“Machines?” Ian said. “’Tis like listening to a fairy tale. Sounds like magic.”
“I know. It does. I’ve already forgotten how it feels to have a washing machine do your laundry. Medicine is much more advanced. Many diseases have been cured. Most developed countries don’t have plague or pox or cholera outbreaks anymore, though we do have new diseases. Surgery is very advanced. They can now do eye surgery and improve vision.”
Ian shook his head. “Sounds like a much better place to live than here.”
The world she described sounded like a magical place. He was glad that in about seven hundred years, there would be such a different life. Fighting diseases, fighting death, making hard work easier.
“Slavery exists, unfortunately,” Kate added carefully. “But it’s against the law.”
Something tightened in Ian’s stomach. “Good. Verra good. A world without slavery is a better world.”
“But things are not perfect. There are still wars. For the same reasons: power, money, territories. Resources. Honestly, I think in many ways your life here is simpler and easier. It’s hard, physically, but there’s something so satisfying about cooking from scratch, working the land, taking care of your tenants…”
“Fighting the English,” Ian added. “Fighting for freedom. ’Tisna simple or easy.”
“No,” she said. “But it’s worth fighting for.”
Ian didn’t think he could love her more in that moment. Some things were worth fighting for. His people.
Her.
“Women and men have equal rights where I live. It’s not like that everywhere in the world, though. In the western world, women earn money, go to work, and can even choose a life with no children.”
Ian frowned. “A woman’s place is with her husband,” he said. “I do appreciate a woman’s freedom, but ’tis her husband or her father that must—”
“Not in the future. This is a very conservative point of view. Women are their own bosses.”
“I dinna ken if I agree with that. If ye were mine—” He suddenly swallowed his words. Speaking of a future with Kate, one he could never have, was hard. Painful.
But she looked at him with her big, bonnie, kind eyes full of hope.
“If I were yours, then what?” she said.
“If ye were mine, I’d want to protect ye. I’d want to boss ye around so that ye wouldna work too hard. I’d have a hard time sharing ye with anyone. I’d want ye all to myself.”
She blushed. “There are so many things that are wrong with those statements for a modern woman. You can’t boss me around, and you can’t keep me to yourself.” Then she hid her face against his chest. “At the same time, it’s so unbelievably hot…”
He kissed her, devouring her mouth, suddenly hungry for her on a new level. She leaned into him with her whole body, turning his veins into flowing fire in an instant. He became hard for her right away, his cock hot and firm and needy.
This might be the last time that he’d have her. The last time… Pain pierced his gut, opening a dark, bottomless pit.
Nae yet. She isna gone yet.
She put her leg over his hip, her sleek sex touching his erection. His skin flushed and burning, he crushed her to himself.
“What are ye doing to me, lass,” he whispered hotly.
“What are you doing to me?” she echoed.
He covered her neck with kisses, her skin like the finest silk against his lips. He went lower, to her lush breasts, and cupped them with both his hands. He took one nipple into his mouth and sucked it gently, and was rewarded by a low moan as she arched her back. He repeated it with the second breast, and the nipple hardened right away in his mouth. He played with her breasts longer because he knew that would give her the most pleasure.
“These breasts should be cherished and loved every day,” he said. “Should be caressed and licked and stroked.”
“Oh…I agree.”
Ian went lower, to his favorite place on her body—although he loved every inch of her. The scent of her there drove him mad with desire. So feminine, so wanton. He spread her gentle folds and put his mouth on her. A shudder went through her. She put her hands on his head, brushing her fingers through his hair, the touch sending soft waves of pleasure through him.
He kissed her there, in her most sensitive spot. She felt hot and silky and soft against him. She was the sweetest dessert he could ever get. He licked against her folds, and her legs tremored around him. He continued teasing her, right where he knew she loved it, and she awarded him with a satisfied, guttural moan.
She was his fae, the goddess of summer, Bride. And he was frozen and broken and in need of warmth.
He inserted a finger inside her, and her tight entrance took him in gently, bringing a surge of desire into his veins. She sucked in air, and he inserted another finger and found the most sensitive spot inside and began massaging her. She wriggled and writhed, rubbing herself against him with the rhythm of his movements. He licked, and sucked gently, and pinched the swelling bud of her sex.
She grew tighter and tighter around him and breathed faster and faster. Her voice grew louder and more and more needy.
She was close. And he wanted her to have more. He wanted to show her all the stars in the sky.
She’d said she found the commanding man desirable…
Ian withdrew, and in a fast move, flipped Kate over on her belly, dragging her delicious arse in the air, and bit her playfully.
“This arse is better than yer food,” he murmured, taking two handfuls, kneading the firm, abundant flesh.
She sucked in a breath. Ian bit her again on the other cheek, and couldn’t stop a growl from the sweet slide of her silky skin against him.
He continued to bite her softly, here and there, feeling himself harden even more. He didn’t think he had ever been this aroused. His balls would
