How to Marry a Royal Highlander

by Vanessa Kelly

  But she did fight it. Because even though it was the most shocking experience of her life, it made her body come alive in a way she’d never thought possible.

  With devastating skill, Alec drove her toward her peak as he greedily feasted on her. Spasms began deep inside her womb and rippled outward in lovely, lush waves. When he sucked on her tight bud, Edie practically shot off the bed. She curled forward and dug her fingers into his shoulders, every muscle in her body starting to tremble, her lips clamped shut against the scream that threatened to break from her throat.

  With a swiftness that startled her, Alec pulled away, leaving her poised on the knife’s edge.

  “Why are you stopping?” She winced at the screechy tone to her voice.

  On his knees, Alec tugged at the fall of his breeches. His rugged features were taut, his cheekbones glazed with color. His gaze skated upward, lingering on her mound, her breasts, before catching on her face.

  “Because I want to be inside you when you come,” he rasped.

  His erection sprang free, huge and flushed. Edie’s heart thumped against her breastbone. He was a big man in every way, powerful and intimidating. Even though she’d taken all of him in last night, she still experienced a moment’s trepidation. But that didn’t stop her from wanting him with a need that made her tremble.

  She expected him to spread her legs wide and position himself between them. Instead, he came down beside her, his weight dipping the mattress. She rolled against him.

  “Come here, my love,” he said, reaching for her.

  Before she could say a word, Alec lifted her and set her astride his hips. He tugged her skirts free and bunched them up around her waist. Her sex, hot and slick, rode the length of his erection. She had to fight the urge to rock against him and bring herself to completion. He wanted to be inside her when she climaxed, and she wanted that too.

  Still, it felt rather awkward, sitting on top of him, so indecently exposed. It was thrilling, but she couldn’t help blushing in spite of herself.

  And wondering what to do next.

  Alec curled his hands around her breasts. “Hmm,” he purred. “Now I have you exactly where I want you.”

  She wrinkled her nose at him. “I don’t mean to sound like a complete ignoramus, but what do you want me to do now?”

  He let out a husky laugh. “That’s the fun of it, sweetheart. Trying out new things.”

  When he thumbed her nipples, she let out a gasp. Well, two could play at that game.

  Edie began to move, rocking against his thick erection. When Alec hissed in a breath, she smiled. It felt so wonderful that she could imagine doing it for hours—except for the fact that she was already building to a climax again.

  “God, you’re so wet,” Alec groaned.

  A gorgeous throb pulsed through her passage, taking her to the edge. “Now,” she begged. “Please.”

  His hands clamped on her hips. “Up on your knees, love,” he murmured.

  He guided her into position, the broad head of his erection nudging between her folds to penetrate her opening. To his whispered encouragement, she sank down, his thick length forging into her in an endless, glorious slide. He filled her completely, reaching so deeply inside that she couldn’t tell where he ended and she began.

  She loved it. She loved him.

  Never taking his gaze from her face, Alec began to move, his powerful body thrusting up, rocking into her. She found the rhythm and began moving with him. His thickness rubbed against her with delicious friction, building her passion. Edie felt herself swelling around him, going softer, wetter, and incredibly slick as he stroked into her. She rocked faster and faster, desperate to find her release.

  Suddenly, he tilted her forward, bringing her pelvis flush against him as he thrust. Edie cried out as her climax rolled over her. She rose up on her knees, trembling with the force of it. Alec followed her up, hips pumping, his hands wrapped around her waist and pressing her down as she contracted around him.

  Then he let out a ragged groan of release. She felt the rush of his warmth inside and slid down onto his chest, boneless and utterly sated. Alec wrapped his arms around her, holding her close in his powerful embrace.

  Her stays were digging into her ribs, her skirts were bunched uncomfortably around her waist, and she could feel her foot starting to cramp. Edie didn’t care, because it was the perfect moment. She felt safe and cherished, and happier than she’d ever been.

  In Alec’s arms, she could believe that nothing bad could ever happen to her again.

  For a few minutes, he simply stroked her with gentle hands. Then he finally stirred. “Well, that was great fun,” he said, his voice a low rumble. “But I suppose we’d best get up before Monroe comes looking for us.”

  That notion jerked Edie out of her lovely daze, especially since she was sprawled on top of Alec with her skirts around her waist and her bottom immodestly on display.

  “Good God,” she said, pushing herself up on her elbows. “I cannot believe I let you talk me into this.”

  He let out a regretful sigh as she wriggled off him. “Strictly speaking, I don’t believe I had to talk you into anything.”

  “Which only goes to show that I’m as bad as you are,” she said as she scurried to a large mirror hung opposite the bed. She almost let out a shriek when she saw how thoroughly disheveled she looked.

  “And thank God for that, my sweet,” Alec said as he set himself to rights.

  It took Edie a few minutes longer to appear presentable again, although her coiffure was a total loss. She stuffed as many of her tangled locks as she could under her riding hat and then went to straighten the bedclothes.

  “You don’t have to do that, love,” Alec said. “Monroe will take care of it.”

  Edie cast him a horrified glance. “If you think I’m going to let that dignified old man know what we were doing up here, you’re quite mad.”

  Alec chuckled. “I’m sure he already knows. I’m also quite sure he doesn’t blame me in the least.”

  “Splendid,” she said sarcastically. “Let’s be sure to ask him on the way out.”

  He simply grinned at her and took her by the hand to lead her downstairs. Edie had to admit that part of her was embarrassed that she’d so readily succumbed to Alec’s indecent seduction, but the rest of her—mind and body—seemed to be fizzing with happiness, as if someone had uncorked a bottle of champagne inside her chest.

  A few days ago she’d been convinced that the only thing life held for her was a dreary procession of days that stretched into years, a life where she would dwindle into an unhappy woman living on the edges of society. Now she faced the joyous prospect of marriage to the man she loved and a life that would be both privileged and interesting. Edie couldn’t believe how lucky she was, and she intended to spend the rest of her days showing Alec and his family that she deserved their affection and, she hoped, their trust.

  Mr. Monroe met them in the entrance hall with a twinkle in his eye and a knowing smile that showed a few gaps in his teeth. When Alec gave her a roguish, I-told-you-so grin, she rolled her eyes but couldn’t help smiling back.

  “Heckie has the horses out front, Master. All rested and watered for the ride back to the castle.”

  In the courtyard, a tall, freckle-faced lad of about sixteen stood with the horses. He greeted Alec and Edie with shy respect, opening up a bit when Alec asked him questions about the state of the stables behind the house.

  “We hope to see ye and the Master again soon, mistress,” Mr. Monroe said when Edie wished him good-bye. “It’s grand having the young laird back, and that’s the truth. He’s grown up to be a braw figure of a man, and we’re all right proud of him.”

  Edie slid Alec a look, hoping he’d heard the old man’s enthusiasm. By the smile lifting the corners of his mouth as he spoke to Heckie it appeared he had.

  “Thank you, Mr. Monroe,” she said. “I’m sure we’ll be visiting again very soon.”

  “And perh
aps ye’ll be able to stay and have some tea next time, eh?” he said with a twinkle.

  She choked on a laugh but simply nodded as Alec came to help her mount. Then he swung up on Darius and brought him alongside Edie’s mare.

  “We’ll have to hurry a bit,” he said, “if we’re too—”

  Stucco from the wall behind them exploded in a puff of dust. Almost simultaneously, Edie heard a muffled crack, and then Alec launched himself off his horse and ran to her. The movement startled her mare, and Edie fought to get her under control.

  “Edie, get down,” Alec snapped as he reached for her.

  She slid into his arms just as more stucco exploded only a few inches away from their heads. Her horse reared, startled by the commotion, but Alec had already dragged her clear. He pulled her off to the side of the yard and shoved her down into the shelter of the thick wall to the left of the archway. Then he ducked low and raced back to grab Darius’s bridle and pull him away from the arch.

  “Heckie, goddammit, let her go,” he yelled at the boy, who was tying to bring the mare under control.

  Mr. Monroe grabbed his grandson by the collar and yanked him to the other side of the archway, where they hunkered down against the wall. The mare danced around the courtyard, her hooves clattering on the cobblestones. When she settled, she walked over to join the big stallion, and a fraught quiet descended on the courtyard.

  Edie winced as she pushed herself up on her knees. She’d gone down hard on her hip when Alec shoved her to the ground but was otherwise unharmed.

  With a trembling hand, she pushed her hat up from her eyes. “I don’t suppose I imagined that, did I?”

  Alec looked at her, and the fury she saw in his cold gray gaze blew through her like a winter storm.

  “No, you didn’t. Someone just tried to shoot us.”

  Chapter Twenty-Three

  “I refuse to believe it,” Lord Riddick said in a distressed tone. “I’ll grant you that Fergus was angry, but he’d never try to hurt Alasdair. It’s not in his nature.”

  Edie stared across the big desk at the earl, dumbstruck by his assertion. Mamma, however, had no trouble finding her tongue.

  “That is the most patently ridiculous thing I’ve ever heard, my lord,” she said in a stern tone. “We were all witness to the ugly scene in your garden this morning. If not for my timely intervention, the captain might well be lying in a coffin at this very moment.”

  “Mamma, that’s a bit much,” Edie protested, casting a worried eye at the earl. Alec’s grandfather was looking decidedly frail at the moment despite his irate demeanor. Edie was mad as fire herself, but it wouldn’t help matters if Lord Riddick succumbed to a heart spasm. “Besides, I don’t think Mr. Haddon really intended to shoot Alec. At least not then.”

  When the earl glared at her, Edie winced. “Well, someone shot at us at the lodge, I’m sorry to say. He almost hit us, too.”

  They’d made that clear to their respective relatives a few minutes ago, when Alec had tersely outlined the afternoon’s events.

  “I understand from my daughter that Mr. Haddon has made several threats against your grandson,” Mamma said. “That, combined with this morning’s aborted duel, certainly points to him.”

  Walter Gilbride, who was seated next to Mamma in front of the earl’s desk, stirred uneasily. He glanced over his shoulder at Alec, who was standing halfway down the length of the library, his back to them as he stared out the window. Edie wanted to drag him away from the glass, convinced he was making himself a target.

  Instead, she hovered between Lord Riddick’s desk and the window, ready to throw herself on Alec and shield him if need be. It was a ridiculous notion, of course, since it would be well nigh impossible for someone to take a shot without Alec spotting him first. That particular section of the gardens consisted of only low bushes and shrubs with no real hiding places. The garden then ended in a wall overlooking a steep drop into a ravine along the north side of the castle.

  Back at the lodge, Alec had made a terrible fuss about her safety. When he’d finally let her up off the stones in the yard, he’d run his hands over her body, ascertaining for himself that she was unhurt. She hadn’t missed the slight trembling in his fingers as they’d brushed over her. He’d then mashed her against him, growling out a torrent of oaths that were both hair-raising and fascinating in their specificity.

  After about ten minutes, they’d finally ventured out from their hiding place. All seemed quiet, and Alec had dashed upstairs to one of the rooms fronting the house. After Mr. Monroe unearthed an ancient-looking spyglass, they’d scanned the meadows and woods in front of the house for any sign of their shooter.

  Fortunately or unfortunately, depending on one’s point of view, there wasn’t anything suspicious to see. Heckie had volunteered that he’d seen a rider in the distance while Edie and Alec were upstairs earlier. The rider had been heading toward the lodge when the boy last saw him, but since no one had subsequently appeared, Heckie hadn’t thought twice about it.

  In light of subsequent events, however, it had seemed likely that the rider was, in fact, their shooter.

  After about half an hour, Alec had decided that it was safe to venture back to Blairgal. He’d wanted to leave Edie in the safety of the lodge until he returned with an armed escort to retrieve her, but she’d strenuously objected. She was quite convinced that no one was trying to kill her, which clearly meant Alec was the target. If anyone needed an escort it was him.

  That had led to a rather fierce argument until Edie reminded him of the odd incident at Mugdock Castle when the stones had come tumbling down, nearly killing them. He’d grown silent for a minute or so, as if that thought hadn’t occurred to him. But it had been the first thing Edie had thought about, once she’d picked herself up from the stones of the courtyard.

  Alec had again ordered her to stay behind until he could return with an escort. But when Edie said she would simply wait till he was out of sight and follow him, he had grudgingly relented. Mr. Monroe and Heckie had insisted on going with them to serve as backup, and Alec had agreed. After they’d armed themselves with pistols—the lodge had quite a lot of them, which didn’t surprise her—they set out. Alec had placed Edie astride on a regular saddle, and they had thundered back to Blairgal in record time, riding fast and low over their horses’ necks in order to present as small a target as possible. She’d counted it as one of the most unpleasant half hours of her life.

  She didn’t think she’d ever seen as welcome a sight as Blairgal Castle when it rose up before them at the end of the valley.

  After Alec had hurried her indoors, they’d gone to look for his grandfather. As it happened, Lord Riddick was in his library with Mamma and Mr. Gilbride discussing marriage settlements. That discussion had gone out the window when Alec, followed by Edie, burst into the library demanding Fergus’s whereabouts.

  The subsequent discussion had not been pleasant.

  Mr. Gilbride peered at his son with concern. “Alasdair, is that true?” he asked. “Did Fergus make threats against you?”

  “Yes, he did.” Alec didn’t bother to turn around. “He said he would kill me if I didn’t marry Donella.”

  Mr. Gilbride scrunched up his face. “Oh, dear. That’s not good.”

  “I would say that is something of an understatement,” Mamma said sardonically.

  Edie cast a worried glance at Alec’s back and then another at Lord Riddick, who was looking decidedly whey-faced. She hurried over to a sideboard and poured out a healthy splash of what she assumed was brandy into a crystal tumbler.

  “Here, your lordship,” she said, bringing it back to him. “This might help a bit.”

  The old man gave her a wan smile. “Thank you, lass.”

  So far, the earl didn’t seem to be holding her responsible for any of his family’s current troubles, and he had been just as aghast as Mamma and Mr. Gilbride that she’d been put in danger. In fact, after his initial defense of Fergus, the wind seemed to h
ave gone out of his sails. No one could blame him, given that his nephew had probably just tried to kill his grandson.

  “That is a splendid idea, Eden,” Mamma said, rising. “Mr. Gilbride, can I get you a drink as well?”

  “I’ll have the whiskey,” Alec’s father said in a distracted voice. “It’s the one on the end.”

  While Mamma fetched the drinks, Edie went to fetch Alec.

  “No one knows what to do,” she murmured as she slipped her hand into his. “You’ve got to manage this, especially for your grandfather’s sake.”

  His profile looked carved from granite. “I know.” Then he glanced down at her, and a little warmth crept into his bleak gaze. “Thank you, love.”

  She cocked her head. “For what?”

  “For being here.” He paused. “For loving me.”

  Her heart jolted. She hadn’t yet worked up the courage to confess her love to him, nor had he said the words, either. But she heard the question in the statement and knew what he needed to hear.

  “I do love you,” she said. “I’ll always love you.”

  He drew her close, dropping a kiss on the top of her head, then led her back to the desk.

  “Grandfather, where is Fergus now?” he asked.

  The old man’s gaze was utterly weary. “In Glasgow on business. It made sense to send him off for the day. I thought it might cool him down.”

  “Anyone else go with him?”

  Lord Riddick winced. “No. He rode.”

  Alec breathed a curse under his breath.

  “I believe he went to run some errands and speak to our lawyers, is that not correct?” asked Mr. Gilbride.

  “Aye, that’s right,” Lord Riddick replied.

  “Grandfather, why don’t you write down exactly which errands you sent him on,” Alec said. “I’ll dispatch two of the grooms to track him down and bring him back home.”

  “That’s assuming he went in the first place,” Edie’s mother said. “But even if Mr. Haddon isn’t the culprit, somebody is. Which means there could still be a murderer lurking about the castle.” She shuddered. “And people think London is dangerous.”