Tristan pressed all four fingers into her sheath. He hooked his first two fingers to find that spot just inside her wall and let the other two find the spot just beside her maidenhead. His thumb rubbed against her pleasure button. He had known enough women during his life to learn just what would pleasure her most. He had a vague vision of other women he had been intimate with, but now they were all faceless and nameless. All he could see and think of was the beautiful woman in his lap and how he only ever wanted to touch her for the rest of his life.
Mairghread rode Tristan’s hand as his other moved up to squeeze her breast. His mouth returned to her other nipple. He sucked as though he was a parched man trying to squeeze the last drop from a waterskin. A tension was building inside her that she had never experienced before. It began in her core and spread like a wave rising within her. Her hips took off at their own pace. Her head was thrown back, but now she looked down to observe what Tristan was doing. Even with his lips around her breast, he was watching her. He felt her sheath beginning to contract around his finger and knew she was close. He wanted to push her over the top and let her climax crest. He pinched and twisted her nipple and bit her other one with just enough pressure to make her climax. He watched as she bit her lower lip to keep from screaming aloud, but his mumbled name filled his ears. The sight of her climaxing above him for the first time and hearing his name on her lips was enough for him to climax, too. His hot seed shot out as though he were a geyser going off. It seemed like a limitless flow, and he was shocked that bringing her release would be enough to send him over the edge, too. That had never happened before.
As they floated down to earth, Mairghread leaned her head against his chest and panted. She had not understood anything shared between a man and a woman could be so powerful. Magnus never shared what couples experienced afterwards, and she never thought to ask. Feelings were not something her brothers often talked about, even the physical ones. Tristan’s heart was still pounding beneath her cheek. He removed his hands and ran them up and down her back in soothing circles. She still clung to his leine as she had throughout their interlude.
“Tristan, is it always like that?” she whispered. She was not sure her voice would come out if she tried to speak any louder. She looked up into his eyes.
She dazzled him with the luminescent shade of grey that her eyes had turned. He had learned that after riding fast, her eyes would turn grayer with exertion. They fairly glowed now, and he could tear his gaze away even if he wanted to.
“Nae. It isnae.” He saw the look of hurt and felt her beginning to withdraw.
“Little flame, ye dinna understand me. I meant it isnae always that good between all couples. It has nae been like that before for me, but I ken it will always be like this for us.”
“I hope so.” She smiled and lifted her chin to give him a soft kiss. He eased his hands away since it was time to return to his horse. He was uncertain how long they had been there, but it was long enough make his men suspicious. He helped her right her gown and straighten her hair. Luckily, she wore it down, so there was no intricate hairstyle to repair.
“Tristan.”
“Aye.”
“I wish I’d been able to give ye the pleasure ye gave me.” She looked so serious and almost remorseful that he could not help but chuckle. Her brow furrowed, and she did not look like she cared for his response.
“Mair, ye did. Ye couldnae feel it because ma plaid was in the way, but I exploded like never before. Just touching ye and watching ye was enough to bring me to a release unlike any I’ve ever had before. Truth be told, I felt like a green lad again. Ye’d nae even touched ma cock, and I spilled ma seed.”
Tristan and Mairghread emerged from the trees grinning like the cats that found the cream. They grew serious lest they give away their actions. They remounted Thunder and turned back towards the keep.
Chapter Eight
T
hings were progressing smoothly for Tristan and Mairghread, but there was only one thing dampening each other’s moods. It came in the form of Sorcha. She had not abandoned her belief that she should be the chief’s lady and in lieu of that, she should be his leman.
On the second night after the Sinclairs agreed to stay, Mairghread sat beside Tristan on his left. The seat for the lady of the keep was vacant as no one held that position. In deference to tradition, Mairghread slipped into the chair on the other side of Tristan. The meal was enjoyable until Sorcha came to the dais to refill their goblet. While there was room next to the empty chair for Sorcha to stand, she squeezed her way between Tristan’s and Mairghread’s shoulders. She leaned forward giving Tristan an unavoidable view of her cleavage, and she pressed her breasts into his shoulder. Tristan looked straight forward and attempted to pay no attention to Sorcha. Even in only two days, he had already picked up on little responses Mairghread made in different situations. Even though he was unable hear it or feel it, he knew she had sucked in a slight breath when Sorcha came between them. He sensed when her body stiffened as Sorcha leaned against him, and he knew her movement would go unseen as she would not shift in her seat, but she tensed nonetheless.
Tristan slid his hand beneath the tablecloth and found her thigh, squeezing it gently before leaving it there. He did not remove it for the rest of dinner.
“Ma laird, is there aught I can do for ye. I ken what ye like.” Sorcha cooed just above his ear. Her stress on the word “my” was no accident. She intended to show Mairghread that she had already staked a claim and was possessive of Tristan.
“Nay, Sorcha. Ye ken there is naught I want from ye.” Tristan bit words out through his clenched teeth. When Sorcha left the dais, he leaned over to Mairghread.
“Mair, I’m sorry. I’m vera sorry. Ye ken there is naught happening anymore. Ye ken I’ve nae touched her since before ye arrived, right?”
“Aye. I ken.” She said no more. Tristan would not ignore that she was not pleased. He looked over at Morag, his housekeeper, and waived her over. When she came to the dais, she bent to listen Tristan’s whispered words. They were so low Mairghread could not hear everything, but she caught some it.
“Dinna ever let Sorcha serve us again. I want her nay where near me or Mairghread. She hasnae accepted that we are through, and she keeps pressing the issue. I dinna exaggerate that last bit.”
“I ken it, ma laird. I watched her with ma own two eyes. That bit of baggage is too big in the britches by half. I’ll be sure she stays in the kitchens where she always belonged. She can serve the lower tables.”
“Thank ye.”
Tristan looked over at Mairghread who had plastered her serene smile. He had seen it the night they met, and it meant she felt anything but serene. He had only known her briefly, but he already able to read so much of her.
“Mair, I’ve taken care of it. She willna bother us again.”
“Is that what ye think? Ye dinna ken women at all if it is.”
She turned her head to speak to her brothers, dismissing Tristan. Just as hurt and frustrated settled into his chest, her hand slipped under the tablecloth and slid over his wrist until her fingers intertwined with those already on her thigh. She gave his hand a squeeze and kept her fingers there.
Tristan thought he had found his own little piece of heaven.
Chapter Nine
A
fter their time together in the woods, Tristan and Mairghread found any and every opportunity to meet in dark alcoves, under the stairs, outer storerooms, and the battlements to sneak kisses and to run their hands over each other. They were insatiable and frustrated. While the kisses were enough to tie them over, they longed for another chance to be alone.
When they returned to the keep after their interlude in the woods, her family was entering the Great Hall. It took one glance for the Sinclair to figure out what they had been doing. He turned and marched over to Thunder, unceremoniously lifting Mairghread off the horse. He growled at Tristan and marched away. After that, the couple was more careful a
bout their rendezvous.
They were in luck when a messenger arrived from Sinclair lands with an update. Before leaving, Laird Sinclair gave a directive to his second that he should send a monthly report. As it had taken them almost four days to travel to Mackay lands and they had been there now almost three sennights, the report was due. The Sinclair and Callum retired to the Sinclair’s chamber to review the report. Alexander, Tavish, and Magnus were still in the lists.
During her third sennight there, they had another warm day, so Mairghread spent the morning in the garden seeing to the vegetables and herbs that needed storing for the coming winter months. She was hot and sticky. Her gown was sticking to her, and it was making her skin itch. She longed for a dip in the loch to cool off, but that was not an option. She was no longer on her own lands where she learned to swim almost as soon as she learned to run. Her clan knew, even at her age, she still liked to go for a dip whenever the weather permitted. As a result, she would alert the guardsmen at the gate where she was going, and she would take a maid, usually Alys, with her. While Alys did not swim, she did not mind the walk or the time away from her regular duties. With Alys along, no one ever bothered Mairghread, so she stripped down to nothing. Here on Mackay land, she accepted that it would be inappropriate to try something like that. Beyond that, it was close to the midday meal, and Tristan had said he would join her.
She continued to work at weeding the cabbages. It seemed like every time she turned back to the dirt, another weed sprang up in the place of the one she had just torn out. With a grunt she tore out a tenacious one, pulling so hard that when the roots final gave, she fell backwards onto her backside. She rained dirt all down the front of her self.
A large shadow came to rest over her. When she looked up, the sun blinded her, but she would recognize the hulking form anywhere.
“Has ma wood nymph turned into a garden sprite?”
“Nay. There is naught fae aboot me right now. Can ye give me a hand up? I’ve sprayed dirt down the front of me, and I’ve got ma skirts in a muddle.” She reached her hand up to Tristan.
Rather than take her hand, he grasped her waist and lifted her up to eye level with him. He gave her a quick kiss before putting her back on her feet.
“Yer cheeks are a might pink. Ye’re nae overdoing it are ye?”
“Nay more than I usually do at this time of year, though it is rather hot today. If I were home, I’d go to the loch to cool off.”
Tristan’s mind raced to an image of Mairghread in nothing but her skin, swimming through his loch. He remembered she was a strong swimmer from stories they shared about their childhoods. At this point, there was little they did not know about each other’s childhoods. As soon as the vision entered his mind, he picked up on something else. She still considered Sinclair lands as home. He wondered if she would ever view Mackay lands as home.
Looking up at him, she did not miss the lust in his eyes, and she was certain about what he was picturing. Her mind jumped to him bare as a new bairn at the loch. But just as her mind settled into that fantasy, she noticed a sadness creep into his eyes. It was a flash, but she had seen it nonetheless. She suspected what might have caused it.
“Ye ken they say 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. A wealth of emotions danced in her eyes, but he was not sure how to respond. He was not ready to share his feelings because he was not even sure what they were, but now he had backed himself into a corner. He wanted Mairghread to consider this land and keep as though it was a home with him, and he understood that she did, but he was not able, or rather not willing, to reciprocate her admission.
“I ken.” He left it at that. The disappointment in her eyes was unavoidable when he did not offer more. “Would ye like to go to the loch for a swim?”
Mairghread laughed at that. She found it funny that she had just been ruminating on how she wanted to go for a swim but had accepted that is was impossible.
“I canna go with ye. It wouldnae be proper. I 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 forgive this one.”
“He and Callum are going over the report his second sent him. They said they would be busy for at least two hours. We have time to be back with none of yer kin any the wiser.”
Mairghread did not doubt she was looking disaster in the eye, but she followed 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 was familiar with the area, but Tristan led her further than they had ventured before. She realized 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 catch sight of 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 take 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, but 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, “All right.”
Tristan heard 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 was unable to keep from shifting his weight from one foot to another as the wait was agony. What was surely an eternity, but was most likely only a couple of minutes, ended when she splashed 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 did not trust his eyes. She had stripped down to her altogether. She had not even left her shift on. He yanked his boots and stockings off. He unpinned his breacan feile and let it drop to the ground---something he never did since 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. She surprised him by 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 was sure 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 are nay 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 for 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 for ye to come near. This is the first chance we’ve had to be alone in over a sennight. Lass, let me hold ye near to me.”
“We canna 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 sw
am forward. Tristan grasped her hand and pulled her towards him but stopped before their bodies touched. They intertwined their fingers and tread in front of each other. The water was clear enough that they were able to make each other’s bodies but not in great detail. This made Mairghread relax a bit, and she smiled.
“Thank ye for bringing me here. I love riding Firelight and walking through the meadow or into the hills on Sinclair land, but I am 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. Mairghread was mindful 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, he 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 at all.”
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 no way to hide his reaction to her nearness. She gasped as her skin contacted his length of steel that jutted out from between his legs. It seemed to be searching on its own for a resting spot between hers. Tristan floated them back to where he could stand. Once he planted his feet on the loch bottom, Mairghread wrapped her legs around his waist. The water lapped at her breasts, and her senses were 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 sensation of his muscles rippling beneath her hands made her moan. They looked each other in the eye, never breaking contact. Tristan cradled her bottom in his hands, but this time he did not massage or squeeze her flesh. He held her as she explored his body. Mairghread could not reach his backside with her legs wrapped around his waist, so her hands 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 she was panting.
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