He murmured something in ancient Gaelic and slammed his hand into the door, making it fly inward to crack the wall as he lifted her with him to enter. He kicked it shut behind him and strode with her into the great hall. A quick glance showed it to be empty, the shadows from the hearth fire stretching up the stone walls.

He carried her close to the fire, continuing their kiss. When he set her down in the warmth, Ella caught the edge of his kilt, pulling his shirt up until it lay untucked. Reaching under, her fingers slid up over the hot skin and corded muscles of his stomach and chest, stroking over his nipples. He growled in the back of his throat and turned with her, stepping them back until she was pinned against the wall beside the hearth.

Cain broke from her lips, nibbling and kissing over her scar and down her neck, his hands stroking up her sides to cup her breast through her bodice. She felt him inhale against her skin and felt his tongue tease her before he moved his hungry mouth back to her ear. “I will lick and nibble those hard pebbles I feel beneath your bodice.” His hand stroked down between her legs, rubbing against the throbbing there. She moved against his hand. “As well as all your secret places,” he whispered. “The ones that ache for me right this moment.”

Her breath came fast from parted lips. “Will I survive it?”

He met her heated gaze. “Aye, but barely.” His finger lifted to stroke the skin along the edge of her smock, sending a rush of tingling through her as he dipped underneath. “And then,” he said, feathering a kiss across her lips, “ye will want me to do it again.”

…

Was he dreaming? Just this morn, he’d woken with a stiff jack from loving Ella Sutherland in his dreams. And now she was standing before him, asking him to take her to where he longed. All his senses were alert as if he rode into battle. A gentle flower fragrance from her hair mixed with the smokey tang from the bonfire. The dark waves slid through his fingers, and her skin was soft like a doe, making his blood race. Their breaths came quick as he sought the ties at the front of her bodice.

The sound of the door opening behind them barely registered as the softness of her skin under his palm vanquished any other thoughts.

“Ye have the largest bedchamber in the bloody castle just up the stairs,” Joshua’s voice rang out. If it wouldn’t delay him, Cain would have sent his dagger sailing through the air to shut his mouth.

Cain pushed Ella behind him. “Get out!”

Joshua crossed his arms. “The biggest damn bed in Girnigoe and ye are going to f—”