit her tongue to keep from screaming out her pleasure, so intense was the feeling. Adam was bent awkwardly beneath her in the carriage, his breath coming fast as he pleasured her.

As he curled his fingers inside her, she grunted, her own fingers clutching at his léine, wanting to see his naked torso again, but this time to be able to touch him.

He gently withdrew his fingers as she ripped his jacket and léine off him, and he chuckled softly as she lowered herself to the floor of the carriage, straddling him as she smoothed her hands over his soft skin.

"Sit on the bench," she implored him and pulled away as he got up from the floor and sat on the other side of the carriage.

As soon as he was seated, she straddled his thighs, and he ripped at the front of her dress, exposing her breasts to his eager hands.

He sucked one nipple into his mouth, and Emily jolted and shuddered against him. He brought her to the brink of desperation with his tongue and his hands until she was leaning back, supported by his strong arms as he worshipped her.

"I want to make ye me wife, Emily. I want to feel yer heat and ken what it feels like for ye to ride me until we are both spent. Will ye let me have ye now, wife of mine? I have wanted to do it since ye first sat in the saddle in front of me."

She trembled as he rolled his hips beneath her, and she nodded. "I want ye," she said breathlessly. "Take me."

Adam's mind was finally silent as he looked at the woman in his arms. He loved her so much in that moment that he could barely speak.

"I love ye," she whispered, as though in answer to his thoughts. "I want ye more than ever."

He pushed frantically at the endless folds of her dress, pausing only long enough to pull at the ties of his trews and free his hard length. Emily's hand came down to it as she rubbed against it with a low moan.

"Damn all these clothes," he muttered. "I cannae wait to have ye all night in me bed. Ravaging ye until the mornin' and then doin' it all over again."

Her head fell back, her hair tumbling behind her. His lips found her breasts again, sucking on them until she was a quivering mess above him.

She was still straddling his lap with her knees on either side of his thighs, and he slowly guided her down. As the tip of him touched her dark heat, she groaned with pleasure, and slowly, with small, gentle movements, he pushed inside her.

His hand came up to grip her hair, and he tugged hard on the strands as he pushed in, watching the pleasure and pain flit across her face, chasing one another until there was only pleasure.

By the time he was buried deep inside her, Adam could barely contain himself.

"This was a terrible idea," he growled. "I cannae have ye as I want to. I want to look down at ye in me bed and take ye." He pulled her head down to his and kissed her, thrusting his tongue into her mouth even as he rocked his hips upward.

Emily broke their kiss with a startled cry, and he pushed her back so she was leaning away from him. He balanced her weight and began to thrust into her over and over again.

She braced her hands on the bench as he struggled to suppress his own cries of pleasure. He rocked his hips forward, pulling out as far as he was able and thrusting back in even as she groaned.

"Ye are the most beautiful woman on this earth," he panted as he felt his pleasure building. "I am the luckiest man for havin' ye."

With a great cry of pleasure that everyone in the Highlands likely heard, he felt her clench tightly around him as she found her release, and he shuddered and groaned as his own chased it.

As they both came down from the highs they had reached together, he gently pulled her back so that she could rest against him, finding her lips with his own and kissing her deeply until she melted against him.

"Are ye really mine?" he asked as she drew back a little.

The carriage trundled on toward their new life together, even as the bright green eyes he loved so much began to flutter shut.

"I was yers the moment ye took me."