hand between their bodies until his fingers parted her dark curls. A smile pulled at his lips when he felt how wet she was.
She jerked when his fingers smoothed over her sex, touching a part of her no one else ever had. Or ever would.
“Lucan,” she whispered.
He slipped a finger inside her. God’s blood, she was tight. He clenched his jaw to hold back his desire as he prepared her. In and out his finger pumped and soon her hips rocked against him. He moved another finger to join the first. She moaned and arched her back. Her hard nipples gleamed in the afternoon sun, begging him to take them again.
Unable to resist, he suckled a taut peak and moved a third finger inside her. She cried out, the tempo of her hips moving faster.
His rod ached, the need too great. He removed his hand. Cara’s eyes flew open to meet his. Excitement flashed in her depths when the head of his cock rubbed against her sensitive sex. He pushed inside her and closed his eyes at the exquisite pleasure.
He pulled out and then sank deeper inside her heat. When he met her barrier, he withdrew until just the tip of him was inside her. With one thrust, he pressed through her maidenhead.
Her body tensed and she jerked. Lucan stilled to give her body time to adjust to him.
“Is it over?”
A laugh bubbled inside him at her annoyed tone. He looked into her eyes and gave her a kiss. “Not in the least.”
“Good.”
The need to move, to plunge into her hard and deep, filled him. He held himself in check and began to move with slow, short thrusts. It didn’t take long for her body to relax and soft sighs to reach his ears.
“Put your legs around my waist,” he said.
As soon as she did, he sank deeper. He couldn’t hold back the groan at the feel of her taking all of him. Their pace quickened, his thrusts going deeper, harder, as she lifted her hips against him.
The pleasure was too much, too intense. He knew he was about to orgasm, but he refused to reach completion before Cara. He shifted his weight to one hand and reached between them until his finger stroked her clitoris. She cried out and clawed his back as he caressed her.
He kept a steady rhythm, watching the emotions on her face as her body tensed. A heartbeat later she cried out as she peaked. Lucan was powerless to hold back his climax any longer. With her body clenching around his, he buried himself inside her and let her milk him dry.
For long moments they stayed as they were, their breaths mixing, their hearts racing. He parted his lids to find her watching him with bright eyes.
“That was . . .” She trailed off with a shrug.
He knew what she meant. Words for what had happened, the feelings that had washed over him, were missing. Then he thought of one that captured the moment. “It was perfect.”
A slow smile pulled at her lips. “Aye. It was most assuredly perfect.”
He put his forehead to hers. “Will you come back with me to the castle?”
“I’d go anywhere with you, Lucan, even to the fires of Hell.”
“Let’s hope it doesna come to that,” he said with a kiss on her nose.
He rolled to his back and pulled her against him. He gazed at the tops of the trees and the pink and orange sky of the setting sun.
With his body sated, he found himself thinking of when he had come upon Cara talking to Galen. The need to kill had never been so strong. Galen hadn’t been hurting Cara, but he had been near her. It was enough for Lucan.
What he still didn’t understand was why she wanted him. Lucan had stayed in his Warrior form so she could see what he was, take in his anger and the danger that surrounded him. Instead of pushing her away, it seemed to excite her. That should have worried him, but it pleased him more than he wanted to admit.
“What are you thinking?” she asked sleepily.
“About you.”
She chuckled. “I hope it’s good.”
“I wish you hadn’t run, Cara.”
With a sigh she rose up on her elbow to look at him. “I did what I thought was best.”
“You knew running would make you an easy target for Deirdre.”
“I did.”
“And you did it anyway.”
“You told me yourself Deirdre wouldn’t stop coming after me. I figured if I let her have me it would give you and your brothers a chance to get free of her.”
He cupped her face. “You are the bravest woman I know.”
“Nay,” she said with a slight shake of her head. “Just one that is starving.”
CHAPTER SIXTEEN
Cara wanted to stay in Lucan’s arms forever. It didn’t bother her that night was approaching. As long as she was with Lucan she was safe. But with the way he kept glancing at the sun, she knew their time had come to an end.
She sat up and looked down at his luscious, hard body and wanted to explore him to her heart’s content. Next time, and she was sure there would be a next time, she was going to run her hands all over him.
He smiled at her, unabashed in his nudity. She glanced at his flaccid rod, amazed at how it had felt in her hands. She supposed she should be embarrassed about her own nakedness, but she liked how he looked at her. The stark hunger in his eyes made her stomach flutter.
“I need to get you cleaned up,” he said as he rose in one fluid motion to his feet.
Cara saw her virgin’s blood on him. A glance between her legs showed a few spots of blood had gotten on her gown. The ripping of material drew her gaze to him. Lucan had torn his tunic in half and knelt between her legs.
“I’d wet it if there was water.”
She shrugged and reached for the material. “It’s no matter.”
He held it away from her. “Lay back. I’ll clean you.”
She nodded and leaned back on her elbows. His hands were gentle as he cleaned off her blood and his seed from between her thighs. Only once she was clean did he wipe himself. He buried the tunic some distance away and returned to her standing in profile as he pulled on his breeches and boots.
Cara couldn’t take her eyes off him. He was a glorious specimen, a Highlander in every sense of the word. He fit into nature as well as any animal, and the danger that surrounded him only added to his allure.
He was a man every mother would warn her daughter about. But he was a man whom every daughter would want for her own.
Lucan turned his head to Cara and raised a brow. “Something wrong?”
She ran her gaze down his lean buttocks and powerful legs. For a man chiseled in perfection, he was amazingly gentle with her.
Cara licked her lips. “Everything is just right.”
“Need some help getting dressed?” His eyes darkened with desire.
If she didn’t dress now, they would never leave, and she knew how much Lucan wanted to return to the castle. She shook her head and reached for a stocking. “Not this time.”
Lucan leaned against a tree, his arms crossed over his chest, watching her when she turned around from dressing. “Women wear too many clothes.”
