Page 36 of The Laird's Dark Obsession

So he spoke honestly. “I want to break that man, Kira. More than I want to live, even.”

He watched her face and something warm took over his chest. The gleam in her icy eyes wasn’t sorrow or compassion for her father, it was worry for Hunter. He could tell by the way her eyes searched his, the little crease that formed between her brows. She had never had more than cold contempt dimming her glow whenever they spoke of her father.

Her loyalty truly belonged to Hunter, and that was the sweetest, most satisfying feeling that he may have ever known.

And then he was faced with his next words and what they meant. If Fairbairn wouldn’t back down, he knew that it would mean war. Fairbairn wasn’t the kind of man that would come to face Hunter head-on, man to man. No, he would rally forces, declare war on Galbraith to retrieve back his property.

“I dinnae want war, Kira,” he said, his voice deep and gravelly. “It is likely what will happen. And I thought I was prepared, that itwassomething I wanted… But I dinnae.”

He swallowed a lump that was forming in his throat. Destiny was cruel for landing him right back into the all too alluring web that was Kira Fairbairn—Kira Galbraith. Just knowing that was her name made tingles course through his being.

“I dinnae want to risk losing ye,” he confessed at last, his voice barely a whisper.

How humbling their union had been for him. He never thought he would live to see the day that he would say such words to her. How could it be that just weeks ago, she was in the palm of his hand and now he was wrapped around her finger?

Was this what love made a man? Illogical, mad, emotional? How could anyone ever want this? And how could he ever picture his life without it, moving forward?

Kira leaned forward and placed a hand on the desk, reaching for him. Slowly, he laid a hand over hers and her thin fingers wrapped around it. “I’m nae going anywhere, Hunter. I’m yers.”

To say those exact words so casually was madness to him. Want started to cloud his mind but he tried to stay focused. She continued, “War is nae a solution, though. I do hope we can find another way. Perhaps we could scare him? Call alliances of our own for support.”

Hunter had been a lone wolf of a laird since the moment he took power. While he had maintained good relationships in business, he hadn’t called upon old favors nor beseeched support in the name of his father. It had always felt sinful. That he shouldn’t invoke the name of his father unless it was something dire, something that his father would want him to find help with. And looking at his bride, he thought perhaps this could be such an occasion. That he had found something important and dire enough that he would finally ask for help instead of shouldering everything alone.

He withdrew his hand and gave his lap a pat. She eyed him curiously as she stood and moved around the desk, perching on his lap. “My, my. My wife is hardworking, loyal, and clever,” he praised. “A lucky man, am I not?”

Kira stroked his cheek and smiled fondly. “Dinnae boast so much, M’Laird. I’ve only just begun.”

“I hope so,” he purred.

Something new and wicked flashed across her expression in response. She then turned gracefully and skillfully so that she was straddling his lap, her legs nestled on each side of him, her legs exposed as her dress bunched around her hips, leaving little to his imagination. His hands raked over the smooth skin and gave her a hooded glare as her hands rested on his shoulders.

“Where did ye learn such tricks?” he queried. “To sit on me so, with such ease when ye blush at the slightest bit of affection… Makes me think it’s a practiced skill.”

“There was much idle time at Clan Barclay,” she sighed.

Her fingertips trailed along his collarbone and his manhood swelled. It made him feel alive, grounded, and invincible all at once. Though her words made his eyes narrow to slits.

“And the library there is stocked with any book ye can imagine. Scandalously enough, some of those books even have drawings within them.” Her face drew near and her hands were gentlystroking his jaw. “I always wondered if I would use such knowledge one day. How lucky am I to share it with ye rather than anyone else.”

“Temptuous thing,” he murmured.

Their lips crashed into one another’s, and he took possessive hold of her hips. Others might frown upon his truth, but it didn’t make it any less so. No matter how at war his thoughts could be over Kira, when they came together as man and woman, he could physically feel how connected they were. And her lips on his cleared his heart of its clouded confusion. At his core, Hunter had always wanted her, craved her, loved her.

She had never been his enemy, though. He knew that now. And he would shower her with all the love lost between the years that had separated them.

Kissing and biting at her pale neck was as close as he could get to devouring her like he so longed to do. He relished the sensation of her skin against his teeth and the raspy moans that escaped her mouth. Reaching for the hem of her skirt, he hiked it up further to expose her sex.

She gasped into his ear. “What if someone comes in?”

“Best give them a show to remember then,” he smirked.

Kira laughed, and it was a real laugh. And to think, she couldn’t make a prettier sound than moaning his name. Had he everheard her laugh like this? He savored the sound, memorizing the notes and melody of it whilst he kissed along her neck some more, pulling the fabric of her dress down off her shoulder. Her laughter turned to breathy moans as he kissed her shoulder and petted between her legs.

He thought her need for propriety would win, that she would shove him away and call him a beast before luring him to her bedchamber. To his surprise, however, she was reaching for the fasteners of his breeches. Could there have ever been a woman more perfect for him than this one?

She freed his manhood and her soft hand wrapped around its base, stroking him lightly. And then she guided his tip to her center, pressing into him until their bodies became one. Her core was warm, slick with want, and all his.

Hunter stared up at her as she slowly began to ride him, her hips gentle and slow with each movement. “Good lass,” he purred as his hands cupped her ass. “Keep going.”