by Blair, Willa
Cat nodded. “Ye are right. I dinna wish anything to disturb us this night.”
“And nothing shall.”
She reached up and kissed him. “What if I scream?”
He laughed. “What if I do?”
“Ach, nay, milord. Ye are no’ the screaming type. But depending on what ye do to me, I may develop the habit.”
“Let’s find out, shall we?”
They stood for a moment, just looking at each other. “Ye are so beautiful, my love,” he told her, then cupped her face in both hands and leaned in to kiss her.
When they came up for air, she laid her head against his shoulder. “I canna believe we finally have what I’ve longed for these past two years.” She grasped the edge of the Brodie plaid on her shoulders and wrapped it around his, too, binding them in a woolen cocoon.
“Hush, lass. We willna speak of that.”
She looked up at him with luminous eyes. “I dinna wish to, except to say those years do no’ matter. We start anew today. Now. We will make our own future, together.” She nodded at the plaid.
The warmth that suffused Kenneth nearly brought him to tears. “I’m sorry for every moment of worry, of loneliness, of feeling betrayed that I ever caused ye. I didna mean to. When I heard your da had betrothed ye, I snapped. I shouldna have done that. I should have trusted ye would find a way to wait for me. I should have tried again and again, until he said aye. I’m more sorry that I can ever say for what I put ye through.”
“It doesna matter anymore, Kenneth. We are together. And we will stay together. We start anew, now.”
Kenneth pulled her more tightly into his arms, then kissed her, again and again, leaving her breathless. In moments, they both panted with need for each other. He gently untied her laces and pulled her dress over her head. Her slippers came next, and her shift, until she stood before him clad only in her stockings.
“Beyond beautiful ye are. The way the firelight dances over yer skin is breathtaking.”
She reached for his shirt and pulled it from his breeks. “Then let me see how it dances over yers, my love.” With another tug, she freed his shirt and he stripped it off. “Ah, my brave warrior,” she murmured, tracing scars he’d long forgotten he carried, from battles he’d sooner forget. “Ye have fought valiantly and wisely, for ye are still here, and ye are with me.” She looked up into his eyes. “Firelight doesna lie.”
Her gaze caught Kenneth’s in a way that he could not escape—and did not wish to escape.
She untied his breeks while she held him entranced, then pushed them down his hips, freeing his straining member. “I think ’tis time to consummate our handfasting, my husband. I see ye do, too.”
Kenneth stepped out of the puddle of cloth at his feet and kicked off his boots, leaving him completely naked before her. “Yer husband agrees.” He backed her up to her bed, then helped her lie down on it. He gently rolled her stockings down her legs and set them aside, then bent over her and dropped kisses down her belly. “Open for me, lass,” he commanded.
She spread her legs, giving him access to her moist center.
Kenneth kissed her there, then traced his tongue around the nub, while Cat moaned and bucked her hips. “This is the first time we’ve been able to do this in a bed,” he told her as he kissed his way up to her breasts, took one rosy nipple in his mouth and suckled it. “If there is anything ye want, anything I can do, ye will tell me, aye?”
Cat nodded, her eyes closed, lost in the sensations he was creating with his tongue and lips. “I want ye inside me, husband. I need ye there.”
“All in good time.” He shifted to the other breast. “All in good time.”
She reached for his stiff member and wrapped her hand around it. “The time is now.”
Kenneth grinned and moved over her as she continued to stroke him. Much more of her touch and he would not be able to contain himself. “Leave off, lass. I’ll do as ye bid.” He settled between her thighs with a satisfied groan, the head of his cock already coated with her dewy moisture. “Are ye sure ye are ready, love?”
In answer, she lifted her hips, pulling him into her silky opening. “What do ye think?”
“Aye, ye are ready.” He thrust into her fully, then had to stop for a moment and just feel. Appreciate the sensation of her body, heated and wet, enveloping him. Enjoy the fire in her gaze as she smiled at him. “Ye’re a wonder, lass.”
“Am I?”
“Nothing compares to being right here, right now, with ye.”
“Then take me, husband. Make me yers again.”
“How can I refuse an offer such as that?” he replied and started thrusting into her tight core with joy in every movement. Cat must be feeling the same. She started chuckling, then smiled as he took her to the heights.
“Aye, Kenneth, just like that.”
In moments, her climax hit her and she cried out, “Ah!” while her body pulsed around him. He held her until she stilled, then moved again until he rode his own climax. With Cat. With the woman he loved and always had. And always would.
* * *
The night passed too quickly for Catherine. She loved lying in Kenneth’s arms. They’d made love several times, then while he dozed, she’d slipped out of bed and packed what she’d need to take with her.
The morning gloaming was upon them when Catherine woke Kenneth with a kiss. “’Tis nearly time. We must dress. Mary will meet us in the great hall.”
She was glad to see Kenneth come immediately and alertly awake. He nodded and sat up, then reached for her and traced a finger down her cheek. “Ye are certain this is what ye want?”
She glanced at the bloodstain they’d left on the sheets. “I want only to be yer wife and live with ye, whether at Brodie or in France or anywhere else. Da will do as Da must do. As will I.”
Kenneth pulled her between his legs and kissed her soundly, then set her back, stood and stretched his arms over his head. “Very well. Dressed it is. He glanced at the window. “Though I could wish ye had woken me earlier.”
Catherine smiled and looked him up and down, admiring the strongly muscled body that he’d used to love her so well, and the proud erection that told her why he’d wished for an earlier start to this morning. “We’ll have tonight and many more days and nights before us. ’Tis time to take our leave of Rose.”
“If ye are certain…”
“I am.” But she let her disappointment show as clothes hid his body from her sight.
Mary met them in the great hall as she’d promised.
Iain arrived at the same time, looking bemused. “Are we ready for this?” he asked, addressing no one in particular.
Mary roused him, too? Catherine nodded. Good thinking. Iain’s surprise and support might help calm their father.
“I told Da,” Mary announced.
“What?” Catherine couldn’t believe her ears.
“I told him. When I left ye last night. I told him what I’d done. What we’d done. I told Iain, first, in case of trouble.”
“And he let ye be,” Iain added. “He’s resigned to it—at least for now. Give him time.”
Their father came out of his solar then.
Catherine tensed, but Kenneth did not. Was he so sure her father would let them leave?
He pinned Kenneth with a glare. “Mary advised me ye have taken the decision out of my hands—for now—and confessed her role in it. Ye Brodie men seem adept at seducing my daughters into doing yer will. Very well. I’ll give ye yer year and a day.” He turned his gaze on Catherine. “But if ye are no’ with child by then, ye’ll marry as I see fit.”
Catherine lifted her chin and smiled at her father. “Ye ken I like a challenge, Da. Thank ye for that.”
He rolled his eyes at Iain, then at Kenneth. “She’s yer problem now. So go. Be off with ye.” Then he turned to Mary. “As for ye, lass…” He growled and shook his head, then turned and stalked back into his solar, slamming the door behind him.
Kenneth took C
atherine’s hand. She gave a parting hug and smile to Mary, then walked out of the Rose keep with her beloved husband at her side.
Epilogue
Catherine needed to find her husband. She didn’t want to go outdoors. The weather had suddenly turned chilly, and she was warm and content in the hall, but Annie agreed. Kenneth would want to know her news immediately. “He’s out there, practicing with Iain, aye?”
Annie nodded and set aside the letter she was writing to Mary. “Aye. And Euan and the others. Since the two of ye got here, they’ve been hard at it. I think Iain expects Domnhall to stir up more trouble with Albany. He’s determined to be ready. For all of Brodie to be ready.” She sighed and laid her hand on her hugely rounded belly. “I hope it doesna come to that. Our losses were light at Harlaw, but any loss is one too many. And the injured Iain sent home, some are still being treated for their wounds.”
Cat crossed her arms. “I wish I could have done more to help them.”
Annie shook her head. “Dinna fash. Ye saved several, I think, who would no’ have survived the trip home without the care ye gave them. Ye can rest easy on that.”
Catherine nodded, tears filling her eyes. “Thank ye.”
“Now dinna get all emotional on me. Go find yer husband. Drag him away from Iain and back inside. Ye dinna need to be out in the dreich for very long.”
“What if he willna come?”
“One look at yer sweet face, sister mine, and he’ll stop what he’s doing. Just stand on the side where he can see ye. Dinna venture into the midst of the men and their blades. And dinna fash. They concentrate so fiercely, it may take a moment for him to see ye.”
“I ken it. I’ve practiced at archery with yer lasses. All ye see is the target.”
“Aye. And all they see is the blade—or blades—coming at them. ’Tis a good skill to have.”
Catherine gave Annie a grateful smile for helping her settle down. She shouldn’t be so emotional about such a tiny thing, but it wasn’t really a tiny thing. It meant the world to her, and to Kenneth. She grabbed her cloak from a peg near the door and tossed it around her shoulders. Once she opened the door out into the bailey, she was very glad she had its warmth wrapped around her. Not only had the temperature dropped, the wind had picked up, too.
When she reached the men’s practice area, she marveled at their display of strength and skill. Their shirts were dark with sweat, yet they didn’t seem to notice the cold, wet fabric against their skin. Muscles flexed and blades flashed and clanged. Catherine covered her ears as she searched for Kenneth. He stood on the far side of the practice area—of course—and squared off against two assailants. Catherine waited for a pause in their battle to move into his line of sight.
He saw her immediately, as if some connection between them alerted him to her presence. He muttered something to his antagonists, and propped his weapons against the castle’s outer wall. Then he turned back to her and a smile lit his expression, making her heart clench. Would he truly be glad of her news?
When he reached her, his scent hit her nose, strong and fully Kenneth. She loved the way he smelled, even when he’d been working hard.
“What is it, lass?” He cupped her cheek and bent to kiss her, but didn’t embrace her.
“Can we go inside? ’Tis miserable out here. I canna believe ye are no’ freezing. Yer shirt is drenched.” Just looking at him made her shiver.
“Aye, let’s do that.” He glanced over at Iain and waved toward the great hall’s door. Iain nodded and went back to knocking his opponent to the ground.
Once inside, he took her cloak and hung it on a peg, then they walked to a bench by the hearth. Annie had gone, though Catherine suspected she watched from somewhere nearby. She would want to see this news delivered.
“What is it, Cat?” Kenneth said as he saw her seated, then settled beside her. He took her hand. “Is something wrong? Are ye ill?”
“Ill? Nay…quite the opposite.” She drew in a breath, then met his gaze and smiled. “The healer confirmed it this morning. I am with child. Ye are going to be a father, Kenneth. And my father can never barter me away again.”
Kenneth jumped to his feet, elation written in every line of his body, his arms lifted toward the rafters. Then he clenched his fists and sat down again, glanced down at his sweat-soaked garment and shrugged. “I’m going to hug ye lass, and kiss ye senseless, right here in the hall.”
She grinned at his shirt, made nearly transparent in the firelight, every muscle outlined and defined. She traced over his heart, then she wrapped her arms around his steaming neck. “I dinna mind, my love. Do yer worst. Ye have already done yer best.”
He kissed her until she could barely breathe, but she clung to him. “We are free,” she told him when she could speak. “Truly free.”
“And we’ll marry in the kirk before ye get too far along, aye? Yer father canna touch ye after that. Iain willna allow it. Nor will I.”
“Aye, we will. Annie is already planning it. And a celebration after.”
“Does Iain ken?”
“Nay. Only Annie and the healer. And ye, my love.”
He straightened, and declared, “Then we’ll tell the clan at the evening meal, if that’s all right with ye.”
She nodded. “Ye can be proud, Kenneth. What we have done together gives both of us the future we’ve always dreamed of.”
“I can be no more proud than I am of ye, my amazing wife.” He stood and held out his hand. “I’m for our chamber and a bath, and then I wish to make love to ye, if ye will permit it.”
“Always, Kenneth. Always and forever.”
HIS HIGHLAND BRIDE
(His Highland Heart Series Book 3)
A Dutiful Daughter No More
When Mary Elizabeth Rose’s father marries a much younger lass in hopes of siring a male heir, Mary sees her chance to escape her role as his chatelaine, but fears his next step will be to betroth her to a stranger. She has a different future in mind—with a sometimes charming, sometimes difficult and arrogant wounded Highlander.
He Owes Her His Life
Cameron Sutherland is not too delirious to recognize Mary Rose is the first woman he could seriously consider taking as his bride. He’d like nothing better than to spend years repaying the debt he owes his angel of mercy for taking him in and saving his life. First, he must convince her to defy her father one last time.
Will They Put Love Before Duty?
For Mary, Cameron has become the man whose every smile has the power to bring her to her knees. But he is as duty-bound as she is, and responsibility calls him back to Sutherland, where she fears he will stay, forgetting her and all they’ve shared. With another powerful clan’s interests at stake, Cameron’s return sets events in motion that will have life-changing consequences for the woman he can’t forget.
Enjoy an Excerpt From
HIS HIGHLAND BRIDE
THAT EVENING, Mary asked a serving girl to take Cameron’s supper tray to his chamber. She couldn’t face him again. Not yet. Not with what, to her, felt like a betrayal hanging between them. The fact that her father was forcing her to do it made little difference. In Mary’s heart, she knew the right thing to do was stay with Cameron. But her head argued for the duty she owed her father and laird.
She had just finished her own meal in the great hall with some of the clan, when the serving girl came running back and stopped below where she sat on the raised dais.
“He acting tetched again, milady. I think ye need to come.”
Mary stood immediately and joined the girl in hurrying out of the hall. “Fetch the healer,” she ordered when they reached the stairs. “Then bring cold water and some cloths. I’ll go on up.”
“Aye, milady.” The lass hurried away and Mary ran up the stairs.
Cameron tossed his head as she entered his chamber.
She rushed to his side and put a hand on his brow. “Damn it,” she muttered under her breath. His fever has increased again. “Cameron, ’ti
s Mary. It appears ye did a wee too much today. How do ye feel?”
“Like hell. Sorry, lass.”
“Apology accepted.” She pulled the covers aside and untied his shirt. It was already wet and clammy with his sweat. What had happened between earlier today and now? “Cameron, let me pull up yer shirt. I need to see yer wound.”
His eyes remained closed underneath a fierce crease between his brows, but his hands pawed a his waist, trying to help her. At least he wasn’t so far gone in fever he couldn’t understand what she said to him.
It took effort, but she got his shirt free just as the healer bustled in, followed by the serving lass.
Mary stepped aside to let the healer examine the wound. “I’ll take those,” Mary told the serving girl, who waited by the door with the water and cloths she’d asked for earlier. “Fetch some watered ale, too,” Mary saw the concern written in the girl’s wide-eyed expression and cocked her head.
“He’ll no’ die, will he?” the servant asked softly. “I like him. I wouldna want him to die.”
“He willna die, nay. We dinna want him to, either.” Mary gave her a reassuring smile and sent her on her way.
The healer stood and moved away from her patient. “I canna understand what set him off again. The wound looks to be healing well.”
“So ’tis the blood fever again?”
She shook her head. “I dinna ken. What did he do today?”
“I found him in the garden. We sat and talked, then walked—not far—before I brought him back up here. He claimed he needed some fresh air. He did seem better.”
