The Highlander's Maiden

by Carole Archer

  “Be patient,” Aunt Annie whispered, smiling encouragingly at her after Duncan had left. “He definitely likes you,” the old lady grinned.

  Oh I do hope so, thought Colleen, because I definitely like him.

  Colleen slowly regained her strength and a few days later she was up on her feet, cooking dinner, when Duncan came to join them. He smiled and Colleen felt weak at the knees once more, but this time it had absolutely nothing to do with her being unwell. He really is the most handsome man I have ever met.

  Colleen smiled and blushed as Duncan kissed her cheek, before crossing the room and kissing his aunt too. He’s only being friendly, Colleen silently chastised herself. He isn’t interested in you. He’s just looking after you until Harvey turns up. But that didn’t stop her admiring the tall, dark and incredibly handsome man who had rescued her and helped to nurse her back to health.

  As they ate dinner that evening, Duncan told Colleen that he’d still been unable to locate Harvey, though he had spoken to his good friend William. “Apparently he went to Oban around the time I found you down by the lake. He re-stocked the cart and told William he was heading to Northumbria. Apparently you told him you’d love to live there so he figured you’d run away, hitched a ride and headed that way, so he’s gone to find you.”

  Duncan sighed. “I hope he doesn’t worry unnecessarily about you. I’ve left word with William so as soon as he comes back he will let him know where you are, but it could be some weeks before he returns. You’re more than welcome to stay here in the meantime. In fact I insist that you do because Harvey will come to collect you soon and I don’t want him to get here to find you’ve wandered off once more. He’s bound to be out there looking for you, but sadly there’s nothing I can do about that, apart from continue to act as your guardian and keep you safe.”

  Colleen scowled and shook her head as he told her that although she was back on her feet and well again, he expected her to stay home with his aunt and look after her. She loved Aunt Annie, but she refused to be kept in the village all the time. “You do not leave the village without me, do you understand?” he ordered.

  “I’m grateful to you for rescuing me and for nursing me back to health and keeping me safe, but I can look after myself. I would love to stay here until I find Harvey, if that’s OK, but I do not need a guardian to tell me where I can and cannot go,” she snapped.

  Duncan raised his eyebrows. Sighing deeply, he got to his feet. “Let’s go for a walk,” he said, taking Colleen’s hand and pulling her to her feet, giving her no choice in the matter. He kissed Aunt Annie goodbye and pulled the protesting young woman along behind him.

  It was the first time Colleen had left the house since Duncan had carried her in there almost two weeks earlier and she gasped as she looked around. It was a very small village and there were many little houses gathered together. It was very different to the small castle where she had lived in Ireland, which stood in its own vast grounds.

  Many people wandered around the village, the men all wearing similar clothing to Duncan. The house she had come out of was tiny, and she realised there were many like it all clustered together.

  Duncan led Colleen around the village, introducing her to people along the way. I’ll never remember all these people’s names, she thought, wondering how on earth Duncan could remember them all. There were so many children too and she smiled as she watched them playing happily around the small village.

  Duncan took her to the outskirts of the village and pointed to the woodland beyond. “Whilst you’re here, I expect you to stay within the boundaries of the village. It isn’t safe to go any further. Do you understand?” Colleen glared but nodded her head.

  As Duncan led her back to the village, he put his arm around her waist protectively. “Colleen, you will obey me whilst you’re here. If you don’t you’ll quickly learn that your actions have consequences,” he told her calmly.

  Colleen scowled at him. “I’m grateful to you for bringing me here, feeding me, giving me somewhere to sleep and helping me to find Harvey, but until we do I can look after myself.”

  Duncan shook his head and gripped her hand firmly, leading her towards a small house. They all looked the same and she wasn’t sure if they were going back to Aunt Annie’s or somewhere else. He led her inside and closed the door. She glanced around the room and guessed that this was Duncan’s home.

  “I think we need to set a few ground rules, young lady,” he said sternly. Colleen sighed. “Yes, we do,” she scowled. “I’m twenty years old and I do not need a guardian,” she insisted.

  “Lose that tone of voice immediately or I promise I’ll take you across my knee and teach you some manners,” he warned.

  Colleen turned her back on Duncan, her cheeks crimson with embarrassment. The nerve of the man! Who the hell does he think he is? Colleen wondered.

  Duncan took a firm hold of her by the elbow and guided her towards his chair, where he sat down and stood her between his legs, facing him. “This is your last warning, young lady. You do need a guardian and until I find Harvey, I will be taking on his role myself. Behave yourself and we’ll get along just fine,” he warned her.

  Colleen tried to move away but Duncan grabbed her wrist firmly. “Stop fighting me. I want to help you,” he said calmly.

  “Let me go and I’ll look for Harvey on my own. I don’t need you,” she screeched, struggling to break Duncan’s tight grip on her wrist.

  Colleen wailed as Duncan spun her around to face him, shook his head angrily and flipped her across his left thigh. Colleen realised too late what was happening and she squealed indignantly as she tried to push herself back to her feet.

  “Let me go now, you bastard,” she yelled. Duncan smiled. “Bad language too,” he said calmly. “I think we’ll nip that in the bud immediately,” he announced, flipping up her skirt and cracking his hand on her bottom. Colleen’s eyes widened as she howled in pain and kicked her legs, screaming obscenities at him.

  Duncan sighed and in one swift move Colleen’s drawers were tugged down to her knees.

  “No,” she squealed in protest, kicking her legs as Duncan firmly held her across his lap with her bottom bare. “No,” she yelled, as her cheeks flushed in humiliation. Oh my God, please no. He can see my bare bottom, she thought. I’ll never, ever live this down.

  Duncan held her in position, waiting patiently as she kicked and squirmed and squealed. She finally exhausted herself, as Duncan knew she would, in her futile attempts to break free.

  “No,” she whimpered as she finally realised that she was going nowhere. “I’m sorry,” she added, in a last bid to avoid the spanking she knew Duncan was intent on giving her.

  “I’ll be good,” she promised, as she squirmed across his lap, painfully aware of her naked bottom and how humiliating it was for this virtual stranger to see her like this. Duncan looked appreciatively at her bottom and smiled as it took no effort at all to keep her exactly where he wanted her.

  “I promise I won’t leave the village. I’ll do as you say,” she begged.

  Duncan remained silent and kept a tight grip around her waist.

  “I’m sorry I swore, I won’t do it again,” she added, hoping to placate him enough for him to release her from her humiliating position.

  “Have you quite finished your tantrum?” Duncan finally asked, once Colleen was eventually silent. She nodded meekly. “I’m sorry.”

  “Good, then it’s time you learned a lesson in obedience,” he stated, cracking his hand down on her upturned bottom. Colleen squealed and scissored her legs as his huge hand connected repeatedly, very hard, against her rapidly reddening bottom. He stopped long enough to clamp his right leg across the back of her knees, effectively pinning her down.

  Colleen held her breath, determined not to show herself up by crying, but as Duncan’s hard hand continued to pummel her bottom cheeks with stinging swats, Colleen finally let out an anguished wail and for the next couple of minutes Duncan focused his at
tention on the squirming bottom across his lap.

  Colleen sobbed frantically, whimpering each time his hand slapped sharply on her unprotected bottom. Oh my God, this is horrible. I’ve never known a man’s hand to sting so much, thought Colleen, as his huge hand alternately slapped from cheek to cheek.

  When Duncan finally stopped spanking her and rested his hand against her hot, red bottom, Colleen covered her face with her hands and sobbed pitifully. Duncan gently rubbed her bottom in small circular motions. Colleen’s eyes widened as she felt him hardening beneath her, but before she could think too much about this he pulled her roughly to her feet, his cheeks slightly flushed as he ordered her to “get dressed and I’ll take you home”.

  He sighed deeply as Colleen stood facing him, her tear stained cheeks red from crying. She was visibly hurt by his harsh words as her hands reached back and frantically rubbed her stinging buttocks. “I’m sorry,” she blubbered.

  Smiling, he stepped forward and reached down, pulling her drawers back over her bottom and covering her with her dress. “If you were a good girl I wouldn’t have had to do that, Colleen,” he whispered, taking her hand and leading her back to the chair.

  “No,” she squealed, as he sat down again, but she was relieved when he pulled her into a sitting position on his lap and wrapped his arms around her.

  “I’m sorry,” she wailed, as he rocked her gently, “but I don’t need a guardian.”

  Duncan smiled as he held her close. “Oh, you’re a stubborn one,” he told her. “I could easily wear my hand out on your bottom.”

  As Colleen clung to him, he couldn’t help himself reaching down and gently rubbing her buttocks. “I’m sorry,” he whispered, kissing her tears away, though he wasn’t entirely certain what exactly he was apologising for.

  “Come on, I’ll take you home,” he whispered, standing up and lifting her into his arms.

  “I can walk,” she protested, but continued to cling to him, making no attempt to break free.

  “I know, but I’d like to carry you,” he comforted her, as he strode from his house and carried her to his aunt’s home nearby.

  As he walked into Aunt Annie’s house, carrying the still weeping girl, his elderly aunt looked shocked. “Is she OK?” she asked with concern, as Duncan carried Colleen into the house.

  Duncan nodded and smiled at his aunt. “She’s fine, Aunt Annie. She just got a bit cheeky and I had to give her a spanking.”

  Colleen gasped loudly and buried her head against his shoulder. “No,” she squealed, “I can’t believe you told her.”

  Duncan chuckled as he carried her through to her bedroom. “Colleen, the whole village probably heard, you made such a fuss.”

  Colleen blushed as he lowered her down and laid her on her bed. She winced as her sore bottom touched the firm surface of the bed and she rolled onto her stomach and immediately reached back to rub her stinging bottom cheeks.

  Duncan watched her for a moment, her hands frantically trying to rub the sting out of her buttocks.

  Glancing over her shoulder, she scowled and shouted at him “I hate you”.

  Leaning down, he kissed the back of her head. “I want you to rest for a while. I’ll come and get you when it’s time for dinner. And don’t even think about misbehaving because if I have to take you across my knee again, I will. I don’t care how sore you are. Do you understand?”

  Colleen nodded miserably and as Duncan left the room she lifted her dress, lowered her drawers and rubbed her burning buttocks. “I hate you, Duncan MacGregor,” she shouted after him. “I wish I’d never met you.”

  Duncan looked sad as he sat down beside his aunt and took her hand. “I don’t want her to hate me,” he whispered, looking at the wise old lady who’d looked after him since his parents had died when he was a young boy.

  Aunt Annie smiled brightly and leaned forward, kissing him on the cheek. “She doesn’t hate you. She’s embarrassed because you reddened her bottom for her. She’ll get over it. She’s as keen on you as you clearly are on her,” the old lady grinned.

  Duncan looked shocked. “Oh no, Aunt Annie,” he protested. “I have no interest in Colleen. She isn’t from our clan. It wouldn’t be right, even if I was interested, which I’m not,” he quickly added.

  Aunt Annie’s smile grew wider. “You protest too much, young man. I see the way you look at her, and the way she looks at you. You’re the leader of this clan. You can do what you want. You don’t have to take a wife from the clan if you don’t want to. No-one would think badly of you. I just want to see you happy, as does everyone else.”

  Duncan sighed deeply. “Oh Aunt Annie, what have I done? She hates me now.”

  Aunt Annie smiled. “Do you think your late uncle never gave me a spanking to keep me in line now and again, bless his soul?” she asked.

  Duncan raised his eyebrows in shock.

  She laughed loudly at the look of horror on his face. “I could be a real handful at times, and your uncle often took his belt to me, protesting that I’d worn his hand out. I lost count of the number of times I told him I hated him, but when the sting had eased and I felt guilty for my behaviour, I would go in search of him and apologise, tell him I loved him, and all was well in the world once more.”

  Duncan smiled as he held his aunt in his arms. “Thank you Aunt Annie,” he whispered, kissing the white curls that covered her head. “I don’t know what I’d do without you.”

  A few minutes later Aunt Annie gently pushed him away. “Duncan, I think someone else could do with a hug right now,” she said, nodding towards the doorway.

  Duncan turned and was surprised when Colleen literally ran towards him and threw herself into his arms. He sat her on his knee and held her close to him as she trembled in his arms. “I’m sorry,” she whimpered. “I don’t hate you. I’m so sorry I was naughty. I’m sorry you had to…you know.”

  Duncan smiled as he held her close. “It’s OK, you’re forgiven,” he whispered, holding her close to him as he reached down and gently rubbed her stinging buttocks.

  Colleen sighed and closed her eyes as his hands massaged her sore buttocks. Oh that feels nice, she thought dreamily, wishing she was once more bare bottomed across his lap.

  Colleen opened her eyes and pulled away from him, shocked at her thoughts.

  Quickly trying to hide her embarrassment, she blurted out “can I give you a present?”

  Duncan looked surprised as he nodded and smiled encouragingly at her.

  She held out her hand and opened her fingers, showing him the lump of coal she had carried with her since she bought it on her travels with Harvey. “It’s coal,” she announced. “I traded a bottle of Harvey’s mead for that in the north-east of England, near to Newcastle,” she told him proudly. “I carried it with me everywhere. It might not be pretty but it’s very special to me.”

  Duncan smiled and took it from her. “Thank goodness I never threw it away when you first arrived,” he grinned sheepishly. “Thank you Colleen. I’ll treasure it always,” he told her, kissing her on the cheek. “If it was special to you, it’ll be even more special to me.”

  Colleen smiled shyly and blushed. “Thank you for looking after me and giving me a place to stay. I love it here. I’m sorry I was naughty,” she added. As she squirmed on his lap, Duncan closed his eyes as his cock hardened under her bottom. She hugged him tight and he was relieved when he realised she had fallen asleep in his arms.

  Picking her up, he carried her back to her room, laying her down and rolling her onto her stomach. Kneeling down beside her, he gently rubbed her bottom over her skirts. Duncan was startled when Colleen reached back and raised her skirts, clutching her hands to her now bare bottom. Glancing across the room, he saw her discarded drawers on the floor.

  Smiling he leaned forward and kissed the reddened buttocks tenderly. “Oh Colleen,” he whispered. “I don’t know what you’re doing to me but I have to have you. Whether you’re agreeable or not, I’m going to have you as my
wife very soon, I promise you.”

  Colleen murmured in her sleep and Duncan reluctantly got to his feet and returned to his aunt. “I’m going to marry her one day,” he told the old lady, who smiled brightly.

  “It’s about time you found yourself a wife,” she responded happily.

  Duncan grinned and squeezed the lump of coal in his hand, ruefully rubbing his aching crotch as he reluctantly left his aunt’s home.

  Chapter Eleven

  Over the next few weeks, Colleen grew to love life in the small Highlands village. She enjoyed spending her days with Aunt Annie as she loved the old lady’s company. She never tired of hearing her stories, but the highlight of her days was when Duncan came to join them for their evening meal.

  Colleen was absolutely smitten with him, but although it seemed Aunt Annie was right and he did seem very interested in her, holding her gaze a little longer than necessary and watching her intently as she cooked and did the chores around his aunt’s home, he didn’t seem in a hurry to do anything about it.

  Each day Colleen would go through a mixture of emotions. She missed her sister and Alroy and wondered when she would see them again. She missed Harvey and his loveable guards who had cared for her so well since she had left Ireland. Colleen also had the daily heartache of desperately wanting Duncan to kiss her, but each day she received no more than a peck on the cheek and an affectionate hug.

  Despite Colleen having more reasons to be upset than she had to be happy, she always had a smile on her face and she was thoroughly enjoying her time with Duncan and Aunt Annie. Her only concern about being reunited with Harvey was that she would have to leave the village and she dreaded that more than anything. She couldn’t bear to leave Duncan.

  The only down side was that Duncan was absolutely adamant that she did not leave the village alone and she had received a couple of firm spankings on her bare bottom over previous weeks when he had caught her wandering just outside of the village. He had ignored her pleas that she was just looking and was not really going to go anywhere.