She watched as Lachlan inched up the bed and settled beside her. His eyes were on her the entire time, a note of worry in his expression as he listened to her labored breathing. He was wholly unprepared when she launched herself at him. Her tongue flicked his lips, demanding entry. She tasted herself on his tongue, and while she wasn’t sure what to make of it, her desire brought her attention back to Lachlan’s body. She slid her hand down his belly until she wrapped her hand around his rod. She stroked him as his fingers danced over her backside. She watched as his eyes drifted close, the chords in his neck straining even though his face appeared relaxed.
Lachlan made a strangled sound when he felt her tongue swirl around the head of his cock before flicking the opening at its tip. She licked him from the root back up to the bulbous head. He watched her, his head lifted off the pillow but the rest of his body frozen, his entire concentration on what she was doing. Arabella licked her lips and studied Lachlan’s cock before sinking her mouth onto it. She closed her eyes and recalled how his mouth on her had felt She tried to think how she could mimic the things he’d done that she liked the best. Drawing a blank, her mouth mimicked what her hand had done. Lachlan’s groans were a blend of agony and pleasure.
I think he’s enjoying it. He hasn’t told me to stop, so I must be at least fair to middlin’ at this. He looks like he’s in pain one moment then in heaven the next. Is that how it’s supposed to be? Maybe I’m not doing this right after all.
Arabella began to pull away, but Lachlan’s strangled plea made her pause. “Please, Belle. Dinna stop. Christ on the cross, this is the most glorious torture known to mon.” Lachlan panted as he watched Arabella slide her mouth down his length until he felt it brush the back of her throat. She stroked him as her mouth and hand worked in tandem. “I canna last much longer, but I want to be inside ye, Belle. I want us to be together.”
Lachlan lifted Arabella and positioned her to straddle him, but she shook her head. “You on top.”
Lachlan rolled them over, grasping one of Arabella’s legs and hooking it over his shoulder. He plunged into her as she clawed the sheets. Another new position, another new feeling. Arabella was overwhelmed by the intensity, her eyes squeezing shut.
“Belle?” Lachlan slowed his pace, and her eyes flew open. “Am I hurting ye? I’ll slow down, stop if ye need me to.”
“Nay. It’s just different. I’m still learning,” Arabella smiled timidly. “But I like it.”
“Only what ye like, Belle. If aught doesnae feel good, tell me, and we’ll try something else. Dinna do aught just because ye think it’s what I want. Promise?” Lachlan’s earnest expression made Arabella’s heart flip-flop. She knew in that moment, that no matter what, Lachlan would always put her ahead of himself. She opened her arms to him, and without question, he lowered himself into her embrace.
“I love you so very much, Lach. I just want to hold you. Is that all right?”
“Aught for you, Belle. And I like this too. Being this close, yer skin against mine. There is naught better than being this close to ma bonnie bride,” Lachlan confessed.
“An duine agam,” Arabella attempted. My husband. Lachlan turned his head, and a swirl of emotions filled their kiss. Their bodies moved together in synchronicity until they were both too spent to move. They drew the covers over themselves and drifted off to sleep in one another’s arms.
Thirty-Nine
As midmorning light shone into their chamber, Lachlan gazed at his slumbering wife. His thumbnail trailed along her back between her shoulder blades. It was the first time he’d really looked at Arabella’s body since their whirlwind romance began. The times he’d seen her as bare as she was now were always precursors to intimacy. His bride attracted him in every way, and he’d lusted for her for years. But as he lay beside her, he swept an assessing eye over her. He noticed how sallow her skin had grown since they left Stirling. He brushed his hand over her ribs and realized that she’d lost significant weight in the past few weeks, her bones showing beneath the taut skin. While her hair was still a fiery red, some of its luster had faded. Deep shadows cast smudges beneath her eyes. He turned his attention to her legs, noticing how bruises mottled them. He knew they came from her captivity and when she thrashed about in her delirium. He spied the rope burns around her ankles from where Beathan had restrained her. It made him take a peek at her wrists only to find the same marks were healing on the fragile, paper-thin skin.
They’d operated in a state of panic for days, and while their reunion the day before seemed to breathe new life into Arabella, Lachlan wasn’t fooled into thinking they were free of her demons. Her recovery would take longer than just the intense days of withdrawal. He feared she might still grow ill from the strain she’d endured, not only since leaving Stirling, but all that came before it. There was still the matter of her father to resolve, and Lachlan feared how the stress of informing her father of their marriage and the inevitable fallout would affect her. He knew Arabella wasn’t close to her family, but she still felt loyal and compelled to please them. Even from a distance, Lachlan understood they held control over her.
Arabella rolled over in her sleep, nestling her backside against Lachlan’s groin. He stifled the groan that threatened to slip from his throat as his cock sprang to life. They’d woken throughout the night, sharing tender and passionate touches, making love thrice. But Lachlan would do nothing now to disturb Arabella’s slumber. As much as he desired her, taking stock of her physical changes made him determined to focus on encouraging her to eat and sleep as much as she could.
“Lach,” Arabella’s groggy voice mumbled. Lachlan raised up on his elbow to look over her shoulder. Her eyes were still closed, and her breathing even. He draped his arm over her waist, and she sighed with contentment. Lachlan found he was just as content to hold her while she slept, but as the hours crept on and she barely moved except to change position sometimes, he grew concerned. He was torn between letting her sleep for as long as her body needed and waking her to ensure she ate.
As afternoon slipped into evening, and the couple remained in bed, Lachlan realized he’d napped several times throughout the day. He conceded to himself that the past month’s unexpected adventure had exhausted him. As he reflected on the summer that was nearly over, he realized it was more like a season of adventures rather than just a singular month. He’d arrived at court toward the beginning of summer to pay his clan’s taxes. He’d been excited to see Blair and spend time with his sister, but it had been all too brief. Just as he prepared to return to Sutherland, Hardi arrived. They hadn’t seen much of one another since Hardi returned to his clan after his years training with the Sutherlands. It hadn’t come as a surprise to learn Blair and Hardi fell in love. Most of the Sutherlands had seen it blossoming when they were youths, but Blair’s younger age prevented the couple from becoming more serious before Hardi returned home.
But then Blair had disappeared for a month, or at least her family feared that. Intercepted missives and nefarious plots left Blair’s parents and siblings in the dark about her whereabouts and safety. The fear that something had happened to Blair was the beginning of Lachlan’s nerve-wracking summer. He, his parents, Maude and Kieran, and their clans’ warriors had ridden to Tor Castle unknowing whether they would find Blair. The relief of seeing his little sister had been incalculable. Never had he been so happy to see her mischievous grin and be on the receiving side of her sharp tongue.
He’d returned to Dunrobin for a brief time before riding back to Tor Castle to accompany Blair and Hardi to Stirling. It was from there that everything fell apart. He figured out that he’d operated with a sense of impending danger for months. As he worked through these thoughts, it no longer came as a surprise that he was tired. He’d ignored the emotional turmoil and physical strain of traveling and fighting because he’d been singularly focused, first on Blair, and then on Arabella.
“Lach?” Arabella once again said his name, her voice raspy from sleep. She’d been
sleeping on her stomach, facing away from him. She turned her head and offered him a weary smile.
“Aye, little one,” Lachlan stroked her back.
“I’m starving,” Arabella confessed, but her smile was still weak.
“I’m nae surprised. It’s been ages since ye’ve had a proper meal. And I’d wager they barely fed ye the last couple of days.”
“That’s true. He only offered me whisky. When I refused, he refused to give me aught else.” Arabella never wanted to say Beathan’s name again.
“I’ll request the kitchens send a tray up,” Lachlan suggested. Arabella struggled to sit up, and Lachlan propped pillows behind her.
“I feel like we should go down to the Great Hall since we’ve been hidden away in here all day. My introduction to your family was not exactly gracious or polite.”
“Is that what ye want to do?” Lachlan asked, surprised at her suggestion.
“Not really, but it feels like the right thing to do. They’ll expect us.”
“The only thing ma family will expect is for ye to rest and be well.”
“But I’m a guest in their home. I owe them more courtesy than that.”
“Nay, ye dinna. Brighde showed up at their gates in the middle of a storm. Alex carried her to his chamber where she slept for days. When she woke, she refused to tell him who she was because she feared her father finding her. She ran away from here because she was terrified she’d bring trouble to ma family’s door.” Lachlan slid his arm beneath her shoulders, and she inched closer to him. “If they didna fault her for running away from the people who’d fed and tended to her injuries, then they willna fault ye for needing yer sleep.”
“But—” Arabella started, but Lachlan shook his head.
“That isnae how ma family works. And ye’re part of it now. They will only want what’s best for ye. They willna expect aught from ye.”
“Everyone expects something of people,” Arabella argued.
“Mayhap later,” Lachlan shrugged. “But for now, their only wish will be for ye to get better.”
The notion that no one would hold her to a standard of perfect behavior and perfect appearance was new and disconcerting. She nodded as she tried to accept Lachlan’s reasoning, but it felt too foreign. She still thought she owed his family at least a brief appearance to express her gratitude. When someone knocked, she feared whoever stood on the other side was there to demand their presence. She shot a pointed look at Lachlan, but he smiled and shook his head. He wrapped his plaid around his waist, and Arabella couldn’t help but be distracted by how enticing it was to see the woolen garment sitting low on his hips.
“Mama,” Lachlan greeted Amelia as he held the door open for his mother. Arabella gawked before scrambling to pull the covers up over her shoulders. She looked around wildly, wondering where her clothes were, embarrassed that Lachlan’s mother found her obviously naked and still in bed.
“Och, lass! I thought ye would still be sleeping. I feared waking ye, but I kenned ye’d both be hungry sooner or later. I brought only cold plates, thinking it would be awhile before ye would be ready to eat.”
“Thank you,” Arabella said, her cheeks feeling like they emitted flames. “I’m sorry for the trouble. We were just aboot to come belowstairs.”
Amelia cast a disapproving glare at Lachlan, and her son held up his hands in surrender. “What did ye say to yer wife that makes her think she needs to be moving aboot so soon?”
“Naught, Mama. I swear.” Arabella thought Lachlan sounded like a little boy terrified of being punished for a crime he didn’t commit. She remembered that he’d admitted that he feared his petite mother far more than his bear of a father. She recalled how gentle Hamish’s hug had been the day before, and she realized Lachlan’s parents were as kind and loving as he’d described.
“It wasn’t his idea, Lady Sutherland. I feel I should make more of an effort to polite.”
“More effort to be polite?” Amelia turned a stunned visage toward Arabella. “I feared I was the one being rude if I woke ye. And it’s Amelia.”
“You are very thoughtful to bring up the tray, Lady Amelia,” Arabella compromised on Amelia’s title. “But you shouldn’t be bringing trays up to us.”
Amelia shoved the tray at Lachlan, who barely grasped it in time. She approached the bed with such a motherly smile that Arabella feared she would burst into tears and sob against Amelia’s shoulder. That’s exactly what she did when her mother-by-marriage sat on the edge of the mattress and held out her arms. Arabella wept until her throat was raw, but Amelia said nothing. She cooed and stroked Arabella’s hair, but she let her release years of hurt and all the fear she’d faced recently. She cried harder than she had when Lachlan found her drunk in her chamber.
When Arabella’s tears were spent, Amelia continued to stroke her hair, rocking them as she kissed Arabella’s head. They sat together, Arabella’s labored breathing the only sound in the chamber. Lachlan stood back, watching the woman he loved more than anything receive solace in the arms of the woman he’d depended upon most for his entire life. As he watched them, he realized his father hadn’t exaggerated the day before when he called Arabella “daughter.” His parents welcomed his bride as though she’d always been a part of their family.
Arabella leaned back and looked over Amelia’s shoulder. Lachlan’s expression was a mixture of emotions, but the clearest was his worry for her. “I feel much better now, mo chridhe.”
The smile filled with pride once again beamed from Lachlan’s face, and she believed he’d never looked finer. She knew her small efforts meant more to him than the actual words. She wanted him to know that she didn’t take him for granted, and that she wanted to be part of his life in the Highlands. She held her hand out to him, and he walked around the bed to take it.
“That’s vera good,” Amelia commented. “Has Lachlan been teaching ye?”
“A few things here and there,” Arabella nodded.
“We’ll have ye sounding like a proper Highlander in nay time,” Amelia grinned as she patted Arabella’s hand. Lachlan embraced his mother when she rose, finding the same comfort in her arms that he had as a child. It always amazed him how Amelia knew exactly how long he needed the affection, and she never pulled away before he was ready, even now that he was an adult. She kissed his cheek before leaning over to kiss Arabella’s forehead. “Eat and sleep as much as ye need, Arabella. We figure it’ll be at least a sennight before ye’re in fine fettle, so dinna feel ye need to go anywhere unless that’s what ye wish. If ye tire of his nib’s company, the others are happy to visit. But nay one will intrude. If ye wish for a change of scenery, ye may enjoy the gardens. Siùsan does a fine job tending them. They’re as lovely as when Kyla was still with us. And it’s still Amelia.”
Amelia turned, but Arabella caught her hand. When the older woman looked back at Arabella, the younger lady squeezed it. “It’s Belle.”
Lachlan watched as something passed between them, and he couldn’t remember the last time his heart had felt so light.
Forty
Arabella tilted her head back and enjoyed the feel of the sun on her face. The clanking of steel-on-steel filled the background while the sound of children’s voices surrounded her. She opened her eyes and glanced toward the lists. She didn’t expect to see Lachlan while he trained, so it pleasantly surprised her when her muscular and agile husband shifted into her view. His lithe movement and the power she could see even from a distance fascinated her.
“Never grows old, does it?” Ceit mused as she watched Tavish sparring with Lachlan.
“I don’t think it will,” Arabella agreed, but the children’s antics around her drew her attention back to them.
She and Lachlan had been at Dunbeath for a fortnight, giving her time to recuperate. Much to Lachlan’s distress, she’d suffered another bout of fever and delirium four days after they arrived. It lasted nearly a full week, but Amelia assured him that Arabella would pull through. She explaine
d that the stress of Arabella’s second abduction interrupted what would have likely happened, anyway. Amelia had helped Lachlan throughout the ordeal, bathing Arabella, feeding her, telling her stories about Lachlan as a child. She encouraged Lachlan to get fresh air and spend time with his cousins, but he steadfastly refused to leave Arabella. The fear that had abated when he believed they’d survived the worst of it returned. It frightened him that if he left, something would happen, and he wouldn’t be there to help. A fear that she might die while he stepped out lurked in the back of his mind.
It was only the during the last three days that she’d been well enough to leave their chamber and return to the land of the living. She felt stronger than she had in months. It wasn’t just her body that had time to rest and heal. Her mind had too. It surprised her how open and welcoming the Sinclairs were to her. Just as Hamish and Amelia made her feel as though she’d always been their daughter, Lachlan’s cousins and their families acted as though she’d always been part of their kin. It was a wholly different experience than what she’d had at Lochwood Tower. Her distant mother, demanding father, arrogant brothers, and competitive sisters made Arabella feel like she was under constant scrutiny. She hadn’t dared jest or tease like she’d started to do with the Sutherlands and Sinclairs. Even Tristan, with his dark and brooding appearance, had teased her about finally bringing Lachlan up to snuff.
She jumped when Lachlan dropped a kiss on her cheek. She hadn’t heard him approach, his silent warrior tread still surprising her. He tousled Wee Liam’s hair as he spoke to Mairghread, bragging about the young boy’s ability with a wooden sword. Arabella knew Mairghread was more than aware of her son’s burgeoning skills, but as a doting mother, she beamed and oohed and awed for Wee Liam’s sake. Arabella wondered if she and Lachlan would have children. She thought about it a great deal during her lucid moments and over the past few days. Her cycle had been erratic since she started drinking. They hadn’t come at the times when she’d expected them, and they were far lighter than she was accustomed to. She feared she might have damaged her womb from all the whisky she consumed. The Sinclairs’ healer had visited her more than once during her illness when her fever made even Amelia nervous. She asked the old woman about her fears, but the healer assured her with time, her body would return to normal. Arabella wanted to believe her, but guilt gnawed at her.
A Beauty at the Highland Court: A Star-Crossed Lovers Highlander Romance (The Highland Ladies Book 7) Page 29
