Rachel had been raised by governesses who she had nagged to tell her about the workings of love and relations between man and woman, but none had been overly informative. She now realized, however, that words could not accurately describe the desire that coursed through her bones, that made her legs lose their strength, and filled her senses with the masculine scents of pine and wood shavings that radiated off Adam. All she could hear was the slight patter of the rain outside, which seemed to echo the fast beat of her heart, and the fire that coursed over her skin where Adam touched her.
Adam was always so serious, so solemn, which in this moment was a blessing as he held and caressed her in a way that was full of both purpose and passion. His strong hands seemed to engulf her back where they roamed over her, holding her tightly. Somehow this kiss seemed to be much different than the one they had shared earlier.
Adam pulled back slightly, his forehead resting against hers as his lips moved but a breath away. “Rachel, I should not want you, and yet… I canna seem to help myself.”
She could hear the raggedness of his breathing, which now seemed to match her own. “I feel the same,” she whispered back, surprising herself with the words. She knew she shouldn’t say them to him, shouldn’t want him as she did. She didn’t know what was to become of her in the future, but if she were to make her living as a working woman, she may never have the opportunity to find love. Why, then, could she not have this one experience with a man? She was in the middle of the woodland in the Scottish Highlands. No one would ever have to know, except her and Adam.
“Are you sure?” he asked, his eyes darkening yet holding a look of worry as he seemed to search her face to determine what she was feeling. “I refuse to push anything upon you that ye dinna want.”
“I am more sure of this than I have ever been of anything in my life,” she said.
His lips came down on hers again, and this time his tongue met hers in a tangled love play that she felt tingle through her body all the way down to the tips of her toes. He lifted her then, carrying her over to the small cot, where he sat down, pulling her legs around him. He deftly untied the plaid that had taken her so long to correctly fasten, and pushed the material down, exposing her bare skin beneath. She felt rather wicked, not wearing her chemise, but it had been far too soaked to keep on beneath the plaid. Adam certainly didn’t seem to mind, as he ran his calloused hands over the soft skin of her shoulder and collarbone, before trailing them down her chest to cup her breasts.
His lips left her then, coming to the side of her neck, where he began to nibble on one of the most sensitive of areas, one she didn’t even know was there. It was both utter torture yet pure bliss, and she tilted her head to the other side to allow him better access.
As one hand held her upright, the other played with her nipple, and he kissed his way down her neck, her chest, until he came to her exposed breast. His tongue found it, and she heard a moan echo around the room, which she belatedly realized she had emitted herself. As he moved to attend to the other side, she looked down to see one of her hands still gripping tightly to his hair, the other digging into the flesh of his upper back above the plaid. He didn’t seem to mind in the least, however, though she didn’t feel she could take any more of this. She wanted — needed — more, though she wasn’t sure what it was she was searching for.
“Adam,” she cried out, and he gave a slight growl in return. His hands came to her unbound, wet hair, which now hung loosely around her shoulders. He found her lips again, his tongue plundering her over and over, until she was nearly limp with wanting him.
Adam stood then, shifting her so that she had no choice but to stand on her own two feet for a moment, just long enough for him to undo his kilt and lay it on the small cot. She opened her eyes then, and saw his figure highlighted from the glow cast by the fire. His skin was tanned from all of the time spent outdoors, emphasizing the lean muscles that corded his arms, chest, and abdomen. Before he could move, she was reaching out to feel the hardness of him, until she caught him looking at her with such intensity that she took her hand back.
“No, no,” he said, as sweat formed on his upper lip. “It’s fine. Go ahead.”
She hadn’t looked below his waist — she was nervous, and when she finally steeled her resolve and lowered her eyes, she had to gasp. She was not quite sure how this was going to work, if it would at all. He seemed to read her unease, as he brought a finger to her chin and tilted her face up to look into his eyes.
“What you’re doing to me… rather frightens me, if ye must now the truth,” he said with a bit of a chuckle that didn’t quite reach his eyes. “I — I’m not sure this is right. You’ve never been with a man, and I—”
“I want nothing more right now than you,” she said with affirmation, and pulled him back toward her, this time being the aggressor, kissing him soundly as she wrapped her arms around him. As she did so, the plaid that had still been loosely surrounding her fell to the floor, and she could
