Chapter 18

CHAPTER EIGHTEEN

A lana was lying face to face with Tadhg beneath the blankets, and when she realized they were both naked, it seemed perfectly natural and right. Conscious of a burning need for his touch, she moved against him, pressing her belly and breasts against his skin and catching his lips between hers. He responded with fervor, pulling her into him.

The kiss started off tender and sweet. It felt to her like a homecoming. The unrestrained longing between them was overwhelming, and the kiss soon grew hot and passionate. Their tongues tangled and explored each other's mouths and lips, igniting a fire inside her.

"I want ye so much, Tadhg," she murmured against him, winding her body around his powerful frame and tangling her fingers in his hair.

"Me darlin', I'm all yers, body and soul," he murmured, his kisses becoming more demanding as he ran his calloused hands all over her skin, fanning the flames of her wanting. "I want ye so much," he breathed, leaning above her on his elbow, pushing her hair back and trailing soft kisses and bites down her throat and neck as she lay beneath his gaze.

"We've waited so long," she replied, arching her back and gasping with pleasure when his mouth hungrily captured the stiffened peaks of her breasts, and his hands cupped and squeezed them. Shockwaves of desire coursed through her, and she moaned loudly, "Och, Tadhg, ye ken how tae touch me just right…"

She was just about to reach her climax when…

"Alana, Alana, wake up, ye're dreamin'."

She was confused. It was Tadhg's voice, but Tadgh's mouth was occupied feasting on her excited flesh, making her body tremble wantonly, so how could he have spoken? His tongue was sliding lower, his lips caressing her belly, tantalizing her, while his fingers were pushing between her thighs. Eager to have them inside her, she parted them wider for him and let out another low moan.

A hand clamped over her mouth. "Shhh, Alana, ye have tae wake up!"

"What are ye doin'? Why have ye stopped?" she mumbled against the hand, still caught up in the images in her head, the wetness between her legs driving her mad. Then, panicking as she realized something was restraining her from speaking, she suddenly startled awake and opened her eyes, breathing hard.

In the dim light of the cave, she could see it was Tadhg who had his hand over her mouth, and she relaxed. He was looking down at her with a troubled expression on his chiseled features. She was about to protest when he took his hand away.

"What are ye doin'?" she asked, still hazy from sleep.

"Ye were moanin' in yer sleep. It was too loud. I had tae dae somethin' tae shut ye up. We should nae be so loud while we're out scoutin'," he whispered tensely, "someone could hear us."

"I… I was dreamin'," she whispered embarrassed, the dream suddenly flooding back to her. She was grateful for the dim light of the fire as she felt her cheeks flaming, but it did nothing to stop the heat in her belly and between her thighs from the memory of his hands on her. She tried to banish the images from her mind, but they would not leave. Still aroused by them, she gazed up at him and was puzzled to see the tension in his look.

"Are ye all right," she asked. "Ye seem a bit flushed."

"Aye, I'm all right," he replied, yet she sensed tension in him, and when she turned slightly, she felt his erection pressing against her hip. She knew she ought to move, but something held her there.

"Aye, sorry about that," he mumbled awkwardly.

"But… I thought ye were asleep. What brought that on?"

"What d'ye think?" He sounded sheepish.

"Tell me," she urged him in confusion, her state of arousal refusing to fade with his hardening length pressed against her. It suddenly occurred to her that she might not have been dreaming. "Did we… did something happen?" she asked.

"Nay, of course it didnae. But with ye lying' next tae me and all that moanin', well, I got excited. I couldnae help it," he explained apologetically. "Ye're nae gonnae make me go and sleep outside, are ye?"

She looked up at him, moved by the genuine worry she saw in his darkened eyes. He could have taken me if he had wanted tae, easily. But he did nae, because he's Tadhg… And he loves me.

She was suddenly infused with deep affection for him, and the intense wanting she had felt in her dream washed over her. Wanting him so badly, she reached up and put her arms around his neck, pulling his head down to hers. "Nay, I'm nae gonnae make ye sleep outside. Stay with me," she breathed, eagerly opening her mouth to kiss him.

Am I dreamin'? Is this really happenin'?

The questions raced through Tadhg's confused mind when Alana put her arms around him and kissed him. Dazed and excited by her unexpected response, he sank into the kiss, savoring the taste of her, pouring all his yearning for her into it, elated at what he now knew must be real.

Not wanting to hurry things, he took it slowly, his hands cradling her head and tangling in her glorious hair as he delicately explored each other's lips and mouths, her tongue entwining with his in a leisurely, erotic dance. His erection throbbed uncomfortably as it grew.

"If ye're teasin' me, then ye'd better tell me now, and we'll leave it at a kiss–" but she interrupted him with another desperate touch of her lips. "If we go much further, I'm nae gonnae be able tae stop," he warned her gently, wanting to give her the choice.

"I dinnae want ye tae stop," she murmured, peppering his face with more kisses.

He struggled to hold himself back from giving into the powerful waves of longing rushing through his body. "But why here? Why now? We've been sharin' a chamber fer days, and ye havenae let me near ye. Ach, Jaysus!" He shivered as she nibbled his ear, her hot breath exciting him almost beyond endurance.

She drew back a little, holding his face in her palms, her lips glistening, her eyes dark as they looked up into his. "Ye ken how hard it was fer ye tae sleep on the floor?" she asked, smiling beguilingly.

"Aye, I certainly dae."

"Well, did ye nae realize it was just as hard fer me tae make ye sleep on the floor?"

He was stunned by the implication. "Ye mean…?"

"Aye, ye fool," she replied tenderly, stroking his cheek. "D'ye think I'm made of stone? Ye walk around in in front of me, the man I once loved, with nae a stitch on, lookin' so braw it would drive any lass mad… did ye never think I might want ye as much as ye want me?"

"Well, there have been times when I thought of it, but ye didnae give me much tae go on, always keepin' me at arm's length."

"Aye. Like I've told ye many times, I couldnae bring mesel' tae trust ye again. I didnae want tae get hurt all over again. I had tae be strong, but it's never been any easier fer me than it has fer ye," she explained.

"But now, something's changed?"

She hesitated for a moment before telling him, "Maybe I'm startin' tae trust ye again." And then pulled him down again.

Elation rushed through him as he finally unleashed his pent-up lust. With a guttural growl, his mouth descended hungrily onto hers, taking possession of her as he had dreamed of doing for so long.

Their kisses grew fiercer, more demanding, and it thrilled him to feel Alana returning his passion unrestrainedly, holding his head between her hands, kissing him more deeply, not holding back.

The next moment, consumed by their mutual passion, they were tearing frantically at each other's clothes.

"I have tae touch ye, all of ye," he murmured between kisses, pulling down the bodice of her dress and shift to liberate her breasts. He groaned when they popped out fulsomely from the top of her stays, filling his palms with their delectable soft heaviness.

"I never thought this would happen," he breathed, squeezing and rolling her sweet, warm flesh, reveling in her panting moans as he took them in his mouth and teased them with his tongue and lips.

"Och, Tadhg, that's so… ah!" she murmured, writhing against him wantonly as he toyed with her while simultaneously pulling at his jerkin and shirt. "Take these off!" she demanded breathily, "I need tae feel yer skin against mine."

"Wait a moment," he said, dragging his mouth away from her breasts and kneeling up to impatiently rip his jerkin and shirt off over his head and toss them away. He paused to look at her. Naked to the waist, she was now sitting up, her legs curled beneath her skirts, gazing at him greedily as if she would devour him.

Her eyes were shining as they fixed on him, reflecting the flickering amber light of the fire. Her lips glistened as she ran the tip of her tongue over them, and a cloud of dark hair tumbled down about her shoulders and breasts. She appeared almost luminous in the flickering firelight, and he thought he had never seen anything more lovely or more exciting in his life.

"Ye take me breath away," he told her admiringly, his erection throbbing uncomfortably against the restriction of his trews. "Just lookin' at ye is drivin' me mad."

"If only ye could see how handsome ye are tae me," she whispered wonderingly, her hands roving over his chest, arms, and shoulders, her hot mouth kissing and nibbling and sucking wherever she could reach.

When her hand found his erection, rubbing and pressing the material covering it teasingly, and her fingers reached for the fastening of his trews, he groaned and wound his fingers through her hair, allowing himself the intense pleasure of watching her face as she undid them and slid them down over his hips and thighs.

It was a temporary relief when his entire, straining length leaped out at her, for when she smiled up at him with mischief in her eyes, it throbbed almost painfully. She cupped his balls, squeezing them gently with one hand while gripping the base of his shaft with the other.

"Jaysus, Alana," he managed to mumble, his hands tightening on her hair, his eyes half closing, and his breathing becoming ragged when she began teasing him with her tongue, running the tip up over the top and up and down the shaft. "I warn ye, I'm nae gonnae last long at this rate," he croaked. "I need somethin' tae distract me."

Without a word she pulled him down to the bedding. He followed her willingly, gasping and groaning as she suddenly surprised him by taking his whole length between her lips and sliding him into the tantalizing heat of her mouth.

Driven almost to distraction by the sensation of her mouth working upon him and desperate to taste her too, without pulling away from her, he shifted his position, so they were lying on their sides at opposite ends to each other. He opened her thighs and buried his face between them, reveling in the soft down and velvety moist folds against his skin as he sucked her rosebud to a stiff peak, making her whine and wriggle enticingly beneath him. She let out a little scream when his slipped his flickering tongue inside her, stoking his need for her to almost unbearable heights.

When she came, gripping his shaft tightly and pumping it even as she arched her back and moaned his name, he knew he had only seconds before he too reached his climax, and he wanted to be inside her when he did. In a fluid movement, he turned her whole body around, so he was lying between her legs and plunged his engorged length into her to the hilt.

He let out a deep, primal groan in his throat, never having felt anything quite as exquisite in his life as her inner walls started gripping him. She answered with moans and whimpers, wrapping her legs around his waist, gazing up at him as they moved together at an ever-increasing pace, chasing the ultimate pleasure.

"I've never felt anythin' like that before," she murmured.

"Me neither," he panted, "this is… special," he gasped, feeling a hot, liquid rush as they peaked at exactly the same moment, clutching each other, their lips clashing, sweating and panting, before they came floating down from the ceiling.

Tadhg awoke with a start and sat up, rubbing his eyes and peering around the cave to see what had woken him. The dim light penetrating from outside and the embers of their fire allowed him to see there was nothing to immediately account for what had made him wake so suddenly. Yet at the same time, it failed to illuminate the darkest corners of the cave where he could not see, leaving him with a creeping feeling that something was hiding within them.

About to get up and investigate what had awoken him, he first gazed down at Alana. She was sleeping peacefully beside him, a half-smile on her lips. In the amber glow of the dying firelight, her luminous beauty and the vivid memory of their lovemaking in the night struck at his heart like a glittering knife.

Never could he ever have enough of her.

Alana seemed to shine like the moon as she slept peacefully next to him, clad only in her shift. The coltish tumble of soft white limbs and long dark hair by his side and the vivid memory of their lovemaking had him hardening again.

The way she had responded so passionately at first had been wildly exciting. Even now, just thinking of it, his groin twitched. He had known then that despite all her words and denials, she still wanted him as much as he wanted her. That had all but set him ablaze.

He pulled the blanket gently over her shoulders and was sorely tempted to lean down and kiss those pert, plump lips again and see what happened. He was seriously toying with the notion when his body suddenly stiffened, his ears pricking up as they detected a faint shuffling noise coming from near the cave entrance. Slipping his dirk from his weapons belt, he silently got to his feet and crept in that direction.

A short search outside revealed nothing, so he went to check on the horses. They seemed to be fine. He had just finished stroking them, giving them a few words of comfort, and was about to return to the cave when he heard the shuffling noise again. This time, it was behind him. He swiveled, but before he could complete the maneuver, something hard impacted with his temple, sending shards of pain exploding in his head and knocking him sideways. It happened so quickly, he knew nothing but pain and darkness suddenly flooding in on him. And then, everything turned black.