“I’m not that frightened young lass anymore who would scurry and hide when you got near, Father, or remain silent out of fear.”
“That is what a good daughter does and if you had been a good daughter none of this would have happened. And why, after all these years of refusing to wed you does Arran finally do so?” Galvin went on raving, not letting her respond. “If you think he did this out of some kind of duty, you are more a fool than I thought you were. And I will be even more disappointed in you if you believe the man wed you because he loves you. He uses you, and wisely so, and grabs a clan for himself, otherwise he’d always be in his brother’s shadow.”
Purity had suffered endless unkind words through the years, taking many to heart, this time his words shattered her heart. He might think that of Arran, but she didn’t. Or was it that she didn’t want to think it possible?
Doubt.
Doubt had been her tormentor through the years, and a little bit went a long way, and she hated that she allowed doubt entrance once again.
“Be wise for once in your life, Purity. See life for what it is and not what you dream. Love is for fools. You pitifully begged Arran to wed you years ago and he turned you down,” Galvin reminded. “Doesn’t that tell you something. The man couldn’t tolerate you then and probably still can’t tolerate you now. But he knows his duty as a husband and beds you anyway. He doesn’t love you and he never will. Maybe with the union of two strong clans your brother’s death won’t be in vain. The clan will thrive as planned, though I would have preferred your brother live than you.”
Purity didn’t think her father could shatter her heart any more than he already had, she was wrong. She couldn’t stop the tears that rushed to her eyes. She had always known her father felt that way but to hear him say it shattered completely what little hope that he at least cared the slightest bit for her.
She jumped as did her father when the door suddenly burst open with such force that it smashed against the wall.
Arran stood in the doorway, his hands fisted at his sides and his dark eyes fiery with rage. “Your wretched soul should have been the one that went to hell that day. Hear me well, old man, I love your daughter more than anything in this world. There isn’t a soul alive who could love her as much as I do, and I will protect her with my life and gladly die to keep her safe. And you, old man, will treat her with respect or I will hasten you to your grave.”
If only he meant it, was Purity’s first thought, then she admonished herself for doubting, then warned herself to be sensible. Then she simply stood too shocked at what to believe and barely heard what went on around her.
“How dare you speak to me like that,” Galvin shouted as he tried to hurry out of his chair.
Arran was in front of him in an instant and with one shove of his hand sent Galvin down in the chair. “You are a worthless father and worthless chieftain.”
“How dare you—”
“How dare I? How dare you not see to your daughter’s safety all these years. You didn’t even bother to search for her,” Arran accused and turned to his wife. Seeing the tears flooding her eyes, and soon to fall, he went to her, his arms reaching out anxious to wrap himself around her and ease her pain. She quickly tucked her head beneath his chin as he swallowed her in his arms, and he felt her warm, wet tears fall on him. He turned her away from her father, keeping his back to him, and kissed the top of her head, then whispered, “I’m here. You’re not alone. I’m here.”
“I assumed her dead,” Galvin said, annoyed as if his explanation was owed more attention than his daughter. “Especially when no one approached me about a marriage, not even a proxy one, after the attack. And that was fine with me since I didn’t want to be beholden to the enemy. There would be no way I could ever trust the man.”
That Galvin completely cared nothing for how much he hurt his own daughter angered Arran even more, not to mention how callous he’d been with marrying her to Brynjar. He turned his head to glare at him. “So you turn to an evil man who you could trust even less?”
“Brynjar contacted me and made an offer.”
That shocked Arran and it must have done the same to his wife since her head shot up and he knew she was as curious as he was to find out more. They didn’t have to wait, Galvin continued talking and Arran turned them both to face him.
“He told me that Wolf was hungry for power and would let nothing stand in his way of taking all the land in the area. He even suggested that Wolf could very well be saving Purity to marry for himself.” Galvin shook his head. “That was something I could never let happen. The Clan Macara would be doomed to obscurity. Brynjar gave me his word that the Clan Macara would continue on.”
“You’re a fool, Father, Brynjar lies,” Purity said, her tears having subsided, though leaving their remnants on her cheeks.
“You know no such thing,” her father admonished.
“That’s where you’re wrong, Galvin. Purity knows of what she speaks. Once Brynjar had Purity, he would see you dead and your clan would suffer unspeakable suffering and pain. He would move more of his warriors here to make it appear as if he intended to eventually conquer the area. He’d cause enough unrest and demand coin from the King for him to abandon his objective and return home, since his homeland is where he has all intentions of returning with wealth. By then he would have no use for Purity and he would see her dead along with any child she might bear him.” His chest tightened with the horrible thought.
Galvin snorted. “What makes you think you know this to be true?”
“I was a prisoner of Brynjar’s and I saw the evil he’s capable of and it is beyond anything you can imagine. He cares only about wealth and power. He is a depraved, reprehensible man.”
“Then it is good you married, Purity. The Clan Macara will live on.” Galvin turned a stern eye on him. “Remember, I’m still chieftain. You don’t get to lead this clan until I die. My word counts around here, not yours.”
“From the look of you, I don’t have to wait long, though I could hasten your demise.” Arran didn’t care if he insulted or threatened the man, not after he showed not an ounce of remorse or worry for what he’d done to his daughter.
“You say nothing in my defense, daughter?” Galvin demanded, turning a stern eye on her.
“You made it clear to me ever since I was young that a woman never questions her husband, that she obeys him in all things. I finally do as you say, Father.” She smiled. “I don’t question my husband.”
Galvin collapsed back in the chair. “You have changed, daughter. You’ve gained courage. And you, Arran, your tongue cuts sharp, a far cry from the way it once charmed. That’s good. You need a sharp tongue to be chieftain and rule men.” He cringed, his hand going to his stomach.
Purity didn’t understand why it hurt her to see her father suffer, but then he was her father, all she had left of her family.
“I had hoped to see a grandson born, but the pain worsens in me every day and I can eat little. It does help knowing that Arran will make a fine chieftain of the Clan Macara.”
“Then make him chieftain now,” Purity said, surprising both men.
Galvin glared at her, ready to argue, but the flare in his eyes faded quickly.
“You know the wisdom of my words, Father. With Arran appointed chieftain, it strengthens his foothold here and—”
“Gives him complete authority,” Galvin said with less anger than Purity expected.
“It also allows you to see how deeply he plants roots here and lets you watch your clan grow ever stronger and see me round with a future Macara.”
Galvin’s eyes brightened. “You’re with child?”
“I will know soon enough,” she said and she would since tonight they had no choice but to couple and make it a possibility.
“When you are with child, I will make Arran chieftain, and on that you have my word,” Galvin said.
Arran’s arm supported Purity as they made their way upstairs, her limp troubling
him.
“You should have stayed off your feet,” he said, scooping her up in his arms.
“I had to talk with my father. I had to know,” she said.
Her eyes filled with tears again and he so badly wanted to deposit his wife in their bedchamber, then go give her father a good beating. But it would solve nothing.
Instead, he asked, “Know what?”
She shook her head. “I’m a glutton for heartache. I’ve known since I was young that my father cared not an ounce for me, though he’d never said it. I had to know for sure this time. I wanted to hear it from him. I just wish I knew why he’s always hated me.”
The man deserved to suffer and then some for all the pain he had inflicted on his daughter.
“He’s a selfish man. He cares more about leaving a legacy than what he has right in front of him… a beautiful, kind daughter who will see his bloodline carried on.”
She turned her face away from him as they entered the room.
“Purity,” he said softly, keeping her in his arms.
She turned her face back around. “You didn’t have to say you loved me.” She finished the rest of what she wanted to say in her head. Not until you’re ready to.
He’d surprised himself when he’d said it. What was even more surprising was that he had meant it, but he doubted she would believe him if he told her that now. He scarcely believed it himself and yet he felt it. He felt it deep down where he never thought he’d ever feel again and that in itself was frightening.
He felt compelled to say it anyway, but her fingers landed on his lips stopping him from responding.
“Don’t,” she whispered, resting her brow to his. “I want you to mean it when you say it.”
It would do no good to force it now, another time. Now, however, he could show her what it was like to be loved by her husband.
He opened his mouth and before her fingers could slip away he kissed them. “I’m going to make love to you.”
Purity smiled and wiggled to get out of his arms. “Hurry before someone stops us.”
“Hurry is one thing we’re not going to do, wife,” he said as he carried her to the bed.
Chapter 18
Arran sat Purity down gently on her feet. “Your leg—”
“Is doing well. I applied a comfrey soak,” she assured him.
He ran one finger faintly over her lips. “One soak will not do.”
“Later I’ll apply another,” she said, the faint touch of his finger sending tantalizing tingles along her flesh.
He brought his lips to hers. “You will make sure of it?” His warm breath whispered across her lips, leaving a hint of a kiss.
“Aye,” she murmured and touched her lips with his faintly to remind herself this was real. It wasn’t a dream. Arran was her husband and they would make love.
He loved the way her lips sometimes would timidly touch his as if not quite sure what she intended to do, not quite sure it was all real. He loved showing her how real a kiss could be. He slipped his one hand to the back of her neck and coiled his arm around her waist and, holding firmly to both, he crushed his lips against hers.
He’d kissed endless women, some enjoyable, others not so much, but no kiss—not one—compared to how intoxicating it was to kiss his wife. And with the intensity that she returned the kiss, there was no doubt she felt the same, which intoxicated even more.
He had to rein in his passion, it soared wildly urging him to hurry, but rushing was the last thing he wanted to do. He wanted to know every inch of his wife, touch every inch of her, kiss every inch of her—love every inch of her.
He reluctantly ended the kiss with a light nip along her bottom lip. “After tonight, I’m going to be familiar with every intimate part of you.”
“And I you?” she asked.
The passion that sparked in her gorgeous green eyes flared his passion even more and he wondered if this might be one time he wouldn’t be able to control his desires.
“Aye, you have the right to touch, kiss, taste every part of me,” he encouraged and wondered why she frowned. “What’s wrong?”
“I fear I won’t last long. I already feel close to bursting with pleasure.” His unexpected smile filled her heart with joy and added to her already unfurling passion.
He cupped her face and kissed her quick. “Then I’ll make sure you burst with passion more than once tonight.”
“I can do that?” she asked, stunned.
He let his hands fall off her face. “Aye, you can, and I’ll see that you do.”
Purity grabbed his face in her hands and planted several mushy kisses on his lips. “I do so love you, husband.”
How had he gotten so lucky to get her not only as a wife, but a wife who loved him? He didn’t know, though he was going to make sure that he never did anything to lose her love.
He brought his lips to her ear and whispered, “Off with your clothes, wife.”
Purity laughed softly. “You first, husband.”
Arran didn’t waste a moment—he was naked in no time. He immediately got busy helping his wife out of her garments. Once he did, he let his eyes roam over her appreciatively.
“I’ve seen many women naked, but” —he quirked a brow— “that time in the barn—”
“I never watched you and Flora, I only heard, though I did get a peek of you naked,” she said with a mischievous smile.
He reached out and ran a finger from under her neck slowly down the middle of her chest to circle one breast from the thickest part all the way up to around her nipple and gently squeezed and felt as the bud hardened between his two fingers. “No limits on how often you get to see me naked and no limits on how often I get to tell you that you’re the most beautiful woman I have ever known.”
Purity moaned not only from the sheer pleasure of his teasing touch, but his teasing and sincere words as well. He stepped closer, his hand falling away from her breast as he took her nipple in his mouth and his hand went around to press against the middle of her back and hold her firmly as he feasted.
Purity went dizzy with the delight, and after he finished enjoying one nipple he delivered the same delight to the other. She moaned and broadened her chest to offer him easy access and instinct, desire, or sheer need had her slipping her hand down to take hold of his hard shaft.
He bucked for a moment, then relaxed as her hand explored him and she reveled in how he could feel hard like iron and yet smooth like silk and so enticing.
She moaned in disappointment when his lips left her breast, but he quickly scooped her up and carried her to the bed, kissing her as he did. He went down on the bed with her, lying beside her. He braced his elbow on the bed, resting his head in his hand as his other hand hovered over her chest, his fingers faintly touching her, and he began to roam.
His touch felt like a delicate feather being brushed over her, every part of her upper body in slow, purposeful strokes that sent her spiraling in a haze of desire until she was completely engulfed in it. After he thoroughly touched every inch of the front of her, he turned her on her back. She thought to object until his hands began to roam over her and this time he didn’t only brush over her upper body, his fingers roamed more intimately over her. She gasped into the pillow when his fingers worked their way between her legs and entered her gently.
His mouth settled near her ear to whisper, “No one will ever touch you intimately but me.”
“I don’t want anyone but you touching me,” she said on bated breath, then managed to remind him on what he had agreed to before they wed. “And I will be the only woman who will ever touch you or you will ever couple with from this day on.”
To her surprise and partial disappointment, he flipped her over.
“I’m all yours,” he said seriously.
She took a needed breath and admitted to something she never expected to tell him. “I always thought of you that way—as mine.”
“I’m glad one of us was wise enough to know we were made for e
ach other.”
“You think that?” she asked startled by his remark.
“I know that,” he said as his hand drifted down to her thatch of hair and she gasped when his finger brushed over the delicate nub hidden there.
After barely a few moments, “Ohhhhh,” rolled out with her sighing moan as he teased her passion to take farther flight. After tormenting her senseless, he kissed down along her midriff to her stomach, his mouth replacing his fingers, and she thought she’d bolt off the bed but his hand firm on her stomach kept her in place. And when his finger slipped inside her to tease, she warned with a moan, “It will be over too soon if you keep this up.”
“The first of several to come tonight,” he said and continued to pleasure her.
Purity moaned and kept a grip on the sheets as her passion soared. Her moans grew when her husband would ease his teasing and let her passion return to simmer before he would start again on her.
“Not fair, Arran, I want to touch you as well,” she cried out after he let her simmer again for the second time.
“Later,” he said and rose up to hover over her, running his tongue over her lips as he pressed his thick shaft between her legs. “Open for me,” he said, his whisper a strong command.
She spread her legs and opened her mouth and he settled his lips over hers, his tongue hurrying in and her tongue eagerly welcoming him just as she welcomed the feel of his shaft poking at her entrance between her legs.
This was it, finally she would feel him inside her, but he didn’t rush, he poked and prodded at her entrance, slipping in ever so slightly, letting her get a feel for him, making her want more, making her ache for him.
“Please don’t make me beg you, Arran,” she said between moans.
“Knowing that you want me enough to beg fires my need for you beyond reason,” he said in a soft whisper near her ear.
“Then I’ll beg more often,” she said and turned her head enough for her to capture his earlobe with her teeth and nibble.
“Damn, wife, but you excite me,” he said and retaliated by nibbling at her lower lip before lifting up over her and gently slipping his shaft farther into her.
Entrusted to a Highlander: Highland Promise Trilogy Book Two Page 17