His Highland Lass (The Clan Sinclair Book 1)

by Celeste Barclay

  “Ye ken they say that home is where ye’re from, but home is also where the heart is. I ken that means I can have more than one home. Do ye ken the same?” She rested her hands over his heart. He saw a wealth of emotions in her eyes, but he was not sure how to respond. He was not quite ready to share his feelings because he was not even sure what they were. Now he had backed himself into a corner. He wanted Mairghread to feel like home was with him, and apparently she did, but he was not able, or rather not willing, to reciprocate her admission.

  “I do ken.” He left it at that. He saw the disappointment in her eyes when he did not offer more. “Would ye like to go to the loch fer a swim?”

  Mairghread laughed at that. She found it funny that she had just been thinking about how badly she wanted to go for a swim but knew that she could not.

  “I canna go with ye. It wouldnae be proper. I do want to swim, but I will need a maid or one of ma brothers to take me.”

  “Nay. I’m taking ye.” With that he grasped her hand and made for the postern gate.

  “Tristan, if ma da finds out ye took me swimming alone, he will flay the skin off yer back. He willna be forgiving aboot that one.”

  “He and Callum are going over the report his second sent him. They said they would be busy for at least a couple of hours. We have time to go and be back with none of yer kin any the wiser.”

  Mairghread knew she was looking disaster in the eye, but she chose to follow Tristan anyway. They made their way out of the postern gate and down to the shore of the loch. They had walked along the shore many times in the last few weeks. Mairghread felt she was familiar with the area, but Tristan led her further than they had ventured before. She realized that there was a small cave set in the hillside where the loch curved. She never would have guessed it was there.

  “Mair, ye can come in and out of the water here, and no one will be able to see ye from anywhere else on the loch. Ye will have some privacy when ye’re in the altogether.” Tristan smirked at her.

  “And what makes ye so sure that I will be taking any of ma clothes off with ye around?”

  “Ye want to go swimming dinna ye? Ye’ll sink with all those layers on if ye go in as ye are now.”

  “That may be, and ye are right that I want to swim, I willna strip done in front of ye.”

  “I’ll turn ma back and willna turn around until I hear ye in the water. I promise.”

  Mairghread stared at him for a long moment, “Alright.”

  Tristan could hear Mairghread moving about as she took off her clothes. His mind ran rampant with pictures of what she looked like as she removed each layer. His cock was throbbing before he even got to her taking off her kirtle. He could not help but shift his weight from one foot to another as the wait was agony. What felt like an eternity, but was most likely only a couple of minutes, finally came to an end as he heard her splash into the water. He whirled around and caught a view of a very pale and very toned backside as she surface dove into the water. Tristan could not believe his eyes. She really had stripped down to her altogether. She had not even left her shift on. He quickly yanked his boots and stocking off. He unpinned his breacan feile and let it drop to the ground---something he never did, he always took time to pleat his plaid before laying it down. He pulled his leine off over his head and ran to the shore. Tristan had just entered the water when Mairghread resurfaced. He was surprised at how far she had swum away from the shore. He made quick work of chasing her. She squealed as she dove back under the water as he came closer. She was slippery as a fish. He thought he had an ankle, but his hand closed around nothing but water. She came up behind him and splashed water at him. He spun around and dove under the water. Two could play at this game. He knew this loch and had no trouble swimming with his eyes open. She too seemed to have no problems swimming with her eyes open as she swam further down and then below him. They both came up gasping for air having traded spots.

  “Ye arenae longer a wood nymph or a garden sprite. Ye must be part selkie.”

  “I amnae any of those. I am a lass with four older brothers who wouldnae let her play unless she could keep up. I learned to keep up.”

  “Ye need nae chase me fer I amnae running from ye.” He held his arms out to her as he tread in place. “Come here, Mair.”

  “Tristan, I dinna think that’s a wise choice. I ken I dinna have any clothes on, and I ken ye dinna either.”

  “Aye. All the more reason fer ye to come near. This is the first chance we’ve had to be alone in over a week. Lass, let me hold ye near to me.”

  “We cannae go any further than we did in the woods. Do ye promise me that?”

  “Mair, I wouldnae dishonor ye like that. I told ye then that I willna take yer maidenhead until ye are ma wife. I meant it and I mean it now.”

  She nodded her head and swam forward. Tristan grasped her hand and pulled her towards him but stopped before their bodies could touch. They intertwined their fingers and simply tread in front of each other. The water was clear enough that they could roughly see each other’s bodies but not in great detail. This made Mairghread relax a bit, and she smiled.

  “Thank ye fer bringing me here. I love riding Firelight and walking through the meadow or into the hills on Sinclair land, but I am really ma happiest when I can just float in a loch. I find such peace being in the water. I dinna want to leave once I am in.”

  She leaned back and allowed herself to nearly float. She was aware that if she laid all the way flat, her breast would bob above the surface. She was not daring enough to do that in front of Tristan. As though reading her mind, wrapped his arm over her belly and pulled her to his side. It forced her to bring her legs up and to lie flat in the water. He leaned forward and brushed a soft kiss against her lips.

  “I couldnae wait any longer.”

  “I dinna ken why ye waited that long.”

  She righted herself and moved into his embrace. Their legs tangled with each other as they each used one arm to help them stay afloat. Tristan held her close to his body as their lips melded together. There was definitely no way to hide his reaction to her nearness. She gasped as her skin made contact with his length of steel that jutted out from between his legs. It seemed to be searching on its own for a resting spot between her legs. Gently, Tristan floated them back to where he could stand. Once his feet were planted firmly on the loch bottom, Mairghread wrapped her legs around his waist. The water lapped at her breasts and her senses seemed to be heightened by the motion and soothing feel of the water surrounding her. Her hands ran up and down the length of his back. She explored the peaks and valleys of his chests and washboard stomach. The feel of his muscles rippling beneath her hands made her moan. They looked each other in the eye, never breaking contact. Tristan gently held her bottom in his hands. This time he did not massage or squeeze her flesh. He simply held her as she explored his body. She could not reached his backside with her legs wrapped around his waist, so her hand slid up his back and hooked over the top of his shoulders. She leaned her forehead against his to catch her breath. She had not realized that she was panting.

  “Little flame--” He did not get far before she interrupted him.

  “Why do ye call me that? I dinna understand it. ‘Mair’ makes sense, but why do ye think of fire when ye look at me?”

  “Havenae ye ever noticed the color of ye hair when the light hits it? It looks as though there are flames jumping out of it. The reds are so bright that ye almost cannae see the brown. It matches yer spirit. There is a fire in ye that draws me in. I cannae seem to look away.”

  “I never give much thought to ma hair. I ken it isnae what most women want. It is flat and straight. Men like women with thick, lustrous hair. I dinna have that.”

  “Who told ye that? I ken I love yer hair just as it is. I dinna want it any other way.”

  Did I just say that I love her hair? Did I truly use that word? I’ve never said it aboot anything to a woman before. Now what do I do? I couldnae respond to her feelings
earlier, but I can tell her ma feelings on her hair. I ken she noticed it.

  Tristan held his breath for a moment. He knew he was right that she had picked up on the use of the word love, but she chose not to say anything.

  “Speaking of that fire in ye, why do ye wear so many knives. I never did ask ye aboot that after yer first night here. I, along with everyone else, saw the dirks in yer hands. I saw them come from yer wrists. I felt the sgian dubh strapped to ye thigh when we were in the woods. I even saw the dagger lying in the side of yer boot as I passed ye clothes on the shore. Ye’re mightily well-armed fer a lass. Why so many blades?

  “Ye do remember who ma kin is. Ma brothers have always been over protective of me. Once I turned two and ten and began to fill out, they became adamant that I learn how to protect maself. I’d learned how to wrestle and tussle win them and the other lads when I was a wean, but as we all grew older, I wasnae allowed to continue. First it was because the lads became stronger than me and ma da worried I would get hurt. Then it just wasnae proper anymore. Since I couldnae wrestle anymore, and ma brothers wouldnae stand fer the idea of anyone touching me anyway, I had to find another way to protect maself. Ma brothers didna want anyone to get close enough to ever touch me if I didna want it, so they taught me how to use knives. I can throw them, stab with them, and cut with them. Ma brothers made sure that I can come out the winner if I have to. Anyway, by the time I was six and ten, I’d become quite good with the knives. Ma brothers no longer kenned what to do with a sister who was more a woman than a bairn, so they stuck with what they kenned. Each year on ma saint’s day, they give me a new dagger. That is how I have come to have one for each wrist, each thigh, and each boot. I’ve told them that I dinna have too many more places I can hide them. Magnus told me I would have to start sewing them into ma gowns. Little does he ken that I started sewing them into ma arisaids and hems shortly after they started teaching me. I had one too many run ins with Lyle Sinclair, the shepherd’s nephew. The boy used to bully me aboot wanting to play with the lads. As we grew older, he tried to steal a couple of kisses, but when I refused, he told the other lads that I gave them away fer free. I put an end to that sharpish. I broke his staff over ma knee and threw one of ma dirks at him when he leaned against a tree. I made sure to let him ken that pinning his leine to the trunk was ma intention and not a miss. Next time ma intention would be to hit him and not the tree. I didna feel right going out without a dirk after that but I wasna willing to admit it to ma kin, so I sewed them into ma clothes. I can get to them easily if I need more than what is strapped to me, but nae one kens they are there.”

  “This Lyle Sinclair should count himself lucky that I havenae met him. I dinna think I care much fer him. Yer keep impressing me, lass. I would like to see ye use the blades fer something other than threatening ma stepbrother.”

  “Aye, well, mayhap I can challenge ye later. Whomever throws the best can claim a boon.”

  “A boon? I dinna think I want to wait that long.” He pressed his hand to the middle of her back and brought her body flush with his. He began to kiss the column of her neck from just behind her ear to where it met her shoulder. She tilted her head to give him better access, and he felt the shiver run through her. He nibbled then licked his way back up to her earlobe. She tilted her head further and caught his earlobe between her teeth. She sucked gentle and then tugged a little with her teeth. She felt his shaft grow even harder and longer between them. She had not thought it was possible.

  Mairghread reached between them and ran her finger tips over the head of his cock. She could not believe how soft and smooth the skin felt when it covered something that felt like it had been forged from iron. She let her body slide down his a little so she could wrap her hand around his rod. She had been peering below the water’s surface to see what she was touching, but when Tristan groaned, she looked up to see that he was squeezing his eyes shut.

  “Am I hurting ye?”

  Tristan could hear the worry in her voice and looked down into her deep blue eyes. He did not know if it was the sunlight, the reflection of the water, or just her mood, but her eyes were yet another shade that he had not seen before.

  “Nay, lass. Just the opposite. Naught has ever felt as good. I am trying to control maself and not have this end before it’s even begun.”

  She smiled softly at that and returned her attention to her hand below the surface.

  “I dinna exactly ken what to do,” she said softly.

  “Anything ye do at this point will feel like heaven. Just slide yer hand up and down but dinna tug or squeeze too hard. That might nae feel so much like heaven.”

  She began to move her hand slowly up and down. When he began to thrust his cock in her hand, she knew she was doing something right. She was so fixated on what she was doing for him that she did not feel like hand sliding between them. She gasped and moaned when his fingers thrust into her. He did not test her out with one finger at a time like he had the first time. This time he pressed three fingers into her tight sheath. He almost came just feeling how she closed around his fingers. He used his thumb to rub her pearl. As she became more and more aroused, her grip tightened. She was careful not to squeeze too hard, but she picked up her pace. Something told her to pump his cock and add a little twist to her wrist. It only took five pumps like this before he was spilling his seed between them. She began to lower her legs when she realized he had climaxed, but he had only just begun with her. He picked up the pace of his ministrations. He had her squeezing her thighs around him. He waded over to a rock that was in the sun but sheltered from anyone’s prying eyes. He laid her back on the rock and watched as his fingers slid in and out with her juices coating them. He hungered for a taste. He blew lightly on her curls. The cool air against her heated skin made her arch her hips off of the rock. He grasped her hip with one hand and slid his shoulder beneath her thighs. Her moans and insensate mumblings continued as she writhed on the rock. When she felt his tongue against her folds, she jerked upwards to see what he was doing.

  “Ye cannae be doing that!”

  “Aye, I can and I will. I’ve dreamt of what ye taste like. I’ve wanted to lap up yer honey pot since I saw ye enter ma keep. I will have ma taste and enjoy it.” He used one hand to press her back against the rock. He slid this hand down to cup her breast. He marveled at how well it molded to his hand. His fingers kept slipping in and out of her folds and his tongue flicked her nub. He ran his tongue from top to bottom before dipping it into her. He would lavish more attention to her bottom parts another day. He did not want to frighten her with these new sensations. He continued to work his tongue and fingers together until her breath began to come in little gasps. He could tell he was almost to the end of her endurance. He brought her to a point where she almost could endure no more pleasure without it becoming pain. As she began to spasm around his fingers, he thrust all four fingers into her, sucked hard on her pearl, and twisted and pinched her nipples.

  “Tristan!

  He hoisted himself out of the water and wrapped her in his arms. He pulled her into his lap as her orgasm came to an end. She clung to his shoulder as she buried her head into chest. She continued to shake but he realized it was not from the cold. He looked down and saw tears streaming down her cheeks.

  “Mo ghràidh, what is it? What’s wrong? Did I hurt ye or do something ye dinna like?”

  Tristan’s heart was breaking to see her in tears. She looked up at him with tears still falling down her cheeks, but there was a look of wonder in them.

  “Am I really yer darling? Ye didna do a thing that I didna want or that I didna like. It was just suddenly too much. It was too much fer me to feel all at once. I am a wee overwhelmed, I suppose.”

  “Mairghread, ye are mo ghràidh and much, much more. I understand that things moved faster than ye might have been ready for. I willna rush ye again. I’m sorry, mo ulaidh. And aye, I do ken ye to be a treasure.”

  “I didna feel rushed, and it didna move too
fast. Actually, it felt as though time stopped. I just amnae sure how to handle how intense ma feelings are fer ye.” She looked away from him and out at the loch. “I dinna think that ye feelings are quite what mine are.”

  Tristan realized that she had taken his earlier evasion to heart. It had hurt her quite a lot. He did not doubt that she felt like he had baited her and then yanked it away. But he did not want to confess his feelings now for fear that she would think that he was just saying what she thought he believed he should say. He also did not want her to doubt it and think that any professions of love were made in the afterglow of their lovemaking. He knew he had to be honest or risk having her retreat from him emotionally and physically.

  Mairghread began to lift herself out of Tristan’s lap. She looked back over her shoulder for her clothes. There was no help for it. She would have to put her clothes back on while she was wet as they had not brought any drying clothes with them.

  Tristan tightened his hold on her and stroked her shoulder.

  “Mairghread, wait. Dinna get up yet. I want to hold ye fer as long as I can. I dinna ken when we’ll get time alone again. And I dinna want ye to go until ye hear me. I choked back in the garden and couldnae admit how I feel. I wanted ye to confess yer feelings fer me because I needed to ken that ye feel like I do. Then when it was ma turn to admit ma feelings, I was too coward to risk telling ye. I didna ken how to say it, but I did ken how I felt. How I feel. I dinna want ye to think that anything that I say now is done just to please ye or because we shared more intimacies. I will tell ye how I feel, but not now. I will do it soon, and I will be very clear to ye. Can ye wait?”

  “I dinna think I have a choice. I canna and willna force ye to say things that ye arenae able to. I amnae going anywhere. Ye ken how I feel. I’ve told ye, and I think I’ve shown ye. Just dinna wait too long. I amnae kenned fer ma patience. I am many things but patient is not always one of them.”