The Highlander’s Passion (Iron 0f The Highlands Series Book 3)
Page 21
Seonaid laughed and kissed him. “All in good time,” she murmured. “I can wait.
Even if it was going to be hard, she was sure she could manage.
She had just returned from the wood supply when she heard a knock on the kitchen door. Everett was mending a broken stool in the parlor, and her father was resting. She peered through the window and caught sight of a female figure standing on the doorstep. She opened the door.
“Miss Grady!” she greeted the seer with surprise. “And Linnet!”
“I heard your man was hurt,” Miss Grady said softly. “Mrs. Brewer told me,” she added as if to separate it from the Sight. “We came to see how he fares.”
“He’s recovering,” Seonaid said, feeling a little disconcerted. She never felt entirely comfortable around the seer.
“Aye. I thank ye for your kindness,” Everett said, coming in, stool in hand. “I’m busy mending.”
“Good.” Miss Grady nodded slowly. “I’m pleased to hear it. We brought you some provisions. Linnet? Could you pass Miss McCarrick the things?”
“Aye, mistress. We have some linens, and some biscuits from the shipping stores, and some spices – they’re good for packing wounds, Miss. They can help to keep out infections.”
“Thank you,” Seonaid murmured, touched by their kindness. The bundle smelt fragrant and was quite large.
“Anybody home?” A voice called from the doorstep.
“Camden!” Seonaid waved to the young future seaman. He grinned, and she noticed that, as his eyes fell on Miss Grady and Linnet, he went quite flushed. She bit back a smile.
“I’m just going to take the supplies upstairs,” she excused herself. She heard Camden talking in a strained voice to the visitors, and bit back a grin.
The lad might be after more than a new job, soon.
She came back down to the kitchen to find their visitors gone. Everett smiled up at her.
“It’s good tae see them, but it’s good to be alone, too.”
Seonaid nodded. “Yes,” she murmured. “It is.”
She wrapped her arms around him and breathed in the scents of smoke and coppery-blood and warmth and held him fiercely, knowing that this was the man whom she would love for all her days.
“I love you, lass,” Everett whispered, voice raw.
She stroked his hair and kissed him. “And I love you, too, Everett McDonell. I love you always and forever, with every beating of my heart.”
EPILOGUE
The sound of the river was a sweet song, drifting through the open kitchen window. It was autumn, and the mist clung to the riverbanks, swathing the small cottage in a gentle dark.
Seonaid rolled over in bed and reached for Everett. He was leaning back on the board of the bed, his firm, muscled chest partly bared to the rippling firelight. Seonaid touched his skin, marveling in how good it felt to touch him when he was so whole and well.
“Shall we go to the river today?” she murmured. It had become their habit to take a walk each day, unless it was too cold. Everett worked repairing furniture, pots and carts during the mornings, and Seonaid was gathering a reputation for her own mending skills. By late afternoon, though, their tasks were done, and they had time to spend together – or taking a walk.
Everett wrapped an arm around her shoulders. “I don’t know, lass. I would stay here all day, but I reckon ye’d need me tae get wood for the fire some time.”
She chuckled. “We should bring some more in and keep it by the fireplace. That way ye can stay here all afternoon.”
He raised a brow, a sweet, wicked smile playing over his face. “Now, there’s an idea,” he murmured. “If you’ll excuse me, I might do just that.”
Seonaid smiled up into his eyes, loving the way they wrinkled at the corners, the wicked tilt to the edge of his smile. “You reckon so?”
“I reckon. Coming back,” he added, slipping out of bed. She heard his bare feet walking to the door, and then the clatter as he donned boots.
While he was gone, she lay resting peacefully, her hands clasped over her belly, eyes half-open as she looked around the small, cozy cottage by the river where they now lived. She felt blissfully happy.
She would never have imagined that she would end up there, just outside Tollcross, with a home of her own!
She smiled. The cottage itself was a gift from Murray, their merchant friend – he had owned the property for several years, but had no real use for it anymore. He’d passed it on to her and Everett as a wedding gift.
Seonaid smiled. She was pleased to be away from the bustle and commerce of the port. She loved the tranquil countryside, the slow rise and setting of the days, the song of the water outside the windows at night. This house was perfect for her and Everett, and the best thing was that barges put in here as they traveled up and down the river. Camden and her father were working together now, and they focused more on upriver voyages, so she saw them both quite often. Her father often stayed with them, and she reckoned it would be perfect if he moved onto their land when he finally stopped taking barges upriver. It was safe, quiet and tranquil here. Exactly what he needed after a life in the humdrum busyness of the docks.
“Here we are, my lass,” Everett said, and she watched as he set the pieces of wood by the fire and then came back to the bed.
Seonaid smiled up at him as she felt her body tingle as he climbed onto the bed. He reached for her, drawing her into his arms, his lips tender on hers as his tongue gently pushed between them. She gasped and pressed close to him, her arms drawing him against her body.
He sighed and stroked her hair and moved his mouth to kiss her neck. He worked down it to her collarbones, then kissed lower, taking a nipple in his mouth. He sucked it gently and she gasped, and rolled onto her back as his body pressed against hers. She could feel his loins hardening and pushed her body against him, reveling in his strength.
Everett gently opened her nightdress and drew off the trews he wore, then pushed inside her with the full length of him. She gasped as he filled her, and held him to her chest as he moved faster and faster. She closed her eyes, feeling herself already so close to the summits of pleasure. As her body tingled and throbbed and then, unexpectedly, climaxed, spinning her down into a sweet haze of wonder, she kissed him.
Everett lay on her a moment later, gasping as he climaxed. He lay beside her, and gently stroked her hair.
“Lass,” he whispered in her ear. “I’m so happy here. I never thought it was possible, to feel like this.”
Seonaid smiled and looked up at him, feeling the warmth of those brown eyes like a touch on her soul.
“And I am so happy, too,” she murmured back. “I wish everyone could know it was possible to be so happy. Then mayhap more people would find it.”
Because the heart’s song is like a ship’s compass, and love lights our path on life’s trackless oceans, guiding us back home.
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ALSO BY EMILIA FERGUSON
* * *
Lairds of Dunkeld Series
Book 1 Link -> Heart Of A Highlander
Book 2 Link -> The Highlander’s Challenge
Book 3 Link -> The Highland Hero
Book 4 Link - > The Cursed Highlander
Book 5 Link - > The Highlander’s Dilemma
Book 6 Link -> The Highlander’s Awakening
Book 7 Link -> The Highland Secret Agent
Book 8 Link -> A Highlander’s Terror
Book 9 Link -> Soul Of A Highlander
Book 10 Link -> Courage Of A Highlander
* * *
Blood of Duncliffe Series
Book 1 Link -> The Highlander’s Trust
Book 2 Link -> Destiny Of A Highlander
Book 3 Link -> Highland Love Prevails
; Book 4 Link -> Love For A Reluctant Highland Lass
Book 5 Link -> Shadowy Highland Romance
Book 6 Link -> The Highlander’s Runaway
Book 7 Link -> The Highlander’s Healer
Book 8 Link -> The Highlander’s Widow
Book 9 Link -> A Highlander’s Gifted Love
Book 10 Link -> The Highlander’s Brave Baroness
* * *
Iron Of The Highlands Series
Book 1 Link -> The Highlander On The Run
Book 2 Link -> Her Highland Protector
Book 3 Link -> The Highlander’s Passion
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Acknowledgement
Thank you for taking your time and energy to read “The Highlander’s Passion”. Without your continuous support, I would not have written this book.
Wherever you are, I appreciate you from the bottom of my heart. I also want to thank my wonderful Facebook fans, my advance copy reviewers and beta readers in advance for making this series a success.
~ Emilia
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Publisher’s Notes
Copyright © 2017, 2018, 2019 by EMILIA FERGUSON
This book is a work of fiction. Any similarities to real or dead people, places, or events are not intentional and are the result of coincidence. The characters, places, and events are the product of the author’s imagination and are used fictitiously. All rights reserved.
No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without prior written permission from the author/publisher. The publisher does not have any control over and does not assume any responsibility for author or third-party websites or their content.