by Reece Butler
“Aye. And since he disowned you Lord Lovat takes his place as your male kin. If he does not approve of Angus MacDougal he can have your marriage annulled.”
“Nay!” Fiona leaped to her feet, shaking her head rapidly. Her heart fought to escape her chest. “I married Angus with a priest! I fully consented. ‘Tis consummated!”
“Child, life has little to do with what is right. You are female and so a pawn in men’s games. Even sons marry where they are told. Did you think Darach courted Lady Isobel Grant?” She shook her head, answering her own question. “They are reasonably comfortable with each other, and I think they will learn affection over time. A union is necessary for both clans so they will marry.”
Fiona understood that alliances were required. It was how clans grew and prospered. The needs of the clan, and the family, came far above the wishes of those marrying. She’d once overheard talk of one of her father’s daughters who’d refused his choice of husband. ’There’d been whispers of something done to change her mind. She’d gone away and had not been spoken of again.
“I’m sorry to bring this to yer door, my lady. Will me joining with the MacDougals in yer home harm yer alliance with Clan Fraser?”
“We kenned who you were before you wed Angus. So, no. I would like to thank you.”
“Me? I have done nothing but cause ye trouble.”
“You have brought life to a pair of foster sons. Gillis eagerly grasped life, but we’ve never seen Angus so lighthearted. You bring them both joy, and I don’t just mean in the bedchamber. We hope we’ll hear Darach and Isobel sound as you did last night. That is a good way to ease tension in a new marriage.”
Fiona blushed. “I didna ken a great lady would speak of such things.”
“Cameron and I share a great love.” She gave a ladylike grimace. “It took a while for me to convince the man of it. He did not believe a warrior could love or show affection outside the bedchamber. He learned. I believe you can get Gillis and Angus to show love to you, as well.”
“Oh, nay.” Fiona shook her head. “We enjoy bedsport, and talking and the like. They are kind to me and have promised to listen when we are alone. That is enough.”
“What about love?”
“‘Tis just a word sung by bards and used as lies to get a lass to spread her legs.”
Lady Eloise pressed her lips together. “Have you loved anyone, or anything?”
“I shared my bedroll with an old tomcat on cold nights. He would come if I gave him some scraps.” She remembered his warmth, his rasping tongue. “He purred when I scratched his ears.”
Was that pity in Lady Cameron’s eyes? If so, it was quickly gone.
“You’ll have to ask permission to get a cat when you are settled. ‘Twill keep you company when your men are away.”
“I’ll not ask permission for a cat,” declared Fiona. “The wee beasties roam through castles on their own. They wait until ye sit then use yer lap to warm their toes while ye feed and pet them. They dinna ask permission, they just join ye in bed.” She pressed her skirt tight over her knees. “And if I ask, ’they may say nay,” she added softly.
“You need time with your husbands afore you decide what they will say, or do.” She sighed, as if in remembered exasperation. “Gillis was always smuggling wee injured creatures into their chamber. Angus would care for them and set them free again once they healed.”
“Angus?” she asked in surprise.
“Aye. He had a pet raven. Or perhaps the raven thought Angus was his pet. It followed him or rode his shoulder. It liked to swoop out of nowhere and pull on Gillis’s red hair.” She smiled wistfully. “The young ladies I fostered would watch from the windows, unable to keep back their laughter.”
“I shall have to ask them about that as we ride.” Her humor faded. They would ride to meet a man who could remove her husbands from her life.
“Be not sad, Fiona. I met your uncle at court. He is a good man, unlike his father. I dinna ken what he will think on your marriage, however. He was fond of your mother and tried to stop the wedding. His father refused.” She pursed her lips in disapproval. “The late Lord Lovat and your father were alike in wishing a quiet, obedient servant of a wife, a silent vessel to provide sons.” Her smile looked forced. “Your uncle may be pleased you are married. He may pat you on the head and send you on your way with the MacDougals. Or he may decide they are not suitable. ‘Tis out of our hands.”
“Lord Lovat will not be taking my men away,” declared Fiona.
“Cameron sent our son Rabbie to Lovat with a message to ease your way. He will speak of you, your husbands, and how your father treated you.” Her lips curved up. “We hope you’ll be met with open arms.”
“‘Twould be better than strung crossbows.”
Lady Eloise laughed. “Ah, child, I am pleased you have your mother’s spirit and wit. Come, we shall eat before our men arrive and the food is gone.” She offered Fiona the honey pot. “If you time it well, you’ll be able to spend the night in a bothy.” She leaned forward, dropping her voice. “Enjoy it all you can. Your uncle may keep you from your husbands until he decides what to do with you.”
Fiona blushed. She wanted more of what she’d done the previous night. “I shall ride slowly and placidly like a proper lady.”
“Only be a lady in public. Be wild and wicked in your bedchamber.”
Fiona snickered. She hid it when the door opened. Three men, all tall, imposing, and handsome, raised identical eyebrows. She looked at Lady Eloise. Both of them burst out laughing.
“Methinks our wives have been plotting,” said Cameron ominously.
He rested his hand on his wife’s shoulder, gently caressing it. Lady Eloise covered it with her palm. She gazed up at him with adoration and a touch of what Fiona thought must be was lust. Or was it love?
“Do ye mind, Laird and Lady Cameron?” said Gillis with an impatient sigh. “Ye are makin’ cow eyes at each other again.” He shook his head like a red bear and sighed. “Do ye see that, Angus? All these years and they’re still at it.”
“Aye,” replied Angus. He set his own hand on Fiona’s shoulder. “I would like us to be the same one day.”
Chapter Five
“Ah, ye are a beauty,” crooned Angus MacDougal. “Do ye wish me to ride ye, hard and fast and long? I’ll treat ye well, and keep ye from the hands of Laird Grant.”
Cameron’s magnificent black stallion nudged him in response. Angus chuckled. Gillis had snuck the horse from the stables years ago to ride it. He’d been well punished for taking the prime animal, but Angus hadn’t yet set his arse on such a beast.
A woman’s bright laugh brought both their heads swinging toward the sound. Fiona. His wife. He hadn’t touched her sweet pussy that morning, and it would be night before he could sink into her once more. He’d hoped to keep her in bed until at least the nooning. The sun had barely lifted over Ben Nevis and they were already riding out.
His old friend Darach Cameron walked beside her, dressed to ride. He gave Fiona the smile Angus had seen him use on pretty maids. Angus strode over and took Fiona into his arms. She melted against him with a sigh, opening her mouth for a kiss. She tasted of honey. She’d eagerly spooned it over her porridge during their wedding breakfast. She rubbed her body against him, raising his eager cock. Her breasts were bound for riding though not nearly as tightly as when she’d had to hide her sex. He finally pulled himself away. He’d far rather take her inside, or anywhere else, and show her what it meant to be his wife.
Again. And again. And yet again.
He deepened his kiss, squeezing her well-rounded arse with one hand. He pressed her belly against his rising cock. One advantage of wearing a plaid was that his cock would not be constrained when he rode. Another was that it was easy to for his wife to lift and fondle him. He caught her hand to stop her from doing so. Newly married they might be, but the bailey was crowded with prying eyes.
“Enough of that,” said Darach, interrupting the ki
ss. “I heard ye last night. I have to wait days afore I can marry and bed my wife. I dinna need ye reminding me of what I’m missing.”
“I thank ye for the use of yer bed last night, Darach,” said Fiona. Her smile flipped over into a scowl. “I wish I was in it still, and nay alone.”
“Now, now,” warned Darach. “Ye are a lady. ‘Tisn’t proper to speak of such things.”
His tone, and words, were patronizing. Angus waited to see what Fiona would do. She slugged Darach in the arm with her fist, hard. Angus nodded his approval.
“Lady? I’m the same woman who rumpled yer bedsheets with Angus and Gillis MacDougal,” she shot back. Darach sputtered. She shook her finger at him. “Dinna act all shocked. I hear ye plowed yer way through many a lassie.” She stomped toward her horse without another word.
Darach stared after her, frowning as he rubbed the spot she’d hit. Though Angus had just checked her horse Fiona had been trained to ride with the guard and take care of herself. Perhaps he would not get so hard, needing to pull her body to him, if he thought of her as a younger brother when others were around. She bent over to check her horse’s hooves. Her skirt tightened over her arse, and his mind went blank.
“It’s like that, is it?” said Darach. “Ye are a lucky man, Angus MacDougal. As is yer brother.” He shook his head as he watched her. “Such a wee thing, yet she takes on both of ye without fear. In bed and out,” he added in a murmur.
Angus turned away from the delectable sight of his wife’s arse. If they were alone he’d be standing behind her, balls deep, by now. No female had ever affected him this way. Perhaps it would be different after they’d been married a few weeks or months or years.
If Laird Fraser didn’t dissolve their marriage and give her to another.
Fiona laughed at something the stable boy said, shaking her head. Her soft, fiery hair burned like a torch. There was no doubt he was drawn to her like a moth in the night. Gillis finished with his horse and approached her. She’d bent over again, her back to him. Gillis, grinning, applied his hand to her bottom. The crack of a hearty spank, followed by a shriek, made Angus snicker. She glowered up at Gillis, rubbing her arse. She grabbed his ears and pulled him down for a long kiss. When they came up for air Gillis patted her bottom again, this time far more gently. Having put his stamp on her, and vice versa, he swaggered over to join them.
“I see ye are dressed to hunt, Darach,” said Gillis with great humor. “Are ye a wee bit fashed waitin’ fer yer wife, and need to stab sommat?”
“We’ll have many mouths to feed,” replied Darach, ignoring the rest of Gillis’s comment. “I’ll be riding along with ye for a bit today.” He nodded at Fiona. “Ye have a bonnie wife.”
“One that ye’d best keep yer eyes and hands off,” warned Gillis.
Darach returned the hard stare, then turned to Angus. He glanced down, saw the tented plaid, and snickered. “Ye puir wee laddies. A hard cock and a hard ride do nay go well together.”
“Can I hit him?” asked Gillis of Angus, narrowing his stare at Darach. “My fist to his belly will nay break his nose.” He paused, barring his teeth in a warning grin. “This time.”
“I broke yers, if ye recall,” said Darach.
Angus ignored them, turning to watch Fiona, who had gone back to her horse. She was his wife until death parted them. Or Lord Lovat. One of Cameron’s men-at-arms approached, clasping his hands to help her mount. She would not be used to settling into a saddle with skirts. He strode over. The guard saw him coming and backed away, hands up and grinning. Angus hauled back on his anger. Was it being newly married, or that he hadn’t touched her in hours?
“Ye’ll wait for me to help ye mount, wife.”
She jammed her fists on her hips and rolled her eyes at him. “I dinna need a man to mount my horse. I’ve been riding since I was a wee thing.”
“Not in skirts. Ye dinna wish to show yer calves, do ye?”
“They are nay different from yer own, without such hair. You were nattering on, and I wish to leave. If we get far enough we’ll stay in a bothy tonight, not on the ground in the open.”
He lifted an eyebrow and stared down at her. Brave men had quaked under that stare. He would never harm her, but she would know he was in charge. Her petulant expression faded. She swallowed hard. A slight blush tinted her tanned cheeks.
“Dinna ye wish to have a wee bit of privacy this night?” she asked, for his ears only.
He silently held out his hands, fingers locked, for her foot. He boosted her into the saddle. Someone had added a sheepskin. She squirmed as she settled her skirts but said nothing. She was no doubt sore from sharing them for the first time. He rested his hand on her arse, reminding her of what they’d done. She was tiny yet had eagerly ridden Gillis then pushed back to urge his cock into her tight asshole. If his sporran wasn’t so full his plaid would have tented even more.
He wanted her yet again. Fiona would not wish them to touch her if they were out in the open with Cameron’s guard. This time she was suggesting they share a bedroll and do more than sleep. The blush that tinted her tanned cheeks suggested she was equally aroused. The likelihood of them doing something about it tonight was far greater if they made it to the bothy.
“We’ll ride hard to that bothy.” He lowered his voice. “And we’ll ride ye even harder this night.”
The pink under her tan increased. His cock thickened at her equal desire for them.
Chapter Six
Fiona rode silently with the others, each content with their own thoughts. As they were in the middle of Cameron land, and had an armed escort, there was little danger. It was a new day, and her life was about to change. Again.
She would not think about what awaited them. Tomorrow would happen soon enough. She looked around, for once not worried about the danger of meeting a man’s eye. She wasn’t sore, not really. Auld Maggie had insisted a sheepskin be placed on her saddle, and it helped. She might think differently after a full day of riding but right now she had a pleasant ache. It was not from the horse.
“Too bad I’m nay holding my legs open for Angus or Gillis instead of a horse,” she muttered, careful to keep her words from the others.
It was a beautiful sunny day. The wind blew the midges away yet the sun was warm. Darach had broken off from them after an hour to hunt. He’d hugged her and kissed her forehead before Gillis could stop him. He was still laughing at their glowers when he rode off. She didn’t know why her husbands were so upset. She was a well-married woman, uninterested in anyone else.
Perhaps it was that she hadn’t asked permission before allowing Darach to touch her. If Angus believed she would ask permission for everything, and always obey him, there would be sparks as she had a different view. She’d been raised to follow orders to do with work and act as she chose otherwise. She wanted her husbands to respect her, and what she knew. They may think she’d only state her opinions in private. She would not openly defy them, but in some things she had been far better educated. She would not hesitate to give her opinion if she thought it would be useful.
She also wanted to learn from the guard captain about their years while fostering with Laird Cameron. She’d been warned about being spanked if she did so. While the thought gave her a warm tingle they’d made it clear they’d apply their hands to her bare arse in front of the guard. She narrowed her eyes at her husbands, riding ahead. Angus must have sensed something because he turned his horse and rode back.
“You behaving yourself, wife?” he asked smugly.
She shot him a dirty look. “I do have a name, husband.” She said it as if it was a curse.
“Aye, ye do,” he agreed, “but I like all knowing ye belong to me.”
“I belong to myself,” she replied testily.
He sighed, shaking his head and giving her a look as if she were a small child just learning how to hold a wooden practice sword.
“A lass belongs to her father until she marries. Then she belongs to her husband.
All of us belong to our laird. Since neither my brother Somerled, Laird MacDougal, or his twin Niall is here, ye are under my control.” He leaned over in his saddle, spearing her with his dark eyes. “Yer wee body belongs to me, and to Gillis. Ye will do what I say, or ye will feel the flat of my palm. And then ye’ll feel my hard cock slamming into your pussy while ye take Gillis in yer sweet mouth. Or yer arse.”
Her pussy flared with heat. She shifted on the saddle, trying to rub her clit against it. The soft sheepskin destroyed any chance. They’d had one night in a bed together and a couple days living rough before that. She’d hoped to spend a few days and nights exploring their bodies in comfort and having them do the same to her. But it was not to be.
She’d been taught that men have their sexual needs. From what Lady Eloise suggested, there was no reason to doubt women did as well. She could be just as demanding. Angus’s talk of what his cock could do to her pussy was making her wish they’d stop, so he could do as he’d threatened.
“Ye keep sayin’ that,” she grumbled, “but ye are nay doin’ it.”
He stopped, grabbed her reins and pulled her close.
“If we didna have to meet with yer uncle I’d haul ye off yer horse right now and pull up yer skirt. I’d put ye over my lap and spank your arse until it’s red, and then I’d show ye a few more things a husband can with to his wife.”
She managed to hold back a whimper of need. She’d never felt this before. She craved his gentle touch, his soothing voice, and his vigor when his passion was aroused.
“Ye’ll nay do it with Laird Cameron’s men near,” she accused. “Will ye do it when we are at my uncle’s?”
“I will put my mouth on the part of ye that is perched on that saddle. Ye will bite into yer leather strap when ye peak. And then I will fill ye with my cock.”
“Ye did that last night,” she said, a little breathless.
“Did ye enjoy it?”
