“Let him go,” Luke said.
“Are ye certain?” she asked.
He nodded. “Aye. I’m certain. He’s Pringle’s creature, but he doesnae deserve tae die for servin’ his master.”
A look of relief crossed Robert’s face as Aileas lowered her blade, and he gave Luke a small, grateful nod. But Luke fixed him with a firm gaze.
“I’m nay forgivin’ ye for what ye’ve done tae me. And if I ever see ye in Sowkirk again, I’ll kill ye meself. Ye understand?”
Robert gave him a solemn but earnest look. “Ye’ll never see me again after today. Tis nothin’ left for me here.”
The spymaster turned and fled, leaving them alone in the corridor again. He looked to Aileas, and as he started to wrap his arm around her shoulder again, another form filled the doorway in front of them.
“Dand!” Aileas cried.
Luke hung on the wall once more as Aileas rushed to her cousin. She threw herself into his arms, wrapping them tight around the big man. Luke was glad to see that although her cousin was cut up and bloody, he was alive and even smiling as he embraced her. The big man’s gaze fell on him, and his smile widened.
“Glad tae see ye’re nae dead. I never would’ve heard thae end of it from this one,” his voice boomed, echoing around the corridor. “Ye look like shite, though.”
“Then I look exactly how I feel. That’s good, I suppose,” Luke quipped.
“Let’s get out of here,” Dand said. “Ye can lean on me, lad.”
“Don’t suppose ye’d just carry me?” Luke said the chuckle that followed, sending hot embers of pain shooting through him.
“Let’s nae get carried away,” Dand said and laughed.
“Have they found Pringle? Is he a captive? Or dead?” Aileas asked, sounding hopeful at the last bit.
Dand shook his head. “Nobody’s seen him. He might’ve fled thae keep altogether.”
Aileas glowered, and her expression darkened. Luke knew how much killing Pringle and avenging the murder of her parents meant to her. He knew that being denied that chance was going to leave a hole in her heart.
“Let’s go,” she said.
Luke leaned against Dand as they made their way through the labyrinth of corridors inside the keep, eventually emerging through a side door and into the great hall. Headen and some of his Black Wolves stood at the main doors, bloody and ragged from battle, but all with wide smiles on their faces.
“Ye found him then,” Headen called when he spotted them, then looked at Luke. “Daenae think this gets ye out of trainin’ on thae morrow. I expect tae see ye in thae trainin’ field.”
Headen and his men laughed as Luke groaned. Aileas gave him a soft smile as they slowly made their way over to the captain and the Wolves. But then Luke saw Headen’s face blanch, and an expression of horror cross his features.
“Behind ye!” Headen shouted.
Moving on instinct, Luke pushed Dand to the side. The big man stumbled over his own feet and fell to the ground with a grunt. The pain in his body roared, but Luke managed to spin himself around in time to see Pringle closing on Aileas, a dagger poised and ready to plunge into her back. Luke threw himself between them.
He cried out as the blade bit into his flesh and was driven deep into him. But he grabbed hold of Pringle as he fell, taking the bigger man down with him. They crashed to the floor in a tangle of limbs. Pain flared hotter than the sun in Luke. He looked up at the man who stared back at him with a mixture of outrage and anger. Pringle grabbed the hilt of his dagger, and Luke cried out as the man tried to yank it from his flesh.
But then Aileas was there. She grabbed hold of Pringle’s hair and yanked his head backward. Luke watched as she drew the blade of her sword across his throat, her expression blank as if she was doing nothing more noteworthy than throwing out the bucket of night soil. She kicked Pringle’s body to the side, away from Luke. He slumped over, and it wasn’t long before he stopped moving or making sounds altogether. Then Aileas was above Luke. Her face etched with fear.
Tears spilled from her eyes, and he felt them falling onto his cheeks as he felt himself growing weaker. Luke raised his hand and laid it against her cheek, a gentle smile crossing his face. Luke’s vision wavered, and darkness crept in at the edges, giving everything a slightly fuzzy look.
“Ye fool. Why’d ye dae that? What in thae bleedin’ hell were ye thinkin’?”
“Tis all right,” he said softly.
“Daenae ye go anywhere,” Aileas said. “Daenae ye leave me, ye bleedin’ fool.”
Luke was exhausted and felt his eyes beginning to close. He fought it though, not wanting to lose sight of Aileas for a moment. But eventually, the tide’s inexorable force pulled him deeper, enveloping him in tendrils of warm darkness.
“I love ye,” he said, and then Luke’s world went black.
Epilogue
The sun had just crested the horizon, but the air still carried a bit of a chill. She pulled her cloak about her tighter to ward it off. The ocean in the distance shone with the early morning light, reflecting the soft hues of purple and pink that stretched across the heavens above. Small patches of fluffy clouds littered the sky, but it looked like it would be a beautiful day.
Aileas stood on the small rise overlooking the town of Sowkirk, reflecting on the changes the last few weeks had wrought. Pringle was dead. Her parents avenged. The baron hadn’t been pleased that Pringle escaped his justice at the end of her blade, but after Captain Headen had explained the situation to him, telling him that it had been a matter of life and death, he had accepted it. He had even praised her for her restraint as far as Pringle was concerned.
She and Headen had developed a respect for each other over the past few weeks. Aileas thought the same could be said for her and the baron. She had spent time with them both in the aftermath of the battle at Pringle’s keep. And, of course, Dand had spent quite a bit of time with Mira. Aileas was glad that they seemed to be making a connection with each other. She thought her cousin deserved to find love and happiness. She liked Mira enormously and thought she was good for Dand. Thought she would help him settle down and perhaps, even make him a little softer and gentler of a person. Perhaps.
As she watched the distant horizon, she could see the Red Selkie moored in Sowkirk’s harbor. She pondered her future. Aileas still had not decided what she was going to do, and there seemed to be a lot of things in the air. There was a piece of her that missed life out on the sea. She loved being in command of herself and her crew, going where they wanted, when they wanted. She loved not having anybody to answer to and do as she pleased.
Aileas had a wild and wandering spirit and loved living her life unrestrained. She enjoyed being the Scourge of the Mediterranean and the reputation of ferocity she had earned. She loved being La Renarde de la Mer. She loved that her name struck fear in the hearts of men and that the sight of her red and black sails set them running. There was no bigger thrill for her than chasing down a ship that tried to elude her, then plundering it for all it was worth. It was a thrill, unlike any other, knowing any battle at sea could be her last. But Aileas loved living life on that edge.
There was another piece of her, though, that had enjoyed keeping her feet on solid ground. She enjoyed being back in the land she was born in. She had somehow forgotten how beautiful it was. The connection to her family had never been stronger than when she had visited the ruins of her ancestral home. Though it had been plundered and burned out, some of it still stood. A ghostly reminder of all she had lost when she was so young.
The idea of putting down roots and living a life in her family home wasn’t without its appeal. While it was true that it didn’t offer the same sort of daily excitement as living life as a pirate out on the open ocean, the idea of stability and normalcy resonated with her. The idea of a life where she didn’t have to worry from one day to the next that she would end up with a knife in her back courtesy of a disgruntled merchant she’d pillaged was… refreshing.
>
There was so much she needed to think about, and so much she needed to decide still. It made Aileas feel as if she were two women who wanted very different things, and each one was pulling her hard in their direction.
“Ye look like a woman lost in thought.”
She turned around and smiled to see Luke limping toward her. Though the swelling was gone, and the bruises were fading, he was not yet fully healed. The scars from the torture he’d endured would last a lifetime, but the wounds he’d suffered would eventually heal. He was already looking and moving about better than he had just a week ago.
The physician said he was a lucky man, that had he lost much more blood before they got him back to Cherrythorn Manor, he would have died for sure. He was further lucky in that the dagger Pringle had plunged into his shoulder had missed anything major, and though he had a long road back to full health, he would get there.
The physician seemed certain he would suffer no lingering health issues and that in time, he would be back to normal and could once more take up his blade and join the Black Wolves. After the battle, Captain Headen had seen fit to name him to the company, though it would be some time before he could join his new brothers in arms. It was something Luke was looking forward to, and because of that, Aileas had her hands full keeping him down. He was not yet fit for physical rehabilitation. That would come in time.
Aileas melted against him, wrapping her arms around him but taking care not to squeeze him too hard just yet. His ribs were healing, but they still had a ways to go yet. He smiled down at her and planted a kiss on the crown of her head.
“How are ye feelin’?” she asked.
“Right as rain.”
“Liar.”
He shrugged. “Compared tae how I felt a week ago, I am.”
She laughed softly. “Okay, fine. I’ll accept that.”
His smile slipped away, and he looked at her as if he knew what she’d been thinking as she stood out there, staring at the sea.
“It calls ye, doesnae it?” he asked.
She turned and looked out at the horizon again and nodded. “Aye. It does. I’ve lived me life on thae sea. I’m nae entirely used tae bein’ on solid ground.”
A small smile curled the corners of his mouth upward. “Me da used tae say things like that. He loved bein’ out on the ocean. Said it made him feel free.”
She nodded. “Exactly that.”
Aileas looked down at the grass beneath her boots. She knew what Luke was asking, even though he didn’t give voice to the words. He wanted to know if she was staying with him or not. And though her love for him should be enough to keep her on land with him, Aileas would be lying to him, as well as to herself, if she’d said she had no reservations about staying in Sowkirk and building a life with him.
To Luke’s credit though, he did not press. He simply checked in with her now and then to see where her thinking was, but otherwise, let her have her space to think and make a decision. He showed no haste forcing a decision from her and seemed content to enjoy whatever time he had with her. For the moment, anyway.
Aileas took his hand and led him back into the house. She pulled him into a warm embrace. With the fire in the pit behind her crackling and popping, warming the room around them, she clung to him. Aileas relished the feeling of his toned, hard body pressed to hers and shuddered as she thought about how close she’d come to losing him forever.
She tilted her head up and looked at him, watched the way the fire sparkled in his eyes and felt her heart turn over inside of her. Sliding her hand behind his neck, Aileas pulled him down into a kiss that was gentle at first but quickly grew in heat and intensity. She shrugged off her cloak as their tongues swirled together in her mouth and gripped his tunic tightly as a bolt of excitement shot through her, making her entire body tingle.
They hadn’t been intimate since the battle, for obvious reasons, but Aileas’s entire body cried out for him. Her craving for his touch had never been stronger, and as their kiss deepened, she felt herself growing warm and slick between her thighs. She raised her arms, allowing him to slide her tunic off of her. He dropped it on the furs around the fire pit as she reached for him, gripping his staff in her hand through his breeches.
As she felt him stiffening in her hand, Aileas’s entire body shuddered, and the warmth in the center of her grew into a fiery heat. As his mouth found her breasts, his tongue swirling around her pert nipples, Aileas reached into his breeches and took hold of his staff. She gripped it tightly in her fist, and a low, throaty moan escaped him as she started to work her hand up and down his length.
Not to be outdone, Luke slid his hand down into her breeches, and as he continued to lick and suck on her nipples, making her moan, his fingers found her wetness. He stroked her swollen, sensitive lips with the soft pads of his fingertips, and Aileas quivered beneath his touch. And when he parted her velvety folds with his finger, plunging it deep inside of her, she cried out.
They stood together like that for a long moment, Aileas pumping her fist up and down on his staff while he plumbed her depths with his fingers, both of them moaning wildly. When he added a second finger and stroked her button with his thumb simultaneously, Aileas’s grip on his cock tightened, making him stutter. But he kept his rhythm with his hand, and the pressure in her built to a quick crescendo.
Aileas cried out, her voice filling the room around them as she trembled wildly, her entire body convulsing as her climax crashed down over her. Through it all, Luke kept his eyes on her and his fingers moving inside of her. And when her release began to wane, he took his fingers out of her and slipped them into his mouth, savoring the taste of her.
“Take yer breeches off,” she said, her voice hoarse.
They both kicked off their boots and stepped out of their breeches, both of them moving quickly and clumsily. But then they stood before each other naked, and as she looked at the skin that was scarring and the cuts that were still healing, she traced her fingertips over them, a small frown touching her features.
“Tis all right. I’ll heal,” he said.
She looked up at him with a crooked grin on her face. “Ye’re only sayin’ that because ye want tae lay with me.”
“Tis true. But tis nae thae only reason,” he said, laughing softly. “I really will be all right. And so long as I’ve ye by me side, nothin’ can truly hurt me.”
Her heart swelled, and she felt her eyes stinging as the tears began to well. She fought them off and stepped toward him. Aileas pulled him down into a passionate kiss, their tongues swirling around one another with wild abandon. She gently guided him down to the furs, laying him on his back, and once he was prone, she climbed atop him.
Aileas sat astride Luke, taking his staff in her hand, and began to stroke it. The desperate look of hunger in his eyes only fueled her own passion as she began to stroke her throbbing button with the tip of his manhood. It sent delicious shudders up and down her body, making gooseflesh stand out on her skin.
“I need tae be inside of ye,” he groaned. “I need tae feel ye.”
“Aye. And I need thae same.”
Aileas raised her hips and nestled the tip of his stalk between her slick lips. Slowly, she began to lower herself onto him, taking him into her inch by glorious inch. And when she was fully seated on top of him, she closed her eyes and reveled in the sensation of having him fill her so completely.
Luke held his hands up to her, and she interlaced her fingers with his as she started to move on top of him. He groaned and pressed his head back against the furs as she rode him, slowly at first, but the passion she felt for him grew out of control, and she began moving faster, making him wince.
“Are ye all right. I’m sorry,” she said. “Mebbe we should stop.”
“If ye stop now, I’ll plunge a dagger into me own heart,” he said with a laugh. “Trust me when I say, no small pinch of pain is goin’ tae outweigh thae pleasure I feel right now, me love.”
She smiled at him, letting the w
ord love bounce around in her mind. She didn’t want to stop and was glad he said he didn’t want to. Her personal wants and desires aside, after all they had endured, she felt like they needed this. That she had come so close to losing him, Aileas needed this life-affirming act they were sharing. She needed to feel him as much as he seemed to need to feel her.
Aileas began to move again, her rhythm slow but steady. And as she rolled her hips, impaling herself upon his staff, she bit her bottom lip. She felt lightheaded, almost dizzy, and she cherished the feeling of it, of having him so deep inside of her. The connection wasn’t just physical; she felt the emotional connection between them growing more potent, which only heightened the intensity of the sensations coursing through their bodies.
Every Highland Sin: Scottish Medieval Highlander Romance Page 25
