Questions for a Highlander

by Angeline Fortin

  She wondered that he even felt such. The events of the previous evening had limited her options. Clearly, he didn’t realize that she could never marry another after what they had done or, perhaps, he thought given her age, a husband wouldn’t expect purity from his bride. A wry smile twisted her lips. Given her fortune, she wouldn’t imagine most men would truly care what she’d done before taking her vows. It might be that Vin felt the same and didn’t consider the loss of her virginity a factor at all.

  Then there was Harry. Moira turned to him and he flashed her his most roguish smile. She couldn’t help but smiling back. He was such a jolly fellow. Despite his familial responsibilities, he seemed to be without a care in the world. Or as he told Moira before, he was too blithe to be bothered. Would he care if she came into a marriage without her virginity intact? Perhaps not. As he had said, he wasn’t jealous man and he didn’t love her. But he was proud. He would make sure any children from the marriage were his beyond doubt. He wouldn’t stand for less. Moira rather thought Harry had it in him to be a very jealous man if he were ever to find the right woman to provoke it.

  Glancing back and forth between them, Moira considered the two men, making comparisons. They were both handsome men, tall and strong, though obviously Moira preferred Vin’s darker eyes and just slightly lighter hair. With both, there was the comfort and compatibility of friendship. Though she had known Vin much longer, she felt she was well aware of both of their good qualities as well as their faults. Both had many. Harry was a cheerful sort as Vin had once been, but who was to say he wouldn’t be again? Harry made her laugh. Vin made her heart break.

  What made a woman’s heart choose? It would have been so much easier to love Harry. They would have had a good life together, but perhaps they were too much alike. Harry didn’t excite Moira as Vin always had. She didn’t have the enigmatic feelings she did with Vin where she felt challenged or competitive or content all at once. They agreed on almost everything. Even years ago, she and Vin agreed on very little. They argued about everything from religion to which club was best to use when chipping from the rough. Most of the time, she felt like they did it on purpose, just to rib each other. They enjoyed it that much.

  But Vin cared for her as well. All the letters they traded while he was in the guards let them know each other inside and out…with the exception of Vin’s stubborn refusal to see her love for him. He knew her beyond her likes and dislikes. He would do anything in his power to see her happy. Moira thought if she were to tell Vin that she honestly wanted Harry as her husband, he would take her arm and lead her down the aisle himself to see her happy.

  Briefly Moira wondered, if she were to ask Vin to love her, if he would do that as well just to make her happy. Vin gave his all to those he cared for. He devoted himself with his whole heart for a friend. Would give endlessly of himself when asked or needed. It was one of his most endearing qualities and Moira knew, if Vin were to ever allow affection slide into love and marriage, it was a bond that would last forever.

  Smiling at the thought, she caught Vin frowning once more and wondered at it. “You look awfully morose, Vin. Why don’t you think of happier thoughts?”

  “Like what?” he scowled at her and then at Aylesbury. “That popinjay at your side gets on my nerves.”

  Liking the sound of that, Moira grinned. “That’s impossible. Everyone adores Harry. He’s eminently likable.”

  “I hate him.”

  Moira glanced over to her other side to find Harry grinning like a lovesick fool. Dear friend, he was really going all out to push Vin over the edge, wasn’t he? Edging back over to Vin, Moira decided to ease his mind at least a tiny bit. “There is a storm rolling in from the west,” Moira murmured and pointed to the dark cutting a line across the horizon. “There will be a storm this afternoon. Rain, wind, thunder. Why we’re likely to be stuck in the house all afternoon and if Eve and Francis don’t make it back from Colin and Ilona’s luncheon before then, we might end up being along all afternoon.”

  Warm invitation danced mischievously in her cheeky grin and Vin’s eyes darkened at her bold innuendo. He’d like nothing better than to lose himself in her passionate depths through the rest of the day and long into the night. There were a thousand things he longed to do to her, with her still. How easily she transported him from anger to passion. One small distraction and it was as if his irritation over her attentions to the marquis never were. He hadn’t wanted to believe that Moira might still prefer the marquis over him despite their night together and was pleased she wanted to spend the afternoon in his company as he longed to do with her. Vin shot her a wicked smile with a waggle of his brows.

  With a laugh, Moira tapped her crop to Angel’s flank and sent him into a canter, leaving Vin looking after her with longing, that is, until the clearing of a throat got his attention. Vin turned to find Aylesbury riding along beside him with a smirk on his face. Irritation flowed like a river once more and dislike curled Vin’s lip as the fellow spoke, “You shouldn’t be so obvious, old chap. I saw it from the first, you know, but you’re fairly drooling now. It’s perhaps a little too obvious that you want her.”

  Vin snorted. “And you don’t?”

  “Of course, I do. Any man would.” They both looked after the lady in question. She had slowed to a walk and was ducking under a low hanging branch ahead of them. The sun spilled its rays down on her enveloping her in a radiant glow. The slim line of her back was ramrod straight in the saddle, her hands light on the reins. As she twisted to push a branch out of her way, they could see her contented smile and the voluptuous profile of her figure.

  “Sometimes I wonder if she might have some padding in there to have breasts like that. Do you wonder the same?” Aylesbury grinned cockily at Vin, playing the part of the roué and ardent suitor but the look on Vin’s face caught his curiosity. There was little conjecture or inquisitiveness there, merely appreciation and desire. “It seems you have lost the look of wondering what is beneath her clothes. Before you undressed her with your eyes, now you have the look of a cat that’s gotten the cream, yes?” Aylesbury studied Vin, noting the clenching jaw, the hands tight on the reins. Good Lord, he had been only joking but sure enough he’d come on the truth. Harry looked back to Moira noting her cheerful air.

  His breath caught as the truth of it hit him.

  “My God, you’ve had her already, haven’t you?”

  Vin’s heart jolted at his words. Aylesbury made it sound so crude, as if Vin had rudely taken what he wanted without concern or caring. The marquis couldn’t imagine the intimate intensity of what they had shared, he made it sound only like new fodder for the gossip mill and Vin couldn’t have that. He would not risk bringing shame or disgrace down on her. “Moira is a lady, Aylesbury. I’ll thank you to remember that before you think to sully her good name.”

  “I wouldn’t dream of doing such a thing,” Aylesbury protested, waiting for the jealousy to come, the anger that would tell him he’d been wrong in his feelings for Moira. None came beyond concern for a friend combined with an envy any man would feel. Vin had bedded a prize any red-blooded man would have wanted. But Aylesbury couldn’t be sad for it. It was what Moira wanted.

  Remembering his role then, his vainglorious wager that he could push Vin into an act of jealousy within a fortnight, Aylesbury considered how best to jab this man who saw him as a rival for Moira’s affections. “It matters not to me, of course, beyond a distasteful image. Moira is free to do as she wishes while she is unwed. However, soon she’ll be my wife and, when she is, I’ll thank you to keep your hands off what is mine. Though you can feel free to keep imaging all you want. God knows I cannot wait to get my hands on her, to take her in every way imaginable. You might have had her for a night or two, but she’ll be mine for a lifetime.”

  Without warning, Vin’s fist shot out between them catching Aylesbury on the jaw. Taken unawares, the force of the blow rocked Aylesbury in his saddle nearly spilling him over the opposite side. His hors
e pranced nervously as the marquis pulled himself back upright on his mount rubbing his jaw. The sacrifices one made in the name of friendship! Damn, the fellow had a hard left! Aylesbury stretched his jaw, grimacing through the pain before he shot a mocking smile at Vin. “Jealous, old chap?”

  “Not at all. Merely defending the honor of a dear friend.” Vin stared ahead at Moira’s slim back as she rode sedately through the park. There had been a time when she preferred to ride wildly astride across the Highlands. Gone was the lass and in place was a lady. She had changed. Things had changed a great deal more than he ever thought if Moira was still intent on marry this horse’s ass. Why would she want him? He hadn’t a serious bone in his body and was a cocky bastard beyond bearing. He simply wasn’t a good match for her. “As you said, Moira is free to do as she wishes including sinking so low to marry you if that’s what she wants.”

  Harry bit back a laugh when Vin’s tone emerged completely mismatched from the words he spoke. Vin was a very jealous man, he just didn’t know it yet!

  “What has you two dawdling so?” Moira asked, reining in her mount as she turned back. Taking in Vin’s set jaw and Harry’s amusement, she could only imagine that Harry was trying to draw Vin’s envy. Vin was glaring at her as if she’d done something wrong when moments ago he had been looking at her with hot desire. While she preferred the other, she wondered what Harry had said to make Vin so angry. Curious, but determined not to give in to it, Moira merely tossed her head. “I thought you lads were going to learn to get along? If you can’t, we might as well finish this now.”

  “I fear we must anyway, Moira darling,” Aylesbury swept a hand to the horizon. “I think the weather will turn bad quicker than we thought. I should be getting back to Guthrie’s before it breaks. I’m sure Clarendon will see you safely home. Won’t you, old chap?”

  “Of course,” Vin ground out, glad to see the last of the fellow.

  “Think of me while I’m gone, Moira my love!” Aylesbury made a show of kissing Moira lightly in farewell and kicked his mount down the trail leading back to Prince’s Street while Vin and Moira turned back up the longer distance to Carlton Terrace.

  Chapter 27

  The jealous are troublesome to others, but a torment to themselves.

  - William Penn

  By the time they arrived back at the Glenrothes mews, Moira was starting to get worried. Vin hadn’t said a word to her the entire ride back and his constant glower was darker than the approaching skies. Surely, Harry wouldn’t have said anything to turn Vin against her? That would go expressly against their purpose, but whatever he’d said had left Vin with a healthy dose of anger.

  She hoped the storm when it came wasn’t worse than the one advancing from the west.

  Kicking Angel over to the mounting block, Moira thought to dismount in the same manner she’d gotten up there. However, Vin growled a low warning and Moira waited pensively for him to dismount and come to her side. Feeling his warm fingers slide around her ankle, Moira gasped as he pulled her foot from the stirrup before he reached up and grasped Moira around the waist to help her down, his hands almost spanning the tiny circumference. She absently thanked God for Sung Li feeling the strength in Vin’s body, the flex of the muscles beneath her hands. With her hands on his shoulders, she allowed him to lower her slowly to the ground savoring every moment of bodily contact during her descent until her toes touched the ground.

  She met his eyes, felt the force of barely controlled anger and want in their depths and a shudder of expectation raced through her. With a shaky hand, she took Angel by the reins and led him into the stables while Vin followed along behind. A groom rushed forward to take the horses and Moira delivered her normal instructions for their care, but as she turned to leave, Vin grabbed her hand pulling her into the tack room.

  The moment the door shut, Vin crushed his lips against hers even as he pulled her body forcefully against his. Pressing her back against the wall, he speared his fingers into her tidy chignon and dragged her head back so he could devour her more fully. With a gasp of surprise over his ferociousness, Moira moaned in surrender wrapping her arms around him kissing him back and drawing his tongue with her own. “Vin,” she murmured, feeling the passion build up inside her as Vin slid a hand between her thighs cupping her. Even through the many layers of her habit, Moira felt the pressure as intensely as if she were naked and a low keening escaped her as she rocked against his hand.

  Swearing under his breath, Vin dropped down, gathering her skirts and pushing them up until his hands burned through her pantalets. Grasping her bottom in both hands, Vin lifted her up against him and slammed her back against the wall grinding himself against her core as her legs came up to wrap around his waist. He devoured her lips as if she were to be his last meal, leaving Moira gasping for air and yet begging for more.

  “You drive me to madness,” he grumbled in her ear as his fingers found the slit in the center of her pantalets and slipped into her heat.

  A desperate quiver of want started in Moira’s chest and spiraled outward until she was shaking with need. She swallowed deeply, asking, “Are you going to take me right here, Vin?”

  “God, no,” he moaned still kissing her tilting her head masterfully to gain better access to her neck. He pressed against her once more and the both shuddered in response. “Bloody hell,” he cursed, pulling away from her, lowering her until she leaned weakly against the wall. “I don’t know what I’m thinking. My God, what do you see in that man?”

  “What?” Moira asked in confusion.

  “Aylesbury,” he ground out. “What is so bloody special about him?”

  “Harry?” Moira repeated, still wondering what was going on. She could barely think over the frantic beating of her heart. “Why, he’s handsome, witty, charming…”

  “Enough! You sound like Fiona now!” he grouched still panting heavily.

  A bubble of joy burst through Moira’s confusion and she couldn’t help but grin foolishly. “Vin, are you jealous?” Vin growled low in his throat and she reached out to caress his cheek, turning him so she could look into his eyes. “You are, aren’t you?”

  “Of course not,” Vin looked away, refusing to meet her gaze. He knew it was not the truth of it at all. The very thought that Moira found all those qualities in a man Vin now recognized as a rival was hard to bear. What did she think of him, Vin wondered. Did she find him handsome? Perhaps. Charming? Witty? Vin grimaced knowing, given his years of solitude, it was unlikely. What did he have that appealed to her then? He couldn’t help but wonder. “I just don’t understand what you find so appealing about that fellow. I find him most irritating myself.”

  “Well, if it helps, I don’t want to do with him what I want to do with you,” she assured him, nudging her nose against his cheek before nuzzling her lips against his throat.

  That caught Vin’s attention. “What do you want to do with me?” his voice took on a husky edge as he pressed her against the wall with the weight of his body as he toyed with a curl of hair at her temple.

  A shiver of excitement shot through Moira as she felt the length of his body warm hers and she slanted him a devilish look. “All sorts of things I probably shouldn’t.”

  “You have certainly aroused my…curiosity.” Vin grinned in return as he ran a hand through his hair and straightened his jacket. “Shall we?”

  Making their way out of the barn, they were caught off guard by a rush of raindrops descending upon them. Catching Moira by the hand, Vin pulled her to the townhouse dashing through the rain as they laughed together. Up they went four flights of stairs until they were in Moira’s room breathing heavily and bubbling with amusement. Locking the door behind him, Vin opened his arms. “Come here, lovey.”

  Moira went into his embrace without hesitation, raising her lips for his kiss tasting the raindrops on his lips even as they dripped from her hair and his nose. Running her hands over his cheeks, she dug them into his hair shaking out the water with a chuckle
before smoothing back his damp locks. She held his head in her hands reading the blend of humor and desire in his eyes. His forehead was smoothed of the worry lines that had lingered there these past weeks. Instead, he looked relaxed and playful. Vin grinned and Moira’s heart skipped. Playfully, he licked a drop from her chin and the end of her nose before reaching up to pull the pins from her hair, untangling the knot and spreading it over her shoulders.

  Returning his smile, Moira met and held his dark gaze, pushing his jacket off his shoulders. He did the same with hers before attacking the buttons on the front of her blouse. When he spread it wide, his eyes did leave hers to caress the lush mounds of her breasts as they thrust upward under her corset. His hands came up to cup the luscious mounds worshipfully before he bent his head to pay homage with soft kisses.

  Cradling his head in her arms, Moira threw her head back and savored the feel of his lips and tongue against her flesh. “You’re so beautiful, lovey,” he murmured against her skin.

  “So are you,” she whispered back.

  He raised his head looking at her peculiarly. “How can you say that?”

  “You’ve always been beautiful to me, Vin.”

  Vin heard the sincerity in her whispered words and felt it reverberate within him. Self-consciousness fled and he felt suddenly powerful. Yet with a trembling hand, he cupped her cheek and kissed her tenderly. “Well, you take my breath away,” he returned.

  “You make my heart leap,” she volleyed back.

  “You make me feel like I can conquer the world,” he whispered raising his other hand until he cupped her face and brought her lips tenderly to his.

  “And yet you devastate me.”

  With a groan, Vin wrapped his arms around her pulling her tightly against him. He took her lips once more in a passionate kiss pressing her lips open. Meeting his tongue with her own, Moira drank him in, her heart trembling with love for him. Vin might not be perfect, but he was perfect for her. She wanted him now and forever.