Highland Lover: A Historical Highlander Steamy Romance Collection (Highland Lover Series Book 6)

by Fiona Knightley

  “Has she told you?” Amelia asks, looking at Oliver, who has a confused look on his face.

  “Told me what?” Oliver asks.

  Amelia nods to this with a smile. “I guess I was right. The Sophie I know wouldn’t have hesitated in opening her mouth, or else she has something to protect equally.”

  “I thought it would be nice for you to tell your secrets, I have no business with that,”

  Sophie replies mockingly.

  Now Oliver has confusion written all over his face. First, how did these two know each other? Secondly, what secret are they talking about?

  “Did you two know each other before now?” He asks.

  Amelia sighs, but she is determined. She had wanted to tell him about her marriage with Clach. She didn’t want it to be in this manner, but unfortunately, the scene she saw them in gave her courage not to withhold.

  “I have wanted to tell you this before now; I am a married woman.”

  “Whit!” Oliver hears himself bellows. He hears Sophie chuckle too. What in the world is she saying? “I don’t understand you, what do you mean you are a married woman?”

  “Before I met you, I was married and still am because I haven’t divorced.” She feels her voice shaking, but she has to continue. “I was fleeing from my husband when you met me on the road.”

  There is an awkward stillness. “None of this makes sense,” Oliver murmurs in a sad voice. “You told me you were fleeing from your father because he wanted to force you into marriage.”

  “There is a bit of truth in that, only that I am married already, but to a monster. Fleeing was my only option to save myself from that disaster in the scam of marriage.”

  Oliver didn’t say anything; he is silently calculating and, at the same time, trying to digest all that she had said. “You lied to me,” he says with a bitter voice. “Again,” he adds, and Amelia understands what he means by that. Was this what Sophie meant when she told Amelia that she was only running away from her problem?

  Sophie chuckles and puffs out her mouth.

  “I told you the love she claims to have for you are all lies. I know her type, the blatant ones that disguise love to wealthy lairds just to gain their interest.”

  She eyes Amelia and turns to touch Oliver on the cheek.

  “It is so unfortunate that you fell for her, dear.”

  “And did you marry Dunn for love? It's all about his money, isn’t it?” Amelia snaps at Sophie.

  Amelia can see the more confused look on Oliver's face and a similar one on Sophie; she didn’t expect it from her.

  “Almost everyone in Arbroath knows you married Laird Dunn because of his wealth. Even when you try to fake love, it is written all over you.”

  “Oh! Shut up, you shameless slut!” Sophie barks at her.

  Amelia chuckles. Her words truly got Sophie, and she has to hit her more. “You know I should have asked you if my husband Clach is faring well. You were technically his mistress, more like his wife.”

  “What nonsense are you saying?” Sophie hesitates.

  “Oh, dear, you don’t think I know? I know you were sleeping around with Clach. I have seen you both having sex several times in his chamber and study, including the night I fled from Arbroath. What type of married woman does that?!”

  “Whit,” Oliver says in disgust as he scrutinizes Sophie and then quietly creates a distance between them. There is so much furtiveness between these two ladies. This time Sophie is slowly shaking in anger and infamy.

  “So, when next you call me a slut, ah'm sure you know you are equally one.”

  “You eejit!” Sophie swears. She means to rush to Amelia to attack her, but Oliver is quick to hold her back. “How dare you!” Sophie screeches, but Amelia ignores her and turns to Oliver.

  “Ah’m sorry I lied to you,” she says calmly. “I am glad I said this before I leave.”

  “Leave?”

  “Aye, I am going back to Arbroath,” she says and walks out of the study.

  Chapter 21

  The evening of the same day, while the carriage passes through Montrose's street and dangles along the rough road, Amelia knew that this would be the last time she would ever see this village. And importantly, this might be the last time she would also see the man who has brought her to this village, Oliver.

  She had felt happiness the day she arrived here with him, hoping that things will finally be perfect. But now she is leaving alone while being in an awkward situation with him—a problem which she never thought would go this way.

  After their discussion, she has no idea if he has forgiven her or is still angry with her, and she hadn’t bothered to ask him. Initially, she never had it in mind to open up about her marriage to him in such a manner. Yesterday morning, when he was leaving for a business meeting, she had told him she would discuss certain things with him. In her mind, it was all about her marriage.

  However, Sophie's arrival changed everything completely. She has seen the way Sophie throws herself at Oliver, and she believed that it wouldn’t change anything because of how she had treated him in the past. However, seeing them kissing in the study changed everything she believed in completely. Her intention when she walked into the study was to bring Oliver some food; he didn’t eat yesterday, and equally didn’t touch his meal that morning.

  However, walking into the study, she was disappointed by what she saw. If Sophie throws herself at him, she expected him to be a man of dignity by resisting her seduction, but it was the opposite. Thus, she had no other option than to speak her mind and leave that castle.

  She will never fight or share any man with Sophie for anything in this world. Even though she highly dislikes Clach and never wishes to have anything to do with him, it was totally wrong for her to sex him behind her back. Anyway, she still does not care about whatever she did with him. She had always wished he had ended up marrying her when she left.

  If he had done so, Sophie probably wouldn’t have been here, nor would she be throwing herself at Oliver wanting a relationship with her again. The thought of this brings a question to her mind: where is Dunn? Did he even know his wife is here in Montrose?

  It must have been so hard for him to live, let alone married to a woman like Sophie. With her, there is no end to her manipulation when she wants something. If only Oliver had withstood her, it would have been different. The image she saw in the study of two of them keeps recurring and playing like a flashback in her mind, and it makes her heart race in anger. The same anger Amelia had when she suddenly announced she was leaving. An action she never planned to take. Well, her journey has gone far now; she can’t turn back.

  Moreover, it hurts her that Oliver didn’t come to say farewell to her. Only what he did was to instruct his rider to take her to Arbroath safely. An offer Amelia won’t think twice in accepting. If there were no carriage, she would be heading to Arbroath on foot or unsafe; an experience she doesn’t want to have again.

  Despite his act of kindness, he never said goodbye to her or asked Amelia to please stay. Probably his sullenness means that he didn’t want anything to do with her or that he has finally settled for Sophie. his first love.

  Looking at it from a different perspective, she needed to go back to Arbroath and fix her past. She hates to agree to it, but Sophie was right about one thing, fleeing away does not mean she is unmarried or divorced. If she had finally gotten married to Oliver while the Clach issue is unsolved, she would have been charged to crime and condemned; no woman is permitted to marry two husbands in Scotland. In this aspect, she can thank Sophie for reminding her of what she is doing wrong.

  Moreover, she never knew of this; she married at a tender age with no pertinent information about marriage. Since life with Clach was so horrible, she would go back to him, but only to ask for a divorce, which might turn out to be a difficult thing.

  Listening to the wheel's sound and the horse running on the rough road, she questions what will be in Arbroath. What will Clach do to her? What h
ave his friends said about her? And how much gossip have they held against her?

  Back in Montrose, Oliver has a tough time. Lying halfway on his bed while drinking from a bottle of ale, he tries to assimilate the events that occurred days ago. Having Sophie around him is becoming a thorn in his flesh. He has told her to leave, but she has been giving flimsy excuses. First, she said she doesn’t want to leave knowing that they are not on the right terms, and now her reason is that she has no place to go. Besides her husband, she is not on good terms with her mother, who is now married to another man after her father's death.

  With all her excuses, he can’t order her men to throw her out of the castle. His parents, primarily his mother, had taught him to treat women with respect, and he has nurtured himself with the same standard. All he wants now is to see her leave; his heart's heaviness is becoming too much.

  Or perhaps the heaviness he is nurturing is all about Amelia. He can’t stop thinking about all she told him about being married and fleeing from an abusive husband. Why does she keep disappointing him by keeping secrets from him? He remembered she made mention of telling him something, but he never expected the discussion to be this heartbreaking.

  He takes a shot of the ale. Now Amelia is gone, leaving him alone in this castle, making him prey for Sophie. Or maybe he let himself be prey to Sophie. Oliver should have resisted hard from her kisses, but instead, he let himself be her little fool. He remembers the sadness written all over Amelia's face when she saw them. Even the plates that fell from her hands revealed how she felt.

  Aside from her wronging him, he has equally wronged her by kissing another woman, despite professing love to her. And knowing that Sophie has been one of her foes in Arbroath made it even worse and contributed to her abrupt leaving. Maybe he owed her an apology for that. Perhaps he should have begged her not to go.

  Just then, the door of his chamber opens and he could see a figure walk in. He isn’t sure if the ale he drank is causing a mirage, but he is convinced it is Amelia. The figure walks closer to him and places a kiss on his lips.

  “Amelia...” he whispers. “I’m sorry.”

  “It’s okay, my love,” she replies and kisses him more.

  Her lips and kisses taste different from what they used to be, but he doesn’t care; he just wants her. He opens his lips and drinks in all the kisses she is pouring in, rolling her tongue to hers, he moans deeply.

  “Oh. Amelia…” He calls out to her and grabs her breasts. The feeling of them is bigger, unlike before, yet feels familiar. The ale he drank is probably making him feel differently. Pushing away the thought of doubt, he bends and sucks on them, tenderly.

  “Oh…my love…Aye… I have missed you so much,” the figure says to him in a moan. Oliver understands her yearn, and he will do everything to satisfy it. Slowly, he traces his hand down her thighs and finds her female region, warm and moist, and he knows it is ready for his touch.

  Gently, he rubs her enlarged protrusion and proceeds to stroke in and out of her canal with his finger. She moans louder and kisses his lips. He increases the speed of his finger in her. She moans louder and turns him over and climbs on top of him. She quickly pulls his manhood out and puts it inside her and begins to ride him.

  “Amelia…Oh…” He moans in delight as she increases her speed. While he enjoys her work, Oliver is equally surprised at her sudden expertise in this. Amelia has never done this to him before.

  Whatever makes her become this excited, he loves it and is enjoying every part of it. That evening, they make profound love, and he drifts off to sleep, calling her name.

  Chapter 22

  The carriage stops at the frontage of Laird Clach’s castle, and a wave of doubt rushes within Amelia. Part of her is telling her to stay in the carriage and have the driver take her to another village, while the other part is telling her go inside the castle. Even if she is to leave the castle, where will she go? There is no place to go except her parents, and it will mean that she is still on the run; this is precisely what she wants to put an end to.

  “Should I take the trunk inside my lady?” the rider asks her.

  “Naw,” she says with hesitation. “I will take it from here.”

  “Okay, farewell.”

  The rider says, make a quick nod to her and rides the carriage away. Watching him disappear down the road, she speculates if her decision is the right one. With the carriage gone, there is no turning back. She is in Arbroath already, and even if she intends to run again, people will find her in no time.

  Drawing in a deep sigh for the strength of what she might encounter when she walks into that castle, she slightly prays that her fate won’t be death. While she has been on the run for few months, she never imagined that she would willingly walk into this same castle that she fled.

  She holds her trunk close; it consists of the clothes Oliver had gotten for her. After all; they are the only things she has that are related to him. Gently, she knocks on the door, once and a second time. One of Clach’s men opens the door, and his eyes widen in surprise.

  “My lady!” he says.

  Amelia didn’t know how she should reply to these greetings and not feel or look weird. Aside from thinking of what Clach and his friends will do or say about her, she had forgotten about his servants. The servants who regarded her as nothing, even being the lady of the house. Not that she cared, she is good after all without servants, as she never grew up with one.

  Quietly, she nods at him with a faint smile, and the servant could probably tell that she put it up. Slowly she walks into the castle and encounters some other attendants who are in the castle. Just as she expected, they whisper about her return amongst themselves, and it won’t be long before it reaches Clach. She doesn’t need to announce her presence, they already did it for her, and she walks into the waiting room waiting for Clach. He will be here soon.

  Amelia looked around the room; nothing much seems to have changed in the castle. She hasn’t taken a walk around it to confirm, but the aura she feels is just as similar to the one she had felt months ago.

  “Oy! Ye fucking fanny!” a voice barks behind her, before she could turn entirely to see the recognized voice. Clach walks to her quickly and slaps her heavily. He gives her another slap, which makes her lose her balance and fall on the floor.

  “C... Clach wait, please!” Amelia begs in tears.

  “Ye wee bastard!” he yells and hits her again then drags her off the floor by her hair while Amelia screams in pain.

  “What were ye thinking running, huh?!” he says as he drags her out of the waiting room. All the servants gather and watch in awe.

  “Ah'm sorry Clach, please. Clach, please,” she begs in tears while still resisting on the floor. As he pulls her by the hair, she could feel strains of blood in her hair. If she didn’t act fast, he would pull all her hair out.

  Quickly, she grabs one of the iron stands that held an ancient lamp to the ground of the hallway and holds tightly to it while Clach pulls her harder by the hair. Withstanding the pains in her head, she fastens her grip on the stand. Seeing what she is doing, Clach releases her hair and reaches for her hand to loosen her grip on the frame; Amelia seizes the opportunity to kick him in the balls. Clach shouts in pain.

  She stands up quickly, takes the iron lamp from its stand, and shoves it toward him, charging herself for his next attack. She has a cut at the corner of her mouth and another beside her left eye, all were slowly dripping out blood.

  “If you dare hit me again, I swear, I will hit you with this!” Amelia says. Inside her, she silently pled that he wouldn’t come any closer. The domestic staff who have been watching were surprised at her defence.

  Slowing recovering from the pain, Clach swears under his breath, “I see ye have grown some nerve, huh?” he bites his lower lip in anger. “Before ye think of coming back, ye should have known that I would kill ya,” he says, walking menacingly towards her.

  “I'm serious Clach, deh comes any closer, I will h
it with this!” Clach stops and looks at her for a minute, then burst into what seems like a burst of fake laughter.

  “See! The wheesht wee Amelia is now brave enough to talk back at me!” he says to his servants amid fake laughter.

  Amelia tightens her grip on the ancient iron lamp as she feels it shaking. Tears and blood cover her face. She murmurs silent prayers and pleads that he takes her fake threat seriously.

  “I didnae come here to fight with you; I want us to talk,” Amelia says calmly, hoping this will calm him down. “I need a divorce.”

  There is a moment of silence in the room, then Clach makes a loud laugh. “Ye fool! What makes ye think I will grant you one?”

  “I want to be free from this foul of a marriage! I cannae continue like this!”

  “Ye want to get merrit to another man, huh?”

  He comes closer. “Your cunt father gave ye to me, and now ye are ma hoore!

  I release ye whenever I want to. Now come here,” he drags her by the hand toward the stairs.

  In the direction he is going, Amelia knows he wants to take her to his chamber upstairs. No! She won’t let him force himself on her again.

  “No! Clach, please,” she cries in a plea while trying to resist his drag to the stair. “Clach, please...”

  He lands a heavy slap on her face, the ring on his finger cuts deeper into her flesh than it has done before, causing more blood.

  “Shut yer gob! Ye fucking cunt!”

  At this point, Amelia releases her hold on the iron lamp; she raises it and slams it on his head. Clach let out a loud cry of pain while holding his head. She didn’t want to use it on him before, now she has and does not regret it.

  Some of the domestic staff, who have been watching the entire time, run to their laird. The lamp has left a cut on Clach’s head, and she can see blood.

  Chapter 23

  It’s been two weeks since Amelia arrived back at Arbroath, and it feels like she has the same life she left seven months ago. However, there have been a lot of changes that have to do with her interaction with Clach. Clach has been on his sickbed as a result of the fight they had. He isn’t critically ill as the physician has stated, but he needs adequate rest to recover from the shock he had on his head the day she hit him with the lamp.