Alexander burned a trail of kisses down her throat, pausing long enough to yank loose the ties of her bodice and toss it aside before continuing his tasting and setting her flesh afire. “I want ye free of these clothes,” he rasped against the tied front of her chemise as he undid the waist of her skirt and allowed it to fall into a pile of wool around her ankles. “I need the touch of your skin against mine. Please, Catriona.”
Panic. Excitement. Apprehension. An avalanche of emotions crashed through her as she stepped out of her slippers then nudged them along with her skirt and bodice aside. She hesitated at lifting her chemise to remove her stockings. Did he wish her completely naked? The worrisome wondering left her as Alexander shucked his trews, tunic, and kilt and stood before her naked as the day his mother brought him into the world. She’d seen him naked before whilst tending his wounds but… Merciful heavens. So big. Concern filled her. She couldna help but wonder how this could happen without a great deal more pain than any of the women at the keep had ever mentioned when it came to sacrificing a maidenhead.
“Dinna be afraid,” he reassured as he led her closer to the pallet and lowered them both to the plaid-covered bed. With a reassuring smile, he settled her back on the blankets then allowed his fingertips to trail across every dip and curve of her body as he rose above her. “I want ye, Catriona, but I want ye to want me as well, aye?”
“I…I do.” And she meant it. She ached to arch her back, to meet his hand as he touched her, and rub him harder against her body. But she held herself still, fearing he’d think her a wanton whore. Sweet Jesu, how she wanted him.
He slid his hands down to the hem of her chemise and pushed it up to her waist. His gaze locked with hers, he brushed his fingertips across the auburn thatch of curls at the juncture of her thighs. He leaned over her, the heat of his breath tickling across her flesh. His warm, tender kisses trailed down her stomach as he moved lower, fanning the already burning ache about to explode within her.
Catriona gasped and shuddered, struggling against the urge to writhe beneath his touch. Alexander smiled down at her as he slid her stockings down her legs one by one then pulled them free and tossed them beside the bed. His warm calloused hands slid down the outer sides of her legs, down to her ankles, then tickled back up the insides of her calves, pausing at the tender flesh just above her knees. Such delicious agony.
He stretched out beside her on the pallet, treating her to gentle kisses as he tugged her chemise higher and whispered against her ear. “Your skin against mine. Our heat united. Please, Catriona. Would ye be willing? I swear I’ll keep ye warm.”
Keep her warm? That was no' one of her fears at the present. Catriona sat up, skimmed her chemise off over her head, then lowered herself back to the pallet. Her hands trembled as she crossed her arms over her breasts. Have mercy, she could hardly breathe as she eased herself back down on the blankets beside Alexander and looked up into his face.
“Such loveliness,” Alexander rasped against her temple as he pressed the hard length of his body against her and with the gentlest of touches, slid a hand under her folded arms to cup one of her breasts in his palm. He eased himself over her and set to nibbling kisses across her collarbone and lower.
Catriona closed her eyes, cradling his head to her chest and filling her hands with his hair as he tasted and teased until she thought she’d surely die. She arched against him, luxuriating in the heat radiating from his body, no longer caring if she made a mistake as she slid her body against his. If this made her wanton, then so be it. It felt right. It felt damned good.
Alexander swallowed her groans as he trailed a hand up between her legs. She bucked into his touch, breathless, and writhing as he teased a finger up inside her. “'Twill be less painful this way,” he promised as another finger joined the first and he hugged her close as he slid them both in and out, stroking and gyrating until all Catriona knew was that she needed blessed relief. Arching hard and fast, matching her rhythm to his, Catriona raked her fingers down his broad back, her moans growing loud but she no longer cared.
Covering her mouth with his, Alexander shoved his fingers deep with a quick thrust. Catriona felt a tearing. The burning rip caught her unaware, and she stiffened against the pain. She cried out but Alexander swallowed the sound, kissing her deep and long as he removed his hand and cradled her close.
Cuddling her against him, he soothed her with tender kisses along her jaw, nipping and tasting her throat and suckling her earlobe. He teased his fingertips across her with the lightest of touches, teasing them up and down the center of her torso then moved to stroke her side, cupping her buttocks and nibbling kisses around her breasts.
Catriona smoothed her hands down Alexander’s back, pressing into his touch and arching against him. The aching inferno reignited inside her. The demanding need returned and grew stronger. She forgot the pain. All she knew was that she needed more. She needed Alexander. “I need ye,” she whispered with a desperate gasp.
"Aye." Alexander rumbled beneath her hands with a purring groan. "'Tis time, indeed."
He rolled her beneath him, sliding his arms beneath her shoulders, and propping on his elbows as he nestled down between her legs. Catriona opened to him, wrapping her legs around him and arching to meet him.
Ever so slowly, he nudged his way into her, gentle but steady. “Relax, lass,” he said with a kiss to her temple as he pushed deeper. “Relax,” he groaned as he filled her.
So…so tight. Not painful but so… Catriona closed her eyes and committed to the wondrous array of new sensations. His smooth back under the palms of her hands. The ripples of his muscles as he moved. She hugged her legs tighter about him and matched her moves to his, thrust for thrust. The harder Alexander pushed, the more Catriona discovered she needed.
An exquisite shuddering stole her breath, bursting across her senses with such delight she reeled with the rapturous explosion, crying out as all thought left her and only excruciatingly wonderful delirium took over.
Alexander growled out a low rumbling moan, pounding harder and faster, then thrust deep and stayed there. Every muscle tensed, and breath held, he spasmed and jerked for the span of several heartbeats then collapsed atop her.
Chest to chest. Heart pounding against pounding heart. Catriona stared up into the darkness, still gasping for breath. So this is what it was. She tightened her arms around Alexander and snugged her cheek up against his head. What a wondrous pleasure to share with a husband. Her heart was most certain near to bursting. She’d never known this much happiness, never felt this cherished. A tear slipped down her cheek. She hitched in a quick shaking breath as she swiped it away.
Alexander lifted himself up, pressed a kiss to her forehead, then grazed another kiss across her tear-dampened cheek and immediately drew back. “Are ye all right, dear one? Did I hurt ye?”
He watched her closely and his expression made her heart swell. The man cared about her, worried about her well-being. Truly, he cared.
“I am quite well. I promise.” She smiled up into his eyes and hugged her legs back around him, reveling in the rugged muscular manliness of him against her tender skin. She teased her fingers up and down his sides, pleased at discovering he was ticklish along his ribs. “I’m finding the cave to be quite warm with this wondrous new blanket I’ve discovered.”
He laughed, stirring an entirely new array of sensations through her. “I’m pleased ye find me wondrous, m’lady.” He kissed the tip of her nose and grew serious. “I dinna wish ye to regret your decision to marry me, Catriona. Not ever.” He eased off her and rolled to the side, curling her up close against him and covered them both with the plaid. Cradling her in one arm, he traced lazy circles up and down her forearm, brought her hand to his mouth for a kiss, then peacefully tucked it to his chest.
“And 'tis my hope that ye dinna grow to resent me.” There. Her fear was named and laid bare between them. Holding her breath, she shifted to watch his reaction. She prided herself on her skill to
spot a lie.
“Why would ye say that? Why would I ever resent ye?” He pulled back a bit to better look her in the eyes.
“For becoming the weight around your neck that slows ye in your travels.” A heavy sigh escaped her. “I ken good and well ye’re a soldier for hire and no’ accustomed to darkening the same threshold over long. I willna mean to but I fear I’ll slow ye in your travels. Yourself and your kin will tire of dealing with me.”
Alexander huffed out a silent laugh and shook his head. “Ye fear burdening me in my travels and I fear I’ve no place to offer ye to rest when ye’re weary. We’re a pair, are we not?”
“Aye. That we are.” She reached up and brushed a finger against the scrub of his jaw. “Ye’re a fine man, Alexander, and I thank ye.”
“Thank me for what?”
“Many things,” she mused aloud, as she watched the firelight dance across the walls of the cave. “Many things,” she repeated in a whisper more to herself than to him. She couldna begin to name all the reasons she felt thankful for Alexander if she tried.
Alexander treated her to a long, slow kiss then lifted his head and gazed down at her with a tender look. “Rest now, aye?” He nuzzled the sensitive skin behind her ear and snuggled closer. “Rest now and perhaps we’ll steal a little more pleasure in a few hours before everyone rises in the morning.”
As tempting as he made that sound, she couldn’t. Her mind reeled with too much that needed tending. “Where do we go from here?” she whispered. Catriona hated to keep him awake with her questions but her clan's suffering reared its ugly muzzle and set to nagging anew now that her head had somewhat cleared. “Fort William?”
He remained silent for so long and his breathing had settled down so low and steady she grew worried. Perhaps he already slept? “Alexander?” she repeated a little louder.
“Rest now, lass.” He hugged her tight and pressed another kiss to the edge of her ear. “Alasdair and Ian should be back by tomorrow. They’ll have been to Fort William and will tell us more about the regiment Calum mentioned and then we’ll know.”
“Know what?”
“How best to attack,” he mumbled under his breath then droned off into a hissing snore.
Attack. Aye. Attack sounds good. That was promise enough to hold her 'til morning.
Chapter 17
“Ye canna go in there.” Alexander shouldered past Alasdair to the cave. He took up a spread-eagled stance in front of the entrance and blocked it.
Weariness in the slant of his shoulders, Alasdair glared at him as though he’d sprouted a second head. “Ye deny me shelter and a place at the fire? What the hell’s wrong with ye, cousin?”
Ian approached from the direction of where they’d penned the horses and thumped his brother on the back. “Perhaps his wife still sleeps. Best stay out here. There’s a fire over near the horses. Come.”
“Wife?” Alasdair repeated, scrubbing at the corners of his bloodshot eyes as though they burned with the need for sleep. “We were only gone two days. When the hell did ye have time to marry and how did ye manage to find a priest?”
“Yesterday.” Alexander motioned toward his younger brothers. “Duncan and Sutherland provided the priest.” The fresh memory of the captured priest with bound wrists triggered a clearing of his throat and forced him to add, "In a manner of speaking.”
“Yesterday. I see.” Alasdair seemed to struggle for civil words. “Congratulations,” he forced out with a weak-hearted clap of one hand to Alexander’s shoulder. “'Tis Catriona, aye?”
“Who else would it be?”
Alasdair opened his mouth and fisted his hand as though he wished to reply with more than words then stopped himself. He looked at Ian. “Show me to the fire, aye? I’m well past weary and no’ in the mood for…” He bit off his words. Glare shifting to Alexander, he shook his head and fell in step behind his brother.
Alexander turned his head, training an ear toward the inside of the cave. Alasdair could pout like a greetin’ bairn if he wished. Catriona needed her sleep. After a brief slumber, they’d awakened a few hours before dawn and further explored the pleasures of their marriage bed. Alexander hardened at the memory. Virginal, his new wife may have been but lore a’mighty, she was a woman of passion. The only sound emerging from the depths of the cave was an occasional rustling and a soft sigh.
He headed to the clearing of stone to the right of the cave where they’d tethered the horses. The men stood gathered around the fire in one corner of the sheltered space surrounded by boulders and chunks of stone that resembled the henges found in England and Wales. The horses munched on the horse bread that Murtagh had seen fit to stow in sacks tied to the saddles. With the heat generated by the shaggy beasts’ bodies along with the fire, the area was quite warm against the chilly morning.
“Well, he can still walk,” Graham remarked as Alexander joined them.
“Ye didna do it right then,” Sutherland said as he motioned toward the entrance of the cave. “Best ye go back and try again. Ye dinna wish to leave your lady a wantin’ and neither of ye should be able to walk after your wedding night.”
Alexander ignored their jests and helped himself to a dried oatcake and a cup of whatever hot swill Magnus had steeped in the dented pot snugged into the coals of the fire. Magnus was a firm believer in herbs to strengthen the body.
Magnus’s mother had been a renowned healer. A white lady respected by all until she’d angered the wife of a high-ranking noble in their village and fallen under a malicious accusation of witchcraft. Tried and found guilty, her sentence had been barbarous. Alexander stared at the ground, almost flinching at the memory. They’d crushed the poor woman to death beneath a plank of wood laden with boulders. For most nigh a year after it had happened, Magnus had spoken verra little, never forgiving himself for not making it home in time to save her.
Alexander frowned down into the cup then took a hesitant sip. The fumes from the bitter drink made his eyes water as he washed down the bite of oatcake. He worked his tongue against his teeth and swallowed again. He’d have to lick a horse’s arse to get the foul taste of that tea out of his mouth. “God’s teeth, Magnus, what the hell are ye trying to cure us of this time?”
“Stupidity,” Magnus remarked without looking up from the fire. He lifted the metal pot and smiled. “Another cup for ye?”
Magnus didna take well to criticisms about his teas.
“Damn, ye’re a surly bunch this morn,” Alexander observed with another flinching sip of his hot swill.
“None of us had the night ye had, brother,” Duncan retorted then nodded at Ian. “And wait 'til ye hear their news.”
Alexander sensed a looming darkness far worse than morning grumpiness. He turned his attention to Ian and Alasdair. “Ill findings?”
“Chieftain Calum Neal spoke the truth,” Alasdair said. “The king’s new regiment has already arrived at Fort William. Their sole duty is to search the Highlands for anyone who’s even hinted at an allegiance to someone other than King William.”
“And the leader of the regiment is rumored to be relentless,” Ian added. “Everyone said the same thing. Some even mentioned Glencoe.”
Glencoe. That failure still gnawed at Alexander’s gut. “If the king had a scrap of humanity about him, he’d order those responsible for Glencoe hanged.” Alexander moved to toss out what was left of Magnus’s herbal brew, then stopped himself when Magnus cleared his throat and gave him a warning glare. “Who be the leader of this regiment?”
“We never heard his name,” Ian said. “'Twas as though everyone feared to say it, as though he might appear like some evil demon.”
“Ye ken that the order to erase the MacDonalds came from the king himself. 'Twas an example for all to see.” Catriona stood on the plateau above them. The morning sun rose behind her, giving her a fiery halo as the wind ruffled through her still loose hair, fluttering the coppery strands about her shoulders. “Is the regiment headed for Tor Ruadh?” she asked.
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The men stilled, all of them staring up at her with their mouths ajar.
It took Alexander a long moment to recover from the feeling that God had sent a fierce warrior angel of fire to advise them. He blinked hard, cleared his throat, and took a final swallow of the lukewarm muck left in his cup. He held it toward Magnus. “Some for Catriona, aye?”
“Is the regiment headed for Tor Ruadh?” she repeated as she climbed down from the stone shelf and joined them by the fire.
Alexander looked to Alasdair and Ian. “Are they?”
“Aye,” Ian answered. He turned to his brother. “Set to leave in a week’s time, was it?”
Alasdair nodded, scowling down into his own cup before taking a flask from within an inner pocket of his coat and sweetening the tea with whisky. “One hundred at least.” After shoving the flask back into his coat, he turned to Duncan and Sutherland. “How many in Campbell’s entourage?”
“Near seventy,” Father William said without being asked. He held out his cup and nodded toward Alasdair’s coat. “A tithe of your uisge beatha is most appreciated, my son.”
Alasdair held out the flask to the priest as he turned to Alexander. “At least one hundred and seventy then all told.”
“All armed and bringing a pair of cannons,” Sutherland added.
“All to Tor Ruadh?” Catriona asked, accepting the cup of tea from Magnus with a polite nod then wrinkling her nose as she caught a whiff of the contents.
Alexander pulled in a deep breath and released it. “Aye, love. All to Tor Ruadh.” He shifted and let his gaze settle on the horses. The Neal horses and a safe stronghold in the Highlands. Renowned for their avarice and preening to play to the crown in hopes of favors, the Campbells wouldna hesitate to kill each other for such an opportunity.
“How can I save my people against such odds?” Catriona whispered with a sad shake of her head as she sank to sit on a nearby boulder.
The Chieftain: A Highlander's Heart and Soul Novel Page 17