by Nancy Pirri
"I'm not the least bit sore," she lied. Even after a long soak in the tub her legs throbbed with a dull pain.
"You will be come morning."
She focused on his fingers smeared with the liniment and sighed, imagining those strong fingers working their magic on her. She met his eyes. "Will you douse the lights?"
He did as she requested, but pulled the curtains back at the window, allowing a sliver of moonlight into the room before sitting beside her again.
"Roll over," he said, his voice soft and low.
She followed his directions, careful to keep the cloth wound tightly around her body. She emitted a small gasp when his hands tucked the drying cloth up to the tops of her thighs. Her cheeks turned hot as she thought about him staring at her limbs. All she could think was how thankful she was for the dim lighting.
She heard his quick intake of breath and groaned, "Just get on with it!"
Harrison was in agony.
With a shaky hand Harrison proceeded to rub the liniment into the backs of her thighs, marveling at their firmness, yet they were soft. He found it difficult to control his breathing and he gulped as he delved his fingers into the jar again. As he massaged the liniment into her calf muscles, he inched his hands up her legs and eased them apart.
"What do you think you're doing?" She arched off the bed and scowled at him over her shoulder.
"The insides of your limbs also require my attention. Hold still," he growled. Damn! He was every bit as anxious to get the deed done as she, even though he cursed himself for laying a finger on her. She was exquisite, tempting, and he couldn't have her yet.
The more his fingers worked on her muscles the more relaxed she grew. He kept his fingers well away from the apex of her thighs, even though his entire body ached at the thought of touching her there. He smiled. She'd be shocked if he did, yet he also knew he could please her, as she'd never been pleased before.
He'd always had more patience than his brother.
Beneath the soft lighting, he could make out the pale globes of her bottom beneath the thin cloth. Fleetingly, he thought how wonderful it would be to massage that enticing portion of her anatomy. He frowned as he decided her limbs he could handle, but her derriere was an entirely different matter.
"Done?" she inquired.
"Not quite," he said, unable to control the hitch in his voice.
He smiled when he heard her sigh. He continued rubbing her thighs and calves, his eyes still focused on her buttocks. And when she emitted a soft groan of contentment he struggled against the temptation to rip the cloth away and reveal her body in all its glory. Her breathing quickened when he kneaded her limbs firmly. He was so intent upon her reaction to his touch he ignored his own body's response--until it was too late.
My God! He groaned when his manhood unexpectedly betrayed him, as though he were a callow youth. Keeping his eyes shut he barely choked back a shout of pleasure at his release. Then he felt hot liquid sliding down one leg. He removed his hands from her and stepped back. He squinted down at the floor. The moonlight streaking through the window glinted off the small puddle on the floor between his bare feet.
He tightened his belt and straightened his spectacles. Then, with as much dignity as he could muster, he turned away and did the only thing he possibly could--he left without uttering another word.
Brianna didn't feel his touch any longer, so she raised her head and turned to thank him. He was nowhere in sight. The door was ajar. She scrambled to her feet and stepped in something wet. Probably just water from her bath, she decided. She returned to the bathing room and pulled a drying cloth off a hook. She didn't want to be responsible for ruining the wood floor so she bent down and swiped the wet spot. As soon as she stood she frowned when she caught the scent of salt in the air. She bent down once more, rubbed her finger in the puddle and sniffed it.
She smiled. As she straightened up she couldn't contain a small chuckle. By the time she reached the door and closed it, she couldn't prevent herself from laughing outright, and quite loudly. Then she tugged on her nightgown and settled into bed, pulling the quilt up around her shoulders. She grinned at the thought of besting the patriarch of Clan MacAulay. Bested him not with her wit, nor with any typical weapon, but with a feminine arsenal a man would have difficulty resisting--by just being a woman.
CHAPTER EIGHT
The next day the clouds finally departed, after a week of gloomy weather. Even with the sun's brilliant appearance, Harrison's heavy disposition hadn't lightened a bit. He'd spent the better part of the night tossing and turning as he tried to understand Tess and Max's predicament. Divorce was such a foreign concept, and impossible for Tess to pursue.
He sat behind his desk, his hands folded in front of him. Brianna and Tess sat beside each other in the chairs opposite him. Tess looked young and vivacious, although she was quite pale. Brianna appeared achingly lovely--even in her dull widow's weeds. She'd done something different with her hair. She still wore it up but sections of it across the front had been woven and braided with fine silver ribbons, the ends tucked neatly up inside her dark brown locks of hair.
"What do you think of Brianna's new hair style, Harrison?"
Harrison kept his gaze on Brianna's face, grinning when her cheeks turned pink. "It's lovely."
"Thank you," Brianna replied softly, looking all the while at Tess. "Your sister is quite talented, my lord."
"Brianna has the most wonderful hair to work with! Why, it's thick, luxurious and inches longer than mine, even though I've been growing it all my..."
"Tess?"
She paused and gave Harrison a round-eyed look.
"We can't put this off any longer. Now I'd like you to finish telling us what happened between you and Max. As a matter of fact, I had plenty of time during the night to think about it and have reached my own conclusion."
Tess raised her brow. "Really? What might that be?"
Harrison stared at his sister. "You can't bring yourself to mate with your husband. Isn't that it?"
He cursed when tears leaked from he eyes and slid down her cheeks. Finally, she nodded and said, "I'm just not ready!" She wrung her hands and sent Brianna a pleading look.
"Oh, my dear, has he hurt you? Are you frightened of him?" Brianna asked.
"Yes...no! Oh, I haven't any idea," she wailed.
"So, you denied him his conjugal rights," Harrison snapped.
"Yes! In time, perhaps I'll be ready, but not now. Besides, I don't care to have a baby, not for a number of years, actually."
The ache in Brianna's heart increased when she saw the tears in Tess's eyes. My Lord, what this poor young woman had been through was unbelievable. She couldn't imagine being so frightened of loving her husband that she felt compelled to run away.
"I thought I was in love with Max, but I realize now I was mistaken."
"That is unfortunate for you. Now that you have the man you insisted upon having, you will stay married to him. Max must be a saint, or so besotted with you to allow you to have your way in this."
Brianna patted Tess's hand. "You know, it wasn't fair of you to just up and leave your husband. Did you discuss your feelings with him? Did you tell him you were frightened of...the intimacy of marriage."
Tess shook her head and sobbed, "No! Just as I've no idea how to even begin to tell you about it."
Brianna recalled being apprehensive on her wedding night, but not frightened. Payton had put her at ease with his gentle laughter and hot-eyed looks. The next morning, she decided she'd follow him to the ends of the earth if he asked! She guessed Tess wasn't feeling mere anxiety, but a deep-seated fear. In order for her to help the girl, Tess would need to reveal her true feelings regarding intimacy.
"Perhaps a good place to start would be at the beginning," Brianna said. "Are you capable of doing that?"
Tess gulped and nodded.
Brianna watched as she tried to compose herself, saw how she'd clasped her hands tightly in her lap. "Each time he-
-oh, my Lord, it's too embarrassing to speak of!"
Tess bit her lips and clenched her hands. Brianna reached out, pulled the girl into her arms and held her as she sobbed. After awhile Brianna said, "Go on, when you are able."
"It...it all began on our wedding night," said Tess, her voice shaking. "He asked me to...to get undressed." She gave Brianna a wide-eyed look. "Why, he even offered to help me!"
Harrison slumped in his chair and murmured, "No doubt."
Brianna shot him a scathing look.
"He started touching me all over and kissing me."
With a smile, Brianna asked, "And did you like it?"
Tess smiled shyly. "Oh, yes. His kisses were very much the same before we married." She frowned, "Well, perhaps they were a bit more forceful after we married-- but still they were quite lovely. Then he raised my gown and pulled it over my head. I began to think this wasn't quite as nice."
"Did you tell him to stop?" Brianna inquired.
"Not yet. I was uncertain at this point, but I fully trusted Max. I believed I was in love with him."
Harrison sat forward in his chair, planted his elbows on the desk. "Of course you were in love with him! You still are."
"No," Tess snapped. "I thought I was in love with him, until he started touching me in places I didn't want him to!"
Brianna noted the growing look of horror on Tess's face when she continued her tale. "When he reached between my legs and started touching me there I jumped from the bed. I ran to the hearth. There I snatched up a poker and threatened to brain him if he didn't stop touching me that way. I told him I very much enjoyed his kisses, but that's all I wanted him to do."
"And did this anger him?" Brianna asked.
Tess frowned, then gave Brianna a puzzled look. "No, he appeared sad. He rose from the bed and left the room." Haughtily, she added, "I've no idea where he spent the night, but it wasn't with me."
Brianna asked, "Do you care where he spent the night?"
Tess's face turned pink and she stumbled over her words. "What a...a silly question to ask! Of course I didn't care. And I still don't! Of course, I've heard stories..."
Brianna turned to Harrison and raised her brow.
Harrison asked, "Do you think Max has taken a mistress, Tess?"
"It wouldn't surprise me if he did!" she retorted. "Isn't that what most men do?"
"If they don't love their wives--perhaps. But Max loves you, Tess. Believe it. Trust him. He won't harm you. Now, continue."
"Over the months since we married he tried to seduce me several times, but I managed to turn him away--until two evenings ago. He told me he'd waited as long as he could. That I was denying him his marital rights."
Brianna tried easing Tess. "Of course you denied him. You were frightened!" Brianna held Tess's hand as she waited for her to continue. She met Harrison's contemplative expression and gave him an imploring look.
With a long sigh, Harrison rose from the divan. Squatting down beside Tess's chair, he asked, "What are you afraid of? Has Max hurt you?"
Tess wildly shook her head. "But he has every intention of taking by force what I won't willingly give him. Thank God I managed to escape him."
Brianna didn't like the sound of that. The silence in the room was deafening.
"How did you manage that?" Harrison inquired. When she gave no response, he added, " Did he just allow you to leave? I question the fact Max hasn't appeared on our doorstep to fetch you home. Or has he?"
"He hasn't. You see, he had a rather unfortunate accident, which prevented him from following me."
A chill crept up Brianna's spine at the simple reply. She had an awful feeling about this. She looked at Harrison, who was unnaturally still.
"What happened?" he asked, his voice utterly cold.
"I shot him."
"My God!"
Brianna gasped, "Oh, dear!"
"Just a little," Tess wailed.
"Ye either shot the man or ye didn't!" Harrison thundered.
Tess sniffled but didn't reply.
Harrison paced the length of the room again. After a time, he stopped and leveled a hard look on his sister. "How badly is he hurt?"
"Oh, it's just a small wound in his thigh."
"How did you determine that when you likely left him in a bloody hurry? And in a bloody mess, I'm guessing."
"Our neighbor, Madeline Benson, sent me word."
Harrison stared at Tess for a long time. Brianna wanted to speak, just to break the tension in the room. At last he said, "Max could have you arrested, you know. He has every right to."
Tess nodded as she stared at her hands clasped in her lap.
"But the damned fool's probably still besotted with you. Has been since you were both bairns." He paced the length of the room, then came to stand before Tess and Brianna. "Don't tell me he was a man at nineteen, either. I brought him home from university for the holidays more because I felt sorry for him than because we were friends. He was so improbably guileless, so damned young!" He snorted. "Neither of you are children now, although you're both acting like puling infants. You're no proper wife to him, and if he's not made his way into your bed, he's not much of a man, to my way of thinking.
"You have a week to gain courage to face your husband, Tess. And when we arrive at Cresthaven Abbey, I will speak with Max. You had better say your prayers, dear sister.. Pray that he will take you back and won't have you thrown in jail."
He strode out of the parlor, leaving Brianna to console Tess.
Brianna knew there was nothing she or Tess could say to change Harrison's mind. She sympathized with her young sister-in-law, but understood Harrison was correct to send her back to her husband. From Tess's confessions regarding the intimate side of marriage, Brianna had to agree with Harrison. Max had been patient. Brianna had a strong hunch Tess truly loved her husband, and that he wasn't precisely her problem. She wasn't afraid of him, but was definitely fearful of making love.
She couldn't believe Tess's nerve. My goodness, she shot him! It was a brave thing to do, but terribly stupid.
***
Three days later
The Angus Inn, Aberdeen, Scotland
Brianna worried her lower lip and stared at the bed she would be sharing with Harrison that night. An inviting fluffy white comforter was spread across it, and the brass headboard had been polished until it gleamed. The walls were painted pale green and white shutters covered the windows. With evening's arrival, the room glimmered with a golden hue from the kerosene lamps positioned on two lace-covered tables on either side of the bed.
Very soon she and Harrison would be handfasted and she would be spending the first night of an undetermined number of nights with him, until she conceived his heir. Heavens! She felt like a virgin for the first time in ten years.
As luck would have it, they hadn't delivered Tess home to England. Over the past three days she'd taken ill with influenza and had been too sick to travel. Harrison had given her the week at Winterhaven anyway, but, he hadn't changed his mind about their handfasting. Brianna agreed, albeit reluctantly, to go through with the ceremony sooner than later.
A knock on the door startled her and her voice cracked when she called out, "Yes?"
"It's me," Harrison replied, his voice husky and low.
She made her way to the door and peeked out. "Don't you know it's bad luck for the bride and groom to see each other before the ceremony?"
"Doesn't that rule apply to traditional marriages only?" he inquired. "I have a need to discuss something of great importance with you before we handfast."
Stepping back, she allowed him entrance, wondering at his stiffness. Greedily, she perused his wide shoulders clad in a flawless black jacket, the double-breasted fastenings left open. A stark white shirt with a starched collar enhanced his swarthy good looks, and he'd tied a ruffled ascot at his neck. And there, nestled within the folds, was the gray pearl stickpin he'd worn the day she met him. She recognized the rich MacAulay plaid of the ki
lt he wore with unquestionable male aplomb.
There was nothing humorous about Harrison MacAulay in a kilt. She envisioned his long muscular thighs beneath the pleated fabric. Never had she imagined a skirt could make a man appear so utterly masculine. She wondered if he wore anything beneath it. Oh, Lord, she was tempted to ask, but she managed to hold her tongue.
She was happy she'd relented to his demands that she not wear one of her hideous widow's gowns, thankful he'd purchased the fashionable deep blue satin gown she'd donned. After all, it wouldn't do for the groom to be prettier than the bride, now would it? She met his eyes and noted his serious expression. "Is something amiss?"
Her heart lurched when he darted a quick look at her, then looked away. He raked a hand through his hair and cleared his throat. "No," he said. "Everything will be perfect in about half an hour. But there is some unfinished business which requires our immediate attention."
He took her hand, led her to the bed and pulled her down to sit beside him. It was then she noticed a creamy parchment in his hands. He passed the document to her. "Read this and let me know when you are ready to sign it, as we will require a witness."
He rose and went to the window. It overlooked a splendid view of Aberdeen and the sharp, jagged Grampian Mountains. They were some distance away, yet one could easily see the purple heather scattered across them. He glanced over his shoulder and found her staring at him, a confused look on her face.
"Read it," he snapped. "Please."
Brianna's hands shook as she read. By the time she finished, tears filled her eyes. Her voice quivered. "I cannot sign this."
He turned to her. "You must."
"You expect me to just give up my child? How can you ask this of me? You are heartless!"
"My child, as well," he replied.
She rushed to the hearth, crumpling the document. When she raised her hand to cast it into the fire, Harrison grasped her fist in one hand and wound the other around her waist.
