The Pendulum: Legacy of the Celtic Brooch

“I fulfilled your condition,” he said. “We have a bargain.”

Her gaze rested on the scar running down his cheek. She fisted her hands at her sides. “Why you?”

He looked genuinely surprised, then laughed. “Who were you expecting?”

“Not you.” What was wrong with her? She had turned into a shrew.

“Anyone but me?” he asked.

“I gave you no thought.”

He laughed again. “Lady, you know how to cut a man.”

Airin gave him a recriminating look. “Do not play the wounded lover.
I was a child when you left. You gave me no thought.”

“I cared for you,” he replied.

“As a sister.”

“Mayhap, but that is eight years past. Today, I need no sister.” He slipped an arm around her waist and pulled her close.

Despite her efforts, her heart pounded as her breasts pressed into the hard lines of his chest. Their lips were a hair’s breadth apart, his breath a warm flutter against her cheek. Her nipples hardened and she closed her eyes. Embarrassment warmed her cheeks. He couldn't possibly miss her arousal. He pressed his hips against hers and she sucked in breath when the hard ridge of his cock rode against her belly. Heat flashed over her and fanned out from between her legs. The rogue was well aware of her desire.

Moist lips touched hers. Deryll’s flattened palms slid downward along the curve of her buttocks as he spread languorous kisses over her jaw and down her neck. His fingers gripped her rear and undulated her mound against his hard length. Pleasure tightened her belly. At the curve of neck and shoulder, he flicked his tongue. Shivers raced down her body and fueled the fire dampening her folds. Her knees weakened.

She threw her arms around his neck, her head falling forward onto his shoulder. He groaned, the sound resonating in his chest and startling her. She jerked her head up. His eyes burned into hers in the instant before he kissed her, his fingers threading into the hair held tight against her head by the plait.

His tongue traced the seam of her lips. She gasped, and he plunged inside. Airin's senses reeled. She had never so completely tasted a man's mouth—or had one taste her. His tongue swirled around hers in an odd dance that enticed her to lean into him. He crushed her closer, taking her breath into him as his tongue swept the recesses of her mouth, then sucked her tongue into his mouth. She gave a small cry and tried to jerk back, but he held her firm. Slowly, he teased, thrusting against her tongue, drawing her into her own rhythm, her own exploration of him.

He shifted and a warm palm covered her breast. Airin shivered. Only a few hours ago she had wondered what his large hand would feel like on her breast. She recalled the look on his face, the fire burning in his eyes, and realized he'd read her mind. He broke the kiss and she startled from the sudden loss. His head dipped and his warm mouth covered the curve of breast visible above her bodice. She felt her eyes widen when his head moved downward and he sucked in the marbled nipple protruding against the fabric.

Pleasure ripped through her. Airin cried out. She clutched his shoulders as he sucked. A string went taut between breast and the tiny nub she knew was her pleasure point. The earlier ache roared to life with a vengeance. A mental picture flashed of the hard cock that now pressed ever insistent against her flesh embedded inside her channel. A tremor rocked her body. In her imaginings she'd wondered what the male part of him was like, how it felt…its size. She hadn't thought it would be so…large. Could she take the mammoth rod? Her throat went dry at the possibility.

His mouth broke from her breast and he straightened. "Is that what you expected from Bothwell?"

She blinked up into his face.

Deryll grasped her shoulders. "There will be no more visits to other men's bedchambers."

"I—"

The door flew open. “Lady Airin!” Cerdwin cried.

Airin jumped back, breathing hard.

“What is amiss?” Deryll demanded.

The commanding note in his voice yanked Airin from the haze of passion and she registered Cerdwin’s flushed face. “What? Quickly, what?”

“Your father—”

Airin took a faltering step toward her nurse.

“He was attacked.”

Airin started forward, but tripped on the carpet. Strong arms caught her and she looked up into green eyes gone hard.