His Highland Lass (The Clan Sinclair Book 1)

by Celeste Barclay

  She also kept busy with helping the laundresses and in the kitchen. She learned to cook from her mother and enjoyed it. Annag, the cook, welcomed the help. She was getting on in age, and even though she was still spry, she had difficulty standing for long periods of time. Annag took the offer of Mairghread’s help and put her to work. Annag quickly realized what a gem she had found in Mairghread. While Mairghread was more than willing to make dishes just as Annag said, she took initiative to add extra dishes to the meals and to add extra flavor to various items. The other women in the kitchen found Mairghread easy to work with as she stepped in anytime help was needed. When two of the washerwomen, Bridget and Catriona, came down with the gripe from drinking old milk, Mairghread stepped in to help. At first the women refused to allow her anywhere near the lye soap but their progress was slowed with two missing workers. Mairghread grabbed a cake of soap and walked to the troughs and simply began scrubbing. By the end of the day, Mairghread had raw hands, the women were worried, and the laird was proud.

  Tristan and Mairghread continued their outings whenever they could. The weather was beginning to turn, and Tristan needed to spend more time in the village surveying the crofts to see what repairs needed to be made before winter set in. Mairghread accompanied Tristan on these visits. She spoke with the women to find out what the families really needed. While the men talked about roofs and tools, Mairghread listened to the real needs of families such as more grain, more wool, more vegetables, and more meat. The roof repairs began soon after and several hunts were organized.

  While they were in the village, Tristan made sure to keep Mairghread as far from Sorcha’s croft as possible. She moved out of her parents’ home when they could no longer tolerate her sulking and mood swings. Tristan had a rotation of guardsmen that kept an eye on Sorcha in the village. She lived a very lonely existence. She had snubbed many of the women over the years when she flaunted one relationship after another. She had attempted to make too many husbands stray to be easily forgiven. The men of the village kept her at arms’ length for fear of how both their women folk and the laird might react.

  After one such trip to the village, Tristan and Mairghread set out across the meadow for a late picnic lunch. Mairghread observed the meals that she shared with Tristan to learn what dishes he liked best and which he seemed to only eat out of politeness. As a result, the basket contained a heel of bread, soft cheese, cold pheasant, a few thinly sliced pieces of venison, and a jug filled with summer ale.

  “Tis quite the feast ye have set out. Tis more than I expected. Ye have been hard at work. I ken the women appreciate how ye have stepped in. I appreciate all ye have done.” Tristan helped Mairghread lay out all of the food on the plaid he spread on the ground. They settled in to eat and it was a few minutes before either spoke.

  “Tristan, I think ma da is close to agreeing to the betrothal. I dinna want to push him too hard or he will dig his heels in. But I dinna want to go on like we are if there isnae any hope. I’m going to try to speak to him before the evening meal.”

  “I agree. I am becoming impatient with this murky situation. I want to finalize the betrothal and post the bans. I ken how I feel aboot ye, and I ken what I want.”

  “Ye do?” Mairghread fairly held her breath as she looked at Tristan. She had wanted to tell him that she loved him countless times, but after their less than satisfactory exchange that day in the garden and at the loch, she was too afraid to confess her feelings only to find out they were unrequited.

  Tristan pulled her into his lap and hugged her to his chest. She rested her ear against his heart and could hear the steady beat. It made her relax. She could spend every moment of the rest of her life in this position and die a contented woman. Tristan leaned back slightly and tipped her chin up so he could look at her.

  “Mair, I love ye. I want no other in ma life. I cannae imagine ye not becoming ma wife. I feel as though I cannae remember a time before ye were here. Everything aboot ye fits me just right and I dinna just mean when we are intimate. Ye impress me day in and day out. I admire and respect ye. I want to spend the rest of ma life making ye happy. I want to fall asleep with ye in ma arms and awaken to ye still there. I want to ken it’s ma seed that grows in yer belly. Ye are the only woman I have ever pictured bearing ma bairns. I canna think of any other woman I have ever met that would make a better màthair than ye. Mair--”

  She cut him off by kissing him hard. She pushed back on his shoulders until he fell back on the plaid. Once he was lying down, she stretched out on top of him. She showered kisses over his cheeks and jaw and ran her fingers through his hair.

  “I canna believe ye feel all this fer me. I have said a litany of prayers that ye would feel aboot me the way I feel aboot ye. It is as though ye can hear ma thoughts for I would describe ma desires just as ye did yers. Tristan, I love ye with ma whole heart.”

  Their kiss began gently. It was their best way to share their deep feelings for one another. Mairghread shifted slightly and her mound rubbed against his cock. Their kiss took on a life of its own. The kiss became heated and demanding. Mairghread flicked her tongue against his lips and then traced them with the tip of hers. Tristan thrust his tongue into her mouth as he thrust his hips into hers. Mairghread began to suck on Tristan’s tongue which earned her a groan and two strong hands gripping her bottom. Tristan could feel the hard pebbles that her nipples had become. They pressed through her kirtle and his leine. He groaned again as she arched her back to press them harder into him. Tristan broke the kiss long enough to look around to ensure they did not have an audience. His guardsmen that accompanied them had fanned out to make a protective circle around the couple and they faced out. This was done under the guise of surveillance, but everyone there knew it was to give their laird and his lady some privacy. They were far enough away that they could not hear what passed between them. The grass was high enough that now that they were lying down, there was not much the men could see anyway.

  Tristan inched her skirts up so that his bare hand could massage her backside. His other hand snuck between them and undid the laces to her gown. Once he had loosened it enough to free her breasts, he rolled them over so that he was on top. Mairghread marveled at the feeling of his tongue on her flesh. She watched as he licked around the edges of her nipple. Then he moved on to the other one and gently tugged with his teeth.

  “Lass, do ye trust me? I promised ye that I willna take yer maidenhead, and I still mean to keep that promise. But there are a few more things I’d like to show ye since we are stuck waiting for our wedding.”

  “Tristan, ye knen I trust ye with ma life and in all things. I want to learn whatever ye can teach me.”

  With that, Tristan inched down her body until he was kneeling between her legs. He pushed her skirts up so that he could see her moist folds. This was the first time he was able to clearly see her lady bits rather than just touch them. At the loch, the rock was cast in the shadows, so he could not see all that he wanted. Now it was a veritable feast for his senses. He could see her nether lips glistening. Her scent was unlike any others. It smelled sweet with only a hint of musk. He knew this was a honey pot that he would want to lick clean. He could not believe how ready she already was.

  As if she intuited his thoughts, she remarked, “I seem to always be wet whenever ye are near or I think aboot ye. I dinna ken if this is normal, but it happens every time.”

  “Mo ghaol, it is completely normal. It means that yer body is ready to take mine into ye. It means that yer body kens we are meant to join. Until then, it makes it easier for me to pleasure ye in other ways. I have been aching to taste all of ye, and so far I have had to settle for only some of yer best parts.”

  Mairghread kept repeating his endearment of “my love” in her head, but all thoughts scattered when she felt him blow cool air over her curls and heated skin. Next, she felt his hot breath on her folds as his tongue darted out to tap her pleasure button. She gasped for air and half sat up to see what Tristan wa
s doing. When they were at the loch, she had not been able to see any better than Tristan. Magnus had told her that men enjoyed doing such things to women, and she understood what he was doing from their first time at the loch, but that still did not prepare her for the sensations that rocketed through her body. Her elbows shook and gave out. She laid back on the blanket and closed her eyes.

  Tristan used his thumbs to spread her folds wide and took a deep breath in. He was almost dizzy with the amount of air he was sucking in through his nose. Even her most intimate parts smelled of lavender and heather. He ran his tongue from top to bottom and up again. This time he tested the waters a bit when his tongue slid down. He let it inch down towards her most sacred and taboo place. He felt her breathing hitch, but she did not stop him. Instead she let her knees fall even wider apart and lifted her hips slightly off of the ground. He drew a finger down the center of her core, coating it with her moisture, and then tapped her tight hole. He would not take it any further than that today. That would have to happen slowly and gradually so as not to frighten her. But he could sense that with her passions as strong as they were and her inquisitive nature, she would be willing to try more once they were wed. He refocused his attention on her core. He slid three fingers into her to his second knuckle, slowly moving them in and out. He intended to tease her until she could take no more. He continued the light flicks of his tongue. After a couple of minutes, he could tell she was becoming restless and impatient. He added a fourth finger and thrust them into her. She moaned louder than she ever had before. For a moment he feared he had been too rough with her, but her gasping words told him otherwise.

  “More! I need more. Tristan, please. Oh god, please, Tristan. Ye ken what I want. Please dinna make me wait.”

  “Shhh mo ghaol, I will get ye there, but enjoy this time. Feel ma fingers deep inside ye. Ken that I want nothing more than fer that to be ma cock. I want to slide ma cock into yer sheath and fill ye. I want to feel ye tighten around ma shaft just as ye do ma fingers.”

  He returned to his ministrations and continued to move his fingers deep within her. His tongue swirled around her over heated flesh. He reached his other hand up to alternate between breasts. He could feel her getting close. He had already learned the telltale signs of her breathing and how she rocked her hips. It had only taken him two previous lessons to become a star student in pleasuring Mairghread. He slowed down and pulled his fingers out almost all the way. She wailed at the loss of contact. He used his thumb to rub her as she became more responsive than ever before.

  “I shall make love to ye every day of our lives together. I will bring ye pleasure anyway that I can. Ma cock is twitching to slide into ye.”

  “Oh, mo chreach! Tristan, help me. I cannae last any longer. I ache so much. It almost hurts that I want ye so badly.”

  He could not deny her any longer. Sliding all four fingers back in to the hilt, he used his thumb to rub the pearl. His thrusts and rubs were not gentle. He was careful not to tear through her maidenhead, but he offered her all that he could. He slid up her body and pressed her breast together. He sucked one nipple and then the other while rocking his hips against her. It was all the friction that she needed to send her sailing over the top.

  When Mairghread could breathe again, she kissed Tristan and slid her tongue in. She was not sure how she felt about being able to taste herself on him, but she longed for the connection.

  “M 'àite an duine. Tha gaol agam ort.” Ma braw man. I love you.

  Tristan’s heart felt like it doubled in size at her words. He could not help but feel pleased with himself after watching her come apart in his arms.

  Tristan did not think this time together could get any better, but he was quickly and pleasantly surprised. Tristan watched as Mairghread floated back to reality and her chest rose and fell more slowly. She opened her eyes and smiled mischievously at him. Before he knew what to expect, she pushed on his shoulders and rolled over on top. Without saying anything or even making a sound, she scooted herself down between his legs. Their roles were reversed.

  Tristan thought she was going to take him in her hand again, but she had far more in mind. She flipped his plaid back and leaned forward. When he felt her tongue circle the head of his rod, he almost shot off of the plaid. He could not believe what she was doing. He may have been willing to introduce her to the pleasures of her flesh, but he had never expected her to do as much for him. She looked up at him and grinned.

  “How do ye-- Ahhhh”

  He never got to finish that question because he could only groan as she slipped her lips over his cock and took him into her mouth. This was by far not the first time a woman had pleasured him with her mouth, but it was the singularly most erotic experience of his life. Her eyes had become that luminescent grey again and her lips were a deep red from their kisses. He could not stop watching as her lips moved back up his shaft. She flicked her tongue across the top and played with the little hole as he leaked. It took every bit of concentration that he could muster to not come at that moment. He watched her as she licked him up and down and then moved her tongue around him. She flicked her tongue along the vein on the underside of his rod, and he actually moaned that time. He had never before moaned during love play, but he could not help it. He desperately wanted her to take him in her mouth again. He knew she was teasing him just as he had her. On their own accord, his hips began lifting off of the blanket. He could not seem to make them stay still. She slid her hands over his muscled stomach up to his chest. She ran her hands over the smooth skin and then slid them back down to his hips. She grasped his hips and found that her hands fit perfectly in the grooves along the outside of his backside. She lifted up on her knees so that her mouth was directly above him. She slid her mouth down as far as she could. He was a large man everywhere. All parts of him were proportionate. She could not take all of him in, so she wrapped her hand around the base of his cock. She sucked hard and flicked her tongue across the head of his shaft. Then she began to move her mouth up and down and her hand followed the rhythm. Tristan could barely hold on any longer. She began a twisting motion with her hand as it glided up and down. He was done for when her other hand cupped his bollocks. He tried to push her shoulders up to get her to release him, but she would not budge. He sat up and tried to pull her off. Without looking up, she used both forearms to knock his hands off.

  “Uh-uh” she mumbled.

  “I cannae come in yer mouth.” But the sentence died on his lips as she wrapped her hand around him again and rubbed just behind his bollocks. He gave in to the pressure and the pleasure and erupted into her mouth. “Mairghread!”

  She lifted her mouth off of him and licked her lips, smacking them together. Tristan could not believe that his virgin bride-to-be had just taken him into her mouth, brought him to climax in a matter of a couple of minutes, and let him finish in her mouth. He was pleased. He was shocked. He was confused. And he was becoming angry. How the bluidy hell does she ken how to do that? I ken from her reaction the first time I touched her that no mon had done this before, but how the bluidy hell did she learn to suck a mon off?

  “Before ye go thinking the worst of me, I havenae done that before. Ever. I told ye that Magnus explained a great deal to me aboot what happens between a mon and a woman. Just as he told me what a mon can do fer a woman, he also explained what a woman can do fer a mon. I’ve been wanting to do this since the first time ye used yer mouth to pleasure me. I just havenae had the opportunity.”

  “I believe ye. Ye and Magnus have obviously talked aboot a great many things that most brothers and sister dinna. If this was ye first time, and I do believe ye that it was, ye are a natural. Did Magnus explain what to do?” He asked the last part but was not really sure he wanted the answer. It made him feel a bit ill to think her brother may have given her pointers.

  “Good God, nay! Magnus never said anything beyond just the mechanics of each act. He never gave me any examples and certainly never gave me any instruction
s. I just thought aboot how ye used yer tongue on me and I tried to imagine what would feel good to me if I were a mon.”

  “Tha sibh gu dearbh ulaidh.” You are a treasure indeed.

  Chapter Fifteen

  As the fourth week of the Sinclairs’ stay came to an end, Laird Sinclair still had not announced his decision. His mind was already made up, but he could not bring himself to tell Tristan or Mairghread. He kept wanting to observe and think just a little more before giving his answer. Finally, he accepted that his mind never changed. Instead his decision was constantly reinforced by what he saw. He feared what the consequences would be if he made a mistake.

  Mairghread’s patience was on its very last thread. She was tired of hinting to her father and trying to show him that she belonged with the Mackays, that she belonged with Tristan. She believed she knew what her father’s answer was and it was taking a toll on her temper that he would not just announce it. Tristan took his frustration out in the lists. He trained harder than he had since his father was alive and he competed against Alan for the old laird’s attention. He fought now like a berserker. He took on two and three men at a time. He was in the lists before any of his men, and he usually dragged Alasdair along with him.

  “Tristan, ye canna keep going on like this. The men canna keep going with ye like this. Most are too sore or too tired to lift their arms above their waists, and some are nodding off while standing watch. And dinna ye blame them fer that. Ye canna keep taking yer frustration over yer betrothal, or lack of one, out on everyone else. Ye may seem calm enough, but ye’re a pot that is aboot to boil over.”