Chapter 27

CHAPTER TWENTY-SEVEN

“ A va?” Kai called into the woods.

She was there, running toward him. She trudged through the snow, her breathing heavy as she tried to reach him.

I’m like a starving man.

Kai raced to meet her halfway. Now that he knew she loved him too, now that he knew the future he had always wanted was possible, he was not willing to let go of it without a fight.

As he reached her, he wrapped his arms around her waist and picked her up, pulling her into him for a kiss. Without hesitating, she kissed him back, her hands across his neck, clinging on tight. They kissed with passion and need, both gripping onto one another tightly.

“God, I missed ye,” he whispered between kisses.

“I missed ye too,” she murmured, closing her eyes as she leaned toward him for another kiss.

When he eventually put her down, he found it hard not to kiss her and pull him to her again. He needed her touch, was desperate for it.

“Kai?” she said, trying to get his attention when his lips took hers again. “Kai!”

He leaned back.

“Dinnae,” he begged. “I ken what ye are going tae say. Fer Lyla’s sake, ye’re going tae marry him, arenae ye? Because he can give ye the money yer faither wants.”

I dinnae have the same money tae offer her.

A lump formed in Kai’s throat. As the younger brother of a laird, he had money to his name but it was nothing like that of Laird Grant’s. Domhnall would give him what he could, but Kai was no laird. Even if he asked her father to marry Ava, he knew that Laird MacKinnon would not give his blessing.

“Kai…” Her eyes filled with tears.

It is the only answer she needs tae give me.

“Then tae hell with it all.” He released her.

“Tae hell with what?” she murmured, drying her tears with the backs of her hands. The snow had stopped falling at last, but it was so cold, it was a wonder those tears hadn’t turned to icicles.

“Forget our families. Run away with me, Ava.” He moved toward her.

“Run away!?” she spluttered. “Have ye taken leave of yer senses, Kai?”

“Why is it so mad?” he asked, shaking his head. “I love ye and ye love me. We’d be happy married. Come away with me, forget this world. We can start again.”

It is mad. I ken it is.

He couldn’t imagine a life where his brothers and sisters weren’t in it, but if escaping everything about their lives meant having Ava to himself, wasn’t that the best plan?

“Loyalties tae Laird Grant wouldnae be in our lives then. Laird Grant would mean nothing!” he hissed. “Please, think about it.”

“I cannae.” She walked around him, trailing her hands through her blonde hair in panic. She pulled the locks out of the braid she was fiddling with it so much. He had a wild vision of being the one to pull her hair, to bend back her neck and kiss her, to show her just how passionately they could make love.

He had been gentle their first time, determined to show her that he would never ever hurt her. Yet he was also intrigued to see, if they ever made love again, whether she had the same fire in her that she had when they were sparring.

“Please,” Kai whispered, his heart breaking. “Marry me, Ava.”

She halted in her pacing, her hands falling from her hair as she looked at him.

“Ye ken I would if I could.”

His heart shattered into pieces. He was now the one to turn on the spot in despair, looking at the clouded heavens and pleading for patience.

“Why nae?”

“Because I have a family. I have responsibility tae them all. Just as ye have responsibility tae yer family.”

“Responsibility is one thing. This… what ye’re willing tae dae, sacrifice yer own happiness fer the rest of yer life… that goes beyond it. That is madness.”

“It’s nae!” Her voice matched his in volume now.

Their argument bubbled over, but not out of anger, out of frustration.

“Would ye nae dae the same fer one of yer siblings?” Ava asked pleadingly. “Would ye nae dae it fer them?”

“That is beside the point.”

“It is nae, and ye ken it.” She thrust a finger toward him as he paced up and down, trudging through the snow. “I’m trying tae save Lyla from a life of misery.”

“And is there really nay other way than marrying Laird Grant. Marry me and I’ll dae everything I can tae save yer sister from the man who wants tae marry her.”

“Kai, listen tae me.” Ava stretched her hands out toward him. “Yer family’s money is yer elder brother’s tae use fer the clan and his family. Ye dinnae have the capacity tae help me faither.”

“This is unbearable.” Kai ran a hand down his face. “I cannae just watch ye marry him. I cannae dae it.”

Her breath hitched and she wiped her eyes again.

“Dinnae cry.” He moved toward her, cupping her cheeks and wiping the tears from her eyes. “I love ye. That is why I want tae be with ye.”

“I love ye too, and if I could be with ye– Kai!” she shouted at him as he pulled away.

Nae enough. Clearly, nae enough.

“What would ye have me dae? What else can I possibly dae, Kai? And be sensible with yer answer now. How could I marry ye and ensure me faither has enough money so that he daesnae have tae sell Lyla tae that man?”

Kai’s chest ached as he lowered his face into his hands.

“I dinnae ken!” he snapped. “I ken nay other way.”

“See? We are both broken by this. We must accept there is nay way that ye and I… that we…”

He lifted his head from his hands and looked at her. Her breath was shuddering now as she tried her best to stifle more tears.

“And is this really what ye want?” he asked. A part of him wanted to run now, to turn his back, in the hope that by somehow walking away from Ava, he could escape this pain, but he knew that if he left those woods, the pain would follow him anyway. Like a shadow clinging to his shoulders, it would always be there now.

“Of course, nae,” she spat angrily. “I feel as if I am being crushed by the weight of me faither’s expectations. The knowledge that I am the only one who can help Lyla out of this. None of this is what I want. All I want is ye.” She threw her arms in his direction. “Yet I cannae have ye!”

“Ye can have me whenever ye want me.” He moved toward her, taking her arms and holding her close. “Any time ye want.”

“It’s nae the same.”

“I ken, but it’s something.”

“Kai, I –” She was going to argue more with him, yet he was done with arguing. He was done with all the frustration and throwing their anger around. All he wanted was her, and as she wanted that too, why should they hold back?

He cut her off by kissing her, taking her lips with his own.

It was as if with that one kiss he had ignited a fire. Rather than her pushing him off, as he had half expected her to, her hands gripped him hard on the shoulders, pulling him down toward her. For a change, she dominated the kiss, taking his tongue with her own and moving him backward. Before Kai knew what was happening, he was backed against a tree, Ava pressed against him, as he panted against her lips.

“Nay one kens I’m out here,” she whispered, pulling back just a little. She trailed a hand down the center of his chest. His length had hardened at once, knowing exactly what that hand was doing.

“A few minutes together? Aye, I’ll take anything I can get with ye,” he whispered, then her hand passed over the hardness in his trews. He growled in the back of his throat as she stood on tiptoe and kissed him again.

One of his hands snaked around her back, bending her a little as he kissed her. Her hand was now running faster over his trews. He hadn’t thought it was possible to become any harder, but he did at her touch. Such heat traveled through his body that he didn’t care about the fact it was snowing, nor that it was freezing outside. He just wanted her touch, here and now, for it was the only taste they could have of one another.

He reached down between them, one of his hands releasing the fastening of his trews. She took his cue without hesitation, reaching in through the flap to take hold of his length.

He had to pull back from their kiss as the moan escaped him. Her hand tightened around him, moving softly. He wanted her touch harder, and faster, but he would never ask her for something she was not willing to give. He tipped back his head, marveling at the way such a simple touch from her was making his abdomen tight with anticipation.

“Kai,” she whispered, sidling toward him a little more as she released him. Her hips brushed his own. She didn’t need to say anymore. It was a pleading tone, showing him that she wanted exactly the same thing he did.

He took hold of her skirt and began to raise it, bundling it around her hips and exposing her legs to the wind. His fingers brushed the backs of her thighs and he gripped her rear, pulling her toward him and loving the way that she gasped at his touch, her head tipping back as she indulged in it.

He used his grip on her to turn the two of them around, so she ended up facing the tree, her hands against the trunk, as he stood behind her. One of his hands kept her skirt around her waist as his other gripped her hip. He just rocked himself against her rear for a minute, so she could feel how hard for her he was.

“We can stop,” he assured her.

This was rough. Even the suggestion of taking her out here in the snow was something he didn’t think he’d be asking of her, but the need was overwhelming.

“Dinnae dare stop,” she threatened. “Please!”

She rocked back against him. He felt a hint of her wetness against his length, and he groaned aloud.

He reached down between them, his fingers reaching for her center. He couldn’t believe how wet and warm she was for him, inviting him in. He pushed his fingers deep, wanting to stretch her first, so that he wouldn’t hurt her.

He had hated hurting her the first time. He pressed gently with two fingers and she rocked back against him much further, taking his fingers inside of her. The sight of her wanting him so badly made heat boil in his body. He loved watching her, seeing that she needed him as badly as he needed her.

“Take what ye want, Ava,” he encouraged her, moving his fingers to the rhythm she set up. She bent her head forward, gripping the tree as she rocked back against him, harder and faster now. His length twitched desperately for her. When her moans grew louder, when she started to say his name, he couldn’t restrain himself anymore.

He moved his fingers around, reaching up to that sensitive spot just outside of her, as he drove his length inside of her. The instant warmth and wetness had him groaning aloud, moving as fast inside of her as she had moved against him seconds before.

It was a moment full of need. They both rocked fast, as his fingers circled that spot, he knew would drive her wild. Her head was thrashing side to side now, that blonde hair which drove him so mad tossing from side to side. With his other hand, he reached out, taking the end of the braid and wrapping it around his hand. At the soft tug he gave, she moaned even more, her body tightening on his length as she thrust back against him.

He was going to lose his sense of control any second. He had lost control before inside of her, he had risked a child with her. This time, he would not be so foolish. He would keep her safe, no matter what, but first… he had to see her release. If he had to watch her marry another man, then he would attend that wedding knowing that Laird Grant would never make her scream his name the way that she screamed Kai’s.

He moved his fingers faster, in time with the way he thrust inside of her, as his other hand moved from her hair to the small of her back, marveling at the toned curves he could reach just beneath her raised gown. Then she tightened. Her whole body gripped his length hard as she toppled over the edge.

Kai gritted his teeth to restrain himself, rocking her throughout her climax. When she was done, her moans having faded and gripping to the tree, he pulled himself free and pumped himself just once. He finished in the snow, closing his eyes and imagining he was still inside the warmth of Ava’s body.

As his body softened, he rested a palm against the tree trunk over her head. That touch roused her, and they both moved, turning toward one another and embracing tightly as he capitulated against the tree, needing it to keep himself straight. Most of his blood didn’t seem to be in his head anymore, meaning he found it difficult to keep standing.

“Ava.”

“Aye?” she said between gasping breaths as she leaned into him, their hands grasping together so their fingers were intertwined.

“I want tae marry ye,” the words tumbled from his lips. “If I find a way, nay matter the consequences, would ye marry me?”

“Of course I would. I would love nothing more… If we find a way.” She closed her eyes and rested her head against his shoulder.

He felt her emotions as she spoke. As well as the overarching thrill, the love pouring out of her, there was fear.

She doesnae think there is a way.