Which, at the pace he set, was not long.
“I swear to you,” she whispered as they scampered up the stairs to her bedroom on the third story, “Fiona is the only person who will know you're here. ”
“An
d you trust her?”
She gave him a scornful look. “Cormac MacAlpin, as I remember it, you are the one who instructed me to trust her in the first place. ”
“Enough of your sass, woman. Just get us to your rooms. ” He swatted Marjorie on her bottom, hurrying her along.
With a delighted squeal, she spun, catching him around his neck. “I do love you, Cormac MacAlpin. ” The words stole the breath from his lungs.
She stood on the stair above him. They were face-to-face, mere inches apart. In the shadows of the staircase, her magnificent eyes glimmered dark as sapphires. Her arms tightened around him. “I love you,” she whispered.
Passion —
and some bit of fear, too —
stole the words from his throat. His own feelings overwhelmed him, remaining unspoken. He locked his mouth on hers instead and, sweeping her into his arms, stormed to her room like a Viking. He broke the kiss only to kick the door shut tight behind them.
Cormac strode to the bed and tossed her down. She laughed, bouncing on the heather-filled mattress, but the look in her eyes soon grew dark, watching him as he began to strip.
His shirt, his boots and trews — one by one his clothes dropped to the floor. And she stared hungrily all the while, her breath coming short. He thought his cock could get no harder, until he saw the stark desire in her eyes.
“I need you, Ree,” he rasped. He needed her by his side. He needed to bury himself between her legs.
He needed her in his life forever.
He crawled on top of her, and the rustle of her clothes against his body was a maddening tease. His desire was sharp, and sharper still, until he thought it wouldn't even be enough for him to have her.
“You've brought me to life. ” He kissed her gently along her jaw, her forehead, and then, after tracing a path along her lips with his thumb, kissed her mouth. He'd been coming slowly back to life, until he discovered himself a feeling man again, a man capable of joy in her arms. “You've made me happy again, somehow. ” A lifetime of pain and their shared hours of joy — everything that had passed between them — crystallized in that moment. He was a man redeemed. “My heart hadn't beat since that day,” he said, knowing he'd not need even to speak Aidan's name for her to understand. “But it beats again, Ree. For you. ” Her small hands stroked down his back, cupping his ass. His skin shivered. “I just thank God you're safe,” she said, raining kisses over his face and neck. Her touch was tender and loving but ardent, too, and it ignited him.
She pulled away, and he saw uncertainty flicker in her eyes. “There's just one thing. ” His body strained hard, an eager knot of flesh that addled his mind and fevered his flesh. But still, he'd stop if she wanted him to. “What is it, Ree?”
“I fear I need a bath. ”
He barked out a laugh. “A bath, is it? This is your great confession?” Nuzzling and nipping at her neck, he inhaled with exaggerated deliberation.
She yelped, squirming beneath him. “Stop that!”
“Ree. Lovely Ree. ” He pinned her beneath him, chuckling. “A bath you shall have. After. But for now, you're perfect. ” He nestled himself over her, coming to rest in his rightful place, in the cleft of her thighs. “Och, Ree,” he whispered, his voice hoarse. “You're so perfect. ”
And she was. Marjorie had taken him to a place he thought he'd lost, and he'd be forever grateful, forever hers.
He rolled onto his back, swooping her up onto his belly, and she gave a little cry of pleasure.
“Cormac… “ She pulled up, tracing a seductive finger along her lacy neckline. “Don't you think I'd be more perfect if I were naked, too?”
“My thoughts precisely, love. ” He made quick work of the laces up her back, and she wriggled eagerly out of her gown. The moment her breasts bobbed free of her tight bodice, his breath caught. Perfection indeed. Would he ever get used to the sight of it?
“Come to me, Ree,” he said, his voice low with desire. He pulled her up so she straddled him, and then he eased her slowly down onto him.
“Always,” she whispered, and the word made his heart clench.
With a deep, shuddering sigh, her eyes fluttered shut. But he kept his own eyes riveted to her, straining to take in her every aspect in the dying light. Her slim shoulders beneath the wavy curtain of her hair. The blush of her nipples, dusky in the twilight.
He reached up to knead her breasts. They stiffened under his palms, and she moaned, mindlessly parting her lips with her pleasure.