Page 33 of Highlander’s Lesser Evil

“I am right here, Theo. Do as you wish.”

Lowering his head, he captured her sweet mouth, but this was not a gentle kiss. No, there was still so much fear in him as he replayed the image over and over in his head, a sword raised above her, and the panic in her eyes as she tried to defend herself and the wee one under her arm. The kiss was urgent, and the hunger swept through him like a storm.

Gemma didn’t shy away. She met his kiss the best she could, still inexperienced but clearly feeling the same need. They clung to each other as his tongue stroked against hers, and he was so lost in the need that he hadn’t even realized that he was pulling up her skirts until his fingers were skimming her legs.

“Wait,” she said breathlessly as she pulled. “Someone could come in any minute. Let me finish looking at your wound, and then we can go home.”

Home. The word lifted his spirits. He closed his eyes and rested his forehead on hers.

Tomorrow, she would be singing a different tune when he told her that it was too dangerous here and that it was time to go home.

To the MacDougal keep.

Gemma made him breakfast, but they were near dead on their feet. No one expected anyone to be productive, so the village was quiet for most of the day. They slept for a few hours and rose around midafternoon. Gemma checked in with the other residents and did some weaving to soothe herself while Theo left to scour the fields for evidence of the villains who had invaded them.

He returned just after dark, his face drawn in anger. There was a community dinner for everyone to get together and reassure themselves that it would be all right. Theo answered any questions that he could and was patient with everyone, but this wasn’t the first time they had been through an attack, and they all knew it would not be the last.

No, they were resigned—jaded, even—and Gemma hated that. She wanted to lift their spirits again, to see them smile as they had at her wedding.

Perhaps she would plan a festivity for tomorrow night. Some music and dancing and laughing. It was just what the villagers needed after yesterday.

The crowd broke up quickly, many of them still tired, and Theo kept his hand on Gemma’s back and guided her to the cottage. This morning, they’d been far too tired to explore more of that kiss they’d shared, but from the way Theo had been looking at her, she had a feeling that more was coming her way tonight.

She was ready for it. The intimacy was overwhelming, but she needed to feel Theo, to remind herself that her husband was still alive.

The door was barely closed before he gathered her into his arms and kissed her with the same hunger as earlier. She all but melted into him, her arms twining around his neck as she lifted herself to her toes to increase the pressure.

“Gemma,” he murmured as he swept her up and carried her to the bed. “Tonight, let me make ye mine. Love me.”

She was already his. Didn’t he know that?

His beautiful eyes darkened, and he laid her down, stomach first. Confused, she nearly turned over, but his hands were at the buttons of her dress. There was something so erotic about being undressed like this, so she closed her eyes and squeezed her thighs together as she grew wet from the heat of his hands.

Then, he slid her skirts up past her knees and grabbed her arms. Like a rag doll, she let him pull her up to her knees. The bed settled as he kneeled behind her and peeled the dress off her body and up above her head.

Her shift followed, and he groaned when he realized that she was naked underneath. She’d gone to sleep wanting his touch and dressed with this moment in mind.

“Ye are so beautiful,” he whispered as he ran his hands over her abdomen and up to her breasts where he cupped and strummed his fingers over her nipples. Whimpering, she leaned back into him and closed her eyes while pleasure softly cascaded through her.

“Ye like this, aye?”

“Oh, aye,” she breathed, smiling as she tried to mimic his heavy Scottish brogue. Theo chuckled and moved his hands south to her naked thighs and then in between to her curls.

Her breath caught in her throat, and she clenched her fist in the blanket as his fingers stroked around her and then eased into her. Automatically, she clenched her muscles, and he groaned. “Oh, lass, if ye do that when I am in ye, I wilnae last long.”

“I...” she struggled to find the words. “How long am I going to have to wait to feel you?”

Suddenly, she was in the air as he all but tossed her up. Her body twisted as he skillfully maneuvered her, and she bounced back on the bed, staring up at him.

“Not long,” he promised as he leaned over her and settled his lips on hers.

Once again, the kiss was hungry, a raw reminder of the desire between them, and then he was gone. Opening her eyes, Gemma watched as he stood by the bed, staring at her, while he slowly started removing his clothes.

She’d seen him naked before, but wanted nothing to hinder her view as she stared at him, transfixed. He radiated power and sensuality, and she drank him in like a woman starving.

Naked as the day he was born, he stood over her and ran a hand through his hair. “Like what ye see, Wife?”

“Very much,” she whispered. Nibbling on her bottom lip, she decided to take advantage of his stillness and kneeled on the edge of the bed, and reached out to touch him.