He pulled back, then thrust his hips against hers.
They moaned in unison.
"Did that hurt?" he asked.
"Nay," she said breathlessly.
Ewan moved slowly against her, driving himself in as deep as he dared.
"Oh that feels so good." She sighed. "Is it supposed to be like this?"
"Are you ever out of questions?"
"Am I not supposed to talk?"
Ewan rolled over with them still joined. He sat her on top of him and watched her in the moonlight.
Her eyes widened even more. "Am I supposed to be up here like this?"
He actually laughed at that. "Do you like it?"
She bit her lip and nodded enthusiastically.
"Then we"re supposed to do it."
Ewan showed her how to ride him slow and easy. He ran his hands down her thighs and watched the way the moonlight cut across her pale skin.
"May I ask another question?"
His mind was dazed from the feel of her naked body sliding against his, and it took a few seconds before he could respond. "By all means talk, my lady, if it gives you pleasure to do so. Tell me more about how I feel inside you."
"You are so hard and strong. I can even feel you throbbing here." She pointed to her lower abdomen.
She sight of her hand stroking her stomach almost shattered his control. He took her hand into his and led it away before he succ.u.mbed too early to the o.r.g.a.s.m he longed for.
Nora wiggled her bottom against him. "What am I supposed to do?"
He lifted his hips up, driving himself deeper into her. "Whatever you want to do."
She ground herself against him in a way so sublime that he growled in satisfaction.
Nora felt so strangely free with him. She ran her hands over the hard muscles of his chest and abdomen.
It was so odd to see him lying there under her, between her spread thighs.
He held her hips in his hands and guided her movements. But what held her transfixed was the bliss on his face. His cheeks were flushed, his eyes dark and unfocused.
She moaned as he ran his hands up from her hips, to her b.r.e.a.s.t.s, where he toyed with their swollen nipples.
Had anyone ever told her she would sit on a man like this and enjoy it, she would have called him a liar, and yet here she sat with his thick hardness inside her.
"What do I feel like to you, Ewan?"
"Wet and soft."
"Have you been with many women?"
He stopped moving. "Nay, not many."
She smiled at that. It made this moment all the more special to her. "I"m glad. I want this to be special between us."
Ewan cupped her face in his hands. "Believe me, love, it is." He pulled her down and kissed her fiercely.
Nora trembled at the pa.s.sion she tasted, at the way he teased her lips with his and twined his tongue around hers. His muscles bulged around her, making her tremble.
Ewan pulled back from the kiss, then rolled over with her and took control.
Nora arched her back as he moved faster. Harder. It was as if he were racing for something.
What was this wondrous sensation of him sliding in and out of her body?
Every stroke brought more pleasure. Every kiss and touch reverberated through her.
"Make me yours, Ewan."
But in her heart, she knew he already had.
He claimed her lips again as he slammed himself into her even deeper than he"d been before.
She wrapped her legs around his hips and let his pa.s.sion sweep her away.
He lowered his head down to her shoulder and growled as he released himself inside her.
She drew a ragged breath as he collapsed on top of her and held her tight.
"Thank you, Nora," he whispered in her ear as he panted fiercely. Then he kissed her lips again in a tender caress that sent chills through her.
He withdrew from her and rolled over onto his back and pulled her against his side.
She a.s.sumed he was through with her, so it surprised her when he spread her legs and touched the most private place of her body.
"What are you doing?" she asked.
"I want you to have your pleasure."
"I already had it."
He smiled wickedly at that. "Nay, my innocent dove, you didn"t."
Nora swallowed as his long, lean fingers delved deep into her body. She tensed a bit as they burned the tender flesh of her nether lips.
"Don"t dry out on me, Nora."
Confused as to what he meant, she frowned.
Ewan pulled her plaid to him and used it to wipe her between her legs. She blushed at his actions.
"What are you doing?"
His eyes were warm. "Trust me. I promise you"ll like this."
He laid his body between her legs and spread her thighs wide.
Nora"s face flamed as she realized he was staring at the center of her body.
He ran his long, tapered finger down her cleft. She s.h.i.+vered. Then he used his fingers to spread her open and dipped his head down.
Nora jerked as his mouth covered her. Every nerve ending in her body sizzled as she cried out in surprise. He stroked her with his tongue and lips.
She hissed and moaned as she cupped his head to her. No longer able to speak, all she could do was feel each and every luscious lick he gave her.
Who could have imagined? His breath was hot against her bared flesh, and when he slid a finger deep inside her and rotated it, she thought she would die.
She looked down to see him staring up at her while he tormented her with ecstasy.
He pulled back, but left his finger inside her. A strange sensation of intimacy overwhelmed her.
"Don"t be embarra.s.sed, dove," he whispered, then he returned to taunt her with his mouth.
With a mind of its own, her body writhed to his touch and kisses.
"Oh Ewan," she groaned.
And as he continued, she found herself unable to speak anymore. Unable to do anything other than feel him. Feel his tongue sliding around her, his finger swirling.
Her pleasure built to an unimaginable height, until she was sure that she would explode with the weight of it.
Then, in the span of one heartbeat, she did explode. Her body splintered apart, and she cried out.
Ewan didn"t stop. He stayed there, licking and teasing until she"d come for him twice more.
When he seemed content to tease her more, she begged him for mercy. "Please, Ewan," she whimpered.
"If I do that one more time, I fear I shall die of it."
He chuckled at her plea, then turned his face to suckle the tender flesh of her thigh.
Nora lay there, completely spent and weak. She breathed raggedly as Ewan gathered her into his arms and held her close.
"You weren"t jesting," she said while her body slowly returned to normal. "I had no ideathat existed."
He kissed her brow and cradled her head with his hands. "Neither did I," he whispered softly.
Nora smiled and snuggled into him, wanting to be as close as she could.
This was the single best night of her life, and she was so glad that she had shared this with him. If tomorrow forced her to marry Ryan, at least she had known one night of true pa.s.sion. A night of lying in the arms of a man who wanted and respected her.
She would treasure it always.
Ewan listened to Nora as she fell back asleep. Guilt and regret overwhelmed him.
What he had done tonight was inexcusable. He had taken her virginity, something that was a husband"s right, not his.
Her father and betrothed would be furious when they found out.
A fierce wave of rage swept through him at the thought of another man touching her as he had tonight.
At the thought of her encouraging another man with her words.
She was his!
You"ve no right to her.
Besides, what could you offer her?
Ewan covered them with her plaid and ran his hands through her pale blond hair. He had nothing to offer her. All he knew was what he felt when he held her like this.
The way he felt every time she looked at him.
G.o.d help them both, for they were bound to pay for this night. But he would make sure he paid the lion"s share of it. No one would ever hurt the lady for what she had given him.
He would make sure of it.
Catarina rose just after dawn.
Everyone was still abed, and she didn"t notice that Nora wasn"t in her pallet until she grabbed her bucket and headed for the stream for fresh water.
Whistling the lullaby her mother had taught her, she found Ewan and Nora lying entwined underneath a plaid. Though they were mostly covered, it was still apparent they were both naked.
And it didn"t take a genius to figure out why the two of them were lying naked in the woods underneath a plaid.
She smiled, then tiptoed silently backward so as not to disturb them.
Against all Nora"s protestations, the lady was enamored of the man.
Catarina felt a momentary stab of jealousy. How she wished she could find a man of her own to love.
Still, she wouldn"t let that destroy the happiness she felt for Nora. Love was a beautiful thing, and everyone deserved to find her perfect mate.