He thought about that for a moment and doubted it. There was such a horde of Cameron brothers he did not think the man would have the time or the energy to bed any other woman. Then he recalled that there was a passage that led down to the dungeons in one of the bedrooms and he bet it was in Mora’s room. The clever door in the wall had been a way to escape if needed. It could be even older than he thought it was, and he also decided he would have one in his manor when he had it built.
Gybbon noticed Mora had not banked the fire or even shut the heavy drapes over the window, so both firelight and moonlight gave him more than enough light to see by. Softly, he walked over to her bed and saw that she was sound asleep, her strange cat curled up in one arm and staring at him. He thought about just letting her sleep as she was most likely worn out from being imprisoned and facing a certain hanging for crimes she had not committed. It took but a moment for him to decide he simply was not that generous and walked over to her door to lock it, frowning when he found it was simply a latch and bolt, not as strong a lock as he had. Her brothers could easily break through.
After a moment of thinking what would happen if they did, he found he did not care. Gybbon was not sure what he felt for Mora, but the thought of being pressed into a marriage with her did not make him shy away. In truth, he faced the possibility very calmly, his only worry being that he would prove a poor husband because the urge to wander might return and he would leave her alone too often.
At some point, and soon, he was going to have to think hard on what he felt for this woman. He started to walk back to the bed, shedding his clothes as he went. Finally, he stood right next to the bed, naked and frowning as his mind started puzzling over the problem now, not ready to wait.
He had known her for only a short while, but he had wanted her from the start, even though he had only seen her in the firelight. She was not a buxom woman but, for once, he did not care about that but still craved her. The passion he found in her arms was the fiercest and most satisfying he could recall enjoying. He found her company welcome even when there was no immediate need or opportunity for lovemaking. And, he realized with a curse, he thought of it as lovemaking, not rutting or sex.
Gybbon nearly groaned aloud as he lifted the covers and slid into bed beside her. It was clear that he had inherited what some males in his family called the Murray curse. They were also sure it had been passed down from the women in their family. When he tugged Mora into his arms and it felt as if his whole body sighed in pleasure, he doubted the “curse” was all the fault of the woman. Then he heard himself whisper an apology to her cat as it stalked away to a bed someone had left to the right of the fireplace for it, and he knew he was lost.
*
Mora woke up slowly as she became aware of the hard warmth she was pressed against, the sound of a heartbeat she already recognized thumping in her ears. She took a deep breath, savoring the scent of him, and realized she now truly felt as if she was safe and had come home. It was going to shatter her heart when he finally left her, but she pushed the thought aside. He was here now and she would not taint the moment with a sadness for what would come.
“Mmmmm, is that ye, William?” She felt his body jerk slightly as her words shocked him and could not stop herself; she began to giggle and felt a light but sharp slap on her backside.
“Wretched woman,” he grumbled, but had to grin.
She opened her eyes to look at him and grinned. “Sorry, I could not resist. Ye shouldnae be here. My brothers might find ye.”
“Only if they kick in Sigimor’s fine door. Door is locked.”
“I have a lock on the door?”
“Aye. So do I, but ’tis a better one than this.”
“How did ye get here without my brothers seeing ye?”
“Seems there is a hidden door between the bedchambers. Right by the fireplace.” He frowned when he watched her stare at the fireplace, then suddenly blush. “What has ye blushing like that?” He kissed her cheek. “Did ye just wonder if Sigimor’s da had lovers? I did, and then apologized to the mon in my head.”
“Nay, I didnae think that. I just thought that Jolene may have put us in here apurpose, and I found that a little embarrassing for it meant she already thought we were lovers and thinks we have been skipping back and forth all the while we have stayed here.”
He chuckled. “The door there is to escape into here where I believe the opening to a passageway to the dungeons is. ’Tis an escape route. Although, she may have already thought us lovers, but she didnae tell me about the door.”
“Ah. Weel, that is clever if the passageway is here.” She tried to move, thinking about going to look for the door to that passageway.
“Nay, we can look later. I want to look at it anyway for I am thinking it would be a good thing to have in the manor house I mean to build.”
“Ye have a house planned?”
“Aye, Harcourt is giving me some land and I plan to put one between his keep and Nigel MacQueen’s. He gave me the choice of the land between him and the border or the other side. I chose the other side.”
“That was verra kind of him.”
“Aye, but ’tis also a custom amongst my clan. If ye end up with a lot of land ye mark off a place for a brother or cousin to make their place. It has worked verra weel for us. No one expects a lot of land and some pay some money toward it, which I intend to do, but it does mean ye have a strong ally right at hand and that is slowly making us a clan to reckon with.”
“Aye, I can see that. Where e’er one settles ye actually end up with two.”
He let go of her and tugged off her night shift, then pulled her back into his arms. “There. That is much better.”
“Oh, weel, aye,” she muttered when she relaxed against him.
He chuckled. She was still a bit shy when naked, but he suspected she always would be, at least when she was first disrobed. He smoothed his hands up and down her back and felt the tension of shyness leave her.
Gybbon kissed her, letting his hunger for her show in his kiss. She slid her arms around his neck and returned the kiss. He could almost taste her own hunger, which pleased him and quickly heightened his need for her. Kissing his way down to her breasts, he took the hard tip of one deep into his mouth. The soft noises of pleasure she made stoked the fire of his own passion.
Mora tensed a little when he began to kiss his way down her belly. She knew what he was planning to do as he nudged the covers aside as he went. Try as she might, she could not completely hide the tensions of embarrassment. It drove her wild but she just felt it was too much, too deeply personal. Then his mouth was almost there.
“’Tis nay a Saint’s Day,” she murmured, and felt the light touch of his breath as he laughed.
“It must be someone’s,” he said, and licked her.
Mora lost all ability to speak and threaded her hands through his hair. It allowed her to tug on him, trying to bring him back into her arms as she felt that strange but fierce feeling building, which she knew would soon sweep over her. She wanted him inside her when it did.
Instead he turned onto his back and pulled her down his body. “Ride me, love.”
She did not have time to ask what he meant before he had settled her on top of him, and slid into her. He grasped her by the hips and moved her and she finally understood what she had to do. Although she was not sure she was doing it with any skill, she rode him and felt that urge to shatter grow with every stroke. When it came she had to bite her lip to keep from yelling out, then slumped down onto him as she rode that wave of weakening delight. Her eyes widened when she heard herself tell him she loved him.
It was too soon, she thought, panicked by what she had said and only partly comforted by how his hold on her tightened. There were no immediate words of assurance or of a return of that feeling, and his tighter hold could be born of panic as easily as it could be a sign of acceptance. Mora feared she may have just completely ruined what she had with him. She felt how he had hardened against her and she decided to take that as something aside from rejection of her feelings.
“Ah, lass, are ye sure it isnae because we just shared a delight?”