His Highland Pledge (The Clan Sinclair Book 4)

by Celeste Barclay

  “Who says that? Who? I would ken right now.” Magnus felt her stomp her foot on the ground.

  “Mo eun beag, ye are quite quick to defend me when I tell ye that I am too large, and yet ye dinna believe I love ye just as ye are.”

  He nuzzled her nape and kissed the place where her shoulder and neck met, knowing it was a spot that aroused her more than anywhere else on her body.

  “Vera fierce, too. I must say I rather like having ye as ma defender.”

  Deirdre spun in his arms.

  “Now ye’re just teasing me.”

  “Aye, but I prefer to see ye laugh or even angry rather than sad. I dinna like to think of ye as distraught.” He ducked as she swatted at him. “Deir, ye and I will never be the same size. We dinna need to be, but ken that I crave ye just as ye are. There is nay one else who makes me hard just thinking of them. There is nay one else that I picture when I pleasure maself. There is nay one else who could ever taste as good as ye. In fact, I am famished, and there is only one thing that will satisfy ma hunger.”

  Deirdre looked into his smoky brown eyes and saw desire and mischief swirling through them. He led them back to the plaid and eased them to the ground. He slipped her arms from her kirtle and peppered kisses across her breasts, taking time to suck each nipple while his hands pulled her skirts to her waist. He pressed three fingers into her as the other hand pushed one leg up. He slid down and rested her leg over his shoulder as his tongue licked the scorching folds that glistened from her dew and then from his tongue.

  Deirdre’s head shot off the ground, and she struggled to sit up. A hand landed on her belly and tried to press her back down.

  “Nay, Magnus. I want to see. I want to watch ye,” she whispered.

  Magnus’s heart sped up at the sound of her erotic request. He knew she did not know how her words made him long to thrust into her. He wanted nothing more than to watch his own cock plunge in and out of her. He removed his hand from her belly and pushed her skirts up further. He scooped her backside into his hands and lifted her hips, bringing her sheath closer to his mouth. He breathed in her scent of crisp apples and woman. He would know her scent of apples anywhere, but now he knew something that no other man did or ever would.

  His tongue lapped through her folds and flicked her pleasure button. She whimpered as her head fell back and she propped herself on her elbows. Momentarily distracted, Magnus forgot what he was about as he took in the scene she presented. She did not look like a girl now. She looked every inch a woman who was being pleasured and enjoying it. He thrust his tongue into her as deeply as he could and sucked on her sensitive nub. Her hips jumped in his hands, and her moans had him returning his fingers to her. He worked her blazing skin with a purpose that had Deirdre crying out her release much faster than he expected. He wished he had drawn out her pleasure for longer.

  “Magnus.” He heard her panting.

  “Aye, Deir?” He shifted onto his forearms and kissed her nose.

  “I had nae idea that ye planned to make a meal out of me.”

  “Ye are the finest main course I have ever been served.”

  Deirdre lifted her head and stared a moment before pushing his shoulders as hard as she could and raising her body to follow. She flipped Magnus onto his back, but she knew it was only because he let her.

  “Then I intend to have dessert.”

  Before Magnus understood what she meant, his plaid flipped back and hit him in the face. He pushed the material aside in time to see Deirdre examining his rod. He knew he was large and bigger than the last time they were together. He worried he would scare her, but there was no hint of fear when she looked up at him. Her eyes locked on his as she trailed the tip of her tongue from stem to stern. Her tongue followed the ridge until she reached the tip. She swirled her tongue around the hole that leaked and then sucked the head into her mouth.

  Magnus thought he died and went to heaven.

  “Deir, ye dinna have to do this.”

  But dear God, dinna stop. Fuck! How does she ken to take me in her mouth like that? How can she even take that much of me into her? Before her, when I wasnae yet this big, I couldnae find a lass willing to even try.

  Magnus shook his head. The last thing he wanted at that moment was to think of another woman. He could not even picture a single face from his past.

  Christ on the cross, now she’s using her hand too. Breathe or this will be over right now. Ye canna come in her mouth. Whatever ye do, dinna do that.

  Magnus groaned again when Deirdre used her free hand to explore his bollocks. She weighed them in her hands and shifted them around. When she rubbed the spot just behind them, Magnus’s hips jerked off the ground, and his cock twitched. He knew he had to get her to let go immediately. He would not last any longer.

  “Deir, ye must let go. Stop, mo ghaol, I dinna want to finish in yer mouth. I canna do that.”

  She swatted his hand away and sucked harder. Magnus was lost. His hands fisted in her hair and while he did not press her head, he could not stop his hips from rocking upwards. He felt his release crash over him as streams of his seed hit the back of Deirdre’s throat. He felt her swallowing it down, and when she hummed, his release began all over again. He could not believe how rung dry he felt when his body settled again on the plaid at last. He slid his hands beneath her arms and lifted her up onto his chest.

  Deirdre wiped her lips with her fingertips and considered what she had just done. She had no clue what she was doing, but when Magnus’s mouth pressed against her mound and then his tongue entered her, she remembered how curious she was to taste him the last time they were together. She decided this was the perfect opportunity to not only reciprocate but satisfy her curiosity.

  “It’s salty.”

  “What?” Magnus choked. He knew what she was talking about, he just had not expected her to say anything. Then again, he most definitely had not expected her to take him in her mouth and suck him bone dry.

  “Yer seed. It’s salty. I dinna ken what I expected, but I didna ken it would taste like that.”

  “Deir, ye didna have to do any of that. I didna plan to come in yer mouth. Please forgive me for that.”

  “Forgive ye for what? Didna I come with yer tongue in me. I came in your mouth. That’s different?” She watched him nod his head. “Why? Because more came out of ye than me. I dinna think it’s different at all. Besides, I’ve been wondering what ye taste like ever since the woods at the MacKinnons’.”

  “Ye have?”

  “Aye, thought aboot it quite a bit too. I wondered if I would ever get to try. Ye’re a wee more than I planned for, but I think it worked out well enough.”

  “Well enough? Planned for? St Columbo’s bones, I dinna even ken what to say to all of that. I didna even ken I would take ye with ma mouth, and here ye were planning yer strategy well in advance.”

  Deirdre smiled innocently and nodded her head.

  “Did ye like it?”

  “Do ye really need to ask?”

  When Magnus saw doubt flash across her face, he realized that she did. She might have just given him more pleasure than he thought possible, but she was still inexperienced and nervous that she would not meet his expectations. He rolled them onto their sides and tucked her into his embrace.

  “Mo chridhe, when ye stroked me in the woods, I thought that was the strongest and best release I ever had, and it was until today. What ye just gave me, what ye did for me, I canna even begin to put into words just how great it felt. Satisfying wouldnae even come close. Magnificent might be the closest I can think of.”

  She nodded her head slowly.

  “Did ye enjoy what I did for ye, mo leannan?”

  “How can ye even wonder, mo ghràidh?”

  Deirdre realized that even though Magnus had called her his sweetheart, his love, and his heart, this was one of the few times she used a term of endearment. My love. It was not missed on Magnus either. He said nothing, but his smile told her he had longed to hear s
uch things from her. She felt guilty she had not thought about it more. He held her tightly, and they stayed in one another’s embrace until the sun shifted enough for them to feel an evening chill begin.

  They had not even touched their lunch. They straightened their clothes, tossed the bread to the fish in the loch and the tarts to the ducks. They each chewed a hunk of cheese as they walked back to the keep. Before they were in view of the wall walk, Magnus stopped and pulled her in for the last swift kiss.

  “I love ye, Deir.”

  “And I love ye, too, Magnus. Always.”

  “And forever.”

  ~~~

  “Did you see the beastly man last night? Did you see how he did not bother to dress properly for supper?” Mary Kerr was once again complaining about Magnus.

  Mary Kerr’s jeering voice yanked Deirdre back into the present. She ground her teeth to keep from interjecting. She did not like Mary, to begin with, but her insults about the Sinclairs endeared her even less, and now that Magnus was at court, her snide comments were putting Deirdre on edge.

  “I thought him rather handsome. Braw. Isn’t that what you Highlanders say, Deirdre?” asked Allyson Elliot.

  “Yes, we say that.” Deirdre’s ire was rising from the baiting and discussion of her husband.

  “You know what they say about their plaids,” Isabella Dunbar said in a practiced whisper that was anything but. “They wear nothing under them!”

  This elicited several gasps from the younger ladies and knowing looks from the older ones.

  “He is a rather large man,” added Allyson.

  “Have you heard what they say about a man with large hands and feet?” jumped in Arabella Johnstone, “Everything about them is large. Even what’s hidden under that plaid.”

  This drew more shocked gasps and outright laughter.

  “I have a mind to find out if that is true,” Allyson claimed.

  “Not if I have already,” snickered Cairren Kennedy. “There are many a dark alcove to disappear into, or better yet be found in. Highlanders crow on about their honor, well, he’d be honor bound to keep me.”

  Deirdre shot Elizabeth a warning look. Her temper was boiling, and waves of jealousy surged from the tip of her toes to the crown of her head. She could not be the one to say anything.

  “Ladies, what if the queen hears you. You mustn’t be so brazen, or we will all suffer for it in the chapel.” Elizabeth intervened.

  Before anything else could be said, Archibald Hay appeared from around a hedge. The ladies stopped speaking and stared between the newly arrived man and Deirdre. It was common knowledge that a betrothal was in the works, and many of the ladies fluttered about in excitement for better gossip.

  “My lady, would you care to join me for a stroll through the garden?”

  “Thank you for the invitation, Lord Archibald. However, I do not see the queen presently, and I cannot leave unchaperoned.”

  “I am sure the queen trusts me as we have an understanding, you and I.” Deirdre did not miss the tinge of malice even if no one else seemed to notice.

  “I would not have my reputation sullied, my lord.” Deirdre countered but could do little more once she found her arm in a vicelike grip and Hay maneuvered her towards a section with thicker hedges than most other parts. He gripped her nape and dug his fingers into the side of her neck.

  “Do not think for one moment you will ever be able to turn me down. For anything. You will do as I tell you the first time I tell you. Is that understood?” Hay squeezed her arm and neck mercilessly, and Deirdre could only nod.

  “I am willing to forgive last night’s little incident. You are not in control of that beast, and I am sure he misunderstood the situation. Such a large man usually is not particularly astute. But any further trouble will result in your punishment since there is little I can do to him.”

  Deirdre bit her tongue almost to the point of blood to keep from defending Magnus.

  “Our betrothal will be announced soon, and I will have no one, especially that lumbering brute, interfere. I suggest you prepare yourself because our betrothal will not be a long one. Prepare your trousseau and say your goodbyes.”

  Hay released her arm and nudged her back to the main section where everyone gathered. Deirdre could hear peals of laughter that were even higher pitched than normal.

  I wonder which poor sod they trapped now.

  Deirdre almost stumbled when Magnus came into view with three women fawning over him with their hands on him and several more lingering to stare. She felt as though talons were growing from her fingernails, and she had an overwhelming desire to scratch all of their faces. Mine, mine, mine reverberated in her ears. She never thought a scene with other women paying attention to Magnus would elicit such visceral feelings, but she could not control the jealousy.

  Magnus looked up when he noticed movement coming from near a large hedge. He was doing his best not to lose his patience with the women hovering around him. He already pulled his arms free at least five times and resorted to crossing them. When Magnus recognized Hay and Deirdre coming from the secluded area, his heart raced. He barely suppressed a primal need to snatch her and carry her away. His hands fisted as they itched to land on Hay’s face all over again. He no longer heard or saw the other women, buzzing about like gnats. The approaching couple had his undivided attention. Mine, mine, mine echoed throughout his entire body.

  Anger sparked in both Deirdre’s and Magnus’s eyes when they connected. Deirdre sensed that Magnus was barely keeping his emotions tethered and only did so for her sake. Magnus sensed that Deirdre wanted to run to the group and scatter the women like pigeons. Neither could extract the other, but a silent agreement passed between them.

  “You would do well to stop looking at that uncouth behemoth. My wife will not ogle other men. Do not think for a moment you will have the freedom to take a lover. Not after you have given me my two sons and absolutely not before. Am I understood? I would not want there to be any misunderstanding between us as that is how unfortunate accidents come about.”

  Deirdre blanched at his threats because she could believe he spoke the truth. Magnus saw Deirdre pale even from where he stood. He cocked his head and ran his eyes over her. He squinted when he thought he saw red marks on her neck, and when he considered that they might be finger marks, everything he saw turned red. He stepped forward with no thought to the women around him who scurried to step out of his way.

  “Excuse me,” he managed to mumble before his long strides carried him to Deirdre and Hay.

  Magnus tenderly grasped Deirdre’s chin and turned her head. He thought his might combust with the rage that filled him. There were four clear marks that were already starting to darken into bruises. He leaned back and scrutinized every part of her he could see. He turned her head and found the matching thumbprint. She had a shawl draped around her arms to cover her bare skin. The day was cooler but still warm enough for capped sleeves. He pulled the shawl away and saw the finger marks that were a vivid red on her arms. He looked into her eyes and saw her fear. He knew the fear she felt now was for what he might do rather than what Hayhad done.

  “Did he threaten ye? Even a wee bit?” He whispered. Magnus watched her throat work, but she would not speak. Her silence was answer enough.

  Magnus turned towards Hay and stretched to his full height. He breathed in, so his chest puffed out and his shoulders broadened. He towered over Hay who was already a tall but thin man. He visibly outweighed him by four or five stones. His hand rested on the handle of the dirk that was just barely visible in its sheath upon his belt.

  “Ye touched her.”

  “I—” could not say anymore as Magnus’s shadow fell over him.

  “I warned ye nae to touch her again. Ye threatened her too. She isnae yer wife nor even yer betrothed. Ye havenae any right to touch her.”

  “And who are you to gainsay me? She is as good as betrothed to me, and once betrothed, she is as good as my wife. She is mine to
do with as I see fit. Your meddling will not help her cause, Highlander.” Hay kept his voice low but did not hide the menace.

  Magnus leaned forward and looked down at Hay. Magnus craved the opportunity to pummel his fists into the shorter man’s hawkish nose and cold eyes.

  “Do ye plan to live long enough to make it to yer betrothal or wedding? Touch her again, and ye willna.” Magnus straightened and crossed his arms. “I think it is time ye found somewhere other than here to be. Unless ye would like yer nose bloodied again. Mayhap a blackened eye?”

  The ladies gawked at the scene and Magnus knew they were inching closer to snatch the latest en dite they could spread throughout the court. No one had heard the exchange, but Magnus’s posture left no doubt to anyone he was intimidating Lord Archibald. All he wanted was to have a moment alone with Deirdre to reassure her and to hold her. He needed, for his own wellbeing, to be sure the odious man had not harmed her any more than he could see.

  “Are ye well, ma lady?” He asked as the ladies-in-waiting surrounded them.

  “Yes, thank you.”

  “You seem to have quite an interesting conversation here. We are wondering what could be so engaging. May we join you?” Allyson inquired.

  “It was nothing important,” Deirdre demurred, but that did not deter the ladies.

  “Why would Lord Sinclair rush to you if nothing happened?” Mary Kerr spoke up for the first time. Her question had a bite to it as she glared at Magnus. She looked between Magnus and Hay, measuring the situation. “He seemed to be in quite a rush to help you when we all know you are betrothed to Lord Archibald.”

  “I amnae Lord Sinclair. Laird Sinclair is ma father.” Magnus tried to steer the conversation away. “I am Magnus Sinclair.”

  “Are you all ready acquainted with Lady Deirdre?” Mary purred. “You seemed intent upon interrupting her walk with her betrothed.