Another Man's Bride

by Ariel MacArran

  She felt his hardness, sliding her hand along his length. His breathing quickened under her touch, his kiss hungrier.

  He took her hand from him and kissed her palm. He clasped both of her wrists with his hands and turned her to lie on her back. He held her wrists to the bed beside her shoulders now as he lowered his head to bring his mouth to her breast. Her breath caught at the moist warmth, his tongue gently teasing.

  She arched beneath him as his mouth moved lower and his hands released her wrists only to run the length of her thighs. Sliding his hands to the back of her legs he lifted, effortlessly spreading her as his mouth reached the very top of her thigh.

  Blinking at the faint light playing on the ceiling of the boxed bed, Isabella waited, unsure and open.

  Her thoughts jumbled together; him lowering her to the bed that night, his marriage, William’s escape, the child.

  I want him so much.

  Her breath drew in sharply as the heat of his mouth found the most sensitive part of her center, his hands under her buttocks. He held her there as he coaxed her arousal ever higher.

  She shut her eyes. Held captive by the pleasure he drew from her with the movements of his tongue, she arched against him.

  Her fingers curled in the linen sheets when the moist sensation suddenly ceased.

  She opened her eyes, looking to him, desperate for him to keep going.

  In a heartbeat his body was over hers, his hips between her thighs as he positioned himself above her. He held himself up by his arm folded next to her, his face scant inches from hers, not touching her save for the lightest brush of his hardness against her.

  The heat of him poised just at her entrance, tantalizing, left her trembling beneath him.

  “Do ye want me?” he murmured, brushing his mouth against hers.

  “Yes.” She was open and ready, aching for him now.

  He stayed where he was, the very tip of him touching her, waiting.

  “Please, Colyne,” she breathed.

  At the sound of his name he groaned and slid inside her.

  She made a soft sound as his hardness filled her. He paused like that for a moment, allowed her body to adjust to him. His hand clasped her hip as he began to move slowly and rhythmically inside her.

  Her hands found his back, then his hips and the feel of him moving under her hands as he thrust inside her. The tension was building inside her again as he moved.

  Every stroke brought her closer; she was poised at the very edge when his mouth brushed hers.

  “Colyne,” she managed.

  In the next instant, she cried out as the waves of pleasure broke through her.

  His body grew taut, his movements more insistent now as he thrust deeper. His face was buried in her hair, his breath hot against the skin of her neck, and she felt his muscles beneath her hands shake with fine tremors.

  “Ah, sweet,” he cried hoarsely and she felt him shudder as his release found him. He was gasping, trembling, his hot cheek pressed against hers, and he collapsed on her, spent.

  They lay like that as Isabella’s breathing slowed. She luxuriated in the heavy languid feeling now in her limbs, the heavy warm weight of his body on hers.

  He brushed his mouth against hers lightly.

  “Now there’s the honey I’ve nae tasted in far too long.”

  His self-satisfied tone jolted her back to herself.

  Am I his whore then? Will he even want that much of me after he returns to Bredach?

  He frowned. “Are ye all right?”

  “Let me up!”

  He hesitated for an instant, searching her face. He rolled off her.

  As soon as she was free of his weight, she scrambled away. She snatched up a blanket, pulling it round herself before she was even out of the bed.

  The icy dirt floor under her bare feet shocked her to stillness as he pulled his tunic on.

  Where did she think to run to, wrapped only in a quilt and barefoot? There was only this tiny cottage and deep snow outside.

  “Are ye goin’ to be sick?”

  “No,” Isabella whispered.

  He brought her clothes to her.

  “Dress yerself, then. Ye’ll catch yer death like that.”

  Numbly she took her clothes, turning away to dress. She turned back to see his mantle already pinned on as he bent to build up the fire.

  “Come and sit here where it’s warmer.”

  She sank down in the chair. Startled, she felt him gently settle her cloak over her shoulders.

  “Will ye take some ale, sweet?”

  She looked at it without interest but took the cup from him and swallowed some of the cold brew before handing it back.

  “Are ye better now?”

  “No.”

  That seemed to give him pause.

  “Are ye hungry then?”

  She shook her head.

  He pulled a chair to sit facing her, his eyes intent on her face.

  “Why did ye nae tell me about the bairn?”

  She froze. “You knew?”

  “Nae, I dinna, till yestereve. I was frettin’ with ye bein’ gone sae long. I questioned Dougal about yer direction and yer little maid, Mary, with him.” His mouth worked for a minute. “She was shakin’ scared and said on any account I needed find ye quick for the sake of the bairn.”

  Mary! Isabella shut her eyes.

  The girl had tended her clothes and her person for months. Mary was her maid long enough to note she did not wear the braies she would have needed had her courses come. Mary also knew Colyne to have been in her room, had seen her dressed only in a chemise beneath her cloak that night—

  He brushed the hair away from her eye. “I am daft for nae knowing, nae even thinkin’ it. Ye’ve been sae pale, sae pensive these weeks. I thought—well, it doesna matter now. I canna believe ye dinna tell me.”

  Isabella shook her head. “How could I?”

  “Ye weren’t afeared, were ye? Nae of me?” he asked softly, the hurt in his voice unmistakable. “Did ye nae trust me, sweet?”

  “Trust you?” she cried. “Oh, and you would be pleased to hear I was with child, I am sure!”

  “Well, o’course! Douglas will nae have ye now!”

  Isabella’s head came up. “You did it to prevent my marriage? To keep me from court?”

  “Ach, lass, with yer hand strokin’ me cock I wasna’ thinking near clear enough to plan out all of tha’!” he said with a short laugh. “But aye, I am blithe about the bairn. Aren’t ye?”

  “God’s blood, of course not! If I do not marry quickly I cannot hope to escape the ruin of my good name. Either that or I bear the child in secret and pay for its keeping.”

  He looked shocked. “Ye would give away our bairn like an unwanted pup?”

  “What would you have me do?” she demanded, on her feet now in anger. “Men can have bastards and paramours aplenty but a lady may not!”

  “This bairn wouldnae be born on the wrong side of the blanket,” he retorted, standing too.

  “Are you not forgetting you already have a wife?” She folded her arms. “Or will you now send me flying to Lord Douglas to pass it off as his?”

  “Wife?” His brow furrowed. “Ye mean Bredach?”

  “Yes, and quite overcome by her, are you not? I am surprised you managed to notice I was gone at all!”

  “Overcome!”

  “You spent every moment fawning over her and I witness to far too many of them!”

  “I spent every moment tryin’ to get out o’ marryin’ her!”

  “Out of marrying her?” she cried. “Are you not already wed?”

  “O’course I’m nae wed—ye know as much! And as to Bredach, I’ve broken with her.”

  Isabella blinked. “You broke with her? But why?”

  “For love of ye!” he nearly shouted. “To marry with ye!”

  The breath rushed out of her lungs.

  “Marry me?”

  He stopped short. “Do ye nae want to marry?�
��

  “You—you want to marry me? But you promised to wed Bredach.”

  “Aye, o’course I did. For yer sake, I did!”

  “How for me?”

  “How for you?” he said, his voice rising again. “What, I should insult her brother and us surrounded by his clansmen? With your own sweet self but a hairsbreadth from MacLaulach swords? Ye knew ’twas for yer sake! I was lookin’ right at ye when I gave me answer.”

  She shook her head. “I thought—”

  “Ye thought me taken with Bredach? With me followin’ ye about, makin’ a fool of meself over ye? I couldna bear even a day of nae seein’ ye! Did ye nae notice me flutterin’ around ye at Twelfth Night, fallin’ over meself with joy just to be near ye!”

  “But why never speak to me of it?”

  “I did! In the corridor the day before the lass come!”

  Isabella frowned. What did he—? “Before Kat came upon us? You said you were eager to come to agreement with the queen, eager to—” She broke off, blinking up at him. “Eager to marry. You meant—eager to marry me?”

  “O’course! I told ye then I’d keep me vow to you to make it right between us.” His brow creased. “God’s cock, woman, ye had to know what was in me heart in any case! Ye have the sight!”

  “No! I mean, yes, I do but I—” She shook her head. “You broke with Bredach?”

  He snorted. “Nae, she broke with me. Yesterday I had her before her brother, weeping to confess her love for young Jamie and beggin’ the MacLaulach to nae make her marry with me!”

  “Bredach loves Jamie?”

  “Aye,” he replied, as if she were daft for not knowing. “She sparked to the lad weeks ago when her brother made him captive and forbid her speak with him. I canna believe the MacLaulach dinna know a denial like that would just draw her onto the lad all the harder!

  “Ach,” he continued, shaking his head. “But it was nae small thing to have Jamie ever in her company for Christmastide, with me tryin’ to seem dull as a stone to her—and her brother lookin’ on all the while! Nor easy to make her see the truth of her own mind! She’s a bonny lass is Bredach, but she’s nae a one for thinkin’.”

  Isabella blinked up at him. “Bredach loves Jamie?”

  “If ye’d given me another day, ye may have seen her ridin’ out again as Jamie’s handfasted betrothed and nae mine. But I’ve got her brother’s good will for releasin’ her and there’s nae feud between the clans for the break. Sae nae reason for us to nae marry now.”

  “Us, marry?”

  He shifted. “I was all set to bring ye here that morning. We were to ride away, remember? So I could pledge to ye. An’ that night, when we sat by the fire too, I was tryin’, but then Malcolm came back.” He passed his hand over his eyes. “An’ then the MacLaulachs and the clansmen hoverin’ about, and yer Katherine watchin’ us like a hawk—”

  “What about Lord Douglas? The queen? What about the ransom?”

  “Ye dinna think I was going to give ye up, did ye?”

  “You lied,” Isabella breathed. “You never sent to the court. There were never any negotiations with the queen.”

  He shifted his feet. “I’m sorry for it, lyin’ to ye as I did. William was at me day and night about it and Angus as well. I thought—only if I had a little more time to set it all straight—”

  She shook her head. “You never told anyone I was here?”

  “Of course nae, they’d want ye back,” Colyne said softly. “Ye think I could bear to let ye go?”

  Hesitantly he reached out to touch her, tracing the line of her cheek gently with his finger.

  “Tell me, love—whatever I did to drive ye from me that night, if ye’ll just tell me, I’ll make it right.”

  “Oh,” Isabella whispered, tears filling her eyes. “Alisoun …”

  His brow furrowed. “Alisoun? What of her?”

  “I thought her your mistress.”

  His head reared back a little. “But why would ye think such a thing?”

  “I just—that first night, and I saw her kiss you in the gallery—”

  “Kiss me? Oh.” Understanding came to his face. He looked embarrassed. “Ye saw that? Did ye nae see that she kissed me, and not I her?”

  Isabella reflected, remembering what she had seen. “Yes, yes, I did,” she agreed slowly. “But she was there. When you were leaving that night, you kissed me in the doorway. She was there in the hall, watching us.”

  He looked astonished. “Why did ye nae tell me?”

  “She looked so…gratified.” She spread her hands. “I thought you only bedded me to—I thought it a plan between the two of you and whenever I saw her, the way she looked at me. Yesterday, we had words. She said she had never bedded you. That you did not want her …”

  His expression was sheepish. “She told ye about that?”

  “It seems there is more to it than she said.” Isabella’s eyes narrowed. “Mayhap you best tell me now.”

  “Oh.” A blush crept up his neck. “She made her wishes clear by—” He cleared his throat. “The day I took ye to the well, that night she, uh, was waitin’ in me bed.”

  “I see.”

  He cleared his throat again. “Well, I’m a man, ye ken.”

  Isabella folded her arms. “I do recall so, yes.”

  “Ah, well, she was bare in the bed, invitin’ me, like. I looked at her o’course.” His face was scarlet. “I was fair burnin’ for ye, Isabella, and thinkin’ I would never have ye. I, well, just for a moment—just a moment, ye ken? Thought about it.”

  Isabella waited.

  “And?” she prompted.

  “Well, I dinna do it!” He threw his arms wide. “But she’s a spiteful one, is Alisoun, an’ she dinna care for bein’ turned away! I threatened to throw her over me shoulder and drop her bare-arsed in the hall to get her to go.”

  Isabella stared up at him for a moment. Even the tips of his ears had gone red. His eyes widened but even covering her mouth with her hand she could not help it.

  She burst out laughing.

  “I am sorry!” she said between peals of laughter. “The idea of you carrying Alisoun into the great hall!” She was overcome with giggles. “Bare bum first!”

  He smiled hesitantly, still wary. “Sae, are ye nae angry, then? For lookin’, an’—an’ thinkin’—an’ threatenin’ to shame the lass, I mean?”

  Still smiling, Isabella shook her head. “I am surprised you felt need to confess you thought about it.”

  “Well, ye have the sight. I thought it best mayhap if I tell ye before a sendin’ does.”

  She did not see everything, of course. Although, she thought, there might be considerable advantage to letting him think she just might—

  “Ah, sweet,” he murmured, his forehead against hers. “Ye’ll never know how I’ve longed for ye. I couldna think of what I’d done to lose ye when ye were all I wanted.”

  She rested her hands on his shoulders. “Colyne, I have to tell you something. When I was riding back to the castle, I had a vision. I think ’tis why I fell.”

  He went still. “Tell me.”

  “I think ’tis you I see you holding the queen. She’s wounded, bleeding. The knife—” She touched her chest. “You—”

  His head reared back. “I could never hurt ye! I would turn the knife on meself first.”

  She shrugged helplessly. “It is what I see.”

  “Ye see me with the queen and yerself as well, aye?”

  “Yes.”

  “What if ye should never be near the queen? What if ye never go to the court?”

  “What do you mean?”

  “Stay,” he said hoarsely. “Stay with me. Have me as husband.”

  The danger of it made her knees weak.

  “My family will be furious,” Isabella whispered. “If you marry me without their permission they will cut me off without a farthing.”

  “I dinna care about yer dowry!”

  She shook her head. “I could neve
r return to my family in England. They would be within their rights to chain and starve me for disobedience. Queen Joan will banish me from her court as well.”

  Colyne gave her a half smile. “Well, I wouldnae hurry to present meself at court either.”

  “Colyne, you cannot be blithe about this! I am my uncle’s ward and promised to Lord Douglas. They will complain to the king that you have stolen their property. He will banish you, or worse. The king will demand my return.”

  He regarded her seriously. “Sweet, I want the bride nae the coin. As yer husband I will cede the lot to yer uncle or Douglas or the king. James married his Joan for love, aye? I will send to him and say I love ye nae different. An’ I’ll send along yer dower goods as well to the king’s keeping. That should soothe his temper well. I dinna think James, or yer family, will spare the expense to raise the force needed to take ye from me.”

  Isabella considered. The queen had cousins aplenty to choose from. There was a score of Beaufort girls to give Douglas. Douglas, her uncle, and the king would object to the loss of her incomes and property, not her. If Colyne relinquished the dowry, the king and her family would have little interest in having back a woman already married and with child.

  “The castle is well prepared for war, sweet. In MacKimzie land ye’ve nothin’ to fear. Nae the king, or yer family or the flames. Once the gate is lowered ’twill take a year or more to breach it and we safe inside. With the MacLaulach as ally to us now yer family will find the task of takin’ ye back well beyond them.”

  Her hope in freeing William was to speed negotiations for a settlement. The king would never spend the expense to send troops, in winter, to such a remote place for one woman. Her heart raced. With the snow so deep William could not possibly return with a force large enough to take a fortified castle.

  It could work.

  His brow furrowed. “I know ’tis nae the life ye thought for yerself. I have lands in France as well. Mayhap in a year or so I could seek position at Charles’s court.”

  “I do not care about living at court.”

  “I can offer ye me love and the means to fashion a happy life. Ye and the bairn.” He looked at her hesitantly. “Do ye think ye could ever come to love me?”

  “Well, of course I love you,” Isabella blurted. “What did you think?”