Chapter 20

CHAPTER TWENTY

E lara was all too glad to close the door on their chamber for the night. She pressed her ear to the closed door, waiting until she heard Annabella's footsteps move away. At first, there was no sound at all. It conjured the image of Annabella standing on the other side of the door for a minute, before she walked away.

Sighing, Elara turned back to face the room, leaning on the door.

It was a grand room, almost as large as Kaden's chamber from his castle. The white stone walls were clad in tapestries and even the four-poster bed was hung with heavy white curtains. There were plush cushions over every settle bench pressed against the walls, and a vast table had been filled with what was a practical feast. Two ornate pewter jugs also rested on the table. One was evidently spiced mead from the heavy honey scent lingering in the air, the other was just water.

"Ye shouldnae have kissed me like that," Elara whispered.

"Why nae?" Kaden asked, pouring out a glass of mead for himself. He offered to pour her one out too, but she shook her head. She didn't want to drink tonight. "Ye kissed me back."

"Ye did it tae make a point, just fer Annabella's sake."

"Nay just fer her sake, fer yers too." He looked up from the jug. "I hope ye understand that."

Elara was nervous to move off the door. It was as if all the tension of the last few days was threatening to bubble to the surface. She feared if she confessed to loving that kiss, that he may kiss her again.

Is it what I fear? Or is it what I want?

She glanced at the bed, a wonderfully wild image of the two of them tangled in those sheets. She closed her eyes, trying to block it out of her mind.

"We should eat something," Kaden said, gesturing to the food.

"I'm nae hungry, but we should look at yer wound."

"It's fine," he insisted.

"The bandage will need changing by now. Ye dinnae want an infection."

"Aye, aye, ye're right."

Elara retrieved her bag from the corner of the room and found the healer's pack inside. By the time she turned back, Kaden had removed his waistcoat and shirt, giving her access to his shoulder as he sat down on a settle bench. She stumbled as she crossed the room toward him, still staring at his chest.

I didnae think this through, did I?

To her relief, he said nothing as she pulled of his bandage and cleaned the wound. This evening, he bore with the stinging pain even better, not flinching once. As she bandaged the gash back up again, doing her best to not let her fingers linger on his skin, he glanced at the bed.

"So, am I sleeping on the floor tonight?" he asked, not quite looking her in the eye.

Elara froze. Despite her best intentions, her hand did linger on his bare shoulder.

"Nay," she whispered. She couldn't bear the thought of him being on the floor whilst she had the bed. She rather feared if he did sleep on the floor, she would have climbed off the bed just to curl against his side again.

What is wrong with me!?

She released him and turned her back on him, pouring out a glass of water for herself. As she took a heavy gulp, she snuck another glance at him.

That tattoo, emblazoned across his stomach, was entrancing to stare at. Once more, she longed to ask him what it meant, but he was already lifting his shirt, about to pull it over his head again.

The last time I asked… it didnae go down well.

"Ye're looking at the tattoo."

"Sorry." She moved away, putting the cup down. She sat on a settle bench opposite him, so there was good deal of distance between them.

"I had it done after the fire."

She stiffened on the bench, staring at him.

"Why?" she whispered, nervous to say too much in case he closed down again. He stared at the floor between them, as still as stone, no longer pulling his shirt on, but hanging it loosely in his hands. His tattoo was fully on show, the black flames curling up his abdomen.

"Maybe ye'd call it a reminder, or a scar." His voice had grown deeper. "I felt as if I was scarred after losing them, yet nothing physical had changed. I was half the man I was before, and the man in the mirror looked the same. I couldnae bear that." He leaned forward. "I needed tae dae it. Fer I should have also died in that fire, shouldnae I? I was invited, I should have been there, and yet I escaped, and they did that."

"Ye've scarred yerself," she whispered. Slowly, he nodded, though he wouldn't look at her.

Whatever last defenses Elara had inside of her, whatever reason she was telling herself not to get any closer to Kaden, it crumbled away. It was as though a wall had fallen down from around her. She stood up from the bench and moved toward him, her sudden movement making him snatch his gaze toward her.

"Ye are nothing like the man I feared ye would be," she said huskily, watching as he tilted his head to the side.

"And what sort of man am I now in yer eyes?"

She didn't have the words. She acted instead.

She leaned down toward him, resting her hand on his good shoulder. Without hesitation, she pressed her lips to his.

At first, it was just like the kiss they had shared downstairs. Chaste, a mere press of lips together, though it was certainly an intense press, but then everything changed.

Kaden stood, gripping to her hips and pulling her against him. She gladly curled her arms up around his back, her hands finding his shoulder blades as he bent toward her, deepening that kiss. He nipped her bottom lip and she opened gladly, allowing his tongue to tangle with her own. It was as dominating and as thrilling as it had been that night at the inn when she had tried to seduce him, only now, that thrill was even greater.

He backed her up suddenly, and she didn't fight him. She wanted to know exactly where he was taking her, what he was going to do.

Her back collided with one of the tapestries and they fell against it with a soft thud. His hands started moving, exploring her. They started at her hips, went to her waist, then back down to her rear. The way his hands squeezed, spreading across her cheeks made her gasp into his kiss, just wanting him to keep touching her and never to stop.

Then he pulled back.

"Kaden," she begged, needing his lips on her again.

"Ye want me tae stop, ye say it." His voice was so deep, it was now nearly unrecognizable. "Ye want me tae dae more, than ye say that too."

"Kaden…" She breathed deeply, her chest rising and falling. "More." That simple word produced a sudden reaction.

He reached for the skirt of her gown, flinging it up around her waist, his fingers wandering over her thighs. She gasped even more, breathy moans escaping her now as her fingers clutched to the tapestry behind her to keep herself standing.

"Ye've never been touched," he whispered huskily. "Ye want tae ken what it is like, Fire? Ye want tae feel that intensity?"

"Aye," she murmured to him.

He flashed a devilish smile than bent down to his knees before her. She didn't know what he was doing but just gripped that tapestry harder. One of his hands ran up the inside of her thigh as his other grabbed her rear, beneath her skirt, keeping the gown hooked up over his elbow so it was out of the way. That hand trailing up the inside of her thigh pushed her leg to the side an inch, then lifted her thigh so it was resting on his shoulder. Propped up by him, she stared down at him, watching his dark blue eyes.

"Say ye're mine." The husky order took her by surprise. Her heartbeat fluttered in her chest. "Say it," he pleaded, his blue eyes hooded.

"I'm yers," she whispered, for she couldn't imagine wanting to do this with anyone else but him.

Then he moved forward. The first touch she felt was his finger, teasing her through her damp curls, then she felt the length slip inside of her. She gasped at the sensation, shocked at the pleasure swirling around his hand as he explored her, pumping her. He moved fast, small and slight movements, though it was enough to drive her mad. Her hands scrambled to grip the tapestry, afraid of falling over, but he had strong hold of her, showing he wasn't going to let go.

"Dinnae stop watching," he ordered.

She found she rather liked his orders and nodded.

He withdrew his hand, using it to keep her thigh resting on his shoulder, then he moved his lips toward her.

The movement of his tongue against her center made Elara wild. Any attempt she had been making to stay quiet before faded completely. She did as he asked, watching what he was doing to her, their gazes sometimes meeting, unblinkingly, before he would press her deeper. When his tongue reached inside of her, she was tingling madly, that pleasure emanating through every extremity.

"Kaden, I…" There was a tightness swelling in her stomach. She could feel the pleasure building to such a point, but he seemed to sense it, and stopped. "Kaden!" she cried his name in irritation rather than pleasure now.

"Keep saying me name," he whispered as he stood, his hands slipping easily under her thighs. He lifted her off the floor, her legs looping around his waist as he carried her toward the bed. "Everything off," he ordered as she was dropped down onto the bed.

She didn't even think of refusing. He was already pulling down his trews as she scrambled with the ties of her gown. When his length was revealed, she halted a little, busy staring at him. His length was standing to attention, and she couldn't believe the size of him. Strangely, it didn't make her nervous. It just made her mouth drier with excitement, the persistent ache that had developed between her legs now throbbing, wanting his attention.

He went to help her with the gown, the heavy cloth quickly thrown aside. He reached for her corset next. They were halfway through loosening the ties, when clearly, he ran out of patience. He took hold of her waist and turned her around, so she was on her knees on the bed. He bent over her from behind, his length nudging her rear.

"Ye trust me?" he whispered as he lifted his chemise.

"Ye ken I dae," she reached back toward him, finding his hand momentarily. Their fingers locked together, then he bent down and kissed the inside of her wrist. He held that kiss, the intensity of it making her gasp and rock her hips back against him. "More," she begged.

He growled, in the most perfectly animalistic way, then released her hand and took hold of her hips.

Elara's body tightened as she felt his length nudge her entrance, then his fingers reached down first and entered her. This time, he used two fingers, stretching her body. Whatever discomfort she had felt melted into pure pleasure, as her mouth fell open in an ‘o' shape. He replaced his fingers with his length again then pressed inside of her.

Elara had to bury her face into the pillow in front of her from the sheer pleasure and discomfort of it. The pain passed fast, her body stretched further than it had before, for Kaden set up a steady rhythm. Each rock of his hips was small, teasing the pleasure points, reaching all the way inside of her.

His hands wouldn't stop moving as he rocked their bodies together. He moved from her hips to her rear, then reaching down beneath her corset and gripping to her waist.

Knowing what they were doing was as much a thrill as the feeling of it. Elara was soon lifting her head off the pillow, allowing her moans to fill the air with her hands planted into the covers of the bed.

"Say it," he whispered suddenly. "Fire, ye're mine."

"Yers!" She would have said anything he wanted her to in that moment.

"Ye have been driving me mad since that night," he growled out his pleasure, his voice quickened by the second. His fingers reached around her, untying the laces of her corset. "Ye have nay idea how much I have imagined this, how much I have wanted ye. I've never burned fer another woman more."

She moaned again when his length suddenly left her. She didn't have time to moan her frustration though, for she was tumbled down onto her back.

Kneeling above her, he pulled the corset free of her body, then took hold of her chemise and lifted that too.

Every part of her was revealed to him, though she wasn't nervous to show herself to him. As he threw her chemise aside, he lifted her legs, kneeling between them, smiling in the most sensual way as he leaned down over her.

"I want tae look at ye as ye reach yer end, Elara," he whispered, moving his lips to hers.

The fact he wanted her, wanted all of it, even to see her face twisted in such pleasure made her ache for him even more. She curled her hands under his back, pulling his body against hers.

He slid his length inside of her, and this time, the movements were not so small. He rocked his hips against her own, the sheer force of each pump sending Elara nearer and nearer to her edge. He broke off from their kiss, kneeling up and holding onto her thighs as he drove into her.

Intoxicated by the sight of him, Elara gazed up as he rocked into her, her eyes shooting from that fiery tattoo to his face, to his toned chest, then back to those dark blue eyes.

Then it happened. She was nearing that edge again. Finding it impossible to stay still, her head writhed. She couldn't quite reach him in their position, though she reached out with one hand that he took hold of. He linked their fingers together, moving harder and faster into her.

She stared at the connection of their hands as she tumbled over the edge of their pleasure. She had never known a feeling like it, such ecstasy that rocked her body and made it impossible to be still. She was basking in that feeling of it, her lower body tightened completely around his length when he suddenly pulled out of her.

He still held onto her hand as with his other palm he pumped his length a few more times, then he reached his end too.

Amazed at the sight of it, she watched him tip back his head, great guttural moans escaping him as his length spilled across her hips and her lower thighs. She was amazed at how much he had clearly desired her and how much she had loved every second of it.

They were both panting, unable to catch their breaths as she reached for his good shoulder, pulling him down toward her. He fell on top of her, their bodies molding together as he kissed her. It was such a deep kiss, she let him dominate, tangling her fingers in his hair, not wanting this moment to end.

When they eventually leaned apart a little, he rested their foreheads together, his smile as ridiculous as she was sure her own was.

"God that was amazing," he whispered. She giggled, running her fingers up and down his back.

It was all too perfect. Elara couldn't help holding onto a lingering doubt in her head. This was a laird who on the night they met was willing to take a supposed courtesan to bed. Was it truly possible he cared for her now? Or was he a very good actor indeed?

She cared for him so much in that moment, she didn't know how to tell him what it had meant to her. Instead, she pulled him down for another kiss, and he sank into it, his hands coming up around her body, holding on tight.