Love Beyond Belief (Book 7 of Morna’s Legacy Series) (21 page)

Women didn’t understand. They expected greatness of them, to be swept up in the act of lovemaking, to be ravished in a way that left them satisfied yet hungry. It was all that men wanted to give their women, too, but it was bloody hard work to accomplish such a feat—especially when one was as out of practice as he was.
 

“Nothing is the matter, Jane. I’m just verra fond of the lass.”

She glared up at him, completely unsatisfied with his answer.
 

“Well, duh. We all know that. Oh…” She paused, and he cringed inwardly at Jane’s quick uptake. She knew even without him saying a word. “I see. How long has it been then?”

 
He pulled away from her grasp and set about lighting the many candles he had scattered about the room. He hoped that if he ignored her question she would eventually give up and go away. It was foolish thinking.
 

“All right, candle boy. For someone who lost their home to a fire not that long ago, you’re sure getting a little free and easy with the flames. Cool it and answer my question.”

“Jane.” He hung the torch back on its holder on the wall and turned angrily toward her. “’Tis none of yer damn business.”

“Don’t give me that. I was just going to try and give you a pep talk because clearly you are in need of one. Nevermind. I’ll just be on my way. I think I’ll be taking this mighty fine, expensive bottle of wine back with me, as well. I’d rather down it myself than gift it over to you at this point.”

He watched her as she stomped childishly towards the doorway. He waited to speak until she was nearly outside.
 

“Ye are a pain in me arse, Jane MacChristy. Ye and me brother couldna be a better match for one another. If ye must know, ’tis been two years.”

“What?” Her voice reached an unpleasantly high pitch as she whirled on him.

“Ye heard me just fine, Jane.”

“That’s longer than I went before I found Adwen. Why?”

He ground his teeth together. He wasn’t like his brother. He would never be comfortable speaking of such matters.
 

“What do ye mean, ‘why?’ Do ye think I did it on purpose? If ye doona recall, I’ve been quite busy over the past few years—running after my father and brother, always getting them out of trouble. I’ve not been in seclusion. I’ve just been distracted.”

Her expression softened as she moved to extend the bottle of wine in his direction.
 

“Yes, you have been. It’s high time something just for you came your way. I very much hope your abstinence streak ends this evening.” She winked at him as he took the bottle from her hands. “You stay and finish up here. I’m going to light the fireplace in the sitting room downstairs and lay out the cheese Morna gathered up for the two of you. Then I’ll be on my way. Good luck. It’s going to be great.”

He hoped with every breath that it was.

CHAPTER 29

Everything was lovely—the castle looked amazing, the fire warm, the company wonderful, even Morna’s cheese plate was an excellent addition—but for the life of me, it seemed like Callum would never stop talking.
 

I loved talking to him. I really did. But we’d talked plenty over our last month together. I knew all about his family, his likes, his dislikes, his past adventures, and those he still wanted to take. I knew his favorite foods and those he’d rather never eat again. I knew so many things about him. What I didn’t know was why he’d not tried to sleep with me yet.
 

I was fine with taking things slow, but with as much as we clearly wanted each other, I couldn’t understand his hesitation. I was ready to move forward with this—more than ready. It had been on my mind every second since he extended the invitation to me this afternoon. Why wasn’t he making a move?
 

We kissed and cuddled by the fire, but he made no effort to move me upstairs. We stayed curled up on a blanket in front of the fire in the sitting room for the better part of three hours. If he didn’t do something soon, I feared I would fall asleep.
 

He was droning on about something. At this point, I couldn’t even say what it was. My concentration had completely drifted away from him. Eventually, I couldn’t take any more of it, and the question I’d been wondering all night—or more accurately, for weeks—bubbled out of me.
 

“Callum, why haven’t you tried to sleep with me?”

I saw the flicker of confusion move across his face as my words pulled him out of his one-way conversation.
 

“What?”

I scooted closer to him, placing one of my palms against his cheek as I leaned forward to kiss him, shaping my lips to his and tracing the edge of his lower lip with my tongue until he groaned in response and pulled me tight against him.
 

“I said...why haven’t you tried to sleep with me?”

I pulled away, intent on having a real answer from him before we did anything else. He appeared rather shocked, and I couldn’t tell if it was due to my question or the teasing kiss and quick pull away.
 

“Surely, ye doona think that I dinna want to, do ye?”

The readiness of him every time he pressed himself up against me assured me that desire was something I didn’t need to worry about.
 

“No. I haven’t been worried about that. I’m not worried about anything really. I’m just curious. I know that you want me, but you also pull back, always refrain every time we get close to...to actually doing much of anything. Why?”

“Come here, lass. Let me wrap my arms around ye.”

I crawled over to him and settled in between his legs, nestling my back against his chest as he held me close. I loved the feeling of his arms surrounding me. Once we were both comfortable, he spoke again.
 

“Do ye mind if I tell ye a story?”

“Another one?”

He laughed, leaning around to kiss me roughly on the cheek.
 

“I’m sorry. I have been speaking too much, aye? Doona worry, this story ye will wish to hear. The first time ye ever saw me was when I picked ye up at the airport, aye?”

 
“Yes.”

“The first time I saw ye, I thought ye a ghost. Ye were in me bedchamber. I would only see short glimpses, and then ye would fade. Each time I was disappointed when ye left. Ghost or not, I fancied ye even then.”

“Huh?” While he seemed fond of the memory, the whole idea really freaked me out. “How is that possible? Firstly, I’m not a ghost. Secondly, how could you have seen me here months before I actually was here?”

I could feel him shrug against me.
 

“I doona know. The magic between this Cagair and the next links the two places. Sometimes images show through, but they are always a reflection of what is truly happening on the other side. Ye are the only one that differed. I saw ye before ye arrived, as if ye were destined to be here.”

“I don’t believe in destiny.”

He shifted, backing up to spin me around so we faced one another.
 

“Aye, I know. Ye think, plan, and worry too much to believe that mayhap some people are meant to be together. I know ye, Sydney. I knew if I dinna tread carefully, if I dinna move slowly with ye, ye would run. Am I wrong?”

I knew he was right. I liked control. It was part of the reason I distracted myself from anything resembling real life for so long. I could control work, but I was significantly less able to control my feelings. And it was the speed at which they developed for Callum that caused me to voice so many misgivings and questions at the beginning of everything. Oftentimes, I found that Callum seemed to have a better idea of what was going on inside me than I did.
 

“No. You’re not wrong, but I don’t think sleeping together would cause me to freak out and end things.”

He grinned and shook his head before gathering my hands in his own.
 

“No, I doona think it would, but ye are far more special to me than that. I dinna wish to take ye to my bed until I made certain ye knew exactly how I felt about ye. And I had no intention of telling ye my feelings outright until I felt I could do so safely, without ye finding an excuse to shut me out. I doona wish to lose ye.”

“I love you.” The words slipped out of my mouth quickly, but I meant them completely.
 

His reaction was not what I expected. “Do ye say that only so I’ll bed ye, lass?”

“I want you, Callum, but I don’t say things that I don’t mean. I said it because I do love you, and I don’t want you to think that I’m about to flee at any moment. I don’t want you worrying. I’m done holding anything back.”

He stood. The change in his eyes was evident. The caring in them was replaced by need making every inch of me shiver.
 

“Stand up, lass. Ye know that I love ye. Now, let me show ye how much.”

Free Callum—the one that wasn’t resisting the urge to sleep with me out of a sense of nobility that I was very much glad had finally reached its end—was devastatingly sexy. So sexy, in fact, I wasn’t sure that my out-of-practice body could take it.
 

While his room had clearly been lit by dozens of candles earlier in the evening, many of them had burned themselves out during the course of Callum’s never-ending conversation. When we entered, only a few remained. They cast a pale light across the bed that only seemed to heighten the urgency of what we both knew was about to come next.
 

“Do ye know how long I’ve waited to see ye naked, lass?”

He kept both hands on my arms as he walked me to the edge of the bed. He stopped when my legs bumped into the end.
 

I wore a blue summer-length dress that brought out my eyes. It was comfy, casual, and in no way appropriate for the time, but with everyone gone from the castle, I didn’t think it really mattered. I took a sharp breath as his fingers moved to the zipper at my back. I’d never been so eager to get undressed.
 

He unzipped me slowly. Once the zipper reached its end, he moved his hands to my shoulders as he pushed the sleeves away, causing the dress to slip to the floor. I stepped out of it, brushing it to the side as I faced him.
 

Callum wore his kilt, his bare chest on glorious display. The only other time I’d seen him in such clothing was the night of the party.
 

“You usually wear a shirt with that, right?”

He grinned and nodded. “Aye.”

“So, did you dress like that just because you know how sexy it is?”

He laughed. The tone of it was deep and eager. “It worked then, aye?”

“Very much so.” I placed a palm against his chest and moved my other hand up to his shoulder where part of his kilt hung. I was able to remove it from his shoulder, but when I went about trying to pull it off his waist, it turned into a bit of a comedy show. I tugged and pulled and even walked around behind him to see if I could figure out the trick. When I could find nothing, I moved to stand in front of him once again and crossed my arms in frustration.
 

“What’s the matter with it? Do you have it glued on?

“No, lass, but if it was so easily removed, I would be revealing meself all the time. No more talking. We did enough of that earlier, doona ye think? If I doona get inside ye soon, I fear I shall die from wanting ye.”

I watched with anticipation as he removed his kilt with ease. He didn’t drop it carelessly like I did my dress. Instead, he gathered it up in front of him, folded it neatly and set it to the side. It was only then that I saw him.
 

He was beautiful—every lengthy, intimidating bit of him.
 

I began to chew on my lower lip nervously as Callum walked toward me. He reached around me, unhooking my bra and removing it with as much care as he had his kilt. When it was gone, he grasped both of my breasts with his hands, thumbing my nipples into hard peaks.
 

I groaned and gasped as he dropped to his knees, trailing warm kisses over each breast then down my stomach. He stopped at the edge of my panties, pulling them down so slowly that the torturous anticipation caused me to writhe where I stood.