Highland Shift (Highland Destiny: 1) (7 page)

Faolan wound her hair between his thumb and forefinger, and smiled. “In Inverness,” he paused, before slowly continuing, as though considering whether he should tell her the truth, “I kissed you because I wanted to, just to see what it would be like. I didna’ know I would like it so
verra much.” He looked down and then continued softly, “I walked away because I am no good for you, lass.”

He looked back up, his tawny eyes locked with hers, and the
butterflies in the pit of her stomach started up again, with a vengeance.

“I could make you want me, lass. You
wouldna refuse,” he whispered.

After all her years of holding out for the right man to share that special first time with, here she was, sitting in his lap. Faolan was correct. Elena wouldn’t refuse him. She’d learned an important lesson yesterday; life was too short to wait any longer for some fairy-tale romance. If those punks had raped her last night, all those years of waiting for Mr. Right would have meant nothing.

Elena was here with an incredibly sexy man, one who only had to look at her to make her feel more than any other man. This was the stuff of dreams, the curl-your-toes attraction every woman deserved to experience at least once in her life.

She had decided against finding love, but Elena had also decided she would experience sex on her terms, when and where she was ready. She’d vowed to make a fresh start and it was time to make good on that promise.

“You’re right,” she whispered back, “I wouldn’t refuse. I do want you.” His gaze smoldered as he digested what she’d said. Elena reached one hand up to his face and placed the other behind his neck. “Please, Faolan, kiss me.”

Faolan started to lower his face, pulled back, and said again, “I am no good for you, lass.”

Then he brushed his lips gently over hers, and it was as if the ground shifted beneath them, like a small earthquake, and even stronger than the first time they’d kissed. Faolan stiffened, pulled back, and looked at Elena searchingly, then brushed his lips against hers again, as if confirming the primal connection between them.

He ran his tongue over her lower lip, and pulled it gently with his teeth before covering her mouth with his. Elena’s lips parted, and he opened them further, his tongue claiming ownership, hot and demanding. Their tongues tangled in deep searching kisses. Elena couldn’t tell where he began and she ended. He thrust his tongue in and then slowly withdrew, over and over, a promise of what was to come. Elena wound her fingers into his beautiful hair, pullin
g it loose about his shoulders. Faolan lifted her slightly and repositioned her on his lap so she could feel the hard length of him beneath her. Someone moaned, but Elena didn’t know if the sound was his desire or hers. His thumb caressed her jaw line and continued slowly down her neck to the front of her shirt. He deftly worked the buttons to expose her lacy bra. His large hand cupped a breast, kneading gently, before his fingers traced feather light circles around each nipple. Elena’s breasts felt tight and swollen in his hands, and she rocked against his hard shaft in response. Without a word, Faolan swept Elena into his arms and never broke the kiss as he carried her down the hall to the bedroom.

****

“Let me look at you, lass,” he said when he laid her on the bed. She knew her hair was tumbled mass around her head and her lips felt swollen from his kisses. Her shirt was completely opened, showing her creamy white bra cupping her full breasts. “Och, lass, you are so verra beautiful, you take my breath away.” He sat down next to her and leaned down, his kisses gentle again.

His voice was whisky rich against her ears.
“Lay back and relax. Let me make love to you.” He ran his tongue over her lips, before moving on to her neck. He climbed fully onto the bed and straddled her legs, then he was back at her mouth again, all heat and passion.

Elena captured his thrusting tongue, holding onto it lightly with a gentle suction. She bit his full lower lip, pushed her tongue into his mouth
and out again to taste his lips. She sat up and pushed his shirt up across his chest, and he helped by pulling it impatiently over his head.

Faolan’s bare chest was spectacular. His muscles were ripped, the pectorals tight with small copper nipples, and dusted with fine reddish-brown hair. His skin was golden and velvety soft. Elena ran her palms over the ridges of muscles, and then traced the fine trail of hair that disappeared tantalizingly into the waistband of his jeans. She longed to follow that trail with her tongue, to explore every part of this magnificent man.

He pulled her shirt off, leaving her bra on. His large hands cupped and massaged her breasts, rolled, and pinched her nipples, and she ached to feel his mouth on them. His hands were rough, the calluses heightening the sensations as he touched each breast. He laid her back again and ran his tongue along the lace of her bra, teasing with the promise of his mouth. He pulled the lace down with his teeth and pulled the hot, tight nipple into his mouth. Elena gasped with pleasure.

Faolan pushed her legs apart and lay hard and heavy between her thighs, letting her feel his arousal as he continued to suckle her breasts. “Elena, lass, you have lovely breasts,” he said hoarsely, his breath fanning over her sensitive nipples. Then he pulled one nipple deep into his mouth, sucking hard, flicking the nipple with his tongue, before turning his attention to her other breast. He continued to kiss, lick, and bite her until she was in
a frenzy.

Oh God!
She was hot and wet, ready to have him deep inside her. She was ready to become a woman, his woman, in every sense of the word. He was languidly rubbing his hard shaft against her, causing the seam of her jeans to rub against that sensitive spot, promising her pleasure with every stroke. Elena pushed back, meeting him thrust for thrust; she never knew she could feel like this. She tried to move her hands between them, to start taking off his pants, her pants. “Too many clothes,” she muttered.

Faolan laughed and pushed her hands away. His mouth moved lower, kissing her stomach, running his tongue down to the top of her jeans. He opened the fly on her jeans, exposing her lacy panties, and Elena lifted her hips, expecting him to slip her jeans down, but he laughed again and pushed her back down. “Not yet, love. My pace.”

Elena moaned as he ran his tongue across the lace, rubbing his shadow beard across her lower belly, igniting a fire deep within her like nothing she’d ever felt before. He showered the sensitive skin just above the top of her panties with kisses, gentle nips, and long strokes of his velvet tongue. Elena sucked in air in quick gasps.
Is he going to kiss me there?

She laced her fingers into his hair, insane with desire and raised her hips again, instinctively directing him to the center of her desire. He kept his face there, feeling her heat, nuzzling her, then took in a long slow breath, filling himself with
her scent. He put both his hands under her hips and raised her to his mouth, biting gently through her jeans.

Elena’s hips bucked wildly, and she exploded, as wave after wave of pleasure coursed through her.
Yes!
She cried out with the intensity of the feeling, nothing in life had prepared her for this. “Faolan, ohhh” she cried, “It feels so good, I… I can’t, ahhh…”

Faolan watched her face greedily, “Tis but a small taste of the pleasure I will give you today, Elena. I want to make love to every part of you, to make you forget any man but me.”

Elena murmured, tried to say “No other man,” but his lips were on hers again. He pressed his hard shaft against her, rubbing it between her thighs, sending residual spasms shuddering through her. Even though they both still wore their jeans, she could feel how huge he was. She wanted him in her, she had never even been close to wanting a man the way she wanted Faolan. She was thrilled to have waited for him and she was completely ready to give herself to him now.
This is how passion is supposed to be, mind numbing, thought robbing, breath-stealing.

Elena turned her head away from his mouth, kissed along his jaw line, then whispered her secret in his ear, “There’s been no other man, Faolan.”

He froze for the merest second, then leaned up, to look at her, his eyes smoldering. He kissed her again, his mouth light against her swollen lips. He tenderly cradled her face in his hands, “Am I to be your first, Elena? Are you still a maiden?”

Surprised at his use of the word maiden, and embarrassed by her confession, Elena just nodded. His eyes filled with something unfathomable. He rolled off and sat next to her on the bed. “Why, lass? Why me?”

That was the question, wasn’t it? Why had she selected him? There had been no shortage of available and willing men in her life, but she had always held out for more than sex. Even with Marty, when she believed they had a commitment, she’d been unwilling to take that next step.

So why Faolan?

From the moment she first caught his scent behind her at the airport, she was more than just attracted, she felt some primal connection that called to her soul. Some connection that ran deeper for her than any conscious decision she could make. Quite simply, she knew he was the one for her.

Without knowing why, when, or how it happened, and despite every promise she had made to herself, Elena was losing herself to this man. She wanted him to feel the same about her, but she knew from experience, letting someone know how you felt gave them a weapon to use against you later. Instead of telling him all of her feelings, she gave him a partial truth.

“Faolan, I waited this long so I could find someone truly special for my first time. Last night I almost lost my virginity to a bunch of street punks. You saved me. You’ve saved my life twice now, and I don’t know why you did, but that makes you pretty special to me. Life is short, and I don’t want to wait any longer to experience this part of it.”

He laid her back on the bed and stroked her hair. He brushed it back from her face and kissed the bruise on her forehead. His lips moved along the column of her neck, planting open mouth kisses, sucking gently, biting the tendon that ran the length, and then dragged his tongue across her collarbone.

Then Faolan pushed himself off the bed and stood looking at her, a small smile playing at the corners of his mouth. Elena could see the tip of him, straining to be free of his jeans, and her mouth went dry at the size. She waited for him to take his pants off; she wanted to see his naked body, to have him now. He was talking again.

“You honor me, lass, thinking to bestow such a gift to me. ‘Tis one I canna accept. I’ll not be takin’ your maidenhead.” His burr was thick, voice rough.

“I’m not looking for promises, Faolan.”

“Nay, lass, but you should be, and I am not the man to give them to you. You deserve to be cherished by one who will love you and who can promise to stay with you. You deserve to be romanced, not given out of gratitude.”

He smiled his devastating smile. “Doona’ be worrying, lass. I will be here to take care of you. I willna let anything else bad happen, you will be safe.”

“Faolan, wait,” but he had already turned and walked out of her room. She heard the shower start in the bathroom down the hall.

Elena lay there a long time. Her legs felt like rubber after that earth-shattering orgasm. And she hadn’t even taken off her pants! What did it mean? Was she really and truly falling in love with this total stranger? Was she ready to give him what she had always withheld before, both physically and emotionally? She smiled ruefully. She was certainly physically ready.

Was he right? Was sex with him just a form of misplaced gratitude? She didn’t think so. But Faolan seemed so sad when he spoke of promises. He’d told her that he wasn’t the man for her. Did he think he wasn’t good enough?

She could choose to be hurt and angry that he’d walked away again, but he hadn’t left her. He had withheld his own physical gratification, out of concern for her. He didn’t want her coming to him out of gratitude. His reticence seemed old-fashioned in many ways, a chivalrous act from another time. Elena was too confused to decide how she was feeling, but she’d learned her lesson well, she wasn’t going to be sharing her feelings anytime soon. She was willing to enjoy just being around this fascinating man for a while.

She closed her eyes and imagined a wet and naked Faolan.
Whuh!
Elena grinned; she had no doubts about his sudden need for a shower. Faolan wanted her as much as she wanted him. Maybe she wasn’t the only one who deserved some romance.
Hang on to your heart, Elena. It’s going to be a bumpy ride.

Red and Lilly
didn’t seem quite sure what to make of Faolan staying at the house when they showed up Monday morning. Elena asked how they all seemed to know each other.

“Everyone knows everyone around here,” replied Lilly. “I’ve been
knowin’ young Faolan since he was a wee one, and his da before that.” She seemed to accept that he was a bodyguard of sorts, after hearing of Elena’s attack, and they left it at that. Although Lilly didn’t seem to approve whole-heartedly, Red was happy to have another pair of hands to help with the work.

Cleaning the floors and shelves in the library took the entire morning, but the reward was worth it. By lunchtime, Elena had a gleaming, warm, and inviting library in which to work or relax. She loved it.

Lunch consisted of sandwiches on some of Lilly’s fresh baked bread, with lively discussion and much laughter. It seemed Red, Lilly, and Faolan were very friendly with each other.
Yet something else to ponder.
When lunch was nearly over, Faolan asked about the condition of the apartment. Elena looked to Red, waiting to hear his answer, and then realized everyone else was looking at her.