His Heart's Home (15 page)

Ciaran expected Duncan to invert their positions - to push her down on the mattress and cover her with his body.  To be perfectly honest, she was looking forward to being dominated by all that virile male flesh.  So she started with surprise when Duncan sat himself down on the edge of the bed first and then gave her arm an encouraging tug.  She hesitated, not knowing what he wanted her to do.

Duncan chuckled softly at her confusion.  He reached for her again, his large hands resting at first on her hips, before he swept one around her leg to gently part her thighs.

“D-Duncan?” Ciaran puffed uncertainly, embarrassingly willing to shift her legs apart so Duncan’s fingers could delve into the soft wet heat of her body.  She bit her lip and shuddered as he lazily fondled her.

“I told you before,” he murmured, lifting her hand and kissing her wrist, just at the point where her pulse was thundering.  “
You have to take what you want.”

Ciaran blinked, disoriented with his hands on her.  He shifted back on the bed a little further and urged Ciaran to follow, to crawl over him and straddle his lap
. Ciaran blushed hot red when she realized what he wanted her to do.

“Duncan,” she whimpered.  She
wanted
what he was offering for the first time in her life, but she had never had to
take
it before.  It was a little daunting, especially if- especially if this was going to be goodbye.  Ciaran clenched her eyes shut and pushed that unpleasant reality aside.

“Come
on
, lass,” Duncan groaned.  He bucked his hips impatiently, once again drawing her attention to his rampant arousal. 
“Please?”
he grunted, flexing his fingers. 

He would grab her soon if she didn’t act now
.

Ciaran narrowed her eyes and licked her lips.  She could do this- she
wanted
to do this. She edged forward and rested one knee on the bed, taking a deep breath and then crawling up onto the mattress.  She kept her gaze focused on Duncan’s face, finding that almost as arousing as looking at his body.   His eyes were deep pools of swirling blue desire, beckoning her closer, tempting her to take him.

“I don’t know what to do,” she whispered breathlessly, slipping her knees
on either side of his hips.

“Oh
, I think you do,” Duncan moaned, letting out a rather strangled laugh.

Ciaran giggled softly, sultrily, and reached out to touch him.  Duncan’s big body tensed beneath her.

“Ciaran!”
he choked her name and then swore raggedly, surprising her with his language. Instead of finding it offensive Ciaran found arousing.  This was Duncan on the brink of losing control. His chest was heaving, his pupils were dilated, his body was throbbing against her palm… but Ciaran wasn’t in the least bit afraid.  She was excited, and so wickedly thrilled by the power she realized she held over this incredible man.

She raised herself up onto her knees.  Duncan
’s face was locked in a grimace that seemed to mimic pain, while Ciaran gasped, and whimpered, experimenting with what felt good.

“Ciaran!”
Duncan choked, jerking beneath her, unable to bear the exquisite torture in silence.

“Alright, alright,” Ciaran purred, dizzy with the extent of her own control over the situation
. Slowly, achingly, she relented to his demands.

She had never taken a man so slowly in her life. It was incredibly overwhelming!  She could hardly breathe as she felt the intimate invasion
of her flesh.

“Oh God,” she gasped, squeezing her eyes shut as she tried to get used to the exquisite sensation.

She’d never had so much power- and yet, she felt completely out of control, too overwhelmed to move.

With a frustrated moan, Duncan’s hands curled around her bottom and forced her to rock back on her knees, and then forward again.

The bright flash of sensation that seared through her body finally jarred her into action. She began to move on her own.

They were both wound too tight to last. Ciaran’s nails bit into the skin of Duncan’s shoulders as she neared her peak. Her body was taut and arched like a drawn bowstring, waiting for release.

Duncan was impatient too. She could feel his thighs quivering beneath her own, and hear the quick pants of his breath.

“Duncan!” she gasped as she neared the edge. “Duncan, I- oh, please!” She tried to cry out his name again, but only managed an inarticulate moan as she finally slipped over the brink.

Ciaran didn’t have the energy to hold herself up. She collapsed, curling against Duncan’s sweat-damped chest in a puddle of contentment, snuggling even closer when he curled his arm around her back, holding her carefully in place.

This was perfect.

Ciaran sighed with contentment and closed her eyes, willing time to stand still, or else to stop completely. She could die contented, safe in Duncan’s arms, honestly happy for the first time in much too long.

If life had taught Ciaran anything however, it was that happiness was a fragile and fleeting thing. Eventually, Duncan began to squirm and stretch, dislodging her from his chest. He rolled onto his side and looked up at the wall, making note of how the slant of the light had changed.

“We’d better head back soon,” he said with a yawn, “I won’t be able to catch Brodie if I wait too l
ong.”

Ciaran nodded, unhappily reminded of what Duncan intended to do. She made to move, and was pleasantly surprised when Duncan held her in place.

“Not
just
yet,” he said, and then bent forward to kiss the back of her neck as Ciaran settled down again.

Duncan’s fingers slipped into her hair, lazily twirling one of the deep auburn locks as his eyes cast around the room. He was enjoying the stillness, and the closeness, relieved that his long wait was finally over.

He didn’t trust himself to close his eyes. He was so comfortable and contented he would almost certainly fall asleep, and he
did
need to ride back to the trading post and make an offer on the farm. Duncan’s lips curled into a happy smile as he imagined all the other quiet afternoons that he would spend here with Ciaran wrapped up in his arms.

Of course, they would make some improvements. Duncan was grateful for the soft, summer breeze that blew through the gaps in the logs
- but it would be far less welcome come December!

“We’ll need to mud up these walls,” he remarked aloud as he tried to hide a yawn, “And probably put on another roof and another room before the summer
is out. It won’t be too long until Mary will need a place of her own.”

He was surprised to feel Ciaran stiffen in his arms, and more puzzled still when she twisted to face him, her face pale and her eyes as wide as saucers. “What did you say?” she gasped.

Duncan frowned, “I said it won’t be long until Mary will need a place of her own. We’ll keep her cradle here for a while, of course - but I meant, eventually, she-”

“You mean to have Mary here?” Ciaran said, breathless.

Duncan’s brow furrowed, “Well, I reckon she’ll be here with us,” he chuckled nervously, “Where else do you expect her to be?”

Ciaran swallowed, her eyes bright and moist. “Then you mean…
You want
me
here with you?
All of us
?”

Duncan exhaled in shock as the point of her odd behavior became clear. Did she honestly think he meant to let her go? “
Of course I want you
!” he said ardently - but then he reconsidered. Perhaps she didn’t want him? He hesitated. “If you’ll stay?”

Ciaran sobbed something Duncan couldn’t understand.  She was smiling shakily though, and she looked
happy
, even if there were also tears running down her cheeks.  He took that to be a good, if slightly odd, sign.

“Of-
of course
I’ll stay!” she managed to choke out at last, dashing away her tears with the back of her hand.

“You will?” Duncan gave a great sigh of relief.  She’d had him scared for a second there
.  He reached for her again, and kissed her gently.  “Then why are you crying, lassie?” he whispered, bemused.

“Because I feel so- so much better!  I thought- I thought- you were going to make us go on without you,” Ciaran hiccupped.

Duncan shook his head and ran his hands over his lover’s body in soothing, relaxing circles, until she was soft and pliant beneath his touch. 

“You still don’t know me all that well, do you?” he murmured.  He was a little sad this was the case, but he was determined to correct the omission.  He was determined Ciaran would get used to being well treated!  He wanted her to expect it- to
demand
it as her right.

“I’m sorry,” she said quietly.  “I couldn’t see why you would want us to stay with you.” 

Ciaran’s tears had stopped now, and there was just a timid little smile playing on her lips.  Seeing it made Duncan want to kiss her, and so he did, slowly and thoroughly until Ciaran was clutching at him desperately. 

After masterfully enslaving her mouth until they were both panting and breathless, Duncan forced himself to roll out of bed and reach for his clothes.

“We should get going,” he said regretfully.

Ciaran nodded.  “Yes, you want to make sure you speak to Mr. Brodie before anyone else has the chance,” she said, looking a little concerned.  “You don’t think anyone else will make an offer on the land, do you?” she asked anxiously.

Duncan smiled, and fastened his belt.  He didn’t see any need to worry, but he
was
pleased to see that Ciaran was taking a greater interest in the purchase of the farm now that she knew she was staying.  He couldn’t believe she had really doubted it.

“If they have I’m pretty sure I can better it,” he said calmly.

“You are?” Ciaran didn’t sound as confident.  The look on her face as she fetched her own clothes told Duncan that she
was
worrying, but he was surprised to hear
what
it was that had her concerned this time.  “Duncan,” she murmured uncertainly.  “Are you a
very
rich man?”

“Lord no!” he laughed.

“But- but you were?  Back in Scotland?” Ciaran pressed.

Duncan fastened the last button of his shirt and looked at his lover in confusion.  “Does it matter?”

“The children and I, we’re not very rich,” Ciaran blurted, blushing.

Duncan
chuckled.  “Well it’s a good thing I’m not after you for your money then, isn’t it?” he chuckled, kissing the top of her head affectionately, and helping her on with her dress.

“Oh, Duncan! It isn’t funny!” she persisted anxiously. “You’re the Laird and I’m just….”

“Just what?” he asked, turning her around to face him and dragging her in to another tender embrace. He didn’t give her a chance to answer. He was already well aware of what she was going to say, and equally certain it didn’t matter. He smothered her lips in a kiss, and then nudged her to the door. “We have to go.”

Getting back outside in the clean air and bright sunshine seemed to revive Ciaran’s spirits.  The knowledge she was staying in Staunton had revised her interest in the rich, dark earth.

“We’ll want to be getting the barley in immediately,” she told him, looking over the gently sloping hill that ran to the river bank. “And it’s not too late to get some squash in too - and, of course, the potatoes. If we have a mild winter to start, they’ll stretch a bit, and that’ll be a blessing…the sheep can stay up on the hillside here…if you think we can fence them in? Oh, it would be a shame if they got into the cabbages!”

Ciaran chattered on happily for the rest of the ride, impressing Duncan with her knowledge of farming, and pleasing him with her obvious enthusiasm.

Duncan took her back to the wagons, and then returned to the trading post, leaving Ciaran behind to speak with the children, who were full of questions about where she’d been and what she’d seen.

Ciaran was bursting with excitement. She wanted to tell the boys all about the beautiful valley they were going to call home
, but she didn’t know if Duncan wanted her to keep it a secret, and she wasn’t
certain
it wouldn’t all fall through. After all, someone else might want the land, or Brodie could change his mind, or
Duncan
could change his mind when he heard the price.

In the end, however, her fears proved unfounded. Just as she was dishing up dinner, Duncan finally returned. His gait was a bit unsteady, and his eyes were
over bright. Ciaran had been with Sean too long not to recognize immediately that he’d had too much to drink, but apart from the things she’d noticed, he didn’t seem any the worse for it. He was smiling broadly, and toting two rolls of parchment in his hands.

“Well then, lads!” Duncan announced, sitting down on the back of the wagon and gesturing for the family to gather round. “I suppose then your mother has told you the news?” Four pairs of eyes settled warily on Duncan, who laughed affectionately at the concerned frowns and then ruffled Aidan on the head. “Well, perhaps she didn’t- so I will.
We’ve reached the end of the trail!”