Lost in the Highlands, Volume One

by Lorraine Beaumont

  As he passed his men he ignored their questioning stares and made his way back to his chamber. An uneasy feeling settled in the pit of his stomach as he climbed the stairs and he decided it must have been from the stew he ate for there was no way the lass, one he barely knew, could make him feel thusly. Yes, it must have been something he ate souring his stomach. Not the lass. Or so he told himself.

  Once inside his room, he brought the bolt home and undressed in front of the fire. He noticed the coals were still red as if someone had been tending it for most of the night but if the lass had truly left…a glimmer of hope filled him…he exhaled and shook his head.

  What was the point?

  Giving the fur on the floor a sidelong glance he made his way to his bed. With a heavy heart, he lifted the covers and climbed underneath.

  He started when his feet hit something other than his mattress.

  Jerking back the furs he looked down. The lass, his lass, he amended, was curled into a ball, hugging one of his pillows. Relief along with another emotion filled him and he decided it was one he didn’t want to ponder overmuch, at least not now.

  Lifting his hand, he moved her hair from her face. She made the softest mewling sound in her sleep and squirmed closer to the warmth of his body. As he watched her, he decided he would let her sleep here tonight but on the morrow he fully intended to give her a firm dressing down, but even as he thought that, the corners of his lips lifted into one of his rare smiles.

  Carefully, so as not to wake her, he pulled the furs back up to cover them both and then laid his head down next to hers on one of the pillows. Without thinking, he reached forward, gathered her sleeping form in his arms, and spooned her from behind as he drifted off into the most restful sleep he had in quite some time.

  CHAPTER FOURTEEN

  LOCH MORAR, SCOTLAND

  Sometime during the reign of King James

  A dream…a most delicious, delectable dream…my foggy brain insisted as a warm calloused hand slid down inside my gown, covering my right breast and then gently caressed the peak of my rigid nipple. A pair of soft lips soon followed, accompanied by the rough scruff of beard against the top.

  “Ye taste as sweet as honey, lass.”

  A light stream of air whispered against my naked flesh and my body responded even though I was a little disappointed, because now I knew I was definitely dreaming. Every night, my dream Highlander gave me that very same line, soon followed by him telling me he was going to claim me for his verra own…

  “I want ta taste ye,” he murmured into my mouth, nibbling my lips as he slid down to my neck, trailing kisses down my throat.

  My body tensed…wait…I didn’t remember the taste part…

  “I want to claim ye for my verra own, lass,” he said gruffly, the sound coming from deep in his throat vibrated against my ear as though he was really with me, and not some delusion I conjured while I slept.

  Definitely a dream.

  Relaxing again, I let my sexy dream Highlander have his way with my person.

  Threading my hands into his long dark hair, I cradled his head to my breast as his lips kissed and his mouth sucked the sensitive skin.

  Before I knew it, my dream Highlander’s hand was under my gown, sliding further up my leg, to the warmth between my thighs.

  A zing of pleasure shot through me as soon as his fingers touched the sensitive flesh, and even though I was sure I was dreaming, there was a small part of my brain sounding off a warning that said, maybe this felt a bit too real, a bit too good, but I chose to ignore it.

  Fisting the sheets, my legs fell open a little wider as his fingers delved deeply inside, invading my body, and then pulling out, just enough, before sliding back inside again.

  Every caress, every kiss, brought me closer to the edge and each time he bit my nipple, a bolt of pleasure shot through me. I felt pulled in a million different directions, his hands, his mouth, his body, all at once. I was awash in pleasure. With one last gentle stroke my entire body tensed, and before I knew it I was spiraling out of control, shattering from within against his hand.

  CHAPTER FIFTEEN

  LOCH MORAR, SCOTLAND

  Sometime during the reign of King James

  Mortification set in the moment I felt the bed give beside me. After my explosive orgasm, I was pretty much ripped awake from the best dream I ever had only to realize I wasn’t dreaming at all. That is when the mortification began to set in.

  Not only wasn’t I dreaming, but a very real, very hot, Highlander, was lying on his back next to me. I knew this because I heard him breathing and felt the side of his warm body pressed against my own. Now that I remembered where I was and what I had just let a complete stranger do, I thought I just might die of embarrassment.

  Thank the Lord it was dark.

  The storm continued to rage outside and shake the walls of the castle.

  Again, I felt him shift beside me and I thought I should say something, but I couldn’t think of anything to say other than, Wow, that was awesome, but of course, I wouldn’t say that. Even in my dream I had never thanked him (my dream Highlander) for doing all those wonderful things to my body. And now that I knew it had really happened, I was completely and unequivocally, mortified, and embarrassed, and of course so satiated that all I wanted to do was roll over and snuggle closer to him.

  As if reading my thoughts, he turned over on his side, wrapped his arm around my waist, and pulled me back against the length of his warm hard body once more.

  In the darkness, as the storm rumbled and kicked up a good fuss outside, I waited for him to say something, anything… but as the minutes passed and his breathing became heavier, I had a feeling he wasn’t going to say a word about what just happened without me prompting him to do so. Which, I wasn’t, of course. Instead, I reveled in the way his muscular body felt pressed closely to mine and how his breath warmed the back of my neck and shoulder. Too soon, his breathing evened out and I felt the distinct rumbling from his chest as he began to snore.

  Relaxing against him, now that he was sleeping once more, I felt torn. Part of me was glad for the reprieve. The other part of me however, the one that was apparently never satisfied, was a little upset he didn’t say anything to me about what just happened between us. Who knew, maybe he wouldn’t remember. Maybe if I got out of the bed, he would think it was all a dream and I wouldn’t have to suffer through more embarrassment than was necessary for the duration of my stay, however long that may be. Now that I had that far-reaching thought in my mind, I made the hasty decision on what I had to do.

  Carefully, so as not to wake him, I lifted his hand from my waist and reluctantly climbed from under the warmth of the furs. When my bare feet hit the hard, cold floor, I started second-guessing my decision to move. Garnering my resolve, I powered through it, and quickly made my way over to the smelly fur on the floor in front of the fire (my makeshift bed) and lay down on top.

  Shivering, I twisted the fur around my body and as the storm continued to rage outside, I finally drifted off into a restless slumber.

  ♦

  Gavin slid his hand over to the now empty space at his side. He wasn’t worried, though. She obviously only needed a moment of privacy. But when the minutes continued to tick by and she still did not come back to his bed, an all too familiar heaviness settled around his heart, reinforcing the wall that had started to crumble.

  ♦

  The storm had vanished by the time I woke and as I looked over at the now empty bed, it would seem, so had my Highlander. My face heated as I remembered a bit too clearly what happened in that very same bed only a few short hours ago. Standing up, I hurriedly crossed the room to get ready for the day.

  Once again, there was clean water in the basin and I splashed it on my face before washing up as best as I could. When I finished, I walked over in front of the fire, lifted the fur off the floor, and folded it into a nice square before placing it on the trunk. I made his bed as well. Fluffing the pillows more th
an needed, I tried to prolong the inevitable but my stomach grumbled loudly, reminding me I had yet to eat anything substantial since yesterday and that was almost too little food to even count. So even though I was being a chicken and didn’t want to leave his room to face him in the light of day, my grumbling belly had other ideas.

  So, with one last look around, I left the room and made my way down the dark gloomy corridor, to the top of the stairs.

  Much like the first night I was here, I stared down into the hall and was surprised to see it appeared empty save for the monstrous dog that was taking up residence in front of the damn door, sleeping.

  Again, my belly grumbled, spurring me to make a decision. Throwing caution to the wind, I very carefully and as quietly as I could, made my way down the stairs.

  The dog thankfully didn’t move from its resting place. With my heart pounding too loudly, I gathered my skirts in my hand, preparing to make a break for the kitchen.

  Taking off, I rounded the corner, and came to a skidding a halt. In the corner, where I could not see before, was a chair, and in that chair was my Highlander, and he was staring right at me. He didn’t look happy. My breath caught in my throat as I waffled in place, not sure if I should run back to his room or face him and in doing so get this ridiculous humiliation business out of the way once and for all. So garnering my slipping resolve, I stayed where I was.

  “Good morning,” I called as cheerily as I could under the circumstances, albeit quieter than I normally would have due to the sleeping massive dog across the room.

  He didn’t move. Not a muscle and for a moment I didn’t think he was going to say anything to me at all. On the verge of turning around and running back to his room, he finally spoke.

  “Aye, it would seem some of us are having a good morning.”

  His sexy Scottish brogue set my heart to pounding once more.

  Uncrossing his long legs, he stood from the chair. As he approached me I was reminded of a panther, beautifully graceful but also deadly. I shivered in spite of the brave front I was putting on as he drew nearer.

  “Och, lass,” he sighed and stopped. “What am I ta do with ye?”

  Anything you want, I almost blurted. “Whatever do you mean?” I squeaked out in a pitch too high, my voice betraying the calm façade’ I was attempting to master but also obviously failing miserably by the look on his too handsome face.

  A frown marred his perfect brow as he continued to stare me down.

  “Ye do not like it here much, do ye?”

  “Well, I wouldn’t say that,” I attempted to sound breezy, not stupid, and embarrassed like I felt.

  His frown deepened as he lifted his hand to my face. My betraying body leaned towards his and I had all I could do to remain standing upright at the slightest touch from him.

  “Did ye sleep well?” His brow lifted a notch.

  “Um…” He stroked his thumb across my jaw, which was doing a good job of distracting me from what I wanted to say.

  “I can see that ye did, sleep well, that is. Aye?”

  His lips twitched upward and his eyes sparked with a mischievous gleam. The urge to lean forward, to place my hand on his beautiful face as he was mine was overwhelming and just as I was about to do something I would have kicked myself for later, he dropped his hand and stepped back away from me. Instinctively, I took a step forward, to what…chase after him? I wasn’t sure, but whatever it was I forced myself to stop. My betraying eyes drifted back to his mouth, that very same mouth that had kissed me and…

  “Well?”

  “Huh?” I lifted my eyes back to his.

  “Ah, lass, ye confuse me.” He raked his hand through his hair.

  “What do you find so confusing about me?”

  “Ye run hot and cold. One moment ye are in my arms, writhing and mewling. Then after ye have yer fill from me, ye run away, scared, from the very thing that has given ye such pleasure.”

  My mouth popped open. I didn’t know what to say to that. Since when were men so perceptive and blatantly candid? And to answer my own question, I would have said, never. I’d never met a man in my world like him but apparently things were a lot different here, in his world…in the past.

  Just thinking that made a bubble of hysterical laughter slip from my mouth. Appalled, I covered my mouth but it was already too late. His expression turned on a dime and not in a good way.

  “Lass,” he exhaled, shaking his head. “I am getting a little tired of yer foolish games.”

  “Games?” I repeated.

  “Aye…” His eyes were deadly serious.

  In spite of the heat I felt with him near, my body involuntarily shivered.

  “Tend ta yer chores, lass,” he said as he turned to go.

  “Wait,” I called, feeling unsettled.

  He stopped and turned towards me with an unreadable expression on his too handsome face as his brow slowly hitched up another notch.

  I swallowed past the lump that had taken up residence in my throat. “What do you mean?”

  “Which part?”

  “Obviously, the game part,” I deadpanned, being smart, partly because I was tired, and because I was nervous.

  His eyes flashed with something akin to anger, making me shiver.

  “Ye need ta make up yer mind.” And with that he turned on his heel, stalked across the hall and out the door.

  Luckily, for me, the dog followed him out.

  Shaking all over, I sat down in the chair he had vacated only moments before and rubbed my aching head. Now, I’d done it. I’d gone and made him angry…again.

  “What are you doing, Paige?”

  Of course, I didn’t have an answer to my question any more than I had an answer to how I got here in the first place. And if I wasn’t so damn hungry I probably would have gone straight back to his room and had a good lie down on the floor until I woke up in my own time. But as with most things I did, nothing was easy, so instead I stood up, and made my way to the kitchen to find something to eat.

  ♦

  After I ate some fresh fruit, a piece of bread and something that looked like beef jerky. I started on my daily chores, which surprisingly didn’t last as long as I would have thought.

  Once I was finished, I decided to go outside and see where all my highlanders had disappeared. Granted, there was only one highlander that I really cared to see but I included the others too so it would sound better. And it made me feel less pathetic, so I stuck with it.

  As I stepped through the door, the sunlight instantly blinded me. Lifting my hand, I shielded my eyes. Since I had been inside the dim castle for most of the day doing my “chores” per my roomies, instructions, it took a few minutes for my eyes to adjust even though the sun was already slipping down from the sky. Wispy clouds floated past in stark contrast to the gray-blue backdrop of sky.

  On the lookout for the dog, I made my way down the stairs. A cool breeze blew gently and made gooseflesh rise on my sweat-dampened skin. Leaves rustled on the branches of the only tree standing in the middle of the courtyard as the dirt under my feet made a slight crunching noise as I continued across the yard. A chicken was scratching the dirt and pecking at some unseen bug or grain as I passed by.

  I had only made it a few feet when I had a distinct feeling that I was being watched again. It probably had more to do with my conscience than my prickling skin. Or so I thought until I turned around and saw a shadow slipping around the edge of the castle.

  I took two steps forward, part of me thinking I should maybe follow it, but then another part of my mind, the sane part, said, “Hell No!”

  For once, I let the voice of reason control me and went with the “Hell No!”, and instead, walked in the other direction.

  The sound of metal hitting metal drew me over across the yard, down a hill and past a low stone-wall with a gentle slope leading to a lower grassy field.

  I rounded the corner my eyes widened at what I saw. Stopping abruptly, I rubbed my eyes, for surely I wa
s seeing things. In the field below were shirtless Highlanders split into groups of two, jabbing, slicing and pirouetting away from each other wielding very large swords. Their long hair whirled out, as did their kilts as their agile half-naked bodies, dipped, ducked, and sidestepped away from their opponents.

  Rooted to the ground, I watched my Highlander as his muscles rippled, bunched, and elongated with each movement under a glistening sheen of sweat that covered every inch of his exposed skin as he deftly, swiftly, and accurately wielded his sword, out maneuvering his opponent at every turn.

  My mouth popped open of its own accord as my body grew heated and my knees became weak. Not able to take my eyes from the surreal scene, I reached down and placed my hand on the rough surface of the rock wall, then sat down before I fell. It was quite a sight to behold and what could only be described as poetry in motion.

  ♦

  At least an hour passed as they continued at a relentless pace until the sun finally slipped down in the horizon and the reddish color of the sky transposed itself into purplish hues turning the full light of the day into twilight.

  Before anyone noticed me, I unstuck myself from my gawking spot and went back to the castle to make sure the stew I prepared earlier would be ready for them when they came inside. I only hoped it was edible.