Chapter 19

But soon the kiss was not enough.

When she felt Odhrán about to pull away, she knelt up and placed her hands on his shoulders, unwilling to break the connection, following his lips with hers, until his head was pressed up against the headboard of the bed.

"Ye're me husband, Odhrán," she whispered into his mouth. "I want tae ken ye, all of ye. I want tae… explore ye."

He spanned her waist with his hands, squeezing her gently. "Ach, Maddison, I'm yers, tae dae with what ye will. I belong tae ye, I have since the first moment I laid eyes on ye," he croaked back huskily, the wanting in his voice making waves of heat wash over her body from head to toe.

"And I… I belong tae ye," she breathed against his mouth, gazing into his eyes and softly brushing his cheek with the back of her fingers. "I want tae make it up tae ye, tae show ye how I feel about ye now," she said, stroking his long hair back from his face with a tenderness she hardly knew she possessed but wanted badly to communicate to him.

"Have I died and gone tae heaven?" he asked, smiling against her lips, making heat pool between her thighs as he ran his hands over her hips and behind, clearly relishing every curve.

She smiled too and whispered, "I need tae be closer tae ye." Leisurely, she pulled up her skirts and moved over to straddled his lap, her hands caressing his face, his neck, his shoulders, twining in his hair, breathing him in. "Och, ye smell so good!"

"Jesus, Maddison, tell me I'm nae dreamin'," he said with a groan as she settled across his thighs

"Ye're nae dreamin'," she said, following her inclinations and toying with his lips, catching them between her own, grazing them gently with her teeth, tracing them with her tongue, learning every part of them. She felt a rush of desire when he groaned and pulled her closer, opening his mouth wider, sliding his tongue between her lips and tangling it with hers in a slow, sensual dance. As their kisses grew more intense, they gazed deeply into each other's eyes. Maddison's desire was inflamed to see the naked hunger in Odhrán's.

"I want ye so much, like this…" he murmured. "Can ye feel how much I want ye?" He shifted slightly, and Maddison's eyes widened to feel his hardness jutting against the soft, yearning flesh between her legs.

"I can feel ye," she replied softly, rubbing herself against him as they continued their slow, burning kisses.

He groaned again and ground himself against her. "'Tis the power ye have over me," he confessed.

"Ye have power over me too, Odhrán." She took his hands and pressed them to her breasts, reveling in his dazed smile as he cupped them and caressed them, rolling them in his palms.

"Dae I now?" he asked, his voice hoarse.

"Aye, can ye nae feel the heat ye make me feel? 'Tis like a fire inside me that I cannae fight. I dinnae want tae fight anymore," she corrected herself, arching her back and thrusting her breasts against him. "I want tae be yer wife properly."

"Oh, sweet Jesus, I must have done somethin' right in me life tae deserve this," he joked, his mouth and hands becoming more urgent in their explorations of her person. Maddison could not help but giggle at his humility.

"The thing about ye, Odhrán, that I've come tae realize is that ye have a soft, lovin' heart. There's a sweetness in ye I've never encountered before in a man, nae ever. Durin' the day, ye're the big, tough laird, a ruthless barbarian, cuttin' yer foes down without a second thought. But tae me, ye're the sweetest man that ever lived. That's why I could nae hate ye anymore, nae matter how I tried."

"Ye've found out me secret, what I've been tryin' tae hide from everyone all these years," he told her with a low chuckle she felt vibrating through her. "'Tis only ye who kens that side of me," he confessed, nuzzling the skin above her neckline, making her shiver. "'Tis only ye who makes me feel that way, Maddison. I told ye, from the moment I set eyes on ye, I fell fer ye, hook, line, and sinker. There's was naethin' I could dae about it."

Maddison was about to answer him when she felt his hands on her thighs beneath her skirts. The feel of his growing hardness pressing against her and of his palms gliding up and down her legs was making her hot and dizzy. Moisture flooded between her legs, her sex throbbing with desire for his touch. "I need ye, Odhrán, but I need tae get out of this dress first. Will ye help me?"

"Let me be yer lady's maid," he jested, his wolfish smile fanning the flames of her desire. She half turned from him, and he began to painstakingly undo the fastenings, humming a little tune as he did so.

"Ye sound like a man who's enjoyin' his work," she said, smiling at him over her shoulder.

"Och, I am, I surely am," he said, sliding his hands under the dress and slowly peeling it away from her. "Yer skin is so lovely, Maddison, so white and pure," he marveled, breathing deeply as his fingertips gently brushed her back. She shivered in delight, her whole body alight at his slightest touch.

"D'ye ken, ye're the only man who has ever seen me like this?" she said, moaning suddenly when she felt hot, tiny kisses trailing across her skin and his teeth grazing her back in soft, playful bites.

"Good. That's as it should be. This is mine, all mine." He reached around and cupped her naked breasts, leaning his head against her back, kissing and nuzzling her. She could feel his stubble prickling her, and the sensation sent a shockwave of excitement though her.

"Och, Odhrán, ye make me feel so good," she breathed raggedly, covering his hands with her own as he continued to caress her breasts, rolling them in his hands and squeezing them, toying with the stiff peaks until she thought she would scream.

"Mmm, I could eat ye all up," he murmured, lifting her slightly so her gown fell loosely about her hips.

"Please, dinnae stop," she told him, wriggling out of her dress, free at last, and turning to face him again.

"I'm never gonnae stop, unless ye make me," he murmured, unlacing her stays and throwing them aside. She lifted her arms, and he pulled her shift over her head. The look on his face as he admired her naked form excited her even more. She loved this power she had over him, the power to make him dazed with pleasure was dizzying.

"I still think I must be dreamin'. I've had so many dreams about ye like this, it hardly seems real. Ye're far more beautiful than I could ever have dreamed." He buried his face in her breasts with a groan of pleasure, his hands roving her body, gliding all over her, the fingertips of one hand sliding down her behind and between her thighs to stroke her.

"Odhrán!" she cried out, writhing helplessly under his touch.

"Och, ye're burnin'," he whispered in her ear, his fingertips teasing her rosebud, parting her moist folds, and stroking her entrance so beguilingly, she almost lost the strength in her legs and collapsed against him. "Ye are so ready fer me, so wet."

"Ah, Odhrán, touch me, ah yes! More, please," she panted, shifting slightly to sit on her heels cross his lap, opening herself wider to his questing fingers.

"D'ye want me now?" he asked, making her gasp as his fingers penetrated her slick entrance and moved slowly, rhythmically in and out.

"I want ye so badly, I cannae wait much longer," she panted, instinctively moving her body to match the rhythm of his fingers. Consumed with greedy desire, she wrapped her hands in his hair, covering his face and mouth and chest with passionate kisses, bites, and caresses as he toyed with her, watching her face.

"D'ye remember, Odhrán, ye asked me if I ever thought of ye this way after I was set free from here and went back tae me family?" she asked him, her breathing shallow and uneven as they moved together.

"Aye, I remember. And ye got angry with me and told me that this would never happen again," he murmured against her breasts, his fingers probing her more deeply.

"Ah, ah! That was because I did nae wantae admit that I did think of ye. I did nae want tae admit it, even tae mesel'," she panted, riding his hand as he sucked and nuzzled at her hardened peaks. "But I did think of ye. Often. Every day. Every night. I tried nae tae, but I couldnae help it. I'd come tae care fer ye. And when I found out who ye were, and that ye'd lied tae me, I was so hurt I wanted tae die." She bucked against his probing fingers. "This is the first time I have ever spoken this truth, even to mesel'."

Odhrán crushed her to him. "I'm so in love with ye, Maddison, it hurts. Thank ye fer tellin' me the truth. Ye dinnae ken how happy it makes me tae hear ye say that," he croaked as his fingers reached a spot that made her whole body shiver. "It means everythin' tae me tae ken ye were thinkin' about me, even if it was bad things. I ken I deserved it." He kissed her back hungrily.

"But ye didnae deserve it," she said into his mouth. "I was wrong. I didnae ken who ye really were. I thought ye were like yer faither, but I kent ye couldnae be, because of all ye did fer me, tae keep me alive." She clutched him to her, feeling waves of ecstasy rising up from her core as his fingers moved increasingly faster and harder inside her.

She shuddered as the climax approached, teetering on the edge. "Ye even killed yer faither fer me," she gasped out, holding him tightly as her body stiffened and bucked in intense pleasure.

"I'd kill that bastard a thousand times over fer ye, Maddison," Odhrán whispered urgently in her ear as he brought her to her peak. "And any other bastard that tries tae take ye from me."

"Nae one is ever gonnae take me from ye, Odhrán," she panted, reaching for the buckle of his kilt and rapidly undoing it. She flung it open, his manhood bursting forth and standing tall and proud.

"It that all for me?" she asked coquettishly, taking his shaft in her hands and bending to run her tongue up and down its length.

"For ye and ye alone, me lady," Odhrán said, groaning, his eyes liquid slits as he grabbed her around the waist, pulled her forward, and slowly impaled her on his length until she gasped as he filled her to the hilt. For some time, he did not move, and they stared into each other's eyes, kissing leisurely.

"I have tae tell ye the truth about somethin' too," he told her, lifting her by the hips and then thrusting deeply into her again with a satisfied grunt.

"Ach! Odhrán!" she cried out, sinking down on him with a gasp of intense pleasure. "I never kent it could feel this way."

"Me neither." He brushed the sweat-soaked hair from her face. "After me faither died, I found a letter, from me faither tae Rollo. But I found it first." He buried his face in Maddison's breasts as he pulled out of her, then thrust in again. Harder this time, so that she moaned against his lips.

"Me faither was obsessed with destroyin' yer clan. He was betrothed tae yer maither once, but she fell in love with yer faither and ran away with him. Me faither never forgave her. In the letter, he said he wanted Rollo tae carry on his work of destruction after his death. I could nae stand the thought of ye being in danger, nor yer family. The only way tae protect ye was tae have ye close."

"And the only way ye could have me close was tae marry me," she murmured, rising up and then back down again, her muscles tightening around him and causing her to speed up.

"Right," he muttered, his thrusts gaining momentum as Maddison moved ever more urgently upon him, her breasts bouncing against his face. "And I kent ye'd never agree tae wed me. So, I went tae see the King."

They were both panting hard now and hanging on to each other as if for dear life, kissing, sucking, biting any naked flesh they could find. Maddison thought she had experienced wonder before, when Odhrán had taught her what pleasure was with his mouth and hands. But the intoxicating energy she felt gripping her now as he moved inside her, surging up through her entire body, was like nothing she had ever imagined existed. And best of all, she could feel it in Odhrán too. She realized that just as he was bringing her to the peak of ecstasy, so was she him. The thought sent her over the edge.

"Och, God, Odhrán, Odhrán!" she cried out in her frenzy, feeling him stiffening inside her as the pleasure overwhelmed her. And then came a great rush, where they clung to each other, and she heard him cry out her name.

"Maddison, me Maddison!"

It was at that moment that she knew she was in love with her husband, and that she had been for a good, long time.