by Reece Butler
“Ye’ve been apart for days and willna be watching for enemies, laird. Do ye wish me to watch yer back?”
Somerled needed to claim Meg, hard. To plow deep into her and make her his, forever. He raised an eyebrow. “Nay.”
“I thought as much.” Ewan smirked.
“Be off with ye!”
Ewan’s dry chuckles filled his ears as Somerled headed downhill. His rising cock rubbed against his rough plaid. He stopped, undid his belt, and hauled it off. His thigh-length shirt followed. A quick fold and he tossed them over his shoulder. He strode toward his sleeping wife, hard cock bouncing in the sun, wearing nothing but his boots and a conqueror’s grin of anticipation.
Chapter Twelve
A fly tickled Meg’s nose. She brushed it off with her hand. It returned, so she rolled over. It followed, determined to destroy her sleep. She swatted it and caught a stalk of grass. She recognized the deep chuckle a moment before his scent. She smiled to herself.
“You found me.”
“Aye.”
She lay there, waiting for him to make the next move.
“Why did ye leave, Meg?”
She was not going to make it easy for him. “Why do you think I left?”
There was a pause, and then a sigh. “Ye are a puzzle, Meg MacDougal.”
Her eyes flew open at the name. He still accepted her as his wife? She focused on the water below, keeping her back to him. He knew how to read her face and she wished to hide from him, for now.
“I ken many reasons why ye might have wished to be away from Duncladach, Meg. I dinna ken which one sent ye away.”
She waited for more. He waited as well. His patience was another strong point. He could out-stubborn her any day if he chose.
“How many brothers are guarding your back?”
“None. Ewan came along in case he could See danger but I sent him back when my spyglass found ye sleepin’.”
Her plan to get him past the village had worked. The rest was up to the two of them. She rolled her head. He sat beside her, cross-legged on his plaid, his shirt in his lap. The shape of the cloth suggested he was rampantly erect. Her pussy thrummed in agreement. She’d gone without as long as he.
He quirked an eyebrow in welcome and held out his arms to her. She found herself blinking back tears as she scrambled to her knees and crawled into his lap. She leaned against his chest, sighing in relief. All would be well now. He’d cared enough to get past his fear and look for her. He wanted her back. Now the rest of their life could begin.
He exhaled a groan and wrapped his arms around her. He buried his head in her hair, inhaling. His chest at her back heaved, and his body shook. She said nothing, accepting him as he was. Strong and powerful, but not invincible.
“Will you tell me one reason why you think I would make you come after me?” she asked when his heart had calmed its frantic thumping at her back. That started it up again. He set his big palm over her front. His little finger reached below her belly button and his thumb went between her breasts. He would feel her heart jumping in the same beat as his own.
“Was that what ye wished, for me to chase ye down like a dog after a rabbit?”
He’d whispered in her ear. She couldn’t tell if he was angry or not.
“Would you have left Duncladach for any other reason?” she whispered back.
Another long pause. She had no control over his reaction so tried to relax in his embrace. She’d missed this at least as much as he. Not that a man would admit needing such comfort. None of them had known much caring. By conquering his fear and coming after her she hoped he proved to himself that he was worthy to be laird. She also wished to have him come after her to prove he cared about her. If he’d come storming at her, pounding his chest and demanding she come home with him to face his wrath, she would have run.
“I thought mayhaps ye didna wish me to be yer husband.” He spoke in a low rumble.
“Nay! I did it to prove I wanted you!” His silence meant she had to explain. “I kenned you mayn’t come after me. ’Twas a risk I had to take. You could have shown you cared more for your fear than finding me. Mayhaps you didna wish to let anyone ken a woman may have her hand on your heart. You could’ve taken it as an insult that I dared walk away from you, banished me, and ordered none to follow.” She paused, but he still didn’t speak. His heart thudded hard against her back, suggesting he was listening.
“I thought if you went after me,” she continued softly, “yet didna wish me to be your wife anymore, at least I would have helped you get free of that fear.” She leaned forward and pressed her lips against his biceps. “But you did as I hoped, conquering your fear of leaving Duncladach. Thank you for believing in yourself.”
She held her breath. Finally, he sighed and tightened his hold, giving her a squeeze.
“I had to put my fear behind me if I wanted ye back.”
“You could have sent your brothers.”
He barked a laugh. “I asked. They said nay.”
“Good. It means they care for you.”
“They care for ye as well. I am nay pleased at the risks ye took doin’ this. But we’ll talk on that later.” He nipped her ear.
She jumped, a flash of need sending an arrow of lust to her pussy. She imagined he would enjoy the punishment far more than her. Or maybe not…
“I kenned naught else would take you from your lair,” she said, her voice husky. “You had a piece missing and you needed to be whole.” She tilted her head to look at him. Those blue eyes seared her. “And I was selfish. I didna wish to spend my days and nights wondering if you truly wished me with you. As I was born a Campbell and was a gift from the king, I wondered if you accepted me because you didna have a choice. You needed a wife, and I would be better than none.”
He closed his eyes for a moment. She moved against his chest as it expanded. “Aw, my wee Meggie, think not on that. I truly wish ye with me. Ye are the best reward a man could ever hope for. Ye also had nay choice in yer husbands.”
“Aye, but women rarely have choices.” She tried to keep the bitterness out of her voice. “’Tis our lot in life to do as we are told.”
“It willna be always that way for ye, sweet Meggie, nor our daughters, should we be blessed by any.”
She had no time to react to that as he curled forward, his chin over her shoulder. “In my mind I kept seein’ yer wee body on the rocks at the foot of yon cliffs. I saw ye fall and me too late to save ye. I can live without ye if I must, but I dinna wish to. Dinna leave me again, Meg.”
She’d prayed he would say he loved her, but these words were more than she’d thought likely. He’d asked, not ordered. She leaned her cheek against his arm. Could she tell him the truth? It was a risk, this one to her heart. Both Somerled and Niall cared for her and enjoyed her company. Asking for anything more would be tempting fate. But what was life without risks? She’d taken many today. One more would not change the balance.
“I had to leave Duncladach because I love you so much.”
His grip on her tightened, almost painfully. She waited as his harsh breath gasped by her head.
“Could ye explain that, lass,” he asked, his voice tight. “I canna understand why ye’d run if ye cared for me.”
It had made sense at the time, but now she found it difficult to explain.
“I love you and wished to ken if you could love me. Not that I expect it,” she immediately added. “I ken men are different. They wish to have their physical needs met by their wife, the bedding and their comfort, but naught else. They talk with their men and dinna concern themselves with their wife unless they need her for sommat.”
She waited, holding her breath, as he thought over her words.
“Do ye think I am like that?”
“Nay, which is why I am trusting ye not to throw me away when I speak of my love.”
“Throw ye away?”
“Aye, in disgust and fear that I might ask the same from you.” She prayed he’d unders
tand when she wasn’t sure she did herself.
“So this was a test?”
“Aye, for both of us.”
“How did this test ye, other than how far ye can walk in a strange land without bein’ harmed?”
“It tested my love for you,” she said quietly. “I wasna feeling well this morning when I left. I wished to do naught more than lie in bed and sleep. But I got up, went out the postern gate, and crept away.”
“Postern, eh?” He grunted. “I wondered how ye got out. As for sleep, I hear ye’ve been doing a lot of that,” he said. “Is there ought wrong with ye?”
His frown of concern was almost sweet. “Nay, I am well.”
“Ye are sayin’ that when a woman loves a man she wishes to leave him?”
“When this woman loves her man she wishes to show it, and to prove to herself that she is worthy of him. If I couldna do this for you, walk away so you would follow, mayhaps I didna deserve you.”
“Och, lass, dinna speak of that.” The hand on her belly pressed her into him. “’Tis I who doesna deserve ye, sweet Meggie.”
The endearment made her heart sing. “I ken men dinna love the same as weak females, so I willna ask ye to speak the same.”
“That’s good,” he said in relief. “I dinna ken love so ye’d be waitin’ a long time for it.”
She winced. She’d expected it but it still hurt.
“If I could love any, ’twould be you,” he whispered.
She gave a tremulous smile. If that was the best he could do, she would accept it. “’Tis fine,” she said, “just a woman’s fancy.”
“Nay, ’tis more than that. And mayhaps one day I may ken it.”
“I look forward to that day.”
They sat there in quiet companionship. At first his heartbeat was steady, his breath calm. Then his hand twitched against her. His heartbeat increased. His breath quickened past her ear.
“I see ye wore boots this time. Good. Leave them, but take off the rest.”
His voice held a delicious sound of command. Her pussy clenched. She licked her lips.
“Here?” she asked, near breathless.
“Aye. Here, and now.” His thumb strayed, sliding over her breast. “Will ye obey my order, or will I be warming the arse in my lap?”
“Well,” she said coyly, “I am a wee bit chilly after my nap…”
“Ye wish a warm bottom, do ye? I can do that.”
Chapter Thirteen
Somerled flipped Meg out of his lap onto her stomach. She shrieked, laughing. That was a good sign. Meg wanted him. She hadn’t run from him to escape. She wished him to prove he was hers, and that he had no fear.
He lifted his shirt off his lap. It was damp where his cock had leaked with need for her. He tossed it aside, sat on his plaid beside her, and put one leg over her back. She might laugh now, but not for long. She wanted him to come after her to prove to both of them they were worthy of each other? She wanted to test him? She was the one to be tested now.
He grinned to himself. Nothing was going to hold him back from doing what he wished. He hadn’t bedded her in days and had spent many hours thinking on what he’d do with her.
“You dinna need to hold me down,” she said. “I willna try to escape.”
“Ye will afore I’m done with ye,” he promised.
“You think so?”
“Nay, wife, I ken it. Ye did sommat near unforgivable.”
“I got you away from your dark lair.”
“Ye disobeyed the orders of yer laird.”
“How?” she demanded, twisting to look at him. “I wasn’t a prisoner and none said I mustn’t leave the walls.”
“I ordered ye to stay in yer chamber. Ye left it. Ye will be punished.”
“Here?” A touch of concern lowered her eyebrows.
“Aye, here and now, and again in front of the clan. All must respect my orders and see what happens when they are ignored.”
She chewed on her lip. This was not going the way he’d planned but it was important that Meg understood, both the significance of her act to their clan and what he thought of punishment. After a moment she nodded, as if to herself. Her color returned. She fidgeted.
“What will my laird do to punish me in front of the clan?”
He knew the signs of her arousal well. Though she might deny it, his wee Meg liked the thought of being punished. That hardened his cock even more.
“Ye will have to wait to find out what yer laird will do with ye.”
She worried at her lip for a bit. She squirmed, pressing her thighs together. He wasn’t sure she was aware of it.
“What of my husband? Will he punish me in our chamber?”
“Mayhaps Niall will, but I’ve been looking forward to this all the way from Duncladach.” Keeping his leg on her back he tugged on the strings to release her gown. Instead, they tightened.
“Oh?” she asked, more breath than voice.
He chuckled. “Oh, indeed.”
“What,” she caught her breath and licked her lips. “What will you do?”
He realized he’d tugged on the wrong string and made the knot worse. Luckily, his dirk was in his boot. One slice and her gown gaped. Much better.
“Ye were the daughter of a Campbell and the wife of one. Aye?”
“Aye,” she agreed quietly.
He didn’t like her defeated tone. He’d accepted that her fate included being born into one clan and leaving it behind.
“’Tis time for me to prove to ye who ye are now.”
“You called me Meg MacDougal. Is that what you mean?”
“Aye.” She hadn’t yet noticed what he’d done to her gown. “So I shall claim ye as my wife, again and again, until ye canna think ye are anything but.” He slapped her on the arse. She gasped. “Ye need to ken who yer man is.”
“What of Niall?”
“Niall will claim ye his way at Duncladach.” He pulled the strings out. The back of her gown opened. “If I release ye will ye stand and do as ye’re told?”
She hesitated before answering. That usually meant she was thinking. And often she was thinking up trouble. Trouble that would get her even more punishment. It made his cock so hard he might have to sink into her heat even before he spanked her.
“Perhaps,” she replied with more than a hint of sass. “It depends on what you say.”
“I thought that would be yer answer. ’Tisn’t what I wished to hear, though.”
“And?”
“And so I will enjoy this even more.”
He lifted his leg off her back. Before she could scramble up he yanked her gown off her shoulders to her waist, trapping her arms tight to her body. He stood, hauling her up with him.
“Been a wee while since I saw ye naked in the sun.” She struggled to escape, growling kitten threats. He held her easily as he examined her breasts critically. “Ye must’ve put on weight. They look bigger. I must see if ye taste the same.”
She continued to twist and growl. He liked it when she fought. He liked a lot of things about her. He held her with one hand on her skirts and reached for a breast with the other.
“That’s it, lass, fight me all ye like. Ye’ll have little freedom when we are home.”
That got her fighting even harder. She snarled something about locking her away. That wasn’t his intention at all. But when they got back they would both have a lot of work to do to prepare for the Gathering. They wouldn’t have much time to play. He doubted she’d hear his explanation now and anyway, he liked her in this mood.
Somerled yanked Meg’s gown over her hips. It freed her hands. She shoved her gown down, stepped out of it, and ran. Her breasts and buttocks wobbled and bounced with each step. It was a lovely sight, enticing and arousing. Her long blonde hair streamed behind her like a cape.
Highlanders, especially lairds from anciently proud clans such as the MacDougals, were born with the instinct to fight and defend. He was in many ways like a predator. When something he wanted ra
n from him, he chased it. He wanted Meg, and she would be caught. He let out a triumphant bellow. He would catch her, conquer her, and claim her!
She ran hard, and he let her get ahead. He wished her to be on sand when he caught her. Her small feet fit easily between the rocks. His long legs made up for her agility when he landed on the beach. Ahead was a wall of rock. He sped up to catch her.
* * * *
Meg’s lungs burned but she would not give in! She was almost at the rocks. A hand grabbed her hair, twisted his fist around it, and brought her to a halt. The sharp pain, like a spank to her head, made her pussy spasm. Somerled wrapped her hair around his wrist a few more times and brought her close. He bared his teeth in an eager grimace. His eyes were wilder than she’d seen before. She glanced down. His cock was hard enough to hang a drying towel on. Or to spear her deep and roar his ownership!
“What…” She took another breath, conscious of his eyes on her heaving breasts. “What are you doing?”
“What will I do with ye?”
One hand held her hair, keeping her still. The other dropped between her legs. His fingers slid easily between her lips which meant she was dripping at the thought of him taking her like this. He curled them to rub on that rough spot just inside. She moaned in need.
“I shall do whatever I wish, wife. Ye ran and I caught ye. ’Tis all that matters, aye?” He held his wet fingers up. The sun made them glisten. “Chasin’ ye brings out the wanton in ye, and the beast in me.”
“That’s what you are, a beast!”
He paused. She’d thrown the word out hoping he would act like one. He’d been so careful with her, as if she might break if he showed her the dark side and let loose. She wanted him wild, wanted him to release the dragon he hid inside.
“I will take ye hard, the way I wish,” he threatened.
“I will fight you!” Though she said words of refusal she arched her breasts, daring him. His eyes went wide at her challenge.
