The Princess and the Laird

by C. A. Szarek

  Alana cleared her throat. “I’ll call to you.”

  “Like you did a’ fore?”

  She nodded. “Aye.”

  If she didn’t have a connection to the person she was trying to call, it didn’t always work. But she and Alex were lovers. It mattered not that he wasn’t Fae. It was easier to show him again, rather than explain the magic, so she spoke to him with her mind.

  Alex, can you hear me?

  He blinked and stilled. “I…think so.”

  I’m speaking to you with my mind. You won’t be able to answer me, but can you hear me?

  “‘Tis unsettlin’. I hear yer voice, but yer lips…dinna move.”

  She grinned. “You heard me clearly?”

  “As if….weel, yer standin’ beside me already, but ‘twas as if ye were whisperin’ in my ear.”

  Alana giggled and darted to him, pushing to her toes to press her mouth to his.

  Alex flashed a grin that made her insides wobble, and dipped his head down for more.

  She gladly moved back into his body, let him deepen the kiss and wrap his arms around her. Like always, desire shot low and hot, spreading downward until her core throbbed, her thighs trembled and her knees went weak. How could she want—need—this man so much? She’d already had him inside her twice today.

  “Hmmm, lass.” He nibbled at her mouth as he kissed her, his stubble brushing her cheeks, but it only made her flare hotter for him. He was already hard for her, his erection pressing into her belly.

  “Alex, I should go…” Alana panted into his lips, sparing a glance toward the glowing Faery Stones. As much as she didn’t want to. As much as she wanted him to part her from her trews, touch her, and push inside her again.

  Alex groaned, but ended the kiss. Her laird was always respectful. That just made her want him even more.

  I love you. The words played at the tip of her tongue, but she swallowed them away. She shoved at the sorrow that came with them. Until she figured out what to do about the Irish prince and her unwanted betrothal…the deadly vows…she wasn’t free to love Alex.

  She’d never be free, unless she walked away from the Fae Realm—her future throne—and she would in a heartbeat, but Seamus would also do as promised, report them to King Fillan and lead Fae Warriors to raze the MacLeods.

  Alana couldn’t let that happen.

  Running wouldn’t solve her problem.

  Her situation wasn’t Alex’s fault—let alone his clan’s. She couldn’t be responsible for their deaths. She was chained to Seamus…for now.

  Xander wanted to kill him, but they couldn’t risk that.

  Her laird would likely—and righteously—be upset she was promised to another, although she’d never even kissed the prince, and would vomit on him before she did so.

  Alana had given herself to Alex in love.

  She might not have recognized it their first time, but it was the truth. However, Alex aside, she’d still never lay with Seamus. She didn’t think he’d try to rape her, but that doubt played in the back of her mind from when he’d held her against the wall in her suite. If he tried that again, he might seal his own fate—Xander would kill him without delay. Perhaps get away with it, too.

  “Alana, what’s wrong?”

  Her heart skipped. “Nothing. Why, love?”

  Alex paused, like he often did when she referred to him with the endearment. “Ye’ve gone stiff, an’ if ‘tis due ta yer need of me, I agree, but I fear ‘tis somethin’ else.”

  She smiled. He knew her too well. “I do want you. So much. But I cannot stay any longer. There’s so much I want to tell you.” Alana tried not to wince as her last statement hit. She’d not meant to blurt that bit of honesty.

  “Then do so, lass.” His voice was low. “If ye want.”

  Mixed emotions swirled around her. He really was perfect. “You never push me, Alex. I need that. Thank you.”

  “Ye canna unburden yer mind, can ye?”

  She blinked tears away, shaking her head. “Nay, I cannot.”

  His jaw flexed, but her laird nodded.

  Alana closed her eyes and took a breath. How she wished she could tell him everything. Would it make things better or worse?

  Despite his youth, he was a strong man. He’d be angry and hurt, but the truth could help them, could it not?

  Nay, he cannot help with matters of the Fae.

  His blue eyes bored into her as she hedged in his arms.

  “I need to go, Alex,” she whispered.

  His handsome countenance fell, but then her lover schooled his expression. He nodded again, but squeezed her tight against his chest instead of releasing her. “One day, I shall no’ let ye go, mò chridhe.”

  Her vision blurred and she tried to smile. He’d spoken in human Gaelic, but the endearment wasn’t so different from Fae, and meant, ‘my heart’. He was her heart, too. “And I love you for that.”

  Alex froze and gripped her shoulders almost painfully. “What did ye say?”

  She flushed to her toes and inhaled. Her mouth had run away from her…again. Blurting seemed to be a new talent, as if she’d picked up a new power. Too bad it wasn’t one she wanted.

  He shook her gently when she didn’t answer. “Alana, wha’ did ye say ta me?” Hope and wonder from him rolled over her empathic powers, and her heart missed a beat.

  Alana couldn’t keep her feelings from him. Had been foolish to try. “Oh, Alex, I love you. I love you so much it hurts. I shouldn’t love you, but I do. I just—”

  His mouth crashed down on hers and she didn’t hesitate to meet his kiss. She opened for him without delay, letting her laird control things as she slanted her lips against his. Alex branded her as he kissed her harder, and she clung to his thick arms so she wouldn’t slide to the white sand of the cave on her rear end. Her legs threatened to dump her.

  The humid air danced around them, helping the desire that slicked over her form. Her sex ached, pulsing with a begging edge for his as he hauled her even closer, flattening her breasts against his chest.

  His huge hands were all over her back and bottom, but fingers soon brushed her overheated damp flesh as Alex shoved her leine up and pushed at her trews, trying to move them over one hip without loosening her belt.

  Alana wanted to lose herself in him, in them moving together, screaming their climax at the same time, like they had earlier.

  Abruptly, he tugged away from their kiss, making her head spin and she struggled to focus on his face.

  “I love ye, too. Jesu, how I’ve waited ta say tha’ ta ye. I tol’ myself ‘twas too soon. I tol’ myself it dinna make sense.” He tossed his head back and laughed, making her want to bury her hands in his short dark hair.

  Elation, relief and love washed over Alana’s magic and she shivered in his grip. “Alex—”

  “I love ye,” he repeated. “Did ye hear me? I love ye, Princess Alana of tha Fae Realm.”

  Tears scalded her cheeks as the words piled against her lips and pushed. She wanted to tell him everything.

  He loved her, which fulfilled her wildest dreams.

  Why did it make her feel so guilty?

  It was what she’d wanted more than anything. Needed, more than air.

  “I heard you,” she whispered.

  Alex studied her, and his bright grin fell off a tad. “Somethin’s wrong.”

  She wished for the passionate haze of his kiss but inhaled instead, and forced a nod. “Aye. There’s so much I need to tell you. So much I need to explain.” Alana swallowed—twice.

  When his dread hit her magic, she wanted to pull away, open the portal, and bolt.

  “Go on.” It was a command, but his voice wavered.

  She crushed her eyes shut because she didn’t have the bollocks—as Xander would say—to look at the man she loved when she pushed the words from her mouth. “The truth is, I’m betrothed.”

  Chapter Seventeen

  “The truth is, I’m betrothed.” The sentence was like one o
f Duncan’s low gut shots when they’d had a tussle, or maybe worse.

  Like a fatal stab wound to the heart with a poison-tipped sword.

  Alex reeled. Released her and stumbled back until he hit the natural wall of the cave—away from the radiance of the Faery Stones.

  “Wait. Alex, let me explain.”

  There was no need for her to clarify.

  She was a Fae Princess. Never his, despite giving him her innocence.

  Despite telling him she loved him.

  Despite him telling her he loved her.

  “Alex, please.” Tears streamed down her gorgeous face, making her alabaster skin glow in the soft magic light from the crystals.

  Each one just about killed him, but he was dying anyway, every breath a dagger slicing off another piece of his heart.

  Alana reached for him, but he jerked away, only to receive a sharp pain in his shoulder blade from the rough surface behind him.

  “Alex!”

  He wanted to flee, but when he turned to go, his vision tilted and he tripped over his feet. He went down hard, his bare knees landing in the bleached sand. Agony shot into his wrists from where he’d braced himself on his palms, and white-hot streaks went into his thighs, making him twitch.

  “Alex, I’m sorry, are you all right?” Alana’s purple boots appeared in his line of sight but he didn’t have the guts to look up at her. “I didn’t mean to make you fall, but I need you to listen to me.”

  Alex pitched back on his haunches, and his thighs barked another protest. “Ye made me fall?”

  She bit her plump bottom lip and gave a small nod. “I used magic. To stop you from leaving me.”

  His gut roiled, and when he should be angry, he only found pain. A black hole where his heart used to be.

  “I love you. I really do. Please believe me.”

  He made tight fists and planted them on his scorching thighs. “Ye…lied ta me.”

  Her violet eyes downcast for a moment before meeting his. “I didn’t, really.”

  Alex growled. “A lie of omission….’tis still a lie.”

  Alana’s beautiful face flared pink, but it wasn’t from the passion they’d shared. “I…need you to listen. Please…will you listen?”

  “Will ye release me?”

  “I’m not holding you there.”

  “Nay, but ye dinna let me leave this place, will ye?”

  Again, she wouldn’t meet his gaze. “I would prefer not to handle this as such.” Her voice wavered, and her mouth wobbled.

  More tears rolled down her cheeks and Alex’s resolve warred with his agony. Something inside him snapped; he couldn’t let her suffer. He muttered curses under his breath in Gaelic, then ridiculed himself for being weak. “Alana-lass, come ta me.” He pushed to his rear end and his lover squatted beside him. Even if he wasn’t fond of the notion at the moment, he did love her. He’d called her mò chridhe, and damn if that wasn’t true, too. She made his heart sing.

  S’pose I owe her a listen.

  “Aye, I believe ye love me,” he whispered.

  Her shoulders shook, but Alana didn’t move any closer. Nor did she look at him. “I do. I didn’t mean for it to happen. I never should’ve come here.” She finally met his gaze. “But I don’t regret you, Alex. I couldn’t. Ever.” She took big shuddering breaths that were his undoing.

  Alex hauled her onto his lap and rubbed her back. He inhaled her scent—which was really a mixture of his own and hers, as well as their lovemaking. The humidity of the cave left it hanging in the air, but it wasn’t unpleasant. “I dinna regret ye, either. I love ye, lass.” He didn’t mean to repeat his feelings for her.

  She belongs to another.

  “I don’t.”

  “What?”

  “Belong to another.”

  Damn, he’d spoken aloud. He cursed again, at the way his gut quivered when she’d spoken. “Ye said ye were betrothed—”

  “Aye, but I could never belong to him. And I don’t intend to marry him. I didn’t even before I agreed to sign the contract.”

  Alex frowned and tried not react to her imploring gaze. Her violet eyes said so much more than her words. Alana did love him. He’d never doubted that. “Explain, mò chridhe.” He swallowed and pushed away the confusion.

  She made a noise in her throat, and more tears rolled down her cheeks. “I’m still your heart?” Her question was a whisper, and her voice trembled as much as her slender form, even though he held her securely against him.

  With a sigh, he leaned forward to kiss her forehead. “Aye, lass. Minutes passin’ dinna change tha’. I dinna think anythin’ could. I love ye.”

  Alana flashed a tremulous smile and sucked in an audible breath. “My betrothed is an Irish prince named Seamus, and he’s a bastard.”

  Alex smirked at her unladylike descriptive, but his amusement quickly flipped to rage when she launched into a tale of deadly threats and forced agreements. He didn’t give a shite that his life had been endangered, but he did have a pang about his clan. However, he couldn’t end things with his princess because of that.

  Selfish? Aye.

  They’d have to figure something out. There was no other choice.

  He wouldn’t let Alana leave him.

  The more his love spoke about the royal bastard, the more he wanted to run him through, and not only because he’d wheedled her into agreeing to give him her hand.

  He was glad that her cousin and protector, Xander agreed, but too bad neither seemed to be able to affect the outcome—yet. “Ye canna wed him,” he growled.

  “I wouldn’t even if I didn’t love you. I’ve been avoiding his pursuit for years.”

  Alex wiped her tears away, and cupped her face. He kissed her softly and she snuggled into him. “Marry me instead.”

  * * * *

  Alana blinked and shock washed over her. “Wh-wh-what?” She stilled against his hard chest and wanted to look away from his intense blue gaze, but couldn’t.

  “Marry me instead,” her laird repeated. His voice was even. Calm. Grounded. He gripped her shoulders to hold her steady, but she needed that.

  How could he sound so sure, when she’d just crushed him?

  She felt it with her magic, as well as saw it written all over his face.

  Alex had tried to run from her.

  Alana still felt guilty for using the spellword that’d made him fall, but she couldn’t let him go. Then or now. “Alex, I—”

  Her lover cupped her cheeks and ran the pad of his thumb over her kiss-swollen bottom lip, sending a tremor down her spine. “Ye are tha lass I want ta spend tha rest a’ my life wit’.”

  “What? After everything I just told you? You—”

  “I want ye by my side always. I want ta wed ye, Alana. Not some bastard, Irish prince or no’. I shall no’ let him have ye. I shall no’ let any other man have ye. Ye are mine.”

  His thick brogue rolled over her and her heart skipped, then cantered. “Oh, Alex—”

  He kissed her hard and fast. “I tell ye I love ye, and yer surprised by tha’? After everthin’ we’ve shared?” His whisper was a tease and a chide at the same time and had a smile tugging at her mouth while her heart plummeted to her knees.

  Alana wanted him again. Needed him.

  She should’ve left already. Surely the time she was supposed to have met Xander had come and gone. They were lucky her cousin hadn’t opened the Stones and barged into the cave. He would’ve likely caught them making love. Her bodyguard had cautioned her to keep her visit short, and it’d been hours.

  “I love you,” she said.

  “And I ye.” Alex grinned and it made her mush, head to toes, chasing away all the Seamus-induced misery.

  It wouldn’t last—she still had no answer—but at least she’d been honest with her laird. He’d not only listened to her; he’d shared mutual anger at what a wretch the prince was.

  Then he’d asked her to marry him?

  Alana swallowed. He’d been so hurt
, but able to forgive her? Declare he wanted her for the rest of his life?

  Alex loves me. He wants to marry me.

  He’d been able to see past what she’d had to do for him.

  Goddess, he’s too perfect for me.

  “I’m no’ loose wit’ my favors, Your Highness.” Alex’s teasing voice wrenched her attention back to his handsome face.

  She cocked her head to one side and watched her hair long brush the bare skin of his forearm. ‘Twas a shame they were dressed. “You’re not?” She bit back a grin.

  “Nay.” He arched a dark eyebrow. “Meanin’ ye canna have me over and over and no’ keep me.”

  Alana giggled. “So, if I don’t marry you, you’ll reject me? Tell me I cannot have you again?”

  He nodded, but his mouth rippled as if he was trying not to smile.

  “I cannot change your mind?”

  Alex mock-glared and shook his head.

  “Even if I do this…” She wiggled in his lap and pressed her breasts into him until she felt his body’s response. He was hard, and she wanted him again.

  Her gorgeous lover gasped and color spread across his high cheekbones as he tried to fight his desire. “Nay…” he croaked.

  Alana scooted away, until she was sitting on the sand next to him, off his powerful thighs. “If you insist.”

  His sapphire eyes went wide, and he tugged her back to him, urging her mouth to his.

  She didn’t refuse him; she couldn’t.

  Alex kissed her with the familiar skill that made her heart skip and her body ache with desire, but then he pulled away, and his eyes bored into her. “Ye dinna answer me, lass.”

  It’s impossible, isn’t it?

  Not just because of Seamus and his threats. She’d live much longer than him. Would have to watch him grow old...die.

  Her heart skipped. Alana could see no other man as her husband. Fae prince or nobleman alike held no interest—or her heart—like the MacLeod laird.

  She thought of Princess Sima being wiped from the royal records because she’d fled the Fae to be with Alex’s ancestor.