The Highlander's Temptation (18 page)

Jamie nodded his show of appreciation. “Much the same to ye.”

The perfect opportunity to chase after Lorna occurred ten minutes later when Magnus excused himself to go clean up.
Jamie did the same. He rushed to his chamber, wiping off his bloody lip with a splash of water and then snuck down the stairs to knock lightly at Lorna’s door. There was no answer.

Damn. Where could she have gone? Maybe to her sister’s chamber, and he wasn’t about to go knocking there in case he was wrong. So much for that idea.

Suddenly, he felt overwhelmingly suffocated. Cool night air would do him good. He took the back stairs and slipped through the kitchen and out into the gardens. The moon shone through a few wispy clouds, a sprinkling of stars glittering on the large black mass.

“I dinna need an escort in the gardens, Jamie.”

The sound of Lorna’s voice made him whirl. She stood in front of a rose bush, eyes glittering in the moonlight.

Jamie strode forward until he stood within a foot of her. He plucked a rose off the bush, scraping of
f the thorns with his thumbnail.

“Och, ye look awful.” She studied his face, her hand coming up briefly to touch his bruised cheek and the cut on his lip. “Does it hurt?”

“Nay, lass.”

“What possessed ye to fight like that?”

Jamie chuckled. “I’d not be a man if I didna.”

“But ye are a fool.”

He shrugged. “’Haps, but at least I proved that I’d not back down from a fight.”

“That ye did…” She trailed off, her hand dropped, but her eyes lingered. Then as if recalling some grand detail, she flicked her gaze and took a step back, dismissing him. “Well, goodnight then. As I said, I dinna need an escort, Jamie. I’ll be just fine out here by myself.”

“I didna come to escort ye,” he said, his voice gruff with pent up sentiment. He took a step toward her, reclosing the gap between them. He wanted nothing more than to pull her into his arms.

Her eyebrows jutted upward, surprise, and maybe hope filling her moonlit sparkling eyes.
“Then why have ye come?”

He pressed the flower forward, tickling
the petals on the tip of her nose before tucking the stem behind her ear.

“A breath of fresh air.”
And he meant it, for that was what she was to him.

“I
gather ye’ve had more than one,” she said, a teasing lilt in her tone.

He grinned stroking a thumb over the line of her jaw
, feeling just the slightest tremble. “Aye, but I find the one I need is right here.”

“What are ye saying?” she whispered
, eyes connecting with his.

He lowered
his mouth to hers, brushing his swollen, aching lips along her silky ones. In that moment, it appeared that everything would be well. All he needed was Lorna by his side and the world could be a better place. He was happy. Whole.

“I dinna want to be friends with ye Lorna. I want
ye all for myself.”

Chapter Seventeen

Lightning could have struck and Lorna wouldn’t have noticed. She was far too struck by the words she’d just heard uttered from Jamie’s mouth.

Words she’d longed to hear. He wanted her.
Her.

It didn’t matter that Magnus had given her away to someone else already. Or that the man she was betrothed to had pledged his allegiance to Jamie. There was nothing else in the world
, at that moment, that could have made her feel anything other than the elation she did at knowing he wanted to keep her all to himself.

Her head buzzed like a thousand bees had taken up residence and blood rushed and crashed in her veins making her a little dizzy.

Emotion, deep and consuming, welled inside her, settling like a giant, heated bubble around her heart. A slow smile spread over her lips as she gazed up at Jamie in the moonlight. His features were shadowed by the lack of light giving him an even more wicked, sensual appeal.

But there was more to it than simple physical appeal. Aye, she could kiss him for endless hours for the rest of her life and never grow tired of it, but she could also stand here in this very spot in the garden and gaze up at his handsome face for just as long.

The sound of someone laughing filtered over the gate that led around the side of the castle toward the courtyard. Lorna chose that moment to be bold. She grabbed hold of Jamie’s hand and tugged him deeper into the garden, past the roses and shrubbery and toward the small apple orchard Magnus had planted for her several years before. The sweet scent of the fruit filled their noses as they got lost between the trees, invisible to whoever it was that sought a stroll in the gardens.

A thick bench made of willow bark sat beneath a tree and Lorna tugged Jamie to sit. But when he did, he pulled her onto his lap, cradling one hand behind her back and the other tucked around her hip, her legs over the side of his.

His gaze penetrated hers, and even in the dim light of the moon she could see he was concentrating on something hard inside his mind.

“What are ye thinking?” Lorna asked.

She’d hardly had to work to convince him of anything. All it seemed to have taken was a bit of a challenge from her brother. A frown creased her lips a little. Was it possible that he was only seeking her out now because her brother had issued the challenge? But his next words took that very thought from her mind.

“About how beautiful ye are,” he murmured. The way the words rolled off his tongue, so easy, so seductive, made her head swoon.

Jamie alwa
ys knew the right things to say to make her insides melt.

She curled her fingers, brushing the backs over his stubbled cheek and tracing her thumb along his jaw.
If only they could stay in the orchard forever. In that moment, she realized how much trouble she was in. How much she cared about him. How deep her emotions ran, and what that welling in her chest had meant. What she’d tried to deny before, she could no longer ignore.

She loved him. Unequivocally, rip her heart out, loved him. A short gasp escaped her at the notion.

“Is something wrong?” Jamie asked.

Lorna shook her head vehemently, pressed her forehead to his. “Everything is absolutely right.” She longed to tell him what her feelings were. To confess that she loved him. But she wasn’t sure that such an admission would change their fates. Seemed that it would only make their lives that much harder, to know she loved him, yet she couldn’t marry him.
Even if he was willing to let her know that he wanted her, that wouldn’t make a difference in Magnus’ eyes.

“I will speak to your brother tomorrow,” Jamie said. His voice was stern and full of conviction.

Lorna couldn’t help her shock. Her eyes widened on his and her heart skipped a beat. “About what?” Lord, could it be?

“I respect MacKinnon. He’s a good man. But every time I imagine him kissing ye the way I have, or sleeping beside ye, or…” He paused. “Or making love to ye the way I want to, a rage burns through me like I’ve never known. I dinna want any other man to have ye. Ye’re mine.”

He claimed her lips then for a kiss that said just as much. Passion possessed them as their tongues tangled in a heady dance. Lorna sank deeper into his lap, her fingers playing with the ribbons of his shirt before dancing over the muscles of his shoulders. They rippled as Jamie tugged her closer. Lorna was tunneled back to every other kiss, frissons of need firing along every nerve and her conviction that this man was the one for her all the more potent.

“I dinna wa
nt to marry him,” she murmured against his lips between kisses. “I want to marry ye.”

Jamie’s fingers threaded into her hair and he captured her lips once more for an intoxicating swipe of his tongue.
“God, lass, I’ve longed to hear it.”

Ready to escape the tip of her tongue were the words.
I love ye
. But she held back. Why, she couldn’t quite put her finger on. If she was willing to tell him she wanted to marry him, why could she not tell him how much she loved him? ’Twas as if that deep inner part of her, she wanted to save for the moment she knew she could have him in truth. Jamie, too, had not confessed his feelings outright, only the intense jealousy he felt toward MacKinnon. His longing to hear her words. ’Haps they both feared the truth of their emotions and the reality of Magnus’ power of their future together.

Sadness threatened to dampen the joyous feeling and sensations crashing through Lorna.

“Let me speak to him first,” Lorna said, suddenly fearful of Magnus’ reaction. If he didn’t realize that Lorna preferred Jamie it was possible he would deny him the answer they sought. And where would they be then?

Nowhere but a place called misery.

“Lass, ’twould not be right for me to send ye in my stead. Your brother is a man of honor. He will not take kindly to me not showing him the proper respect he’s due as your guardian.”

Lorna shook her head, consumed once more with overpowering emotion. She pressed her lips hotly to his
, then pulled away just as swiftly. “Nay, Jamie, ye misunderstand. I simply want to speak with him first concerning my feelings for ye. Ease the way for your discussion with him. If he knows how much it would mean to me, then when ye ask his permission, he’ll be more receptive.”

Jamie clamped his jaw and thought a moment. “I suppose ye know your brother best. But I will speak with him
myself just afore the noon meal. He will soon start to wonder why I’ve not yet left when I have such pressing business to attend for the council.”

Lorna chewed her lip, knowing that what Jamie said was correct. Her brother was expecting the Montgomery men to depart within the next day or so and she could not imagine her life without him in it. What would she do?

She’d not realized how much she loved, and had grown accustomed to, looking out her window and seeing him stroll in the courtyard, or watching from afar as he practiced in the fields, or seeing his smiling face during meals. She liked the way he teased her, the way he looked at her, his kindness to her family, even his arrogance. Everything about him pleased her. She couldn’t get enough of him. But… he was right. Her brother was expecting him to leave—as were his men most likely.

Which prompted her to ask,
“What do your men think?”

Jamie grinned.
“Toby and Donald? They know my heart, lass, and they support me.”

His heart… Did that mean he loved her? Oh, heavens
, she hoped it did. For she certainly loved him. He was her breath, her every heartbeat.

Lorna took his hand in hers and pressed it over her heart. “Ye have my heart, Jamie Montgomery.”

“Och, lass, ye’ve had mine all along. Even as a wee thing, ye stole me away.”

Lorna smiled
, staring into his adoring eyes. What would it be like to be married to this man? To have him all for her own? She knew exactly what it would be like. Joyous and magical. Aye, they’d have their ups and downs like every other relationship, but that would be so minuscule compared to their infinite happiness.

Jamie bent closer to her, pressing his lips softly to her mouth. Not a claiming, nor a frantic need, but one that Lorna felt was full of love,
bursting with promise. He slid his lips over hers, touched his tongue gently to the seam between. She opened, allowing the warm velvet of his tongue to touch hers.

They kissed like that for some time, swept up inside each other. But when Lorna threaded one hand in his hair and used the other to stroke the muscles of his chest,
gently scraping with her nails, their kiss took a different turn. Jamie stroked a path up her ribs, leaving shivers of anticipation in his path. His thumb caressed the side of her breast and she gasped, her nipples hardening into tingling knots. Oh, the things he did to her body.

Lorna arched her back, searching out the
new heat of his hand, nipples aching with the need for…him to touch them. Stroke them. Love them. Goodness, but she was a wanton. Wicked in every sense of the word, but that didn’t stop her. She wanted him to touch her. To experience the pleasure that the simple caress of his thumb on the side of her breast promised.

He didn’t deny her.

A gasp of both pleasure and surprise pushed past her lips as his hand covered her breast. Warm with just a bit of pressure, he cupped her. Her nipple was hard as a pebble and pressed against his palm. The friction of the sensitive flesh rubbing against the fabric of her chemise and gown and his palm was almost more than she could take. Such sensations she’d never felt before. It was new and wondrous and intoxicating.

“Good God, lass…” he murmured against her lips. “Your body is reacting to just the slightest touch. So much passion ye have.”

More passion than she knew how to deal with. Lorna gripped tight to Jamie’s shirt while his lips traveled a heated path over her neck. Her head fell back as his lips grazed her collarbone and then hovered torturously-hot over her nipple.

“I want to taste ye so bad I ache,” Jamie said
, his lips brushing—or was it just her overactive imagination—over the tip of her nipple as he spoke.

Taste her? Oh, aye!
Aye!

She arched her back again, pushing her breast up toward his mouth. The heat of his tongue flicked out over the fabric covering her nipple, follow
ed by the covering of his lips as he nibbled and teased her. Lorna’s breath came in shallow pants and she squirmed in his lap, unsure of anything and everything, except for the pure joy of his mouth at her breast.

Something hard pressed against her hip, it hadn’t been there before, and Lorna knew exactly what it was. Had felt it when he’d kissed her before
on the beach. His arousal, thick and pulsing. She writhed in his arms, loving the feel of that thickness pressed to her hip. Jamie growled, gently nipped her breast. Lorna reacted immediately, her body bowing with need.

“Lass, if ye dinna stop moving like that, I’m likely to upend your skirts and make love to ye right here.”

Oh, what a vision he’d given her. To make love for the first time with the man she loved, beneath the starlit sky in one of her favorite places? ’Twould be perfect.

“Aye, Jamie, I want ye to.”

He pulled back, his expression registering shock. “Nay, lass. I’ll not take that from ye. Not yet. Not until we’re wed.”

He spoke the truth. ’Twas smart for them to wait.
Magnus was likely to give them much resistance, but his opposition wouldn’t change the way they felt, and what they wanted. And since when did she take what was morally right over what
felt
right. “We’ll be wed. Tomorrow morn, my brother will give us permission. We can be married by the nooning.” She pressed both hands to the sides of his face, lips tingling and swollen from his kisses. “Dinna make me wait. Not when we’re here in this magical place and ye make me feel so… So wonderful.”

Jamie pressed his forehead to hers. “Och, lass when ye say it like that, how can I think ’tis wrong?” He nibbled at her lips. “Everything with you feels right.”

“’Tis exactly how I feel.” Lorna glanced around. They were completely hidden in the foliage of the orchard. Privy to no eyes but their own. The balmy evening air licked tantalizingly at her skin, only adding to the heady steam they were creating.