by Sondra Grey
Annis pressed her lips together, embarrassed.
Adam looked her over a moment before striding into the room. Sweeping her grandly beneath his shoulder he set his eyes on the tailors. “This woman deserves to be decked in satin.”
“Satin is entirely impractical…”
“I want all the landholders in the country to look on her with envy,” Adam continued. “She looks well in blue and will need a few arasaids in the Maclean plaid.”
The younger tailor nodded vehemently.
“She might look well in green, so long as it’s more of a forest shade than pea. And I would avoid red and any shade of brown. Understood?”
Annis head was spinning, but the tailors seemed to understand perfectly.
“I will pay you double, if you can create the gowns and get them here in a weeks’ time. I’m sick of seeing her in brown.”
Annis heart lurched as Adam removed his arm and took her chin in his fingers. “I don’t care what the cost is. You look at their fabrics and decide what it is you want. If you want practical gowns, fine. But I demand you get five wholly impractical gowns.” He stared at Elise, his smile going from impatient to mischievous. “See that she does so.”
“Yes, of course,” said Elise, gifting him with a glorious smile.
“And when you are finished,” said Adam, slowly, “Come by my study. I’m balancing the price of planting with anticipated yields and could use your skills.”
Shocked, Annis could only repeat Elise, “Yes, of course.”
By the time Annis walked into his study, Adam had a pounding headache. He hated looking at sums. While he could add and subtract just fine (he wasn’t a fool!) he found working with projects and yields a fool’s errand. He understood the need for such exercises. It was fruitless to put more money into the fields than the fields could produce (that was a quick way to beggar yourself), but he had no notion of what price crops would bring at market.
“Thanks god,” he said as he set eyes on his wife. He stood up out of his chair and waved her over.
Annis had clearly been working in the garden that morning. She’d dirt smudged across her face and beneath her nails. Her hair had come half out of its ties and was falling attractively across her brow. It had been weeks since Adam had last sunk himself into his wife, and the sight of her, already half-disheveled had him half-hard.
Annis took a seat in the chair he’d offered and took a look at his books. Adam, who’d thought long and hard about what his brother had said, had decided that he had, indeed, been a terrible fool and would work to woo his wife.
He stood close to her, shadowing the book.
To Adam’s consternation, Annis seemed not to notice. Her eyes were scanning the numbers. He watched as her tongue ran across her lips. She bit her lower lip thoughtfully and all Adam could think about was biting those lips himself.
Good god, he needed to get a grip on himself.
Annis picked up the quill, dipped it in ink, and started copying numbers on a scrap of paper.
“Well?” Adam demanded, trying to curb his irritation.
“Your figures aren’t wrong,” said Annis, thoughtfully, looking at the book and not at him. “But I think you’re underestimating what the fields are capable of producing.” She looked up at him, thoughtfully. “I’m trying to remember back to my first few years here. Before David ran it into the ground. We’d barley fields that stretched several acres…”
She scribbled a few more numbers on the page and smiled. Then she flipped the book and began looking at livestock.
An hour later, she was still happily ensconced in her numbers, and Adam was ready to go mad. Nothing he did seemed to distract her. He’d stood close, brushed the hair off of her brow, posed near the window. She hadn’t even looked up.
“Annis,” said Adam, voice a croon.
“Mmhmm?” said Annis, not looking up.
“Are you nearly finished, love?”
Annis glanced up, blinking. “Yes,” she said. “I’ve a list, at least, of the livestock we’ll need to replace… what cost you can expect to pay for them, I don’t know. But based on my dowry and the sums at your disposal, this is how much we can afford to…”
“Annis,” Adam interrupted. Coming over to the desk, he placed his hands on both sides.
“Yes?”
“I don’t care how much we can spend on livestock right now, understand?” His voice was soft, seductive, and he saw her react to it. Her eyes widened slightly, and she leaned forward, despite herself.
“It’s been three weeks since you’ve let me at the honey between your succulent thighs,” he said, eyes lingering on her lips. She licked them, slowly. He was hard as a diamond within a second.
“If I can’t taste you now, I think I’ll go mad.”
“T…taste me?” said Annis, her cheeks blooming with heat.
“Have I not showed you yet, pet?” said Adam. He stalked around the table until he was crowding her against the edge, caging her between the desk and his arms.
He leaned down, sticking his nose in her neck. “Will you let me show you?” His hand cupped her chin, his lips came down and teased hers.
It came upon Adam suddenly that both she and his brother had been correct. The Camerons had treated Annis as a piece of property, and he’d been doing the same. But she wasn’t property, she was a woman, as evidenced by the quick inhale of breath, the parting of her lips beneath his.
Adam groaned and gathered Annis to him, pressing his hard, aching cock against her belly, slipping his tongue into her mouth and tangling it with hers.
Annis’ response was tentative at first, but he persisted, and soon she joined him, her hands fisting in his shirt, holding him close.
Adam pressed a knee between hers, forcing Annis to widen her stance. Then he dropped to his knees.
“What are you doing?” Annis said, her voice breathy, eyes heavy with desire. God, when she looked this wanton she was the most beautiful woman in the world. He wanted to hear her cry out his name as she climaxed.
Adam grasped the edge of her skirt and her chemise and lifted, exposing the thatch of soft brown curls at the apex of her thighs. “Hold these” he said, gruffly, forcing her to take her skirts from him.
His hands gripped her thighs, widening them even further and he knelt between them. He planted soft kisses in her curls, reveling in the way she squirmed nervously. The desk was behind her. She had nowhere to go.
Adam inhaled the scent of her sex, his lips moving down to fasten over hers. Annis let out a startled cry, and Adam kissed her again, with his tongue this time, deep open-mouthed kisses.
Annis writhed, her hips pressing against his mouth. His tongue delved deep and swirled then withdrew, flicking upwards over that bundle of nerves. Annis cried out, hips jerking, and Adam stayed there, laving her top to bottom, feasting.
“Oh God,” Annis gasped as his finger slid inside her, a second coming to join a moment later. But Adam wasn’t done with her. She tasted of honey and he wanted more. He used his tongue and his hands to wrest cry after cry from her, not relenting until he felt her stiffen against him, squeeze his finger and contract.
No. Not what he wanted. He wanted her screaming his name when she came. He stood and in one motion spun her around. Reaching, he grabbed her hands and stretched them out so that she was holding the far side of the desk.
“Adam?” she said.
“Shhh, love,” he replied, covering her, nibbling at her neck. “I want you this way.” He urged her up onto her toes, so that she was poised, behind in the air, waiting for him to take her. Adam didn’t hesitate. Lifting his kilt, he guided himself into her entrance, reveling in the slick feel of her as inch, by inch, he sank deep.
Annis squirmed at his invasion, pressed back into him, but he wanted the control. He held her hips still until he was settled all the way inside her. The pressure was exquisite, all along the bottom of his shaft. At this angle he could go deep, and he did, pulling out nearly all the way
before slamming back inside.
Annis whimpered beneath his assault, and Adam let her. After weeks of denying him, he needed this control, wanted it.
He wasn’t going to last long like this, and he’d promised himself that she’d come screaming his name. Adam braced himself against the small of her back. Bending his knees, he reached around, finding the front of her mound with his hand, fingers seeking out that small bud of pleasure.
Each thrust brought her flush against his palm, and he could feel her start to quicken, to move against him.
“Come for me, Annis,” he rasped into her ear, flexing his hips in a way that made her cry out. “Say my name, let the whole keep know who it is between your thighs. Come for me. Say my name.”
Annis panted, moaned and Adam picked up the rhythm, pressure building along his shaft. “Come for me, Annis. Say my name!” He bellowed.
“Adam!” She shrieked, her whole body tensing beneath him, walls squeezing him in uncontrolled convulsions.
“God!” Adam hollered, exploding inside her, releasing his seed deep into her womb. He collapsed atop her, unable to hold himself up any longer as the shudders wracked him.
Adam didn’t get up immediately. As Annis’ heart rate slowed, Adam’s hands were in her hair, sweeping it back off of her face, his lips kissing her temple.
Annis felt shame wash through. The whole keep would have heard them. Adam laughed into her hair, pulling her up to standing and spinning her in his arms.
“There’s a love,” he said to her, tucking her head beneath his chin and inhaling into her hair. “God, but you held me off too long.”
Annis bit her lip. He’d called her love. He’d gotten down onto his knees before her. Surely this was some sign of his affection?
“Promise me, little bird, that you’ll not hold me back like that again. I nearly went mad with it.”
Annis head was spinning at his sudden change in demeanor. Last week he’d demanded she lie with him, had pried her legs apart while she lay there passively. Today he was all charm again, and while she preferred him like this, she wasn’t sure she could trust his sudden change in mood.
“What is it?” asked Adam, chucking her under the chin.
But Annis didn’t know how to express her concerns, and so she shook her head.
“Come, Sparrow. I’ve work to get back to. Kiss me farewell,” he cajoled, smiling that golden smile at her. Annis’ heart melted a little and she stood up on her toes, giving him a tentative kiss on the lips.
He took her kiss and deepened it, stoking again the flames that had only just started to die down.
Part 2
Chapter 1
T he next weeks and months didn’t help settle any of Annis’ confusion. As the keep started to shape up around her, goods flowed in daily. When Adam wasn’t busy in the fields, or riding out to meet the land owners and the tenants, he was regaling Annis with tales of how he won, “this particular chair” or that “particular tapestry.”
Inveralt went from a shoddy, half maintained keep, into a luxurious manor house. Annis was soon outfitted with beautiful, sumptuous gowns and a serving woman from the village who helped her dress, and bathe, and fix her hair. What had been a quiet, dull life became one full of activity. And laughter.
The Maclean clansmen loved to laugh. They were constantly ribbing each other, play-fighting, or seeing who could out-drink, out-sing, or out-dance the other. Adam employed Lachlan as steward, since he was familiar with the surrounding estate and its tenants. He was satisfied with Cait’s cooking and hired her as head chef, her husband had no official title, but it was very clear that Adam trusted him with the care of the livestock and the hounds. As her husband was steward, Elise took on the role of housekeeper, a role she’d had before, under David. Only now she was earning a wage. All was well.
And yet, something was bothering Annis. Her husband was still changeable. At times, brooding, at times cagey. He’d lock himself in his study with Simon, or his brother, or one of his cousins.
Macleans were constantly riding on and off the Inveralt estate and about every two days, a few more Macleans would show up.
As a lover, Adam was insatiable, but Annis frequently felt his eyes fall to her belly. She’d had her flux a week after she’d returned from Loch Arkaig and had had it twice more since then. Adam’s attentions were unflagging, but their love-making was taking on a desperate tone. Annis was beginning to feel depressed. What if her premonitions were right? Once she was with child, Adam would be through with her.
She stood in the garden one afternoon, watching as yet another two riders approached Inveralt. She could hear her husband call welcome to them an usher them inside.
“More Macleans?” muttered Master Hawes, who appeared just over her shoulder, carrying a bunch of dried twigs in one hand.
“How many is that now?” asked Annis. It didn’t matter how many Macleans were showing up. They weren’t staying in the keep. Many of them had, in fact, taken up residence in one of the nearby fields. Annis had begun to wonder how many were planning on staying permanently. She wasn’t sure there’d be space enough to house this many Macleans and their wives.
“By my count? Fifty-five,” said the groundskeeper. “Any more and we’ll have a small army of Macleans.”
A small army. Annis bit her lip, wondering if that was her husband’s intention.
“If you’re curious,” said Elise, later that day, “You should ask him.”
But Adam had ridden off to the east fields, so Annis sought out Duncan.
The future Chief of Clan Maclean was working on sanding down the new table for the great hall. He had his shirt rolled up to his shirtsleeves and a fine sheen of sweat on his brow.
“Duncan,” said Annis, catching his attention. “Can I talk to you?”
Duncan cast her a curious look and nodded, putting down the large stone he’d been using, and brushing the sand off his hands. “Of course, Lady Annis, I’m at your disposal.”
There was a rough-hewn bench nearby and the two sat on it, Annis gathering her courage. “There seem to be a great many Macleans arriving this past week,” she said. “Do you know… do you know what my husband’s intentions are?”
Duncan frowned, staring off into the distance as if trying to discern how much to reveal.
“Aye. He plans on going after Ewan Cameron.”
Annis took a deep breath. “But did your father not forbid him from chasing down Ewan Cameron?”
“He did,” Duncan affirmed, casting her a sidelong glance. “But it’s not as simple as that. Ewan has done Adam a great wrong. Without his heir growing in your belly, he cannot hope to hold Inveralt against the Camerons. My father has promised him no men, and the king cannot send aid. Adam feels this is his only recourse.”
Guilt flooded her. This was her fault.
“What is it lady?” asked Duncan, sensing her anxiety.
“I’m afraid,” said Annis. “What if I cannot have children?”
Duncan’s mouth firmed. “Then you cannot have children. More reason for Adam to challenge the Camerons himself.”
“But the Camerons have hundreds of men. Adam has only fifty…”
“It will have to be enough,” said Duncan, bracing his hands on his knees. “Adam cannot sit around and wait for the Cameron’s next move. He can only ready his forces for an opportunity and stop them once and for all.”
“You think he’ll do it soon?”
“I think a rider came in just yesterday, alerting us that Ewan was spotted leaving Castle Tor and heading for his own keep in Spean.”
“And Adam will go to Spean,” Annis whispered, dread pooling in her gut.
“He will.” Said Duncan. “He’ll go quietly, but he’ll go with backup, and Ewan Cameron will pay for abducting you, and the Camerons will know that they should not underestimate the Macleans.”
“Won’t your father be angry?”
“There’s naught he can do. Adam is his own man. He is Laird of his own
keep. Adam knows I will not help him gainsay our father. I’ll finish this table as a gift to you and my brother on your nuptials, and then I’ll return to Duart. I’ve been gone long enough.”
Chapter 2
T he thought of Adam going off to fight Ewan Cameron, without the support of the Maclean clan at his back, terrified Annis. That night, when Adam turned to her, fingers reaching down to lift the hem of her nightgown, she stopped his hand. She couldn’t take this anymore.
“Adam,” she whispered into the dark. “Are you planning on leaving to find Ewan Cameron?”
Adam’s hand stilled on her thigh. “Yes,” he said, after a moment.
“I…I wish you wouldn’t.”
Adam removed his hand and sat up, looking down at her. “Why on earth not?”
“Because you don’t have your father’s blessing. Because if something happens to you, there will be no one to help you…”
“I cannot let this slight against my honor stand,” said Adam, firmly, as if speaking to a child. “To let this go is to invite more of the same. The Camerons will return. And since my seed has not yet taken in your womb, they will put their own man up to the task. You’ll be used like a common whore until one of the Camerons manages to get you with child.”
His words struck at her, and she knew they were meant to. Adam blamed her like David had. Annis bowed her head, unsure of what to say back to him. She could feel his eyes weighing her, waiting to see how she’d respond.
“I don’t want you to go,” she repeated. “Can we not forget about the Camerons and use the men who are here to fortify our defenses. Can we not give ourselves time?”
Adam looked away from her and he shook his head. “I cannot let this go. I will not let this go.”
Silence descended. Finally, Annis spoke up. “I see,” she said. “And when will you leave.”
“In two days’ time,” said Adam.
