The Highlander Who Saved Me (Heart of a Highlander Collection Book 2)

by Allie Palomino

  “I do not slave after anyone, Connor.”

  “I beg to differ, Maddie.”

  Silence stretched between them. She couldn’t meet his intense stare.

  “How is it at home?”

  She knew he asked about servants.

  “We have some,” she said defensively. “‘Tis just that you’re used to having so many servants, Connor. How many do you have?”

  “A sufficient number to make certain no one is overworked and that duties are accomplished fairly. I should ask ye that same question.”

  “There are only two servants. The cook and Saydie. Of course, me. I always help.”

  “Only the three of ye for a large castle? I’m surprised ye arena in a grave, Maddie. Why do ye clean? Ye’re a lady.”

  “We manage fine, Connor…and efficiently. There are no stations in the eyes of our Lord. A housemaid is treated the same as a lady. He loves us all equally. I work because hard work is good for the soul. I need all the help I can get.”

  Another mysterious comment from her, but it was forgotten in the next moment. She turned her golden gaze onto him and their gazes locked. Connor stopped breathing. It seemed as if everything stilled. The birds quieted. The water no longer gently stirred around them with the subtle wind. All he heard was their breathing. The air sizzled between them. The chemistry was keeping their eyes locked onto one another.

  The moonlight was bright and cast a blue overshadow on them. Her eyes twinkled and glittered gold. It looked as if her eyes were glowing from within. Their luminescence was vibrant. Her creamy skin looked even more luscious and otherworldly. Her shoulders were perfectly shaped and her neck was sumptuous.

  For Maddie, Connor’s eyes were like crystals, drawing her in. They were the clearest blue she had ever seen. When he looked at her, it felt as if she were bare in front of him. His hair hung down his shoulders. A scar between his left eye and ear added to his handsome appearance.

  “I didn’t notice that scar before,” she whispered, lifting a hand to touch it.

  His hands came up and captured hers. He turned his head and kissed her palm. Her gaze shifted back to his eyes. Maddie’s mouth opened as if to say something but no words came out. Her lips were wet from the water. Droplets came down her face, as the sponge of her hair couldn’t hold anymore.

  The heaven’s opened up and it started to rain.

  Neither noticed.

  Maddie’s black hair framed her face as the water pelted down. He swore her eyes became brighter as they stood motionless, staring at one another. When lightning flashed, Maddie swore that his eyes took in its light and reflected crystal beauty.

  He was panting, and she couldn’t seem to draw enough air through her open mouth.

  He couldn’t take it.

  And then he kissed her.

  The lightning crashed and the air crackled between them. His hands expanded around her waist, drawing her closer. His kiss was demanding. His mouth slanted over hers again and again hungrily. Maddie didn’t pull away. Nay. Her arms wrapped around his neck and she grew wild in his arms. Her moans made him crazed.

  He groaned as she threaded her fingers through his hair.

  The rain continued to fall down on them but they were completely oblivious, aware only of each other.

  His mouth slowly lowered to her neck and he began to suck on it. Her moans drove him wild. She had a death grip on his hair as her head leaned to the side to allow him to kiss her neck. Although the rain was cold, the heat between them kept them warm.

  Connor’s gaze narrowed below the water to her breasts. He was hungry for them. His lips traveled down. He was now underwater and when he took in her nipple into his mouth, her hands tightened around his floating hair. Her head rolled back and a loud moan bounced from tree to tree around them. He heard it from beneath the water.

  Connor was hard and throbbing now. He felt every pump of blood; it resounded in his ears. He sucked on her nipple, now a hard bead in his mouth. Her skin was deliciously smooth.

  Maddie felt herself throbbing below her stomach, in her private region. It was a pulsing need she’d never felt before. Her stomach felt like it had butterflies.

  Connor surged out of the water with ferocity. Droplets fell down his face as he stared down at her. Her eyes were aglow with passion and had become a honeyed yellow. Her eyes were mystifying.

  Maddie’s eyes were wide as she studied him. His watchful eyes were a darker shade of blue, and his gaze was hot enough to scorch her. She slowly got a case of goose pimples on her skin.

  Connor palmed her neck his left hand and brought her lips closer to him. He devoured her. He couldn’t get enough. His hands grabbed her bottom and hauled her forward so that her legs wrapped around him. She felt his manhood and pulled back, gasping.

  “You’re naked?”

  He nodded, not able to open his mouth to speak just yet. He looked down at her mouth again and consumed it. He brought her closer against him.

  Maddie tried to pull away but he deepened the kiss. His tongue slid into her mouth and she suckled it. He groaned. A pure animal sound emanated from his throat and echoed in her head, heightening her own passion. She wrapped her arms around his neck again.

  Connor slowly started walking through the water towards the bank with her legs still wrapped around him and his lips still seducing hers. He laid her on his clothes. Connor knelt on his knees and looked down at her. Her slip was soaked and transparent. He almost found his release from looking at her body. It was curvy, sensuous, and generous. She was so soft.

  Connor’s gaze slowly traveled up her body. His ravenous eyes touched upon her delicious thighs, flat stomach, and perky, full breasts. Finally his eyes locked with hers again.

  Maddie was amazing. The word didn’t do her justice, but she was indeed, perfect. She was intelligent, sly, honest, witty, frustrating, trusting, beautiful, stubborn, giving, tantalizing, innocent, and sensual. One description completely negated the next. She was one thing, and its opposite at the same time. His adjectives, and her virtues, could go on and still, they would not fully describe her.

  Connor had never felt this way for a woman. He had never been on fire like this. He covered her with his naked body.

  “I shouldn’t be here like this with you. I-I feel so strange, Connor.”

  “How?” His shaky hand came up and moved hair out of her face.

  “I feel as though no matter how fast I breathe, I can’t take in enough air. My stomach feels jittery and I’m throbbing down…there…” she said breathless.

  Rain pelted down his back as he looked down at her. The massive expanse of his shoulders blocked a good amount of the rain from her.

  “It’s passion, Maddie. The heated passion between us is as powerful the lightning coming down from Heaven and illuminating the sky.”

  “Heaven?” she repeated.

  Awareness crept into her head. She began pushing him away. Her eyes were wide with panic and fear.

  “I’m sorry, Connor! I can’t! I’ll drag you down with me and you won’t be saved!”

  The drops on her cheeks were not caused by the rain. Maddie looked afraid. Connor drew back, still on his knees, as he watched her frantically get up. She bent down to get her dress. It was soaked and she had a hard time putting it on.

  Connor reached out to her. “Maddie, ‘tis alright. Ye-” He stopped speaking when she shook her head no. Connor stood up and tried to assist her. She looked down at the ground and turned away, blushing furiously as he helped her.

  How could she have acted like this? Especially when she knew that he would never marry. Even if he did, she was English and he’d never want to marry her.

  “I have to go!”

  Maddie turned and ran off to the castle. The echoes of her sobs reached him and squeezed his heart.

  Connor stood on the bank looking after her. Worry, confusion, and lust raged in an internal battle. His needs brawled against each other. He needed to comfort her, soothe her. He needed relief.
He needed to satiate his appetite. He could go and seek it, but he had a suspicion it would end like it did the last time. It was futile. The only woman he wanted was Maddie, and he feared that she would be the only woman he’d ever want.

  Chapter Ten

  Maddie quickly ran up the steps to her room but her wet dress slowed her. She tried to control her sobbing, placing a cupped hand to her mouth, until she made it safely within the four walls of her chamber. Once there, she closed the door and leaned against it. Her chest was heaving in panic. Tears slipped down her face as she slid down the door to the floor.

  “What have I done?” she whispered in horror.

  She could have very well caused irreparable damage! She couldn’t do that to Connor. She couldn’t! She cared too much about him. She couldn’t curse him like she was.

  Her chest heaved in and out as she remembered their kiss.

  Kiss!

  You were only supposed to kiss someone like that when you were married.

  Married! Ha!

  She laughed out of irony.

  Connor never wanted to marry.

  Maddie had behaved brazenly and wantonly, but what was more devastating was that she had behaved selfishly. She bit her knuckles in an effort to calm down. If she continued to keep on the path she was on, he would surely join her in the bowels of purgatory.

  Maddie quickly tore off her wet dress and threw it on the floor. She placed a dry nightgown on and knelt before the bed.

  It would take a thousand prayers to save Connor for what she did to him.

  One…

  “Lord…please forgive Connor for my actions this night…please save him from purgatory…”

  Two…

  *****

  “Come in. I’ve missed yer company,” she said. The door creaked as it opened wider.

  He nodded and entered. She closed the door and leaned back against it, her eyes taking him in.

  “I’ve been away for too long. Forgive me, Connor, my mother was ill.”

  “I doona care for explanations, Maura,” Connor said and turned. “We are nothing more than friends who seek comfort and carnal delights with each other. We owe each other nothing but a good experience.”

  Her lips settled into a straight line. He didn’t know what to make of that.

  Connor looked at her up and down. She was nothing like Maddie. She dripped with promiscuity. He had never cared before because he hadn’t known different. Now, having spent time with Maddie, it was like drinking bitter ale after having tasted the sweetest nectar.

  Maura was tall and pretty, with blond hair and brown eyes. He once thought her attractive and beautiful, but after having seen the light within Maddie, the moon paled in comparison.

  A smile stretched across her face and she prowled seductively forward. She stopped right in front of him, placed her hands around his neck, and kissed him. It was a hot kiss, but the passion Connor once felt for her was lacking. She reached down and touched his cock.

  “Ye are verra excited to see me! Let’s see how frustrated ye’ve been without me here.”

  Maura started to kiss his neck. He didn’t feel one flame lighting. His passion was deflating, literally. When she reached down again, she pulled away and smiled.

  “Well, it seems like I have to work harder tonight,” she said smilingly coyly. She wrapped her hands around his neck and slowly moved towards him for a kiss. He moved his head back and away from her searching lips, and reached behind his neck for her hands. He brought her hands down, and as he did, her smile faded from her face.

  “What are ye doing?”

  He shook his head.

  “I doona want to do this. I thought I did.”

  Maura reached down and grabbed him. He was no longer hard and throbbing. She fondled him in the hopes of exciting him.

  “Stop, Maura. I’m leaving. I’m sorry. I shouldna have come.”

  “But I can make ye feel good, Connor.”

  Connor had made his way to the door and stopped when she said that. He turned around. He looked straight into her brown eyes.

  “Maura, this ends now. I will nay be visiting ye any longer.” She gasped and he nodded his head. “Aye. Find a good man to marry and settle down. Have bairns and a good life, Maura.”

  “Ye canna be serious, Connor! Why? What has happened? Things couldna have changed over night in the time I was gone. Did ye find someone new?”

  His stance told her she had guessed right.

  “That’s it, isna it! Who is she? Lina, Teiken’s daughter? Hailey, Thomas’ daughter? Who?” she asked frantically. She ran over to him and grabbed his shirt. “Just because ye’ll be with one of them doesna mean it has to end between us!”

  He shook his head.

  “Enough. It is over, Maura.”

  “But Connor, we’ve had many good times. Only I can make ye feel alive! Ye told me so.” She wrapped her arms around his neck again.

  “Nay, Maura, now stop.”

  She smiled seductively and stood on her tiptoes. When she moved to kiss him, he grabbed her hands from around his neck again, and stepped away.

  “Nay, enough, I said! It is done!” Connor snapped.

  Her eyes hardened as she grew angry. Her arms were crossed over her chest and her legs were braced apart. Without a look back at her, he left.

  Connor strode back to the castle, anger and frustration grating on him. It beat through his body like the steady cadence of a drum. Damn it all! He ran up the steps and began heading towards his room. Despite his better judgment, he switched directions and headed towards Maddie’s chamber. When Connor reached her room, he stood before it for several minutes trying to picture her sleeping.

  What the bloody hell am I doing?

  Connor shook his head and started to walk back to his chamber when he heard her muffled voice. He inched closer to the door. Maddie was awake, but what was she doing?

  “Please…forgive him for my sins…save him from purgatory and my evil presence…Save him…”

  Him who? Me?

  She was praying for him. But why? Evil presence? Sins?

  He had to put a stop to this.

  Saved? What did she mean?

  He raised his hand to open the door but suspended it a few inches away. His open palm curled into a fist, and he raised his hand to knock. Again, he hovered his hand in the air. His fist briefly shook before he brought it down to his side. He unfurled his fingers, fisted them again, and then inhaled a strong lungful of air. After overcoming a strong urge to barge into the room and take her into his arms, he turned and walked to his chamber. He closed the door and stood there for a moment.

  Connor looked over to his table in the anteroom. On its surface was the letter she wrote to her father. He hadn’t taken it. Why bother? It wouldn’t have served a purpose. He had gone to Wynton under the pretense of a ransom, not to deliver a note.

  Connor yawned. It had been a tough night. He looked at his bed longingly, wishing she was here with him. Although the rain was cold, it wasn’t cold enough to extinguish the fire Maddie had lit.

  Chapter Eleven

  Connor didn’t see her for the next two days. There was an endless amount of tasks that required his attention. Nay, he corrected himself- he had made himself busy. Kiel was up and about, doing very well. Maddie had done an excellent job at healing him and stitching his wound, Esther had said. Iain told Connor that she had asked when her father would be sending for her and he hadn’t known how to respond.

  “What did ye tell her?”

  “I told her in a little less than a fortnight, Connor.”

  “She wants to leave here.” It was a statement, not a question.

  Iain shook his head in response. “I doona think so, Connor. Her eyes were sad and it looked as if she hadna been sleeping well.”

  “It will take time to negotiate. I’ll have to think of something to say to lay her questions to rest.”

  “Why not the truth, then? There’s a novelty, Connor,” Iain said heatedly
. After a closer look at his brother, he said, “Ye still intend on her returning to England, doona ye, even after ye know her father doesna give a damn about her?” Iain’s eyes were wide with scorn.

  Connor looked back at him. Conflicting emotions played on his face and then he exploded.

  “I doona know, Iain! She confuses me. I want her near yet I want the vengeance! ‘Tis nay an easy decision.”

  “Mother and Katie would resent yer efforts to avenge Katie’s violation at the expense of Maddie, who they deeply care for, I might add!”

  “Leave me! It is my decision and mine alone, Iain.”

  Connor walked away, fuming. His strides were fast and purposeful.

  Iain shook his head. When was he going to figure out that he cared for Maddie? And love? That wasn’t too far behind.

  Connor went outside to practice and train. His movements were forceful, and charged with energy fueled by anger. He was hard and unyielding on his warriors. His stance was rigid, and his body was tense. After a particularly demanding bout pitting him against five men, he roared. The physical exertion felt good to him. The adrenaline coursing through his veins was heady and powerful.

  At the noon break, he turned towards the castle. Sweat dripped down his body. He looked to his right, and Maddie was there, as if haunting him. Her smiles and laughs with the children echoed around him. Then he took a closer look at her face. She was tense and ill at ease.

  Maddie crumpled to the ground.

  The children screamed and he heard a bellow. He recognized it as his own as he knelt next to her.

  “Maddie?” his voiced sounded strained.

  Katie went to get Esther. Connor carried Maddie inside.

  He looked up only briefly to make sure he didn’t trip. Mostly, his eyes were trained her. Sweat beaded on her forehead. Her face was bright red and she was breathing through her mouth.

  What was wrong with her?

  “Esther! Esther, she just fell!”

  Esther ran to Maddie’s side and felt her forehead.