Chapter Eleven
Lust was like a live thing clawing at her. Arianrhod wanted the man in her arms beyond wisdom. Beyond reason. To leave the warm, cozy grotto without making love was unthinkable, unbearable. When he pulled the laces of her top aside, she helped him slide it over her head. He wove his arms around her and drew her against him, skin to skin. Her arms found their way around him with a mind of their own. His naked chest felt magnificent next to her breasts, and she explored the rich muscles of his back with her palms and fingers.
He murmured low in Gaelic telling her she was beautiful, special, his. She thought she should draw back, be strong, be the virgin huntress of legend, but she wanted him more than an archaic title. He rained kisses on her hair, and when he cupped the side of her face in his hand and angled her head, she welcomed his mouth on hers.
His lips demanded everything of her. She met his challenge and opened her mouth to his questing tongue. She nipped and sucked his mouth, tongue, and lips while tightening her hold on his back. Muscles rippled under her fingers, so she dug her nails into the sheet of flesh undulating beneath her touch.
He groaned and held on tighter, clinging to her as if she were his salvation in a world racing out of control. She could relate, since she felt the same way. Their kiss developed its own rhythm and cadence, extending outside time. She’d never been so aware of her body. Of sparks of sensation cascading through her, igniting yet more sparks until she was on fire from head to toe. When she opened her eyes, light spilled from her and Angus, illuminating the grotto with magic.
He dragged his mouth from hers and moved it down her neck. She arched her back and buried her hands in his hair as he kissed and nipped her breasts. The pressure of his mouth licking, teasing, biting made her belly clench. When he moved a hand between her legs, an orgasm spooled from her, leaving her shaken and desperate for more.
She reached for his cock and realized they both still had not only their trousers, but their boots on. “Clothes,” she mumbled and used his body as a ladder to reposition herself so she could unlace his boots.
“Are you always this practical?” He favored her with an impish grin, and her heart melted right along with the pool of heat between her legs.
“Aye, that would be me.” She smiled back, and bent to his feet again.
A tug told her he was doing the same thing to her. Once he’d stripped off her boots and stockings, he closed his mouth over her big toe. A flare of excitement raced up her leg until it felt as if he were sucking on her nubbin. Slowly, almost lazily, he moved to the next toe and the one after that. Her back arched like a bow and she slotted fingers between her legs to bring the next climax to life. Sound filled the cave as she shrieked her delight.
Angus raised his head from her feet and slithered far enough up her body to undo her leather breeches. She helped him push them down her legs, followed by her smallclothes. “Only thing left,” she said, her breath coming fast, “is your trousers.”
“You just want to see me naked.” He reached for the fastenings on his pants and slid out of them, moving the rest of the way up her body until he could gather her into his arms. The swell of his erection pressed into her belly, and she snaked a hand between them to curve her fingers around him.
Gods but he felt amazing in her hand. Cocks had always fascinated her, but his was vibrant, alive in a way she’d never encountered before. Suddenly, she couldn’t wait another minute. “Now,” she urged in a voice she barely recognized as her own.
“Aye, lass,” was followed by a string of Gaelic endearments.
He knelt above her, and she wrapped her legs around his waist, opening herself for him. His whiskey-colored eyes never left her face as he lowered himself into her body. She was as keyed up as if her earlier orgasms hadn’t happened, couldn’t wait for him to move inside her. He supported himself on his arms, and she wrapped hers around his torso and tightened her muscles around his shaft.
A song filled her mind, heavy with longing. It gave her pause until she recognized his soul calling to hers. For the first time ever, she let her barriers fall, accepted him into all of her, not just her body, but her heart and mind. The song changed, charged with joy so poignant it moved her to tears. The light surrounding them crackled and flashed, mirroring the intensity of what flowed between them.
When he began moving in and out of her, she met his body with her own. They became elemental, timeless, as one climax kindled the next. He shuddered inside her, and then came again, as swept up in their passion as she was.
When he finally lowered himself atop her, gasping and panting, she heard yet a third note enter their shared song and understood. A child would grow within her after today’s lovemaking—if she let it.
He held her against him, and the solid beat of his heart reverberated against her ear. “I love you,” he said in Gaelic. “My world, my heart, even if we were to never see one another again, you’ve given me such a gift.”
She rocked him against her. The moment was so perfect, words would come short of reflecting the emotion shooting through her.
“I hope you didn’t mind the music,” he said once their breathing quieted. “It rose through me, and I couldn’t control it.”
“Why would I mind?” She pushed away enough to look at him, to trace the lines of his face with her fingertips.
“I suspect the song is there because a Selkie taught me the link between music and loving.”
Arianrhod smiled. “When next ye see her, thank her for me.”
“If I see her, I’ll do that.” He kissed her forehead. “There’ll never be another woman in my arms besides you, not after what we just shared.”
His words brought the quick bite of tears behind her lids. She wished things were different, that she was just a woman, and he just another man, but she knew better. She wanted their time in this cave, locked out of time and memory, to last forever, but they had work to do. “I doona want to, but we should leave.”
“I’ve been feeling guilty myself. Maybe we could skip Cathbad. I’m worried about Eletea. Now that I know who I’m looking for, I can always return later and find him on my own.”
“Nay, we willna skip Cathbad. ’Tis but a short journey, and he at least holds answers to whether ye are his son, Conchobar, or a more distant relation.”
She extricated herself from his embrace and reached for her discarded clothing, watching him from beneath lowered lids. What a beautiful man, not just his body, but his spirit shone so brightly, it nearly blinded her when she looked through her third eye. Their time together was clearly destined, but she needed to decide the child’s fate and what she’d tell Angus. Afraid he might figure it out anyway, she buried the knowledge deep.
“You’re quiet,” Angus said in between getting his clothes on.