A/N: LAST CHAPTER TODAY. GO BACK AND START WITH CHAPTER SIXTEEN IF YOU HAVEN'T ALREADY.
Just a suggestion - try reading this while listening to "The Gael" (Best of Celtic Music) on YouTube. I tried to keep the rating a strong T, and not fall into an M.
I own nothing related to DA. If you have time, please review. I love to know what you think!
The brass bed gleamed in the dim light of the kerosene lamp. A part of her worried that it would be too cold, with the frost spreading on the windows and the fireplace in the other room.
There was no need to worry.
They took their time.
Their kisses grew ever more heated. Their hands wandered over shoulders and backs, under breasts, up arms, down between legs.
Removing their clothes, they slid under the sheet, flannel blankets and quilt.
As the fire died in the living room, another raged in the bedroom.
Her breath increased in tempo, puffing against his bare shoulder in short bursts. His hot, unhurried, open-mouthed kisses marked her along her neck and collarbone. His tongue flicked out lower down, finding softer flesh. She gasped as she pulled his soft hair. His hands – those strong, gentle fingers – curved, stroked her, and teased her, along with his mouth. The fire within her built to a crescendo.
Her body moved of its own accord. She let go of his hair. Her hands reached behind her, gripping the posts on the headboard.
She cried out. Again, then again.
Louder.
Again.
His breath was increasingly erratic, even more so when her pronounced lilt spurred him on, calling his name. She wrapped her legs around his waist, pulling him closer.
He danced into a rhythm with her that was older than the mountains.
Slowly. Then, faster.
Faster.
Faster.
She made a sound he had never heard before. It sang to him of desperate longing, of frantic need.
Rolling onto his back, he held her steady above him, his hands on the smooth skin of her hips, her soft thighs. She ran her hands down his chest. She touched him low.
He threw his head back, an animal sound erupting from his own mouth. Her eyes were wild, her lips parted, watching him move below her. He chanted her name.
Sweat glistened on her skin as he kissed her shoulder, then nuzzled her neck. She kissed him deeply, her tongue caressing his.
Faster.
Again.
Faster.
His expert touch on her, the rumble of his voice, sent her soaring anew.
She gave him her secrets freely. The language she called out had not been spoken by her since her father died.
Without understanding the words that fell from her lips, he knew them. He roared with her.
Once more. Yes. Deeper.
Touch. There.
There.
Deeper.
Yes.
More.
Yes.
More.
More.
More…
More-
MORE-
YES-
YES.
Their mingled voices exclaimed their shared pleasure to the woods outside, over the mountain-top, to the stars above.
The bed scraped the floor. It struck the wall. Hard. Harder.
Nine times. Ten.
More.
And more.
Again.
And again.
And again.
Slower.
Then slower.
Slowly.
It stopped.
The cycle repeated, over and over. The burning embers cooling, then being stirred again. Sparks flying, the fire blazing afresh. Flames rising, roaring. Searching. Faster. Need. The consuming fire touching, licking everything in its path. Then slowly coming down, calming. The roaring becoming a low whisper. The red embers glowing.
Gradually, the couple's movements ended; their gasps and shuddering breaths reduced to moments between fiery kisses.
She traced his face, her finger down his temple. He smoothed his thumb over her swollen lips. They kissed once more, their heartbeats in tandem.
The dawn began to break far away.
The cabin was hidden from the early light by the surrounding mountains. Inside, the exhausted lovers slept deeply, entangled in each other's arms, their hunger sated.
For one night.
It was a new day.