Sins of the Highlander (A Highland Erotic Romance) by Dawn Halliday

lips and dipped his fingers inside. His free arm slid down her back, pulling her closer.
    A twig snapped outside. 
    Aileen gasped and tried to jerk away. “Someone’s coming!”
    “Shh.” Niall held her even more tightly against him. “There’s time. Come for me.”
    He pressed his thumb to that oh-so-sensitive spot above her sheath, and she squirmed.
    “Let go, Aileen.”
    “Someone’s coming,” she moaned.
    “You are.” He circled his thumb, pressing his fingers in deeper, curling them so they slid against a place that nearly made her jump out of her skin.
    “Oh!” she breathed.
    She heard shuffling noises from outside. A horse whinnied close by.
    But Niall was thrusting into her, touching her, kissing her. Taking her higher and higher. Her whole body vibrated like the strings of a lute.
    Shuddering, she ground her pelvis into his hand. Her head dropped back. And then he skimmed his thumb over that spot again. She clamped her legs shut, trapping him between her legs. Powerful tremors raced through her, down her legs. Her sheath rippled around his fingers. Niall whispered words of encouragement in her ear.
    The door to the barn creaked loudly.
    Niall slowly withdrew his fingers from her still-shuddering center. And drew away, pulling her skirt down.
    He jumped down from the wagon bed. Aileen looked up, her vision fuzzy around the edges, as Iain approached.
    “Are you all right, Lady Aileen?”
    She smiled at the worry in his voice.
    “The lady was feeling faint, so I led her inside to sit for a moment.” Niall turned to her, his brows drawn together in concern. “Are you feeling better?”
    “Much,” she murmured. “It was a temporary affliction, I think. In fact, I feel much relieved. Perhaps you will escort me back to the inn, Niall?”
    He inclined his head respectfully. “Of course, lady.”
    Iain led the way back to the inn. Aileen followed, side by side with Niall, unable to prevent the smile that tipped her lips upward.
    “I will petition the laird for your hand,” Niall whispered in her ear.
    “And I will offer him my lands as a concession,” she murmured back to him. A small bud of hope grew inside her. “Perhaps he will agree to our proposal.”
    Yet she knew her brother well. He coveted land. He coveted power, especially in his quest to dominate the MacDonalds.
    “We must try.”
    “Aye,” she said softly. Knowing hope shined in her eyes, she glanced up at him. “We must try.”
     
     
     

 
     
    Chapter Eight
     
    Five days later, they arrived at Ellandonan soaked through, for the rain had returned that night at the inn and hadn’t relented. Finally, Aileen convinced Niall that they must get to Ellandonan whether it was raining or not. It had taken two muddy, grueling days, but their party made it to the castle safe and hale but cold and wet to the bone.
    Niall, as she’d expected, promptly disappeared, and to her dismay, Aileen learned that the laird had left Ellandonan a week ago to meet with a Lowland earl. Their party wasn’t expected to return for at least a fortnight.
    She didn’t know what to think when she learned that Gilbert Dunbar had gone with her brother, but it worried her.
    Aileen tried to occupy herself with becoming reacquainted with the laird’s children and his young wife. But Aileen’s outgoing nature had suffered after having been trapped in a lonely, loveless marriage for so long, and she sat alone in the garden today, as she often did, contemplating her predicament.
    What did it mean that Gilbert had gone with the laird? Had he and John become close? Aileen crushed a bit of thyme between her fingers, inhaling the sweet, sharp scent, and looked out over the garden. Leaves glistened in the bright sunlight, still wet from the recent rainfalls. She turned her gaze up to the blue, cloud-speckled sky.
    Surely John was shrewd enough to see through Gilbert. Surely he wouldn’t force her into marriage with such a loathsome boor.
    Her one consolation in the