A Year and a Day (5 page)

Still wide-eyed, Cait nodded her head.

“We’re…er…meant to be naked,” he continued, almost apologetic.

Cait blurted, “I know!” and then slapped her hands over the front of her mouth in horror at what she said, “I mean…that is…I’d figured that’s how it was.”

“Well, then,” he took a deep breath. His fingers were still teasing the hem of his shirt and, in a single fluid motion he yanked it over his head.

It was the second time that day that Cait was confronted with Ewan’s bare chest, and the second time that day she’d been struck breathless by the sight. There was something so steady, so
male
about his body that it was impossible to look away. Even a shy, fleeting glance at his broad
shoulders and tanned
skin was enough to send curious, swirling sparks shooting through her veins.

Ewan studied her expression, reached for
his belt
, and then must have thought better of his actions, because he nodded his head at Cait. “You
r
turn,” he said, his voice no more than a whisper.

She swallowed and nodded her head.

Cait had, of course, never undressed for a man, and didn’t know where to start, and so she reached first for her bodice, straining her arms to reach behind her back and loosen the leather lashing.

“Let me,” Ewan offered, after watching her struggle for a moment.
Cait
shyly nodded her head.

With her eyes turned away from Ewan, she expected her blush to fade, but the opposite was the case. The sight of his body had been replaced by the even more alarming sensation of his fingers skimming down her spine. They moved unhurried to loosen each of her stays and, finally, to strip the bodice from her chest.

Her breasts were still covered. A chemise of plain white wool was beneath the gown, but she still felt alarmingly exposed. Instinctively she crossed her arms across her
chest
. Then she reminded herself that she was being silly and dropped them to her sides again.

Cait looked to Ewan for a signal, to let her know if it was still her “turn”. Absent any indi
ca
t
ion, she untied the sash of her skirt. It felt to her feet in a puddle, leaving her in her undergarment again.

Ewan was looking at her body. His stare was disarmingly frank. It felt as though his fingers, and not his eyes, were treading across her skin, and it caused her to shiver.

“You’re cold.”

After such a profound silence, Ewan’s voice came as a shock.
Cait
jolted and shook her head, but he was already walking toward the fire. Even before he cast on another log, the activated had its desire effect. The sight of Ewan’s bare back- the muscles flexing and straining beneath his skin as he banked the fire- raised Cait’s temperature several degress.

“Well, then. Where were we?” Ewan asked when he returned again to his side. He looked pointedly at Cait’s chemise, which she assumed he wanted her to strip away, but she couldn’t find the nerve to do it herself. “Right,” Ewan finally muttered. He took a step forward, and frowned when Cait’s immediate instinct was to take a step back. “Maybe this would work a little better if we weren’t quite so…formal,” he suggested.

Cait looked up curiously, “Oh? And what did you have in-“ but she never got to answer, because, at that instant, Ewan’s lips descended and covered hers.

This was another moment Cait had imagined- even practiced on the tattered, lumpy pillow on her bed when she’d been a girl. For once, reality exceeded expectation.

Cait had been kissed, several times, and with great vigor, by clansmen not above trifling with servant girls. The experiences had not been uniformly unpleasant, but they had never been like this, Cait thought, her eyes automatically drifting closed at the very first brush of Ewan’s lips. The full, roughened ridges whispered against her own, so lightly that they created the merest hint of friction, but it was enough to
send shivers
to her very core. Her arms lifted instinctively to his waist. Perhaps encouraged, he made a second pass.

The next time that their lips met, the pressure was still gentle, but more insistent and prolonged. Ewan’s own hands had been hovering over Cait’s skin, but they finally closed around her flesh. The broad palms felt impossible large and hot through the insubstantial covering of her chemise, particularly when they began to move, groping lightly over her bottom and back.

Strictly business…
Cait was repeating the words inside her mind, over and over, but the chant became more difficult to maintain when Ewan’s tongue lapped against her lips. She parted them in surprise. Then, with the firm thrust of the wet muscle into her mouth,
the warmth
in her body burst into flame. Every inch of her skin was on fire as he stroked and teased her skin.

Cait wondered if it was Ewan’s skill, or simply all the years of empty longing that made her body such ready tinder. She simply couldn’t stop her hands from moving away from the safe resting spot that she had choosen. They stroked down his well-knit shoulders, over his arms, and then covered the rest of his skin. She knew it was indeli
ca
t
e, but she couldn’t contain her curiosity, her
need
to make out all the contours of his frame. Her hands treaded heavily down his spine, and then his buttocks, and finally groped the well-defined muscles in the backs of his thighs.

He was so powerful- in
every
sense of the word: A leader of men, a formidable warrior, the n
atural master of her own desires
. She was dizzy with it, drunk on the sensation of being able to touch and sample the body that she had ached for such a very long time. A voice in the back of her mind reminded her to be shy and demure, but her hunger was so very voracious that she wasn’t fully in control.

She felt him flex and twitch beneath her fingers. His own ministrations ceased, and his breathing slowed as if he was waiting to see how much she dared. The thick muscles beneath her fingertips were taut with anticipation as his tongue surged deeper into her mouth, the urgency enough to send her breathless.

Her fingers curled
in the fabric of his
plaid. The fabric was
all askew now- from her wanderings and also an unmistakable bulge that rose in the front.
I did that
, Cait though, feeling a surge of triumph. She wanted to touch it, and began to slip her hands around, but Ewan suddenly stiffened.

He jerked away. The sudden loss of contact felt like she had missed a step.

“Well, now,” he said, a faint breathlessness the only hint that he’d been affected at all. “Well, I think that should do.” He turned toward the bed and gestured toward it. “Shall we?”

He
had
to get control. Ewan caught his breath, releasing it very slowly, forcibly trying to cool the passion that had surged so unexpectedly in his veins. He didn’t understand how things had escalated so quickly. One minute he’d been kissing her, and the next…

He
would
restrain himself, Ewan vowed. It was quite one thing to tumble with the crofter’s daughters in conveniently lo
Cait
ed stacks of hay- and quite something else to bed one’s wife. He had a sense that the occasion required a bit more dignity- although, he wasn’t certain how, he
knew
that did not included jumping on the woman as though she were a mare in heat.

Cait certainly hadn’t acted like she
minded
;
the little thought taunted him as he walked toward the bed. Cait hadn’t acted at all shocked by his reaction to their kissing. In fact, she had answered back with a shocking amount of enthusiasm and skill. Where had she learnt to be
so
…He thought jealously for the word…
passionate?
She’d never mentioned any other young man in the castle, and he’d never heard whisperings to besmirch her reputation, but perhaps he didn’t know her as well as he thought?

They had reached the bed. Ewan met her expectant gaze. That might have been a miscalculation. The sight of her flushed cheeks and shining eyes made the flesh between his legs begin to throb. He was so hard that it almost hurt and wasn’t inclined to wait much longer for release. He glanced meaningfully at the mattress, inviting her to lie down.

She did so, and then he joined her, settling his body between her legs. She was still wearing the chemise, but nothing more, so that he could feel the soft contours of her exquisite body pressing back at him through the cloth.

Control
, Ewan thought, surprised that he could think above the thundering of his heart. He was more than a little embarrassed by his reaction. He’d never been so awkward in making love to a woman- an act he’d completed with relish at least a
thousan
d times before. Even the very first time there had been no hesitation. His body had told him what to do- and he had followed the advice to mutual delight.

His
body
certainly wasn’t the problem now, Ewan mused, fighting the urge to groan when Cait shifted against him and another bolt of longing shot through his flesh. He wanted her so badly it hurt. There was something else. Loyalty? Friendship? He’d known Cait for so very long. It would be a lie to claim he’d never thought of bedding her before- but he hadn’t ever expected it to come true. Now that he had, he was torn between conflicting desires: the first to ravish her and slake her own need, the second to keep his needs in check and honor the bargain they had.

For the time being, the latter seemed the more prudent course. He steeled himself again, and then inched the fabric of Cait’s underdress up until it bunched at her waist.

He didn’t dare to look, but he could
feel
her shapely legs. It was enough to cause his self-control to waver, and so he stopped for a moment to
breathe
and to steady his hands.

He didn’t dare insult Cait with the question, but he wondered if she’d been with a man. He didn’t know if he could manage being gentle. It was taking all of the ene
rgy he had just to manage “slow”
.

“This will only take a minute,” he announced, nonsensically (and humorously, if they’d been in the mood for jokes
) before
spreading her legs apart. He settled into the cradle between then, and then rocked forward, pressing the head of his cock ever-so-slightly into her sheath.

Cait
moaned softly as he sank
forward
and the sound echoed deep inside his flesh. It triggered an almost primal reaction, urging him to pound forward in a single stroke and claim her for his own, but he was still clinging to a slender tendril of self-posession. She was already wet and ready. Even without any preparations, her sheath was slick and hot with welcome and he could feel the swollen nub of her clit brushing against his
sex
.

She was so exquisitely tight. Ewan inched forward as slowly as he could manage, unsurprised when he felt the barrier blocking his way. He muttered a curse under his breath, and then twined a hand into Cait’s hair and tilted her ear so that she could hear.

”It will sting a bit,” he warned her. It would be worse if he went slowly, and so he didn’t, coiling his body, and then ramming home.

A very bad word slipped from his lips in reacting to the very
good
feeling he experienced when he was finally, completely, buried in her flesh. He’d never felt anything more exquisite- like tight, wet velvet grasping around his cock. “I’m sorry,” he panted in apology- for his ungentlemanly speech and for the jolt of pain that he saw flash in Cait’s fine green eyes. “God, I’m-“

“Move!” Cait panted back, disregarding the apology, “Oh, Ewan-
move
.”

The desperate plea was all he needed to spur his body into action. He reared back, plunged forward, and then was lost completely when Cait started to move as well.

It was
so good
. Ewan had never imagined that Cait’s tiny little body was capable of such towering delights. They moved together so perfectly, easily finding a rhythm that pleased them both.