A Forbidden Night with a Scot (Sins in a Kilt #1)

Chapter 20

CHAPTER TWENTY

A licia’s heart beat so fast that she feared she would pass out from sheer excitement. She had never expected to hear those words from Samuel’s mouth, and in fact, she had even resigned herself to the fact that they could never be together. For all the effort she had put into convincing him his feelings weren’t evil, and for all he had given in to his desires that night at the inn, she had never truly believed that a future with him was possible. Ever since they had left Castle MacLachlan, she had known there was only one future for her: a few days in Samuel’s presence before she was taken to Castle MacTavish, where she would meet her future husband.

She had not been at peace with this, but she had accepted it as an immutable fact. And yet now there was another path forward, one she never thought would be possible and one that she now feared, at least in part.

Samuel was willing to fight for her, for them. He was willing to try, but it didn’t mean he would succeed. What if his decision angered Laird MacTavish and the king? What if it angered her father and he forced them apart, forbidding them from seeing each other ever again?

It sounded more likely than she wanted to admit to herself. Though her father would give her—however reluctantly—to Laird MacTavish, Alicia doubted he would be as willing to accept a relationship between her and one of his oldest and closest friends. She couldn’t even blame him for it. Maybe if she had been in his shoes, she thought, she would be just as furious as she imagined he would be.

“Alicia.”

The sound of her name coming so softly from Samuel’s lips distracted her from her thoughts and she gave him a half-hearted smile, before she leaned in for another kiss, one that he accepted but also ended quickly.

“What is it?” he asked. “Ye seem disturbed.”

With a sigh, Alicia leaned back, bracing herself against the mattress. “I’m thinkin’ about Faither, about what he’ll say when he finds out.”

Samuel nodded solemnly. Surely, he too understood the precarious nature of their situation and he was just as worried about it, if not more. Alicia would always be her father’s daughter. No matter what happened, no matter what she did, she knew he would never cease to love her. She couldn’t say the same about Samuel. As close as they were, if her father saw this as a betrayal, then Samuel had everything to lose. At best, he would lose his friend. At worst, he would have an unwanted war in his hands.

Surely, Faither willnae go as far as tae wage a war against him.

Or will he?

It was a possibility she’d rather not consider. In fact, she’d rather not consider any of it in that moment, when she and Samuel were finally alone.

“Forgive me,” she said. “I didnae mean tae upset ye too.”

“Ye didnae upset me,” Samuel assured her. “This is somethin’ I’ve thought about often an’ I dae fear yer faither will be displeased. But I am willin’ tae try if ye are.”

Alicia was willing to try. She was willing to try anything if it meant she would have a better shot at a future with Samuel.

“I am,” she promised him, and then kissed him once more. This time, Samuel didn’t pull back from her. He only wrapped his arms around her waist and pulled her in his lap, and Alicia went easily, straddling his thighs and settling against him.

His lips were soft against hers, his shoulders firm under her hands as she brushed them over his shirt, fingers itching to touch the skin underneath. She ached for him as she always did, her body drawn to him like the tide is drawn to the moon. It was always meant to be like this, she thought. In a thousand lifetimes, Alicia was certain she would always find Samuel.

With her arms wrapped around his neck, Alicia captured his lips in another, heated kiss. A shiver ran down her spine as Samuel ran his hands up her thighs and then grabbed her rear, squeezing the ample flesh until he drew a moan out of her, one that was muffled by his mouth. Already, heat pooled deep in her core, her need for Samuel so strong that every worry was chased out of her mind within an instant, leaving her thoughts blank. She let her head fall back with a sigh and Samuel began to scatter kisses down her jaw and neck, his lips leaving a trail of heat behind wherever they touched.

When he drew the sensitive skin of the base of her neck between his teeth, Alicia gasped, her breath catching in her throat. The slight sting of his teeth was exhilarating, giving an edge to the soft kisses that he continued to pepper over her throat.

Eager hands tore at her dress and Alicia tried to help Samuel as he fought with her clothes. So impatient was he that he only managed to tangle his fingers in the fabric, and the frustrated growl he gave tore a laugh out of Alicia.

“I’m nae goin’ anywhere,” Alicia said with a teasing smirk. “Ye dinnae have tae rush.”

“Why dae yer dresses have so many laces?” Samuel grumbled, still fighting with the fastenings. With a sigh, Alicia rose from his lap and stood before him, deftly undoing the laces and removing her clothing piece by piece until she was standing naked. Then, she undid her hair, too, letting it fall out of its updo and over her shoulders, her entire body heating under Samuel’s hungry gaze.

With a courage she didn’t even know she possessed, Alicia said, “It’s yer turn now. I’ve never seen ye nude.”

Samuel wasted no time before he, too, stood from the bed and all but tore the clothes off his body, tossing them carelessly in a pile on the floor. Once he was fully naked, Alicia realized that she had been staring, unable to take her gaze off him.

In the candlelight that illuminated the room, his body seemed as though it had been sculpted by a loving hand—the muscles of his chest and stomach rippling with every movement he made, his skin glowing in the incandescence, his eyes shining with passion. Alicia took a step closer to him and let her fingers trail down his chest slowly, the touch as soft as it was teasing. Samuel shuddered under her fingertips, the subtle motion echoing through Alicia’s body. She moved her hands lower and lower, reaching just under his navel before bringing them back up with a smirk to rest on his shoulders, much to Samuel’s amusement.

“Does it please ye tae tease me?” he asked. Alicia nodded, pulling her bottom lip between her teeth.

She had to admit that she enjoyed it, especially when his hardening manhood twitched at her approach, as if the mere expectation of her touch was enough to drive him wild.

Tutting softly, Samuel grabbed Alicia, who had to bite back a surprised yelp as she was manhandled by him so that her back was plastered to Samuel’s chest, the two of them standing so close that she could feel the heat of his body pressed up everywhere against her. His hands roamed down her body, teasing her breasts, her nipples, fingers pinching and pulling at them until Alicia moaned his name in abandon, back arching to push into the touch.

“I ken how tae tease ye, too,” Samuel whispered in her ear. And tease her he did, his touch turning so soft and gentle that she could barely feel it as it ghosted over her skin, tracing a path down her stomach and stopping just short of her mound.

“Samuel,” she gasped, once again trying to arch into the touch, to get more than he was giving her, but he was quick to still her with his free hand. Instead of touching her where she wanted it the most, Samuel kissed and sucked at the tender skin on her neck, then nibbling the flesh with his teeth. “Dae I have tae beg?”

“Beg? Never,” Samuel said, but Alicia could feel his smirk against her neck. “But ye have tae ask nicely.”

Rolling her eyes, Alicia had half a mind to refuse, but Samuel’s touch was maddening, just enough to drive her insane with lust without offering any relief. “Please,” she said in a hushed voice, trying to tilt her hips again and get his touch where she wanted it the most. “Please, touch me.”

“Like this?” Samuel asked as his hand finally trailed lower, fingers grazing over that sensitive spot that made Alicia see stars behind her eyelids. “It wasnae so difficult, was it?”

Samuel’s words were teasing and playful, so Alicia only rolled her eyes. He chuckled next to her ear, but this time, he didn’t ask her to be nice or stop his ministrations. He only moved his hand lower and lower until his fingers rubbed and probed at her entrance, stealing the air right out of her lungs. Against her thigh, she could feel the hard length of his manhood, heat emanating from it, and all she wanted was to finally feel him inside her.

Would he still refuse, she wondered? Would he make her wait?

Alicia didn’t want to wait, not another moment. “Samuel… make me yers, please. I want it.”

She felt him nod beside her. “I will, me love. I will.”

Alicia liked the sound of that coming from him. She liked knowing this is how he viewed her: his love, just like he was hers. They belonged to each other, at least for that night.

Slowly, Samuel guided her to the bed, sitting on the edge of the mattress before he pulled her in his lap once more, only this time, Alicia was facing forward, away from him. She sagged against him, sighing in pleasure as his deft fingers stroked her folds, his other hand curling around the swell of her breast as he craned his neck to kiss her. She was surrounded by him, no part of her left untouched, unkissed. When one of his fingers finally breached her, Alicia couldn’t help but gasp, the sensation as foreign as it was pleasurable, maddeningly so.

So, this is what it feels like.

The drag of his finger against her walls offered her a delicious friction, sending a jolt of pleasure down her spine. Samuel moved his hand slowly, his palm rubbing against the hard nub above her entrance with every thrust of his finger, and Alicia could feel herself opening up around him, wetness gathering where their bodies met. When he added a second finger, crooking them both and hitting a certain spot inside her, her entire body convulsed as pleasure coursed through her, shatteringly strong and unexpected.

Once Samuel found that spot, he didn’t relent. He wrapped his arm around Alicia, holding her close and whispering sweet nothings into her ear as he brought her closer and closer to the edge.

Alicia could only moan, her hand wrapping around Samuel’s arm to hold onto him as he quickened his pace, sending wave after wave of pleasure through her. Soon, it built up to a crescendo and Alicia’s entire body trembled as she reached her climax, legs convulsing once, twice before she collapsed boneless in Samuel’s arms.

Samuel kissed her through it, on her lips, her cheek, her forehead. His kisses slowly brought Alicia back to reality and she blinked up at him, laughing as he laid her on the bed and crawled over her. Her laugh soon morphed into a gasp, though, when she watched him take himself in his hand, slicking up his length with her wetness.

Then, he settled between her legs and Alicia wrapped them around his waist. She was more eager than she was apprehensive, though she still feared that he was too big. However, every married woman had done this, she reminded herself. It would be no different for her.

“Are ye certain ye want this?” Samuel asked, as if sensing her hesitation.

Alicia was quick to nod. “Aye,” she said. “I want it more than anythin’. Please, Samuel, take me.”

Samuel nodded, biting hard on his bottom lip. It seemed to Alicia that he had trouble controlling himself, that his need for her was too great, and warmth spread over her chest at the thought. It made her feel wanted. It made her feel like she was the only woman Samuel had ever desired.

“If ye wish tae stop, tell me,” Samuel said, waiting for Alicia to nod before he reached between them, taking his manhood in his hand once more and guiding himself to her entrance. For a moment, he paused, Alicia simply feeling the blunt pressure of him against her, before he slowly, torturously so, pushed inside her in one long, smooth thrust.

The air was punched right out of Alicia’s lungs with that thrust, the first wave of pleasure so overwhelming that she couldn’t even make a sound as she arched her back off the bed, fingers twisting into the sheets. She took a deep breath as Samuel paused once more, but she hardly needed it. Her last orgasm had left her loose and pliant, wet for him, and the second thrust was even easier, Samuel filling her to the brim.

Alicia could feel him deep in her core and every thrust of his hips brought them closer together. Samuel braced himself on his forearms as he moved, a thin sheen of sweat covering his forehead and his body, his hair falling in loose waves around his head. He looked otherworldly in the candlelight, the blue of his eyes almost entirely swallowed by his blown pupils, his plump lips pressed into a thin line as he tried to keep himself quiet. Alicia didn’t have as much self-control. Though she tried, she couldn’t help the moans that escaped her, so Samuel leaned down to muffle them with a kiss.

Their breaths mingled as they rocked against each other, Alicia’s hips moving with a mind of their own as she tried to take him even deeper, until their bodies were flush together. Hooking his arms under her knees, Samuel spread her legs wider and sat up straight, the leverage allowing him to quicken his pace and push in as deep as Alicia could take him, his manhood brushing against that spot inside her again and again. His gaze on her was like a physical touch, his eyes hungrily watching her body, the way her breasts bounced with every thrust, the way her entrance fluttered around him where they were joined.

When his thumb began to rub circles over her sensitive nub, it only took a few more thrusts for Alicia to fall apart around him once more, her walls clenching rhythmically around his manhood. With a quiet curse, Samuel pulled out of her just as he reached his own zenith, spilling himself over her thighs.

For a few moments, neither of them moved. Samuel kept hovering over her, his breathing ragged and his body still trembling with the aftershocks of his climax. Then, he let out a breathless laugh and collapsed next to Alicia, pulling her into his arms.

“I love ye,” he said in an awed whisper. “Nay one has ever made me feel like this afore.”

Alicia frowned. “Nay one?”

Samuel shook his head. “Nay one ever.”

Though Alicia didn’t want to dampen the good mood of the night, she felt like she had to ask. “Nae even yer wife?”

For a moment, Samuel was silent and Alicia feared she had offended him or that she had effectively ruined the night for them both. But then Samuel shook his head again, pulling Alicia just a little closer.

“I loved Thomasina,” he said. “She was very dear tae me. In a way, she still is. But I was never in love with her, nay matter how much I tried. I think it was the same fer her. We did the best we could but, in the end… we simply werenae meant fer each other.”

Alicia looked at Samuel, her hand coming to rest on his cheek, her thumb rubbing small circles just under his eye. She kissed him, soft and sweet, and Samuel smiled at her, though there was a hint of sadness in the gesture.

“Forgive me fer mentionin’ her,” Alicia said. “I didnae mean tae sadden ye.”

“Ye didnae,” Samuel assured her. “I was only thinkin’ after that attack, what if somethin’ happens tae ye? Colm MacLaine has already taken two o’ the people I loved. I cannae bear tae lose ye, too.”

Alicia sighed, pulling Samuel’s head into the crook of her neck. He nuzzled the skin there, arms tightening just slightly around Alicia’s waist, and Alicia hated nothing more than seeing him like this, so afraid of something that was unlikely to happen. Samuel would protect her, she knew, and so would her father and Nerian. Though she understood his concerns, she wished there was something she could do to put an end to them.

“What dae ye fear will happen tae me?” she asked.

Samuel shrugged a shoulder. “Perhaps there will be another attack,” he said. “Perhaps he’ll find a way tae attack us in the water an’ I willnae be able tae save ye.”

“In the water?” Alicia asked with a frown. It was an irrational fear, she knew, since they had no plans to be at sea any time soon, but her fear of bees was irrational, too. It didn’t make it any less real to her, though, and so she knew it was the same for Samuel. Even if the fear itself was irrational, there was no way to avoid being caught up in it.

Samuel hushed her gently and let his eyes fall shut, so Alicia took it as a sign that the conversation was over. She let her own eyes fall shut then and clung onto Samuel, the two of them falling asleep like that, tangled up in each other’s arms.