Chapter 29

CHAPTER TWENTY-NINE

W hen she had recovered, Ivy pulled back and, with her arms resting on his shoulders, looked deep into his eyes. She stroked his hair affectionately and smiled at him. Then she held his head gently between her palms and kissed him with a warm and gentle intensity that once again seemed to reach into his very soul. He felt as though he were floating on a calm, warm sea, apart from the monstrous erection now pressing uncomfortably against the inside of his trews.

“Thank ye, Liam, that was… amazin’, even more than before.” Ivy gave a small, delighted laugh.

“I aim tae please, melady,” he replied, his arms wrapped around her waist, his head against her soft breasts, luxuriating in the heady freedom of being able to touch her body wherever he wished.

“Well, ye certainly have so far, but I have a question fer ye,” she said teasingly.

“Oh, what’s that?” he asked, squeezing her tightly, rubbing his stubbly chin against her velvety skin.

“Why am I the only one naked around here?”

He chuckled and pulled back enough to plant a kiss on her lips. “Good question. I think we should remedy that right away.” Gently disentangling one arm from her waist, he stood up and reached down to unfasten his trews.

“Nay,” she said, putting her hand on his. “Let me dae it. I wantae see ye, tae explore ye the way ye dae me.”

“Nay words could be sweeter tae me ears, Ivy. Dae as ye will,” he replied, thinking he must have died and gone to heaven.

She turned to face him and knelt up in the tub, reaching over to work on the fastenings with surprisingly nimble fingers. In no time, she had them undone and was sliding them down over his hips. When his rock-hard erection sprang free from its restrictive prison, she sat back and looked at it with a mixture of surprise and wonder.

He pulled the shift from her hair and let the dark tresses fall. He buried his fingers in them as he watched her face.

Her eyes wide, Ivy reached forward tentatively and wrapping her small hands around his length, stroked it up and down. “So hard, but the skin is so soft tae touch,” she mused. Liam let out a groan as pleasure shot through him, heating his blood even more.

“That’s yer fault, Ivy. Ye’re gettin’ me so excited,” he croaked, his fingers flexing in her hair, lost in her touch.

“Ye mean I have the power tae make ye like this?” she asked, looking up at him in obvious amazement.

“Aye.”

She smiled and licked her lips, inflaming him more. “I like the sound of that,” she murmured, directing her gaze back to his swollen manhood. He let out another groan as she cupped his balls and fondled them exploratively.

“What happens if I dae this?” she asked, pressing her lips to the end of his shaft. “And this.” She flicked the tip of her tongue up and down the sides.

Liam struggled to hold himself back. “It makes me even harder, and I just want ye even more,” he said, his voice a hoarse whisper.

“Show me how tae pleasure ye, Liam. I wantae learn what makes ye feel good.”

“Ye’re already doin’ that,” he replied, but he disentangled one of his hands from her hair and placed it over hers, showing her how to grip him and pump his length rhythmically. When he removed his hand, she carried on, and the feeling was indescribable.

“And what about if I dae this?” she asked breathily, taking the whole top part of his shaft into her mouth, flicking her tongue over it, sucking, and licking him as she continued to work her hand as he had shown her.

“Mhnnn,” was all that came out of his mouth as he guided her head gently onto his length. Words, language, thought flew out the window, and he surrendered utterly to the incredible sensations gripping him. But he could feel himself getting closer to a climax. Wanting to slow things down, he gently stilled her hand and pulled himself away from her teasing mouth.

She looked up at him worriedly. “Am I nae doin’ it right?” she asked.

“’Tis the opposite, Ivy. If ye dinnae stop doin’ that, then ye’ll get me so excited, I’ll nae be able tae hold back, but I wantae be inside ye when that happens,” he explained.

“Oh, I understand,” she replied, now with a smile and a mischievous twinkle in her eyes.

“Move over, I’m comin’ in there with ye,” he announced, shucking off his trews and kicking them aside before stepping into the tub with her. He put his hands on her waist and lifted her to her feet, crushing her to him as his mouth descended hungrily on hers.

She twined her arms around his neck, opening her mouth and welcoming his with a fiery desire he knew he had only just tasted and could hardly wait to explore.

Her slippery, naked body was stoking his ardor, making him forget about all their troubles. He simply let himself get lost in the taste and feel of her.

His hands cradled her behind and lifted her up. Her legs immediately wrapped around his waist, her kisses growing hotter and more intense. He let his fingers play between her legs, feeling her hot wetness as he pushed his fingers inside her. She moaned into his mouth. “Ivy, if ye want me tae stop, then tell me now,” he whispered, his breath ragged with pent-up lust.

“I never want ye tae stop, Liam, never!” she cried, moving against him, covering his face and neck with passionate kisses and little bites wherever she could.

“Thank God,” he breathed, his hands parting her legs before he positioned his pulsing shaft at her entrance and slowly, inch by inch, impaling her upon it.

Ivy screamed as he pushed inside her, filling her to the hilt. She clung to him, her head on his shoulder. “Omigod, Liam,” she gasped, “surely, ye’ll split me in twain!”

Worried, Liam did not move, just held her there, buried deeply inside her, relishing the exquisite tightness of her muscles surrounding him, touched by the knowledge that he was her first. “Am I hurtin’ ye, Ivy?”

“If ye are, then naethin’s ever hurt so good,” she breathed, drawing back and gazing into his eyes. She seemed about to say something but then kissed him instead, with passionate fierceness.

Relieved and happy, he brushed the wet hair from her brow and buried his face in her neck as he pulled out of her, then pushed in again by degrees. With each slow thrust, she cried out and clutched his shoulders, her fingers tangled in his hair.

“Mmmn, I need more of ye, Liam, more, more,” she breathed frantically, rising up and then back down again, her muscles tightening around him.

“If that’s what ye desire, melady, then more ye shall have.” He speeded up, plunging as deep inside her as he could, his hips gaining momentum as Ivy moved ever more urgently upon him, her breasts bouncing against his face.

“Ye’re so beautiful, ye ken ye could drive a man mad,” he groaned, driving into her harder with each stroke, his pleasure ascending. 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.

He had imagined he knew what it was to have a woman, but now he realized he had been very wrong. He found himself in the grip of something so overwhelming, he forgot himself entirely. The intoxicating sensation gripping him as he drove into her was consuming him like fire, surging up through his entire body, possessing him.

And best of all, he could feel it in Ivy too. Just as he was bringing her to the peak of ecstasy, so she was him. The thought of that and the ecstasy possessing him sent him plummeting over the edge.

In the afterglow of their tumultuous, yet tender lovemaking, Liam got out of the tub and lifted Ivy out. He dried her off and carried her over to the bed. But by that time, the old fear of commitment had begun to take hold of him again. It drove him to decide that however much he wanted to spend the night with her, it would be a big mistake to do so.

It would be like declaring his feelings for her, and the thought of that scared him half to death.

“Are ye nae getting’ in with me?” she asked when he tucked her into bed and then pulled on his shirt.

“I dinnae think that would be wise, Ivy,” he said, gathering up his things and preparing to head to his chamber to sleep. He could hardly bring himself to look at her because he knew if her did, he would weaken.

“I’m confused, Liam. After what just happened between us? Did that nae mean anythin’? I thought…” Her voice trailed off, and he winced to hear the pain in it, hating himself. But his fear was so great that he clung to his vow as though for life itself.

“Of course, it meant somethin’,” he hedged, tempted to confess his real reasons for leaving her after all that had passed between them. But he found he simply could not bring himself to do it. After all, she had invited him to take advantage of her, to make her a woman. And he had done that, had he not?

Not to mention that she was still technically Knox’s hostage in his bid to win peace with her brother. She could be sent back to wed Gael Hamilton at any time.

Thus, he justified to himself leaving her and returning to his own bed. But he lay in it so restlessly and felt so bad, knowing how hurt and confused she must be feeling, that sleep eluded him for a very long time.

The following morning, Ivy awoke and found herself alone in the bed. The passionate night she had spent with Liam until he had decided to leave her to go and sleep in his own bed came flooding back to her. Her disappointment was unchanged.

She lay there unmoving, taking a mental inventory of her body and her emotions. Her injured arm was understandably sore, and her body ached from the fight in the ruined chapel. No doubt time and the hot bath had helped to ring out the many bruises she knew she had sustained. However, she also ached from something else, and the ache was unexpectedly pleasant. She felt deliciously languorous and heavy with contentment. I’m nae a maid anymore , she thought, I’m a woman now.

And what an awakening it had been. The things Liam had shown her and the things she found herself wanting to do with him, to him, far exceeded anything in terms of pleasure that her inexperienced imagination could have dreamed up. She knew she was forever changed, inside and out, and Liam was the agent of that change.

The way she felt about him now had crystallized into a certainty that she would never want any other man they way she wanted him. The closeness they had shared while their bodies had moved together in such blissful harmony had affected her deeply.

Thus, she had fully expected him to spend the night with her in her bed. When he had told her he was going to sleep in his own chamber she had been shocked and hurt. She had only agreed because she was too proud to beg or whine.

Why did he dae that? The only answer she could come up with was that he did not feel the same way about her as she did about him. Because she knew she was in love with him. If not, why did it hurt so much that he had left her after their passionate encounter?

She was reflecting on all this when someone tapped on her door. “Come in,” she responded. The door opened, and Effie poked her head inside.

“Can I come in? I thought I’d come and check on ye and see how ye’re feelin’,” she said.

“Och, hello, Effie, of course, come in. I’m glad tae see ye. Come and sit down by me,” Ivy replied, gesturing to the chair by the bed. Effie did as she was invited, and Ivy soon filled her in on how she was recovering.

“Ye’re a tough wee lassie tae be sure,” Effie told her with obvious admiration. “But even so, I wantae keep an eye on that arm of yers in case it gets infected. And dinnae go doin’ anythin’ too strenuous, like fighting anyone, or it’ll just open up again.

Ivy was glad her friend could not see what she had been up to with Liam the night before, sure she would get a scolding if she could.

“At any rate, I’ll look at it again tomorrow and change the dressin’ fer ye,” after she had bandaged it up again.

“Thank ye, Effie.”

Once that was out of the way, Effie surprised her by suddenly looking contrite and saying, “I owe ye an apology as well, Ivy.”

“Oh? Whatever fer?” Ivy asked, puzzled.

“Fer interferin’ by tellin’ Liam ye were goin’ tae the meetin’ last night. I’m really sorry, Ivy, I wouldnae usually break a confidence like that, but I was just so frightened fer ye?—”

Ivy cut her off with a smile and a pat on the hand. “Effie, there’s naethin’ tae apologize fer. Liam was determined tae follow me anyway, thank God, and I ken ye were only tryin’ tae protect me as well. If ye hadnae ratted on me, I would have either been Gael’s prisoner by now or dead. I’m grateful tae ye, nae angry with ye.”

Effie’s face lit up. “Och, that’s such a relief! I felt so guilty. I worried that ye might hate me fer it.”

“I could never hate ye. But the next time I tell ye a secret, keep it tae yersel’,” Ivy told her with a laugh.

“Aye, I promise I’ll try!” Effie replied, joining in with Ivy’s laughter.

They talked some more, and Ivy filled Effie in on the details of what had happened during the fight at the chapel.

“So, what d’ye make of the Evander feller. Magnus daesnae trust him,” Effie said.

“Neither does Liam, and I can understand why they’re so suspicious of everyone. I mean, they thought I was a spy fer me braither. But Evander has done naethin’ yet tae hurt anyone. He actually fought with us last night. Would he dae that if he meany any harm?”

“I suppose that remains tae be seen,” Effie replied circumspectly. “Since he’s gonnae be stayin’ here fer a while, we’ll get tae find out what sort of man he really is. It was shockin’ tae learn what he had tae say about yer braither bein’ responsible fer yer parents’ murders. D’ye believe it?”

“Aye, it was very shockin’, but if ye’d met Carson, ye’d believe it easily. If ’tis true, then it actually explains a lot of things from me past and why Carson has treated me so badly,” Ivy said, not wishing to dwell on the subject. Instead, she asked Effie something she had wanted to know for some time. And after the passionate evening she had just spent with Liam, she was even more curious.