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“My ma was Craig and Marjorie’s stepmother, but she treated us all the same. As though they were hers.”
Amber chuckled. “She sounds like an amazing woman.”
“Aye. I think she’s watching over me. I realized it first when I came here. ’Tis why I keep coming back.”
“Really? Why here?”
He studied her, contemplating if he should open up to her about it. This was the first woman he’d ever loved, his soul wanted to share with her everything that was dear to him. Among this windy gray weather, clouds spread across the sky, but the sun shone brightly between them. Yes, she was watching over him. That was a sign.
“Come, then. I’ll show ye.”
He took her by the hand and went up the slope with her. They passed the bushes and the undergrowth and entered the cave. It smelled like rotting leaves and something earthy, animallike even. The cave was rather small and deep, and although the sun was high in the sky, it was hard to see what was in the black depths of it.
The opening of the cave shone with the brilliance of crystal sparkling like a night full of stars. There was the same wonder in Amber’s big eyes that he felt in his heart. God almighty, even this divine creation of nature didn’t come close to the beauty of this woman.
Their eyes locked, and he forgot to guard his fascination. It was just like that night in the inn where they’d been naked in front of each other, sheltered from the world like nothing existed but them.
He saw the decision in her eyes. She crossed the distance between them, took him by the collar of his tunic, and brought his face to hers.
The kiss was like plunging into the waters of the loch—fresh and delicious. He sank into her with the inevitability of a rock heading towards the bottom.
Her scent filled every bit of his body. Her lips caressed and her tongue teased, hungry for him, and she pressed herself against his chest.
Let her go. Tell her, no. Release her. Stop.
All in vain. She was water, and he’d been thirsty his whole life. Nothing could stop him from drinking his fill. Here, in the cave that gave him strength in the moments when he needed it, he’d have her. He’d make her his.
He deepened the kiss, devouring her mouth. Claiming her. Possessing her.
He was instantly hard and throbbing for her, his blood like fire. She rubbed herself against him, as impatient as he was. He took her face in his palms, then traced his fingers down her body. He cupped one breast through her tunic, and it was warm and lush against his skin. He circled her nipple with his thumb, and she sucked in a quick breath and arched into him. He went down and under her tunic and cupped both her breasts with his hands. They were so soft and warm. He massaged them, rolled her hardened nipples between his thumbs and index fingers.
She let out the tiniest whimper of pleasure at the back of her throat. He imagined her making the same sound as he drove into her for the first time. He broke the kiss and slid her body to the ground. He looked down at her breeches and realized they were his. Why did seeing a woman in breeches bring his blood to boil even more?
He pulled them down her hips and stared at the black triangle of hair he’d craved ever since he’d seen her naked in the inn.
“So beautiful,” he whispered.
He spread her folds and put his mouth on her, blood pulsing hard in his ears.
A growl sounded from somewhere near.
Owen was so drunk from the succulent, wanton taste of her that he didn’t make the connection at first, but Amber tensed and shifted.
The growl came again, closer, louder, more urgent.
Everything seemed to happen slowly. Owen went cold all over, as though a bucket of ice had been thrown over him.
A bear.
His mind knew he needed to react, but his body still refused to move. Distantly, he remembered bears liked to nap during summer days and hunt at night.
Like in a nightmare, his body felt as slow and heavy as a boulder. He rose to his feet and shoved Amber behind his back while removing his sword from its sheath. The beast emerged out of the darkness, roaring like a monster from old tales. He was big, fat, and brown, and he stood before Owen in the sunlight, his jaws open, yellowish fangs flashing.
All Owen could think about was Amber. Don’t let any harm come to her. Do anything to protect her.
His sword flashed in the sunlight as he swung it in warning before the beast. It roared again—a heart-stopping sound—and launched itself at Owen.
Owen roared at the bear, too. It hugged him in a deadly embrace, claws tearing the flesh of Owen’s back, but before it could sink its teeth into Owen’s shoulder, he thrust his sword upward through the animal’s jaw and into its skull. The bear fell into an impossibly heavy heap of stinking fur.
