The Touch 0f Her Hand (Highlander Heroes Book 1)

by Rebecca Ruger

  Conall didn’t quite have words to define what he felt, but whatever it was, it warmed him and soothed him and heartened him, and he knew he couldn’t ever remember a time when he had felt like this.

  Leslie MacDonnell stepped into the hall and came straight to Conall. “Laird, ‘tis happy we are to welcome you home.”

  Conall shook his hand, appreciating these thoughts.

  “Leslie,” Tess said, “we should make arrangements for the garderobe to be available to Conall and his officers. Let’s have Henry and Donald and Richard keep the tubs filled and warm and fresh. And maybe offer some of Fynn’s wine?”

  Leslie raised his brow at this request. “Wine in the garderobe, Lady Tess?”

  Tess nodded. “Why not? They deserve it. Let them relax without any care. Doesn’t it sound lovely?” She’d glanced at Conall.

  Leslie laughed. “Sounds like we’ll have a bunch of drunken naked men right soon, lass.”

  Tess giggled as well, and said with mock severity, “Make sure they don’t drown.”

  Conall watched this exchange silently, a bit befuddled. So much more, indeed, he thought, recalling Tess’s words from only a moment ago. He hadn’t any idea that Leslie had even known Tess’s name, and certainly had never witnessed his very staid steward ever laughing. Laughing, for Chrissakes!

  And, Fynn? And, wine?

  Leslie had disappeared, about Tess’s bidding no doubt. Tess stared up at him with a pretty smile as if even this very significant change still had nothing to do with the surprises she had in store for him.

  Serena entered the hall, still with her plaid draped around her, holding the hand of a tall man with steady eyes, who showed not the slightest hesitation coming to stand before Conall. Serena’s bubbly smile and merry eyes enlightened Conall a bit to her attachment.

  Serena embraced Conall, delighting in his safe return and introduced the man as Fynn, Angus’s son. The picture was becoming clearer.

  Conall shook his hand, allowing some approval that the man demurred not at all.

  Conall threw a glance at Tess, who shrugged offhandedly though he could well read the pleasure in her eyes.

  “A great pleasure, MacGregor,” Fynn said. “And a great debt I owe you for your care of me da.”

  Conall only titled his head.

  But Tess didn’t allow him the opportunity to make the man prove his worth.

  “It’s too short notice to properly feast tonight,” Tess said, “but we will sup as usual and I’ll talk to Eagan about how long he’ll need to prepare for a proper welcome home repast.”

  Conall didn’t need a feast, though knew they were customary for an army returning after so long a time away. What he needed, after that bath she’d tempted him with, was her.

  He reached for her hand, pulled her away from whatever she was just about to say to Serena and turned them both around so that his back blocked her from view of everyone present.

  “Lass, I’m headed off to that respite you promised in the garderobe—I feel I haven’t been clean since I left.” He pinned her with his gaze, making sure there was little question about what he was thinking. In a low and husky voice, he added, “And I suggest you find my chamber in the meantime. I will no be long, and you should be naked.” Pretty words, maybe the actual end of the evening, might have served him better, he knew, but having seen her and kissed her and touched her, he hadn’t that kind of patience just now.

  And she didn’t seem to mind, maybe felt a little thrill herself. Her eyes had widened, but he was well aware of the breathy little rush of air that escaped her. She nodded, barely, tightly, and her lips parted. Conall squeezed her hand and headed toward his bath.

  CHAPTER 28

  Tess was an agitated mess.

  Be naked?

  While his words had exhilarated her, had indeed stirred those dormant butterflies, it was his eyes, that incredible blue of his gaze promising such delight, that had set her in such a dither.

  She stood now in his chamber, as requested, debating how, exactly, to be naked. She’d actually stood for many minutes, chewing her lip, trying to decide how to proceed. Just drop her gown and kirtle to the ground, and stand awkwardly, waiting? She glanced around. Sit in that lone chair? She wished that capricious maid from Marlefield was here to ask; she’d seemed to have an extensive knowledge of these matters. Butterflies indeed! Tess placed her hand over her belly, as if that might thwart the excitement that danced there.

  Forcing herself to do something, she removed the metal belt, fashioned of many rings linked together, and laid it on that chair. She kicked off her soft shoes and pulled her braid in front of her and began unraveling it. She was thinking just now that in a very short time, Conall’s naked body would be pressed against her. She closed her eyes, recalling exactly how that had felt, his chest pressed to hers. A warmth was felt inside at this remembrance, starting near her chest but lowering to settle between her legs. She breathed deeply and let herself enjoy how that teased her.

  When her hair was completely loosened, she pushed it all back over her shoulder and unlaced the bodice of her gown and pulled it up over her head, adding that to the chair as well. She sat, still in her long sleeved chemise, upon that trunk, and lifted one leg to untie her garter and roll down her thin hose. She raised the other leg and did the same. The door opened just as she pushed the fabric down over her ankle. She lifted her gaze, her hands still.

  Conall stood there, dressed only in a fresh tunic, his plaid seeming to have been wrapped rather hastily. He held his sword and belt in his hand and wore no shoes. His gaze, upon her now bare leg, was hungry.

  She couldn’t be sure if what crawled around her belly just then was nerves or excitement. She swallowed and applied her gaze again to her task, removing the hose and laying both upon the chair with her gown and belt. She turned, standing straight, her hands on the strings of her chemise, and watched Conall close the door and drop the brace before propping his sword against it.

  He faced her, standing only a few feet from her, his hands on his plaid, unwinding it as Tess unlaced her chemise. Conall dropped the plaid around him and lifted his tunic over his head.

  Tess let her eyes wander over him, completely naked now. Her mouth opened as her breathing changed, taking in his perfect form, those impossibly wide shoulders and his magnificently sculpted chest, his flat abdomen and trim hips on top of his well-muscled thighs. She was shy yet to stare overlong at his arousal, but even her passing glance, showing his want of her, created a heat and wetness between her own legs.

  He was discolored in several spots and she knew she’d have questions later about the origins of those black-and-blues but just now, as he waited, she pulled loose her chemise and let it fall to her feet with a confidence she didn’t exactly feel.

  They stood now, not close enough to touch, but completely bare. She watched his jaw tighten as his eyes raked her. She felt a blush heat every part of her body that his eyes caressed. Tess took one tentative step toward him, their gazes locked now, and he closed the distance with his own sure step. He lifted one had to stretch it out upon her hip, just rested it there, his eyes following, feeling her. Tess’s nipples hardened. His other hand found her other hip, and his fingers sunk into her flesh, not forcefully, just enough to pull her near. First his erection touched low on her belly then her breasts met his skin, just grazing under his own nipples. Tess gasped or moaned, she didn’t know which, and his mouth found hers just as all space between them vanished. No simple kiss, this, as they came together open-mouthed, tongues finding each other as his hands melted from her hips, sliding around to her buttocks, his fingers grasping the underside, pulling her up against him. Tess’s arms gripped his shoulders as he actually lifted her off the ground, never breaking the near-bruising kiss. His hands had moved under her thighs, bringing her legs around him as he walked them toward the bed. Tess felt liquid heat surface as the very center of her was so open and exposed against his stomach, but only briefly before he lowered both
of them onto the furs that still covered the mattress. He broke the kiss to take one nipple into his mouth, her hands now in his hair, encouraging him. She shifted her hips, seeking movement against him, a glad cry forming, knowing her would soon be inside her.

  “I cannot wait,” she moaned, shimmying against him.

  “I’ve been dreaming of this for months, lass,” he groaned, moving to the other breast, giving the same generous attention with his tongue and teeth. “I’m no about to finish yet.”

  “You can go slow later,” she told him, making no effort to mask her need, her hands reaching for his cock. He shifted and rose from her breasts and her fingers found him, wrapped around him and moved up and down as he’d taught her, while his lips claimed hers again. A lone drop of liquid came from the head and they both moaned, with Tess now directing him between her legs. God, she ached.

  She touched the tip of him just to the core of her and felt herself contract right there where she opened to him. She pulled her hand away to fit herself against him. The tip of him was pushing into her and need so brutal built inside her she whimpered. Conall groaned into her mouth then lifted himself, his hands on the bed to leverage himself deeper until he was fully inside her. He lowered his head briefly, almost to his chest and stopped moving so that only Tess moved, slowly, just feeling him inside her. Then with greater purpose, she tilted her hips so that he was deep and then not, and deep again until he joined her actions and they moved rhythmically together. Her fingers dug into his broad shoulders as their growing need demanded they move faster and faster.

  Every sense of hers was fixated on the exact feel of him thrusting inside and sliding out. Yearning soared, twirling deep within until she was frantic underneath him, searching for that promised release, aching to have it burst upon her. It did finally, and she cried with soul-throbbing pleasure, as all that slaked decadence flowed about and within and over her.

  Conall exploded right after she did, calling her name while he continued to thrust into her, until finally his movements slowed as his head nestled into her shoulder. She inhaled the scent of him, musk and horse and man, closing her eyes while her breathing slowed, finally.

  Conall lifted his head, his own breathing nearly returned to normal, his skin glowing with a bare sheen of perspiration.

  “I’d live again those last many months to come home to this,” he said and kissed her forehead and her cheek and her lips.

  “Might have been better if you’d just stayed and we were doing this all the time.”

  A drained laugh rushed from him. “Aye. Or that.”

  Conall rolled to her side and gathered her close, so that her back was pressed against his front. They were quiet then, just breathing and thinking and feeling.

  After a while, as her eyes began to droop, she asked him about all those bruises covering so much of his beautiful body.

  “’Tis just war, lass.” He sounded equally groggy.

  “But is it done now?”

  “No until we’re free.”

  A minute later, “I should go down to the kitchens, give Eagan a hand.”

  “Aye,” he murmured.

  And they slept.

  WHEN SHE WOKE, TESS was scandalized that she had slept, naked in his arms in the middle of the day when there was so much to be done. She scrambled quickly from his thick and warm arms, thus rousing him. Conall rolled onto his back and stretched his arms upward then tucked them beneath his head to watch her hurriedly dress.

  She knew he watched, which maybe contributed to the length of time it took her to find the proper end of her hose to begin with. Should’ve donned the chemise first, she thought, finally having one length of hose situated over her foot. She stood sideways and rolled the hose up to just over her knee and tied the garter round it, then repeated this action with the other hose.

  “Tess,” he called when she finished the second one. She turned and looked at him, standing completely naked save for those garters and hose. She was glad for the length of her hair, which concealed much. She waited. When he said nothing, just lay his gaze upon every inch of her body, causing heat to rise, Tess placed her hands on her naked hips and tried to appear stern and not aroused again. In truth, between his heated regard and the sight of him lying there, so magnificent upon the furs, she was sore pressed to contain a shiver.

  “Don’t let that thing stand up now,” she warned, her voice lacking any sort of reprimand. “I’ve work to do.”

  This elicited a grand bark of laughter from Conall, who climbed from the bed and came to stand before her.

  She lifted her hand between them. “I’m serious.”

  “Aye, lass, as am I.”

  But he only kissed her lightly and turned to open the trunk at the foot of his bed. Tess warred with her disappointment, staring at his broad back and those wonderfully shifting muscles as he bent to retrieve items from within the trunk.

  “Keep gawking, lass....” He said without turning, a beautiful threat in his tone.

  Tess shook herself and pivoted to find her chemise, hearing yet more laughter from him. The pleasure of their love-making had certainly faded by now, but the warmth and joy at their ease with each other gratified her nearly as much.

  CONALL RETURNED TO the hall, having waited until Tess had been gone for several minutes. Not for one second did he believe any adult downstairs hadn’t a clue what they’d been doing for the past few hours but it had helped to relieve her apprehension and so he had played along.

  He’d come into the hall to find that bastard, Ranulph, sitting with Angus, a bit of leather goods about them, their hands busy braiding strips into long belts. His lip curled unconsciously, though he recalled Tess’s invitation to the man to come to Inesfree. Aside from his abilities upon the battlefield, there were other uses for Conall’s immense size. He strode directly and assertively to where they sat, delighting in the troubled look upon Ranulph’s face as he neared.

  Tess emerged from the kitchen just in time to ruin his attempt at intimidation, calling out cheerfully—purposefully, Conall was sure— “Aren’t they wonderful, laird? I bet even London itself hasn’t a tanner with as much skill as these two.”

  Conall noticed Angus’s silent amusement at the whole scene while he let his eyes rest intimidatingly upon Ranulph, even as Tess came to stand beside him.

  With great innocence, she asked, “You remember Ranulph, do you not?”

  “Aye, I do.” He let his voice continue to menace.

  Ranulph stood slowly. Angus’s hand stopped braiding, just sat holding the strips while he listened.

  “Laird, I would express my appreciation for all—”

  Tess waved a hand, her smile still tenaciously and exasperatingly bright. Conall could just feel it, though he’d yet to remove his gaze from the man.

  “He knows well of your gratitude, Ranulph. He’s happy to have you here, what with the extra income you’ve brought to Inesfree, and the care you’ve shown Angus, and too, for being such a great friend to me. He is elated, I assure you.”

  He didn’t look it.

  Angus’s shoulders were shaking, and he’d lowered his head to his narrow chest.

  Conall would have words for him later, as well, but for now, he just turned and walked away.

  SUPPER WAS A LIVELY affair. It began first with Conall giving a full account of what the army had endured and achieved while gone to Wallace’s side. He stood at the center of the family table, with Tess and Angus and John seated at his right, and Serena and Fynn and Leslie at his left, and spoke with carefully chosen words.

  “The war is no finished, and freedom is no yet ours. But I tell you, as I stand here, if no for the bravery and steadfastness of our own William Wallace, we’d be now completely under the yoke of Longshanks.” Cheers were called out and Conall paused to acknowledge these. “His continued resistance to the English is a reminder that Scotland belongs only to us, and that we must defend her unto the death.” He lowered his voice and said solemnly, “To this e
nd, we lost some of our own and we owe them a debt, and gratitude for our lives, that likely we’ll no ever be able to repay. Forty-six men gone these last months, and not one, I swear, will have died in vain. Freedom will be ours.” More shouts and calls for freedom. Conall raised his cup, “To the MacGregors and MacDonnells felled at Tobermory! and Kirkcudbright! and Linlithgow!” This time, the answering cheer was thunderous as cups were raised throughout the hall.

  “And we canna forget,” Conall continued, and waited for quiet again, “their families belong to us now, as they ever have. ‘Tis our honored duty to provide protection and succor and aid.”

  “Aye, aye” was hollered and repeated from table to table.

  Conall sat, and peasants poured from the corridor, arms laden with trays and trenchers of herring and pike and salmon, as if they’d waited around the corner for their laird to finish speaking. These were followed by puddings of egg and cheese, and baked apples with honey. The harp was strummed from the far end of the hall and conversation grew spirited once again.

  Conall sat, looking around at those gathered in the hall. Aye, it was good to be home. His eyes fell upon Ranulph, as he sat with some laughing red-head and two boys that surely must be his own sons.

  Perhaps Tess caught his eyes resting upon her ‘friend’, perhaps she noted his tightening jaw. She placed her small hand over his as it sat on the table.

  “I don’t want him here.”

  She completely ignored his dark tone which would have at one time sent her scurrying. “I’m very sorry to say that not only is that impossible, but it’s about to get worse.”

  “I dinna even want to ask what that means.”

  But this didn’t stop her from explaining. “Now that Ranulph and Angus have so much business, we thought it best if he and his family moved up here to the castle. Bridie and the boys have been left too much on their own, more so now that Ranulph has started traveling with Fynn. Bridie can help in the kitchens or the laundry—according to Ranulph there isn’t anything she cannot do. Serena promises her fruit tarts are mouthwatering. And, Leslie has agreed to begin instructions for reading and writing for Bethany and Bridie’s boys. But don’t worry, it doesn’t take away from his own duties as I’ve been helping Leslie in the storerooms.”