“Who told you that?”
“Clyde McLean told me brother Angus. Lachlan sent him tae tell us, so I decided tae come alaing and see fer meself, but it looks all quiet tae me.”
“It’s quiet now,” Grace told him, “but I’m sure Jamie will be happy to see you. He misses his family.”
“Why has he no come home, then?” Robbie asked.
“He can’t fly. He injured his wing fighting…. well, fighting the curse. I guess you understand what that means.”
“Aye. I understand’t. So it’s ye and him as fought ’em alone? Is that it?”
“Pretty much. We had some help from the McLeans, and Piper helped, too. He’s the local wizard, but I guess you know that, too. In the end, I found one of the missing women, and she got rid of ’em for us.”
“Where is she?” he asked.
“I have no idea. She disappeared again. I can only hope she went out to Mull. That’s where the curse is concentrating right now, so that’s the best place for her right now.”
Robbie nodded. He swept his eyes over the castle one more time. “It’s just the way I remember it, ainly much quieter.”
“That’s what Jamie says,” she murmured.
At that moment, Jamie himself strode around the corner. He took one look at Robbie standing there and nodded. “Rob?”
“Lad,” Robbie returned. He looked Jamie over with that practiced eye that measured him in an instant.
“What brings ye out ’ere?” Jamie asked.
“Ye,” Robbie replied. “Ye and Grace bring me out ’ere. I heard ye might ha’e need o’ me, so I came.”
“Ye’re aboot a week late,” Jamie returned. “The fightin’s all o’er now.”
“So I hear,” Robbie replied, “and yet ’ere ye still are. Ye ha’e no come home where ye belaing, so I can only guess ye ha’e summat that still needs help wi’.”
“Is that so?” Jamie pushed open the big entrance door. “Weel, come inside tae yer tea, nonetheless. Ye ha’e no call tae stand out ’ere on the doorstep when there’s tea a-brewin’.”
He marched inside. Grace hung back and waited for Robbie to go inside first. He radiated power like no man she ever met. Supreme confidence informed every move he made. No one could stand up to a guy like that.
He followed Jamie inside. Jamie opened the grand parlor off to one side of the entrance hall. Grace only saw it once since she came to stay in this castle. She and Jamie never used it themselves.
Robbie paced around while Jamie brought the tea tray from the kitchen. Neither man sat down or made themselves comfortable. Grace kept her distance and prepared herself for a confrontation.
Jamie handed Robbie a tea cup and took one for himself. Grace never drank tea. She couldn’t get used to it, but these guys lived and breathed the stuff four or five times a day.
“Weel, Rob?” Jamie began. “Ye can see all’s weel around here. Ye can go back and tell Angus so.”
“What will I tell him aboot ye, lad?” Robbie asked. “What will I tell him aboot when ye’ll be comin’ home?”
“I’ll come,” Jamie replied. “I’ll come when I come. Ye should ken that.”
“If it’s yer wing as bothers ye,” Robbie told him, “ye needn’t tarry alaing ’ere fer all that. I’ll take ye home, and ye can heal in yer own room wi’ yer own people tae tend ye.”
“Ye’ll no carry me home like a bairn,” Jamie replied. “I can fly there meself.”
Robbie glanced at Grace. “Oh?”
Grace’s eyes flew open. “You never told me that.”
Jamie shrugged. “It’s true.”
“What are we hanging around here for then?” Grace asked. “Why can’t we go?”
Jamie rounded on Robbie. “Ye see, Rob? We’re all weel, so ye can scoot alaing home tae Angus and gi’e him a full report. We’ll be back when we’re ready tae leave and not afore.”
Robbie glanced back and forth between the two. “Weel, I can see that, so I guess I’ll be getting’ alaing.”
He set his tea cup down. As far as Grace saw, he hadn’t tasted a drop. He headed out of the parlor. Grace rushed up to Jamie and hissed in his face. “What are you doing? You can’t let him just walk out of here.”
“No? Why no?” he asked.
“He’s your brother,” she shot back. “He flew all the way here to help you. You can’t just turn him out.”
“He came ’ere to help us, but there’s naught tae help wi’,” he replied. “We’ll ha’e enough o’ ’em tae nag us day and night when we get back. I dinnae want tae spoil our honeymoon wi’ him hangin’ around.”
She stopped dead in her tracks and stared at him. Honeymoon? Is that what he thought this was?
He walked away from her and followed Robbie outside. The two men must have stood outside together for a good two minutes before Grace shook herself out of her trance and ran to the entrance to see them.
She got as far as the front door when a flash of brilliant green flickered across the doorway and vanished. Grace leapt for the steps in time to see a huge green dragon swoop over the trees heading west. He disappeared into the clouds and was gone.
Jamie stood on the ground with his back to her. He scraped his dirk across a strip of leather in perfect serenity. No one would ever know his brother just arrived and left in the space of five minutes.
Grace stormed up to him. “What did you do? What did you say to him to make him leave like that? I certainly hope you didn’t offend him.”
“I didnae offend him,” Jamie replied. “He understands.”
“He understands what?” Grace demanded. “What did you say to him?”
He raised his eyes to her face. “I told him I wanted tae spend this time alone wi’ ye. He understands that. He understands better than anyone.”
Jamie walked away somewhere. She didn’t see where he went. She was too stunned. He wanted to spend this time alone with her. That’s why he prolonged going home. All this time, she thought he didn’t want to overtax his wing. Maybe that had something to do with it, but he harbored another reason in that heart of his.
He wanted to enjoy the time alone together before he took her back. Once they got back, his duties as Angus’s brother would pull him away from her. Her friends would pull her away from him. They would never get this time back, and he wanted to enjoy it as long as he could.
She turned to face this castle she knew so well. She might never return here, but it was all hers—hers and Jamie’s. The others would probably never come back here. Even if they did, they could never make it a home the way Grace and Jamie did. They had it first. It would always be their own place.
Her heart enfolded the place the same way it enfolded the village and all the country roundabout. She and Jamie could always come back here anytime they wanted to be alone. They could always fly here and hide when the pressures of court life and the castle populace got too much. They could be alone here with no one to answer to but themselves.
She blinked and saw the basket sitting on the front step where she put it when she first found Robbie standing there. She picked it up and carried it to the kitchen. She put the food away and hung the basket on its hook by the door.
She could stay here, in this same comfortable groove, as long as Jamie wanted to. She couldn’t imagine a life different than this. One day welded into the next. Decades could pass like this. They could live in this castle, in the quiet of their own company, until they both went grey and stooped with age.
Maybe that’s what Jamie wanted. Maybe he never intended to go home at all. Maybe he wanted to make his home here with her. She could live with that. She wanted to go to Urlu, but even that wasn’t as important as this sweet peace and belonging. If she couldn’t get this in Urlu, she wouldn’t want to stay there long.
She went about her chores. They gave her exquisite pleasure at every moment of the day. She didn’t need anything more.
She went down the passage to the bedroom to put away the clean laundry. She found
Jamie lying on their bed. He crossed his legs and crooked his elbow under his head to gaze out the window at the leafy forest all around.
“What are you doing in here?” she asked. “I thought you were outside somewhere.”
“I was just thinkin’,” he replied.
“What were you thinking about?” she asked.
“Aboot Rob.”
“I’ve been thinking about that, too,” she replied. “We don’t have to go back if you don’t want to. If you want to stay here, I’m happy with that. I could be perfectly happy here with you. I don’t mind if we stay.”
He shook his head. “Ye would mind it after a time. Ye want tae leave, don’t ye?”
“Sure. You know I want to leave more than anything. I want to see Urlu, and my friends, and your brothers, and everything. You know that. I’m happy here, too, though. That’s all I’m saying. I’m happy staying here alone with you as long as you want.”
“You wouldnae be after a time,” he replied. “Ye’d grow tae hate’t, and I cinnae abide that. Ye want tae go, and ye will if I ha’e naught tae say aboot it.”
She cracked a huge grin. “If we’re going, why are you lying there like that? Your wing doesn’t hurt anymore, does it?”
“No. It doesnae hurt anymore.”
“Maybe it will when you try to put any strain on it. Is that what you’re worried about?”
“It doesnae hurt when I put a strain on’t,” he replied. “I can fly as weel as anyone.”
Grace’s head whipped around. “How do you know that?”
“I tried it out. I went fer a wee spin, just tae make sure.”
Grace gasped. “When did you do that? Why didn’t you tell me? How could you sit there all this time, knowing your wing was perfectly good, and not tell me? Here I thought you were worried about it.”
“I wasnae worried aboot me wing, lassie,” he replied. “I was worried aboot ye.”
“Me! What were you worried about me for? You know I want to go there.”
“Aye.”
She stopped folding the laundry to look down at him. He gazed back into her eyes with that direct, determined expression of his. He wanted to stay here with her, just a little longer, before he shared her with the rest of the world. He wanted to savor her in peace before life came back to claim them.
He read the truth in her face. He held out his hand. “Come tae me, lassie.”
She put down the laundry and crossed to the bed. She sat down next to him and laid her head on his chest. His big arms enveloped her in that blissful warmth and protection she loved so much.
She closed her eyes and buried her face in his shirt. All of a sudden, she didn’t want to leave, either. She never wanted to leave this room. She wanted to be alone with him, just the two of them. She wanted to protect this fledgling love of theirs against any intrusion, no matter how benign.
Even Robbie couldn’t touch them here. That’s what Jamie must have told him, and Robbie understood. Whatever Jamie said, Robbie must have gone through the same thing with Elle. Living together in a castle with four other couples might have its advantages, but a couple had to get off alone together sometimes, somewhere no one could find them and no one could comment or intervene.
Jamie pressed his mouth into her hair and whispered to her soul, “Lassie. Me own lassie.”
That voice touched her heart. Under his big strong self, a tender heart beat against her ear. She cradled that heart in her hands. She alone caressed it and soothed it and gave it the home it needed—no one else.
His skin shone under his clothes. She alone touched it and kissed it and loved it the way it needed. She alone eased his aching hunger and answered his prayers.
Chapter 28
Jamie cupped Grace’s chin in one hand and raised her face to kiss her. He swam in her big eyes while he tasted her sweet tongue inside her mouth. How did she ever get so sweet, this blessed woman he couldn’t live without?
He never knew what he wanted with her. He wanted to show her off to the world. He wanted to brag to all Urlu of his prize. At the same time, he wanted to hide her away where no one could see her. He wanted to lock her up and keep her a secret.
Robbie threw a wrench in his plans showing up like that. Now Jamie faced the inevitable. He couldn’t put Grace off any longer. She wanted to go. The longer he kept her here, the more he risked breaking her spirit entirely.
The way she reacted when he told her his wing worked proved it more than anything. She wanted to leave. She only waited until he could put pressure on his wing joint. Now they both knew he could. He couldn’t come up with any other plausible excuse.
She knew the truth now. She knew he wanted to be alone with her. He didn’t really want to live in this castle. He only wanted to prolong their quiet solitude. Now she knew, and she wouldn’t be satisfied with it for much longer, no matter what she said.
He sensed her slipping through his fingers. He had to act, but before he did that, he needed her like this, just one more time. He needed to see her wide, vulnerable eyes gazing at him while he kissed her. He needed to smell her sweet breath sighing in his nostrils. He needed to see that flush of glorious desire brighten her cheeks.
He swept her onto the bed next to him. He deepened his kiss to encompass her whole mouth. He lashed his tongue between her lips and reveled in the grate of her breath. He cradled her head in one hand and guided her into his mouth.
She melted at his touch, exactly the way she always did when she gave herself over to these moments. She never held herself back from him. That softening of her limbs sent a thrill through his insides. He wanted her so bad, and now she was his.
He steered her over on her side. She still wore the stiff clothes she had on when she appeared outside Piper’s cave: the thick pants, the white shirt, and the jacket. She laundered them regularly, but she refused to change them. When he asked, she said she wanted to be prepared for anything if it came.
He didn’t argue with that. He wanted her exactly the way she was. These clothes only excited him more than ever. They told him who she was, how strong and resourceful she was under her gentle exterior. No clothes could stifle her spirit.
His hand drifted to her breast. He flicked his fingers across it, and she mewed in agony. She groaned into his mouth, and the sound clenched his nuts in a fist. Her every sound demanded he respond.
He couldn’t bear to lie here without touching her all over. He dragged his lips away from her mouth and nibble down her neck. He nuzzled down inside her shirt while he rubbed her breast to distraction.
She heaved in his hand and moaned out loud. She mussed his hair and crammed his face down between her breasts. Her smell intoxicated him as never before. She smelled of wine and summer sunshine and winter wood smoke and a thousand other smells from out of his past.
Her thighs rubbed against his legs, and he slipped his knee between them. She caved open at the suggestion, and she spread her thighs to welcome him in. His pulse thumped between his legs. She felt so immaculately soft and delicious.
He pressed his ear against her mouth to catch every sigh and whimper. He found the tender little nipple under her clothes, and she squealed out loud when he took it in his fingers. He loved these little delicate parts of her, the parts that spoke to him and cried out for his attention.
He rolled her nipple in one hand. With the other, he steered her hips up against his hard package. He burrowed between her flower-petal thighs where her mysteries dwelt. He could explore those limitless territories for the rest of his life and never discover all the delirious secrets hidden there.
He wanted nothing else. He wanted nothing but her in his eyes and ears and hair and skin. He plucked her shirt buttons open, and when he took a big mouthful of her breast to suck, she went ballistic. She thrashed and moaned. She writhed and squirmed. She sat down hard on his knee and rocked until she cried.
He grabbed her around the waist in one muscled arm and wrestled her off the bed. He pulled her up on top of him wh
ile he sucked her breast hard. She crushed her sweet crotch into his hardness. Her movements pushed his kilt up until she sat down on his bare skin.
He pushed her shirt off her shoulders and dragged her bra straps down. Her breasts tumbled free in his face, and he attacked them in all his raging ferocity. He squeezed one while he sucked the other. He smelled her perfumed vapors floating into his nostrils.
All the time, she squirreled her delicate fingers under his shirt. She tickled his ribs and brushed his chest until he couldn’t stand it. He yanked his shirt over his head, and her silky breasts touched his chest. He hugged her down on top of him while he mouthed her to a frenzy.
He had to get at her. He had to fill her up with himself until she exploded all over him. He lived for those moments. He ached to look into her smoldering eyes when he burrowed inside her forevermore.
She came away from his mouth moaning. She kissed down his chest to his belt. Her hair swept over his skin and electrified every nerve. She knew how to drive him crazy. That was certain. He pulled his belt open and threw his kilt and sporran on the floor. She would have sucked him in her mouth if he hadn’t stopped her.
He grabbed her by the buttocks and hauled her down on top of him. He had to get rid of that rough fabric holding them apart. He slid his hands down inside them, and the button gave way. He pushed them off her hips, and she helped him slide them down to her ankles.
She closed his shaft in her expert little hand, but he had better ideas. When she straddled him to sit on it, he scooted down between her legs. He lay down with his head where her ripe fruit hung directly above his face. He seized her hips and guided her down onto his mouth.
She froze in astonishment. The next instant, she collapsed into him. Her sugary nectar dissolved on his tongue. He drank her to the dregs and mauled her to a sodden mass on his face.
Her heavenly aroma filled his whole consciousness. He devoured her in greedy mouthfuls. Her satiny thighs muffled the cries drifting into his ears. She rocked on his bones, and the creamy honey gushed down his throat. He could live here. He could die here. He could take his nourishment on her.
Grace Unchained - Phoenix Throne Book Five Page 20