Elspeth pressed her lips together and fought another wave of emotion as she rested her cheek against Fraser’s chest again. There was only one thing they would have used her darling daughter for, and she refused to think on it.
Instead, afloat in the safe harbor of his arms, she indulged in the rare fantasy of a happy ending for her child. Because if by the grace of God, she had survived, she would be nigh on twelve winters old now.
And if she had made it that far, perhaps not all was lost.
Nothing was said for a while after that, and she was grateful for it. That day was hard to think about let alone share. So she closed her eyes, inhaled deeply, immersed herself in his spicy scent and did what she always did. Let the memories drift away. Eventually, they would come back. They always did. But for now, there was just him. And the way he felt against her.
The kiss they had shared earlier.
A kiss that had very much swept her off her feet.
She had known at that moment he was the one for her. There would be no other who made her feel the way he did. It was quick. Too quick, some might say. But it was real and far different than what she had experienced before. With her husband, they’d been very young, and it had been more of a childhood friendship turned to mild infatuation. With Fraser, it was immediate and far from mild.
He was her destiny.
She knew it without question.
So it was no surprise that as the weeks passed, their feelings only grew. Though the entirety of his memory did not return, bits and pieces continued to surface. A fact readily seen as he and Innis fought one another on the rocky shore as she gathered oysters.
His battle skills were astounding.
He had been well trained.
As it happened, rumors of treasure in connection with her kin all but vanished, and things had returned to normal. Though Fraser seemed intent to remain by her side despite the waning threat, she sensed a restlessness growing inside him. A longing in his eyes when he gazed in the direction of Argyll.
He was curious about his clan, and she didn’t blame him. If it were her, she would want to return to her people too. She would be eager to get answers about herself. To understand who she was and why she ended up broken on the shores of the North Sea.
“Bloody hell!” Innis sputtered as Fraser drove him back so quickly that he fell flat on his arse. Half a blink later, Fraser’s blade was against his neck as he roared, “Yield!”
His face flaming red to match his hair, Innis’ bright green eyes narrowed in challenge before he started to chuckle.
Rather than allow his blade to cut Innis’ neck due to untimely levity, Fraser pulled it away. Chuckling as well, he shook his head and held out his hand. “Ye mad bastard.”
Innis continued laughing as he allowed Fraser to pull him up. Comrades from the start, they patted each other on the shoulder in goodwill. Though she knew Innis had always desired her and might see Fraser as competition, they got along well regardless. But then they seemed of a similar nature which as far as she could tell had a great deal to do with battling.
Her apprentice Audric sat nearby bundling herbs as he quietly watched. Every once in a while, she sensed he longed to pick up a blade, but it went against his healing nature. Perhaps in time, he might change his mind. Because even healers needed to know how to defend themselves. And sometimes, however difficult it may be, inflicting a wound helped to better understand how it might heal.
“Have ye had much luck finding oysters, lass?” Innis asked as they joined her. “’Tis a good storm out yonder churning the sea bed aplenty.”
“Aye,” she agreed, eying the dark skies in the distance before her gaze returned to the shore. “’Tis also the same storm creating these waves and Lord knows they dinnae make oyster collecting all that easy.”
The corner of Innis’ eyes crinkled as he grinned and eyed the water. “Nay, I dinnae suppose they do.”
Meanwhile, Fraser had been meandering around and scooped up several oysters enviously fast. All of which he dropped in her pouch before he offered her the mischievous crooked grin she so enjoyed.
“Thank ye,” she murmured.
“’Twas my pleasure, lass.” He dropped a kiss on her cheek, then shifted his lips closer to hers, teasing, before he pulled away.
“The plaid looks good,” she remarked, eying him with appreciation.
She had worked tirelessly to mend his ripped and tattered MacLomain tartan. Now he wore nothing but the plaid wrapped around his waist and over his shoulder. Another means to test her, she was sure. Because there was no finer sight than Fraser dressed as he was with his chiseled muscles bared to the world.
“I think he enjoys his vanity fed,” Innis muttered as he grinned and rolled his eyes at the hill behind them. A hill that had hosted many a lass over the past few hours. Lasses, quite assuredly, out for a late-afternoon stroll to enjoy the view. And though they would claim otherwise, that view had nothing to do with the lovely bay.
Even Audric was aware of the women, his cheeks turning red when he dared a random peek over his shoulder.
“Well, I would see Fraser’s vanity challenged,” Elspeth murmured, not speaking of his good looks as she picked up one of several swords Innis had brought down. One suited to her size. She met Fraser’s eyes in challenge. “Do ye accept, then?”
His brows perked in interest. “Ye know how to fight?”
“Of course,” she replied, wide-eyed. “’Twould be foolish in these tryin’ times not to, aye?”
“I suppose ’twould,” he concurred, a new spark in his eyes. One, she realized, born of a man who appreciated a woman who knew how to defend herself.
“So will ye then?” She made a show of testing the weight of the blade and even executed a few novice swings to prove she was good but not that good.
When a small smirk hovered on his lips, and his eyes narrowed on her grip, she knew he had her figured out.
“’Tis a good enough method making your opponent think ye cocky rather than talented,” he acknowledged. “But you’ll want to work some on your expression.”
“My expression?”
“Aye, ’tis that of one with confidence, not insecurity.” He stepped close and brushed the pad of his weapon-roughened thumb between her brows. “It should furrow here as though ye are concentrating verra hard indeed.” Then he grazed it along her lips. “These should be turned down and mayhap wobble a wee bit as ye begin to doubt yourself. As if ye just realized ye took on more than ye can handle facing off with your particular enemy.”
After that, he dusted the outer edge of her brow indicating her eyes. “And these, of course, are your best weapon if you’re fighting a lad. Use them to look him over as if sizing him up.” A knowing gleam lit his eyes. “A look as if you’re trying to determine his weaknesses but realize mayhap there’s something to be attracted to instead.”
“I willnae do that,” she rebuffed, chuckling despite herself. “’Tis foolish.”
“I dinnae know.” Innis stroked the braids in his beard as he contemplated Elspeth. “I think Fraser is right. Especially when it comes to ye.”
“’Twill make me seem daft!” she retaliated.
“’Twill make ye seem as your rival likely expects ye to be,” Fraser counseled, still close enough that she could feel his heat. “A lass with a proper eye to pleasing a lad instead of a disobedient hellion trying to be something she’s not.”
When she narrowed her eyes, he merely shrugged and grinned. “I didnae say I agree with that mindset.” He stepped back and held his sword at arm’s length. “I’m more the sort that enjoys a wee lassie with a bit of backbone.”
“Good then.” She straightened said backbone and held her blade at the ready, wishing she wore trousers instead of a skirt.
They eyed one another and circled before she came at him fast. When he dodged, she spun quickly, came in low only for him to leap back with a grin of approval.
“Ye use your size to your advantage,” he prais
ed. “And keep your movements quick but small.”
“Aye.” She ducked beneath the swing of his blade. “Douglas always said to conserve my energy. Especially when fighting a seasoned warrior.”
Innis guffawed. “Well, you’re certainly fighting such now, lassie!”
“Your brother’s words were wise,” Fraser conceded as they continued battling. While she knew he was holding back some, she could tell by his random nods of approval that it wasn’t as much as he thought it would be.
Yet as they continued crossing swords, she saw something shift in his eyes moments before he came at her a little harder. While she initially thought he was competitive and could not help himself, she soon realized it was for another reason altogether.
He truly cared about her well-being and wanted her to fight the best she could.
So as they fought and her energy waned, he offered not only praise where it was due but pointed out her every weakness. An elbow held too high on a swing. The incorrect angle of her knee when lunging. Breathing too heavily when she should be trying to measure her breaths for certain movements and speed. His was a well-balanced dance. A very specific manipulation of the body that included a mixture of thought out planning and spontaneity.
By the time they were finished, she was sore in places she had never felt pain.
“Thank ye,” she managed, as she tossed aside her blade, planted her hands on her knees and tried to catch her breath. “I will be feeling this for days, I imagine.”
“’Tis good.” He smiled. “’Twill give ye a better idea of what needs strengthening.”
Though not a lewd look by any means, as their eyes held, she got the strongest impression he longed to test other muscles as well. To see how limber she really was.
While they greatly desired one another and he had stolen many a kiss over the past few weeks, they had not yet laid together. Even though she longed for the moment, something held her back. Fear, she supposed. Not only of giving herself over entirely to a man after all these years but then possibly losing him. Aye, Fraser was stronger than most, but even the mightiest could fall beneath a well-aimed blade.
Yet deep down she knew at this point fear was a lost cause. There was no need to lie with him to know she would never be the same if she lost him. He had made his way into her heart and losing him was unthinkable. Which brought her mind back to his clan and the inevitable loss looming on the horizon when he finally sought them out.
“Was Douglas not hoping to return before the storm?” Fraser asked, drawing her eyes back to the sea. Blackening clouds lay thick in the distance, peppering the blues and greens of the churning ocean in heavy shadows.
“Aye, he said as much,” Innis replied as they gathered their weapons and Elspeth snatched up her bag of oysters. “But ’tis more likely he’ll wait it out now.”
While she always worried about her brother, he was an excellent seaman, so she set aside concern as they returned to the village for a bit. A good catch had been brought in, and there was plenty of sea trout and even some salmon to be enjoyed.
Fraser seemed in a particularly amorous mood, so she wasn’t all that surprised when he suggested they eat dinner in their cave. That was what they had come to call it. Their cave. Mostly because they enjoyed spending time alone there. Their conversations were long and varied, and laughter was not uncommon. He had a sense of humor that kept her mood light.
“There was a reason I wanted to come here this eve, lass,” he murmured as they sat together sometime later sharing a dram of whisky. A fire crackled as rain poured, and thunder rumbled. He brushed a lock of hair out of her eyes as his words softened even more. “Something I wished to speak with ye about.”
“Aye, then,” she whispered, barely able to get the words out. Was this it? Was he finally going to tell her that it was time for him to leave?
“’Tis about us.” His hand slipped into hers. “About how much I’ve come to care for ye…love ye.”
“Aye, then,” she repeated, not capable of much else. He loved her yet he was leaving? Why bother telling her just to break her heart? Did he have no compassion?
“I want to be with ye.” His eyes never wavered. “Do ye ken, lass?”
She nodded dumbly. Then do not leave, she wanted to say. Do not go, she wanted to rail.
“Good,” he whispered as he slid something onto her finger. Her eyes dropped to the stunning ring made of bits of pearl and sparkling coral before they whipped back to his.
“’Tis not much,” he began before he cupped her cheek and finally said what he had been leading up to.
“Will ye become my wife, Elspeth MacLauchlin?” he said. “Will ye marry me?”
Chapter Five
Fraser had no idea if it was too soon to ask Elspeth to marry him but he could not wait a moment longer. He had been eager to make her his since their first kiss. Eager to make her his if only she would have him.
Her moist eyes dropped to the ring before returning to him. “Ye want to marry me, then?”
“Aye.” He wrapped his fingers with hers. “I think mayhap I’ve wanted to since I first laid eyes on ye.”
“This is not what I expected,” she whispered as she looked at the ring again. “’Tis verra beautiful. Excellent craftsmanship.” She peered at it more closely. “Rare treasure indeed.” Her eyes returned to his. “Ye made this yourself, then?”
“I did.”
Though minor, he took creating the ring as discovering another missing piece of who he had been and shared as much. Instead of focusing on the fact she had yet to answer his question, he colored his proposal with the making of the jewelry.
“With thoughts only of ye, I searched the ocean floor day after day for the perfect pieces to sand down and string together.” He touched one of the pieces of coral. “Pink to match the stain of your bonny cheeks when ye look at me.” He touched another. “Ivory to match your soft skin when the morning light caresses it.” Then a pearl. “These to match the sparkle of your eyes.” Then one more bit. “And, of course, the silvery coral in betwixt.”
“What does that remind ye of?” she whispered.
“In truth, I havenae quite figured it out yet.” He tried not to look guilty as he offered a lopsided grin. “I but thought it complimentary to the others.” He shrugged. “And keeping true to rumors of my clan, a wee bit mystical in appearance, aye?”
Her blossoming smile stilled at those last words. “Aye, verra mystical.”
“What is it, lass?” he said softly, tilting her chin until her eyes stayed with his. “Do ye not welcome my proposal then?”
“Nay, I do.” Her heart was in her eyes. “But I dinnae ken it…”
“How so?”
“Do ye not long to find your clan, Fraser?” she asked. “To discover what happened to ye?” Her brows flew together in concern. “For all ye know ye could verra well be married to another.”
“Nay.” He shook his head, having already mulled it over. “I am not. I feel that verra strongly.” His eyes never deviated from hers. “As to seeking out my clan, aye, I will eventually.” He squeezed her hand in reassurance. “But I will return to ye, Elspeth. I know your place is with your people.”
“As yours could verra well be with yours,” she countered. “Ye could be their chieftain.” She shook her head. “’Twould not surprise me of a man like ye.”
“Aye, mayhap,” he replied. “But if I’m of a clan the likes of the MacLomains, do ye not think they have a replacement?”
“Until your safe return,” she argued.
“Lass.” He cupped her cheeks and searched her eyes. “Aye, ’tis true there are plenty of possibilities when it comes to what I yet know about myself but one thing is verra clear and part of who I am.” His words met his passion. “And that is ye. How I feel when I’m with ye and what I want from my future no matter what.” He brushed his lips across hers then whispered, “Ye and no one else.”
Her eyes moistened even more as they stayed with his and while
she offered no answer, she did kiss him. Once, twice, then a third time before those kisses deepened. Though she wasn’t giving her response in words, he very much felt she was in actions as she lay back and pulled him down after her.
The moment had come at long last.
A moment he had imagined day and night.
More than ready to have her, he kissed his way down her soft, slender neck as he deftly worked at the ties on her dress. Her chest rose and fell rapidly as he dropped kisses along her delicate collarbone, before returning to her lips.
He fully intended to take his time and enjoy every last part of her. Learn where she liked being touched most and how she liked to be touched there. As their tongues tangled, he lowered her top just enough to expose more cleavage. And just enough to keep her hovering on the edge of need, as he slowly built her desire.
As he worked his way back down and dropped kisses along her breasts, her breathing grew choppier. It became more ragged still as inch by inch he ran his hand up her small calf, over her dainty knee then bit by agonizing bit, up her slender thigh beneath her skirts.
He blew lightly on her sensitive skin, enjoying the gooseflesh that fanned out. Gentle yet eager, he cupped her breast over her clothing and returned to her lips. When she began releasing small moans as he deepened the kiss, he continued exploring her thigh until he reached her center. Her lips broke from his as she arched and released a throaty groan.
He could listen to that forever.
The sweet, unabashed sound of her pleasure.
Determined to do just that, he manipulated the soft flesh between her thighs while he made his way back to her tempting breasts. Rather than lower her top all the way just yet, he pulled a taut nipple into his mouth despite the material.
Mesmerized, he never took his eyes off her face as her arousal grew. Her lips were slightly apart in bliss, and her eyes shut as he brought her closer and closer to release. Soon her groans turned to cries. Small wails of pleasure that mixed with cracks of thunder and roaring waves.
The Seafaring Rogue Page 4
