The Highlander's Bride

by Donna Fletcher

  The thought served to heighten her pleasure and passion, and she reached out, needing him to fill her and fulfill her. She couldn’t wait another minute, did not want to, needed him now, right now.

  Her hand cupped him gently then stroked him, her fingers enjoying the velvet feel of him. “I can’t wait any longer.”

  “I haven’t tasted all of you yet,” he whispered on a moan.

  “Another time,” she begged.

  “Is that a promise?”

  “You have my word,” she said with a kiss.

  He eased over her, nudging her legs farther apart with his knee. “I’ll hold you to that.”

  “I’ll honor it.”

  “I’ll see that you do,” he murmured before kissing her with a hungry need that she returned with equal fervor.

  She moaned when she felt him slip gently into her, and before she knew it, she felt the length of him settle inside her and begin to move. She moved along with him until she felt herself riding a crest of a wave that grew larger and larger, soaring higher and higher.

  Her fingers dug into his back as she held onto him, matching his rhythm, feeling herself soar higher than she ever thought possible, feeling the sheer joy of being one with him and finally cresting and slamming to shore in a breathtaking climax that left her gasping for breath.

  Cullen didn’t move off her immediately, and she didn’t want him to. She held onto him, not wanting to let him go, not wanting him to slip out of her just yet. She wanted to feel the very last pulse of him ease away inside her.

  When he finally slipped off her, he took her with him, his arm firm around her, her head on his shoulder and their breathing calming little by little.

  Sara heard the roll of thunder then and the rain that pelted the cottage. She hadn’t heard the rain start or the thunder draw near, having been too engrossed in making love, and now she smiled at the thought and snuggled her face to Cullen’s chest.

  “That was beautiful,” she said.

  “More beautiful than I ever expected,” he said with surprise.

  She looked up at him. “Had you expected to be disappointed?”

  “No, not at all,” he said quickly. “I just never thought…”

  Sara waited for him to finish, but he seemed reluctant and she wasn’t certain if she was prepared to hear…

  “…it would feel so—” He hesitated again before quickly finishing. “—perfect.”

  She grinned happily. “I never thought of making love as perfect, but that’s how it felt, so very perfect.”

  His agreement came in a tight hug, and she swung her leg over his and draped her arm across his middle, content with the familiar security and safety she felt beside him.

  “It’s as if I’ve always known you,” she said honestly. She had picked a complete stranger to wed, one dropped on her doorstep, and found herself familiar with him. How did that happen?

  You leapt and landed where God wanted you.

  Her sister’s words resonated in her head. She had asked God for a husband, and he had delivered. Was she where she was supposed to be—in Cullen’s arms?

  Had she found what she’d always been looking for—love?

  The thought frightened her. And why wouldn’t it? If she found love, how was she ever going to let it slip out of her hands?

  A clap of sharp thunder jolted the lovers, and they hugged each other, laughing.

  “Are the Heavens angry with us?” Sara asked.

  “Or perhaps they warn us,” Cullen suggested.

  The thought sent a shiver through Sara, and Cullen held her firm.

  “I won’t let anything happen to you,” he said.

  No, he wouldn’t, Sara thought, but then he could only protect her while he was here with her. What would happen when he left?

  “As soon as the rain stops we should get back to the keep,” she said, feeling a sudden need for her home. But then, this was her home now, she thought, and she needed to believe it so, to make it so.

  “I thought we’d stay the night here.”

  “We have no food—”

  “If you hadn’t noticed, your sister left the overstocked basket. We have all we need.” He grew quiet though he uttered a bare whisper.

  Sara didn’t think he was aware that she’d heard him. He’d said, “We have each other.” It startled her, though she made no comment. She needed time to think on it.

  “No one will miss us,” Cullen said.

  “My father—”

  “Will assume, and be pleased, that we’re busy giving him the grandchildren he expects.”

  Sara had to laugh. “You’re right about that.”

  “We need this time, Sara.”

  “Why?” she asked anxiously, uncertain what she wanted to hear him say. What did she truly wish from him?

  He turned her on her back, leaning over her, his fingers stroking her cheek, his dark eyes intent on her face. “I’m not sure. I only know that this time is important to us. The next few weeks are important to us.”

  She turned her face to kiss the palm of his hand. “My thoughts as well, though I don’t know why.”

  “It’s so strange,” Cullen said, kissing her lips gently and brushing his cheek across hers.

  “How so?” she asked.

  “You and me, and how we came together.”

  “Perhaps the Heavens decreed it,” she said with a hint of uncertainty.

  “We were meant to be?” he asked, unsure as well.

  “I don’t know what to think anymore. We needed each other and found each other. We are familiar with each other, though we know each other barely a month. None of it makes sense, and yet it seems to make sense.” She shook her head.

  “Perhaps we’d be best not to question it and just simply enjoy the time we have together.”

  His words struck at her heart. Time we have together.

  Once again it disturbed her to know that they would eventually part. She wasn’t one given to tears easily, but now, feeling the swell of them building, she buried her face in his chest.

  “Sara?” Cullen said, and tugged at her until she had no choice but to look at him.

  Tears glistened in her eyes, intensifying their blue-green color.

  Cullen stared at her, bewildered. “I’ve rarely seen a tear in your eye.”

  “And you needn’t have now, if you had let me be,” she accused bluntly.

  He wiped the tear stuck in the corner of her eye with his thumb. “Tell me what bothers you, Sara.”

  She was quick to respond. “Nothing bothers me.”

  “Nonsense, you cry,” he said, and kissed the corner of her eye. “It hurts me to see you cry.”

  “Why?”

  He looked at her awkwardly, as if fighting to find a reason.

  Sara answered for him. “You don’t know why, do you?”

  “I care for you,” he said quickly.

  “Why?” she repeated, though not accusingly.

  “You saved my son’s life. I owe you.”

  Sara refused to let her disappointment show. She had hoped that perhaps there was more to his feelings. She had discovered that her own feelings were growing day by day, actually soaring, particularly since they had made love.

  Their lovemaking had only proven to her that something special existed between them, and try as he might to deny it, she certainly couldn’t, nor did she want to.

  Her feelings were a gift from the Heavens. Hadn’t she asked for a husband, and hadn’t she been immediately presented with one?

  “Let’s make the most of this time, Sara,” he said, cupping her face with one hand.

  It sounded as if he were pleading with her, or did he plead with himself?

  She smiled to hide her ache and poked at his bare chest. “You are a great lover, Cullen Longton.”

  “Glad I am to please you, Sara Longton.”

  “How about pleasing me again, husband?”

  “I knew you wouldn’t be a shy one,” he said with a smug grin.<
br />
  “Do you want shy?” she asked with another teasing poke.

  He shook his head as his mouth descended over hers. “I want you just the way you are, unafraid and eager to love.”

  “That I am, Cullen, that I am,” she whispered before his mouth claimed hers.

  Chapter 29

  Cullen watched his wife from his perch on a log near the keep. Sara was speaking with a couple of women in the village. They all wore smiles and laughed now and again. It hadn’t taken long for him to see why she felt an outsider in her clan. It wasn’t that the villagers didn’t like her; it was because they revered her, just as they did her father.

  She carried herself with distinction and confidence, and didn’t hesitate to offer a sound solution to problems. Sara was a born leader, and it was obvious to all who knew her, even her father.

  While her blunt, honest comments rarely offended, they did often startle, and that left many villagers leery of approaching her. Sara might not tell them what they wanted to hear, but they would hear the truth from her, and the truth, Cullen knew, wasn’t always easy to accept.

  He’d been dealing with that realization for the last couple of days, ever since he and Sara had made love.

  He wiped the smile off his face, though it would reappear soon enough. It always did when he glanced at his wife. Her natural beauty was apparent, and even more so when she stood among other women. Her unique height, her blazing red hair, her confident posture, her flawless skin, her shapely body, her keen mind, her courage, her unabashed passion, all pronounced her a woman worth loving.

  And damned if he didn’t think he was falling in love with her.

  He kicked at a pebble in the dirt, thinking the kick would have been more appropriate to his bottom. He was torn by the unexpected feelings of love for Sara and wasn’t sure what to do with them. And what of when it was time for him and his son to take their leave? How did he walk away from her?

  The thought ripped at his heart. But was this love true, or was Sara simply a convenient replacement for his Alaina?

  Cullen laughed at the thought. Sara and Alaina were nothing alike, which made him wonder if what he felt for Sara could actually be real, and did he have enough time to find out or would he need to make a decision he might regret for the rest of his life?

  He looked over at her again, her fiery red hair tossed back as she laughed, her cheeks flushed red from the slight chill in the air, spring having yet to fully claim each day with its gorgeous weather.

  Her cheeks had been flushed like that early this morning, he recalled, when she woke him with an exploring hand. Their mating was slow and lazy, as it had been since the night they first made love. They couldn’t keep their hands off each other. One touch and passion was sparked.

  Sara could be a tempest or an angel when it came to passion, and he liked the vast opposites in her. It made for never-ending pleasure and satisfaction more potent than he’d ever imagined.

  He bent his head with a shake. Another thought that irritated him. Making love with Alaina had been beautiful. Making love with Sara was memorable. How did he rationalize both, or did he need to?

  “That scowl tells me something troubles you,” Sara said, stopping in front of him.

  He reached out and tugged her between his legs, his arms snaking around her bottom. “I forgot to tell you how beautiful you were today.”

  She shoved away from him. “That certainly isn’t going to help us.”

  He stared at her, empty arms extended.

  “Play dumb,” she snapped. “And don’t talk to me until you apologize.” She stomped off mumbling to herself.

  He stared after her, confused, and then it dawned on him. She had reminded him just this morning that they best begin the demise of their marriage. Their agreement had been fulfilled and it was time.

  He, however, wanted more time, though he knew that wasn’t possible. The longer he remained, the more dangerous it could be for him and his son and the McHern clan if he were found with them.

  The thought annoyed him, and he stood and went after his wife.

  “I want to talk with you,” he said, grabbing her arm.

  She yanked it out of his grasp. “Not now.”

  Cullen grinned, and in one swoop he lifted her off her feet and tossed her over his shoulder. He whacked her backside once and said, “Now we talk.”

  He wasn’t surprised when her only retaliation was to spew some venomous words his way. She probably was pleased with the attention-getting scene, and sure enough when he deposited her a safe distance in the woods away from curious eyes, she was smiling.

  “That was perfect.” She adjusted her dark blue shawl and pushed ringlets of hair away from her eyes. “A few more like that and the villagers will be gossiping up a storm.”

  “I don’t like fighting with you,” he said honestly.

  She reached out, her fingers lightly stroking his palm before her fingers locked around his. “It is necessary.”

  “Is it?”

  “What else are we to do?” she asked as if she looked to him for a different solution.

  He brought their entwined hands to his mouth and kissed each of her fingers before answering. “I don’t know, but I don’t feel comfortable with it this way. I don’t wish to fight with you whether real or merely play. It doesn’t feel right. It doesn’t feel like something we would do.”

  “It does feel strange,” she admitted. “But you need to leave soon.”

  He slipped his arm around her waist. “I could go away due to a family matter, and you could receive a message a week or so later that I perished in an accident.”

  She shook her head. “That would leave me a widow, able to wed again, which my father would expect of me eventually.”

  He couldn’t bring himself to suggest that it would give her more time to find a good husband. The thought of another man touching her angered him and made him pause to think of the quandary he was in, and with little time to do much about it.

  “I could just disappear,” he snapped.

  “For what reason? My father would search for you and could very well discover the truth. If he merely believes my actions sent you running, he’d leave it alone, not wanting to embarrass the clan.”

  She made sense; she always made sense, which didn’t make things any easier. But who had made the situation more difficult? He had, he thought, with his confused feelings. Had he remained firm to their agreement and simply done it without involving himself with her, none of this would be an issue.

  That, however, hadn’t happened. He was very much involved with her, and wanted to remain involved with her. Even now he wanted to rush her to the cottage and make love with her and forget their problems, just feed their passion.

  “We must stay the course and see it through,” she said softly and not at all convincingly.

  “Let’s go see my son,” he said. It was the one place they could be themselves, and right now he wanted them to be themselves. No fights. No talk of separating. Just Sara, Alexander, and him. Her sister more often than not left them alone.

  Sara smiled. “He’s such a joyful lad and has grown attached to you, but then you spend much time with him. He will go easily with you when the time comes.”

  He almost asked if she would go easily with him, but held his tongue, while admonishing his foolish thoughts. He had given his word to find his son and keep him safe, and that should be his only priority. He had no business thinking of anything but getting Alexander safely to his brother’s ship and sailing to America, where he could give his son a rich, fulfilling life.

  “Let’s go,” Sara said, tugging him along. “This is actually good. We can enter the village arguing and ride off separately. That will give the villagers more fodder for gossip.”

  “No,” he said, yanking her to a stop and wrapping her in his arms, to rain kisses over her face. “No more fighting today.”

  “But—”

  He captured her protest with a kiss, finishing w
ith a deep hungry thrust that stole both their breaths. He rested his forehead to hers, his fingers stroking her neck. “No more fights, not today. Today we love.”

  She lifted her head away from his and said sadly, “Just today. Just today we love.”

  Was one day enough?

  The thought startled him, and he shook it from his head, grabbing her hand and tugging her along after him. “Let’s go and enjoy the day.”

  He didn’t bother to tell her he feared it might be their last, their only time to love without thought or consequence. He didn’t know why he thought as much, and it troubled him that he did, but it also made him seize the day.

  Alexander ran to greet them, his father scooping him up before his short little wobbling legs toppled him over. He squealed in delight and gave his father a big, wet, open-mouthed kiss.

  “He’ll learn,” Teresa assured Cullen, having kept pace behind the lad and stopping with a smile once the babe was safe.

  “You’ll miss him, won’t you?” Cullen said, struggling playfully with a wiggling son.

  Teresa’s smile was brilliant as she looked from Cullen to her sister. “More than ever, but he has taught me much and I am ever so grateful, especially since—” She stopped, her eyes sparkling with tears and her hand going to her stomach.

  Sara screeched with joy. “You’re with child!”

  Teresa nodded, and the two sisters hugged and laughed and grew teary-eyed and hugged some more.

  Cullen forced a smile. Though he was happy for Teresa, it made him realize that Sara could very well be with child. What would he do then? He didn’t know why he hadn’t given it thought before now. Perhaps he hadn’t wanted to.

  With Cullen’s arms and hands a makeshift swing, Alexander enjoyed the ride while his father listened to the two women blather about babies, names, and sewing garments for the little one.

  Teresa finally ended it by saying to her sister, “I’m glad you’ve come to visit. I’m feeling tired and could use a nap.”

  “Go,” Sara said with a gentle shove. “Our plan was to spend time with Alexander. We’ll take him to the creek.”

  “I’ll get you a basket for lunch and an extra blanket so Alexander can take his nap. It’s a bit chilly today.”