by Laura Glenn
She threw one leg over him, straddling his hips, and leaned forward, pressing her lips to his. He growled and slipped his velvety tongue into her mouth, devouring her. She drank in the sweetness, trembling as currents of desire raged through her.
“Take me inside,” he whispered against her lips.
She reached down, wrapping her hand around his cock. Skimming the silken head along her folds, she moaned as the tip slipped inside. She closed her eyes, indulging in the shivers of her core as it stretched while she eased down his shaft.
“Open your eyes, love.”
Her lashes flew up and her gaze landed on his. Tension rippled through his body. He grabbed one hip and guided her forward and back, undulating her pelvis.
“Oh,” she whispered, her pussy humming with an intoxicating flare of pleasure. She fell forward onto her hands, continuing the rhythm he’d set, unable to tear her eyes from his.
He released her hip, snaking his hand up to her breast and plucking her aching nipple. She moaned at the thrilling shock that extended to her clit and he rolled the sensitive bud between his fingers, sending a pulsating thrum through her pussy.
A panicked flash glinted through his eyes and he ripped his hand away from her breast. Shoving his fingers between them, he pressed his thumb into her clit. Sharp stabs of desire melted into the ache in her core. In ever-tightening circles, he swirled his thumb around the sensitive nub, drawing a hoarse cry from her throat as increasing waves of dizzying pleasure vibrated through her abdomen. She panted, snapping her eyes back shut, losing herself as the dark, heady spasm sprang through her pussy, sending it into convulsions around him.
A dark, unintelligible muttering tore from his lips as he dug his fingers into her hip once again and held her aloft as he pummeled into her from below. Thrusting and grinding. Growling as his body tensed and his hot seed filled her.
And then she fell forward, onto his chest. Her heart thudding in an erratic rhythm as her core shuddered. The warmth of his skin seeping into her, lulling her muscles into jelly.
His breathing slowed and he kissed the top of her head. Shifting to the side, he rolled her onto her back and pulled the covers over them before hauling her up onto her side and settling her arm across his chest.
She stifled a giggle over his silent command about how they were going to sleep and pressed a kiss into his chest. He let out a long drawn-out sigh. Her lids fluttered closed, drawn toward sleep.
“I like that you take spiders outside.”
She opened her eyes and lifted her head, peering at him through the darkness. “You do?”
“Yes.”
When he said nothing further, she laid her head on his shoulder again, smoothing his chest hair into a circular pattern. She smiled and snuggled closer. Simon had always rolled his eyes at her when she rescued spiders from underneath the shoe he was about to slam on top of them.
“And do not worry, lass. I will take your sin for my own. It was my decision which put you in that circumstance. You are clean of it.”
She paused, crinkling her brow. “Sin?”
“In killing that man.”
She pushed back up again in surprise. “You think you’re damned to hell?”
He shrugged. “I have a lot of blood on my hands.”
She hesitated as a flash of the bloodthirsty warrior she’d seen the night before flew through her mind’s eye. “Do you kill because you enjoy it?”
“No. I only kill when it is necessary.”
She had held her breath when he answered and released it in relief. Sliding her hand along his chest until it covered his heart, she murmured, “You’re too good for hell.”
He chuckled. “And too bad for heaven.”
She smiled. “I don’t think you have too much to worry about.”
“No?”
“No,” she said with a firm shake of her head. “I don’t think hell exists.”
“And a bit of a heretic as well. A woman after my own heart.” He gave her a gentle squeeze. “But we will keep that between us too.”
She sighed. “I suppose I have to appear pretty pious here, don’t I?”
He kissed the top of her head again. “No, I would not have you change for anything. We will be sheltered here. Father MacKenzie is surprising in his openness and my clan will adore you. You let me worry about any fallout from your heretical views in the outside world.”
She smiled and tilted her face up to place a soft kiss upon his jaw. He would defend her and he didn’t want her to change. How did she get so lucky?
Chapter Sixteen
Gone. Again.
Leah stretched her arms above her head, yawning and mulling over Rathe’s ninja-style methods of leaving her alone each morning. He never made a sound and the bed never shifted. And there was never a trace left behind that he’d even been in the room. No dirty socks lying anywhere or crumpled shirt in the corner. It was almost as though he had disappeared into thin air.
With a light rap at the door, she gasped and hastened to pull the covers up to her chin before bidding the person to enter.
The door opened only a few inches, just enough for Anna to peek into the room. She smiled as she caught sight of Leah and swung open the door, motioning with a crook of her finger for someone behind her to follow her into the room.
Lizzie, one of the servants in the keep who had assisted Anna in caring for Leah the previous day, entered the room along with her mistress. Both women sported large, pregnant bellies and couldn’t be much more than a few weeks from delivery. Under normal circumstances, Leah would have asked about how they were feeling, whether they were nervous or excited. But not now. Not when it could be her in just a few months, rendering her stuck in the thirteenth century for the rest of her life.
She couldn’t leave a child behind. She might be pregnant, but, if it hadn’t happened yet, maybe she could avoid it in some way that didn’t involve refusing Rathe. She had almost zero willpower where he was concerned. She liked him too much and turned into a warm, jellied pool of desire every time he so much as smiled at her. She was going to need some serious help if she stood any chance at all of going home.
Anna made pleasant small talk as she and Lizzie helped her dress. As Lizzie brushed out her hair, Anna pulled a small, clay container out of the basket she’d carried into Leah’s chamber and rubbed her fingers inside. With a gentle touch, Anna applied the sticky, semi-liquid substance around the stitches above Leah’s ear.
“How does it feel this morning?” she asked, dropping a critical eye to the bruise on Leah’s cheek.
“Just a little tender.” Leah’s gaze dropped to the clay pot. “What’s in that?”
Anna shrugged. “A little honey. A tea made with several different herbs. It took a bit of learning from the older women here, but I’ve managed. My nursing degree helps a quite bit since I know how the body works.”
If Leah could trust anyone here who might know of some herbal concoction that had a chance of preventing pregnancy, it was Anna. She twisted the fabric of her skirt around an index finger, casting her gaze downward. Did she dare ask?
“I promise it will work.”
“No, it’s not that. It’s just…”
“What?”
Leah sighed. Meeting Anna had been a Godsend. For the first time in weeks, it was as though she could breathe at last and not watch her every word or move for fear of being misunderstood. Like Leah, she’d grown up in the Midwest and shared her love of reading and lattes. Her story of how she arrived in the thirteenth century was just as fantastical and unbelievable as Leah’s. But Anna was in love—deeply in love—with her husband. Watching them together yesterday almost brought tears to Leah’s eyes. It was no wonder Anna had stayed rather than using the stone to go back home.
Anna sank down onto the bed next to her and took her hand. “Tell me what’s wrong.”
Leah shook her head. “I’m not ready for this.” She shifted her gaze to Anna’s belly and then up to her eyes. “Not if
it means I can’t go home.”
“Oh.” Anna held her gaze. “You think you can find the stone?”
Leah shrugged. “I don’t know. Maybe not. But if I get pregnant, I can’t leave my child behind and Rathe won’t let me take it. Then I’ll be stuck here and I don’t know if I can deal with that.”
Anger flashed through Anna’s blue-green eyes. “He said that to you?”
Leah nodded. “I was given some land for rescuing the mormaer’s son from drowning and I thought it was what Rathe was after when he married me. But then he told me he needed a son. That I’d have to leave my child behind if I wanted to go home at the next fall equinox.”
Anna’s lips thinned as they pressed together. “Yeah, Rathe can come across as a bit of an asshole at times. He doesn’t think before he speaks.” Her expression softened and she squeezed Leah’s hand. “Just for the record, though, he’s got it pretty bad for you. Maybe it’s why he reacted that way.”
Leah jerked her head back in surprise.
Anna laughed. “I’m serious. He was worried sick about you yesterday and wouldn’t sit still while I was sewing him up. And, forgive me for saying it, but I think you like him too. You two weren’t exactly alone when he kissed you or when he held your hand throughout supper.”
Leah blew out a long exhalation and shook her head, heat rising in her cheeks. “I think he was just trying to comfort me. Besides, I barely know him and I’ve heard things. About who he is, what happened with his other wives. I don’t know. He just seems…volatile. Dangerous.”
“His wives were spoiled bitches.”
Leah’s eyes widened.
“Trust me. I met both of them on several occasions. The one liked to complain and the other liked the intrigue of the king’s court a little too much. Rathe isn’t one to coddle people. True, he had no patience with either woman, but he never mistreated them with the exception of maybe being neglectful by avoiding them when they pushed his buttons too many times.” Anna snorted. “I think I probably saw more of him around here when he was married than I ever do now.”
A strange lightness seeped into Leah’s heart, softening the tension in her body. But still, her mind wouldn’t let the darkness go. “I don’t know.”
“I do,” Anna repeated with measured force. But then a gentle understanding crept into her eyes. “Look, I know how frightening this place can be. I fought against it too. Rathe comes across as harsh at times. He’s kind of a rough-and-tumble sort of guy. He had a pretty rocky childhood and a tough time making it to where he is today. But he is a good friend to us. I always feel better knowing he is at Galen’s side if there is a fight. I would trust him with my or my children’s lives any day.”
Leah cast her eyes back down to her lap, speechless. Ever since she had met Rathe, her head had been filled with dark stories defaming his character. True, Lady Alpina was the source of most of them, but the woman seemed to know everyone and could relate several stories from others of Rathe’s questionable nature. Leah was never sure what to think, too frightened by the strange roughness of her surroundings and her seeming unquenchable lust for him to trust her own sense of the man.
“I know I can’t tell you what to do, Leah. But Rathe is a good man. Just promise me you’ll give him a chance.”
Leah caught the earnestness in Anna’s eyes, and nodded.
Anna smiled and patted her hand. “But that’s not why you started this conversation, is it?”
Leah glanced down again at Anna’s pregnant belly and shook her head.
“You may be pregnant already.”
“I know.”
Anna stood and spoke in Gaelic to Lizzie before motioning Leah to follow her. Leah smiled at Lizzie, thanked her in Gaelic, and hurried after.
Neither spoke as they made their way to the keep’s kitchen. Rathe’s laughter bounced off the walls in the great hall and into the corridor as they walked. Leah smiled, enjoying the pure, unfettered delight in his tone. Embarrassment rolled through Leah’s stomach as Anna glanced over her shoulder and tossed her a knowing smile.
Several women turned and greeted Anna as they entered, giving Leah a respectful nod. Anna walked into a small alcove lined from floor to ceiling with wooden shelves groaning at the weight of dozens of clay pots scattered on top of them. She pulled several jars down, placing them upon a wooden table off to the side and mixed a combination from the various containers into a clean bowl.
“Drink this every morning in heated water. A spoonful should do it,” Anna murmured as she worked. “Mind you, it will do nothing if you already are pregnant and it is by no means foolproof if you’re not. This should get you through the next month. I’ll find a scrap of parchment too on which to write the ingredients. The Sinclair keep will probably have most of the herbs for you to make more when you run out. Make an excuse to come see me in the spring and I’ll teach you how to gather the herbs yourself if you want to continue using it.”
She pulled a clean piece of linen from another shelf and poured the contents of the bowl into it. Folding it up like an envelope, she secured it with a piece of twine before handing it to Leah. “There is another mixture one can take if already pregnant, but I’ve seen it go pretty badly for some women. Please, promise me you will come see me if you are considering it. I will try to talk you out of it, but if I can’t, I’d rather you be here where I can supervise you.”
Leah nodded as anxious butterflies fluttered in her stomach. Clutching the package to her chest, she followed Anna out to the corridor and into the great hall.
Rathe and Galen spoke in animated tones at one of the long tables in the middle of the room. Galen had his hands wrapped around a mug as Rathe shoved a piece of bread into his mouth. He caught sight of her and gulped down the bite before wiping his mouth across his sleeve and standing.
“Good morning, lass.”
Anna winked at her and walked in the opposite direction, giving Leah a nudge toward the table.
Leah greeted them in a soft voice and Galen nodded. Rathe slid his hand down her arm to her elbow, bringing her toward him to place a kiss upon her forehead.
“How are you feeling?” He brushed her hair back to look at her stitches.
She swallowed hard, guilt settling in as she clutched the package of herbs. “Fine.”
“Your cheek looks much better.” He motioned for her to sit. “Here, eat something. We need to be headed home soon if we want to arrive before sunset.”
“I will send some of my men with you,” Galen commented. “I would go with you myself but—”
Rathe shook his head. “No, Annie’s liable to give birth any day now from the look of her. You need to be here.”
He turned back toward Leah, pulling on the package in her hands as he handed her a slice of brown, crusty bread slathered with creamy, yellow butter. Panicked, she gripped the herbs tighter, yanking them back toward her. He furrowed his brows and pulled harder.
Okay, now she was acting guilty. And if she didn’t pull it together soon, those herbs would go flying all over Galen. She let Rathe take it.
He tossed it onto the table in front of her. “What is that? It smells like hay.”
She swallowed hard. “It’s just a mixture of herbs from Anna.”
He gave her a hard, searching look. “Is there something wrong?”
“No. Why?”
Rathe glanced toward Galen who shrugged before turning his attention back to her. “Are you ill?”
“No.”
“Then why would Annie be giving you one of her special mixtures?”
The suspicion in his eyes rendered her tongue-tied. A strong desire to sink under the table overwhelmed Leah and she sank back, withdrawing her arms to her chest. She caught the annoyance in his eyes. Yeah, she was doing the shrinking thing again and he knew it. She cast her eyes to the worn top of the wooden table and his stare continued to burn through her.
“What did you give my wife, Annie?” Rathe shouted, his voice bouncing off the stone walls.
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Soft footsteps padded toward them. “Just some herbs,” Anna answered with a shrug as she stopped at the head of the table.
“For what?” Galen asked, glancing toward Rathe.
Anna did not answer and Leah attempted to scoot away from Rathe. He grabbed her knee under the table and squeezed it, holding her in place.
“For her nerves. Just look at her.” Anna smacked Rathe on the shoulder with the backs of her fingers. “And you’re not helping.”
Rathe’s eyes widened with incredulity. “What did I do?”
Anna crossed her arms and stared down at him. “I know what you said to her when you married and she told you she wanted to go home. Asking a woman to leave behind her child? Really, Rathe?”
A loud, dramatic sigh escaped Galen’s lips. “Annie, stay out of this.”
“No, I won’t. You medieval meatheads just don’t get it, do you?”
“Mama!” shouted a little redheaded girl of about four years as she rushed forward, throwing her chubby little arms around Anna’s legs.
A tiny roar echoed through the high ceilings and a small boy about half the little girl’s age ran toward them, slashing a wooden sword through the air. Leah had met the siblings, Isabella and Alec, at supper the night before.
Galen stood and moved in front of Anna, sweeping the boy off his feet and holding him facedown with one arm. He issued a firm command in Gaelic to the boy and extended his free hand to the little girl who left Anna’s side with more than a bit of reluctance.
Rathe stood. “Galen.”
Galen chuckled as he headed toward the door with the children. “You are on your own. Godspeed.”
Love and contentment glistened in Anna’s gaze as it followed her family out of the great hall. It pulled at Leah’s heart. She wanted that. Right there—it was all she had ever wanted. God, she had been such a fool to think she could ever have had it with Simon.
Rathe sank down to the bench beside her once again and Leah turned her gaze toward him. He was watching her with an enigmatic half-smile. “Finish your breakfast, love,” he instructed, passing a goblet of water toward her. “It is time we started for home.”
