Chapter 23

CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE

N ow, that was a barefaced lie. For despite her aching lungs and throat, at that precise moment, black and filthy as he was, Arne was so achingly attractive to her, that if she had met him in a dark alley, he likely would not have been safe from the wanton desires now bubbling up inside her.

However, she was still a little fearful of another rejection should she make any overtures to him. So, she merely smiled and leaned her head against his arm to try to show her appreciation for his obvious effort to trust her. When his soot-smeared face split into a white grin, and he put an arm about her shoulders, squeezing her in an openly affectionate gesture, a warm glow expanded in her chest like a flower opening to the sun. For once, she detected no hint of doubt or suspicion in his demeanor. And it was glorious.

"I think we both need a bath," she said, privately hoping his current mood would last as they continued to smile at each other in the looking glass.

"I'll ring fer some hot water," he said, reaching over and tugging on the bell rope to summon a servant.

"Aye, we'll need plenty of it, and soap too," Raven replied, savoring the warmth seeping through her gown from his body. Just then, the kettle began to hiss. "Och, I must get that," she murmured, reluctantly slipping from his hold and hurrying over to the hearth. She knelt, taking up a cloth, ready to remove the boiling kettle from the fire, about to place it carefully in the grate.

But Arne had followed her and stood right next to her. She could not help but be distracted from what she was doing when he stretched his arms above his head enough to make his bones crack before settling into one of the armchairs, his long, muscular legs stretched out inches away from where she was kneeling. The view was so diverting, she narrowly avoided spilling the steaming water on herself.

She averted her eyes, groping for her previous train of thought as she set the kettle carefully in the hearth. "I-I t-think this dress is beyond savin'," she finally stuttered.

"That's a shame. 'Tis very pretty," he replied, his eyes raking shamelessly over her, sending a flash of heat across her skin.

"Thank ye, but 'tis Sofia's. I must replace it for her when I have the means."

"Dinnae worry, she willnae mind since it was in a good cause. She can choose a new one as a replacement, and I'll pay for it."

His kind offer touched Raven's heart. "Thank ye, Arne," she told him with a smile of gratitude.

"In the meantime, we can ask the maids tae bring ye some clean clothes from yer chamber," Arne said.

"Mmm," she agreed, opening the packet of medicinal tea. "D'ye have a spoon and cups or beakers somewhere?"

He nodded. "Aye, I'll get them," he replied, standing up and crossing to a nearby cupboard. Already a little flustered by his proximity, Raven could not help secretly peeking at him as he walked over to it and thinking the maids were right—he was so braw!

He returned with two cups and a spoon, and when he handed them to her, their fingers brushed. Tingles raced up Raven's arm. Arne resumed his seat next to her, and this time, she made sure to busy herself with stirring the tea rather than dwelling on his abundant masculine charms. But that was not to say she was not burningly aware of them.

When the tea had steeped for a few minutes, she poured it and handed him a cup. "Thank ye," he murmured, sipping at the hot liquid and making a face. "Hmm, could be worse, I suppose."

They drank in what felt to Raven like a companiable silence for a minute or two until there was a knock at the door.

"Come in," Arne said. The door opened, and Laurel poked her head around it. Her eyes widened when she saw the state of them both.

"By the Wee Man, what happened tae ye?" she asked.

"There was a fire down at the barracks, and we got a wee bit dirty helpin' out," Arne explained.

"Aye, we heard about the fire. 'Tis out now, so they say. Melady, ye look like ye've been sleepin' in the coal hole," the maid said, her face splitting into her usual merry grin.

"Och, I feel like it too, Laurel," Raven replied with a chuckle.

"Well, I think I can guess why ye called me. Ye want tae bathe, eh?" the maid said.

"Aye, and can ye bring some clean things for Lady Raven from her chamber as well, please?" Arne asked.

"Of course, sir. I'll go and sort that out fer ye at once," Laurel told him, bobbing a curtsey. She winked at Raven as she went out.

Arne noticed it. "What was that about?" he asked curiously.

Raven laughed. "Och, naethin' tae concern ye. If I told ye, ye'd just get swell headed."

"Ach, now ye have tae tell me, 'Tis nae fair tae leave me in suspense," he protested.

She giggled, feeling the urge to tease him. "Well, all the maids are half in love with ye, it seems, and they all think ye very braw. See, now ye'll nae be able tae get out of the door because of yer big head."

Laughter burst out of him as a huge guffaw. "I'm sure they'd nae think me so braw of they saw me like this," he said, gesturing at his disheveled state when he had stopped laughing.

"Dinnae believe it," Raven told him. "There's nay flies on those lassies. They're bold. They'd as soon be washin' yer back fer ye if ye gave them half a chance." And so would if ye would but trust me enough tae let me.

"Really?" he said with a playful, speculative air. "Tae think I had nay idea of all that adulation goin' on right outside me door goin' tae waste. I must admit, I'm flattered."

"Aye, I kent ye would be. That's why I didnae want tae tell ye."

They shared some more laughter and coughed some more too. Raven felt the distance between them closing, and a frisson of excitement went through her body. She recalled previous night when she had walked in on Arne in the bath. What might happen this time when the bathwater arrives?

She tried to put it out of her mind while they waited for the maids to come. They sat by the fire, drinking their herbal tea, agreeing that Broccàn had been right about its soothing effect on their sore throats and chests. Then they talked briefly about their plans for the journey to her brother's lands in a day or so, deciding to leave at dawn as unobtrusively as possible, by one of the rear gates.

The maids duly arrived with Raven's clean things, which turned out to be a nightdress, slippers, and the warm robe Sofia had loaned her. Laurel also brought them oatcakes, butter, cheese, honey cakes, and some wine and ale to wash them down.

"I thought ye might be feelin' a wee bit peckish as well," she told them as she set the tray down on the low table near the hearth.

"Ye think of everythin' Laurel, thank ye," Raven replied, truly grateful for the maid's considerate forethought.

A procession of male servants came too, lugging the cans of hot water. The tub was brought out from its hiding place and slowly filled in front of her and Arne. While all this was going on, Raven poured herself and Arne some of the wine to conceal her growing excitement, wondering if things would end differently this time, secretly hoping they would.

As the servants worked, and the moment they would be alone again crept nearer, she covertly glanced across at Arne from behind her goblet, only to find his eyes upon her. When he smiled, a hot thrill of anticipation shot through her, raising her hopes. She smiled back, her heart starting to thump in her chest.

"Will that be all, Sir, melady?" Laurel inquired when the rest of the servants had gone.

"Aye, lassie, thank ye," Arne told her, adding with a sidelong look at Raven that made her quiver with nervous anticipation. "We'll ring when we're done."

"Very good." With that, she was gone.

Suddenly, she and Arne were alone again.

For several long moments, they drank their wine, regarding each other silently through the wisps of steam rising from the bathtub that stood so invitingly a few feet away from them. It seemed to Raven the embodiment of the sexual tension that hung in the air around them.

Arne put down his goblet. Raven followed suit, her anticipation reaching almost unbearable heights.

"So, what dae we dae now?" Arne asked, his voice a low murmur, something dark and mysterious and enticing lurking in the depths of his ice-blue eyes.

"Well," she replied, emboldened by his look, seeing a way to test whether his intent matched her own. "Would ye mind if I locked the door? I wouldnae wish anyone tae walk in on us like they did the other night."

The slow, lascivious grin that spread across his lips told her all she needed to know. She got up and deliberately sashayed across to the door as coquettishly as one of Morag's finest courtesans in the House of Pleasure. She turned the key in the lock, shooting him a lingering glance over her shoulder, encouraged by the heated stare he returned to her.

Then, taking her time, milking the moment as long as she could because she was starting to enjoy herself immensely, Raven sashayed back to stand before him.

Suddenly, she turned her back to him and asked politely over her shoulder, "Would ye mind helpin' me out of me dress?"

"Certainly, melady," he replied, his voice deep and thick. "I'm at yer service."

A gasp slipped from Raven's lips when she heard the chair creak as he sat forward. Her entire body quivered like an arrow about to be let fly from a bow when she felt his hands on her waist, drawing her backwards to stand between his open thighs. When he began slowly undoing the fastenings of her bodice, her nipples hardened, rubbing against the fabric of her gown. She could not wait to be free of it, yet the sensations he was giving her were so deliciously erotic, she wanted them to last forever.

As Arne's fingers worked their way methodically down the back of her gown, and it gradually loosened, revealing more and more of her naked flesh, she closed her eyes and smiled. She knew that he too was enjoying the sexual tension that was ramping up between them by slow degrees, that he was deliberately teasing her when he allowed his fingertips to graze her skin tantalizingly. Finally, her bodice came loose. But she did not take it off just yet.

"Would ye mind undoin' me stays as well, please, and me petticoat if 'tis nae too much trouble?" she managed to get out, her voice quivering with pent-up craving.

"With pleasure," he breathed hoarsely, obliging as she requested. When it was done, Raven turned around to face him, unable to keep the wanton smile from her lips as she looked into his eyes, relishing the hunger within them as well as his wolfen grin.

"Thank ye kindly," she murmured, bobbing a small, teasing curtsey, making sure to give him a good flash of her half-exposed breasts. He licked his lips, fanning the flames of hot desire already coursing through her belly and between her legs.

Then, watching his face, she proceeded to slowly remove her bodice and throw it aside. A moment later, it was followed by her stays. Next, taking immense pleasure in the way his eyes were darkening and gleaming in the firelight, she stepped neatly out of her skirt and petticoat and kicked them aside. Now, she was clad in naught but her shift and stockings.

Arne's breath was deepening as he watched her every move with growing intensity. Emboldened and excited by the growing bulge in the front of his trews, Raven taunted him further by raising one leg and placing her foot on his thigh. "I think I may need yer assistance with me garters," she told him, leaning a steadying hand on his mighty shoulder and batting her lashes at him.

"Always ready tae help, melady," he breathed, grinning as he leaned forward and seized her garter between his teeth. Raven could not stop the giggle that burst out of her as he pretended to growl like a dog and worked it down her leg and let it fall.

Deliberately, she leaned forward and bent over, knowing he could see her shape perfectly clearly through the diaphanous material of her shift as she slowly rolled down her stocking and draped it around his neck.

"And the other one if ye please," she murmured, stepping down and placing her other foot on his thigh, never taking her eyes from his.

"I live tae oblige ye, melady," he told her with a hungry look as he did the same with her remaining garter. However, this time he snatched it up and tucked it in the pocket of his shirt. "I'll be keepin' that," he told her, "as a memento."

Raven giggled again, her excitement soaring. "Thank ye again, kind sir." She teasingly rolled down the stocking in front of his eyes before decorating him with it as well. Then, she put her foot gently on the front of his trews, right where she could see his erection practically bursting out from inside them, massaging it in slow circles, delighting in the way he groaned and narrowed his eyes.

The sound, so deep and primal in his throat, fanned the flames of the bonfire already burning in Raven's belly, spurring her to continue teasing his growing bulge with her foot.

"Ach, Arne," she gasped when his large, calloused palms clamped around her raised thigh and then slid upwards over her naked skin inch by delectable inch, until his fingers brushed her sex.

Her whole body trembled, and shards of indescribable pleasure shot through her when he gently parted her lips and stroked her there, teasing and caressing, his thumb brushing tantalizingly over her rosebud, making it stiffen and ache beneath his expert touch. Nothing had changed—he knew exactly how to arouse her passion!

But by the same token, she could tell her manipulations at the front of his trews were having a similar effect upon him, which excited her even more.

"Aye, ah, ah!" she moaned when he slid one finger inside her entrance, then another, and another, pushing deeply into her, opening her up.

Raven, ye're soakin' wet," he ground out low, burying his fingers in her hot slickness, watching her hungrily as she writhed and moaned above him.

Her breath hitched her throat as she rode his questing fingers in a kind of delirium while teasing his crotch.

"I've dreamed of this so many times and wanted ye so badly, I've wished ye were there in me bed, doin' this with me all night long, like we used tae," he said, his eyes watching her every expression as he teased her bud with his thumb, his fingers delving rhythmically inside her.

"I was always there with ye, Arne, in me mind, in me spirit. I hated every night we were apart. I was always there with ye in the bed if ye did but guess it, dreamin' of ye too," she panted, leaning heavily on his shoulder to keep from collapsing, letting out a small, mewling moans.

"Were ye, truly?" he asked, his voice a husky whisper.

"Aye, always," she panted, "I never stopped thinkin' of ye."

"And did ye touch yersel' as ye thought of me?"

His question inflamed her even more. "Aye, I did, many, many nights," she confessed, letting out a helpless groan, thrusting her hips hard against his hand, craving more of the sensations coursing through her.

"Show me," he commanded, his eyes liquid slits of desire as he watched her, toying with her body relentlessly, enough to drive her half mad.

"Like this," she whispered, lowering her hand between her legs, her fingers entwining with his as she caressed her slick folds and rubbed her aroused bud as she had used to do when she was so far away from him and that the memory of his touch was all she had.

Arne's fingers continued their exploration of her hot, moist flesh while he watched her touch herself, his eyes gleaming like chips of blue ice in the lamplight His breathing was growing heavier by the moment. Suddenly, he deftly gripped Raven's ankle and moved her foot from his groin before expertly unfastening his trews.

"See what ye've done tae me," he told her, finally unleashing the erection he had been keeping from her all this time.

"Did ye touch yersel' when ye thought of me too?" she asked.

"Aye, ye ken I did. I tried tae hate ye, but I couldnae stop mesel' from wantin' ye," he told her huskily, gripping his length hard in his palm and pumping it, even as he thrust his fingers inside her continued to watch her toy with herself.

"I ached fer yer kisses, fer yer touch, tae feel ye deep inside me," she whispered, shivering from the ecstasy he was giving her, while at the same time watching him add to his own pleasure and hers, anticipating how much was still to come.

Powerful waves of intoxicating pleasure coiled up from her now molten center and swept over her body. "Dinnae stop," she cried out, her fingers digging into the flesh of his shoulder, matching every thrust of his fingers with her hips as she rubbed frantically at her bud.

"I've nae intention of stoppin'," he growled, his eyes fixed upon her face as waves of bliss began moving inexorably up her body, drawing her by slow, deliberate degrees to the delicious edge of delirium.

"Ach, Arne, I'm comin'," she moaned, head thrown back, her body bucking against his hand as her pleasure spiraled upwards and finally crashed down over her in a sudden, euphoric wave.

While she was still shuddering from her climax, in one fluid movement, Arne stood up, put his hands around Raven's waist and lifted her up, his powerful arms pinning her against his chest effortlessly. His strength was like an aphrodisiac to her, his entire hard, scarred, muscle-packed body seemingly made for her delectation and joy, literally driving her wild with wanting.

Thrilled to her core and already hungry for him again, she eagerly wrapped her arms around his neck and her legs about his waist, urging him on, "I've waited so long fer ye!"

"Nae as much as I've waited fer ye," he promised her, his voice hot and husky in her ear as, with one movement of his hips, he thrust his mighty erection deep inside her, filling her to the hilt.

"Arne!" she screamed into his mouth, almost coming again, while he groaned deep in his throat as he held her there for a few moments, cooling his ardor, resting his forehead against hers.

Then, they entered a whole new phase of intoxicating abandon. Their lips clashed passionately, hungrily, as if they would devour each other and were trying to make up for lost time. Their tongues tangled in a wild dance, lips tasting, sucking, licking, and nipping at whatever piece of flesh they could find.

Raven wound her fingers in Arne's hair, while her own fell about them as they consumed each other, a long black curtain shutting out the rest of the world. They remained that way for several minutes, with Arne's girth and length filling her, making her gasp and whine and writhe, his rhythmic thrusts growing harder and more frantic, driving into her, taking her to closer to heaven with every stroke of his hips against hers.

The bliss heightened, her inner walls pulsed around him, and she felt him stiffen inside her. Knowing they would climax together was fuel to her fire, making it burn higher and hotter than ever.

"Say ye belong tae me and nay other," he gasped gutturally into her mouth, pounding into her, one hand cradling her behind, the other wound tightly in her hair.

"I'm yers, Arne, always have been, always will be, yers and yers alone," Raven cried out with every part of her being, clutching at him, showering him with kisses.

"Aye, ye're mine," he growled. "Ye belong tae me, always and forever."

A deep groan as if wrenched from the pit of his very soul tore itself from his throat as with one final, mighty thrust into her, Raven felt the hot rush of his release mingle with her own, and they peaked together in a shuddering climax that swept them away together as though to a distant shore.