Page 23 of Border Lord’s Bride

And as though he'd heard her prayer, he plunged deep, filling her until it was as though they were one. His palms cupped her bottom, lifting her to each thrust until the glory of the moment released in a rapture that shook her to the depths of her soul. She heard Lucius's cry above her as the same wonder claimed him.

They hung there, in that moment of bliss, where nothing and no one mattered except the delicious enjoyment they'd given each other. Their hearts beat as one. Their breathing mingled until slowly the moment faded and reality returned.

The crisp air enveloped their cocoon of warmth as he slipped beside her and laid his head against her shoulder. She could feel the vibration of his heart against her own. She reached up and toyed with the ends of his hair as she cradled his body with her own.

Neither of them spoke in the quietness of the night. Lucius grasped the cloak that she'd worn and pulled it over the two of them. She kissed his brow. "Sleep for a while," she breathed.

"The sunrise." His words were light and airy and already sleepy.

"We'll know when it's time." She tightened her arms around him, praying for many more times like this to share with the man she loved. Closing her eyes, she held tight to that hope.

Lucius's eyes opened at the sound of a rooster crowing in the distance. The sound vibrated through the chilled predawn air. He reached down in the semidarkness and tugged the woolen cloak up tighter against Elizabeth's chin, then took a deep, satisfying breath of the morning air.

He stretched one arm, then the other. Every muscle in his body shrieked in protest at the movement. He continued to stretch, reveling in the stiffness of his legs and torso, and grinned. He'd earned this pain, not by sleeping in a chair near the hearth, but because he'd slept on a rock alongside the most desirable woman in the world.

Praise the saints, it felt good!

"Elizabeth," he whispered as he stroked her cheek, allowing his fingers to tangle in her hair as they had last night. "The sunrise."

She groaned and her eyes flickered open. "Did we miss it?"

His smile increased at her disheveled state. She looked as though she'd been thoroughly pleasured. At the thought, his body hardened, wanting to explore her hidden secrets once more.

The sky turned a pale orangish pink as she sat up. He slipped his arm around her shoulders and drew her close, and was pleased when she leaned against his shoulder. Her being near him seemed like the most natural thing in the world.

"Elizabeth," he said softly, trying to find a way to say what was in his heart. In this moment with her, he felt his grief lessen and something new, more hopeful, take a grip on his soul.

She turned her face up to his and remained silent, though the warmth in her eyes gave him the courage to go on.

"I'm sorry for how I treated you when you arrived at Midwick. I was afraid to…" He paused, knowing once he said the words he could never take them back. "I was afraid to care about anyone the way I cared about you."

She smiled up at him. "I understand you were afraid I'd break your heart again."

He felt the corner of his mouth quirk into a smile as he turned quickly away, staring once again at the slight blossom of orange creeping up from the horizon. "I still have a ways to go to put the past behind me."

"Everything doesn't have to happen overnight. We have time, Lucius."

He flashed her a grin. "Aye, we have time." Off in the distance, the sun was coloring the horizon a fiery red. Yet the woman beside him drew his interest far more, and he brought down his head and touched his mouth to hers. He brushed his lips across the softness of hers, and she gave a small gasp. Her taste flowed into him, a familiar honey. A lifetime of wanting clutched his chest, his gut, and he deepened the kiss. He brought his hand to rest against the small of her back, pulling her closer.

The kiss seemed to go on forever, with neither of them pulling away until a glint of sunlight caressed his closed eyelids, urging him to focus his attention on the reason for this outing. With a groan of remorse he broke the kiss. "Sunrise," he whispered.

She pressed her cheek against his chest and looked into the distance with a soft gasp.

His gaze shifted from her to the horizon, and what he saw made his breath catch in his throat. It wasn't the cloudless vibrant sky that seemed to start at his toes and reach up endlessly to the heavens above. It wasn't the realization that nothing stood between him and his God except that rising sun.

It was the flecks of surging brown and gray against a background of white snow that stole the breath from his lungs. Lucius shot to his feet, startling Elizabeth.

"The English are invading."

Chapter Nine

Lucius grabbed his boots and slammed his feet into them. "Elizabeth, we must hurry and alert the others."

"The girls," Elizabeth whispered.

Lucius's heart clenched. "We'll reach them in time." They dressed in silence. Once they were done, he took her hand, and together they flew down the outcropping to the horse.

The MacKinleys were gathered in the hall breaking their fast when Lucius threw the door open with a bang and charged into the suddenly silent room. "The English are attacking!"