The Highlander's Christmas Quest (The Lairds Most Likely 5)

He didn’t answer in words, but shaking hands caught her hips and lifted her toward him. That pressure inside her reached a pitch approaching torture before he drove into her hard and deep. An incandescent explosion rushed through her body, and she burst through into a universe of blinding pleasure.

Kirsty cried out his name in wonder and dug her fingernails deep into his back as she rode the shuddering rivers of fire. Through her climax, she felt him move faster and wilder. While she continued to quake with the magnificent conflagration, she heard him groan. His body jerked against hers, and liquid heat flooded her.

For a long time, he shuddered in release, before he slumped down, gasping. His head rested on her shoulder, and she felt him place a gentle kiss on her bare skin. It felt like a declaration of love.

Dougal crushed her deep into the mattress, but she didn’t mind. Right now, all she wanted was to stay close to him. Exhausted, still lost in the mists of unearthly sensation, she ran her fingers through his mane of silky red hair.

Too soon, he shifted and raised his head to stare at her. He looked tired and happy and younger than she’d ever seen him. "You’re superb, Kirsty Macbain."

She smiled and gave him a weary kiss. "Surely it’s Kirsty Drummond now."

"Aye, it is Kirsty Drummond at that. I’ll proclaim that to the world when ye wed me." He bent to kiss her, a brief connection that somehow promised a lifetime of love waiting for them. As if he shared her thought, he gave her that special smile she already thought of as hers alone and said, "I love ye, Kirsty."

***

Dougal watched Kirsty accept the declaration as her right. About time. "And I love ye, Dougal."

She placed her hand on his bare shoulder and regarded him with suc

h love that his heart clenched into a throbbing fist. He’d thought he understood love when he pumped his seed into her with such rapturous abandon. But now as he saw her soul shining forth from her soft silver eyes, he realized that love took many forms, and only time would reveal them all. He and this marvelous woman had a lifetime of exploration ahead.

Her kiss-reddened lips quirked with the familiar, beloved humor. She shifted under him, and he couldn’t help thinking of other more carnal demands likely to occupy him before too long.

"If ye wriggle like that, we willnae be doing much talking," he groaned, edging his hips forward.

This time her eyes rounded with wonder. "Can we?"

"Apparently we can." He leaned down and kissed her. He tasted weariness on her lips but also the beginnings of interest.

Her short laugh vibrated through him in a most intriguing way. He rolled onto his side, relishing the pleasurable slide as their bodies separated.

She frowned. "I really need to find a name for what ye and I just did. When we put the ram to the ewes, it’s tupping. But that seems a wee bit…"

"Farmyard?"

A huff of amusement escaped her. "Well, it conveys the basics, I suppose."

He brushed stray strands of black hair back from her forehead. "I have a feeling we went way beyond the basics, my darling."

When she pushed herself up on the pillows, he glimpsed the jut of one beautiful white breast before she drew the covers up. The room was starting to get cold. He should get up and stoke the fire, but right now he couldn’t bring himself to leave this cozy bed and the enchanting woman who shared it.

"I wouldnae know. I’ve never done this before."

He shifted higher so he could see her face. He’d never tire of looking at her. "Neither have I."

A reverberant silence crashed down. The only sound in the cottage was the crackle of the peat fire in the hearth.

Betraying color heated Dougal’s cheeks as Kirsty subjected him to an incredulous stare. "But…but ye knew what to do."

He ran an unsteady hand through his hair. "Pure instinct."

"Instinct." She sounded like she didn’t trust what she heard.

"And desire."

Her lips curved in an uncertain smile. "But I assumed you’d had lovers. After all, you’re so much older than I am."

Despite himself, that made him laugh. "No’ that much older. I’m only twenty-four. How old are ye?"