Page 76 of Claimed By a Ruthless Scot
There was a brief pause. Then, predictably, a flicker of amusement touched his expression.
“If I did nae ken better,” he teased, “I would think ye were looking fer an excuse tae see me naked.”
She rolled her eyes playfully. “We’ve done this before, so ye ken the process. Ye are just purposely making it more difficult fer me.”
“What can I dae when ye make it so much fun,” he grinned.
She shook her head, then focused on the task at hand. Her gaze remained fixed on the darkened fabric at his arm, on the blood that had soaked through, on the reminder of how close they had come to being parted… forever.
Her chest tightened. She did not even look at him. She did not acknowledge the teasing. And that was what made Duncan fall silent. The humor faded from his expression.
Without another word, he reached for his shirt. Elaina’s breath slowed then stilled as the fabric lifted, as his shoulders were revealed, as the familiar strength of him came into view. The light caught against his skin, tracing the lines of old scars, the shape of muscle beneath and the evidence of a life lived in battle and duty.
Her gaze lingered for a fraction longer than it should have before she forced herself to focus on the wound, on the reason she had insisted he stay.
She shifted closer. Now, she was close enough to feel the heat of him, close enough that when her fingers finally touched his arm, the contact sent a faint, involuntary shiver through her.
Still, her hands were steady. She had to be. Her focus remained on the wound, though her breath had grown quieter and more careful, as if even that might disturb something fragile between them. She reached for the cloth and for the salve, her movements precise despite the awareness that seemed to settle beneath her skin.
“Duncan,” she began softly.
But before she could finish, his hand moved. It was sudden, but not harsh. His fingers curved gently around her jaw, lifting her face and forcing her to look at him.
“Elaina.” His voice made her entire body still. “I am fine,” he said, his gaze holding hers with an intensity that left no room to look away. “I have survived much worse than this.”
She searched his face, as if trying to measure the truth of his words not with her mind, but with something deeper.
They were too close. She felt it now.
She could feel the warmth of his hand against her skin, the brush of his breath, the way the space between them seemed to disappear entirely. Her pulse quickened. But she did not pull away. She could not. Because for all his words and for all his calm, she could still see the tension in him and the weight of what had nearly happened.
It was the same thing she herself felt.
“Ye could have…” she began, feeling her voice on the verge of breaking, despite her effort to control it.
He did not let her finish. His thumb brushed lightly along her cheek, the touch grounding and unsettling all at once. And then, he closed the distance.
The kiss was not hesitant. It was not careful. It was something else entirely, something drawn from everything they had not said, everything they had barely allowed themselves to feel.
Elaina stilled for the briefest moment, then melted into it. Her hand, still resting against his arm, tightened slightly, her other finding the fabric at his shoulder as if she needed something to hold onto. The world beyond that moment faded completely. The castle, the danger, the fear that had followed her from the market, all of it dissolved.
The warmth of his lips, the steady pull of him drawing her closer, the quiet certainty that she was exactly where she was meant to be made her breath falter, but she did not pull away. She leaned into him instead.
She wanted to forget about everything other than this moment, his lips and his hands. As they kissed, he gently leaned her back onto the bed, then pooled her skirt around her waist. When he pulled away, she could see a mischievous glint in his eyes.
“Duncan!” she gasped. “What on earth dae ye think ye’re… Oh…”
Then, he lowered his head.
The moment she felt his tongue on her most intimate flesh, her mind became obliterated. There was nothing inside of it, absolutely nothing but the sensation he had awakened inside of her. She knew that she shouldn’t have given in with such ease but at that moment, there was no right or wrong, onlyhim.
Now, his mouth was fully on her, and the suction created a whole new array of sensations, something she had never felt before. He gently pushed her legs apart, adjusting himself, and all she could do was grab a fistful of his hair, to keep him in place.
She gasped over and over again, and her hips kept jerking toward him, demanding more of that mad pleasure he was revealing to her.
“Mmm,” she heard him moan. “Ye taste so good…”
She blushed even more fervently, and she thanked the heavens that the room was barely lit. And when he slid his tongue inside of her, tasting her, playing with her, sensation bloomed at the very core of her being. Everything he did was pure perfection, and it only seemed to create an infinite need for more.
