The Highlander's Warrior Bride (16 page)

Ronan slid his mouth from her neck and kissed between her breasts, nuzzling the fleshy mounds. His hot breath caressed over her flesh and she whimpered. Wanted him to taste her nipples. They ached for that very thing and she couldn’t understand why. The squire had never k
issed her breasts. He’d touched them, played with her nipples but never—

Searing hot velvet touched the peak of one breast. Julianna cried out. Eyes she hadn’t known were close
d flew open and her gaze settled on Ronan’s red tongue flicking over her nipple. She watched, mesmerized as he circled around the peak, flicked over it, then sucked it into his mouth.
Holy
… All thought left her, and she was nothing but a mass of hot, wicked sensation.

She gripped the back of his head, threaded her fingers into his hair and held him in place. “Dinna stop,” she moaned.

Ronan chuckled, rolling his tongue in decadent swiftness over her flesh. Telling him not to stop wasn’t considered begging was it?

She didn’t know. She didn’t care. If she lost the challenge that didn’t matter, as long as he kept doing what he was doing.

With trembling fingers Julianna let go of Ronan’s head and explored his chest, finding his tiny nipples. They were hard, and when she gently pinched them, he groaned. What would he do if she put her mouth there?

They still knelt before each other, and so Julianna gently pushed him. “
Take off your clothes and lay down,” she whispered against his neck.

Ronan looked up at her, surprise in his eyes. Her courage was coming in spurts and when she looked at him it dissipated. But only because she was worried she’
d say or do the wrong thing. Ronan was the expert at lovemaking, not her.

“As ye say, my lady.” Ronan scooted back a few inches, took the pin from his plaid, tossed the long piece of fabric behind him, and then pulled off his shirt.

Julianna sat back on her heels and watched as his golden skin, with a sprinkling of light hair was revealed to her again. Her breath caught and she felt light-headed. Ronan was beautiful. Could have been sculpted from stone, except she knew when she touched him, though he was thick with muscle, he was also warm and pliable. She traced the pink scar near his shoulder—from her thrown dagger. It’d healed well, but she still wished she’d thought before throwing.

“Dinna worry over it, lass. I would have done the same.” He smiled and stroked her cheek. His touch was comforting, and she was glad he didn’t hold any hard feelings at her having injured him. “Besides, I’ve never been scarred by a woman. ’Tis my most treasured scar.”

Julianna laughed, bit her lip. “I’m still sorry, all the same.”

Keeping his plaid in place, he lay down on his back, the fire light casting dancing shadows on his form.

Did he think she would change her mind? Was that the reason for keeping his plaid on? Perhaps. But she also found she liked the element of mystery. She could explore parts of him at a time. Hide the element she wanted more than anything inside her.

Every few minutes she did get a little scared, but deep down, she wanted this. Wanted to feel him inside her. Wanted to be loved, if only for tonight. She’d led a life of loneliness, and judging from the way it was
unfolding, she would continue to live that way. Except, for right now. Tonight she would pretend that life was different.

Julianna took her time walking on her knees, taking in every inch that he’d revealed and recalling the mom
ents she’d studied him before while he’d been full of fever. She stopped when she was beside him, and sat back on her heels. Staring at his chest was too much temptation. She skimmed her hand over him, feeling the now familiar expanse, but seeing it too.

“Do ye remember kissing me when ye had the fever?” she asked.

Ronan slid his hand over her arm and tugged her closer. She braced her hand on his other side, leaning against him rib to rib.

“I remember dreaming of it.”

“’Twas real.” Julianna was surprised at how soft her voice had become.

“And ’twas ver
ra good,” he said.

Her lip curled in
a smile. “Aye.”

“Come here.”

She didn’t hesitate in leaning down to kiss him, liked that he was allowing her to be on top, giving her more control.

While he kissed her, he slid his hand beneath her chemise, stroking a burning path from her calf to her thigh. Julianna shivered, kissed him harder. When he reached her buttock, he squeezed. She sighed. He caressed her hip, her bare ribs, belly, the undersides of her breasts, and each touch was soft, but so potent in its power and pull.
Her sex was damp, and clenched, waiting for him to fill her.

Ronan
slipped his hand between her thighs, gently spread his fingers forcing her to open her legs for him. She did so without hesitation, moaned when he slid a finger through her wet folds, and stroked over the hardened nub of her pleasure. The man was even good in this way. Her sex clenched and her insides trembled. She swished her hips forward, wanting more of the wonderful sensations he stroked from her. Needing it. Refusing to beg for it other than with her body.

But then he pushed a finger inside her.

And she cried out—gasped and bit her tongue to keep from telling him not to stop that as well.

“Ye’re so wet. Even if ye dinna want to beg, your body weeps for more.” Ronan’s voice was deep, evocative and slid over her body with the same pleasure as his hands.

“And what of your body?” she asked, her voice equally husky.

“Give me your hand,” he said.

Julianna held out her hand and Ronan guided her over his plaid to grasp his erection.

“Oh!”
She recoiled at once in fear, but made herself grip him tight. Another thing she’d not done with the squire. Theirs had been hurried couplings.

A warrior did not retreat in battle. With a little smile of triumph she squeezed his shaft, thick as a spear and long. Dear God, he was impressive. Growing
bolder, she stroked up and down, the fabric of his plaid bunching in the most irritating way.

“
Will ye take off your plaid?” she asked.

“Aye, gladly.” He smiled and winked, taking her breath away.

Ronan gripped his belt, a move she found wholly enticing, and unhooked it. With swift movements, and a lift of his hips, he whipped his plaid from around his body leaving him nude and completely exposed.

Julianna’s eyes widened as he
r gaze narrowed in on his glorious…body.

“I’m nay entirely sure I can handle that,” she said, bemused.

Chapter Sixteen

R
onan pressed his lips in a smile, trying not to laugh at the serious, worried look that had come over Julianna’s face.

“I assure ye, ’twill be all right,” he said, trying to soothe her.

The moment she’d gotten a look at his cock, the woman had lost all sense of pluck that she’d been radiating in waves. Ronan was proud of his cock. Bigger than most, but he knew how to work it, which was what really kept the ladies pleased.

“I dinna know,” she mused. “The squire wasn
’t…”

Ronan chuckled. He took her hand and placed it on his shaft, gritting his teeth at the warmth of her
lithe fingers encircling him.

“Ye handle it perfectly, lass.”

She smiled at him, stroked her thumb over the tip. Dear God, he was going to lose it. Just from her touch. There was something about having
her
be the one to touch him. Meant more than just the corporeality of it. Went deeper inside him. Something he wasn’t willing to explore just now.

“
Your skin is soft, I’d thought it would be rough,” she said with wonderment.

“What exactly did ye do with the squire?” Ronan raised a brow, starting to become skeptical of not only the squire’s skills, but whether or not he existed.

Her reaction to him was so raw, so new, almost as though she’d never been with a man afore now. Even in the firelight he could see her face color slightly.

“Dinna be shy, lass.” He stroked her arm, feeling her flesh prickle with each glide of his hand.

“’Twas quick.”

“He didna touch ye the way I do?”

Julianna shook her head.

“Did ye find your pleasure?”

Her brow furrowed. “I think so.”

That meant most likely not. “An explosion here?” he asked, slipping his hand back between her thighs and stroking her nub.

Julianna’s head fell forward slightly and she gasped. “Nay.”

“But ye liked…being with him?” Ronan was trying for delicate. Julianna was such a strong woman in so many ways, but when it came to lovemaking, she appeared fragile and innocent. He didn’t want to scare her or scar her for that matter.

She nodded. “Aye.”

He smiled, caressed her pleasure nub in circles, all the while her eyes rolled, lips parted. She didn’t stop stroking him either, a problem he’d need to correct. If she kept at it, he wouldn’t last long enough to make her experience any better than what the squire had shown her.

That wasn’t his style. When Ronan brought a woman to bed, she was left wanting nothing.

Swiftly he disengaged them, flipped her onto her back
—careful of her thigh—and loomed above her.

“What are ye doing?” she asked.

“Making love to ye,” he answered, nuzzling her neck and then biting her earlobe. “If I were to let ye continue your play, it’d be finished before we started.”

“Ye…liked that?”

“Oh, aye, lass. I liked it verra much.”

Julianna sighed, and though he didn’t look at her face, he could hear her smile. He liked the sounds of her sighs, craved to hear
more of them. Nuzzling a path between her breasts, he kissed her belly, hiked her chemise up over her hips, and then pulled her to sitting to take it the rest of the way off.

Ballocks
… She was naked, glorious. Beautiful. Golden in the firelight. The front of her was just as well formed as the back. A tight, flat belly, lined with slight muscle—he’d never seen such on a woman before. Julianna worked hard at her trade, and when they left here, he would demand to know exactly where she got her training—the whole story this time.

Her breasts were round, full, perky. Just as soft as they looked. Her hips were trim, thighs long and sculpted, and a triangle of
reddish hair graced her mound. Ronan stroked over her thighs, running his hands from her knees to her hips.

“Julianna, ye’re exquisite,” he whispered.

She lay back, opening her thighs and revealing the pink petals of her sex. Ronan’s breath caught. He glanced up at her face. Her eyes were heavily lidded, cloudy with desire, and she watched him, studied him. There was trust in every angle. Trust. This woman was placing her most valued possession in his hands. For her body was truly a treasure. The offer, her response, ’twas so overwhelming. His chest grew tight, and every muscle coiled, ready to spring. He made a vow to himself, he would make her cry out with pleasure again and again.

Her features relaxed and she smiled. “Ye look worried, Ronan.”

“Never,” he answered, winking. “Just canna stop looking. I suppose I’m making a muddle of our first time.” He slid his hands up and down her warm thighs. Realized too late he’d said first time as though he expected subsequent occasions.

Juliann
a sucked her lower lip into her mouth, and gripped his arms at the elbows. She tugged. As much as he’d teased her before, Ronan wasn’t going to make her beg, if anything, he was the one desperately in need of her touch.

“Ye still have time to make up for it,” she said with a teasing lilt. “I’m nay going anywhere.”

And dammit if he wasn’t going to make up for it tenfold. Ronan knelt between her thighs, feeling the warm length of her strong legs on his hips. His cock pulsed, and he swore it was harder than it had ever been before. Julianna’s eyes riveted to the spot where the tip of his erection dropped lazily onto her mound. Where there had been fear earlier, hunger filled her gaze.

He leaned his weight on an elbow. H
er hot, wet cleft cradled his shaft and he winced the pleasure was so excruciatingly potent. Closing his eyes, he laid claim to her mouth, trying to distract himself from what he really wanted, which was to bury himself in her hot center.

Tremors passed through him as she massaged his back, arms, hips. The women he bedded were eager lovers, but it’d always been quick—however satisfactory for both ends. He’d never taken so much time with a woman, never had a woman take so much pleasure in simply touching and kissing him. Making love to Julianna was a whole new experience, one he felt almost virginal at. They touched, kissed… And talking. When had talking become part of bedding? Certainly he could whisper naughty phrases and demand equally naughty actions, but to simply talk, to get to know one another, to actually care. Lord, she was taking over his mind.

And frighteningly, he enjoyed it.

Ronan was falling for Julianna.
Had been since the moment he’d fastened eyes on her. Pulling away from her mouth he kissed his way back toward her lush breasts, and then lower. He was going to pleasure her with his mouth. Her feminine scent teased his senses, made his mouth water.

When he kissed the very top of her mound where her soft curls began, Julianna gasped and clenched her thighs tight on his head.

“Nay, Ronan.”

“Aye, Julianna.”

He pried her thighs open and breathed hotly over her folds, listening to her try and stifle a whimper. “If ye dinna like it, I will stop.”

He glanced up at her, saw that she bit her fist and nodded.

“I think ye’ll like it,” he said, teasing her folds with the tip of his tongue. One glance showed him she again nodded, still biting her hand. Ronan chuckled, then dove in for another taste. He teased, probed, licked. Julianna’s muffled whimpers grew to full out cries of pleasure. With his thumbs he pealed her folds open giving him full access to her nub of pleasure. God, she tasted like Heaven. Slick heat, and feminine sensuality. He suckled her nub, flicked his tongue over it, nuzzled her folds, made love to her with his mouth.

Julianna’s thighs shook and she clenched tight. The fist that had been in her mouth lay buried in his hair, holding his mouth tight to her center.
Her hips bucked beneath him, and when he slipped a finger inside her hot velvet, her muscles squeezed him tight. She was close…

Ronan didn’t let up. Continued his push and pull, until Julianna broke apart beneath his ministrations.

“Ronan!” she cried out as her body shook violently. She sat up with the strength of her climax, eyes wide, mouth opened in surprise, cheeks flushed pink.

He smiled, a curve of pure male satisfaction. “I told ye, ye’d like it.”

She nodded slowly. “Aye… ’Twas…magic.” She licked her lips. “Can I…do the same to ye?”

Ronan’s cock surged, and the thought of her luscious lips
wrapped around his length nearly had him undone right then and there. “Next time,” he croaked out.

She nodded, readily accepting there would be a next time. Hell, they were both living in another world right now. Reality would set in soon enough, and Ronan wasn’t about to ruin the moment with thoughts of tomorrow. He slid up her body until they were nose to nose.

“I want ye so verra much,” he whispered.

Julianna responded by lifting her hips, and nibbling his lower lip. “Take me.”

Ronan tilted his hips, his cock pressing against her slick heat. He surged forward, burying himself in one full thrust. She was exquisitely tight, surrounding him at once in a cocoon of pleasure. His forehead fell against hers and he couldn’t move, just breathed, trying to focus, to push away the release that hovered on the brink.

“That feels so good,” she murmured, moving to kiss at his neck.

If she kept doing that… Ronan gripped her chin, moving to claim her mouth, if only to stop the heated torture of her mouth on his flesh. She flexed the muscles of her sex and tilted her hips, nearly upending him. He groaned.

Ronan gradually withdrew, then plunged back inside. He wanted to go slow. Wanted to drag out their pleasure, but she felt so damn good… And she was moaning, her fingers clasping his back, hips rising and falling to meet his. Julianna was a natural at lovemaking. The very best he’d ever had.

He kept his pace and thrusts measured, calculated to draw out her pleasure, but Julianna was a wildcat, writhing and demanding. As soon as he felt her sex clench tight and begin fluttering, Ronan knew his intent to make love to her all night was lost, she’d had him undone. He gritted his teeth and plunged ahead, riding out her climax. One more. He could give her one more.

“Oh, Ronan,” she gasped. “So good…”

Tremors shook her body, and his own shivers took hold, pleasure radiating from the base of his spine and surging forward. Nay. He wouldn’t finish yet…

Ronan squeezed his eyes shut against the pleasure that took hold of his body and possessed him. He pressed his lips to the crook of her shoulder, licked and nipped her skin, sucking on her earlobe. Swirling his hips, he arched up inside her, hitting that spot he knew would bring her to fruition once more. Julianna gasped, cried out. Their bodies were slick, sliding against one another in heated passion.

“Oh!” she cried, then clamped her teeth on his shoulder, biting not so gently. Once more her body surrounded him in a heated climax.

Ronan did not hold back this time. He quickened his pace, thrusting deep and hard. His release hit him like gale force, slamming into him with a power he’d never before known. A heady, low moan escaped his throat, and his entire body vibrated into hers.

“Julianna!” he roared, before collapsing on top of her.

Conscious not to crush her, he held himself on his elbows, but left his forehead against her shoulder as he waited for his breaths to steady. Their lovemaking had been earth-shattering. Life changing. Euphoric. Shocking. Damned good.

“Julianna,” he murmured again, then kissed her lightly on the lips, stroked the strands of hair that stuck to the sides of her face back. “That was…”

“Stunning.”

He nodded, kissed her again. Felt his heart clench.

She was his Julianna.
His
. Never would he let another touch her. Brother be damned; he’d claimed her and under no circumstances would he let anyone take her from him.