by Jane Charles
Jordan studied him for a moment before he backed away.
The door of the library flew open. Maddie wobbled in with Mrs. MacGinnis’ support. She wore her cloak over his nightshirt and carried one boot. Her hair had been brushed and a long braid trailed over her shoulder. “Jordan, I demand to know what you have done to Lachlan.”
Jordan turned toward her. “Your future husband and I were just coming to an agreement.”
“No.” Her face lost all color. “I will not be marrying him and you can’t make either of us.”
“I beg to differ, lass,” Lachlan stood. “I compromised you. As you are a lady, it is the way of things.”
“I am no lady,” she hissed through clenched teeth.
“Ye said that earlier, but the fact that Trent is yer brother says differently.”
“Madeline, where are these foolish thoughts coming from?” Jordan demanded.
Her expression went from angry to hurt. She swallowed. “I know the truth, Jordan. I heard you, Matt and Mother speaking yesterday. There is no need to protect me any longer and no reason to force Brachton to marry me.”
“Bloody hell,” Jordan muttered. “There is no reason for anyone to know.”
What were they talking about? What family secret was Jordan trying to keep?
“But I do know, and I will not let you make Brachton marry a bastard.”
Lachlan stared at her. Had the dowager countess conceived another man’s child?
“I am ready to go home now.” She turned toward Lachlan. “Thank you for saving me and your hospitality.”
Maddie swayed and closed her eyes for a moment as if to get her balance. Mrs. MacGinnis struggled to keep her upright. Lachlan rushed forward and scooped her up in his arms. “Ye arena goin’ anywhere, lass.”
“I tried to tell her that but she insisted,” Mrs. MacGinnis offered. “She is headstrong, this one.”
“And foolish,” Trent muttered.
“I am takin’ her back upstairs.” Lachlan turned from them. He didn’t know what to make of the situation as of yet, but he wasn’t ready to relinquish Maddie to the care of her brother. Not until everything was sorted out.
“I will be taking her home,” Jordan yelled after him.
“Her ankle is injured and she doesna have any clothin’.” Lachlan returned. “Do ye have a carriage or do ye intend to carry her back to yer brother’s home?”
Jordan’s fists balled and relaxed. Ah, he didn’t have a carriage nor would one be able to travel in this snow for a bit.
“Go and get her clothin’,” Mrs. MacGinnis insisted. “Let yer family know she is well.”
Trent mumbled something Lachlan couldn’t hear, not that he cared much. Without another look at his friend, Lachlan continued up the stairs with a very silent Maddie.
“Come back tomorrow,” Mrs. MacGinnis insisted. “Yer sister should be well enough to travel and ye may be able to bring the carriage by then.”
“You want me to leave her here all night with him?” Trent demanded.
“It is only one more night and he willna harm her.” She insisted.
Lachlan didn’t listen to the rest of the exchange and turned down the hall toward his room when he reached the top of the stairs. Once inside, he set Maddie in the chair and removed her cloak before taking off the one boot she wore.
“Why dinna ye put the other one on?”
“I couldn’t get it on,” she grumbled.
Lachlan lifted the injured foot. The bruising was darker and none of the swelling had gone down. “I hope it isna broken.”
“It is not.” She turned to look into the fire, a dejected look upon her face.
“Let’s get ye back into bed.”
“I would rather stay here,” she mumbled. Was Maddie actually pouting? He should be angry with her, but for some reason he was not. He still needed to know why she was a bastard and how the family had kept it from the lass.
“Yer foot needs to be up.” Before she could protest, he scooped her up in his arms and carried across the room where he deposited her onto the bed once again.
She rolled over on her side, putting her back to him and pulled the covers up over her shoulders.
Why was she shutting him out now? Was it the secret of her birth? “Is there anythin’ I can get ye?”
“No,” she whispered. “I would like to be alone if you don’t mind.”
Madeline waited in silence. She could sense that Lachlan still stood by the bed looking at her. Did he want to yell at her as well? Lachlan must hate her, but he wouldn’t after she assured him that he would not be forced to marry her. Even if Jordan held a gun on the man, she would refuse to say the vows. It was too unfair to both of them to do otherwise.
Oh, if only she could go back a day or two. Then she would have knocked on the door to the library. She wouldn’t have learned the truth. She wouldn’t have left the house, fell in the lake, or met Lachlan. Though she didn’t truly regret meeting him or kissing him. But their meeting only made her realize what she would be denied the rest of her life.
A moment later, she heard him cross the room and the door click shut.
She was finally alone, and the tears came. They flooded her eyes and poured down her cheeks, and she couldn’t stop them. She didn’t want to stop them. As much as she hated crying and rarely cried, she didn’t care right now. A sob broke, and her shoulders shook. After a good cry and rest, she would be able to face the future and formulate a plan on how she was going to go about it.
The bed dipped and a hand rested on her shoulder. “Hush, lass.”
He was supposed to be gone! Nobody was to see her like this. Her sobbing only increased. Oh, she hated being a weak ninny, and Lachlan’s trying to comfort her only made it worse. Her body shook with more tears.
He rolled her over, picked her up, and settled her on his lap. She should move, get up, or push him away, but all she could do was cry with her face buried in his shirt. He smoothed his hand over her hair and whispered in her ear. “That’s it. Let it out. Ye’ll feel better when it is done.”
Madeline wasn’t sure how this could be better, but it felt good to cry.
After several moments, her tears stopped. She sniffed, and he held a handkerchief up to her face. Madeline took it and blew her nose.
She sighed and laid her head against his chest. His heart pounded in her ear. He was warm and comforting. She wanted to give up to oblivion, just stay there, and sleep in his arms.
Lachlan leaned back, taking her with him. They both reclined against the bed but he did nothing to move her from his lap and Madeline didn’t want to leave.
She barely knew this man, yet she was comforted in his presence. She wanted to cling to him, but it was not to be. Tomorrow she would go home with Jordan, and Lachlan would travel on to Scotland to find his Christmas bride.
“I am sorry,” she whispered.
“Ye’ve nothin’ to be sorry about.”
“I’ve upset your life.”
“Ye’ve caused all this snow?”
She felt herself smiling and pulled away. “Had I not gone for a walk last night, you would have had a peaceful evening at home.”
Madeline glanced up and sucked in a breath. His left eye was swollen and turning an ugly reddish purple color, as was the bruise on his jaw. She brought her hand up to soothe him, but he winced at her touch. She shouldn’t have touched him. It probably hurt like the dickens, and it was all her fault.
“I am sorry,” she said again. “I’ve never seen Jordan so angry.”
“Me either, lass.”
She laid her head back down. “I’ve never seen any of my brothers strike anyone. Only my father struck out.”
“Was he fond of spankin’?” His voice rumbled in his chest.
“Willow switch.”
Lachlan stiffened. “On his sons?” he asked hesitantly.
“All of us, though I am fairly certain he only used his hands on Mother.”
Lachlan muttered someth
ing she couldn’t understand. She wasn’t even sure why she confessed this part of her childhood to him. She had never told anyone, and the only person who had ever seen the scars across her bottom was her maid. Jordan’s anger had frightened her, but he was fighting a man over a perceived injustice. Lachlan had not fought back when Jordan hit him after he came in the room. As Lachlan acquired another bruise after he left and Jordan had no marks on his face, she assumed Lachlan had not fought her brother. She admired him for that.
“I should have told you who I was.”
“Aye, ye should have.” He leaned forward and kissed her forehead. “But I would have still fished ye out of the lake, stripped ye of yer clothin’, and slept with ye last night.”
Madeline’s cheeks burned with embarrassment.
“You wouldn’t have kissed me though.”
He frowned. “Probably not, though the temptation would have been a difficult one to fight.”
Madeline pulled away and slid to the side of the bed. She shouldn’t be on his lap, and certainly not like this in his bed.
Lachlan did not let her go, however and pulled her to his side and rested an arm around her back and waist.
“Why don’t you tell me what this business is about being a bastard?”
She sighed. She didn’t want to tell anyone, but he did have a right to know. So she recounted everything she had overheard in the library.
“How is it possible they could rule that the two died without bodies?”
“The carriage went into a swollen, rushing river. Some of their belongings were found along the shore and the river emptied into the sea. Everyone assumed their bodies had been washed away. Somehow Father created the entire scene so he could hide the fact that his wife had left him.”
“Yer father is the one who is the bloody bastard,” Lachlan ground out.
“I don’t know what is to become of me,” she finally said.
“The same thing that was to become of ye before.” Lachlan squeezed her shoulder.
“I can’t have another Season or marry a gentleman,” Madeline argued.
“Another Season?” Lachlan pulled back and looked at her. “Ye werena in London last spring. I would have remembered.”
“I wasn’t there. I was in mourning.”
“Ah, now I remember.” After a moment, he asked, “Were ye there the year before?”
Madeline chuckled. “I was, but did my best to hide.”
Again Lachlan pulled away and looked down at her. “Why would ye try to hide? Ye could have easily married then.”
“That was the problem.” She sighed. “Father was trying to match me with someone he considered a perfect lord, someone his own age with children close to my age. It was all about the connections that could be made. I wasn’t particularly interested in marrying someone that old, or who anyone was remotely like my father.”
It sickened Lachlan to think of Maddie being married to a man old enough to be her father, though he witnessed it happen time and time again. Yet, he could not recall her from that Season. There is no possible way he would have not noticed her had she walked into a ballroom.
A memory floated across his brain of Trent pointing out his sister. The girl was a mousy blond with a sallow complexion. She looked too thin and sickly. Maddie had certainly changed in the past couple of years.
“I think I do remember ye now.”
“I certainly hope not,” she giggled.
“Well, ye are much prettier now.” He didn’t want to say anything that could hurt her feelings.
Maddie grinned and looked up at him. “Thank you. I was trying to appear as unattractive as possible.”
“Why, lass?”
“So none of Father’s cronies would be interested in furthering our acquaintance. I knew he wouldn’t entertain the thought of a younger lord so I thought to be as unappealing as possible.”
Maddie was unlike any English lady he had ever met, and Lachlan was finding that he admired her.
“Mother and I intentionally picked fabrics that were horrid for my coloring and the dresses were cut a little large so that my shape would be disguised.”
Lachlan found himself laughing.
“It was the only way Mother knew how to defy Father.” Maddie sighed. “She said that I deserved what she had not been given the chance for. Her marriage was arranged by her father.”
“What did she want ye to have, lass?” Lachlan pulled her close, enjoying the feel of her against him.
“To have a husband who was young enough to still remember passion and love.”
The words were barely a whisper but they cut to his heart. Isn’t that what he wanted in a bride himself?
“She was only sixteen when they married and never got a Season or a chance to be courted.”
Lachlan would never understand men you took such young brides. He could barely tolerate the debutants in their first Season. What kind of man wanted to marry a lady over twenty years younger?
Maddie looked up at him, staring at his lips. “Would you kiss me again?”
He would like nothing better than to oblige her, but danger lay in that direction. “It is not wise, lass.”
She nodded and laid her head back against his chest. “I understand.”
He was fairly certain she didn’t. Lachlan placed his finger beneath her chin and lifted her face. Her light green eyes met his. “If I kiss ye I am not sure I could stop, and I am afraid of where it may lead.”
A soft smile came to her lips.
What did it really matter? They were to be married. What was a few days of intimacy before the actual vows? If a child came from their union it would be close enough nobody would raise an eyebrow. Though he shouldn’t think of making love to her. And, he shouldn’t share any intimacy since they barely knew one another, but there was something about this lass that drew him to her. He didn’t want her to leave his side and he never thought he would think that about any English lady.
She was a lady, despite her birth. He could not make love to her until she was officially his.
It was going to be a long night. He would show her some passion, but not all. Not until they were man and wife.
Lachlan leaned in and kissed her. Her lips were as sweet as honey. When she opened, he delved in, tasting her sweet nectar. Her tongue mated with his and he kissed her over and over as a man without water after days in the dessert. He wanted her. He needed her. But he would not take her.
Maddie turned into him, pressing her body against his. Surely the lass didn’t know what she was doing. He was only a man and could take only so much.
She grasped his hand and put it on her breast and broke the kiss. “Touch me like you did before.”
“It is wrong.”
“It wasn’t wrong before.”
“I dinna ken ye were innocent before.”
“Please,” she begged. “Make me feel the same things you did before.”
Maddie knew she shouldn’t ask such a thing, but she wanted to know passion, and she desired him. Of course it was wrong, but everything in her life at the moment was wrong. She may never have this chance again to know a man’s touch and she was going to take the opportunity while it was in her grasp. She wasn’t sure where any of it led, but she wanted to find out. She wanted memories for her future.
Lachlan groaned and kissed her with a passion she hadn’t felt from him before. His hand massaged her breast and when he pinched her nipple, pleasure shot through areas of her body that were never discussed.
His lips trailed across her cheek and down her neck as his hands pushed the nightshirt from her shoulders. Her breast came free but before she could cover herself, his lips closed around one nipple and he sucked. The pleasure was more powerful than his fingers. Heat pooled in her body, and she wanted to tear her clothing off.
Moans were coming from somewhere and it took a moment for her to realize that it was she making the sounds.
His hand skimmed down her leg and started bunching her nigh
tshirt, dragging it up her body. His fingers traced her inner thigh and it was all she could do not to squirm. She was a bit ticklish and it also made her ache in the deep recesses of her body. Slowly, as if he had all the time in the world, he caressed up her thigh, toward her center where she ached. All the while his mouth moved from one breast to the other. She wasn’t even sure what was giving her the most pleasure or perhaps it was a combination of everything. All Maddie could do was lay there, not sure what to do. Every sense was being assaulted in the sweetest of ways and she could do nothing but enjoy the desire pulsating through her body.
Then he touched her in a place she never considered could bring such pleasure. She jerked but his hand against her hip stilled her and his fingers went back to touching her in the most intimate of ways, caressing and stroking, bringing her higher and higher until her body shattered. She would have screamed had Lachlan not kissed her.
Good heavens what had just happened to her?
Lachlan rested his hand on her belly, aching with a need so powerful it was near painful. As much as he wished to bury himself inside her right now and bring her release again, he would not. She was not his wife. But when she was, he was going to enjoy each and every moment of making love to her over and over. Her passionate response was unlike any he had ever encountered, and she was innocent in the game of love. How much more passionate and how much deeper the pleasures would they experience once he taught her all the ways that one could experience release.
His breathing was harsh to his own ears, but he needed to maintain control. He had to be able to look Trent in the eye tomorrow and say he had not bedded Maddie. He wanted to be able to swear she was still a virgin, but if he didn’t get out of bed right now, he may not be able to do so. The lake actually looked rather inviting now, unlike yesterday.
Bloody hell, had he only met her yesterday and already he was contemplating marriage?
He was daft. Of course, he didn’t have much choice in the matter. But to want her as his, already? It was unheard of.
