So she bolted. She heard Laina calling after her, alternately berating Darrow for his thoughtlessness, but Kirstin didn't stick around to hear the rest. She pushed past Gayle, who nearly spilled her tray, and ran down the hallway blindly, her chest tight with Darrow's words.
More precious than gold.
Would she be worth nothing, then, if she could not bear Donal an heir? Even Raife had been doubtful about that aspect of their relationship. He and Sibyl had no such restrictions, as her budding pregnancy proved.
Kirstin heard men's laughter at the end of the hall and slowed, seeing Angus and Aiden slapping each other on the back. Donal stood to the side, head cocked, listening. She wiped her tears, considering turning around and running the other way, when she heard it.
Shouting. Banging. Someone was pounding on Donal's chancery door-from the inside. Too curious to resist, Kirstin approached. Donal smiled when he saw her, slipping an arm around her waist and bending his head to her ear.
"I locked 'em in."
"What?" She startled, hearing Raife demanding to be let out. "Ye did what?"
"That stubborn fool was still gonna walk out, e'en after he'd heard me propose-and her refuse, a'course. I fully expected him t'barge in and go after me like a bat outta hell. I had Aiden and Angus waitin' to come to me aid if need be, jus' to restrain 'im. But e'en after all that, he was not gonna back down. So-I locked 'em in there together."
Kirstin heard Sibyl shouting-screaming at Raife. Weeks of pent-up anger and hurt and frustration that she was finally allowing herself to feel and say. It didn't help that she was with child. The bairn made her far more emotional than usual.
"We should start makin' wagers on how long they'll be in there," Aiden said with a chuckle, nudging his brother.
"I jus' hope he does'na bust up m'grandfather's desk and bookshelves." Donal winced.
"Wait..." Kirstin cocked her head, eyes widening in surprise. "It's quiet..."
"He did'na kill 'er, did he?" Donal whispered.
"Mayhaps she killed ‘im," she countered, listening for any sound.
She heard Sibyl give a cry and for a moment thought she might be hurt. Kirstin took a step toward the door, and then another sound followed the first. This one much clearer in origin.
"That's not t'sound of someone bein' murdered." Donal grinned.
"Mayhaps we should give 'em some privacy?" Kirstin waved the two big men away who had leaned in closer to the door. Angus actually had his ear pressed right up to it. "Shoo! Both of ye, go! Moira has roast chicken in t'kitchen. Go do what ye do best! Go eat!"
Aiden and Angus grumbled about it, both of them grinning ear to ear at the sound of Sibyl's moans of pleasure, but they went, as instructed.
That left Kirstin and Donal standing in the hallway, grinning at each other like fools.
"That gives me an idea." Donal jerked his thumb toward the closed, locked door, behind which Sibyl and Raife were making unholy noises, pulling Kirstin to him with his other arm around her waist.
"Tonight..." she whispered, putting her hands against his chest and pushing, but he wrapped both arms around her, not budging.
"Now," he growled in her ear, his big, muscled thigh sliding between hers as he pressed her against the tall, oak door. "I wanna make love t'ye in a bed, in a room wit' windows. I wanna see yer beautiful body in the daylight."
She couldn't resist him. Not with the clear sounds of Sibyl and Raife mating on the other side of the door and Donal's rising erection pressed hard against her hip. She wanted him like she always wanted him. Desperately, hungrily, without question or reserve.
"Aye," she whispered, tilting her head so he could have better access to her throat. His kisses were hot and greedy, his hands roaming over her even though anyone could come down the hall at any moment.
"Come wit' me," he demanded, grabbing her hand and leading her down the hall. They went upstairs, passing maidservants on the way, as well as both Aiden and Angus, who had been waylaid by two pretty girls before they reached Moira's kitchen. Angus's brows went up as Donal dragged Kirstin through the castle. She stumbled after him, blushing from the roots of her hair to the tips of her toes, realizing every single person who saw them must know where they were going, and why...
But when Donal got her into his room, slamming the door behind him and locking it, she didn't care anymore who heard them. They were on each other like animals, tearing at each other's clothing like they couldn't get skin to skin fast enough. Donal's bed was one befitting the laird of Clan MacFalon, a huge four-poster affair, so high there was a stool beside it. The thought of him sleeping there alone at night made her crazy. The thought of him sleeping there with someone else?
That was unfathomable.
"Kirstin, m'love," he whispered against her lips, pulling off the last vestige of her clothing, her shirt over her head, leaving her bare before him.
Donal went to his knees, looking at her in the bright light spilling in from the tall windows, his gaze sweeping her from head to toe and back again. Then his eyes settled between her legs, at the soft patch of fur there.
"Lemme see ye," he murmured, using his big hands to part her thighs. "Open yer cunny fer me."
She slid a hand down to do as he asked, using her fingers to spread her swollen sex, showing him everything he wanted to see. The look of lust in his eyes went from white hot to molten in an instant. Donal growled, wrapping his thickly muscled arms around her and burying his face between her thighs. Kirstin cried out, his tongue lapping at her like a dog, up and down and back again, a fast, frenzied motion that made her thrash, head going back, hips thrust forward. She grabbed a handful of his hair, grinding against his face, against the fierce, hot lash of his tongue.
The man's mouth was absolute magic.
"Donal, nuh, nuh, please," she begged him, knees beginning to buckle, unable to hold her weight under such an onslaught.
He pushed her back against the side of the bed, pulling her legs up over his powerful shoulders, and in one swift motion, he stood, vaulting her up onto the mattress. Kirstin squealed, laughing as she flew through the air, landing breathless in the middle of his bed. It was like landing on a cloud.
Donal crawled up after her, pulling his shirt off, leaving him naked and stalking her, his erection bobbing between his legs as he knelt up between hers. Kirstin thought he would slide inside her, but instead, he pushed her knees back, all the way to her ears, bending her body near in half before leaning in to fasten his mouth over her mound.
"Ohhhhhh my God!" she cried, getting a very clear view of him parting her swollen lips with his tongue, teasing the little button at the top of her cleft, then sliding down to dip into the pink hole of her sex. He drank her up, eyes locked on hers, watching the pleasure rise with the flush on her cheeks.
"Donal! Oh please! Donal!" She called for him, begging, pleading, wanting nothing more than this sweet torture to come to its final conclusion-or, mayhaps, never to end at all. But it couldn't go on forever, and she finally surrendered to him, her body giving in, as it always did, to his demands.
"Och! Ohhhhh yes, yes!" She moaned and writhed, her sex clenching and releasing with her climax, toes curling, feet braced against his shoulders. Her body twisted and vaulted on the bed, but Donal had her hips grasped in his hands, refusing to allow her to go too far.
"Aye, aye, lass, that's so good," he murmured, kissing her juicy thighs-she'd already made his covers wet. "A vera good start."
"Start?" she panted, taking a deep breath as he let her loose, allowing her legs to slide back down, past his shoulders, settling around his waist as he leaned over to kiss her.
"Taste yerself." He pushed his tongue deep into her mouth. "How good ye taste. I could eat ye fer breakfast, lunch and supper and still have ye fer dessert."
She blushed at his words, feeling her body sing with them. Nothing affected her like this man, the words he spoke to her when they were alone together. No one knew her like he did, had ever known her this way. It had happened so fast, this falling, it almost felt like flying.
"I wanna taste ye," she urged, reaching down to grasp his shaft.
Donal gave a little grunt of pleasure, letting her yank him closer with each stroke, until he was in her mouth, straddling her. Kirstin swallowed his length, greedy to taste him deep in her throat. She loved the way he moved, the way he gathered her hair in his hands and simply used her mouth for his pleasure. It readied her for him more quickly than anything else, feeling the soft, velvety head of his cock slipping between her lips again and again. Her hands roamed over the glorious terrain of his body, his powerful thighs tense as he stroked himself in and out of her wet, swollen mouth, his sack swaying below, caressing her throat with each thrust.