he acted like a man starved. and yet he was exceedingly gentle and in turns rough. it confused her.

she wanted more. she needed more. but she wasn't at all sure what it was she wanted or needed.

he slid his tongue around and then up the underside of her breast until the bud balanced precariously on the edge of his lip. then he sucked it inside, sweeping it past his teeth, pulling and tugging at it until she cried out and dug her nails into his broad shoulders.

"caelen, please! have mercy."

he raised his head, his eyes reflecting the dancing flames in the hearth. "mercy? lass, i have none. furthermore, you won't want it. but you'll beg for more. aye, you will."

he kissed the hollow between her breasts and murmured softly against her skin. "you're beautiful, rionna. never hide what god has given you. you are a woman blessed."

his words soaked into her heart, giving comfort she hadn't realized she needed. how could a man who was so harsh and unyielding speak with a poet's soul? he was a hard man. his words were harder. he was quick to offer criticism. he hadn't spared her feelings at any point. and yet now he wooed her as gently as a man wooing his lover.

he kissed a path down to her navel, moving his big body as his mouth moved lower. he tongued the indention, then grazed his teeth over the sensitive flesh.

more goose bumps scattered across her belly and still he moved lower, shocking her with his daring.

he parted her thighs and positioned his body so that his head was above her pelvis. her eyes widened as he lowered his head. he couldn't. surely he wouldn't.

oh god, he did.

he slid his fingers through the patch of hair covering her throbbing center and parted the swollen, aching folds. she was so mystified that she couldn't form a single objection as he pressed a kiss to her damp flesh.

she trembled uncontrollably. her thighs shook. her knees shook. her belly quivered and her breasts strained upward, so unbearably taut that she wanted to writhe right out of her skin.

and then he licked her.

a long, positively sinful swipe of his tongue, from her opening to the hood of flesh where he circled the throbbing bundle of nerves at her very heart.

he followed it with a simple kiss and then he sucked ever so gently at the little bud until she was a sobbing mess of incoherency.

oh aye, he'd certainly told the truth about kissing.

her sense of urgency mounted. her body tensed and coiled, tighter and tighter. pleasure bloomed and became nearly painful through her breasts and her womb and centered at the pulsing nub that he so unmercifully teased.

it felt as though she'd simply break apart at some point, but each time she thought she'd surely split, the pressure and indescribable pleasure only increased, driving her further into the state of madness.

"caelen! please, i don't know what to do."

he kissed her center again and then raised his head, his eyes glowing with feral light. "just let go, lass. you're fighting the inevitable. i won't hurt you, i swear it. 'twill feel good. relax now and let me love you."

his words soothed over her, sinking in and relaxing her tense muscles and frayed nerves. when his mouth touched her once more, she shivered and closed her eyes as the build began all over again.

"you taste like honey. never have i had anything sweeter. you make me daft with wanting. you're all that a woman should be, rionna. never hide that or be ashamed of it."

tears pricked her eyelids. she trembled from head to toe, not just from the onslaught of pleasure, but from the emotions welling from her chest. emotions that he'd unleashed.

she felt like a woman tonight. she felt beautiful and desired. like a bride should. how she should have been made to feel on her wedding day, instead of an inferior replacement.

his tongue circled her entrance and then slid inside, shocking her with the sheer intensity of the sensation. she arched upward just as she finally, finally broke free of the excruciating pressure building from deep within.

it was the single most bewildering, most powerful, most absolutely wonderful experience of her life. she flew. soared impossibly high and then floated ever so gently back toward the ground.

she closed her eyes and melted into the bed, so boneless, so positively sated that she couldn't even imagine moving so much as a finger.

her body quivered in the aftermath and tiny little shocks simmered through her blood, humming and buzzing. there was still a pulse between her legs, a slight ache and a throb, a reminder of the attentions he'd just given her with his mouth.

she'd never imagined such a thing. surely this wasn't normal. she'd never heard other women speak of such. he hadn't just kissed her as he'd promised. he'd licked her. he'd suckled her.

surely there was no more intimate act a husband could perform for his wife. contentment warmed her entire body and she smiled in satisfaction, marveling at how happy she was at this precise moment. no matter what tomorrow brought, she'd always hold tonight close.

she felt caelen leave the bed, but she couldn't summon the energy to open her eyes to see what he was about. a moment later, he pulled the furs up over her and climbed in beside her, his heated flesh a shock against her still quivering body.

having no experience in such matters, she wasn't sure what she was supposed to do. her mother and father never slept in the same chamber. certainly not in the same bed. she knew mairin and keeley both slept with their husbands every night. their husbands would allow nothing less, not that either woman wanted it any differently. perhaps 'twas a mccabe thing. maybe they were so possessive of their women that they couldn't bear to let them out of their sight. or maybe they were just protective.

she decided she didn't care. what was the worst that could happen? she'd gain caelen's censure? it wasn't as if she hadn't done that many times over the past few days.

she turned into his body and snuggled up tight against him. for a moment she worried she'd done something wrong because he stiffened against her. gradually he relaxed and then he slid an arm around her waist and hauled her even closer until her nose was pressed against the hollow of his throat.

"caelen?"

"aye, lass?"

"you were right."

"what was i right about?"

"kissing. 'tis a most wondrous thing."

she could sense his smile.

"and you were right about another thing. there are so many other ... places ... where kissing brings much pleasure to."

this time he chuckled softly over her head. "go to sleep, rionna. we must rise early in the morn. we have a hard journey ahead of us."

she sighed and closed her eyes and just before she drifted off, she had the thought that this whole consummation thing wasn't so bad after all.

chapter 7

caelen was in a black mood. he hadn't slept a wink the entire night. he'd finally given up when he couldn't take the torture of rionna's naked body wrapped around his a minute longer.

he had a raging erection, and even after prying himself from the bed and seeking privacy to take care of the matter, he was still hard and aching.

her taste was still on his tongue. her scent still filled his nostrils. her lean body with her lush curves still haunted him. whether he shut or opened his eyes, he couldn't rid himself of the images of her writhing beneath his mouth.

"sweet jesu," he muttered.

panting after a woman had already caused him-and his clan-a lifetime of trouble.

he would bed her as soon as they arrived at mcdonald keep and then he'd distance himself from her. a good tupping was what he needed. he'd been a long time without a woman. aye, that was the issue. he needed relief and then he would regain his senses and he could function without being led about by his cods.

knowing the others wouldn't be up for some time yet, he went below stairs and into the courtyard. snow had blown into drifts, barring the usual walkways. he cursed as he stared around at the heavy blanket of freshly fallen snow.

at least it had stopped and the sky was clear above. the moon and countless stars shone and reflected off the snow until it appeared nearly daytime.

"good morn, caelen."

caelen turned to see gannon standing a short distance away.

" 'tis cold, gannon. where are your furs?"

gannon grinned. "i don't want them wet before our journey. 'twill be freezing on the ride to mcdonald land."

caelen studied the warrior who'd long served caelen's brother. a more loyal man caelen had never known. he was glad to get him, but he worried.

"what think you of ewan sending you with me?"

gannon stared around at the keep, the courtyard where they'd trained for so many years. at the still-crumbling walls that were even now being repaired, thanks to mairin's dowry.

" 'twill be hard to leave the home i've known for so long. but things are changing. ewan is newly married and he leaves for neamh alainn as soon as isabel is strong enough for the journey. alaric will become laird. aye, things are changing, and 'tis the truth i'm looking forward to a new challenge. going with you to mcdonald keep will give me that."

"i'm glad to have you," caelen said. " 'twill be a hard task to train the mcdonalds to be warriors on par with the mccabes. we've not much time to whip them into shape. ewan is impatient to be rid of duncan cameron once and for all."

"as is our king."

"aye, for different reasons, but aye, david is eager to be rid of cameron as well."

"since we are both awake, perhaps we should ready the horses for the journey. i had some of the men bring down the trunks last night to load into the carts. will you wait for your lady wife to awaken before we depart?"

caelen scowled. his lady wife had slept like a babe while he'd lain awake in pain. "i'll wake her once we've readied the carts and the men. i'll want to say my goodbyes to my brothers and their wives."

" 'tis a new page in your life you're embarking on," gannon said in a sage voice. "a fortnight ago, did you imagine that you'd be laird of your own clan, newly married to a beautiful lass and on your way to a life away from the mccabes?"

for a moment caelen didn't acknowledge gannon's question. it caused him too much discomfort. the truth was an ugly, unforgiving thing. always there. never changing.

" 'tis my fault we've struggled for as many years as we have," caelen said quietly. "i owe my brothers more than i can ever repay. my agreeing to this marriage gives alaric what he most wants in the world, and it aids ewan in keeping his wife and child safe. it wouldn't matter if rionna mcdonald were a pox-riddled whore. i'd marry her for those reasons and never feel regret."

"how fortunate for you that i'm nay pox-riddled nor a whore."

caelen swung around to see rionna standing a short distance away, her face drawn into an impassive mask as she stared at him and gannon. he cursed under his breath just as gannon muttered "uh-oh." caelen was forever making a muck of things around rionna.

"rionna ..."

she held up her hand to silence him and he did so before it sunk in that she was giving him a command and he'd meekly followed it.

"don't apologize for speaking the truth, husband. 'tis the truth i had no more desire to marry you than you did me, but as you said last eve, neither of us had a choice. perhaps it would be better to move forward rather than to keep rehashing the reasons why over and over."

he hated the hurt in her voice even as her gaze flickered coolly over him and gannon. her face had the perfect you-can't-touch-me expression, but her voice told the truth. he had wounded her.

"you shouldn't be outside the keep. 'tis frigid this morn. what are you doing up at this hour?"

her gaze was as chilled as the wind. she showed no reaction to the biting cold even though the clothing she wore was ill-suited for such weather.

"i woke when you rose and i knew you'd want an early start. 'tis not an overlong journey but the snow will hinder us. i thought to aid you in preparing."

" 'tis a thoughtful gesture, my lady," gannon said. "but 'tis my duty to assist your husband. i would feel better if you were inside where 'tis warm and you don't chance taking ill."

caelen glared at gannon for his well thought-out words. the sentiment should come from him, not his commander. he could see the effect it had on rionna. her eyes lost some of their frost, and her stance relaxed.

"i'll want to bid my farewells to keeley as well as mairin and the babe."

caelen nodded. "i'll summon you when 'tis time to depart."

she gave a stiff nod of her own and then turned back into the keep. caelen sighed and glanced over at gannon.

" 'twill be a task to clear the pathways. we may as well begin now."