Once Upon A Haunted Castle: A Celtic Romance Anthology

by Eliza Knight

*

  It was noon and she had not come.

  Gavin stood on the stairs like a fool, waiting. Perhaps the old clock had gone wild in its inaccuracy and he was too early.

  His heart squeezed.

  Or too late.

  If he’d shown too late, she would assume it was he who finally ceased their innocent meetings. The meetings he longed to make so much more than innocent.

  Footsteps pounded on the stairs with haste and sent his heart hammering anew. It was not Senara who came into view, but a sweaty Renny, his face flushed with exertion. “I was hoping ye’d be in yer solar.” The stable lad panted around his words. “I’m glad to have found ye before ye left.”

  Gavin frowned at the lad. There was obviously something wrong. He seldom saw Renny indoors, away from the horses he adored so much. “What is it, lad? Is it Edana?”

  Edana had, on several occasions, attempted to have Norbert sold off, claiming him a flea-ridden beast. Fortunately Renny had always managed to keep the animal safe until Gavin could be notified and secure the animal’s place among the stables once more.

  Renny shook his head. Sweat was beginning to seep through the chest of his simple brown tunic. “It’s Senara. She’s in there wi’ Norbert and willna come out. She willna speak wi’ me and just cries and cries and cries.”

  Perhaps he said more, but Gavin was already racing down the stairs, making his way toward the stables.

  She was as Renny had said, one arm slung over Norbert’s powerful neck, her face pressed into the black of his mane. Her sobs were soft and her body sagged against the animal with exhaustion.

  “Senara.” Gavin said her name softly when he entered the stable.

  Norbert looked up at him with his dark eyes and gave a slow, long-lashed blink.

  Gavin repeated Senara’s name and approached her. She did not flinch when he touched her shoulder, but she did not go to him either.

  “What is it, lass?” he asked. “What’s happened? Is it something my aunt—”

  She turned to him with hurt burning deep in her red-rimmed eyes. Her nose was pink and her cheeks wet with tears. “They’re dead, Gavin. The lot of them.” She hugged Norbert once more. “My sweet family.”

  The horse turned his massive head toward her and nuzzled her as a dog might comfort its master.

  “Come, Senara.” Gavin gently pulled her from Norbert. He looked behind him and found Renny watching, his blue eyes wide with concern. “Let Renny care for Norbert, aye? He needs to be set to the field to stretch his legs a bit, and his stable cleaned. Ye know Renny will protect Norbert with his life.”

  She swiped the heels of her hands over her damp cheeks and nodded.

  Gavin shared a nod with Renny as he left. The lad would care well for the horse, of that Gavin was certain.

  He did not speak again until they were up the stairs and in his solar.

  Alone.

  She clung to him and sobbed while he held her. It ached seeing her so miserable, knowing there was nothing he could do. He listened to the stories of her da’s bravery, her ma’s kindness, and the fond memories she’d shared with her wee brother. His heart winced at the loss of a family so lit by joy, at the loss so very devastating to his beautiful Senara.

  “I’ve nothing left,” she whispered into his chest.

  His leine was soaked with the tears of her broken heart. He stroked a hand down her slender back. “Ye’ve got me.”

  She looked up at him then, her lashes spiky from shed tears. “Do I?”

  There was such hope in her gaze, such longing, he could not stop the words from leaving his mouth. “Aye, ye do. Ye always have.”

  But the words came from his heart, not his head.

  His head knew he would have to find a marriage fitting a laird, a beneficial match. Eventually. Hopefully not too late to be able to produce an heir.

  But his damned heart cared naught for details or station or wealth. His heart wanted Senara.

  It was then he knew the truth – he was in love.

  Before he could speak, she stood on her tiptoes, her body stretched against his, and pressed her lips to his. The saltiness of her sorrow lingered on her mouth, but he kissed it away, as if doing so could remove the hurt that had put them there.

  Her tongue flicked against his and their kiss deepened. He clutched her to him and lust burned white hot through him, like fire gone wild and unrestrained.

  They weren’t on the stairs sharing an innocent kiss where someone might come and force them to jump apart. They were behind a locked door.

  Alone.

  In private.

  A groan dragged from his throat and he released her to push his palms hard against the wall behind her. The rough-hewn stone bit into his skin, and he welcomed the distraction from the haze of lust he wanted so eagerly to succumb to.

  “I dinna want to take yer maidenhead, Senara.” He stared down at her, taking in her wide gaze and kiss-swollen lips. “Ye’re grieving and I—”

  She pushed her hands to his cheeks, capturing his face between her palms, and searched his eyes with her own. “Make me forget.” There was something desperate in her tone. “Love me and make me forget.”

  Then she kissed him again, hot and sweet with lips and tongue and teeth. With a growl, he surrendered to the need screaming through him, finally surrendering to everything he craved.

  After so long of denying himself, Senara would be his.

  They’d spent six months building up to this, their subtle touches and kisses all kindling set to ignite between them.

  Their hands raked and clawed with desperation to slide cloth from body, to feel the heat of skin to skin, to see and touch what had been too long clothed, to taste everything.

  Their clothes tangled into a jumble on the floor until they were both gloriously nude. The moment of realization came with a reflective calm, the type which severs a ferocious storm and offers a brief reprieve before it consumes all once more.

  So, too, did that moment offer them a chance to let their gazes feast over one another’s bared flesh. For Gavin to appreciate the beauty of Senara’s small breasts sitting high on her chest with tightly drawn nipples, the curve of where her waist met her hips in a tantalizing line which begged for the glide of his palm, the little crease of her belly button which tempted him to press his lips upon. Her thighs were long and slender and glistened with an inviting dampness he would soon sample.

  It was seeing such evidence of her longing, of knowing how strong her desire for him, how wet and willing her body, which snapped him from the quiet and brought upon them both the storm of passion once more.

  They fell upon each other, hot flesh and throbbing desire. His cock pressed against her naked thigh, straining for a relief he knew only she could offer. Her hands moved with restless desire over his body, sending ripples of pleasure dancing over his skin.

  His mouth found her nipple. He drew it between his lips and teased the bud with his teeth and tongue while sampling the weighted silk of her breasts in his hands.

  Then her fingers curled around the length of his cock and any remaining rational thought fled his mind, save the resounding knowledge that Senara was wholly and truly his.

  Chapter Seven

  There was no more thought, only glorious feeling.

  Senara’s skin sizzled with anticipation and her veins hummed with excitement. Gavin’s member was hard and heavy in her hands, the skin delightfully silken. Touching him so boldly singed through her and made the savage pulse between her legs intensify.

  His mouth was on hers and his hands caressed with the trembling strength of barely constrained need.

  She wanted him.

  She wanted this with him.

  She wanted her thoughts burned away by desire until they were ash to blow away in the wind.

  He eased her back to the ground where their clothing lay discarded. The errant folds of fabric were bunched and soft beneath her back, though she noticed it for only one moment before his powerful b
ody stretched over hers.

  And he was powerful – his body bared and perfect in the stream of daylight, every movement rippling with strength and masculine beauty.

  His skin was heated where it touched hers, and the coarse hairs of his chest and legs chafed deliciously over her sensitive flesh. He caught her face with one of his hands and kissed her long and deep, the way they’d only hinted at for so long on the stairs.

  The stroke of his tongue, the rasp of his chin against hers, the heat of him so close to her…all of it was more than she could bear. She squeezed her thighs against his body, as if she could pull him more tightly against her and encourage him toward the maddening heat.

  Wild anticipation pounded through her, drowning her, making all of her too hot to bear.

  He shifted his hand lower, and something nudged against the heat between her legs. A moan caught in the back of her throat.

  Yes.

  This.

  He caught her bottom in his hand and pushed inside, hard and quick. Pain pinched through her, breaking for the briefest of moments through the dreamlike state of her arousal.

  He paused over her, his body trembling with the effort, and she realized he did so for her benefit. His warm brown gaze watched hers with such a concerned and serious expression, she almost laughed.

  Instead, she smiled up at him.

  He caught her mouth in a delicious kiss and pulled out slowly, only to push back in. Pleasure and pain mingled into something tantalizing, something promising.

  Rather than pull away from the initial discomfort, she gave herself to it with abandon. She lifted her hips, meeting the beat of his thrust, and was rewarded with a rush of pleasure tingling through her.

  A gasp escaped her lips.

  His body was tight under her fingertips, his muscles like wrought steel. He was still holding back.

  Senara caught his strong torso in her hands and pulled him down toward her so his weight rested full on her, crushing her breasts and putting his mouth above hers.

  He groaned and pushed deeper into her.

  The insistent heat came back in a rush and pushed her into a state of nothing but feeling. His breath whispered over her skin, his body glided over hers, and the bliss throbbed through her. He kissed her and moved a hand between their bodies. His finger moved against the source of her ache, rubbing in time with the flex of his hips.

  His breath in her ear came hard and fast, as did her own.

  Her body tightened, and everything in her felt as though it might shatter.

  Gavin’s speed only increased, shoving her over whatever edge she teetered on until everything in her blossomed with warmth and light and euphoria. She pressed her face into his neck and gave a muffled cry against the saltiness of his skin.

  He pushed deep and stayed there while his length flexed within her. His groan sounded in her ear, hoarse and gritted.

  Their hearts raced together and their breaths came in fast pants. For some time, they lay with one another on the floor, the winter chill in the air tingling over their sweat-slicked skin while their pulses returned to normal.

  Senara was nearing the pull of sleep when she had the sense of being watched. Her lips curled into a contented smile even as she opened her eyes and found Gavin staring down at her. His expression was soft and his mouth held the same languid grin as she felt on hers.

  “I prefer meeting here to the stairs,” Senara said.

  Gavin’s eyes crinkled at the corners and he chuckled softly. “As do I, my bonny lass.”

  He pressed a warm kiss to her mouth, far tamer and sweeter than their previous ones had been. And it was exactly perfect.

  Senara smiled against his lips and tried to ignore the insistent press of all she had been trying to forget. She wanted to stay locked in the moment forever, where the pain of loss could not touch her. Where love was her shield.

  He stroked the hair back from her brow. “We shouldna see one another anymore.” His eyes danced as he said it.

  She nodded in agreement while keeping her gaze fixed on his. “Aye, it isna a good idea to see one another again.”

  His mouth came down on hers at once, so greedy and hungry it renewed her lust once more. They lost themselves in each other for the duration of the afternoon, knowing their words to be empty and their hearts to be full.

  *

  Gavin did see Senara in his solar again.

  And again.

  And again.

  For the next two months they continued to see one another, not only in the privacy of the solar, but occasionally on the stairs. Their fingertips would brush one another and their glances lasted the lifetime of a second, every small touch a whisper of a promise for so much more later.

  Gavin leaned back in his chair and stared out the window of his solar, where the snow-covered trees glittered like freshly sifted sugar.

  As always, he thought of Senara.

  Too often before, he’d thought on his inability to find a fitting match to marry and the very real threat his lands would one day fall to King James.

  Now Gavin had finally made up his mind.

  His door slammed open and his aunt rushed in with something in her fist. A simple metal chain trailed from her hand and swung wildly in the air.

  “She’s done it again.” Edana stomped toward Gavin with all the petulance of an irate bairn and slammed something atop the flat of his desk. “She threw it to the floor and left it.”

  When Edana withdrew her hand, he could see the wooden cross, its pale wood a stark contrast to the dark finish it rested upon.

  Gavin suppressed a sigh. He didn’t have to ask who his aunt was referring to. She had been trying with tremendous effort to see Senara relieved of her duties.

  “Did ye see her?” He did not bother to hide the weariness of his tone.

  Edana’s eyes narrowed. “I dinna have to. It was on the floor beside the chair plain as day. Who else would have done it?”

  Gavin lifted the cross and held it toward her. She snatched it up from him, hatred glinting from her dark eyes.

  He nonchalantly stacked his parchment back into place. “Would ye like her removed from her position?”

  The glare turned wary. “Aye.”

  He nodded. “It will be done.”

  Edana stared down at him. “I’d like to hire a replacement immediately.”

  “I imagine Anice will suffice, or one of the other ladies.” Gavin pulled open one of his ledgers and reviewed the final calculation of their winter stores. Their preparation had been well managed and there was still plenty to get them by with ease until spring.

  “One of the kitchen lasses?” Edana’s horrified tone dragged his gaze from the books. Her eyebrows had crept halfway up her wide forehead. “They dinna even know their letters.”

  Gavin gave her a plaintive look. “I’ve made my decision.”

  Edana issued forth an exaggerated grunt of her displeasure and spun on her heel.

  He ought to let her go and discover the news on her own. Then again, doing so later would deprive him of the pleasure of seeing her face.

  “Do ye wish to know what will become of Senara?” he asked.

  Edana’s hand paused at the handle on the door. “I dinna care.”

  Ire pricked Gavin’s patience. He was all the gladder to be sharing this news. “She’s been recently orphaned by a family who loved her and will no longer be employed, without much more than the earnings she’s received these past few months. Ye dinna care?”

  Edana turned back toward him, slow and purposeful. Her lip curled to bare the line of her teeth. “I dinna care.”

  Gavin steepled his fingertips against one another. “Well, if ye dinna care, then ye willna mind what I’m about to say.”

  She stalked toward him with intent, her face violent with malice. He could have laughed at the ridiculous expression, at what she actually thought herself capable. “What have ye done, ye daft lad?” she growled.

  “I’m going to offer Senara the p
osition as lady of the castle.” He watched her over his fingers and waited.

  Edana did not disappoint. A flash of confusion, then a shine of understanding before her face colored to the very red of a beetroot plucked fresh from the earth. “Ye dinna mean—”

  “Aye, I do.” Gavin lowered his hands and sat back in his chair to better observe his aunt’s show of displeasure. Delight filled Gavin’s chest with a happy warmth. “I intend to make Senara my wife.”

  It was the first time he’d said it out loud, but it would not be the last. Perhaps it would have been better to ask Senara first, but the timing could not have been more perfect to inform his aunt.

  He, himself, had wrestled with the decision for several months, long before he’d even had Senara. He went back to the conversation they’d had when he met her time and again. And she was right; no amount of money could buy what they had.

  He’d been a fool to not see that sooner.

  Now his decision was a special kind of victory. More than just his overall happiness, and that of Senara’s, but also watching Edana stand in front of him, her mouth gaping open and closed like a fish tossed from the water.

  “What of Colina MacKintosh?” Desperation pitched her voice into a squeak. “A union with them would bring peace. We’d have the wealth from Dalmunzie Castle and all its lands. We’d—”

  “They dinna want a union.” Gavin stood now. Aye, an alliance through marriage with the MacKintosh would have been the optimal position for his clan. It’d be an end to fighting and greater wealth than they’d ever seen.

  In hindsight, he was glad for having his proposed betrothal to Colina MacKintosh rejected by her father. The alliance would be too great an opportunity for him to turn down, even for Senara.

  “Ye mean they dinna want ye.” Edana stabbed her finger into Gavin’s chest. “And it’s easy to see why when ye make such foolish mistakes as the one ye’re about to. Ye’ll ruin us all.”

  She ran from the room before he could stop her.

  And it was his turn not to care.

  Chapter Eight

  Edana was going to beat Senara for certain.