"Beautiful," Niels murmured, reining in next to her.
Edith smiled. She'd known he'd like it. Sliding off her mount, she tied the reins around a branch on the nearest tree and then started along a trodden path through the meadow of waist-high heather as Niels tied up his own beast. Bees and other insects immediately began to buzz about, but Edith ignored them, knowing they'd settle again once they'd passed.
Niels caught up with her and followed silently until she'd reached the large, flat boulder in the middle of the clearing. It was only about knee-high, and hidden from view by the tall heather until she got close to it. But it was also wide enough for three people to lie on side by side, and nearly completely flat, though it was slightly slanted.
"I did no' even see this from the edge o' the meadow," Niels said with surprise as Edith stepped up onto the rock and moved to the center to sit down.
"Nay, but ye would have had we ridden much farther," she assured him.
"Aye." Niels settled beside her and peered out over the meadow of flowers, a wry smile twisting his lips. "I should have brought a picnic."
"We just broke our fast," Edith said with amusement and then frowned and added, "At least I did. Ye've no' eaten yet, have ye?" Shaking her head, she started to get up. "We should go back so ye can eat."
"Nay," he caught her arm to stop her rising and shook his head. "It's fine. I'm no' hungry."
"Are ye sure?" Edith asked with concern. When he nodded, she hesitated, but then relaxed and glanced around at the sea of flowers surrounding them.
Seated, they were only head and shoulders above the flowers. But she knew from experience that lying flat on the rock they would disappear from the view of anyone passing the meadow. Closing her eyes, she lifted her face to the sky and inhaled deeply. The air was redolent with the smell of heather and after a moment, she lay back on the sun-warmed stone surface and peered up at the clouds overhead.
"Oh, look, 'tis Laddie," she murmured with a smile.
"Where?" Niels asked, glancing around with confusion.
Edith grinned and pointed up at the cloud shaped vaguely like a running dog. "Right there, next to the ducky-looking cloud."
"Ah," Niels said relaxing. His gaze slid over the clouds and then back down to her and she was aware that he was watching her, but she simply continued to stare up at the shifting clouds until his head suddenly blocked her view.
Blinking, Edith refocused her gaze on his face and simply waited, knowing he would kiss her now. It was why she'd brought him here, to get that kiss he'd been about to give her in her room before they'd been interrupted.
Niels didn't disappoint her. He lowered his head until his mouth covered hers and at first that was all he did, brush his lips lightly over hers. But when Edith raised her hands to slide them up his arms, his mouth opened over hers and his tongue slid out to trace the crease between her lips. Edith instinctively opened to him on a little sigh and he caught her lower lip between his, and drew on it lightly, almost teasingly. It made her smile lazily, and then he released her lip and tilted his head as his tongue swept out to fill her mouth, and the sweet tempo suddenly changed.
With her breath catching in her throat, Edith clutched at his shoulders and held on tightly as his mouth ravished hers. It was as if the passion they'd shared by the loch had been merely restrained when they'd been interrupted, and now he'd unleashed it. Edith's own desire immediately rose up to meet it and she slid one hand into his hair, her fingers knotting in the strands and urging him on as she slid her tongue forward to meet his.
The soft hum of the insects feasting in the field around them faded, drowned out by the pounding of her heart, and the sweet honey scent of the heather was replaced with Niels's more musky, woodsy smell as he slid one arm under her to raise her to sit next to him. Edith went willingly, clinging to him with both arms and lips. When he broke the kiss to trail his lips to her ear even as his hand shifted to find and squeeze one breast through her gown, Edith tilted her head back and to the side on a moan and arched into the caress. Her eyes opened to the sky briefly and then she lowered and turned her head to find his mouth again as she felt him tug at the neckline of her gown.
Niels kissed her at once, but continued to work at the lacings of her gown as he did. She felt the material loosen and then it was just gone and his warm hands were covering both her breasts. Edith jerked in reaction as excitement jolted through her, and then moaned into his mouth as he began to squeeze and knead the mounds of flesh. When he broke their kiss again, she muttered a protest and then cried out and tightened her fingers in his hair when he suddenly ducked to close his mouth over one eager nipple.
"Niels," she gasped, shaking her head as he drew on the sensitive nub and then closed his teeth lightly on it. He didn't leave the other nipple wanting, his fingers were rolling it lightly and plucking by turn and Edith was writhing in response, her back arching and legs shifting restlessly as liquid heat pooled low in her belly and began to ooze down to the spot between her legs.
When he finally let her nipple slip from his lips and raised his head to kiss her again, Edith was ready for him and she was the one who did the devouring, kissing him almost violently and pressing as close as she could manage. She felt his hand on her ankle and then sliding upward along her outer leg, pushing the cloth of her gown ahead of it. When her lower body twisted toward his as he reached her hip, his hand immediately took advantage, sliding around to cup one round cheek of her bottom and squeezing firmly. In the next moment, he was shifting to his knees and urging her to hers.
Edith followed the direction almost mindlessly, her mouth clinging to his as she moved to kneel between his spread knees. The moment she did, Niels's hands slid down and curved under to brush across her most sensitive skin. Edith broke their kiss, her head going back on a startled cry of pleasure, and Niels turned his head and nipped at her shoulder, growling, "Christ, lass, ye're so wet fer me."
"I'm sorry," Edith muttered with confusion, and a startled laugh slid from Niels's lips.
"Do no' be sorry," he said breathlessly. "Ne'er be sorry fer that," he added more firmly and then kissed her again and bore her down to lay sideways with him. The moment Edith stretched her legs out from their folded position, Niels rolled her onto her back and broke their kiss to claim one nipple again. But she hardly noticed, because now his hand had pushed her skirt up to her waist and was urging her legs apart. Edith bit her lip, but let her legs fall open, and then cried out his name and bucked as his clever fingers slid between them to find the core of her again. Her legs snapped closed around his hand in an instinctive response, but he merely used both hands to press them open and then slid down her body to place his mouth where his fingers had been.
Edith froze, her eyes open and staring at the rolling clouds overhead as he began to do things her mind couldn't even track. He licked and he suckled and did things with his tongue that had Edith crying out and grabbing his head. Tugging at his hair, she tried to close her legs, but he held them open and in the next moment she was digging her heels into the stone and raising her hips into his mouth almost violently, but again he was in control, holding her down and open for his attention.
Helpless and half-crazed with the excitement mounting in her, Edith released his head and grabbed at the rock they lay on, but the mostly flat surface offered no purchase. She ended up grabbing her own breasts instead, her nails digging into her skin as she tried to find a way to ground herself. But it was too late, there was no stopping it. Edith screamed, half-terrified and half-shocked as her pleasure exploded and rolled over her in a thundering, mindless wave. When she recovered enough to regain her awareness of where and who she was, Niels was cradling her in his arms and murmuring soothing words as he rocked her gently.
With all that lovely passion fading, shame and embarrassment were quick to claim Edith as she realized her gown was a twisted mess around her waist and she was as good as naked in his arms. Closing her eyes, she turned her face into his neck and pressed closer, trying to hide as much of her body as she could.
Niels paused in his rocking and soothing murmurs at once, and pulled his head back, trying to see her. "Edith?"
"Aye?" she muttered, ducking her head self-consciously and crossing her arms over her breasts to try to hide them.
"Are ye all right, lass?" he asked with concern.
Edith nodded, but shifted her arms so that one crossed over her breasts, leaving her free to try to pull the top of her gown up to cover herself.
"Don't," Niels protested, catching her hand. "Ye do no' have to hide yerself from me."
"I . . ." Edith shook her head helplessly and tried to pull her hand free.
"Marry me."
She froze at those words, her head finally coming up so that she could stare at him with amazement. "What?"
"I ken ye were hoping to marry a laird with a castle ye could run, and I do no' have that yet, but I'll be able to start building one fer ye at the end o' another four years. In the meantime, we can live at Buchanan, either in the keep or a cottage in the village if ye prefer. And I'll happily give ye as many bairns as ye wish fer," Niels assured her and then repeated gently, "Marry me, Edith. Be me wife and share yer life with me."
Edith simply stared at him, hardly believing he'd asked her, but then she frowned and asked, "Are ye only asking me because ye think ye have to now ye've ruined me?"
The question made Niels chuckle and Edith scowl.
"'Tis no' funny m'lord," Edith said stiffly, pulling away from him and beginning to try to untangle her twisted dress. "If ye're only offering out of guilt over what we've just done, then ye'll surely come to regret it and resent me fer it and I could no' bear ye coming to hate me."
"Edith, lass," Niels said gently, catching her hands to stop her again. "I am no' laughing because I think yer being ruined is amusing, I'm laughing because . . ." He hesitated and then simply said, "Ye're no' ruined, Edith. Yer maidenhead is still intact."