"You"re the only woman I"ll ever want, Christy Macdonald."
The husky sound of his voice was a caress, his warm mouth upon her as potent as the stroke of his tongue against her nipple, and she trembled. She must have been mad to think she could survive without this special man in her life.
"You"re the only man I"ll ever want, my Lord Sin."
"Just Sinjun. I"ve repented."
His hand swept over her belly, coming to rest at the bright curls between her legs. His fingers slid through dewy flesh, opening her, stroking the inner folds, now wet with her love juices, until she burned beneath his touch. A thrumming began low in her stomach. Her nerve ends were so raw she lurched and cried out when his mouth replaced his fingers. A new fire ignited when she felt his tongue thrust deeply into her moist pa.s.sage. When he dragged his thumb across the throbbing nub of sensitive flesh, she lost all semblance of control.
"Sinjun! Please!"
She quivered, straining upward against him, pressing herself with artless ecstasy against his mouth, reaching for elusive release. A soft sob tore from her throat. Then ecstasy tore through her in a shattering, tumultuous explosion.
"Sinjun! Oh, G.o.d, how I love you! Come inside me. I"ve waited so long."
He raised to his knees and knelt over her. She felt the tenseness of his sweat-slicked muscles and spread her thighs wide to receive him. A log in the grate hissed and spat, and in the ensuing flash of light Christy caught a glimpse of his eyes, heavy-lidded with pa.s.sion, glowing like brilliant embers beneath a fringe of dark lashes. His teeth were bared, and his expression was stark with concentration.
He was so beautiful he took her breath away. She was distracted from his face when she felt his thick shaft prodding against her stomach. Her fingers curled around him, taking his hot shaft in her hand, slowly moving it up and down his hard length. Once, twice, again, then she heard his breath hiss through his clenched teeth.
"You"re killing me, sweetheart."
His voice was raw, as if he were riddled with pain. Heart clamoring wildly, she knew instinctively that his control was dangling by a slim thread. She brought him to her entrance and he slid inside.
"Thank G.o.d," he whispered fervently. "Hold me, love, hold me."
Her arms slid around his warm, damp skin to hold him close as he moved forcefully between her legs. He kissed her roughly, thrusting deep and hot inside her. She cried out, overcome by sweet ecstasy. It had been so long ... so very long. He caught her cry in his mouth as she dug her fingers into the taut muscles of his back, urging him on with soft little noises she had no idea she was making. He moved inside her with strong, relentless strokes; she arched upward into the hard thrust of him, wanting more, demanding everything.
Someone was whimpering. It was immediately silenced when he covered her mouth with his, but the whimpers continued inside her head. He drove into her with relentless fervor, his engorged shaft sending pleasure washing over her in hot, scalding waves.
Half-sobbing, she clung to him as he climaxed strongly inside her. He groaned and rested his fore-head against her cheek, panting to catch his breath. After a while he rolled to one side and brought her against him.
"Do you forgive me?" Christy whispered into the silence of the chamber.
"It"s probably going to take a lifetime."
"I never wanted to lie to you. I couldn"t let you return to the Highlands and become Calum"s victim, so I did what I thought best to save your life."
"It"s all right, love, truly. I do understand, though I would have preferred that you told me the truth and let me decide what to do about Calum. Speaking of Calum, how did you keep him from ... bedding you? I wouldn"t have given up so easily."
She laughed and said archly, "Calum isn"t Lord Sin. Seriously, though, jealousy and ambition were eating him alive. When we were children we were expected to marry, but Culloden changed all that. Calum thought that making me his mistress would give him the power to control the clans."
"Did Calum think I was going to do nothing while he used my wife?" Sinjun asked harshly.
""Tis a rare husband who will take his wife back once she"s been compromised by another man. Wife stealing often results in a feud that can last generations."
"I must be that rare husband, because I wanted you back no matter what Calum did to you. You haven"t told me how you kept Calum from bedding you."
"I told him I was carrying your bairn. It dampened his ardor, just like I hoped it would."
Sinjun reared up on his elbow. "Are you? Good G.o.d, Christy, am I going to be a father again?"
"I don"t think so."
"Would you like to?"
The breath caught in her throat. "Would you like another bairn?"
""Tis time Niall had a little brother or sister."
"What about Lord Sin? Aren"t you going to miss him? Won"t the ton miss him?"
"I like to think that the legendary Lord Sin abdicated his t.i.tle at the height of his ill.u.s.trious career. He"ll always be remembered as a profligate rake. As for the ton, I don"t give a d.a.m.n what they think. London no longer holds the same appeal it once did. I"ve learned to appreciate moors covered with heather, craggy mountains and sparkling lochs. The Highlands is a good place to raise our children."
Tears of joy filled Christy"s eyes. "Are you saying what I think you are? Are you sure you"re willing to forgo the pleasures of London society for country living? You know how remote Glenmoor is, how unworldly compared to decadent London."
"I love you, Christy. You wouldn"t be happy living in London. Besides, the clan needs their laird. I"m not saying we won"t visit London from time to time. What I"m trying to tell you is that I no longer feel the need to maintain the same lifestyle Lord Sin found essential to his well-being."
He grinned. "Won"t Julian be surprised? He"s been trying to reform me for years."
"I can"t remember when I"ve been so happy," Christy sighed. "I nearly lost my mind waiting for you to return to London. I feared ... I thought..."
"That I would turn you out of my house?" Sinjun drawled. "That was never my intention."
"I"ll not submit meekly to a beating," Christy teased playfully.
He chuckled. "I never thought you would, "tis why I never considered it. Not my fierce Christy. I"ll settle for your love." He pulled her against him, his hands caressing her b.r.e.a.s.t.s, her hips, his lips teasing her ear. "Shall we make a little brother or sister for Niall?"
"It might take a very long time."
"I"ve got all the time in the world. If Lord Sin is going to retire, he"ll need to practice his skills frequently so he won"t become boring."
"You"ll never bore me, Sinjun. Just don"t stop loving me."
"Loving you is my destiny. I should have realized it when that seven-year-old h.e.l.lion I married kicked me in the shin and stuck her tongue out at me.
They loved and slept and loved again, for the rest of their lives.
About the Author.
Connie is the bestselling author of 60 books and novellas and counting. Her tales of pa.s.sion and adventure are set in exotic as well as in American locales. Connie has won awards from Romantic Times and has been listed in Who"s Who of American Women for several years. Connie makes her home in Tarpon Springs, Florida.
Connie is a world traveler. She has visited every country in Western and Eastern Europe, Greece, Asia and Northern Africa. Also, countless islands in the Mediterranean and Caribbean Seas. Connie enjoys spending time with her three children, nine grandchildren and three great-grandchildren. Visit her Website and www.conniemason.com.
Other books by Connie Mason:.
A BREATH OF SCANDAL.
TO LOVE A STRANGER.
TO TEMPT A ROGUE.
A TOUCH SO WICKED.