Cullen patted her lip, trying to cleanse the crusty blood, when Alexander crawled between them, his head popping up, his little hands grabbing at his father’s shirt to help him stand. When he finally wobbled to his feet, he pointed a finger at Sara’s wound.
“Ow.”
Sara hugged him, and he giggled, then she rolled on the blanket with him in her arms.
“What about Da?” Cullen said, joining the duo, hugging them both with a growling laugh as they rolled around. This was his family, Alexander and Sara. He either accepted this new joy in his life or would forever pine for a woman who was gone from him, never to return.
And damn if Sara wasn’t a good, fine woman with qualities he admired and respected. A woman he had somehow fallen in love with. How, where, when, the Lord only knew. He had tried to make sense of it, but nothing had made sense to him since he met Sara.
What did finally make sense was that he had found his son, fallen in love, and was about to start a new life in America. Now he had one more thing to look after, and though it put their future in jeopardy, he knew it was something that had to be done.
Alexander retired earlier than usual, exhausted from their travels, playing with his wooden animals, and content with a full tummy. That left time for Cullen and Sara to be alone, and after tucking a blanket around his sleeping son, he moved to the opposite side of the small campfire he had started to chase the chill from the cave and snuggled beside Sara, who sat crossed-legged munching on aged cheese.
She popped a piece into his mouth and he nipped at the tip of her finger.
“You taste better than the cheese,” he teased.
She placed a hand to his cheek. “I want to taste you, but my lip…”
He touched her wound ever so lightly. “Let me taste you.”
She shivered and rested her cheek to his. “I would love that.”
He eased her down onto the blanket, the fire’s flickering light dancing across their faces, their passion as heated as the fire itself.
Cullen started at her neck, and as he drifted down over her body, he slowly moved her garments out of his way, exposing intimate areas he wanted to explore to bring her to pleasure.
His lips claimed her nipples, enjoying the taste as much as she enjoyed his feasting on her. He loved the feel of her hands digging into his head, urging him to enjoy. Her unbridled passion never failed to excite him and want her even more.
He moved down over her, pushing garments out of his way, tasting her, a salty taste here, a sweet taste there, until he descended between her legs and went to the very core of her.
He knew her well enough to know that she contained her moans, keeping them soft and quiet, not wanting to wake Alexander. Her hands digging into his head, however, told him he was driving her insane, and that thought spiked his own passion beyond control.
He moved over her, and as much as he wanted to kiss her, knew he’d only hurt her bruised lip. He buried his face next to hers so he could whisper in her ear how he ached for her, wanted her, needed her, and then he slipped into her.
They rode together on a wave of passion that consumed and devoured them into oblivion, and crashed together, exploding in lights and sounds and feelings that had them holding tight and refusing to let go.
“I love you,” she whispered on a labored breath.
Cullen wanted to speak but wasn’t sure how to say what he intended and have her believe it—that he had fallen in love with her.
She held him close, and he sank into her embrace, wanting it, needing it, and accepting it.
Later, settled in each other’s arms for the night, Cullen broached the subject he had avoided. “There were extra soldiers at the market?”
“Too many,” Sara said, spooned against him.
“Balford has covered the area well.”
“Which means he’s determined to catch you and your son.”
“He’ll not want his daughter’s bastard alive to one day lay claim to Balford land,” Cullen said.
“Then he will hunt until he finds you.”
“And you?”
Sara glanced over her shoulder at him. “I pose no threat to him.”
“You saved his bastard grandson. You are his enemy and he will want you to suffer. He enjoys making people suffer.”
“He made you suffer,” Sara said sorrowfully.
Cullen hugged her tight against him. “I knew the consequences of falling in love with his daughter and I paid them.”
“Without regret?” she asked softly.
“Without an ounce of regret,” he answered, and squeezed her tight. “But that time has past and it is here and now we must consider.”
“Alexander is what matters,” Sara said, glancing over at him.
Cullen snuggled with a nibble to her neck. “He’s ours, and hopefully we’ll give him a slew of siblings to grow with.”