Some intimate times ensue this chapter (M) rated type. As before, you have been warned if this isn't your cup of tea.

My thanks to Cadsuane for her beta reading skills and assistance with smoothing out the intimate parts of the chapter.

The usual thank you's and disclaimers continue to apply.

Chapter Eleven

Leah watched Fergus walk down to the river to wash up. While they had resolved the issues of awkwardness between them, a new one had arisen. Fergus had spoken of his feelings to her, and she was delighted he cared for her, too. The problem was Fergus was too much of a gentleman to make any move beyond the kiss they'd shared a few days ago.

She knew Oriana had been his first real relationship and that it had been Michael who'd schemed to get the two of them to admit their feelings for each other. Had it been up to Fergus, doubtless he would be a bachelor still. It didn't appear anything had changed and it was beginning to look like she would have to make the first move.

With a sigh, she pulled off her boots and followed him. By the time she got down to his spot in the river, he'd already entered. His broad back was to her and she bit her lip in a conflict of emotion. Part of her was excited and thrilled at seeing him, part of her was nervous it was going to end as badly as last time, and yet another part of her was afraid he would turn her away, trying to do the 'honorable' thing.

She pulled off the rest of her clothes, hanging them from a tree and quietly stepped up to the shoreline. At the first sound of her footfalls in the slow flowing water, Fergus turned and gasped, wide-eyed at the naked woman wading into the water. She looked at him and then moved further past him, setting off for the far side with strong strokes. Stealing a glance back at him, nervous at how he would react, she grinned to see his eyes hadn't left her.

Good.

She swam across, stood waist deep on the shelf in the water on the other side, and flipped her hair back over her shoulder, watching him from the corner of her eye. Maker's breath, he hadn't moved. Maybe she'd been too bold? She closed her eyes and sighed. This was a stupid idea anyway. Turning back around to dive in she saw he had disappeared.

"Now, where did he get off to?" she asked aloud.

Suddenly, she felt a hand grab her ankle and drag her under. Resurfacing, sputtering, she rubbed her eyes as he popped up beside her, grinning madly. She returned the grin. Perhaps this wasn't such a bad idea after all!

"So, that's one way to get my attention," he said.

"Did it work?" she asked, tilting her head coyly.

"Too well." A frown crossed his brow. "Leah, are you sure this is what you want? I don't want to compromise your honor."

"I know. It's a little too late for that."

The frown deepened, then his eyes widened as he realized what she was implying. Panic started to take over.

"That's what I did when I was drunk? Oh, Leah, I'm so sorry! Did I…hurt you?"

Ducking her head, she realized he couldn't handle the truth, so she lied. "No, of course not, I…. You weren't my first. You were very sweet, Fergus, you didn't hurt me. I was just unhappy about things afterward."

"I wasn't your first? Did my brother take advantage of you?"

"Michael?" she laughed at the idea. "Michael's not my type. He's fun and adventurous, but even I know I need someone a bit more stable in my life since I tend to get into trouble easily. And no one 'took advantage' of me. My first time I thought I was in love before I even knew what love was, but I was fully aware and consenting, Fergus."

He seemed relieved and she swam closer to him to put her arms around his neck. There would be time later, she hoped, to relieve herself of this little lie when she was more confident in his feelings. Until then, she would have to accept he wasn't ready for the truth.

His arms went around her waist and pulled her close to him, his lips hovering just over hers, leaving it to her to go that final fraction of an inch. When she closed that distance, he kissed her eagerly, his mouth teasing hers, his tongue dancing across her teeth. Now that she knew how wonderful being that close to someone was, she wanted it with Fergus so intensely she pressed herself as close as she could, trying to not even allow the water to get between them.

Looking up from the kiss, they realized the current had brought them down a bit from where they had entered the river and they swam back, fighting the current to their original position leaving the water to stand on the shore.

Grabbing their clothes, arms around each other's waists, they returned to their camp.

Their garments were discarded on his bedroll, forgotten for the moment as they kissed again with growing urgency. He grasped her hips, pulling her closer to him and she could feel his need between them, pressing against her stomach. Her fingers curled into his dark brown hair and pressed closer to him as his lips trailed down her throat, pausing at her breasts to tease her pink nipples erect before he went lower. He kissed her belly, a gesture at the same time arousing and infinitely tender, pulling at her heart as much as her body.

His hands caressed the firm shape of her buttocks, moving along the back of her legs and up the inside of her thighs. She gasped when he kissed her soft mound and felt a wave of dizziness wash over her.

"Fergus, I have to sit down," she gasped.

He chuckled and let her lay in front of him on her bedroll, his eyes drinking in the sight of her. Cheeks burning under his scrutiny, she smiled up at him. Then, he was kissing her again, her body responding to his touch, eagerly and out of her control.

His lips moved to her ear, pulling the lobe into his mouth and sucking on it, making her shiver when his breath blew across it and sent jolts of pleasure down her spine. His hands began an exploration of her body, learning what pleased her and what didn't. Teasing her nipples with lips and fingers brought him a response of soft little moans and pants of pleasure, encouraging him to move his fingers lower, across her abdomen.

Emboldened by the intensity of her desire, Leah began her own exploration, discovering the texture of his skin and the play of muscles under them. Her fingers ran over the little scars he had picked up over the past year, through the curling hairs on his chest, following the line down to his manhood where she caressed him. Gasping, he closed his eyes, but his expression didn't discourage her.

His fingers caressed up her inner thigh sending little threads of excitement to her core, but she tensed when his fingers reached her sex and he paused, sensing her trepidation. Resting his hand on her mound, he kissed her again.

"Relax, love," he whispered against her lips. "I promise, it won't hurt this time and I need to make you ready for me."

Taking a deep, shuddering breath, she nodded and smiled up at him, trusting him.

He kissed her, his tongue exploring her mouth as his fingers parted her and one delved into her. Moaning against his lips, she felt him explore her gently, the curious, almost ticklish sensation of his fingers causing her hips to move toward him in response. His palm pressed the little button that was the core of her pleasure making her arch into his touch. Encouraged, he continued, slipping another finger beside the first.

"Oh, Maker…Fergus….please, I…need…something…" she gasped, barely able to complete a coherent thought, let alone try to tell him she was feeling.

"I know, love, I'll attend to that," he whispered, reassuringly.

He positioned himself between her thighs and lifting her hips toward him, he entered her. Closing her eyes, she tried not to tense up with remembered pain, but, as he'd promised, there was none. She felt only pleasure as his length moved inside her. Wrapping her legs around him and gripping him with her thighs, she tried to match his pace, feeling a delightful tension beginning to build up inside her.

His lips found hers again as she felt the white explosion behind her eyes once more, that deliciously tense, expectant feeling finding release at last. Moments later she felt his climax within her and the long shudder of pleasure that shook his body.

Gasping, spent, he tried to support himself on his elbows and knees. Then failing that, he collapsed on her, his face buried in her shoulder. Leah loved this part best of all. That feeling of oneness she felt with Fergus—feeling their sweat and breath mingling, his body pressing her down into the bedroll under them, being so close to Fergus she could feel his racing heart against her chest.

This intimate moment of joining was worth any pain or struggle she'd been through all the past months to achieve.

After catching his breath, he kissed her skin under his lips and murmured to her, "I must be heavy."

Pushing up, he tried to move off her and roll to the side, but she held him to her. "No, I like this."

Chuckling, he caressed her cheek with the back of his fingers. "Well, we can cuddle just as close and more comfortably side-by–side, don't you think?"

With a small sigh she relinquished him and half expected him to roll over and go to sleep, but he settled onto his back, pulling her into the circle of his arms and holding her close to him, watching the blue sky above them with its lazy, slow moving clouds.

For a time there were no words between them, just the slowing of their racing heartbeats and the lingering, languorous afterglow of their lovemaking.

When he did speak, his words were almost a thunderclap in the silence.

"I'm sorry for what happened before, Leah," he said. "You deserved better for your first time than some grieving drunk. You deserved wine and candles and roses…."

She frowned. "I told you, Fergus, you weren't my first."

"Leah, you're many things: resourceful, beautiful, loving and capable. But you're a lousy liar. All the same, I thank you for trying."

She sighed. He knew. "What gave me away?"

"The way you acted when I touched you, as if you expected pain. I knew then that you'd been with a man only once before. It's always painful for a woman's first time, and I was too drunk to make sure it was the best it could have been. I'm sorry for that."

"It wasn't terrible, Fergus. You were sweet and gentle and you did give me pleasure despite the circumstances."

He rolled over and looked at her, kissed her again, his fingers caressing her cheek.

"I hope I managed to make up a bit for that first time today?"

She grinned. "Oh, nay, my lord, you haven't. You've only just begun…."