ways to stop my seed from taking root and use them. The why is because I can smell your desire and it has the blood pounding so fiercely in my veins, I near shake with need. ’Twould be no gentle bedding I would be giving ye. Nay,” he continued in a softer voice, “I want to sink myself deep into your heat, Sophie Hay. Sink deep and ride hard. That isnae the way to take a virgin.” He started toward the door. “And ’tis wrong to take a lass’s maidenhead when I cannae wed her.”
“Where are ye going?” Sophie was not surprised to hear how husky her voice had become, for his words, his seductive tone of voice, had stirred her almost as strongly as the sight of his strong body so meagerly covered.
“To one who kens how to keep her womb clean. Anne may not desire me, but she is always willing to service me.”
“ ’Tis the wrong time for me to conceive,” Sophie said, desperate to stop him from going to another’s bed. She would lose him to another soon enough.
His hand tightening on the latch of the door, Alpin hesitated. “How can ye be sure?”
“I am a healer, Alpin. There is also a potion or two I can drink.” Something she had no intention of doing, but he did not need to know that. “And when was the last time The MacCordy bred a bastard, or e’en a second child?”
Alpin slowly turned to face her. “Never,” he replied, feeling somewhat shaken by the realization.
“Of course not. For the curse to continue unthreatened, there can only be one heir. Each Galt woman has but one daughter. Or, as was shown by my mother and aunt, one birth producing a female or twin females. Thus the curse can continue in us as weel. If there was a brother, then the firstborn son of The MacCordy could have been slain ere he bred an heir, thus ending the curse. E’en a bastard son could have done so. Mayhap e’en a girl child.”
“Bairns can die,” he said as he started to walk toward her. “Many do. Too many.”
“When Rona cursed your ancestor, she changed the fate of The MacCordy and of the Galt women of her bloodline. The curse was upon the firstborn son, the legitimate heir, therefore ye couldnae die or that fate would be altered. Mayhap, if a Galt woman of the line had died young, another would have been born to satisfy the curse, but I dinnae think it e’er happened.”
“Ye speak as if the curse is a living thing.”
She shrugged. “After so long, it may be in some ways. ’Tis our fate, our destiny, and such things willnae be denied, unless I can find the key to unlock its grip upon our lives.”
He reached out and slowly dragged his fingers through her hair. Closing his eyes, he could hear the tempo of her blood increase, could smell her desire return and begin to grow stronger. By making him see that there would be no child born of their union, she had cut the only real tether upon his control. He could have her now. He had to have her now. Alpin grasped the hem of her shift and swiftly pulled it off her.
It happened so quickly, Sophie had no time to cover herself before he picked her up in his arms and carried her to his bed. He set her down and tore off his only covering, staring at her body all the while with a fierce hunger that made her feel beautiful. For the moment or two he stood there looking at her, Sophie took the opportunity to have a good look at him. That only added to her need for him. He was glorious, all smooth skin and taut, sleek muscle. And rather impressively manly, she thought, her gaze fixed upon his erection. She felt the rise of a virginal unease and ruthlessly smothered it.
Sophie was shocked when he settled his long body on top of hers, but not by the fact that she held a naked man. The feel of his skin against her, the hard contours of his body fitting so well with her soft curves, had her trembling from the strength of her desire. The feel of his mouth against the pulse in her throat did not frighten her, not even when she felt the light touch of his teeth. It made her breath catch in her throat as her need for him swiftly increased. As she ran her hands over his broad back, savoring the feel of his warm skin, she wondered if all of the heated dreams she had had were the reason why her passion was rising so swiftly and fiercely.
Then she frowned and tensed slightly, realizing that she had forgotten to shield herself from whatever memories and emotions were trapped within his bed. She did not want other passions Alpin had stirred in the bed affecting what they felt now. Sophie began to try to shield herself, only to realize there was no need. The only person she could sense had used this bed was Alpin.
“Um, Alpin?” She studied him when he clasped her face in his long, elegant hands and began to touch hot, soft kisses to her cheeks. “Ye have done this before, havenae ye?”
He smiled against her forehead. “A time or two, aye.” He kissed the corners of her beautiful eyes. “It was a need I tried to ignore, for I feared breeding a child. The few times I weakened I went to the woman, or took her elsewhere. I didnae want the scent of mating upon my bed, for it would torment me, making it harder for me to subdue my monly hungers.” He thought of one place he had taken Anne, inwardly grimaced, then began to tease Sophie’s full lips with soft kisses and gentle nips. “Once in the bed ye now sleep upon,” he heard himself confess and wondered what had possessed him to do so.
“Weel, ye arenae the only one. I think there have been many matings in that bed.” She opened her mouth, inviting the deep, passionate kiss she ached for. “ ’Tis why Nella now sleeps in the bed and I use her pallet. The bed was, er, unsettling.” She twined her arms around his neck, threaded the fingers of one hand into his thick hair, and tried to hold his mouth to hers. “Are we going to go elsewhere soon?”
“Nay.” He slid his hand up her rib cage and over her small, perfect breast, then savored her gasp of pleasure as it warmed his mouth. “I want your scent here. I want the scent of our loving to penetrate so deep that it will be years ere it fades. When I am again alone, I want to be able to breathe deep of it and remember.”
Sophie was glad he kissed her then, and not simply because she so desperately wanted him to. She had been about to ask him where he intended to put his wife. Then she forgot all about his marriage, the uncertain future, and the dark past. Sophie was aware only of the feel and taste of him, the touch of his hands and his mouth, and the need he stirred within her. She sensed that he practiced some restraint, but she had none.
When he finally joined their bodies, she was barely aware of the brief, stinging pain signaling the loss of her maidenhead. She was so immersed in the joy and pleasure of feeling his body joined to hers, that it was a moment or two before she realized he was not moving. Looking up at the man bracing himself over her, Sophie mused that she had never seen him look so feral, nor so beautiful and arousing.
“The pain?” he began, finding speech difficult, as his every sense was fixed upon the feel of her, her heat, her scent, and his own blinding need.
“Was quickly gone.” She slid her hands down his back and stroked his taut buttocks, sighing with delight when he convulsively pushed deeper within her. “Oh, my, ye do feel good.” Sophie wrapped her legs around him. “More, please.”
He groaned and kissed her even as he began to move. Sophie opened herself up fully to the pleasure he gave her. Soon it was questionable as to which of them was fiercer in their passion. Then, she shattered, swept away to a place of such intense pleasure that she lost all awareness. Just as she began to recover, Alpin drove deep within her, crying out as his own release gripped him. To Sophie’s delight and astonishment, the feel of his seed, of his intense pleasure, sent her racing back to the blinding heights of desire. When he collapsed in her arms, she held him close, and felt sanity slowly return to them both.
Sophie was a little frightened
