MacAlister - Taming The Scotsman Part 20

Nora's heart pounded as he cuddled her to his side. She'd never had a man hold her like this. Her head was pillowed on his shoulder while his arm was wrapped about her waist with his hand resting on her stomach.

It was intimate and touching, and made her feel very strange. The rich, masculine scent of him invaded her senses, warming every part of her.

She was acutely aware of the strength of him. Of his hard muscles sheltering her. Her body exploded with heat and an aching throb she didn't understand.

Clearing her throat, she pointed up at the constellation of Orion. "Do you know of Orion the Hunter?"

"Nay."

She moved her hand over them, showing him Orion's belt, head, arms and legs. "Can you see the outline of him?"

"Aye, I see it."

"Well, long ago in ancient Greece, Orion was a mighty hunter. Born the son of Poseidon and Euryale, he searched the world for his one true love..."

Ewan listened in silence as she told him how Orion tried for years to win the hand of Merope and to gain the approval of her father for their marriage. And how Orion had become so tired of the wait that he forced himself on Merope. As punishment her father blinded Orion, who later traveled until he found the Greek G.o.ddess Artemis, who then fell in love with him. Her brother Apollo, angered by their love, tricked Artemis into killing Orion, who was then lifted up to the heavens by the G.o.ddess so that she could remember him always.

"Must all your stories involve love gone awry?" Ewan asked. "Is there no such thing as someone actually marrying his love and living a happy life with her?"

She turned her head into his shoulder and smiled up at him. His stomach tightened.

"There is the story of Cupid and Psyche. They live together in happiness. Would you rather hear that one?"

"Aye, la.s.s. Please."

As Ewan listened to the sweet cadence of her voice, he ran his hand idly down her arm to her hand. Her fingers were so delicate compared to his. So soft. He took her hand in his palm and ran the pad of his thumb over the careful curve of her well-manicured nails.

The urge to lift that hand to his mouth and suckle her fingers was so fierce that he wasn't sure how he managed to deny it. He tilted his head to look down at her while she talked. A light pink stained her cheeks as spoke in a gentle tone of love and trust.

How he wanted her.

Right now while she lay so peacefully in his arms.

What would it be like to have her sliding against him? To feel her warm and welcoming beneath him?

Instead, he laid his cheek against the top of her head and contented himself with just holding her like that.

Letting her feminine softness soothe him.

By the time Nora had finished her tale, she realized Ewan was completely relaxed.

More to the point, he was completely asleep.

"Ewan?" she whispered, looking up at him.

He didn't stir.

Her bear lay with his lips slightly parted, her braid laced between his large fingers. She hadn't even realized he'd touched her hair.

But she had known every other move he'd made.

She had felt his tender caress as he held her hand in his and ran his fingers over her wrist and forearm.

And when he had leaned his cheek against her head, she had melted.

Rolling over, she lifted herself up on her arms to look down at him while he slumbered. A lock of black hair fell over his forehead. She brushed it back, then traced the slash of his eyebrow with her fingertip.

He was so delectably handsome. So strong and powerful even while he rested.

Why had he indulged her tonight? She had half expected him to chastise her and send her back to camp like some errant child.

Instead he had listened to her. Held her.

Encouraged her to tell him her stories.

What she wouldn't give for a husband to treat her thusly. She bit her lip as that thought played around in her mind.

Would Ewan be like this if she belonged to him?

He is unfitting for you.

Was he?

He played music for her and he did listen to her. He had even handed her his sword.

Surely such moments made up for his more unrefined ways.

It takes two to make a marriage. Her mother's words echoed in her head. Her mother had oft lectured her on wifely duties and what it took to make a marriage sound.

Marriage is a contract between man and woman. The wife is to care for the husband. To see to his needs, and he in turn is to protect and provide for her. But if the marriage is to be a happy one, then the two must respect each other. They must never belittle or discount the other's feelings. Take your father for instance. He would sooner cut out his own heart than make me cry.

Your husband should always listen to you, just as you should always listen to him.

Nora studied him closely. Ewan didn't seem to be the kind of man to ever discount someone.

She traced the line of his lips, remembering what they had tasted like. The way they looked on the rare occasions when he smiled.

You'll have to marry someone. Why not- "Don't even think it," she breathed.

True, she did have to have a husband, but Ewan MacAllister?

He lived in a cave!

Granted, it was a nice cave with glorious furnis.h.i.+ngs, but it was still a cave.

What kind of life could they have together?

Before she realized what she was doing, she was peeling back the corner of his s.h.i.+rt. She'd never before realized just how interesting a man's throat was. How inviting the skin of it could be.

She stroked his Adam's apple with her fingertips, feeling the roughness of his masculine skin and whiskers. He was all p.r.i.c.kly and hard.

And his jaw...

Truly it was superb. Strong and well shaped. She'd never touched a man like this before.

Her parents would have vapors. Her father would have his sword after them both.

Ewan himself would most likely be terse from her exploration and study.

He didn't seem to like her touching him overmuch.

Tonight being the exception.

If you touch me, I'll kiss you, and if I kiss you...

Did she perchance drive him wild with desire? Could he feel the same urging for her that she felt for him?

Her mother had warned her much about men and their voracious, rutting ways. But instead of dishonoring her, Ewan had fallen asleep like a harmless pup.

Harmless pup, indeed! She laughed at the very thought.

There was certainly nothing harmless about a man as fierce as this one.

Nora laid her head back down on his chest and listened to his heart thumping under her ear. She'd only imagined lying with a man like this. It was something she had thought to share with her husband, never with a man she barely knew.

Ewan turned then, drawing her in closer to him. His arms tightened.

"Ewan?" she said. "You're crus.h.i.+ng me."

His hold loosened a bit so that she could breathe, but he didn't release her. Instead he snuggled closer.

It wasn't so bad really.

It was actually quite nice.

Relaxing, Nora let the sound of his deep breaths lull her into sleep, too.

For the first time in years, Ewan dreamed of pleasantries. There was no Kieran to haunt his sleep. No sign of Isobail and her cruelty.

Only Nora was there with her catlike eyes and her barrage of questions.

He sighed in his sleep as he saw her out in a peaceful green meadow beckoning to him.

"Come, my lord, and be seated." She pulled him down by her side so that she could offer him cake and ale.

In his dream, Ewan closed his eyes to savor the taste of her fingers as she fed him the cake from her hand. 'Twas the sweetest thing he'd ever known.

He drank of the ale, then set the food and drink aside so that he could stare at the woman who made him desire again. She made him yearn for dreams he had forsaken long ago. Dreams he had purposefully thrown away.

He pulled her across him, then rolled over, pinning her beneath him.

"I want you, Nora," he breathed.

Her smile welcomed him.

Accepting her invitation, he lowered his mouth and tasted the sweetness of her lips. She laced her hands through his hair, raising chills over him as he teased her mouth with his tongue.

He groaned her name as he moved his mouth lower, down to the cream of her neck where he had been dying to taste her. She arched her back against him, thrusting her b.r.e.a.s.t.s against his chest.

Unable to stand the torment of her, he cupped her breast in his hand and teased the taut nipple with his palm...

Nora moaned as she was stirred from her dreams by the heat of someone kissing her. By the feel of someone touching her body in a way no one had ever dared before.

Startled, she opened her eyes to find Ewan holding her. His lips were hot and demanding on her neck while his left leg was buried between both of hers. His warm hand cupped her breast.

"Ewan," she said.

He pulled back groggily and blinked. "Nora?"

"Aye. Did you not know it was me?"

She expected him to withdraw, to at least pull his hand away from her breast.

He didn't.

"I knew it was you. I thought I was dreaming it." Before she realized what he was doing, he dipped his head to kiss her again.

Nora moaned at the fierce taste of him.

He tore away from her lips.

"Push me away, Nora," he said suddenly. "Tell me that I repulse you and that you don't want anything to do with a sullen, self-pitying drunkard."

She frowned at his words.

Who had said such to him?

"I don't find you repulsive, Ewan. Far from it."

He cupped her face in his large hand and stared at her. His eyes were dark and pain-filled.

"Tell me, Nora," he insisted. "Because if you don't, I'm going to make love to you out here in the woods like an animal."

His words shocked her as much for his honesty as for the desperation she heard in his voice.

Her Aunt Eleanor had once told her that the most precious thing a woman possessed was her maidenhead. If a woman was lucky, she would get to choose whom she gave it to.

If not, 'twould be her father's choice.