Married to the Icy Highlander (Unwanted Highland Wives #3)

Chapter 18

18

W as it truly so terrible for a lady to wish to be chased?

Ceana couldn’t have the conversation that she felt they needed to have around quite so many people as it was. Neil had stood up for both her and her mother like it was the simplest thing in the world. He had stepped up and reassured her, and even offered to escort her mother home. He might have simply been doing his duty, but it still meant a lot to her.

Then, he tried to hold her hand.

It wasn’t fair. He was playing dirty, and it was working. Her heart was pounding in her chest, and she couldn’t seem to steady herself no matter what she did. It had taken far too much of her self-control not to kiss him for threatening Ferguson like that. It was exactly what she had been imagining for so long. Far longer than she cared to admit, she had longed to see someone properly put him in his place. And Neil had done it so effortlessly.

Ceana walked just beyond the edge of the forest, pacing for a moment before finding a large tree to hide behind. She needed to calm herself. She tried to wrap her skirts around herself as best as she could, knowing that she could not stay here long before the night’s chill would seep into her bones.

Why was she so nervous? She felt as if a swarm of butterflies had taken flight in her stomach, and she couldn’t seem to settle them.

When Neil caught up with her, he made no effort or attempts to be subtle about his approach. She knew without a doubt that if he had wanted to be silent and sneak up on her, he would have. He wasn’t a laird for nothing. Everybody knew about his hunting prowess. No, he was snapping twigs on purpose. He was giving her time to run away, and they both knew it.

She had hoped that he would find her, sweep her off her feet, kiss her senseless and breathless. But when he finally rounded the corner, all of the things that she had thought she wanted fell right out of her mind.

Her gratitude overflowed, and she moved without thinking. If he hadn’t come when he had, there was no telling what Ferguson would have done. She was half certain that the old man wanted to strike her. Never mind what he would have done to her mother if he hadn’t been put in his place.

Ceana rose on her tiptoes and flung her arms around Neil’s neck, squeezing until he wrapped his arm around the small of her back and lifted her off her feet. She only hugged him tighter. She felt like his embrace was the only thing keeping her tethered in place, the only thing keeping her together.

“Thank ye, thank ye, thank ye,” she muttered into the side of his face, hoping that he could feel the sincerity in her words.

“Is that why ye wanted to marry so suddenly?” he asked, his cheek pressed against her own.

She nodded awkwardly. She hated that she felt like crying all over again. She hadn’t wanted to admit that out loud, but Ferguson had gone and made a fool out of all of them. She had been made very aware of the rumors he had been spreading about her—such vile, nasty insinuations.

“That bastard’s been after me since the day I came of age. Longer, if we both ken the truth. He’s been doin’ everything in his power to get to me… The things he wanted…”

She shuddered in his arms.

Neil shifted, bracing his free arm against the tree that she had been hiding behind and slowly leaning her against it, pinning her just like she had imagined. She couldn’t help the way her legs rose and wrapped around his waist, her breathing becoming shallow as he pulled back slightly. His eyes slowly scanned her face, and he shook his head.

“Well, nay one else can have ye,” he growled softly.

It didn’t matter how softly the words were whispered—she felt them in her bones.

His hand rose, his knuckles running down the side of her face. His thumb traced her full bottom lip, and she could feel the admiration in his intense gaze. She had never felt so desired before. Coveted, certainly, but not like this. This was completely different.

“Please.”

The word tumbled from her lips as if it were the most natural thing in the world.

Just one word, whispered so only he could hear, and something between them snapped. All restraint and softness that he had shown a moment ago evaporated in an instant. His touch turned possessive and hungry as he claimed her mouth with his own. He flattened her against the tree until there was no more space between them, and she could feel the bulge under his kilt pressing between her legs despite the layers of fabric separating them.

“Say it again,” he groaned against her lips, his tongue dancing with hers, just as graceful as every other movement he made.

“Please, please, Neil,” she breathed between kisses, arching into every hard, muscular inch of him.

Suddenly, his hands were everywhere all at once, and it was still not enough. She locked her legs around him as best as she could, the burn in her thighs barely registering as she loosened the band in his hair so that she could run her fingers through the locks and pull them. She arched into him, seeking friction despite her frustration with the many layers between them.

She wanted to feel him.

He lifted her just enough so that his hands could find their way under her skirt and to her arse. She loved the way he was touching her. He squeezed her bottom before running his hands down her thighs, his fingers brushing the hem of her stockings. Oh, she could not wait for him to undress her. Not here, not now. But the anticipation was intense.

“More, wife?” he asked, nipping her neck and her clavicle before trailing kisses down to the neckline of her dress.

Heat coiled low in her belly, surging higher every time his covered length brushed against her core. She wanted to know what he felt like, but she tried not to rush herself. But oh how she wanted him.

She had never been interested in any of the men in the village, not by half. Sure, some of them were handsome, but never once had she felt this burning need inside of her.

“Please,” she breathed, relishing the way his fingers squeezed her thighs and dipped between them until they were cupping her sex.

Her back arched, and her grip on his shoulders tightened. She gasped as his long fingers spread her wetness over the lips of her sex, teasing before sinking inside her.

She felt a slight discomfort for only a moment before he started pumping his fingers inside her, and it was unlike anything she had ever felt before. She didn’t have words to describe it any more than she could stop the indecent moans escaping her throat. The same moans that her husband covered with his mouth so that she would not rouse the entire forest.

One finger, two, and she was clinging to him. She could barely focus on moving her lips against his because she felt so warm, as if she was floating, burning, and anchored at the same time. She didn’t know what he did with his fingers, but he curled them, and his thumb circled her bud. It was a mercy that she wasn’t standing on her feet, or else she would have collapsed. Her hips rocked against his hand as if they had a mind of their own. As if they knew just what to do.

Her head fell back, her hair catching in the bark of the tree as she bit her bottom lip, trying to stifle her cries. No doubt the villagers would have a field day, speculating about who was in the forest and what might have happened.

Ceana’s eyes fluttered shut, her pleasure building as Neil’s teeth grazed her neck, biting and sucking until she couldn’t take it anymore. She couldn’t climb up any higher. And then his hand shifted.

She cried out in frustration as the pleasure started to fade away. Her grip on him tightened, and she lifted her head, ready to demand that he resume what he was doing, but the smug, satisfied look on his face almost made her want to hit him.

“Is it like this when ye touch yerself, wife?” Neil asked, his voice a low, delicious rumble that made her thoughts fuzzy.

“When I—” Ceana flushed, the implications of his words washing over her.

She hadn’t… she had never done that…

Neil chuckled as he slid his fingers back inside her, twisting and curling them until she damn near saw stars. He worked her body as if he knew it so much better than she ever could, her pleasure building until it erupted and washed over her in waves, until every part of her felt like it was on fire. Until she could barely draw breath.

She couldn’t move, wholly pliant in her husband’s arms as he kissed her softly and withdrew his fingers. But he didn’t put her down, not even as he took his fingers into his mouth, savoring the taste of her with a sinful gleam in his eyes.

“Ye look beautiful when ye fall apart for me.”

He kissed her again, slowly lowering her back to her feet but not letting her go.

Suddenly, she couldn’t wait to get back to the castle.

Ceana couldn’t even remember the walk back to the castle. She was fairly certain that her feet hadn’t touched the ground once the entire way. She was still lost in her husband. In the background, the soft sounds of the festival were starting to fade as more people either passed out from drink or turned in for the night because of the late hour.

Jeanie had decided to stay with Peter and Ida for the night. They would fetch her in the morning. Which was rather perfect because tonight, Ceana wanted to only focus on the man who couldn’t seem to keep his hands off her.

Before she knew it, they were outside the heavy wooden door to her chambers. She hadn’t thought that she would feel this… excited. She had thought that she would feel a sense of duty, perhaps dread or even fear that it might hurt, or that it would somehow change something inside her.

But everything with Neil only felt good. She wanted more of him. She wanted to explore every scar and sinew, and she wanted his tongue to trace every inch of her. She wanted to fall apart in his arms and have him pull her back together.

She reached behind her, blindly fumbling for the door handle as his lips found her neck again. “Ye have been verra good to me tonight, husband,” she teased, unlocking the door and pushing it open.

But instead of walking them back to her bed, Neil set her back down on her feet and kept kissing her. Slowly, her fingers tugged at the fabric of his shirt, pulling it from beneath his kilt.

“I want to do something for ye in return,” she whispered as she slid one hand beneath his shirt.

She was desperate to feel more of his skin. She almost felt giddy as her fingers traced his ridged abdomen, slowly climbing higher, only for his hand to stop her exploration.

“Out of duty, wife?” he challenged, but his voice was low and soft.

It felt akin to cold water being dumped over her head. “What? Nay, that’s nae what I meant at all…”

Neil sighed and shook his head, his thumb stroking the back of her hand. Ceana didn’t understand what was happening. Why did he stop her? Had she not been clear enough? She was only doing this because she wanted to. He had asked her to bed, and she had pleaded… and now…

“I will protect ye, whether ye want me to or nae, Ceana,” Neil said gently. “I’m yer husband. Ye dinnae need to do anything to have that.”

She furrowed her brow, her fingers curling and raking down his skin. “But I want to…”

“Because ye’re grateful,” he insisted.

Was he truly going to make her spell it out for him? Did she really have to say the words?

Embarrassment flooded her cheeks, but she said the words anyway. “Because ye’ve been drivin’ me mad every day since I met ye!”

There it was. Now that it was out in the open, she couldn’t take it back. She didn’t want to take it back anyway.

“But ye have to ruin the mood every time. One time it’s yer braither’s letter, another is a jest that ye took the wrong way. Can ye nae stop thinkin’ about everything so much and trust yer wife for once?”

What else did she need to do to prove that she didn’t have some hidden agenda, that she wasn’t out to get him? They were man and wife, and that meant something to her! She had agreed to all of his rules. She had done everything that he had asked of her. She was trying to fulfill another one of those rules at this very moment, and he wouldn’t come into her room with her.

Why? What had changed? Why couldn’t he just open up enough for her to know why he had suddenly changed his mind?

Her chest heaved, and she couldn’t tear her eyes away from him.

Neil bent to kiss her, just a soft brush of his lips against hers. A tease, a sample—nothing more. Why did it make her so sad?

“Nay. I’m sorry. Good night, Ceana,” he whispered and retreated down the hall.