Page 109 of Bound to a Warrior
Duncan kissed her cheek again and whispered, “Later.”
Mercy smiled and watched the two men laughing and bantering as they left the keep. “What of Bryce? How does he feel about love?”
Mara shook her head. “In some ways he’s the easiest of my sons to understand and in other ways he is the most difficult. I can only pray that he will find a woman who understands him.” Her smile grew wider. “But the most important part is that all four of them make certain that they give me lots of grandbabies to spoil.”
Mercy laughed and prayed that she would eventually be part of this loving family. She would miss them all and would be relieved when she finally returned. She had to keep telling herself that she would return. No matter what happened, she had to find her way back here—her way back home.
Supper was a delightful affair, but then perhaps it was because this was her last night here and she wanted to enjoy every moment of it. The brothers laughed and teased and Carmag regaled everyone with Scottish tales until finally one by one they began drifting off, Reeve first and then Trey.
Then Bryce turned to Duncan and said, “I thought you were the fulfiller of dreams.”
“You knew what I was thinking,” Duncan said and took Mercy’s hand and bid everyone good-night.
She giggled when he scooped her up in his arms and carted her up the stairs. Her heart swelled with love and sadness. She looked forward to this night with Duncan, but knowing she was leaving afterward made it bittersweet.
Once inside their bedchamber he fell down on the bed with her, smothering her face with kisses. She laughed, though it faded to sighs when he began kissing her in earnest.
The sighs soon turned to moans as his hands explored beneath her skirt with such erotic tenderness that she thought she would climax. But his hand slipped away before she did.
“No,” she whispered in his ear. “That felt so good.”
He kissed her quick. “I’m about to make it feel even better.”
He sat up and shed his shirt, and before he shed his plaid, his hand once again dipped beneath her skirt and favored her with gentle strokes that ignited her already burning passion.
“I like that you melt to my touch so easily.”
“How can I not when it is such a loving touch,” she said. “Now hurry and please me so that I may do the same for you.”
He worked fast at his plaid. “And then—” He grinned. “We’ll start all over again and I will ride you slow and easy until you cannot stand it a moment longer.”
“I already cannot stand it.” She laughed softly. “You must hurry.”
The solid rap at the door sounded just before Duncan was about to toss his plaid aside.
“This better be important,” he shouted aloud.
“It is,” Reeve shouted back. “We’re all needed in the solar.”
“I’ll be right there.”
“Don’t dally,” Reeve warned.
Duncan grumbled while he quickly dressed. “One day I’m going to beat him.”
Mercy smiled. “No you won’t.”
“But he deserves it.”
She shook her head. “He does what he must do as do you.”
“I’ll be back soon,” he said and kissed her quickly. When he reached the door, he looked back. “I hope to be back soon.”
“I’ll be waiting,” she said and as the door closed behind him, she prayed that it would be so. That he would return shortly and they would have this night together, all of it, not merely an hour or two, but the whole of it.
Please. Oh please. Let me have this night with him.
She had thought about this night all day and how the memory of it would help sustain her in the coming days, weeks, months. She didn’t know how long it would be before she and Duncan were reunited.
