A Beauty at the Highland Court: A Star-Crossed Lovers Highlander Romance (The Highland Ladies Book 7)

by Celeste Barclay

  Arabella slipped her hand between them, cupping his bollocks and rolling them in her hand. It was the first time she’d explored the sack she’d seen hanging between his legs. When he groaned and pressed his hips upward, she knew he enjoyed her touch. She eased her other hand between them and wrapped it around his rod. With both hands, she worked him until his hips seemed to move of their own accord. With a suddenness she didn’t expect, Lachlan rolled them over so that she straddled him.

  “Like this, ye control how we make love. Ye can set the pace and what ye want,” Lachlan explained as his hands lifted her. She reached down and guided his sword to her sheath. She looked questioningly at Lachlan, and he nodded. His hands rested on her thighs as she eased her body down as her core consumed his length. She didn’t move as she adjusted to the new feeling of fullness. It differed from the first time they made love, but she was just as uncertain. She lifted and lowered herself on his length before testing out rocking her hips like she had when he was on top. She found she could manage a combination of the two, and her body began to hum.

  “Lach, this feel so—different—so good but different,” Arabella said.

  “I ken,” Lachlan grunted.

  “Ye feel even bigger,” Arabella said with awe. “Or mayhap it’s just deeper. But I can’t imagine how since I thought you would rend me in two the last time, and I was certain you could reach all the way to my heart.”

  Lachlan groaned, her words both exciting him and making him melt. Her tone was a mixture of surprise and wistfulness. As she leaned forward to kiss him, he wrapped his arms around her, his hands able to touch his opposite shoulder since her figure was so slight compared to his hulking upper body.

  “I like it when you hold me like this,” Arabella whispered. “You make me feel tiny and protected.” She reached behind her and pulled one of his arms down until she could find his hand. She guided it to her bottom and pressed it until he squeezed. She pushed her hips back, her sheath swallowing him whole. He ground his hips into her pubic bone, and she felt the beginnings of the twinge she knew led to release.

  “And you make me feel desired, but not just with lust. With love too,” Arabella murmured.

  “Because ye are. I love ye nay matter what. When ye’re strong and when ye’re vulnerable. When ye look yer bonniest and when—ye dinna,” Lachlan grinned. Arabella caught his chin between her thumb and fingers and pressed a relentless kiss to his mouth. Their movement become more frenzied as the time for sharing their feelings and teasing was over. Arabella felt the early twinges of her release and moaned. Lachlan held her and let her guide them at her pace. Her inner muscle tightened around him as she moaned her climax.

  “Roll over,” she panted. “Want to see your shoulders.”

  Lachlan looked confused, but he did as she wanted. He watched as her eyes lit up as her hands ran over his shoulders. He could feel his muscles flexing with each surge of his cock into her, and he realized that seeing him move above her aroused her even more. The gleam in her eyes was pure feminine hunger.

  “More,” Arabella demanded.

  “Nay. Ye’re still new to this. I dinna want to hurt ye, little one,” Lachlan worried.

  Arabella shook her head. “Please. I want—” Arabella struggled to find the words she needed. She wanted him to lose control, to show how much he desired her with an abandonment that edged on rough. After what they’d been through, she needed to feel he still wanted her as fiercely as she wanted him. She didn’t doubt his words for a moment, but as her mind needed the words, her body need the motion.

  “Ye want to feel just how much I need ye,” Lachlan supplied. Arabella nodded. “Then promise me to tell me if it’s too much.”

  Arabella nodded again, but her eyes slid shut as her heart thundered beneath her breastbone. Lachlan’s movements were without finesse, just pure unadulterated, nearly savage, instinct. Arabella’s body met every thrust and every surge, their motions melding together as though they’d been making love for a lifetime already.

  “Lach!” Arabella cried out as pleasure overtook her. The waves of release washed over her, leaving her boneless and out of breath as Lachlan thrust thrice more before bellowing her name.

  “Belle!” Lachlan rolled them over with a speed that made Arabella squeak, but he knew he couldn’t support his weight much longer. He didn’t want to crush her, but neither did he want to pull away. They lay together, panting and their bodies glistening with sweat. Lachlan caressed a lazy hand over her back as Arabella nuzzled his neck. They both laid with their eyes closed as they fought to catch their breath. Lachlan felt around for his plaid and draped it over them before they both fell asleep.

  Thirty-Five

  Arabella blinked as she came awake. She couldn’t understand how she was shivering while sweat poured from her hairline. She looked around and couldn’t decide if she wanted to throw off the plaid that covered her or add more layers. She opted for both, or at least trading the woolen plaid for Lachlan’s linen leine. She pulled the shirt toward her but froze as a frog hopped out from beneath it. She snatched the leine from the ground, shaking it out and watching one frog after another fall from it until there were at least a dozen beady-eyed toads staring at her. She reached over to Lachlan and shook him, never taking her eyes off the animals. She kept shaking Lachlan, but he didn’t budge. Struggling to her feet, she pulled the leine on but then shuddered as she thought about the amphibians using it as their nest. She shook from fear and revulsion as she backed away.

  “Arabella! Belle!” Lachlan yelled as he lunged to wrap his arm around Arabella’s thighs, lifting her off the ground and rolling away from the fire. She’d nearly walked backwards into the flames.

  Lachlan watched as she stared toward the back of the cave with sightless eyes. He realized that she was in the throes of a nightmare or hallucinating once again, possibly both. He shook her shoulder, but her attention never turned toward him. She sat quietly for a moment, and Lachlan relaxed. Suddenly, she grasped a handful of dirt and threw it toward the back of the cavern. Next came a handful of pebbles that sprayed across the width of the cave, the sound of them hitting the walls creating an echo.

  “Belle? What do ye see?” Lachlan asked calmly, even though his heart hammered.

  “Toads. So many toads,” Arabella whispered.

  “Shh. Come lie next to me. Did ye ken they go away if ye dinna move?” Lachlan soothed as he tried to guide her to lie next to him. He felt trapped, not knowing if he should keep her away from the side where she believed the frogs sat or away from the nearby fire.

  “No. They’ll hop all over us. They’ll give us warts! And they’re so slimy. We have to go. We have to go,” Arabella sobbed. It was the middle of the night, and Lachlan wasn’t about to take Arabella into the mountains in her semi-lucid state.

  “Look at me, Belle,” Lachlan crooned. He waited to see if she could see him yet. When she turned her head, her eyes were vacant like they had been a moment ago. He suspected she’d been dreaming at first, but the false visions continued even now that she was awake. “Look at me, mo chridhe.”

  He ran his hand over her leg and backside as she laid on her side. His hand slipped under the leine until he could slide his hand up her back. She released a shuddering breath as he continued to sooth her. His hand alternated between gentle circles and long sweeps from her shoulders to her backside. When his hand slowed, then cupped her backside, she wriggled closer to him. Lachlan was torn. He knew how he could distract her, but he feared she’d see it as him taking advantage of her when she finally came round. He slid his hand to the top of her thigh, letting his fingers drift between her legs. When she moaned, he eased his fingers along her seam.

  “Belle, they aren’t there anymore,” Lachlan promised. “We’re safe. I promise.”

  Arabella tried to prop herself up on an elbow and look over Lachlan’s shoulders, but she dropped back down and huddled against him. “They are still there. They’re watching us.”

  “No,
little one. I won’t let them come near you. Shh. Think about where my hands are, how I’m touching you. Don’t think aboot them.” Lachlan rolled Arabella onto her back and drew his hand up and down her leg. As his fingers drew higher, he could see her arousal glistening in the firelight. He closed his eyes and steeled himself against temptation as his cock throbbed. He pressed the flat of his hand over her mound, his fingers traveling over her nether lips but not dipping within. His palm and the heel of his hand trailed over her nub, and she shifted restlessly

  “Did they go away,” Arabella asked.

  “Aye, ma sweet lass. They’re gone,” Lachlan assured her.

  “Are you certain? Let me see.” Arabella tried to sit up, but Lachlan used it to press a kiss to her lips as he blocked her view. As he gazed into her eyes, he noticed her pupils were back to their normal size, and she didn’t seem disoriented anymore.

  “Belle, what do you feel?” Lachlan asked softly as they pulled apart.

  “You. You kissed me.”

  “Aught else?” Lachlan pressed. He watched Arabella’s brow furrow. He added pressure to his hand as he continued to rub her mons. She looked down at his hand, confusion clear on her face.

  “Lach? What’re you doing?” Arabella whispered as her legs moved apart, a silent offering.

  “Distracting you,” Lachlan answered.

  “From what?” Arabella’s eyes flew open, and she sat up so abruptly that she narrowly missed crashing her head into Lachlan’s. “I remember. I thought there were frogs everywhere.”

  Lachlan didn’t move. He waited for her to continue, but she turned a questioning expression to him, as though she didn’t trust her recollection. “Ye did. But I swear there werenae any.”

  “Like earlier with the adders and bugs,” Arabella said morosely.

  “Aye. I think ye were having a nightmare, and ye only woke up part of the way. Ye were still seeing things when ye stood up. Ye almost walked into the fire,” Lachlan explained slowly, gauging her response to each of his words.

  “And now?” She waved her hand toward his where it rested on her thatch of curls.

  “I rubbed yer back, and now I’m touching yer thighs and yer cunny,” Lachlan spoke the truth. “Aught to distract ye and bring ye back to me.”

  “Would you have coupled with me while I didn’t know what’s happening?” Arabella demanded. She wasn’t sure how she felt about what she discovered.

  “Nay. I will never take advantage of ye, and I willna ever force ye. But I will do whatever I can think of to make ye feel better, to keep ye with me and nae lost to the recesses of yer mind.” Lachlan’s voice held an edge he didn’t mean to have. “I didna do more than what ye can feel now. It brought ye round, and ye arenae terrified of toads attacking us. If ye were still hallucinating, I wouldnae have gone further. I would have dumped ye in the stream before raping ye, Arabella.”

  Arabella’s eyes widened as she really gave thought for the first time to how this experience was affecting Lachlan. She nodded her head and swallowed. She stroked his arm as she gazed into his eyes, really seeing the depth of his pain for the first time. She slid her hand up to cup his cheek as she pressed a soft kiss to his mouth before resting her forehead against his. She felt the shuddering breath he took.

  “Lach, I know you ken I don’t want to be like this, that I regret what I’ve done. I think you ken how grateful I am.” Arabella dropped her hand and moved to sit crossed legged. She needed to keep her concentration on what she said, and touching Lachlan made that impossible. “I know this isn’t what you ever imagined, and I feel guilty aboot that. It’s why I’ve told you to leave more than once. But each of those times, it was really more aboot how I felt. I realize that now. I know you love me enough that you won’t go anywhere. But I need you to know that I’m realizing how much this must hurt you. I never, ever imagined I could put you through something like this. I would never have touched a drop of whisky if I could have foreseen how you would suffer, too.”

  Arabella shifted, realizing that she didn’t think as well as she assumed when she wasn’t touching Lachlan. She unfurled her legs, inching her way to sit between his before draping hers over his thighs. She took his hands and wove their fingers together.

  “Everything you’ve done since you returned to court, everything you’ve ever done where I’m concerned, has been for my good. I just questioned your honor, and I shouldn’t have. Not if I say I trust you. I have to mean those words. I know the mon you are, Lach. I know you have limits, lines you would never cross. But I know you’ll do anything and everything to help me. I can’t promise I’ll never question you again, but I can promise I’ll never question my faith in you or your integrity.”

  “I willna lie,” Lachlan sighed. “This isnae easy. It pains me to see ye suffering and nae being able to do aught to end it. I’m frustrated and I feel helpless. I confess, I am still a wee angry at ye for some of yer choices, even if I understand why ye made them. But that anger still comes from fear. Since returning to court, I have lived in constant fear of losing ye. Losing ye to whisky, losing ye to a bluidy prison, losing ye to a convent, losing ye to Beathan. I’m worn thin, Arabella. But there will always be just enough of me that I willna break. I will always be at yer side.”

  “I don’t ken how you can be so strong. I ken it’s not just because you’re a mon. There are far lesser men than you. Mayhap it’s because you’re a Sutherland. Or mayhap it’s just because you are you. But I ken our gracious and merciful God blessed me when He sent you into my life. I never want to take that for granted again.”

  “We’ll get through this together, Belle. If it hasnae broken us yet, then naught will,” Lachlan swore.

  “Isnae that endearing?” Beathan Gunn sneered as he stood at the mouth of the cave. Behind him stood men trying to wrangle and restrain the four Sutherland guards. “Thought we’d give up? Nae bluidy likely. Ye might have lost us for a day or two, but ye canna disappear. Now the lass is mine, and ye will die.”

  Arabella and Lachlan scrambled off the ground. Arabella instinctively moved behind Lachlan, who reached for the sword propped against a rock nearby. Arabella looked around, but it was hard to see in the dim light behind Lachlan. She had two thoughts: get dressed and get into the back of the cave. She felt around in the dark until she found the satchel that held her filthy and tattered but still serviceable gown. When she’d donned the gown at Cromie Castle, it had relieved her to discover her knife was still in the hidden pocket. Lachlan had encouraged her to continue wearing the thigh strap that carried her other knife. While she hadn’t been wearing it since they arrived at the cave, she intended to not take it off again until they reached Dunrobin. She fished it out of the satchel. As Lachlan and Beathan exchanged words, taunting and insulting one another. Belle slipped into the back of the cave. She fumbled in the dark, but she soon had the dirk strapped to her leg and her gown on, even if the laces weren’t tied.

  “Enough!” Beathan snapped. “Grab the lass and bring the bastard with us.”

  Arabella remained tucked in the shadows, but she crouched and found a rock for each hand. She watched in horror, as two men swung their swords at Lachlan. He blocked them with ease, but while the first two engaged Lachlan, two more slipped around him and came for her. When she could make out the silhouette of the first man’s head, she launched the rock in her right hand. It hit him squarely in the face.

  “Fucking whore broke ma bluidy nose,” the man yelled. “That’s it. I dinna care whether ye live or die.”

  “I do, ye eejit,” Beathan called. “A dead daughter doesnae get us a dowry. Keep her alive until her dowry arrives. Then I dinna care what happens to her.”

  The man whose nose she broke stomped toward her. She gathered another rock before she backed away further. When her back hit a wall, she knew there was nowhere left for her to go. When he reached out to grab her arm, she smashed one of the rocks into the side of his head. She launched the other at the man who followed him. She evaded the
stunned men, running toward Lachlan as she reached into her pocket. She kept her hand wrapped around the hilt but didn’t draw it. She wouldn’t let any of the Gunns see she was armed unless she had to use the knife. Arabella hadn’t seen three more men advance on Lachlan. A wall protected his back, but he now fought off five men. Arabella knew it was only a matter of time before two or more well-timed swings would cut him down.

  “Stop! I’ll go. Leave Lachlan alive, and I will go. Beathan, if you kill him, the Sutherlands, Sinclairs, and Mackays will massacre your people. You know I’m not exaggerating. If they don’t kill every last one of them, they will run them off the land like the Campbells did the MacGreggors or harry you like the Bruce did the Comyns. You will not survive this, Beathan. Leave him, and I’ll leave with you.”

  Arabella pulled away from the men who tried to restrain her, walking toward Beathan on her own. As she passed, Lachlan, she kept her voice low and said in French, “I know you will come for me. Just don’t get yourself killed in the meantime. He won’t kill me until he knows he’ll get my dowry. He can’t know that until he tells my father he has me. He’s been in these hills too. He couldn’t have told him, and no messenger will have reached my father yet.”

  Lachlan responded, “Je vais chercher mon père. Nous allons chercher nos cousins. Son donjon est plus au nord que le nôtre. Les autres viendront.” He told her, “I’m going for my father. We’ll fetch our cousins. His keep is further north than either of ours. The others will come.”