Rhiannon took hold of Aislinn’s hand, noticing that her knuckles were slightly discolored. “What happened?”
Aislinn turned toward Rhiannon glancing at her damaged knuckles. “I threw a punch at someone that was in dire need of a lesson.” “Someone has assaulted ye?”
“No, Rhiannon. I hit Dougray…the stinking rat!” She turned around and sat next to Rhiannon, hugging her knees close to her body.
“Milord had this coming to him…the punch I mean?” “You better believe it.”
Rhiannon just nodded her head. “Men tend to do foolish things that set our tempers afire.”
She looked at the fair-haired woman. “Murrough pisses you off at times too?”
“Pisses me…aye, angers me,” she concluded on her own. “The man can be most infuriating, but he can also be everything that I could ever hope for
in a man.”
“Dougray confuses me, until I can’t seem to reason through my own thoughts. I thought that I knew what I wanted in life, but now…. He has my emotions in a constant turmoil. I never know if I want to kick him or just…” she let the sentence trail off to silence.
“I am not sure what has happened but maybe it is not all that bad.” “Oh, it’s bad all right. I caught him.”
“Sometimes we see things that are not what they appear to be. It is best that ye hear the explanation then ascertain if it is the truth.”
At that moment, Dougray burst into the room. Of course he didn’t even bother to ask permission. “Ye will leave us, Rhiannon.”
“No, stay.” Aislinn quickly rose to her feet. “She will go!” his voice thundered.
Rhiannon gave Aislinn an encouraging smile and whispered, “Remember there is always a chance ye did not witness what ye think.” She tried to hurry pass Dougray, but he stopped her before she could leave. “Make it known that we are not to be disturbed. And I would appreciate it also if ye will take Declan for the night.”
“Aye, milord.” Rhiannon nodded and closed the doors behind her.
The two stared at each other, leery to make a move. Aislinn let Rhiannon’s words linger in the back of her mind. Could she have been wrong? Was he not guilty, for he certainly didn’t act like a man that was seeking forgiveness?
He made an attempt to approach her and she moved in the other direction.
She feared that being near him would be her undoing. She had to think this through without him distracting her. Her obvious retreat did not go unnoticed.
Dougray had never seen a more courageous woman. She stood up not only for herself, but also for anyone that needed assistance. She could stand her ground with the best of his men and they respected her for it, but this? She seemed to shy away from any intimacy. Frankly he was quite puzzled over it.
A man and woman together was something so natural, but she seemed to be almost frightened of it.
“Why do ye do this, Aislinn?”
“Do what?” She had to stall him, anything to divert him from what she saw mirrored in his eyes. She couldn’t let down her guard for it would be so easy to allow him into her heart. She refused to be hurt, used. Let him have his dalliances as long as he left her alone.
“Ye know full well what I speak of. I am yer husband now. Yet ye run away from me like a frightened rabbit.”
“I do not,” she said firmly as her hands went to her narrow hips. “I’m not running. I simply did not choose to be married. Remember I was forced into this union.”
“Ah we are back to that again. Ye made the rules. I should remind ye.” “Whatever! Still the fact remains that I never wanted to be married, and obviously after what I witnessed with you this afternoon, it isn’t what you want either.”
He had moved closer and she took a step back. “What do ye want?” he asked of her.
“What?” She was confused by his questioned. She retreated another step, feeling like she was being stalked.
“What do ye want?” He repeated the question as he continued his pursuit. She finally ran out of space for she was backed into a corner. He was so very near now that she could feel the heat of his body, sweetly intoxicating her senses. She gulped as she looked up at him, meeting his clear silvery eyes.
“I’m waiting.”
“I…I want to go home,” which wasn’t exactly the truth anymore. Dougray sighed. “Alas, if I could, I would grant ye yer wish.”
“But you can’t.”
“I fear not. Nor do I desire to let ye go.” He studied her features that he had come to know so well. She haunted his dreams until he thought he would go mad from the want of her. “Can we not try to make this marriage work? Do ye not find me in the least bit appealing?” Though he did not touch her, he rested his hands on either side of her on the cold stone she had backed herself into.
Appealing? God if he only knew. She was having a difficult time not throwing all caution to the wind and demand he take her, but wouldn’t that be the height of stupidity when only hours before she found him in the arms of Fiona? Damn, did he have to smell so good? She had to put him off guard and away from her. “I suppose you’re handsome enough,” she answered in a tiresome tone causing him to feel rejected.
“Oh, ye don’t have to say it if ye don’t mean it.” He seemed so disappointed that she blurted out the truth before she could stop herself.
“I mean it. You are handsome, so much so it scares me.”
A slow smile spread across his rugged features, his gaze focusing on her lips. She could feel her willpower slipping away, but then the image of Fiona in his embrace forced her to face reality. Fiona was beautiful, womanly. She was… “Do you…you know…” Why was she having such a difficult time articulating? She was a writer for Christ’s sake. She closed her eyes for a moment to regain her composure. “…do you find me attractive?”
His deep chuckle filled the air. “Have I not been saying as much?” “No,” she stated flatly.
“Nay?” He seemed surprised for he thought that he had been making himself quite clear. “Well then I am saying it now. Ye more than please me, Aislinn. Ye make me long to be with ye, even when I am away.”
She swallowed hard. “But you said that you hated my hair.” She touched her short tresses that were only now starting to grow longer.
“The way yer hair halo’s yer winsome face, it has bewitched me.” His voice was smooth, low, caressing.
“I’m too tall.” She would make him see her shortcomings but he knew just the right thing to say as if he had rehearsed this banter.
“Nay, ye fit well to me.” He pressed against her body. “See,” as if this proved his point.
“I’m too thin.” Her voice was a mere whisper for she could barely breathe since she was sure that her rapidly beating heart had moved to her throat.
Putting his large hands to her waist, he drew her form against his hard body. “Ye feel perfect to me.”
Her lower lip trembled. “I’m….”
“No more excuses, Aislinn.” He lowered his mouth to hers. He knew she was trying to resist, but he remained persistent. Slowly, she began to respond. He made love to her only with his sweet caress, never once letting his hands roam over her body. He would proceed slowly, but he would have her this night. Finally he released her lips, but did not step away. They were so very close that he could feel her heart beating against his chest. “See. That was not so bad, eh?”
She wanted to run, hide, anything to be away from this torturous wonderful moment. He leaned forward to claim her lips, but this time she was prepared. She quickly ducked and slipped from his grasps. “No!” She put as much distance between them as she could. “Please don’t.”
The plea tore at his heart. “What are ye afraid of? Has a man hurt ye?” She shook her head. “It’s not what you are thinking. There are other ways to hurt someone. The body can heal, but a heart that is broken is sometimes beyond repair.”
“I will not hurt ye, Aislinn. I care for ye like no other. I will provide for ye that ye shall know no fear.”<
br />
“You don’t get it, do you? Men just can’t be trusted. I’ve learned that the hard way.”
“What are ye saying? Do ye think me dishonest? Do ye think my word is not so?”
“I think that you are just a man and men have difficulties being faithful to one woman. How can you even ask me that, when I saw you with Fiona just hours before?”
“I would have explained, but ye refused. Now ye will listen. The woman came to me. I did not ask her to be there, nor do I wish her company. I was trying as nicely as possible to tell her this, but she is most difficult. I do not want Fiona, and she has been fair warned that I will not tolerate her making such unwarranted advances again.”
“You told her that?”
“Aye. That I did.” He waited for her to say more, but when she didn’t, he spoke again. “Is that all ye fear? The lack of faithfulness?” He walked over to her. “I have been nothing but faithful to ye, and believe me, it was not easy when the wife is not willing.”
“See what I mean?” she threw back at him. “What?” He lifted his hands. “What did I say?”
“That it was not easy. You wanted to sleep with someone else.”
“I did not say that. Do not go putting words in my mouth. I simply meant that….” He took a deep breath before he said anything more to incriminate him. “This may come to a surprise to ye, but I took our vows most seriously.
I do not take lightly to dalliances. I am insulted that ye think so lowly of me.” “You don’t have any inclinations to have a mistress?”
“Nay,” he said firmly. “If I must be chaste because ye cannot give yerself freely then so be it, but I will not break our vows.”
“You would do that? You would be chaste?” She couldn’t believe that he would do such a thing. No man was capable of that, at least none that she knew of.
“Lass, trust that it is not my wish to be without the comforts of a feminine touch, but I will make ye this promise that I will do all that is in my power to make this union work.”
“I don’t know what to say.” She had looked away. She was so confused. Never had she expected him to make such a grand offer.
He had moved beside her and took her hand. “Trust me, Aislinn. Give us a chance.”
She looked into his beautiful eyes that beseeched her to believe in him. “But what if the time comes where I am able to go home?”
He sighed deeply. “I have no wish for ye to go, but if that is what ye want, I will grant yer leave.”
“And if there were children?” Did she just ask that question? By his expression, it was clearly obvious that he had not thought that far ahead.
“What would ye want?”
“Personally, I would not want to make that choice, but seeing how you don’t have birth control pills available and there isn’t a drug store for you to obtain rubbers, then I am forced to think of the consequences of anything that may happen. That is if we decide to make this a conventional marriage.” She said this all in one breath.
Dougray was lost after birth control. “Dar Dia! What are ye talking about?”
“I was rambling?” “I’d say.”
“Dougray, I don’t know if I could leave a child behind.” “Then ye won’t.”
“But is it right to take our child away from you?” “Then stay,” he said simply. “Stay.”
“I thought I was only here to fulfill a destiny.”
“Maybe that destiny is to be here at my side. I want ye, Aislinn. I need ye so much so that I feel humbled before ye.”
The honesty in his words moved her. Could she give up all that she had in her time? She might be able to if he loved her, but he never said the words. Yes, he wanted her but it wasn’t the same. Yes, he could be loyal because his honor was everything to him.
She felt herself weakening beneath his gaze for she knew that she was in love with him. Maybe it would be enough. “You promise me that you will be faithful? I mean always or so help me….” He didn’t let her finish for he had crushed her to him sealing her lips to his.
“I’ll promise ye anything ye want, if ye will not deny me.”
For one torturous moment, he waited for her response. It came with small, tentative nod. “I want you too,” her voice had drifted to a hushed whisper against his neck.
He closed his eyes, his heart constricting with emotion. He swept her, weightless into his arms, and brought her to the bed. She looked up at him her dark eyes opened, speaking to him of her innocence, but trusting him all the same.
His large hand took her face and held it gently, as he placed a kiss upon her warm parted lips. Her arms encircled him encouraging him to deepen his caress. His hands roamed the length of her body setting her senses on fire, making his touch almost unbearable in its tenderness.
He felt her breath warm against his face. She kissed him, lingering, savoring, making his heart race.
His hand slipped beneath the fabric of her sweatshirt and even though he was unfamiliar with the contraption that bonded her breasts, he quickly figured it out releasing her soft roundness to his gentle touch. She moved closer to him, her hands moving underneath his tunic until she touched his flesh making it difficult for him to keep his own desires in check. Raising his mouth from hers, he gazed into her eyes. A familiar shiver of awareness rippled through him. She wanted this as much as he did.
He removed her sweatshirt and continued to explore her soft flesh with intimacy of his kisses.
She reveled from the heady sensation of his lips against her neck, the gentle nibbling of her earlobe. She never could have imagined that such sweet feathery touches could tantalize her to persuasion of giving herself to him. It shocked maybe even frightened her a little, but mostly it made her crave to have him fulfill the desire that throbbed inside of her. She felt his hand slide down her taut stomach to the swell of her hips. She let him remove the rest of her clothing until she lay there before him in an offering. “Ye’re beautiful, Aislinn.” She reached out and touched his cheek. He kissed her small hallow of her palm.
He removed his hindering clothes encouraging her to explore as he had done with her. She was eager to touch his skin. Her hands felt the scars that had long healed on his otherwise perfect body. He concentrated on the rosy peaks of her breasts making her quiver. His mouth tasted her flesh with featherlike kisses, while his hands blazed a trail of liquid fire across the length of her, his fingers parting the soft curling hair. Instinctively, her hips lifted in a sensuous invitation. Passion inched through her veins as her whole body flooded with desire.
She brushed her hand against his hardness causing him to let out a tormented groan. He buried his head in the hollow between her shoulder and neck, allowing his mouth to linger there. He knew that he could not wait much longer, but somehow he managed to hold back the twisting desire in his loins until he knew that she was ready for him. In that moment, his hard body was atop of hers. Slowly he entered pausing as her body stiffened allowing time for her to grow accustomed to the intrusion before gently moving. Her long legs wrapped tightly around him sending him deeper. Together they found the tempo that bound their souls together, soaring higher and higher until the hot tide of passion threatened to consume them. He never thought that he could feel this close to any woman, this woman who had held him at bay for so long. It wasn’t just two bodies coming together to fulfill a primitive need.
It was the surrendering of their souls, touching with open abandonment. After tonight, after this precious moment, if the time arrived where she could go back to her century, he didn’t know how he would ever let her go.
Aislinn was struggling with her own awareness of what had passed between them. She saw the glowing image of fire, passion and love. She never dreamed his hands could feel so warm, so gentle, leaving her entranced by his mere touch. She soared so high that she felt she could reach the stars.
He had awakened a response in her that had been dormant for so long. It all made sense now why she had waited. Long ago, she could have quenche
d the thirst her body craved, but without this joining of the spiritual being, it would have been meaningless. She gave herself freely, letting herself go in the whirl of sensation, knowing that their joining had been predestined long before this night, long before the mist swept her to this place and time.
Chapter 52
Aislinn left the warmth of the castle and ran past the early risers of Dunhaven with barely a hello. Fiona narrowed her eyes as she watched her head for the gates and without an escort. She was too curious not to follow.
Aislinn was oblivious that someone was at a distance, keeping pace with her. Her only concern was to reach the glen and to the safety of Neala’s fire.
The old woman, like always, was ready for her company. She offered her a cup of one of her herb concoctions. She took it gladly for she found that most of her smooth drinks left her feeling relaxed, and that was exactly what she needed right now.
“Ye seemed troubled, milady.” Neala decided to end the silence.
She sipped the hot liquid from the cup. “I have made peace with Dougray.”
Neala’s brows lifted. “Ye are now husband and wife, aye?”
She nodded. “Yes. It was wonderful. He was….” She smiled then in remembrance. “He was so tender. I expected many things from a man like Dougray, but such patience and gentleness…. Well it surprised me.”
“I am most pleased that ye are happy with this union, but I sense that something must have brought ye to me, when ye could still be beneath a warm blanket.”
“Neala, I come to you hoping that you will be able to help me.” “Help ye, lass? How so?”
“I’m assuming that you will be able to give me something so that I do not become pregnant.”
Neala stared at her for a long time, letting that silence take its course. Then she rose. “Walk with me.” Aislinn easily came to her feet and followed Neala down to the water’s edge. The old woman leaned heavily on her walking stick so that she could kneel down. She beckoned Aislinn to do the same. “Look into the water. What do ye see?”
Lost in the Mist of Time Page 44
