Chapter Eleven

When Eli woke up, it was pitch black outside the cave. In fact, it was so dark that she couldn't tell exactly where the mouth of the cave was. A light snoring told her where Alaric was, and something else caught her attention.

She was frozen. Not truly frozen, but she would be as cold as the top layer of ice on a loch soon enough if she didn't do something about it.

She'd heard her cousins often jest about their husbands being as hot as a hearth and that it was one of the finer things of marriage, but she never actually believed it. But apparently, every bit of it was true.

She shivered, the cold from the stone floor and the one plaid she had sending tremors through her that she couldn't stop. Edging her body closer to Alaric bit by bit, she hesitated every time his breathing changed because she didn't wish to awaken him.

She just wanted his heat. How close would she have to get to him to absorb some of his warmth? She'd take any wee bit he could share with her.

After shimmying across the stone, she reached a spot where she could reach out and touch his back with her fingers, and she sighed, basking in the warmth that emanated from him. How the hell did men do it?

She had to learn this trick. Until then, she'd take whatever Alaric was putting off. Closing her eyes, she moved just a wee bit closer, smiling as the wave of body heat hit her.

"Lass, no reason to sneak. All ye have to do is ask."

Her eyes snapped open. He rolled over to face her, a slight grin on his face, the stubble on his cheeks making him look even more handsome.

"Come closer. I'll no' touch unless ye ask me to."

She slid closer, letting out a small moan of pleasure when there was little space between them.

"Keep making that sound and there will be trouble." His arched brow told her he meant what he said.

She glared at him and snuck her feet closer to his legs.

He whispered, "Take yer boots off."

"My feet will freeze," she whispered, though she didn't know why. There was no one around to overhear them.

"Nay, I'll warm them. I've heard a lass's feet will be the coldest. True?"

"They are cold, but removing my boots will make them colder."

"Ye willnae know until ye try, will ye?"

His hand came across and found hers under the plaid, and her moan of pleasure would definitely have embarrassed her if anyone else had heard.

"All right, I'll try."

She did her best to remove her boots, her hands too cold to grip well. The cold hit her skin and bit into her flesh so quickly that it frightened her. But then she pressed her feet against his legs. Even through his trews, she could feel his warmth. She closed her eyes and allowed him to do whatever he wished.

Anything for his heat.

He tugged her closer, slipped his legs to either side of her feet, tucking the rest of her flush against him. Then he rested his head above hers. They were close enough together that she could pillow her head on his folded plaid. He adjusted the other two plaids to cover them both.

She stared straight at his chest and blast it all, but she could see the muscles there. She did the only thing she could. She rested her head against his chest, the beating of his heart calming her.

Reveling in his heat, she smiled, soaking up all he had to give, but then she felt a strange pressure against her belly.

A large, hard, hot projection poked her, seeming to grow longer moment by moment.

"Alaric?"

"Sorry, lass. 'Tis natural. I wish to stop it, but I cannae. I'll still behave myself. Ye have my word of honor."

She leaned her head back to look at him, and she judged his expression to be quite sincere. Oh, she knew what it was. Her cousins and the kitchen lasses had educated her verra well over the years.

The pole on the hill.

The rod of the mountain peak.

The throbbing member.

The stiff one.

The hard meat of his manhood.

And last but not least, the simplest but clearest name—the hot one.

Isla had said she wished to salute Grif's full mast one day, and the others had giggled hysterically.

Now she truly understood.

Curiosity got the best of her. "Can I touch it?"

"I wouldnae suggest…och…too late."

She wrapped her hand around his manhood, the heat warming her hand so much that she wished to wrap her foot around it but decided that would not be the best idea.

The moan of pleasure from Alaric at just her touch shocked her. She squeezed it just a bit and he moaned again, stilling her hand with his.

"Please dinnae," he ground out, sweat beading on his forehead unlike she'd ever seen before.

"Does it hurt ye?"

"Nay, it doesnae, but 'twill be a different kind of torture if ye dinnae take yer hand away. Please, lass."

"Ye are sweating in this cold?"

"Aye." The one word came out quiet and strangled, as if he choked on it.

The change in him gave her new insight into the relationship between a man and a woman. The twitch in his jaw, the way his eyes closed slowly with his moan of pleasure gave her a sudden sense of power.

Were all men like this?

His hand reached over and caressed her breast through her tunic. "Will this warm ye at all, lass? It works for me, it must work for ye too."

She forced the shock back inside—her curiosity was stronger. No one would ever learn the truth of their encounter. This was the safest chance she'd ever have to experiment with sex.

It was time she learned. She took his hand and guided it underneath her tunic. She wished to see exactly how his hand felt on her breast, but she also wanted the warmth of his skin. His thumb brushed the tip of her nipple and a spark shot through her straight to her lady parts.

More curious than ever, she moved closer to him. She took his other hand and moved it under her tunic. Since she had two breasts, she saw no reason for him not to caress them both.

And it worked. She was warming up, partly from Alaric but also from the reaction her body was having to the physical stimulation. She knew how the act took place, and now that she held him in her hand, she envisioned how that heat would feel between her legs, so she moved him there, right where she wanted him. The heat traveled through her leggings, which surprised her. "Am I hurting ye? Should I stop?"

Alaric tipped his head down and closed his eyes, shaking his head. She squeezed her legs together against him just a wee bit and he moaned again, squeezing her nipples.

"Ye better stop, lass, if ye don't want to do something ye might regret."

Her curiosity was getting the better of her. If she could warm up from completing the act, then why not? She had no intention of marrying, so there was no reason to keep her virginity intact. Why not use it to suit her needs instead of some man's?

The truth came to her then, but she tried her best to deny it.

She wanted that man to be Alaric. She didn't understand why, but she trusted him. He was handsome, kind, and she actually had feelings for him. This was a far better situation than some random lad in the stables. And since there would never be a wedding, this was the best way for her to learn all about the act.

"I think I would like this inside me." There was something powerful going on inside her own body, and she wished to see exactly what it was. If she ever had to explain to anyone why she did it, the simple answer was to stay alive. She was about to freeze to death, and if she could find a way to fit this hot rod in her hand inside her, she would finally be warm. Surely anyone who'd spent a night in the cold would understand her meaning. They would surely believe her, would they not?

Then the oddest thing happened. Alaric squeezed her nipples again, and she shivered—but not from the cold. A need developed inside her that she wished to satisfy. Now she had to figure out exactly how to go about it. She reached for his member again and wrapped her hand around him.

Alaric groaned, a sound that was both pain and pleasure. Then he pulled her hand away from him. "Stop."

She did, watching his face. The poor man seemed to be in pain.

"Alaric, I am freezing cold. I need yer heat and that…thing of yers seems the best way to warm up. Please put it inside me."

"Nay, I canno' do this just to warm ye. 'Tis a foolish thing to say."

Annoyed that he didn't fall for her reasoning, she tried another tactic, one that was a wee bit closer to the truth. Her lady parts seemed to have a mind of their own and wanted that thing inside her. How she knew that, she wasn't quite sure, but she did.

He pulled himself away from her, and she began to shiver again. "Nay, please. I need ye, Alaric. I like the way ye are making me feel." That was the simple truth.

"Nay. I'll no' be bedding ye unless ye promise to marry me. My sire would kill me if I took yer maidenhead and we werenae married or at least promised to each other."

"I dinnae care anything about my maidenhead. I dinnae need it. I'm never marrying, so I choose to give it to ye. Please."

"Never marry? Why would ye say so?"

"Because I dinnae need a man for anything. I'll be fine by myself. I have a clan, a family. I'll have nieces and nephews, so I'll be fine without a husband. So I dinnae need my maidenhead. In fact, I'm sick of it. I wish to rid myself of it." With that, just to make sure he understood her, she reached for his manhood and wrapped her hand around it again. "It shrank."

"No' for long!" He let out a large growl when she squeezed it again.

Sure enough, it grew in her hand like some magical staff. She was quite enjoying this discovery. It was hot and smooth and so comforting that she slid her leggings down and squeezed it between her legs. "That feels so much better."

It was as if her lady parts were talking now.

"Nay!" He pushed her away, and her shivers shook her body. But it wasn't just from the cold. It was from something else, and she had to convince him to finish this.

"Alaric, I need ye. I'm no' worried about marrying ye because I'll no' survive the cold."

He stared at her. "Promise me ye'll marry me if we both survive this night and our patrol. Or at least handfast with me. Though I think this night with ye is more likely to kill me than any battle with the English."

"Fine. I'll handfast with ye. That way I can end it in a year. But please. I desperately want ye now."