A Beauty at the Highland Court: A Star-Crossed Lovers Highlander Romance (The Highland Ladies Book 7)

by Celeste Barclay

  “And I’ll wash your mouth out with soap if you repeat them. You may be four-and-ten, but your father will still take a switch to your rump,” Enid warned.

  With an unrepentant grin, Millicent bobbed a curtsy and said, “Aye, Mama.”

  “Right,” Enid’s tone turned serious. “Let’s get you wed, fed, and bedded.”

  Arabella’s cheeks turned scarlet, and Lachlan shifted from one foot to another. They’d been alone all afternoon in a bedchamber, so it would have been reasonable for anyone to question what they’d done to pass the time. But Enid’s frank comment embarrassed them both.

  “You’re a healthy mon, and you’re aboot to be a wife. Don’t pretend as though my words are shocking,” Enid looked down her nose at them down despite Lachlan being more than a foot taller than her. “Shall we be on with it?”

  Lachlan turned to Arabella, and she offered him her hands. Her fingertips feathered his palms before they turned their hands and entwined their fingers. They gazed into one another’s eyes, savoring the moment before either spoke. Lachlan’s thumbs ran over Arabella’s.

  “Arabella Johnstone, do ye wish to wed with me?” Lachlan asked, his deep voice soaking into Arabella as though it might wrap its warmth around her.

  “Aye, Lachlan Sutherland. I wish to wed with you,” Arabella responded. They were the words he’d waited five years to hear, and none had ever sounded better.

  “We will bear witness to your marriage,” Enid said as she shooed Millicent toward the door. Once her daughter was in the passageway, Enid turned back to them. “I will be back before morn to see the sheet.”

  She didn’t wait for either of them to respond, nor did she make any more mention of a bedding. Lachlan and Arabella knew what she suspected, and that Enid wasn’t interested in how blood got on the sheet as long as there was something that they could use to prove consummation.

  Arabella glanced at the bed and wondered if Lachlan would suggest they couple immediately. She’d enjoyed every touch and every intimacy they’d shared, but she had a moment of trepidation as she thought about his sword fitting in her sheath. She was curious and eager, but she was also nervous.

  “Belle, this isnae how either of us imagined we would marry. If ye arenae ready, then we can wait,” Lachlan offered.

  “Nay!” Arabella’s eyes widened. “I mean, we can if you prefer that. But not on my account.” Her cheeks once more grew rosy as she looked away from the bed, but couldn’t bring her eyes to meet his.

  “Ye havenae eaten in I dinna ken how long. Let’s have our repast and see where things go,” Lachlan suggested. He didn’t understand why Arabella suddenly grew agitated and looked on the verge of tears. He wrapped his arm around her and murmured, “What’s wrong?”

  “I thought you’d want to—” Arabella turned her head toward the bed. Even before he spoke, Lachlan’s wolfish grin made her realize she’d just conjured a fear out of nowhere. Lachlan lifted his plaid and took one of her hands. Her fingertips brushed against his hardened cock before wrapping them around it. Lachlan’s sigh sounded like pure bliss. He cast her a knowing glance before closing his eyes.

  “Christ on the cross, Arabella,” Lachlan panted as she stroked him. A few minutes later, he caught her wrist and pried her hand loose despite her resistance and humph. “I just meant for ye to ken I want ye. I didna mean for ye to make me spill the second ye touched me.”

  Lachlan cupped her skull as he kissed her. His tongue flicked her slightly parted lips, and she opened to him. As his tongue inched into her mouth, she lured him in with her own. Once she could, she sucked softly on it. Lachlan growled as he tore at the laces to her kirtle. She fumbled for the second time that day as she unfastened his belt. As his plaid dropped to the ground, Lachlan pushed her gown down her arms and over her hips. She reached up and pulled the ribbons of her chemise loose. It followed her kirtle to the ground. Lachlan yanked his leine off before returning his mouth to Arabella’s. Their naked bodies pressed together as Lachlan slid his thigh between Arabella’s. She rocked her hips as she straddled the muscular limb. Lachlan pulled her higher until her thatch of curls brushed against his. Her nails bit into his shoulders as her need made her restless.

  “Sard,” Lachlan muttered once they’d inched their way to the bed. He released Arabella and swept the tray of food off the bed. He looked around before settling with placing it on the chair where Arabella had sat while her hair dried. Arabella watched as he walked toward her, his cock swaying with each step. As his arm came around her waist, she encircled his length with her hand. Lachlan dipped his fingers between her thighs, pleased to find her as aroused as he was. Moisture coated the tops of the inside of her thighs, and her nether lips were dripping with arousal.

  “Lachlan,” Arabella said his name softly. When he nodded, she glanced down between them. “I liked earlier. But do we—um—have to do that much before we can?” She turned her face toward the bed.

  Lachlan wrapped his forearm underneath her bottom while bringing her breast to his mouth. He lifted her off her feet and walked to the side of the bed. He laid her gently on the mattress, but Arabella scrambled to move into the center. Her bent legs dropped open as she reached for him.

  “Nay, we dinna have to do that much,” Lachlan said as his hand guided his cock to her entrance. As the tip brushed her folds, he forced himself to slow. He lowered himself onto his forearms as he pressed the head of his cock into her. He waited for her to shy away or show she was in any pain. She looked at him in confusion. “I’ll go slowly, Belle. I dinna want to hurt ye any more than is unavoidable.”

  Arabella shook her head. “It hurts now.” She squeezed his upper arms as he tried to pull away, horror written across his face. “That’s not what I meant. I ache for you, Lach. So much that it hurts. My body keeps saying open to you, take you into me even though my mind says I don’t know what I’m doing. I ken it’ll hurt differently soon enough, but right now, it’s agony.”

  Lachlan brushed the hair from her throat and kissed her neck where it met her shoulder as he pressed forward. Arabella wrapped her calves over his and tried to tilt and lift her hips to him. “Lach,” she cried in desperation. He shushed her before molding his mouth to hers and thrusting into her. Her body arched off the bed as her fingers released his arms and splayed wide in the air.

  “I’m sorry,” Lachlan gasped. Shame washed over him as guilt snapped at his conscience. He knew it would hurt, but he never imagined it would be so bad that her body would react as it did. “It’s done. I’ll stop.”

  “Done? Stop?” Tears dribbled from her eyes as she squeezed them shut. Her voice croaked as she spoke. “Don’t I feel right?”

  “St Columba’s bones. Belle, naught has ever felt more right. I just canna stomach kenning that I’m hurting ye.”

  “I may hurt you,” Arabella snapped as she shifted restlessly. “It was shocking, and it was painful, and it’s over. But I don’t want this to be over.” Arabella waved her hand up and down between them. Lachlan slowly pressed his hips forward, testing to be sure Arabella showed no signs of discomfort. Instead, the look of a siren entered her eyes as she tested moving beneath him. When he drew back then thrust into her, her moan was purely carnal. As he grew braver, he surged into her with more confidence and more eagerness. Arabella pulled him down, so they lay chest to chest. Their kiss reflected the passion their bodies enjoyed. Lachlan’s hand grasped her hip as he moved faster. Her quiet, breathy sounds encouraged him until she asked for more.

  “I love you,” Lachlan whispered before burying his face in her neck as he fought not to climax. He wanted to draw out their experience, and he refused to finish before Arabella had her first taste of pleasure from making love.

  “I love you doesn’t feel like enough,” Arabella whispered. “It’s starting. Lach, oh.” Arabella closed her eyes and focused as her body moved in tandem with Lachlan’s. He watched her furrowed brow and lips compressed into a line. She’d never looked more beautiful to him. As her co
re tightened around his shaft, and he drove himself into her with abandon, her emerald eyes snapped open. She strained, and her forehead came up to rest against his shoulder. With one more thrust and a tilt of her hips, they came apart in one another’s arms.

  Lachlan couldn’t look away. Arabella’s eyes had gone a deep moss green, like Highland grass after a summer storm. Her cheeks were flushed, and color suffused her chest and neck. Tiny beads of sweat slipped along her temple. As she wrapped her arms around him, he eased his weight onto her, mindful not to crush her. They sighed on the same breath as they laid, still joined, basking in the peaceful calm after their explosive joining.

  “Is it always—” Arabella wasn’t naive. She knew there’d been women before her, even during their acquaintance. He’d admitted as much. Even though she never wanted any specifics, she couldn’t help her curiosity. Only one of them had something to compare.

  “Never.” Lachlan didn’t hesitate to answer. “I didna ken it could ever be so—so intense. Ma chest felt like ma heart would break through. Every time I looked at ye, I wanted to be closer to ye. It was unlike aught else. It certainly wasna just lust. I ken it can only be love.”

  “You say the most wonderful things,” Arabella smiled. The softness in her eyes made Lachlan want to run away with her and hide her from anything that would make it fade. Her hand cupped his cheek. “I’ve never wanted to love someone else as much as I do you. I would do aught to make you happy. I mean to make your life as good as it can be.”

  “Belle, it already is. I’m yer husband now. I finally understand the feeling or sense I have when I see Mama and Da together or Maude and Blair with their husbands. It always seemed like happiness, but with something more. Now I ken.”

  “Lach, I saw it with Blair and Hardi, and Maude and Kieran. But I thought we’d never be together. I assumed it was an opportunity that passed me by. I was a little jealous, but I was mostly sad because I believed I would never have that. I longed to tell you that I love you, to tell you how much I want to be with you. But I didn’t dare. The one thing I’ve ever really wished for, been willing to beg and barter with God for, has finally come true. I love you so much.”

  “There is naught finer than being yer husband, and with God’s grace, one day being the father of yer bairns.”

  “Our bairns,” Arabella corrected.

  “Our bairns.” Lachlan paused, cautious about his next question. “Ye liked this enough to want to do it again?”

  “Can we?” The excitement in Arabella’s eyes made him chuckle. His cock twitched within her, and he felt himself hardening.

  “I didna think so soon, but, aye. Keep tightening around me, and I’ll finish before we start.” Lachlan nipped at her neck. But a quiet but insistent knock interrupted them.

  “Lachlan, Lady Arabella,” Enid’s muffled voice floated beneath the door. Several more knocks followed. Lachlan sprang from the bed, grabbing his leine from the floor as he passed it. He glanced back at Arabella and found her beneath the bedding and pulling the covers up to her chin. He opened the door, and Enid rushed in. She took one glance at Lachlan, then rushed to the bed. “You must hurry and dress. You must leave. Now. Beathan is demanding to see you, Lady Arabella. He’s getting ornery and loud. Cathal still has him occupied, but you need to make haste while it’s still dark.”

  Enid tossed Arabella her chemise before laying the gown across the bed. She looked around and found the tattered habit that lay near the forgotten tub. She scooped it from the floor as she hurried to the fireplace. She tossed an extra block of peat into the fire and brought it to a crackling roar. She flung the garment into the flames, poking the logs as though encouraging them to devour the fabric. She dashed back to Arabella’s side and helped pull the laces tight as Lachlan donned his plaid and gathered their meager belongings. Arabella helped him pull back the covers, revealing the stained bedsheet. They stripped it off the bed together, Enid nodding as they worked together. Lachlan shoved it into a saddlebag.

  “It’s not much, but enough to wrap around your hair and shoulders,” Enid said as she handed Arabella a swath of Menzies plaid. Covering her hair would always be the most crucial part of hiding her identity. If she could pass as a Menzies, even with Lachlan wearing his Sutherland plaid, they might draw fewer questions.

  “Thank you,” Arabella whispered as they hurried to the door. Enid opened it, and they heard Beathan bellowing from the Great Hall.

  “Hurry,” Enid pointed. “Millicent is in the shadows. She’ll take you to the postern gate where your men should already be waiting. Go and don’t look back.”

  “Thank you, Lady Menzies,” Lachlan said in a hushed tone. Arabella pressed a quick kiss to the older woman’s cheek. They knew how much the Menzies risked helping them. While the Gunns lived far to the north, there was no doubt Beathan would cause trouble once he knew Arabella was gone. Lachlan took her hand as they ran toward the dark end of the passageway.

  “Follow me,” Millicent’s soft voice said as she materialized from the shadows. No one spoke again until they reached the postern gate. A Menzies guard opened it for the couple. “Good luck.”

  Arabella turned back to say thank you, but the portal was already closed. The Sutherlands and Menzies were mounted and waiting for them. Lachlan tossed Arabella into the saddle on Firelight, and they set off before Lachlan settled in his. The men surrounded Arabella, and it relieved her that Firelight could follow the horse in front of her since Arabella could barely see anything. A cloud cover kept the light from the moon and the stars from illuminating the land ahead of them.

  While it aided their cover, it made it difficult to navigate. Arabella had no way to gauge distance or time, so it surprised her when they began their ascent into the foothills. She hadn’t expected to reach the beginning of the Cairngorms so soon. She wondered what awaited them once they were in the mountains, since she’d never traveled through any. As the first rays of sunlight spread around the peaks, she discovered what lay ahead of them. It was the making of her newest nightmare.

  Thirty-Two

  Lachlan nearly went flying over his horse’s withers as it stumbled to a halt, a line of warriors standing before them where the path widened. With their swords drawn and Gunn plaids flapping in the morning air, they were a menacing sight. Lachlan scanned the two-man deep row of them and counted nearly a score. That didn’t mean there weren’t more that remained unseen. When Arabella gasped, it tempted him to take his eyes off the men to check on her.

  “That’s Graham,” Arabella whispered. “He traveled with us. I saw Beathan talking to him several times, but I couldn’t understand any of it. They’ve been planning this.”

  Lachlan eased a dirk from his boot. Reaching for his sword would only antagonize his opponents, but the dirk made the Gunns aware he would fight and defend Arabella.

  “Ye seem lost, Sutherland,” The man named Graham called. “But I see ye found ma laird’s bride. Troublesome bitch.”

  Lachlan didn’t flinch. He wouldn’t show any sign that the man’s insult enraged him, nor would he give away that Arabella was now his wife. He sat and waited for Graham to continue talking. His silence unsettled Graham, who shifted nervously in his saddle.

  “Ye’re outnumbered four to one,” Graham called.

  “He can count,” Lachlan muttered, and his men laughed, understanding his strategy.

  “What’s that?” Graham called. Lachlan merely blinked as he sat like a statue. Graham turned his attention to Arabella, but she followed Lachlan’s lead. Her eyes met Graham’s, silently challenging him to look away first. She felt a deep sense of satisfaction when the Gunn warrior shifted his attention back to Lachlan. “Surrender now, and yer death willna be so painful.”

  “Canna say the same for yers,” Lachlan said, a little louder this time, so Graham heard his voice rather than saw his mouth move. But Lachlan’s adversary still couldn’t hear him. The Sutherlands laughed again.

  “Nae brave enough to share yer jests, Sutherlan
d?” Graham taunted.

  “The only jest today is ye, Graham,” Lachlan called. He caught the surprise on the man’s face when Lachlan addressed him by name.

  “Been having a chat with the lass, have ye? Passing the whisky back and forth, I’d say. She drinks like an auld tart.”

  Lachlan was immensely proud of Arabella as she sat on her horse, not moving a muscle. She remained calm, and her horse remained settled, unlike the steed beneath Graham. The animal danced from side to side, bumping into the horses on each side. Lachlan continued to watch Graham, but his mind whirled as he tried to think of a way to get Arabella to safety rather than have her drawn into the center of a battle on a mountain path. He wished the Menzies men that joined them as they left the keep were still with them, but they’d turned back less than an hour ago. Lachlan suspected the Gunns knew that and had waited until their numbers dwindled.

  His peripheral vision caught Lellan lurch forward as an arrow protruded from his back. Graham’s laughter carried to him as Lachlan looked back to find Beathan and the men who’d accompanied him into Comrie Castle racing toward them. The Gunns sandwiched the Sutherlands between their two groups.

  “Lele?” Lachlan asked.

  “I’ll survive, but the bastard who shot me willna,” the Sutherland warrior groaned.

  Lachlan didn’t wait another moment before he plucked Arabella from her saddle and pulled her in front of him. “Lie low over his neck,” Lachlan commanded as he drew his sword. He spun his horse around, using his knees to command the animal, his men following suite. His best chance was to ride toward Beathan and the smaller group, making his way downhill with greater speed than Beathan could ascend. The Sutherlands maneuvered in silent understanding as Lachlan’s horse shifted positions within the group, moving Arabella away from Beathan’s path.

  Arabella wanted to look back to see what was becoming of Firelight, but she didn’t dare. She clung to the stallion’s mane and gripped the beastly sized horse’s flanks with her knees. Lachlan prepared to swing his sword if a Gunn warrior got too close. Wallace and Taran cut a path ahead of them, while George and the injured Lellan remained close to Lachlan’s sides, defending Arabella as the Gunns launched their defense. Beathan and his six men charged uphill, but their horses were no match for the Sutherlands barreling downhill. Wallace injured three while Taran unseated two. That left Beathan and one other man. Lachlan continued to steer his horse away from Beathan, as his men closed ranks. The four men created a wall as Lachlan guided his horse off the path and onto uneven ground.