When Highland Lightning Strikes

by Willa Blair

  “I dinna ken what to do. I’m so used to hiding…to protecting myself.”

  “Ye had yer reasons, aye, but they no longer apply. Ye have naught to fear. But if it will make ye feel better, I have an idea. Will ye handfast with me?”

  Shona seemed to consider it, closing her eyelids and tilting her head to the side. Angus held his breath.

  “There’s naught I want more than for ye to become my wife, Shona,” he urged. “To spend the rest of my life with ye at my side. But if ye canna accept that now, as things stand…”

  “After a year and a day, if I am no’ well…if the clan abhors me…and if we’ve no’ had a wean on the way, I’ll release ye.”

  Angus’s heart soared. If she agreed to this, he’d never let her leave him. “I willna wish to be released. I’ll handfast with ye now, if that’s all ye will agree to. And because we’ve nay priest to hand,” he added with a chuckle, then became serious again. “Because I love ye, I will marry ye properly, in the kirk, as soon as we can travel to the Lathan’s Aerie.”

  “We’ll take a year and a day, Angus. I mean it. If I’m no’ better by then, ye must find a lass who can be a proper wife to ye.”

  “That lass is ye, and nay other, my heart.” Sitting up, he reached for his spare plaid and pulled it onto the bed and into her hands. “Here, we’ll do this now.”

  He helped her sit, then wound a length of the woolen fabric around her arm. When the fabric also wrapped his, he took her hand and swaddled both of theirs together, though doing so one-handed took some effort. Shona was giggling by the time he had them bound together to his satisfaction. Extra yards of fabric draped over their laps and onto the floor.

  “We are bound,” he announced, “for a year and a day, as ye wish. But I wish for more, and I willna be denied. Ye are my wife, from this moment, forever.”

  “Ye are my husband, for as long as ye wish to be, but for a year and a day, at least,” she answered, suddenly serious.

  “That’s done then,” Angus announced and began unwinding the plaid.

  “No’ so fast, my laird husband,” Shona told him, placing her free hand over theirs. “There’s the small matter of the consummation to discuss.”

  “Ye wish to put it off? Aye, a few days rest might be wise…”

  “Nay. I wish to finish what we started. Though Colin and my uncle can no longer conspire to send ye away, I fear what the Council will do. Ye have already given me more happiness than I thought I would ever know. Now we have pledged to each other, I truly want my year with ye. I dinna want anyone to be able to prevent us from having at least that time together.”

  “Lass, ye make sense, ye do. Even so, and it pains me to say it, we should wait until ye feel better.” Angus stroked the side of her face, and continued, “Or…at least until the healer says ye may.”

  “I ken ye have great faith in her,” Shona told him, her face suddenly lighting with an impish grin, “no matter how lately ye have acquired it, but I ken what I can and canna do.” Then she sobered. “If we are to be truly married, we must do this now.”

  Chapter Nine

  With a heavy thump, the door slammed into the wall. Shona jumped and felt Angus jerk around.

  “What is going on here?” Uncle Seamus’s angry demand rumbled over them. It was clearly not a question. Her heart seized in her throat. Guilt, at being found in Angus’s bed, washed over her like cold rain until she felt Angus squeeze her hand, and then she remembered the plaid still joined them together.

  Angus raised their bound hands and answered for her. “As ye can see, we have wed.”

  “Handfasted?”

  Shona could hear the outrage in Uncle Seamus’s voice and didn’t know whether to smile or duck. But she trusted Angus would let her know and would protect her if her uncle chose to do anything violent.

  “What use is that? ’Tis no’ a true marriage without a priest.”

  Shona clenched her free hand into a fist. Would her uncle make such a scene Angus would regret what they’d done? After all, they’d yet to consummate the marriage. She’d warned Angus a handfasting could easily be undone. Suddenly, she couldn’t bear to lose him, now she finally had someone who loved her and who accepted what she could do.

  Was Seamus’s outrage feigned? This fit his plans, after all, to have his niece wed to the laird. She let out a cautious breath. “Aye, it is a true marriage,” she said, her voice louder and more forceful than her usual tone. This time, she beat Angus to answering, determined to make him and her uncle understand how real this was to her. Real and true, and what she willed.

  “Ye are a daring chit,” her uncle taunted. “But handfasting willna do.” Seamus cleared his throat. “Ye must marry the lass in the kirk.”

  He directed that comment, she supposed, at Angus, who merely chuckled and answered, “I plan to.”

  Then Angus began unwrapping the plaid binding them together, and Shona kept her expression serene through force of will. Did he need both hands to fight? Was her uncle brandishing a weapon? Did he have a blade to Angus’s throat?

  She couldn’t see!

  “But this will do, for now,” Angus continued as he freed their hands from the ceremonial binding.

  “Hmmmph.” Her uncle’s grunt of acceptance made her sag against Angus in relief. She gripped his shoulder to cover her emotions. If Uncle Seamus saw how worried he’d made her, that might set him off again.

  “So if ye will do us the kindness of leaving us to our privacy…” Angus said and covered her hand with one of his.

  Shona could hear the taunting in his voice and wished, again, she could see her uncle’s expression. Or Angus’s. She guessed much of what was going on between the two men was not being spoken aloud.

  “Aye, Uncle, please leave us,” Shona added, making her acceptance of this joining as plain as she could. Of all times for her to be trapped in darkness!

  Uncle Seamus stomped out, and the door slammed shut behind him. Since she was leaning against Angus, she felt his chuckle rumble deep in his chest.

  But wait. Was that a glimmer? Out of the corner of her eye, she caught a distinct glow—the hearth!

  “Angus!”

  “He’s gone, lass. Now, where were we?”

  “Angus, I can see!”

  Hands gripped her shoulders, and Shona supposed Angus studied her face. She couldn’t tell. Not until she felt his breath on her face and heard his groan just before his lips brushed hers.

  “Truly?”

  For the first time since she’d realized what happened to her, she felt certain she would see again. “I can see the hearth glow, a bit. No’ much. Nothing else yet, but…”

  “Thank God.” Angus rested his forehead against hers. “Ye had me worried, lass. Though the healer said ye would recover…”

  “And I shall. I canna wait to see yer face, husband.”

  Angus’s head lifted away and she imagined the surprised arc of his eyebrows. “Ye have seen it,” he said.

  “Then, ye werena my husband. Now, ye are. I wish to ken if ye have changed.”

  Angus laughed and hugged her to him. “Ye mean have I grown horns? Or would ye rather I grew wings to fly ye away from here?” He kissed her slowly, softly, his lips lightly brushing hers.

  His gentleness fed the elation bubbling in her blood.

  “The only difference ye will see, my wife, is how much more ye ken I love ye. And how happy I am ye love me.”

  “And while we wait, husband…” Shona loosened his belt and tugged his shirt upward, “I will learn to ken ye another way.” She lifted a hand and wiggled her fingers. “If that’s all right with ye.”

  Angus’s growl was the last thing she heard before he pushed her down and stretched out beside her, then covered her face with his kisses.

  ****

  Angus didn’t know which emotion ruled more strongly in him—relief Shona was recovering her sight, joy she had agreed to their marriage, or hunger for her. He’d nearly jumped out of his skin at the p
romise in her fingertips, waving before his face, then tugging at his clothes. But he was determined she would be the first to enjoy their lovemaking. She’d had more than enough trauma for one day. He would do all he could to make her forget and bring her the same sense of wonder she must have felt when she realized her sight was returning.

  He kissed every part of her he could reach—face, hands, throat. Then, frustrated by their clothing, he pulled her from the bed. Once he’d steadied her on her feet, he loosened her ties and his, and undressed them both as quickly as he was able.

  “I wish I could see ye,” she complained.

  He took her hand and lifted it to his chest.

  “Ye can. Just as ye promised,” he reminded her. His blood started to sizzle as her hand traced the muscled ridges of his torso, his arms, his back. “Ye are so beautiful, Shona. I’m a lucky man to be able to see ye.”

  “Oh!” she exclaimed and released him to attempt to cover herself. “I forgot. Close yer eyes!”

  Chuckling, he pulled her hands away and dropped kisses on her knuckles. “Nay, wife. I will use my eyes, my hands, and my mouth to see ye. Ye are welcome to do the same, as ye are able.” With that, he bent to take her mouth, then traced down her body, pausing to suckle at each breast before kissing his way down her belly, intent on tasting her sweet essence.

  Shona’s knees buckled. He picked her up and lay her on the bed, then returned to kissing her belly, her hipbones, and tracing a line with his tongue even lower. She raised up on her elbows. “Angus, what are ye doing? Ye canna…”

  “I can. Let me, love. I promise ye have naught to fear.” He reached up and stroked her face.

  She kissed his palm, smiled uncertainly, then flopped back with a sigh. “If I must…” Her smile soon turned to moans, her torso writhing and her hips bucking with each stroke of his tongue. In moments, she came apart.

  “Are ye glad ye allowed me to continue?” he asked when her breathing steadied.

  “I’m no’ certain. Perhaps if ye did that again…”

  He chuckled. “I will, but there’s something else I wish to do first.” He settled between her thighs and let the broad head of his erection nudge her.

  She tensed for a moment, then wrapped her arms around him, pulling him closer. “Aye,” she breathed. “I do, too.”

  Angus’s pulse throbbed in his throat, his belly, and most certainly in his groin. He’d never been so close to tears while making love to a woman. But this woman, his Shona, was like no other. She meant everything to him, and her acceptance, her welcome, were so precious he had no words to explain the depth and breadth of his feelings. His love for her. Sighted or blind, able to move mountains with her hands or barely able to lift a trencher, she was his. Would always be his. He entered her slowly, lifting her legs to allow her feet to rest on the small of his back. She sighed and arched against him.

  “Are ye well, love?”

  “With ye? Here, like this? How could I be anything else?”

  When he felt her barrier, he paused. “This will sting a bit,” he choked out around the lump in his throat.

  “I dinna care.”

  With one sure stroke, he broke through and filled her. She hissed and tensed around him. “Ye didna lie.”

  He waited, willing to give her all the time it took to become accustomed to having him inside her, joined with her. Part of her.

  Finally, she sighed and ran her hands down his back.

  “Are ye ready for more? It willna hurt again.”

  “Then, aye, I am, husband.”

  Husband. He liked the word on her lips. He vowed to spend a lifetime earning it.

  Angus took his time, starting slowly and building their rhythm until he hung on the very edge of release and her whimpers threatened to push him over the edge. Suddenly she clenched around him and cried out his name. His body answered the call of hers and in the space of a few breaths, he filled her with his seed.

  “My wife,” he murmured. “Shona, ye are mine, now and forever. I will always love ye.”

  She smiled, secretively with her eyes closed, then cupped his face. “My husband, mine, now and forever.” She tangled her fingers in his hair. “I love ye, too.”

  “Then ye’ll marry me as soon as we’re able to travel?”

  She chuckled. “Having seen what ye have done with yer clan, I should have guessed ye would be a stubborn man.”

  “Persistent, lass. It has a nicer ring.”

  “Persistent, then. And aye, I suppose I will.”

  Angus rolled to his side and gathered her into his arms. “Aye, I suppose ye will.”

  Angus drifted off but woke again just before dawn, wondering what he’d heard. Shona spooned against him, bonelessly relaxed, her bottom nestled against his morning erection, and her heat warming every inch of him. He contemplated waking her, but decided to let her rest. Instead, he tugged the covers from her shoulders up to her neck before he slipped out of bed and pulled on his long shirt. When he opened the door, he found the healer standing outside. She must have knocked quietly, waking him.

  “I’ve come to check on yer lass. How is she?”

  “My wife, now.” Angus grinned.

  Aileana’s eyes widened.

  “Startled ye, did I? She said she could see the glow of the hearth. She’s only been asleep for a few hours.”

  “Well. I see ye went to great lengths to keep her awake. Married.” She rolled her eyes, then looked into the room behind him. “Give me a moment to monitor her condition, and I’ll leave ye in peace.”

  Angus stepped aside and allowed the healer to enter. She glanced around the room, then smiled at the woman sleeping in his bed before bending to place her hands just over Shona’s head. After a few moments, she trailed her hands just above the rest of Shona’s sleeping form, then straightened and nodded. They moved away from the bed before she spoke.

  “She’s much improved. Ye have given her the best of care. In a few weeks, she’ll be as good as new. For now, ye can let her sleep. And get some more sleep yourself,” she admonished as she ran a hand a hair’s breadth above his skin from his face to his chest. “Ye have done well by yer lady and yer clan, but the laird needs his rest, too. Ye’ll have many sleepless nights in oh, about nine months.”

  With that, she quirked an eyebrow and smiled, stepped outside and closed the door. Angus’s jaw dropped. He closed his mouth and shook his head. How did she know? And how could that have happened so quickly? But if the healer was correct…by Shona’s own pledge, she would not leave if they had a wean on the way, she was his. His heart swelled at the thought of the family he and Shona would make.

  ****

  A year after their wedding in the kirk at the Lathan’s Aerie, Angus and Shona saw the healer again. She arrived at the MacAnalen village to care for their son, who had developed a wheezing cough, but after only a few minutes with her, the wean slept peacefully in his crib, his color as pink and healthy as he’d been just days ago, before falling ill.

  Angus’s friend, the Lathan laird, Toran, exclaimed over the changes in the MacAnalen village as Angus led him around. Lathan men who’d escorted the healer after the great hall collapsed had stayed to help rebuild it. Toran had not been able to remain during the construction, so Angus enjoyed the chance to show him the result of their clans’ combined labors.

  “I rued the day the elders dreamed up this idea,” Angus told him, “especially after lightning struck the oak and knocked most of it down. Thanks to Aileana, there are few lasting effects among those who were injured that day. Even Magnus, the man with the crushed leg, is able to walk and to work. He’s no’ as spry as he’d like, but he’s no’ a cripple, either.”

  “That’s good to hear,” Toran told him.

  “Aye, and with Lathan help, the hall is finished and even sturdier than I’d believed we could build it to be.”

  “And Shona’s vision?”

  “It’s as good as it ever was, she says, perhaps better.”

  “Th
at’s my wife for ye. She canna leave well enough alone. She has to improve whatever she finds.”

  “Mine, too. Aileana told me Shona is again with child. She says this time we’ll have a daughter. Shona will be thrilled. It seems, like yer wife’s, her talent passes through the women in the family.”

  “So far,” Toran answered with a mysterious quirk of his lips. “Ye must go to her and enjoy yer good news together.”

  Angus clapped his friend on the back. “That’s a brilliant idea. Thank ye for coming to our aid yet again.”

  “We’re stronger together than apart,” Toran told him. Aileana joined them and took her husband’s hand. With a nod to Angus, he led her to their horses.

  “Does Shona ken?” Angus asked the healer.

  “Aye.” She smiled, then they mounted up. “Be well.”

  Angus waved as they rode off, then hurried to his wife and bairn.

  “Yer heir is well,” Shona announced softly when he burst into their croft. She glanced at the crib, then back to her husband. “And sleeping soundly for the first time in nearly a week.” With a hint of a smile, she added, “The healer had more good news.”

  Angus grinned and took her hand. “She told me. A daughter?”

  “Nay!” Shona yelped, then clapped a hand over her mouth and glanced again at the crib. The bairn didn’t stir. “I wanted to be the one to tell ye,” she whispered hoarsely, clearly irritated.

  “It doesna matter how I found out.” He lifted her hand and dropped kisses on her knuckles. “I’m thrilled. Are ye?”

  She cupped his face in her hands and studied him with her gorgeous brown eyes. “Of course I am. I can use the help keeping boulders and branches picked up around here.” She grinned, then softened her expression. “I love ye, Angus MacAnalen, my handsome laird.”

  “And I ye, my beautiful bride. Forever.”

  A word about the author…

  Willa Blair is the award-wining author of Amazon and Barnes & Noble bestselling Scottish historical paranormal romance and a contributor to USAToday’s Happy Ever After romance blog.

  Her popular Highland Talents series, set in a pivotal point in Scottish history, is filled with men in kilts, psi talents, and plenty of spice. Available in ebook, print, and audiobook formats, her books will soon be joined by more novels of adventure and romance.