Highlander's Captive (Highlander Trilogy)

by Donna Fletcher

  “All of you go,” Wintra demanded, having had enough for one day. “I want to be alone.”

  Cree slipped his arm around Dawn’s waist and led her to the door, though he stopped before opening it. “We will talk, Wintra, and that is not a request.” He opened the door and turned to Torr.

  “I am not going anywhere,” Torr said.

  “I do not want you here,” Wintra said with an angry snarl.

  “It does not matter. I am staying.”

  “I want to be alone.”

  “I am staying,” he repeated adamantly.

  “Cree,” she said looking to him for help.

  Cree looked to Torr.

  “I am her husband and you will leave us,” Torr said.

  Cree scowled, not caring for what he must say. “He is right, Wintra. I no longer have say over you. You now belong to him.” He followed Dawn out the door, closing it behind him.

  Wintra turned angry eyes on Torr. “I do not belong to you, and I want you to leave right now.”

  “I am not leaving. I am staying right here with you.”

  Wintra’s green eyes darkened and turned wide. “You do not mean to stay the night, do you?”

  He smiled. “Tonight and all nights to come.”

  Chapter Fifteen

  Torr thought for a moment that Wintra would argue with him, but she did what he did not want her to do. She retreated into her thoughts. Her eyes suddenly lost their anger and her face softened, and he grew angry.

  “You will find no answers or solutions in your thoughts. Talk with me,” he said, though it sounded more like a demand.

  “What is there to say to you? You lied to me. How do I trust you?”

  He not only heard the pain of her disappointment, but he saw it reflected in her eyes and it tore at his heart. “What would you have done if I had told you? You would have grown angry as you have just done, and then what? We would not have talked and gotten to know each other. I thought it best you got to know me, discover my nature, and see for yourself if you could care for me.”

  He made sense, though at the moment she did not want him to. She was much too angry with him. Had he been angry when he had learned that she was his wife? The question hurriedly spilled from her lips. “How did you feel when you learned we were wed?”

  It was a good question she asked and one he had not given much thought to. “I had no time to consider it. The message had arrived from the King shortly after your brother left the keep to find you.”

  “My brother was coming for me?” she asked surprised, having thought differently.

  “Cree had been furious when the news came of your abduction. Warriors were gathered immediately and Cree left with haste. I followed with the message. Cree and I were alone when he read the message. From the look on his face, I feared the news was not to his liking. He handed it to me and I read it, then I told him I would go find you. He agreed, though he truly had little choice, since I was your husband and the decision and responsibility mine.”

  “When Cree became a warrior, he rarely lived by rules,” Wintra said, recalling the obvious change in her brother over the years when he had visited her in the abbey. “He could have commanded you otherwise.”

  “And take a chance of causing a rift with his sister’s new husband? Besides, the King had already seen it done. He had had a proxy marriage performed so that his decree could not be challenged. Your brother also had his warriors and lands to consider, if he had not I imagine his decision would have been different.”

  She leaned her hand on the back of the chair, her legs having grown much too tired. “What I do not understand is why the King would force a marriage between us?”

  Torr could see that exhaustion was quickly taking hold of Wintra. “You are tired and need rest. These are questions better left for another day.”

  “What I need are answers and I need them now.”

  “When your brother said it was complicated, he spoke the truth. Leave it for another day when you are not so exhausted.”

  As much as she hated to admit that he was right; he was. All she wanted to do was slip into bed and sleep—alone. Or did she? She had grown accustomed to having Torr wrapped around her. But now, with him being her husband, he could have his way with her, and the thought sparked her passion to life. How could she be angry at him and still desire him?

  “You will be sleeping with me?” she asked.

  Torr stood and walked toward her.

  She watched him approach, not able to take her eyes off him. His gait was slow and confident, his shoulders broad, and he wore the slightest of smiles on his handsome face. And that was all she needed to see, her body reacted instantly to him, igniting the passion that had sparked in her and turning her legs from tired to weak.

  He stopped in front of her and raised his hand to ever so lightly stroke her cheek, chin, and lips. “We are husband and wife and from this night on we share a bed—and so much more.”

  She almost gasped from the exquisite pleasure his touch stirred in her.

  Torr took her hand. “We are both exhausted and need sleep.” He moved his hand to her waist and led her to the curtain, pushing it aside so that she could enter.

  It was a small, yet welcoming room. A fire glowed and its warmth filled the confined space. A chest sat at the end of a bed that would easily sleep two people. The bedding appeared freshly washed and Wintra wanted nothing more than to sink into it and let sleep claim her, so that she did not have to think another moment about this day, or all the days since she had left the abbey.

  Torr stepped away from her and began to disrobe.

  “What are you doing?” she asked anxiously and took a step away from him.

  “Taking my clothes off.”

  “Why?

  “To go to bed,” he said while continuing to undress.

  “You are going to sleep naked beside me?’

  “I have done it before.”

  “But it’s different now,” she insisted.

  “Yes, it is. We are husband and wife and have the right to be naked in front of each other. Actually, we had that right when we first met. So your honor was never truly in any danger.”

  Wintra was about to argue with him when she realized that one more garment and he would be stark naked. Her heart beat a bit faster, and she was about to turn her back on him when she found herself frozen in place.

  She tried to keep her eyes from roaming, but it was difficult. He was a fine looking man from top to bottom, and that was where her eyes went from top to bottom and in between, lingering more on the in between. He was such a powerfully built man, his body so tempting that she shivered with the thought of making love with him.

  He walked over to her and she took several steps back as he approached, but it did not matter.

  His arm snaked out to catch her around the waist and draw her close. “Take your clothes off and come to bed.”

  She could feel the heat of him through her garments, and it was intoxicating. She recalled how his hands had warmed her naked flesh when she had been so cold and how their bodies had snuggled so intimately to keep warm. He had grown hard then just as he did now. It was obvious he wanted her, and she could not deny that she wanted him.

  Her head began to throb, and she turned her back to him, rubbing her temple. She could not think straight. Her mind was filled with jumbled thoughts and nothing made sense. She wanted something—anything to make sense.

  She stiffened when his arm slipped around her waist and when he tried to ease her back against him, she held her ground. She was much too vulnerable at the moment, and she had already made decisions she had regretted. She would not do that again.

  Torr was hard and aching to make love to his wife, to show her what he felt for her was real, not something forced on him out of duty. Now, however, was not the time—or was it?

  “You need sleep,” he said, knowing endless thoughts were probably buzzing in her head and the only way she would get any relief was slee
p or for him to make love to her.

  Wintra did not argue with him. She slipped away from him, relieved that he let her go, and sat on the chest to remove her boots. She wanted desperately to strip herself bare and discard the patched wool dress beneath her shift. But when Torr had scurried her away, her clothes had been left behind.

  Then she recalled what Dawn had told her about the clothes in the chest and hurried over to it, dropping to her knees to push at the lid.

  Torr was quickly at her side. “What are you doing?”

  She wished he would not stand so near to her, especially since he was naked and aroused. She kept her eyes averted, but it wasn’t easy since she was on her knees in front of the chest and he was standing at her side. His arousal was much too close to her face. If she turned, her lips would brush it, and she was surprised that the thought actually appealed rather than repulsed her. She would have never believed that she would find the thought inviting after the incident in the cottage with Owen. But then Torr was not Owen.

  The thought jolted her for a moment. Torr was nothing like Owen, and she would do well to remember that.

  “Dawn told me there were garments in this chest I could make use of. I hope to find a night dress.”

  He pressed his hand on the lid. “Nothing stops us from sleeping naked together. And that is how we shall sleep tonight—naked together.”

  The idea that she would feel uncomfortable undressing in front of him disturbed him. It meant that she did not trust him, and that he did not want, and so he would not give her the chance to do so. Not to mention that he ached to have her naked in his arms.

  He turned away to add three more logs to the fire, not wanting to glare at her while she undressed. When he turned back around she was still standing as he had left her, fully clothed.

  “I feel like a moth too close to a flame?” she said.

  He loved that she spoke her mind, and he walked over to her. “You fear I will devour you?”

  “Will you?” she asked in a nervous whisper.

  He ran his thumb over her lips. “I am your husband.”

  “You have rights.”

  “And you have duties.”

  “You wish me to do my duty tonight?”

  This time he brushed his lips over hers. “Do you wish to do your duty tonight?”

  She did not know what to think. Odd warmth had settled over her, and dampness settled between her legs and when he touched her she felt herself throb. She shook her head. “I am confused.”

  He lowered his hand and splayed it at the apex of her legs, his middle finger resting over her sensitive nub. “Tell me, Princess, do you love me?

  “I do,” she admitted without hesitation.

  “And I love you, so why deny us?”

  Her breath caught as his finger slowly began to tease her.

  He rested his brow to hers. “The decision is an easy one. You want me and I want you. Therefore...” He stepped away from her, grabbed her tunic and yanked it over her head, and then he ripped the dress she had repaired down the middle and pulled it off her and tossed it into the hearth. The flames eagerly took hold and devoured it.

  She was stunned by his actions and yet he had also excited her.

  “You have a gorgeous body.”

  She stared at him. Had she heard him right? He thought her body gorgeous?

  Torr saw the surprise in her lovely green eyes and reached out to cup one breast. “You truly do, and I ache to touch you all the time.” His hand drifted down along her stomach, to slip into the triangular nest of blond curls. “Tell me you want me to touch you, Wintra.”

  His intimate touches and suggestive words left her mindless. It was her body that was in now control.

  “Tell me, Wintra, tell me you want me to touch you.”

  A pleading yes rushed from her lips as she moved closer to him, wanting and needing him to do so much more.

  His fingers found her precious nub and she jumped at the jolt of pleasure that shot through her. “You are mine, Princess, and always will be.”

  She grabbed his muscled arms to keep herself from collapsing, her legs having turned limp.

  He scooped her up and carried her to the bed and stretched out on his side next to her.

  She pressed her hand to his lips as he lowered them to hers. “The nuns warned me that I was to submit to my husband. To lie there and let him have his way, but I feel the need—to touch you.”

  “Touch wherever you like, kiss wherever you like, taste wherever you like,” he said, “for I plan to do the same to you.” His hands began to explore her then while his lips claimed a heart-stopping kiss that left her breathless.

  Torr could not stop exploring every inch of her. Wherever his hand touched, his lips followed. She tasted as good as she felt and he could not get enough of her.

  Wintra grabbed at his arms, the bolts of pleasure shooting through her making it difficult to do anything else but hold on to him. She gasped when he nibbled at her nipples and groaned when his tongue teased them unmercifully. She bucked when his head disappeared between her legs and moaned, thinking she would surely go mad from the endless pleasure he was bringing her. Her eyes drifted closed as she began to moan softly, and then it grew until she was calling out his name over and over.

  His own need quickened when he looked at her in the throes of passion, his name echoing from her kissed-swollen lips. He slipped over her, settling between her legs, and he was glad when she opened her eyes. He wanted her to be focused on him as he entered her. He wanted to see her pleasure mount and share in it. He wanted her to remember this moment always, this moment they became one.

  Her eyes turned wide when she felt him enter her and the deeper he went the deeper she wanted him to go. Until, she could stand it no more and arched her body, taking all of him deep inside her.

  She let out a small cry and Torr immediately stopped moving.

  He held himself over her, his taut muscles covered with a fine sheen of sweat. “I caused you pain?”

  She shook her head and reached out, trying to pull him closer, though she could not budge him. “No. No.” She shook her head again. “I want you as deep inside me as you can go.”

  He smiled and started a rhythm that Wintra found herself matching, and he went deeper and deeper, the temp growing stronger and stronger. She grasped at his arms and held on for dear life, for she thought she was about to burst.

  And she did. The intense sensation hit her so hard the she cried out and Torr moved even harder inside and oh if it didn’t feel fantastic.

  She launched her hips up pressing into him and squeezing tightly, greedy in devouring every last bit of her powerful climax. Then suddenly she felt Torr burst as she had done and she held onto him and they rode out the last ripples of pleasure together.

  It took a few minutes before either of them could move or speak. Then he rolled off her and laid a moment on his back, calming his breathing before he turned on his side to look at her.

  “That was so much more pleasurable than I had ever imagined it to be,” she said with a sigh.

  He smiled. “I am glad I pleased you.”

  “Did I please you?” she asked anxiously, turning on her side to face him.

  “More than you will ever know.”

  She was about to smile when a yawn slipped out.

  “You are exhausted. You need to sleep.”

  Wintra felt sleep creeping up over her, but she had to ask, “Why tonight? Why make love to me tonight?”

  Torr took hold of her chin and held it firm. “To officially seal our vows so that nothing or no one can separate us. I love you, Princess, and I will not lose you.”

  Chapter Sixteen

  Owen had left the Great Hall shortly after Cree and Torr had stormed out realizing their women had left. They were fools to place such importance on women. They were nothing more than a means to an end. They were there to bring a man more land and wealth through marriage and to satisfy his needs whenever instructed to d
o so.

  He snarled as he crept up on the cottage, keeping to the night shadows so that no one would see him. He had worked for months formulating his plan, ridding himself of those who stood in his way and playing a dotting man in love. He would not have it all fall apart. He would not lose the wealth his union to Wintra would bring him. Besides, he wanted the bitch to pay for speaking out in front of all, instead of holding her tongue like an obedient woman should. What did she know about love anyway? She had been raised in the abbey by nuns who should have taught her better manners and obedience, something he would enjoy doing.

  It angered him to think that Torr had her before he did. She was a beauty and he would have enjoyed breaking her in to serving his needs. But then he planned on her still serving his needs one way or another.

  His jaw clenched when he heard Wintra scream Torr’s name and when she did it again, he found himself not only growing more furious, but hard.

  “Damn the bitch,” he muttered, though did not turn away and leave. He waited and listened, her cries of pleasure exciting him more than he cared to admit. His thoughts drifted to how Wintra would scream when he mounted her. She would beg him to stop, but he would give her a good pounding and when he was done, she would obey his every word. And every night he would do the same to remind her of her place as his wife and—he shook his head. His musings had hardened him so badly that now he would have to find a woman to see to his needs tonight. And she would need to be a willing one at that. He certainly could not do as he usually did and force himself on one, for it would jeopardize what plans he had left.

  It disgusted him to think that he would have to be nice to the woman who would spread her legs for him tonight. After all he was the man, the one with the power and he enjoyed wielding it as he liked.

  Owen stood staring at the cottage, a snarl distorting his face. It was quiet, not another sound came from it. He should be the one sleeping with Wintra tonight. He should be the one she obeys, but then she will be. She will have no choice. And to make certain of that he intended to not only see Torr dead, but her interfering brother as well.