“Doona move between me legs so, lass. Feel what ye do to me.”
He thrust himself forward to prove his point, and I leaned into him. “Hmm…aye, there isna a way for me no to feel that, and what would ye wish to do with it?”
I smiled as I heard his breath catch. He hadna expected me to be so forward.
“Oh, doona tempt me so, lass. I took ye in the stables once. I willna treat ye like an animal again and have ye in the middle of nature for any passerby to see.”
I wiggled me bum, intending for it to torture him so that he would change his mind. “I doona care if anyone sees. But look around, I think we are all alone save for the birds and fishes.”
He disappointed me by bending his knees so that he could jump to his feet. “Nay, lass. Ye are me wife now. I want to honor ye in a bed with a roof above us. I willna take ye again until we have found shelter for the night.”
I raised me toes out of the water, shaking them dry. Then I stood quickly making my way back to the horse. “Then let’s ride then, and I doona wish to make a slow go of it as we did this morning. I am no a patient lass, husband, and I’m anxious for this honoring that ye speak of. Where shall we stay this evening?”
He smiled, following suit as we made our way to the horse, him mounting first and then assisting me so that I sat in front of him, mimicking our positions by the river. “There is a small village nay far from here, and there is an inn where we will stay for the night. ’Tis a common place of rest for travelers so they doona often have rooms, but me father knew the owners well. They shall have a room for us, I am certain.”
“Sounds lovely.”
“Aye, lass, I shall be so sore from wanting ye that I fear we shall make all the tenants angry and jealous at our lovemaking. Everyone that sleeps in the inn tonight shall know me name, for they shall hear ye scream it over and over again.”
“’Tis some promise, lad. I doona know if ye are up to the task.” I smiled, squealing as he released the reins with one of his hands gently pinching me bottom.
“Do ye no think so, lass? Well I shall prove ye wrong, soon enough.”
* * *
Arran was no a liar, and I couldna believe that we hadna been kicked out into the streets by the innkeepers and their tenants who were sure to be mighty angry by this point. But I’d also seen the payment he’d provided to the old couple. He’d certainly intended to assure that we wouldna be disturbed for the evening.
The first time he’d taken me roughly, and I’d had to slow his pace for I was certain I would be so sore he would be no able to touch me for a fortnight if he continued at the speed with which he’d begun.
He’d collapsed on top of me then and rolled me to me side, both of us trembling with the tremors that follow only the best kind of lovemaking. As we lay still connected together, sweat beading on both our brows, I was certain we’d fall asleep that way, remaining as one until morning.
I’d just begun to drift when he pulled himself out of me, nipping me playfully on the ear as he moved over me once more.
“What did I tell ye earlier, lass? I am no close to being finished with ye this night.”
I smiled, bone weary and uncertain I could take another go if it was anything like what I’d just experienced. “Ye canna mean it, Arran. Ye havena slept an entire night in days, and ye have traveled a long way. I think that ye proved yer point well enough before.”
“Aye, lass, I mean it. Nay, I dinna honor ye the way that I wish to.”
I lifted my head just slightly off the pillow to kiss him. “Aye? And how do ye wish to honor me, then?”
“Slowly, lass. The first time in the stables and just now as well, they were no what ye deserve, though I daresay that ye enjoyed yerself well enough.”
He smiled mischievously and I returned it, moaning slightly at the thought. “Aye, I canna say that I dinna.”
“Good, I am pleased to hear it. Still, I moved too quickly, too overcome with me need for ye to take the time that ye deserve. I have been with many women, lass, and I know what each one of them desires.”
I stiffened in his arms, no liking the direction he’d taken the conversation. “If ye wish to honor me, mayhap it would be best for ye no to tell me just how many women ye have treated thus. It does nothing to make me feel special, aye?”
He grinned, placing one finger across me lips to silence me. “Hush, lass. Ye dinna let me finish. I know what they want, but I have never given it to any of them.”
“Ye are too sure of yerself, Arran. How can ye know what all women want?” I gasped as he slowly entered me once more, rocking gently as he closed his eyes and groaned with pleasure. He moved one of his hands down to me center, just above where he’d entered me and slowly built in me a sensation so overwhelming I could scarcely utter another word.
“What they want, lass, is to be worshiped, for a man to surrender himself to them, giving them every inch of his soul so that they know that once they’ve bedded him, he will nay love another for the rest of his days.”
He paused to plunge in deep once more, and I cried out as he filled me, reaching up to pull on the shoulder-length strands of his hair. He kissed me thoroughly before speaking once more.
“It has been asked of me many times, in the way a lass would touch me, opening nay only her legs but her heart, begging me to give them that most precious part of meself. I always tucked it away, never understanding why I couldna let that part of meself go. Now I know.”
“Aye?” The word came out breathlessly, extended as I moaned at the slow torture.
“Aye lass, ’twas for ye. Me heart waited for ye before I knew ye were to come into me life. I shall worship ye now, love, and as I do so, know that I share with ye me soul, for there is no other in me life but ye. If ye were nay to bed me again, ye would still own all that I am. For the truth is, lass, that ye’ve possessed me soul since the first moment I saw ye. By the end of this night, I shall lay claim over yers as well.”
“Oh, Arran, doona ye not know by now that ye already do?”
The night faded away as he stayed true to his word and not a bit of me went unexplored as he worshiped me over and over again until finally we went to sleep, well after the next morning’s sun had risen into the sky.
Chapter 42
“Now what did I tell ye, man?” Tormod stepped away, releasing the old man who’d served as gardener at the castle for three generations of Kinnairds, allowing him the chance to speak as he’d bid him.
“If I doona do what ye ask, ye shall kill me wife. Ye have her locked away and gagged her where I canna get to her.”
Tormod whacked the trembling man hard across the face. “Nay, ye fool. I shall certainly do all that ye have said, but I intended for me to tell ye what ye are to say to the villagers after ye gather them together this evening. Are ye certain that they will come if ye send for them?
He glared at the old man, watching as he reached up to rub the side of his cheek now red from the impact of his palm. “Aye, sir. I know all in the village and all know me. They shall listen to whatever I have to say to them.”
“Good and what is it exactly, man, that ye have to say?”
“That…that Blaire MacChristy is a witch. That I’ve seen her steal herbs from me garden so that she could cast her spells. That I believe she has bewitched Arran for some time, and it was she that killed Edana, no the loss of a child.”
“And what will ye tell them of Arran, if they should find him innocent in Blaire’s wrongdoing?”
“That the spell she cast on him is too strong and has addled his brain such that his bond to her will only be severed by death. That if we are to keep our village and children safe, we must rid ourselves of both Arran and his new bride, the MacChristy witch.”
“Aye, man. Now doona ye forget what shall happen to ye if ye should waver in yer story. I will be in the crowd listening to yer every word. If ye should waver ’tis yer wife that shall suffer, slowly, and ye shall serve as witness to every horrible act of vi
olence that I have planned for her.”
Tears rolled down the old man’s face, and they brightened Tormod’s heart. Finally, he was the man he’d always hoped to be. People feared him. If his ancestors had taught him anything, it was that with fear came power.
He sent the man away to gather his clansmen. Tormod would follow the old man shortly, but first he had two bodies to dispose of. For come tomorrow, he would be laird. He would no longer have time for such trivial matters.
The first body was that of his sister. The second was the gardener’s wife. He’d slit her throat only moments after he’d taken her.
The old fool knew not that he did Tormod’s bidding for nothing. His wife was long dead, and as soon as he’d turned his clansmen against Arran and Blaire, he would join his wife in death.
* * *
We spent two more nights at the inn, leaving the room only when necessary. Eventually, we decided that it was time to return home where we hoped for nothing more than to have at least a fortnight of peaceful nothingness.
It took us mere moments as we neared the castle to know that we wouldna get our wish. It was night, but a large crowd gathered. We could hear the angry voices while still a good distance from the stables.
“What do ye think has happened, Arran?” Fear gripped me tight in the belly, and I fought back the urge to beg Arran to turn the horse around so that we could flee from here, something in the back of me mind warning me that the crowd awaited us.
“I doona know, lass, but I doona think there is need to worry.”
His words meant to comfort, but tension hardened his body. Even the horse was hesitant to continue his march forward the closer we got to the village.
“I think ye are wrong, Arran. They’ve spotted us, and some of them are now headed in our direction. Perhaps we should leave.”
“Nay, lass. I am laird of this keep now. Whatever has occurred, ’tis me duty to see to it and see that me people are taken care of. I’m sure that all they need is leadership to assist in what has occurred.”
“Aye, I’m sure ye are right.” I knew that he wasna, but I dinna wish to cause him to fear the approaching crowd any more than I knew he already did.
Slowly we approached, and as soon as I heard the words they chanted, me blood ran cold.
“Witch. Witch. Witch.” They screamed it over and over, fingers pointing at me with eyes filled with pity turned in Arran’s direction.
“What is the meaning of this? Who among ye will step forward to tell me what has happened whilst I was away?”
An elderly man standing apart from the crowd hollered out, finger extended in me direction. “That be her, the witch. We should bind them at once.”
I couldna make sense of what the man said, but I dinna miss the way he cast his eyes downward after he finished speaking, no looking up again as the crowd poured in around us. Two men stepped forward with chains, roughly dragging us off, chaining us before either of us had time to scream or protest.
Our mouths were gagged and our eyes covered as they led us away to somewhere deep below the castle. ’Twas no until we were thrown into cells that they removed our coverings, but it was too dark in the cell for me to see anything. I called out for Arran, feeling frantically around the darkness. “Arran! Arran, where are ye? What has happened?”
A voice that I had nay heard before teased me in the darkness. Malice dripped from the deep, unsettling tone, and I screamed as large hands gripped me hard by both arms.
“Arran is no here, lass, and I doona think that ye shall ever see him again.
Chapter 43
“There is no need for ye to do this, sister. Yer children need ye, and ye shall all be safe here if ye will only agree to stay.”
Gara pulled her sister into a large embrace but shook her head, resigned to the decision she knew she must make. “Nay, I canna continue to live with the wrong that I’ve done. I lied once to provide for me children, and it resulted in the death of a lass who’d seen naught but heartache her whole life. I lied once more to protect them, but I canna be the mother they deserve if I am no willing to do what is right.”
“But ye doona know for certain what Tormod plans. What do ye think ye shall be able to do to stop it?”
Gara didn’t respond right away, squatting so that she could kiss each of her three children, holding them tight as she prayed it wouldn’t be the last time she got to hold them in her arms.
“Go inside me dear ones, and be good for yer auntie whilst I am away. I love ye more than ye shall ever know.”
She waited to sob until they were inside her sister’s home, struggling to catch her breath. “I doona know what I shall do, but I know that I must try. I heard Tormod in the ale house doing his best to make the men believe that Arran killed Edana. He did no such thing, but Tormod willna rest until he has succeeded in turning me people against them. “Tis time that I share the truth with me clansmen.”
“But ye must know that he shall kill ye if ye do so.”
Gara nodded, pulling her cloak over her so that she could be on her way. “Aye, but I am no living now with the guilt tearing me into pieces. If I should die, at least me soul will be at peace knowing that I have made amends for the sin that I committed.”
“God go with ye, sister.”
Gara turned, fleeing into the night so that she would not be tempted to turn back and live as a coward. She could only hope that one day her children would know of her bravery and grow up to be the men and women she’d given her life to allow them to be.
* * *
Arran would not allow himself to lose her again. If he had to break his own legs and ribs to get out of his cell, he would find a way to save her. Any man that got in his way would find himself dead, clansmen or no.
He rammed his shoulder hard against the metal. If only he could get one of the bars loose, he could somehow squeeze his way out. It was so dark he could scarcely see, but a noise at the end of the hallway alerted him that he was no longer alone. He stilled instantly, patting himself down for anything he could use as a weapon.
“Sir, are ye down here? ’Tis Gara.”
He could think of no reason for her to be down here. His first thought was that she must have been one of the ones to conspire against him. He knew that she’d already lied to him at least once before. Had she lied again when she said she knew nothing else?
But on second thought, he remembered that she’d come to him, risking her own safety to tell him the truth of Edana’s lie about the child.
He called out to her, doing his best to be loud enough so that she could hear him, but restraining so that he would not draw attention from elsewhere in the dungeon. “Aye, lass. Do ye know why I was placed here?”
He listened as she made her way toward him. As she stepped into the small crack of moonlight beaming into his cell, he saw the fear on the lass’ face and knew that she was not there to harm him.
“Aye. Tormod has convinced everyone that the lass ye are with is a witch and she killed Edana. He says she has ye under a mighty spell.”
Anger boiled inside of Arran. He’d wanted to kill the bastard the moment he’d first laid eyes on him, able to see the lad’s evil sprit through the hatred that shown in his eyes.
“Why would he do it? What does he have to gain from it?” Arran believed he knew the answer, but it was hard for him to imagine anyone wanting to be laird enough to go to such lengths. Ruling a keep was hard work and if he could go back, he would gladly give up his position as laird, but no to a man like Tormod.
“He wishes to be laird. He believes it is his right because he is the bastard son of Ramsay’s brother.”
“He is a bastard, no doubt, one that I intend to send deep down into the earth once I am free of this cell. Do ye know where they’ve taken Blaire? What does he intend to do to her?” His heart beat quickly at the thought of Blaire. If Tormod hurt her in anyway, he would return whatever pain he inflicted on her, tenfold.
“Nay, sir. I doona know where she
is, but the clansmen intend to kill her. That is clear from the mob that awaits ye outside.”
Arran beat his fist hard against the stone wall, growling at the pain. “I am no so worried about the mob, all I can think of now is Blaire. I must get to her before Tormod causes her harm.”
“That ye do, sir. I dinna tell ye the whole truth last time I spoke to ye. I was too afraid that Tormod would hurt me children, but now I have sent them safely away to be with me sister, and I have come to right the wrongs I have played a part in.”
“What is it, lass? What dinna ye tell me last time we spoke?”
“Edana dinna die naturally. ’Twas poison that killed her, a poison Tormod instructed her to take. I doona believe that she knew it would kill her. I believe that she thought it would only mimic an early birth and the loss of a child.”
Arran shook his head in the darkness, disgust rising in the form of bile in the back of his throat. “How could anyone be so evil? Do ye know of a way to get me out of here, lass? ’Tis urgent that I do so before Tormod can cause harm to anyone else.”
“Aye, sir. I have worked in the castle most of me life, I knew where a set of keys was hidden.”
Arran breathed in a deep sigh of relief as he watched Gara pull the keys out from under her dress and begin to work on his lock. Once he was free, he pulled her into an embrace, quickly pulling away as he took off in the direction of the other cell block.
Chapter 44
I dinna know the man who held on tightly to me in the darkness. He pushed me back hard into the side of the cell wall and growled a sound so inhuman that the evil in it caused me to shiver uncontrollably. I was certain that me life was about to end.
A sound in the distance caused him to pull away from me, and I had to swallow to keep from emptying me stomach onto the cell floor.
“I did as ye bid me. Now, tell me where I can find me wife.”
Morna's Legacy: Box Set #1 Page 40
