Angel of Skye

by May McGoldrick

  Alec’s father traded a happy glance with his wife as they both recalled the time when they had stood in this same chapel to exchange their vows.

  The earl of Huntly felt the tightness in his throat as once again he mourned the only woman that he’d ever loved. Looking up, he watched Margaret’s beautiful child step to the altar and offer her hand to the young laird.

  The sound of harps that replaced the piper as the two lovers joined together at the altar, the Latin chants of the priests and the acolytes, and the quiet exchange of vows all gave way to the joyous acclaim of the congregation when Alec and Fiona turned to greet their friends and family as husband and wife.

  Fiona, too caught up in her own excitement, didn’t wait for Alec’s signal. She tumbled down the hill in a rush despite his threatening grumble from behind. She ran, stumbling, past the two barking and excited hounds, down the slope of the steep hill. Leaves, brushes, and crawling ferns brushed against her legs. Lifting her skirt above her bare knees, her hair flying in the breeze of the hillside loch, she ran with the speed of a doe, as if windborne.

  This had been their first day away from the castle, all on their own, since they’d wed. The day was hot and the sun high when Alec had lured her out to the stables with the promise of showing her the Macpherson crofters and their efforts. She’d been welcomed and delighted by the folk of the region around Benmore Castle, but as they turned for home, Alec had snatched her from her horse and planted her on his own, leaving the mare and his two hounds loping behind.

  And then he had brought her here. Heaven could not be more perfect, she thought, than what she was seeing, standing on the ledge, looking down at the peaceful loch nestled below. High hills, covered with heather in bloom, surrounded the water on three sides, while a white beach of sand and stone beckoned to them at the bottom of the slope. All Alec had to do was suggest a race to the beach. Fiona, not even waiting for him to complete his challenge, kicked her shoes away and bolted for the sparkling blue lake below.

  She slowed as she reached the water and, with a look back at Alec, pulled her skirts up above her knees and waded into the cold, spring-fed waters. The chill of the small waves licking at her legs made Fiona shiver slightly. The sun was still high, and its rays were warm and gentle on her face.

  “The bottom drops off quickly not far from where you’re standing,” Alec called from the shore. Fiona turned to see her husband dropping his tartan and a satchel on a smooth spot on the beach. Looking out at her, he quickly stripped his shirt over his head.

  “Thanks, but I’m known to be a good swimmer,” she responded, flushing slightly at the sight of his muscles, taut and glistening with the heat of the run.

  Fiona realized how silly it was to feel even the slightest embarrassment seeing Alec’s body. After all, the time they’d been spending since the wedding had given them both ample opportunities to experience the pleasures of each other’s body. Fiona had never known four days and nights could be so sensually full, so physically exhilarating, so sexually satisfying.

  But that had all occurred in the privacy of their own chamber—the door barred, the deep down mattress of the huge bed rising up like the Western Sea around them. Fiona shivered again, but this time it wasn’t the chill of the loch that was causing it.

  Alec smiled, kicking off his boots. “If you don’t take that dress off, my lovely wife, you’ll be wet for the entire ride back to Benmore.”

  Fiona waded back toward the shore as Alec unfastened his belt. Unwrapping his kilt, he stood naked in the sunlight, like some visiting Apollo, ready to take flight like a golden eagle into the sun-drenched sky. Her heart was drumming loudly in her chest as she faltered, then neared him.

  “Do you think you’ll be able to save me?” Alec whispered as Fiona moved within a step.

  “Save you from what, my love?” She stared at his chest, feeling too self-conscious to let her eyes waver any lower.

  “From drowning.” Alec reached for the laces in front of her dress and ever so slowly started to undo them. His knuckles gently caressed the soft skin coming into view at his continuing effort. “I’m not the best swimmer.”

  “Celia told me you used to get seasick,” Fiona said as her fingers achingly reached up to touch the golden curls on his chest, “but that you’re cured now.”

  “I still might need help.” He pushed the dress off her shoulder and down past the flare of her hips.

  “I saw you swim at the pond by the tower.” Fiona stepped out of the mount of her skirts. “You didn’t look like one lacking any skills.”

  “I knew it. You were peeking.”

  “I—I was,” she stammered as Alec’s fingers undid the top two ties of her thin chemise, partially exposing her chest.

  “Good. Because I was watching you, too. While you were swimming.” He leaned down and brushed his lips over the full round perfection of one of her breasts. “And since that day, I have been dreaming of doing just this.”

  Fiona felt her breath shorten, just hearing his words.

  “Come!” Alec pushed the strap of the chemise up onto her shoulder and took her hand. The two stepped into the crystal-clear loch until the bottom fell away and the water rose around them.

  They swam side by side, splashing and floating, laughing and diving into the darkness and chill. Fiona loved the feel of Alec’s hands as he circled about her, caressing her, holding her tightly at one moment and pulling her beneath the surface in the next moment.

  Taking a deep breath, Fiona dove deep into the darkness of the tarn, opening her eyes and looking up as her love followed her down. Propelling herself a few yards closer to the shore, she surfaced, bursting into the warm sunlight with her hair hanging like a thick rope behind her.

  She turned and stood, her feet just touching the sand where the bottom dropped off, waiting for Alec to surface. The water around her was smooth and silent as the lengthening moments passed. A flash of anxiety raced through her as her eyes quickly scanned the beach and the unbroken surface of the loch.

  “Alec!” she shouted, her voice echoing off the heather-covered hills.

  Fiona took a deep breath, preparing to dive, when suddenly from beneath her she felt his strong hands gripping her waist and lifting her high out of the water. Holding her in his arms, he pushed smilingly into the waist-high shallows, and Fiona punched him playfully in the chest for his prank.

  “Don’t you ever scare me like that!”

  “I wasn’t trying to,” he said, eyeing the wet linen clinging provocatively to her breasts. “The view under there was just too incredible to give up.”

  “What view?” she said shyly, knowing full well his meaning.

  “I’ll just have to show you.”

  As Alec’s mouth descended on hers, his hands pulled her hard against his chest. Suddenly Fiona wanted to bury herself in him, lose herself, drown in him. Her fingers locked themselves in the strands of his wet hair as she pulled him closer. Just a brief second of loss, of not knowing where he was, had driven her mad beyond measure. And now that madness had turned to a desire, a need for his touch, for the feel of his body against hers. She arched her back as she pressed against him, her breasts aching inside the wet fabric, aching for his touch.

  As their mouths caressed searchingly, Alec’s hands traveled across her breasts, finding the strap of her chemise and pulling it down over one shoulder.

  “Just hold me,” he said huskily, drawing back from her as she wrapped her legs around his waist.

  As he held her close and she ran her fingers along the muscles of his chest and neck, Alec’s eyes wandered lingeringly down over the transparent slip clinging provocatively to his love’s perfect form. Pulling her higher, he lightly kissed her chin, and as he ran the tip of his tongue down the hollow of her throat, over the glistening ivory wetness of her chest and into the valley between her breasts, he heard her gasp and felt her body go rigid.

  Fiona felt his breath on her breasts as his mouth reached the top of her partially
untied chemise. Opening her eyes, she tried to concentrate on the sky above, deep and blue with ragged wisps of white streaks that disappeared behind the green of the surrounding hills. She closed her eyes again as one of his hands moved down, drawing up the hem of the garment billowing around her body. The colors of blue Fiona held in her mind’s eye flashed into swirls of yellows and reds as his fingers gently reached between their bodies. Waves of heat broke through her body, lifting her until she was no longer aware of the water around them. She was weightless, enraptured, afloat on a golden cloud. With him.

  She clung to him, her mouth ravenously seeking his and finding it.

  “It’s my turn,” she whispered seductively, smiling coyly into his handsome face. Alec let her push him backward toward the beach. A few feet from the edge of the water, he drew her down beside him. Fiona lay his head back against the sand just beneath the surface. She gazed at him, his body glistened in the sun as the small waves lapped at his sides.

  Pushing her hair back over her shoulder, she knelt down beside him, her hand wandering lovingly over the muscles of his belly. Trailing kisses onto his chest, she moved her mouth lower.

  “Hold there, my love,” Alec rasped, raising himself and pulling her up on top of him. “If you keep on like that I may just go mad.”

  Looking up into her smiling face, he lay back again in the water and, raising the hem of her wet chemise, he pulled her knees up till she was straddling his hips.

  Fiona lowered her face and kissed him. Drawing back, she gently nestled herself against the crown of his arousal and gasped as he lowered her onto him. Deep within her he slid, and sheathing him tightly, Fiona felt again the perfect fit of true love.

  Stretching her legs alongside his, Fiona moved her hips and felt him move against her in harmony. An aching desire again began to grow within her as Alec’s hands pressed her bottom, burying himself even deeper.

  Alec pushed the strap of the chemise off one of Fiona’s shoulders. Raising his mouth again, he suckled her exposed breast as she began to emit small cries, increasing the tempo of her pulsing body.

  As Fiona’s cries grew stronger and Alec felt her body go rigid, he knew he could no longer wait. Rolling her onto her back in the shallow water, Alec drove into her. Fiona raised her knees, wrapping her leg around him as he thrust himself deeper within, touching the very core of her. Finally, with a thunderous roar blocking out all other sounds, a sun exploded within him.

  As Alec arched his body above her, Fiona looked up at the god-like face of her beloved. And as he pumped his life-seed into her, it seemed as though a new universe was created.

  Chapter 23

  Yesterday fair up sprang the flowers,

  This day they are all slain with showers...

  —William Dunbar “This World Unstable”

  “I’m with child, Alec!”

  He laughed heartily before lifting her into his arms. Smiling into Fiona’s tear-filled eyes, Alec held her close. “So does that explain the retching? The light-headedness? The falling asleep at dinner?”

  “Aye, my love. Are you ready for eight more months of such delightful companionship? Not to mention my ever-expanding presence?”

  “Absolutely. I’ll cherish every moment of it, even the retching.” Alec looked at her playfully. “In fact, I’ve been feeling a bit queasy myself. I wonder if I—”

  “If you’re looking for sympathy from me—”

  Alec whirled her around in his arms as his lips devoured her smiling mouth.

  “But to tell the truth, I knew it.”

  “And how might that be?”

  “Nanna told me.”

  “Before she told me?” Fiona took him by the chin. “Is she another woman whom you’ve charmed into swooning at your feet?”

  “No one else matters but you.” Alec took her hand from his chin and tenderly kissed her palm. “But when are you going to swoon at my feet.”

  Fiona stood on her tiptoes and put her arms around his neck. “Considering what I’m carrying, I’d say I already have,” she cooed, kissing his chin.

  “Willingly?” he asked, brushing his lips across hers.

  “Wholeheartedly!”

  It had never mattered to him before about having a bairn, an heir for the Macpherson holdings. In fact, a lot of things had never mattered before. But now, with Fiona, life was not the same. She had captured his heart and his soul. He wanted to have children with her. He wanted bairns conceived in her womb. Offspring that would bloom and grow. A part of them both that could carry their love forward toward eternity.

  As Fiona snuggled comfortably against his chest, she could hear his heart beating strongly. She thought of how much her life had changed since she left Skye. She thought of her friends whom she’d left behind. Of the prioress, whose advice had been so valuable, so true, in keeping her from becoming a nun. She knew now that she belonged beside Alec, wherever he was. But there was still the matter of Drummond Castle.

  Fiona’s fingers caressed the muscles of his encircling arm.

  “Alec?” she questioned, pulling her head back and looking up into his deep blue eyes. “You’ll still take me there, won’t you?”

  Fiona had thrilled with the realization that she was carrying a child. Both Nanna and Elizabeth had been so positive and so affirming that morning in their agreement and their advice. But as Fiona considered the prospect of having a bairn, that thrill was tempered by a tinge of anxiety about what she had yet to face.

  After all, their trip to Drummond Castle had been delayed until the details of the queen’s agreement with Lord Gray could be worked out. In truth, Fiona didn’t care if her uncle kept the place. She certainly didn’t want a feud on her hands. Her interest only lay in going back to search for the truth. But based on all she was hearing about court politics, things were becoming quite involved. It had become apparent that Fiona needed to accept her rightful inheritance formally, for if she didn’t, the question of how much more she wanted would still be left unanswered. As the king’s daughter, now married to one of the most powerful warriors in all Scotland, Fiona simply had to put an end to such speculation. The Crown was not what she was after.

  Alec had been busy conferring with his father when the messenger had arrived from court. After reading the letter, he’d gone directly to Fiona with the message folded and tucked into his belt.

  Now, standing in their chamber with the late summer breeze wafting lazily through the open windows, he was both relieved and excited about their news, and about the future. All that was left was to get through the affair at Drummond Castle, so they could get on with their lives.

  “Are you certain you’ll be fit to travel, love?” he teased.

  “I’m as healthy as a horse. Alec, it’s important that I—”

  “We’re leaving for Drummond Castle in two days.”

  Fiona stopped and looked up into his handsome face. As she did, the apprehension she’d been feeling about whether the pregnancy would interfere with her desire to go there simply melted away. His blues eyes were warm and reassuring.

  “This message arrived a few moments ago,” Alec said, pulling the folded missive from his belt.

  Fiona took the letter that he held out to her, and looked at the wax seal. A two-headed eagle, surrounded by a circle of raised dots. She looked up questioningly at Alec as she unfolded the document.

  “Lord Gray,” he said, responding to her unanswered question. Fiona scanned the contents as Alec continued to speak. “It appears he is putting on a banquet to celebrate your return. He is going to turn Drummond Castle and its lands over to you officially. And apparently the queen will be present for the event.”

  “And we’re going,” she said soberly. Finally, she would have the opportunity she had been waiting for. Perhaps finally justice would be done. Fiona turned her gaze to Alec. “Do you think my uncle hates me? After what happened with Kathryn? And now taking his home away from him?”

  “Drummond was never his, Fiona. That place has
always belonged to you. Your grandfather made that very clear before his death. And as far as your uncle is concerned, he has wealth of his own. And in my opinion, I think he and his daughter both are getting better than they deserve. Kathryn Gray should be wasting away in some dungeon for what she tried to do.”

  “Please, Alec, let’s forget about her,” she pleaded. “She is out of our lives for good.” Kathryn was not the one who worried her. There was still that someone else, the person paying Neil to kidnap her. But she didn’t want to think of that now. Fiona knew that all those questions would be answered once she had her mother’s hidden packet.

  “Alec…” Fiona paused, looking for the right words. “Can you get along with him? My uncle?”

  “Nay, my love. Not in this life.”

  “Could you try? For my sake? He is the only family connection I have with my past.”

  Alec cringed at the thought of having to be civil to the man. Their last meeting had almost ended with the drawing of swords. It had been Huntly who’d saved the man’s neck, barely stopping certain bloodshed.

  “Alec?”

  “I’ll try. Only for you.”

  As the light of the dying moon washed over them, Alec stirred from the depths of his slumber only long enough to gather his beloved tightly to him.

  Again he felt them around him. Pushing at him. And then they stopped. Standing back, they peered vacantly. Faces. The same, familiar, nameless faces. Alec pushed past and then the path opened through them.

  He was walking with the king. Alec turned to speak to King James, but no words came. He looked behind them. There was nothing left of where he’d been. All had disappeared. The faces. The past. Gone. Thick mist, like the spray of an ocean surge, had washed away every trace.

  The king smiled at the warrior and nodded ahead. A door.

  Alec heard the voice. It was the old porter’s voice.