Chapter 15

Catreena heard something through her disturbed sleep. It had been difficult to fall asleep in the first place, for her mind was a whir with everything that had happened that day. She had even dried her tears on her pillow before sleep had claimed her.

Tae ken what Tad feels fer me at last, and now tae have it torn away.

Then the sound came again. It was a sharp rapping on glass.

Catreena sat bolt upright in bed, looking around the room with her nightgown slipping off one shoulder. All was dark, apart from the slither of moonlight through the curtains that shone onto the bed where she slept and a small chair nearby. Then she saw a shadow in the moonlight.

Her eyes shot toward the window.

Something’s out there.

Scrambling from the bed, she hastened toward it, thrusting back the curtains to find an all so familiar figure there.

“What the hell are ye doing?” she seethed through the glass.

Tad was balanced precariously on the stone ledge outside, his face half in shadow and the other half in silver light. He motioned silently to the catch on the window. She flung it open inwards, allowing him to climb in.

“What on earth? Tad, ye could have fallen tae yer death!” She peered out at the journey he must have made from the nearest corridor window. There was one long ledge between the two, but it was scarcely as wide as the length of his feet. The drop down to the earth far below was hazardous. “Are ye mad?” She spun around and thrust the window shut.

“Completely,” he said with a heavy side. He stepped away from her, thrusting his hands into his dark hair and pulling on the tendrils. “I ken what Bran said, but I had tae see ye. Ah, Cat, I’m so sorry.”

“Sorry? Whatever fer?” She looked around at the door but remembered she had locked it tight before coming to bed. She lit a candle from a tinder box, then went to follow Tad around the room. He was completely restless, incapable of standing still as he pulled at his hair in stress.

“Fer compromising ye.”

“Compromising me? Is that what ye’d call it? I was going tae call it making lo–”

“Dinnae say it like that.” He spun back around toward her. The firmness in his gaze and the strength of his voice made her stomach tremble.

Has he come tae rescind his offer of courtship? Has he changed his mind now he has had me?

She stepped back from him. Every fear she’d ever had about being just another of his women came to the forefront of his mind.

“Oh.” She placed the candle down and moved toward her bed.

“Oh, nay ye dinnae.” He followed her, cutting her off before she could reach the bed. “I ken that look. Dinnae think I am here tae try and forget what we shared.”

“Then why cannae I call it making love – hmm!” As she said it, he kissed her. It was not a fierce kiss, or even passionate, but something so incredibly soft that it stole her breath. Neither of them reached out with their hands but just stood there, indulging in the gentleness of the kiss. It was almost as soft as the night when he had woken from that nightmare, and she had comforted him. When they pulled back, Catreena stared at him in amazement.

“Because ye saying that just makes me want tae dae it again,” he confessed in a whisper. “It’s never been like that fer me. Ever.” He shook his head. “I thought…” He broke off and looked away, then he returned to his pacing. “Damn it, yer braithers are going tae lynch me.”

“Tad, Tad, ye have tae calm down.” Catreena raced after him. She felt it now, felt what he wanted to say, but couldn’t quite say. She hurried around him and stopped his pacing, taking his hands. “Forget me braithers fer a minute.”

“That’s hard tae dae,” he pointed out with a scoff.

“Fer a minute, forget them,” she pleaded. “Tell me again.” She threaded her fingers through his.

“Tell ye what?”

“What it was like fer ye? This afternoon.”

The trace of a smile lifted his lips as he shook his head.

“Ye like it when I tell ye what I want, dinnae ye?” he teased her. She stepped toward him, trailing one of her hands up his chest. He shivered at her touch, a pleasant sort of shiver that made her feel empowered. Taking hold of the collar of his shirt, she pulled him a few inches down toward her, so they could rest their heads together.

“It meant everything tae me,” she confessed softly. “What we shared. It was more than I could have imagined. Because… because I dinnae want tae be like the other women in yer life, Tad.”

“Ye never were,” he said with sudden heat. “God, Cat. Ye? Like any other woman? Impossible.” He bent toward her, his eyes closing as his lips hovered over hers. “I’ve been trying tae fight what I feel fer ye fer so long, God only kens when it really started.” His hands snaked around her waist.

She felt that heat between her legs, that now familiar ache, for wanting him.

“Maybe it’s why we argued so much, eh?” he whispered, moving his lips down her neck. “Both of us trying tae fight this feeling.” He didn’t quite kiss her but hovered a little away from her.

“Then maybe we should stop fighting this feeling?” she pleaded.

He lifted his head, his gray eyes hooded with their desire.

“Stay.” The word fell from her lips. “Stay the night, Tad.”

“Yer braither would kill me.”

“And he never needs tae ken.” She shook her head and stepped back, walking away toward the bed. She took his hand and drew him with her. “Stay with me, and think only of us, nay one else.”

“Why is it ye make me resolve snap intae nothing?” he muttered darkly as she sat down on the bed and pulled him closer. He stopped in front of her, standing beside the bed and bending down to kiss her.

Their lips molded together softly, gently. It was like a slow dance now, compared to the heated passion with which they had taken one another that afternoon. As her hands raked around his back, pulling on his shirt, he growled into her lips.

“Ye’ll be sore,” Tad murmured, pulling back a little. “Ye need tae recover.”

“Nay.” She shook her head. “I need ye.” She pulled the shirt higher, tugging at the jerkin he wore too, desperate to get them both off his body.

Slowly, he did as she wanted, helping her to take them off. When he was shirtless, she explored him, her lips and fingers trailing down his chest and toward that perfect ‘v’ shape above his trews. He groaned and tipped his head back, a picture of pleasure.

She pulled at his trews, desperate to undo them, to know something else of him. Having felt the way that he could pleasure her with his tongue, she suspected there was something she could do for him too, and she longed to find it out.

“Please,” she whispered, freeing his length from his trews. “Show me what tae dae.” Her hand took his length. Slowly, she began to pump it, moving her hand up and down.

He growled, much deeper this time, as he returned his gaze to hers.

“The thought of ye doing this with any other man,” he murmured, his hands moving from mussing her hair to her cheeks, then running a thumb across her bottom lip. “Drives me wild.”

“I’m nae with another man. I’m with ye,” she reminded him. The sound that escaped him was halfway between a moan and a sigh of pleasure. He ran his thumb firmer across her lip, directing her to open wider. Then with one hand on the back of her head, he guided her forward.

Stunned, Catreena did as he showed her, moving her lips toward his length and taking him inside of her. The thing that she marveled at most was his reaction. It was as if his body had come alight with fire. Sweat beaded down the center of his chest as he moaned, his eyes fixed on what she was doing. She constantly looked up at him, responding to the movements of his hands and the way he urged her to take him deeper, or to move her head sideways, exploring his length with her tongue.

That ache between her legs grew so strong, she was desperate for a way to satisfy it. She rubbed her thighs together as she continued to explore him, but her movement clearly distracted him. He watched her, slack jawed.

“Nay,” he said suddenly. She pulled back, releasing him, fearing for a second, she had done something wrong. He bent down, hovering his lips over hers. “From now on, I’m the only one who gets tae release that ache down here.” He brushed his hand against her hip, and she shivered at the pleasure he elicited.

Together, they took hold of her chemise and pulled it over her head. When she was wearing nothing, her kicked his trews down his legs and tossed them away, then moved to join her on the bed.

Catreena didn’t care if they were breaking all the rules. She didn’t even care that Bran would be furious if he ever found out. This was about her and Tad.

It’s about love.

It hit her like lightning. That was what this feeling was, wasn’t it? She had just been afraid to put it into those words before.

She moved to her back as he moved over her, raising her legs up around his hips and nudging her entrance. She couldn’t get enough of him, couldn’t stop exploring him with her hands, trailing down his chest, lightly across the bandage on his shoulder and bicep, then to his stomach and hips too. He growled at her playful grip then bent toward her, kissing her lightly.

“I have wanted ye for so long,” he whispered, practically against her skin as he entered her.

She was sore, yes, but the pain was not the same this time. She felt a pleasant stretching instead, that burn for Tad eating her up from the inside.

“How I have needed this,” he murmured, wrapping her long blonde hair around one of his hands and using it to softly draw her head to the side, so he could place kisses in the arch of her neck. She gasped at the sensation as he entered her completely, thrusting inside of her. Her fingers raked down his back as she urged him on.

“More, Tad, please,” she begged.

“Anything ye ask fer.” His words were muffled against her skin. “Anything.” He rocked harder into her, but no faster. It was a pleasant sort of torture, constant pleasure, but not fast enough to reach the dizzying heights she had experienced that afternoon.

Hypnotized by what he was doing to her, she was barely aware of where her own hands traveled across his shoulders, his waist, his face, and up to his hair. They ended up kissing again, his tongue dominating her mouth as he thrust in and out of her.

“Tad,” she moaned as he pulled back, just far enough to look her in the eye. “I…” She wanted to tell him she loved him, that this was how much he meant to her.

“I ken,” he said in a husky tone when he moved that bit faster. “I ken, Cat,” he moaned. Then he bent over her, thrusting harder. “Me too.”

His movements and his words drove her over the edge. She writhed on the bed, her fingers raking across his forearms on either side of her as he continued to thrust inside of her, driving her through her climax. She was still dithering, still heady from the pleasure when he pulled out of her and found his own end. His length spilled between them as they reached their ends, moaning one another’s name.

When he collapsed over her, one of his hands exploring her breasts as the other reached down to cup her rear, he couldn’t stop whispering things to her that she loved to hear.

“It willnae be long,” he promised. “Bran may take ye away, but I’ll come tae ye. I’ll take any punishment they give me, Cat, but I’m nae staying away.”