The Blond Devil of the Sea: The Highland Ladies Book Three

by Barclay, Celeste

  Rowan shook his head as he continued to pull the clothes from her. “I wasn’t sure what you were up to, but I wouldn’t have stopped you if you truly wanted to experience what it’s like to couple with a woman. She’s not another man. I wouldn’t have agreed unless I could only see you. I told you, I don’t want any other woman. I don’t want to see any others. That’s what angered me with Alane outside. But I’m relieved you didn’t let it go further. I’m not sure my mind or heart could handle the jumble of emotions that came with holding you as someone other than me pleasured you.”

  “It wasn’t her.” Caragh stood bare before him. “I mean it was, but it wasn’t. It might have been her touching me, but it was you I was picturing. Once you were holding me, I couldn’t wait any longer for it to just be you. I wanted to insult her. I wanted to pay her back for what I knew she must have tried while you were with her. Rowan, I’m not sorry. I can’t stand the woman. I wanted to hurt her for insulting me with her words and her actions.”

  “I understood that from the start. Get on the bed, Caragh. Lay on your stomach.” Caragh stood beside the bed, but watched until Rowan had removed all of his clothes. “You disobeyed me on purpose.”

  “I did. I wanted to watch you as I enjoyed what you got to enjoy.”

  “And now you shall enjoy the spanking you knew you would earn.”

  Caragh climbed onto the bed as Rowan came to stand beside her. His hand landed against her bottom as she moaned, not in pain but arousal. She reached out and stroked him as more blows rained across her bottom. Rowan alternated pressure and placement as he enjoyed pinkening her skin. He was harder than he remembered ever being. The rosier her bottom became, the more he wanted to sink into her. He hissed when she raised up on her elbow and turned her head to take him into her mouth. Her head bobbed as she grunted with each blow that landed across her backside.

  “Spread your legs, mo ghaol.”

  Caragh did as she was told, and Rowan’s hand pressed into the wet folds. He thrust his hips as he resumed spanking her. Some of his blows now landing against the swollen skin of her folds.

  “You shall come for me, Caragh. I will watch you suck my cock as you climax from your spanking. I know you’re holding on. I know you’re waiting for my permission. Find your release, then I shall sink into you until we’re both senseless.”

  Rowan spanked her again and again as his fingers slid in and out of her. Caragh sucked his cock so hard that as she climaxed, Rowan nearly climaxed as well. He pulled free of her and climbed over her. He pulled her arms over her head and entwined his fingers with her as he slid into her. They laid motionless for a moment as they both reveled in the sensation of their bodies joining.

  “Don’t be gentle. Don’t make love to me, fuck me, Rowan.”

  “Such a dirty mouth you have. Perhaps you shall need another spanking for that.”

  “I can live with that if you’ll fuck me.”

  Rowan growled as he thrust into her over and over. His weight trapping her against the bed, forcing her to accept each surge. He recognized she was teetering on that line between pain and pleasure. The one she seemed to crave. He pistoned into her as hard and fast as he could as he pushed her to where pain was her pleasure. She screamed as she raced towards her completion.

  “Scream as loud as you want. I’d have the entire building know your husband is pleasuring you. I’d have all and sundry know I enjoy coupling with my wife. Mine,” he growled as his hips dug into hers.

  “Yes, yes. Yours. Mine. Oh, God, Rowan. I’m so close.”

  Rowan released one of her hands to slide under her breast. She raised her shoulder to give him access, and he twisted her nipple until he was sure it hurt. She came apart under him and screamed once again. This time it was his name.

  “Rowan!”

  “Mo Caragh.” Rowan’s deeper voice was even louder than hers. He crested as his seed shot into her channel. Despite the power of his release, possibly the strongest he’d ever had, he continued to press into Caragh and work her body until she moaned again. He understood the two powerful climaxes were all her body could manage. He rested on top of her until he worried she couldn’t catch her breath. He began to slide from her, but two hands grasped his bottom and squeezed.

  “Not yet,” her voice horse.

  He still pulled loose, despite her whimpers. He rolled off her and pulled her across his body. Even with the cool air against his cock, he was still hard enough to slip back into her. She mewled as she settled against him.

  “I would fall asleep buried within you, mo ghaol.”

  “I have dreamed of that since the first night, mo chridhe.”

  “As have I. We should have shared our dreams sooner.”

  Caragh nodded as her eyes drifted shut. Rowan looked around, and his only regret was he couldn’t reach his sword. He slept nowhere like this without it in reach. He grinned as he shifted Caragh’s legs and pulled the dirk strapped to her thigh. He hadn’t taken the time to remove it. He had to admit he enjoyed making love to her while she still had some of her weapons attached to her. He reasoned it appealed to his pirate nature. He drifted off as one hand held Caragh in place, and the other held the knife’s hilt.

  Chapter Seventeen

  Caragh woke Rowan twice that night to make love. Each time was gentle and slow–as had become the norm for them–rather than the out-of-control, feverish manner from earlier that night. In the morning, Rowan helped Caragh dress in what remained of her gown. This time, she wrapped his plaid around her as an arisaid and used a strip of material from her chemise as a belt to hold it in place. Rowan led them belowstairs where only a few people were stirring. They both paused at the bottom of the stairs, but neither spotted Alane. As they walked to the door, he kicked Keith’s boot. The man jerked awake and flushed a deep red when he spotted Caragh and remembered his state of undress. His leggings were low on his hips, and he was sure the thatch of hair showed. Caragh discreetly turned her head away as Rowan blocked her view.

  “We sail in fifteen minutes. Any man not on board will be left behind.”

  The Lady Grace pulled away from the docks ten minutes later, all the crew knowing Rowan was serious when he said he wouldn’t wait. By morning, they’d all heard of what happened between Caragh and Alane. More than one person had seen and heard, and the entire crew was loyal to Caragh.

  “We must sail towards Glasgow, mo chridhe. It’s nearly time for Ruairí and me to pay our fealty to Argyll. That’s why I had to be rid of the cargo. I had to have the money to pay the tax.” Caragh nodded, but Rowan pulled her into his arms as the tension radiated from her. “I know it’ll be uncomfortable for you to see Ruairí again. For the first time in my life, I’m not looking forward to seeing him. I know he never intended to take you, but I saw him. I saw the proof that the two of you--”

  Rowan couldn’t finish as Caragh sobbed against his chest.

  “I’ve never apologized for that. I was so bent on your guilt that night that I never apologized for what happened.”

  “You don’t owe me an apology. We both know everything that happened was my fault. I pushed you into an untenable situation, and you took what little control you had.”

  “True. But I never admitted to you that I intended to enjoy coupling with him. I wanted to not only to hurt you, but to make myself believe I could accept what was happening. If you didn’t want me, I wanted someone who would. I wanted to prove I could enjoy coupling with any man, and that it would be no different from being with you. That you didn’t mean that much to me. Rowan, Ruairí might not have gone through with it, but I would have. I was that enraged by you.” Caragh’s body shook with sobs Rowan understood she should have released ages ago.

  “You’re not telling me anything I didn’t already know, Caragh. Not anything I haven’t had to live with.”

  “I’m not telling you to punish you. You’ve admitted your guilt so many times and apologized and tried to make amends, and I’ve let you while acting as though I was bl
ameless. I owe you an apology, too.”

  “Very well, but let us be done with this.”

  “I’m sorry, Rowan.”

  “I know, just as I’m sorry, too.”

  They gazed at one another before easing into their kiss. It was tender and unhurried as they both poured their love into it. When they broke apart, they accepted that the past was where it belonged.

  * * *

  Rowan and Caragh stood in their dinghy as Ruairi’s ship, the Lady Charity, sailed closer. They’d made good time sailing towards the River Clyde, and even had time to raid a few merchants, as they waited for their rendezvous with Ruairí. Now they watched as Ruairí helped a woman climb into their own dinghy and make their way to shore. Rowan and Caragh waited as a petite figure stepped onto the sand, but Ruairí tucked her behind him before her face was visible to either Rowan or Caragh. Caragh flushed, and Rowan snarled as Ruairí greeted them. She wanted to slap Rowan when she noticed the way he looked at the woman who peered around Ruairi’s shoulder, but she recognized he only did it to taunt Ruairí. When, at last, Caragh caught sight of the woman’s face, she thought she would fall over backwards.

  “Senga?”

  “Caragh?

  The two women ran to one another and embraced. Both men stood puzzling over the scene as they watched the two women they assumed were strangers act as if they were long-lost family. Rowan looked to Ruairí, who only shrugged. Once the women pulled apart, Caragh explained that while her mother had been best friends with Rowan’s mother, Senga’s mother was Caragh’s mother’s cousin. They were, in fact, family. The irony that two cousins had found two cousins wasn’t lost on any of them.

  Caragh suddenly gasped as she looked at Rowan. Her eyes were wide as she pulled on Rowan’s arm with both hands. “Ruairí doesn’t know. Rowan, you have to tell him. There’s no way he could know.”

  “Know what?”

  “Caragh, you shall go over my knee for that. And it won’t just be my hand,” Rowan’s words floated to Senga and Ruairí. Senga looked confused, and Ruairí grinned.

  “We must go somewhere we can talk. Rowan, it can’t wait.” Caragh pleaded.

  “I know that, wife. But you have the tact of a bull.”

  Caragh turned a remorseless gaze on Rowan before smiling so brightly Rowan was sure the sun was jealous. The two couples agreed to return to Ruairi’s ship. Rowan, Ruairí, and Caragh were uncomfortable with Ruairí going to their cabin after what happened the last time they were there. Senga looked confused until Ruairí whispered that he would explain everything later.

  Once they were ensconced in Ruairi’s cabin and each woman sat on the lap of the man she loved, Rowan recounted the news he learned from Catriona when they visited Caragh’s family.

  “So, none of it was what we thought?” Ruairí murmured. Rowan watched his cousin’s face change as different emotions fluttered across it. Rowan was sure Ruairí’s expressions mirrored his own when he learned the truth. Rowan waited until Ruairí was able to look at him again. He’d exchanged a glance with Caragh as they both observed Ruairí silently lean on Senga for support. Both Rowan and Caragh were surprised by the difference in Ruairí from just a few weeks earlier.

  Rowan wondered aloud whether Ruairí would want to travel home to Barra with him and Caragh. He wasn’t even sure if he wanted to go back. He asked Ruairí as much to gauge his cousin’s feelings as to determine whether he would have support if he went.

  Ruairí looked at Rowan, but even before he spoke, Rowan guessed his cousin’s answer. He understood why Ruairí was in no rush to return. He’d grown bitter, and that sentiment had driven him for the years they struggled to stay alive. Rowan noted the difference Senga made and how Ruairí seemed more at peace, but asking him to return to Barra might have been too much.

  “We aren’t going there straight away. There’s time for us both to consider it.” Rowan kept his eyes on Caragh as he added, “We’ll make a run along the coast once more before heading north. We picked up cargo from Alane that we must unload.”

  Caragh hissed at the mention of the woman. By silent mutual agreement, neither of them spoke of Alane or the night spent in the brothel, even if they both held fond memories of their coupling. Nor did Rowan discuss the cargo that he’d picked up from Alane. He was sure Caragh was aware the trade included more than just coin, but she never asked. She accepted that his connection to the woman was severed, and didn’t want to discuss it further. When Ruairí murmured in Senga’s ear, Rowan felt Caragh shift in his lap.

  “Enough,” Rowan warned Ruairí, but his voice softened as he held Caragh against his chest, “There was no other way, but I regretted it before we even went ashore. You know that, mo ghaol.”

  Rowan and Caragh returned to the Lady Grace, where they talked little before falling into bed. The evening full of emotions exhausted them both, and Caragh felt a bit off. Rowan was gentle with Caragh as he suggested they simply sleep, but Caragh refused to change their routine. They made love, and Caragh seemed to come alive while they were together, but Rowan watched her fall into an exhausted sleep even faster than usual. He worried about her since, despite two dips into the freezing sea and various other strains on her physically and emotionally, she’d never looked so peeked as she did that night.

  The next morning, Senga called up from a dinghy to ask whether Caragh was available to visit. Once tucked away in the cabin, Senga pleaded with Caragh to go ashore with her.

  “Caragh, Ruairí knows I need to replace the medicinals I used when I treated his wound from the last sea battle, but I need you to help me. I’m going to pretend I’m collecting them. I need you to be a distraction when I run.”

  “Why would you do that? It’s obvious Ruairí loves you, and it’s not hard to recognize you return his feelings. Why on earth would you run away from that?”

  “Because it’s the only way to keep him alive.”

  “Senga, no.” She was aware of the losses her cousin suffered earlier in her life, and she tried to empathize with Senga’s wishes to protect Ruairí, but she didn’t agree with Senga’s methods. Caragh relented only so she could see where Senga went, and to be ready to tell Ruairí when he undoubtedly chased after her.

  Skinny rowed them ashore, and the two women collected plants and bark that they placed in a basket Caragh carried. She watched with her heart in her throat as Senga ran across the field towards a village. Neither woman knew what awaited Senga, and Caragh regretted her part in Senga’s running away. She was saying as much to Skinny when Rowan and Ruairí arrived on the shore. She tried to edge away from Rowan, who grew angrier with each word she spoke.

  “Ruairí, she loves you as much as I love Rowan. That’s why she did it. She’s scared. I know you know what happened to her family. She’s terrified if she stays with you, you’ll die just like her father and her husband and her son. It doesn’t make sense to you, but it does to her. The pain rests far deeper than any of us realized. I didn’t until she explained it.”

  Ruairí’s pain was obvious as she tried to reason with him about why Senga left. Rowan pulled Caragh into his embrace, but it wasn’t a loving one.

  “You shall be over my knee before we reach the ship, and then you’ll be back over it again with the belt. I can’t believe you’d help your cousin run away unprotected and alone.”

  “She’s a grown woman, Rowan. I can’t force her to do or not do anything.”

  “But you could’ve gotten me. I would’ve been more than happy to haul her back to Ruairí.”

  “And I might not be speaking to you again if you did. I don’t agree with her, but it’s her life. She deserves some control over it.”

  Rowan looked down at Caragh and understood what she didn’t say. There was no way to reverse time and give Caragh back the control she lost when she met Rowan. They were both happy with how life moved forward, but Rowan also recognized the truth in Caragh’s statement.

  “That doesn’t get you out of the spanking you richly deserve for lettin
g her put her life in danger.”

  “I know.”

  Rowan, Ruairí, and Caragh chased after Senga, and after some searching, they found her as she fended off an attack. Ruairí dispatched the men quickly, and Caragh found herself across Rowan’s knee with her skirts around her waist. She forced herself not to make a sound as she accepted her punishment. She accepted that she deserved it, and she didn’t want to draw attention to them. Caragh was aware Senga and Ruairí had a clear view of them, but they were discreet enough not to say anything.

  * * *

  After the two couples parted, Rowan helped Caragh back into the dinghy. Caragh sat silently, and Rowan assumed she was contemplating the spanking she’d already received and worrying about the one to come. He was unprepared for when she lurched forward to throw up over the side of the small boat. He pulled her hair out of the way as she continued to throw up until all she could do was gag and heave.

  “Caragh?” he murmured as she sat back against him.

  “Mmm.”

  Rowan looked down to see her eyes were closed, but she furrowed her brow. “You are poorly. I thought so last night.”

  “I’m n--” She didn’t get any further before she once again hung over the side of the dinghy to retch.

  Rowan helped her up the ladder rope and, with great care, lifted her into his arms as he carried her to their cabin. He ordered tea and broth for her after he laid her on their bed. She curled into a ball and didn’t move until Rowan eased her up to sitting. She sipped the tea but refused the broth as the scent made her cover her mouth and nose.

  “Mo bhean ghràdhach,” Caragh cracked open an eye as Rowan called her his beloved wife. He’d never said that before. She spied him looking panicked and out of his depth. “What can I do? How can I make you feel better?”

  “There’s nothing for you to do. I suspect this will pass in a few sennights.”

  “A few sennights?” Rowan bellowed, and then his face crumpled in remorse. Caragh pushed herself to sit up and reached for Rowan.