Chapter 16

Odhrán's lips quirked before he plundered her mouth with his own once more, his passion doubled. Maddison gave herself up to the intoxicating sensation of his large, warm hands moving so surely over every part of her. And she, too, freely exploring his huge, muscular frame, running her palms over his bulging arm and shoulder muscles, reveling in the strength beneath. But still, she wanted more.

"Odhrán, will ye help me out of me gown?" she murmured, having the sudden urge to feel his naked skin on hers.

"With pleasure," he replied, making her gasp and giggle with surprise when he suddenly flipped her over onto her stomach and proceeded to undo the fastenings and buttons of the gown. She shimmied out of it with his help, and then he loosened her stays and slid them down over her hips. The flames of Maddison's desire leapt higher inside her when he turned her over to face him again, and she saw his wolfish expression as he gazed at her in her shift and stockings.

"Wait," she said, pulling herself up slightly. With one swift movement, she seized the hem of her shift and pulled it over her head, dropping it to the floor, naked but for her stockings.

"Dear Lord, Maddison, ye take me breath away. Dae ye have any idea how beautiful ye are?" he whispered, gazing at her, an expression of wonder on his face. He slowly ran the flat of his palm over her belly in obvious appreciation before it rose higher to capture her breasts.

"Och, flattery will get ye everywhere," Maddison whispered, arching her back to receive his touch, the tips of her soft peaks already stiffening as his hands toyed with them, cupping them in his palms and squeezing them with frank enjoyment. A small moan escaped her lips, and shivers of delight shot through her body when he bent his head and took them in his mouth to tease her further.

Maddison gloried in his obvious appreciation of her body, especially the way his eyes raked hungrily over every inch of her naked skin. But when he grew more intense and moved one arm to grab her by the waist, she put a hand on his chest to make him pause.

"What is it?" he asked, looking slightly worried. "Are ye all right?"

"Aye, I'm more than all right," she teased, putting her hands inside his shirt and running her hands over his chest.

"Then what is it?"

"'Tis yer turn now tae get naked," she told him with a coquettish smile, reaching up and sliding his coat from his shoulders.

"Ye dinnae need tae ask me twice," he joked as, laughing softly, he stood up. Maddison leaned on her elbow watching with delight as Odhrán kicked off his boots and then proceeded to strip in front of her, pulling his clothes off feverishly and hurling them heedlessly onto the floor.

She tingled all over, her excitement rising apace to see his gorgeous body gradually exposed to her. And when he finally shed his shirt, she took in a sharp breath, half of shock, half of lust, to see his manly beauty fully revealed to her.

A pang of fresh desire shook her at the sight of his member already standing out thick and proud from its nest of dark fur between his powerful legs. The undeniable evidence of his passion for her revealed right before her eyes was truly a heart-stopping revelation.

"Och, Odhrán," she breathed, drinking in the sight of him with a mixture of awe and lust. "Ye're… beautiful!" she gasped softly, kneeling up on the bed and beckoning him to her.

"Wheesht, woman," he said, grinning as he approached her, his manhood bobbing enticingly. "Ye've nae seen all me scars. Ye're the beautiful one."

Unable to help herself, filled with curiosity and desire, Maddison, gripped his length gently in one hand. "Och, it grows in me hand!"

"Aye, it'll dae that, especially if ye keep on like that," Odhrán said hoarsely, putting his hand over hers and guiding her caresses.

"So, ye like it if I dae this?" she asked, watching his face. His eyes turned to liquid slits, and he groaned in reply as she became more practiced in her movements and increased the rhythm of her hands. She noticed that he enjoyed the rough movements more, so she held his length hard inside her hand. The fever inside her rose higher to see him so completely in her power. She bent and softly peppered his shaft with kisses, tracing her tongue along its length.

To her great enjoyment, Odhrán groaned deep in his throat and buried his hands in her hair, the pins falling about them as it came loose and cascaded to her waist. Moist heat pooled between her legs to see him so enflamed, throwing his head back and closing his eyes as she experimented, teasing him ever more daringly with her lips and tongue.

"Maddison, Maddison," he groaned, gently pulling himself from her grasp.

"What is it? D'ye nae like it?"

"I like it too much," he explained, sinking to his knees and gripping her by the hips, pulling her towards him. "I want tae see ye first, tae touch ye, tae give ye pleasure, like I've wanted tae dae fer so long."

"Have ye really, Odhrán?" she asked, excited to hear him admit it. He chuckled as he cupped her breasts in his large, rough hands, squeezing and rolling them in his palms, making sounds of appreciation low in his throat.

"Since the first time I laid eyes on ye, I've imagined makin' love tae ye like this a thousand times," he breathed. "But I never could have dreamed it would be so sweet."

Touched and excited by his words, she entwined her fingers in his hair and held him close, offering her breasts to him. She reveled in the thrilling sensations he was causing as he sucked and licked and tantalized the tips with his teeth until they stood out as rock hard as his swaying manhood.

Maddison gasped when his mouth left her breasts and trailed slowly down her belly, leaving butterfly kisses in its wake, before he slid his palms up the insides of her thighs. Gently, he parted her legs, laying her private places bare to his gaze. The fever in his eyes drove her to open herself wider to him like a wanton. Odhrán smiled hungrily at her and lifted her legs higher, placing one on each shoulder.

The look on his face as he gazed down on her secret flesh made Maddison shiver almost uncontrollably as she lay back. When she felt his fingertips gently touching her and stroking her already hot flesh, she thought she would explode, a series of small moans falling from her lips. Breathing raggedly now, Odhrán delicately spread her hidden folds and explored them slowly, his fingers delving into every part of her as if he to memorize every inch.

"Odhrán, what are ye doin' tae me," she moaned, opening her legs wider and raising her hips to him.

"Och, this is only the start," he promised huskily, lowering his dark head between her legs. "There's much more than this."

"Och, me God!" she cried, her back arching, when his lips closed around the stiffened nub at the head of her sex. He sucked on it luxuriously, as if it were some delicious fruit, grazing it with his teeth, his tongue swirling and toying with her until she gripped his hair tightly and pressed him into her.

His tongue trailed hotly, tantalizingly through her folds and flickered enticingly at her entrance.

"Odhrán, oh, Odhrán," she cried out, gripping his head tightly as he thrust his tongue more deeply inside her again and again, his one hand holding her open, while his thumb toyed rhythmically with her stiffened rosebud until she was writhing in a frenzy of pure, animal desire for him. "I want tae touch ye too," she begged him, reaching for his member, which was swingling like a wooden club between his legs.

Needing no second bidding, Odhrán came up on the bed, positioning himself so that he could continue devouring Maddison's exposed sex, while she grasped his shaft in her hands and began stroking it in time to his caresses, kissing and licking his length again in the way she had quickly learned he liked. He hardened further in her hand, adding to her passionate abandon when she felt his fingers entering her, two, then three, gently probing at first, then pushing into her more urgently, widening their exploration, opening her up in ways she had never dreamed of. It spurred her to speed up her own quest to take him to the same heights as he was taking her.

Together, they gave themselves up to their mutual exploration, greedily drinking each other in, until Maddison was seized with intense waves of an exquisite energy she had never experienced before that shook her from her head to her toes. The waves traveled inexorably upwards, making her moan out loud as Odhrán panted and buried his fingers and his tongue in her.

"Harder, Odhrán, harder," she moaned as her excitement threatened to reach its peak, riding his hand frantically.

"Mmm," he gasped, his voice muffled by her hot flesh, plunging his fingers into her. She suddenly felt his body stiffen too, his member like steel in her hand. His rapid movements echoed hers as the waves grew impossible to resist and sent them both tumbling over the edge in a shattering, shared climax. Their juices soaked into the coverlet, making a wet patch neither noticed as they clung to each other, panting to regain their breath. "Maddison!" he groaned in one long, rushing breath as he held her tightly. "Ach, I never kent it could be like this."

"Me neither," she panted, happy to nestle into him. "I couldnae have dreamed it."

"Now ye ken how much I've been wantin' ye all this time," he sighed, stroking her hair from her face and peppering her with kisses. "Ye taste so good, and the things ye were doin' tae me…"

Seeing the love in his eyes, Maddison's heart overflowed with warm affection for him. She kissed him back and stroked his cheek with her fingertips, her body still trembling from his touch.

"I ken ye said ye hated me, but did ye nae think of me sometimes, like this?" he asked, looking at her almost shyly.

As she thought about all the times she had feared laying with him as a wife, and all the times she had secretly admired his looks and physique, a small shard of ice entered her heart and punctured the spell surrounding her. With a hint of panic, she looked down at her naked body, then at his, at their scattered clothing, the evidence of their lovemaking. She got to her feet rapidly and grabbed her shift from the floor, pulling it on to hide herself, the repercussions of what she had just done hitting her hard and making her stumble. Odhrán was at her side in a moment, trying to take her in his arms again, but she pushed him away.

"What we've just done, that should never have happened," she said, feeling suddenly breathless from the barrage of emotions rushing through her. Even the pain she saw on his face did not deter her. "It was a mistake, 'tis all. It changes naethin'."

"But, Maddison, ye cannae deny—" he began, trying to hold her again. Once more, she pushed him a way and moved to what she felt was a safer distance.

"I dae deny it," she told him, her stubbornness rising inside her. "I-I got carried away. We should never have gone that far."

"Ye cannae mean it, Maddison. What we did, it was the most beautiful thing in me life, ever," he told her, coming close again, his voice pleading.

"Nay, keep away," she cried, close to tears now. "And please, would ye put some clothes on?"

Odhrán stared at her, then he went and snatched up his shirt and put it on.

"Naethin' like that must happen again. D'ye hear me, Odhrán? Never!" She crossed hurriedly to her wardrobe and took her robe and put it on, belting it tightly around her waist.

"What did I dae wrong? Tell me, please. What can I dae tae make it all right?" he begged her. But to her relief, he did not try to come any closer this time.

"Ye can go back tae sleepin' on the floor," she told him. As the words fell, the expression on his face was one of deep hurt and incomprehension. She hated herself for it, but the thought of what intimate things they had shared, how wantonly passionate she had been when she had vowed always to despise him was too much for her.

The silence weighed heavily between them for a few moments. Then Odhrán nodded slowly.

"All right. If that's what ye want," he said, his deep voice cracking. He strode to the bed and took a pillow and a blanket and threw them down on the rug by the hearth. Then he sank into one of the chairs and put his head in his hands.

"I just dinnae understand how ye can say that was a mistake," he said, suddenly raising his head to look at her, his eyes filled with sadness.

"It should never have happened, I tell ye. And it will never happen again," she repeated harshly, going and getting into the bed.

Silence fell once more, the tension hanging thick in the air between them. Neither of them moved for some time. Memories of their intimate encounter raced through Maddison's mind. The guilt she felt at betraying her own vow through the pleasure she had taken from, and given to, the husband she was supposed to hate expanded inside her, tormenting her.

How could I have done it? What was I thinking? He must think he's won!

Finally, with a deep sigh, Odhrán laid out his blanket and made his bed by the fireside, curling himself into it and laying his head on the pillow with a sigh. Maddison waited and waited, listening for the change in his breathing that would tell her he was asleep and posed no further danger to her that night. It came after a while, the slow rhythmic breaths, and she finally allowed herself to relax.

But for a long time, sleep eluded her as visions of her and Odhrán's bodies entwined, their hands and eyes and lips exploring each other's hidden places, played over and over in her mind. She could still feel the dampness between her legs where he had caressed her, and the ache where his fingers and mouth had beguiled her into so much passion. The taste of him lingered on her lips.

How could I have let him dae such things tae me? How could I have behaved so wantonly? And the things I did tae him! Me, still a maid!

Feeling miserable and confused, she stared up at the ceiling as the lamps burned low. Tomorrow would come, she knew, and she had no idea how she would face him after what had happened.

But was it so wrong after all?