The Elusive Highlander

by Ju Ephraime

  Climbing back on the horse, he kept her in the same position and set the horse to trotting. They’d soon be there. What was a little discomfort?

  When they arrived at the stable at Innis Chonnell, Alasdair slid from the horse and held out his arms. Coira came down in a flurry of skirts, clinging to him eagerly as he ravaged her mouth with deep, hungry kisses, which she returned just as hungrily. He held her for a moment against his body, giving himself time to calm down before walking in to present her to his servants.

  Finally, he was calm enough to pick up her bag and approach the steps to the castle. The door opened, and picking her up, he carried her over the threshold. He set her on her feet before the gathered servants.

  “M’lord and m’lady, welcome to Innis Chonnell.” The housekeeper bobbed a curtsy, and the others followed suit.

  * * * *

  Coira was surprised at the warm reception. She hoped she could live up to the responsibility of her station. She looked up at the man towering at her side and was about to voice her concern when he swept her into his arms and carried her up the stairs.

  “Don’t think me silly, Dair, but I feel as if all my life I’ve been marking time for this moment.”

  His teeth gently bit her earlobe. “I am yer destiny, leannan. Ye may not believe it, but I knew it from the moment we met. I just didnae believe it.”

  Coira looked at him in amazement. She did have a strange feeling that their union was predestined. She wouldn’t go so far as to say she’d felt it the moment they first met; she had been too confused and angry at being displaced from her home, from her time to have felt anything but anger. Now, she had to admit there was nowhere else she’d rather be.

  Once they were safely inside the bedchamber, he kicked the door closed and set her feet to the carpet. “My own precious leannan, although I suspected ye were my destiny, I do not know how I endured the endless obstacles ye threw at me, demanding I return ye to yer time. I never want us to be separated again. I love ye too well for that.”

  Coira’s eyes flooded with tears at his touching declaration. “I love you too, my darling, now and always. I, too, don’t want to be separated from you. I’d positively die. You are a vital part of me… my heart.”

  He removed her cloak and sat her down on the edge of the high bed to remove her shoes and stockings. Then he turned his attention to undressing her.

  Alasdair took his time doing so, one button and then one garment at a time. When Coira was completely nude, he offered himself to her and allowed her to do the same to him. He then placed her on the bed and climbed over her, imprisoning her beneath his big body. He captured her mouth with his, tracing the outline of her lips with the tip of his tongue before he plundered her mouth with ravishing kisses that left her breathless and whimpering for more. Coira clawed at his back, almost out of her mind with need. He avoided touching her with anything but his penis and his mouth.

  He trailed his erection along the soft flesh of her thighs, deliberately avoiding her mons, and rubbed it across her belly. He dragged it all the way up to her breasts. When his cock touched her breasts, it began to pulse and throb against her breasts, leaving a trail of his fluid in its wake.

  Desperate to have him inside her, she reached up and slid her finger around his hard length, squeezing gently. Coira was rewarded when she heard his groan of pleasure. Coira teased him, cupping his sac with her other hand while his rampant cock continued to weep over her. She grabbed hold of his butt and directed it to her mouth, and, giving it a long hard lick, covered the entire thing with her mouth.

  She was rewarded with a hard sound coming from his throat as he placed his finger into her mouth and removed his dick. Wrapping his fingers around his manhood, he directed it to where she had her legs opened, her back arched, and her pussy waiting in wanton invitation. He pressed in, entering her gradually, allowing her body to get used to his size.

  Their joining was earth shattering. They had been hungry for each other for too long, and now they couldn’t get enough. When he was all the way in, Alasdair raised her legs and placed them over his shoulders, and then, bending his knees, he moved closer to her. This position gave him better access to her body as he continued to push her to take every inch of him.

  Each contact with her body was a slamming, grinding movement, hitting her clit again and again until he brought them to climax together. The release was so strong and powerful it left them shuddering as it went on with little aftershocks for several minutes.

  Alasdair gathered her in his arms and took her with him as he rolled onto his back, enfolding her softness against him, her luscious breasts pressing against his chest and her belly against his. He opened his thighs so that she lay between his legs. He gave her soft kisses on her eyelids and the corner of her mouth.

  Coira sighed with languid pleasure, a contented smile on her lips at the great release he had given her.

  He whispered to her, “Now that the edge had been taken off my hunger, I want to make love to ye.”

  “What we just did there wasn’t making love?”

  “What we just did was what I would consider an appetizer. Now I am ready for the main course. Are ye?”

  Before Coira could formulate an answer, his mouth and hands were all over her body, his fingers going unerringly to the sweet spots until she was floating on a wave of mystical sensuality. Alasdair followed his fingers with his mouth and tongue, tasting, licking, and tracing every inch of her body. His attention made her feel loved and cherished, as no spot on her body was left untouched, left unloved.

  She was especially turned on when he used his mouth and fingers on her breasts and nipples, applying just enough pressure to have her whimpering with need. He took his time going over the bottom half of her body. By then she was climbing a wall.

  One minute she was hot, the next cold, as the countless sensations danced across her skin in the wake of his lips and the slow glide of his provocative tongue. He was learning all her secret pleasure points. He found them in places she didn’t know existed. It was a revelation in the thoroughness of his lovemaking.

  Finally, he rose above her, letting her see the love he had for her shining in his eyes. Coira was panting with need when he thrust inside her slowly, inch by delicious inch, until his shaft was seated to the hilt. Only then did he pause and allow his cock to pulse inside her before he began a rhythm that was as slow and thorough as the first time had been fast and furious.

  He dipped his head and slipped his tongue into her mouth. Then, moving his cock and tongue in unison, he gave her long, slow strokes. The fucking almost had a dreamlike quality. Alasdair brought her to a state of delirious ecstasy where she didn’t know which end was up. He kept going at it, pushing through her tightened muscles, seeking to bring her the ultimate pleasure. Every time Coira was about to achieve climax, he’d stop. He brought her to the brink of orgasm three times before he finally took her over the edge. Her love cries were so great they caused him to lose control, and he followed her, flooding her womb with his seed.

  He gathered her to him in a tender embrace that melted her heart. Coira clung to him, knowing that what they shared was a rare gift from God. She drifted off to sleep and was dead to the world until she woke in the morning still in his embrace, his electrifying blue eyes staring down at her.

  “What a lovely way to awaken.” Coira reached out and traced his prominent bicep with her fingertip.

  He kissed her nose. “Goodmon’, ma leannan, are ye ready for the first meal of the day?”

  Coira gasped. “Did the housekeeper come in here?”

  “Aye, why?”

  “Did she see us like this?”

  “Aye. She told me she thought ye were in good hands.”

  Coira’s face flooded with heat. He placed the pillows behind his head and, lifting her, placed her between his legs and proceeded to feed her between caresses. She opened her mouth like a baby bird and allowed him to feed her tiny morsels. He kept feeding her, not having any.
“Aren’t you hungry?”

  “Aye, I am starved, but for something else.”

  Just then, she felt his erection move against her butt. “Are you always in this condition, my Highlander?” she asked.

  “Certainly not,” he denied. “I am only that way around ye.”

  She stayed his hand with the food he was about to feed her and gave him a passionate kiss. “Let’s not allow you to go hungry. Take me. Satisfy your hunger so you can have breakfast with me.”

  “Breakfast?” he asked.

  “Oh, I forgot. The first meal of the day.”

  “Ye mean ye are not the first meal of my day? We had better get on with it so I can indulge in this breakfast.”

  An hour’s love play satisfied them for the time being. Afterwards, they shared a bath, with Coira reclining between his legs, the weight of his erection rubbing against her bottom.

  “I think this is not a good position to be in with you,” she told him.

  “Why not?” he asked. “I love this position. My cock likes being lodged between yer buttocks. It has me thinking about all the naughty things I want to do, and will do, with ye.”

  Her glance fell on her travel bag. “Oh, I never wore the beautiful nightgown that Imogene packed for me.”

  “She knew ye wouldn’t wear it on yer wedding night,” he told her. “It was intended for ye to wear in the morning. Surely ye didn’t think I would let ye cover yer body from my sight last night? That would only bring out my inherent wolf, and I would have to shred it to pieces.”

  “Do you really have an inherent wolf, darling?”

  “Aye. I have a great deal of berserker in me. It only shows itself in battle. So, ye do not want to meet him. He is like a mad man; even I have difficulty controlling him. Like right now, thinking of yer beautiful body hidden from me is causing him to quiver in anticipation.” He squeezed water over her breasts, making her shiver as she realized that Alasdair intended to keep her in a state of arousal all day. She sighed with happiness. She didn’t mind in the least. She had a lot of time to make up for.

  The afternoon shadows were lengthening before they finally left the room so the servant could clean it. They went for a walk around the grounds of the castle. This was a very simple castle, not at all on the level with Inveraray. It was beautiful nonetheless.

  “Darling, why is the garden here so much more beautiful than the one at Inveraray?”

  “’Tis the soil. The soil here is more fertile. Everything grows here with little or no tending. At Inveraray, it has to be tended. The soil is much dryer there, and ’tis closer to the ocean. That might have something to do with it.”

  “That could be because salt is only conductive to certain plants, mainly weeds,” she said, laughing.

  They hurried through the dinner that awaited them in the vast formal hall and escaped upstairs to their chambers at the first opportunity. She was pleased to learn that the chamber adjoining hers was Dair’s, and by opening the double door between them, it had transformed the rooms into a suite.

  Tall wooden chairs had been placed before the fireplace, which was lit to warm up the rooms. There was also a small table where they could sit and share an intimate meal.

  Coira was ecstatic. “How did they know to do this and in so little time?”

  “I told them I prefer having private meals with ye. I want to make the most of our time together because we will soon be at war.”

  “Darling, I don’t know how I’ll handle it when you are gone. Do you have any idea when that will be?”

  “I had a discussion with the Bruce, and he seemed to think his brother, Edward, has distracted the English sufficiently by the campaign in Ireland, and now was the time to take the war to them. Much of the Lowlands they are claiming as part of England should belong to Scotland.”

  “Where are you going?”

  “Are ye sure ye want to talk about this?”

  “I don’t want to talk about it, but if it’s taking you away from me, I need to know.”

  “After Robert slew his arch-rival and was crowned King of the Scots, England refused to recognize him as king. So, Robert spent much of the next few years fighting as an outlaw in his own land, as he defended his throne against the English forces of Edward I, Longshanks, and that inept son of his, Edward II.

  “After the defeat at Sterling and Bannockburn, we have a real nation, although much of the productive lands that were good for crop growing are in English hands. We need to take what is ours back. This, ma leannan, is the predicament in which the Bruce finds himself. So as soon as our honeymoon is over, we prepare for war.”

  “Our honeymoon will never be over, darling.” And she lifted her mouth to his. “I don’t want you to go to war. I know I have to accept it. Nothing will stop me from loving you the way I do now. I hunger for you. Let me show you.”

  She proceeded to do to him exactly what he’d done to her on their wedding night. By the time they finally went to sleep, they were both well and truly sated.

  CHAPTER FIFTEEN

  They spent an entire week at Innis Chonnell. During that time, Alasdair and Coira spent every day and night together. It was as if he was trying to pack every minute with fun things for them to do. It gave him deep pleasure to educate his wife about the magnificent Highland castles she would be mistress of. They rode out over the grounds, visiting all the tenants and the villages, and met the families who lived and worked on the land.

  Coira listened proudly as Dair eased the fears of their people by assuring them that there would be no drastic change in their lives because their Laird had married a foreigner. He promised to answer any questions and to address their grievances. He encouraged them to speak freely, as usual, and pledged to work with them to solve any difficulties that might arise as they prepared for war.

  As they rode side by side, she was getting used to being in the saddle now; Coira was thrilled. “Dair, you have such an easy relationship with your people. How do you do it?”

  “I treat them all equally, and more importantly, I listen to them. All people need is a little respect, and even though they are laborers, they still deserve that respect.”

  “This is more than gratitude. They worship you.”

  He’d told her cattle had played a vital role in the history of Scotland. The wealth of Scotland came from land and cattle before the coming of sheep. They provided the livelihood for families throughout the Lowlands and Highlands.

  Now it was the height of the calving season, and Coira watched, enthralled as the cows on the property began giving birth, one after the other. She learned that a newborn calf did not have long horns. The developed them over their first year of life. The Highland cattle had very long horns that spread from their head like arms spread out wide.

  Coira was like a kid, taking it all in. She was forever exclaiming over one thing or another. Dair was pleased.

  “I am thrilled that ye are developing a keen interest in the working of the castle. Ye seemed particularly thrilled with the milking and butter making. Maybe ye could get to learn how ’tis done to keep yerself busy when I’m gone. I think ye will be good at it.”

  Having her husband pay her compliments and recognize that she had much to offer made her feel good. She preferred not to think about the impending war.

  “I was thinking that very thing,” she told him. “Are we becoming one and the same person? I don’t know how you are reading my mind. Perhaps it’s catching, like a disease,” she said, giving him a cheeky grin.

  He lifted her into the saddle. “Perhaps it is. Tell me what I am thinking right now.”

  She laughed suggestively and mouthed “tupping” at him. He gave her a wolfish grin.

  “That will not count. Ye know I get turned on every time I touch ye.”

  When they returned to the castle, they went upstairs immediately. Dair lit them a fire, and she asked for a bath to be drawn.

  “Ye do like taking baths, and now I am getting to enjoy it to.”

&
nbsp; “Why, because you like being clean?”

  “That, and I love what I do with ye in the bath.”

  “Good.”

  As soon as the bath was filled, they bathed together. They didn’t bother getting dressed; she changed into one of her hardly used nightgowns, and he remained in the nude, only covering up when the housekeeper brought up their dinner tray.

  They had a very intimate dinner and made love between courses. Finally, as she lay in his arms in front of the fire, Coira admitted she’d never had such intense feelings before. She didn’t merely love this man; she adored him.

  * * * *

  Their week of bliss came to an end when they returned to Inveraray. As soon as they arrived, the Bruce took over and monopolized all Alasdair’s time. Some nights he came to bed in the wee hours of the morning, too exhausted to do much else but make love to her briefly before falling asleep. She supposed she shouldn’t complain because he always took the time to make her feel special.

  Coira missed the fun, idyllic time they had in Innis Chonnell. Here it was a beehive of activity. She didn’t have anything against the Bruce. She just wished he’d go to war already. She knew there was a lot of preparation for this war. It appeared everything seemed to be riding on it. She didn’t have the heart to tell Alasdair that all was for naught because, in the twenty-first century, Scotland would still not be independent.

  Every day she woke worrying about Alasdair and his brothers, especially Tristan. He was so young and full of life. She’d hate for anything to happen to him in the war they were forever training for. Coira tried to deal with the change in her life as best she could.

  She was still not welcome in the kitchen. So she worked on a small portion of the garden to try to bring it into bloom like the one at Chonnell. Some plants flourished, but the majority died. The berries seemed to do well, so she busied herself planting berry bushes.

  At nights, she missed her husband terribly. She caught only brief glimpses of him, flitting here and there. He seemed to be everywhere, just never with her. Their table, where they would have shared intimate dinners, remained unused. She was slowly pining away for him. It was as if he was in her blood and she needed him to survive.