His Highland Prize (The Clan Sinclair Book 3)

by Celeste Barclay

  “Nae every mon is a cad. Aye, some are, mayhap even many, but nae all. To be unfaithful would be disloyal and dishonorable. I am a Highlander, and I live by ma honor, but as a second son, if I dinna have that, I wouldnae have aught.”

  Alex pulled back to see how Brighde received his declaration. She appeared thoughtful before her face relaxed, and she nodded her head. Alex was relieved that she so easily accepted his explanation.

  “Lass, I am grateful that ye trust me enough to tell me yer tale. I have been wondering and picturing any number of things, but none comes close to the story ye have just told me. I thank the blessed Lord that ye survived after all ye endured.”

  Alex pulled her into his embrace and rested his cheek on her crown. This position was becoming as familiar and natural as his broad stance with arms crossed.

  “I’m sorry I dropped ye. Ye’re wet and cold now, and it’s ma fault. If ye’d like to return to the keep, I’ll pack everything back into the basket.”

  Brighde bit her bottom lip and pulled at it with her teeth. Heat shot through Alex and settled in his already aching groin.

  This isnae the time to be feeling randy, but she is the most sensual and attractive woman I’ve ever met. It should be ma teeth pulling on that plump lip.

  “Do we have to go back because I really dinna want to. I’d rather stay here with ye.” She could feel herself blushing at the end. “Mayhap we could go for a walk and ma gown will dry.” She tilted her head up towards the sun.

  “Ye ken there isnae much likelihood that will happen. Ye’re more likely to catch the ague and be feverish again before nightfall.”

  Brighde looked around and spotted a larger boulder a little further down the beach. She looked over her shoulder as she began to walk purposefully towards it.

  “Dinna follow. Just wait here a moment.”

  She dashed over to the rock and threw the plaid over it. She began to tug at her laces. Her plan had been to take off her gown, wrap herself back in the plaid, and lay her kirtle out to dry, but she quickly realized she was stuck. The saltwater and sand had already started to harden the laces, and the more she yanked, the worse they knotted. Frustrated, she blew the hair off her eyes and tried to calm herself with a deep breath.

  Zounds! Now, what am I going to do? The whole point of coming behind the rock was to avoid Alex seeing any more of me than he already has. Granted he has basically seen it all. Why, dammit? I just need to get these laces untied, but I dinna even have a dirk to cut them, and kenning me, I’d probably cut ma finger off while trying to slice laces up ma back. There’s no helping it. If I want to stay, then he must help me. Argh!

  “Alex.” Brighde poked her head around the rock, but Alex was too far for him to hear her if she did not call louder. Wonderful. Now, nae only do I have to ask him to undress me, but I have to caterwaul to get his attention. How vera ladylike. As if swearing werenae enough for me to have to confess. Now I’ll be saying a baker’s dozen of the Lord’s prayer and another dozen Hail Mary.

  “Alex!” she tried a little louder as she kept peering around the wall.

  “Aye?” Alex had been watching her, but he could see very little thanks to the boulder blocking his view, a view he very much wished he could enjoy.

  “Alex, I need help. Please.” Brighde wanted to sink into the sand and disappear. It was one thing when they were in the throes of passion. She had not even thought twice about what he might have seen, but now, like this, she was embarrassed to the point where she reconsidered his offer to return to the keep.

  “Aye, lass. What’s wrong?”

  Brighde had not heard him approach and yelped. She covered her heart with her hand and looked up. The sun was behind his head and cast gold threads through his hair. She had to screen her eyes to see him otherwise his head looked like it glowed with a halo. What she was about to ask of him would make him either a sinner or a saint.

  “I canna untie the laces. They’re stuck because of the salt and sand. I dinna have a dirk with me, and even if I did, I dinna think I could cut upwards behind me without taking off a finger or two. Can ye help, please?”

  Alex looked down at her for a moment and could only nod his head. She turned and presented her back to him while pulling her hair over her shoulder. He waited so long that she looked back at him with an eyebrow raised.

  “Right, aye. The laces.” Alex lifted his hands and watched as his fingers trembled.

  I amnae some green lad with his first lass. I have undressed enough women to ken what I am doing, but I never really cared before. It was just a necessary step to get to what I wanted. Now? I care just a wee bit too much.

  Alex lifted the end of the laces and examined the tangled mess that they were and tried to start pulling them apart with his fingers. He knew he could not cut through them because even though that would solve their immediate problem, it would cause nothing short of a calamity if Brighde returned to the keep with her dress cut open. As harmless as they might know it was, the rest of the clan would be shooing them to the kirk before the moon rose and the stars came out. Mayhap that wouldnae be so bad after all. Where the hell did that come from? I dinna want to marry. Dinna lie to yerself, mon. Dinna lie. The realization that he would not mind marrying Brighde was a strong one, but at the same time, it seemed like the most natural thing for him to do next. As though marriage was the only logical and inevitable next step. However, he was quite sure that she would not see it that way.

  “Brie, ye’re going to have to be a bit patient. These laces are a right mess. I canna cut the laces unless ye want the whole clan to gossip, so it’ll take just a moment.”

  Brighde shifted her weight from foot to foot as Alex worked to free the tangled web. He tried prying them apart with his fingers and even considered using his teeth. He finally settled for using his dirk but only to give him some leverage, so he could loosen the knots. It took almost five minutes for him to work everything free, but once the last knot was untied, the kirtle slid down her shoulders. Alex saw the creamy skin that the kirtle and nightgown always hid. The chemise she wore had been a snowy white but was now translucent as it clung to her. Brighde looked over her shoulder again to thank Alex but froze when she saw the hunger in his eyes. The gnawing need to be closer to him made her core ache. She turned to look forwards again as she let the gown puddle about her feet. She felt the softest feathering touch as Alex ran his fingers up her arm, and along the top of her shoulder until he reached her neck. He lifted her hair and pressed soft kisses to her nape. He wrapped his other arm around her middle and pulled her back against his hard body. The warmth that he radiated against her made her think that she was standing too close to a fire that would soon burn her. She knew that they were entering even more dangerous territory with her practically naked in front of him, but she was willing to get a little singed.

  Alex licked and nipped and kissed along her shoulder and nape as the hand that had been resting across her belly splayed and moved down over her mound. He grasped the material of Brighde’s chemise and pulled it up until he found the hem. Brighde reached down to take the material from him as she held it above her waist. She pressed her bottom back against his hips and reached her other arm back over her shoulder to run her fingers into his hair. This forced her to arch her back, and Alex reached around to cup her heavy breast. He feasted on her neck, chin, and shoulder while kneading her breast, and massaging the tender folds of her nether lips. As he dipped two fingers into the moist seam, Brighde ground her buttocks into him. Frustrated by his sporran, she released his hair and pushed the offending accessory out of the way. She ground her backside into his rock-hard cock. She reached back with both hands to grip his hips and pulled them towards her as she pressed into him. She moaned, and he groaned at the same time. Alex turned them, so they were facing the bolder. He gently pressed Brighde to lean forward against it and lifted her left leg to place her foot on the rock. He covered her body with his own, and she luxuriated in the feeling of his sheer size against
her smaller body. He completely encompassed her as he ground his cock into her bottom.

  “Do ye ken how badly I want to be inside ye right now? Do ye ken how much I want to feel ye squeeze me dry as I watch ye ride me? I want to plunge maself into ye over and over until I canna see straight. I have never desired anyone the way I do ye. What are ye doing to me, lass?” Alex whispered in her ear before he dropped down to his knees.

  He grasped her buttocks and spread the cheeks apart. He had the most glorious view of everything he wanted to claim as his. He palmed the junction between her legs and could feel the heat emanating from her. He slid his hand back and forth using his middle finger to unveil and release the sensitive flesh that was hidden within her curls. Slowly, he slid two then three fingers into her and began to stroke her from the inside.

  “Alex, what are ye doing to me? How do ye make me feel hot and cold all at the same time? Ye make me ache and burn, and I dinna ken how to make it stop. I dinna understand what I need, but I feel so empty right now. I ache, Alex.”

  “Sshh, mo ghràidh. I will ease yer ache, but I willna rush us.”

  My darling. God, how I want to hear him call me that every day for the rest of our lives.

  Brighde’s thoughts were cut short as she felt him blow cool air against her most sacred of spaces. She tried to clench her bottom, but he gently pressed his free hand against her. Then she felt his cool tongue against he, and it felt like ice melting on her scorched skin. He used the flat of his tongue to run from stem to stern and back again. He left not an inch free from his tongue’s inspection. When Brighde began to writhe, he used the tip of his tongue to play around with the button at her apex. She nearly screamed when she felt the tip of his tongue press into her, and her knees gave out as he sucked on the button that opened the flood of sensation rushing through her. As Alex felt the spasms begin within her, he drove his three fingers back into her and worked her as he came to his feet. As quickly as it had started, the tremors passed. Alex barely lifted his plaid to take himself in hand when Brighde spun around and pushed him back a step. She fell to her knees, and looking up at him, pushed his plaid out of the way, so she could lean forward to lick the drop of seed glistening on the tip.

  “Mmmm. A bit salty but better than seawater.” She gave him a saucy smile before looking down at his engorged length. She wrapped her hand around him and swirled her tongue around the head of his shaft. Alex watched in amazement as she opened her palm, so she could lick him from top to bottom and all around.

  “Does what ye did to me feel that good for ye?”

  Alex could only nod his head.

  “Can I put it in ma mouth?” Alex nodded again.

  “And suck on it.” Alex made a strangled sound, and breathed out, “please.”

  Brighde looked down and had a moment of doubt as she considered just how endowed he was. Alex realized what he thought was also what he said aloud.

  “Ye dinna have to. I dinna expect ye to do this. Ever.” He tried to step back and lower his plaid.

  “I ken. Even more reason why I want to.” She licked him again and found a ridge that ran along his length. When she flicked her tongue against it, he twitched. The groan that escaped Alex let her know she had done something he enjoyed. She swirled her tongue around the head of his cock again and then sunk her mouth onto him. It took every single ounce of any control Alex could still muster not to find his release right then and there. The sight in front of him was the most purely erotic thing he had ever seen or experienced. Brighde wrapped her hand around the part of him that was too much for her to take in and began to stroke him. Her head moved in time with her hand. When her hair fell forward and created a curtain that kept him from enjoying his view, Alex scooped her hair back and held it out of the way. Alex knew that if he kept watching her, he would not be able to stop himself from climaxing. He tilted his head back and closed his eyes. Without the sense of sight, his senses of touch and sound only heightened. The feel of her warm, soft mouth gliding over him as her hand stroked him and the soft slurping noises were more than he could take. He looked back down and released her hair. He tried to gently push her away from him, to get her to release him, but she batted his hand away.

  “Brie, ye must stop. I canna come in yer mouth. If ye dinna stop now, I will explode. Brie!” It was too late. As he tried to convince her to stop, she only sucked and stroked harder and faster. Before he could stop himself, he felt jets of his seed spray into her. She swallowed as much as she could as it trickled down the back of her throat. When she felt the last drop dribble onto her cheek, she pulled back. She felt quite proud of herself and slowly licked her lips. She looked up at Alex, and had it been anyone else, his look of shock and awe might have made her smile. Instead, it only made her feel self-conscious. She pushed back off her heels and tried to take a step away, but the bolder blocked her retreat. She looked around and then down at her feet.

  Gentle fingers lifted her chin, and she looked up into the nut-brown eyes she was growing to adore. Alex’s lips descended onto hers in a gentle kiss. She reached up on her tiptoes, so she could wrap her arms around his neck. Alex lifted her off her feet and propped her against the rock as he settled between her legs. He wrapped his arms around her as his hands ran up and down her sides. He kissed her cheek and tilted his forehead against hers.

  “I dinna ken what to say. I havenae ever experienced aught like that before.”

  “Ye mean nae woman has ever done that for ye?” Brighde scoffed, “I dinna believe that.”

  “I dinna mean that. Aye, there have been others who have done that, but none have ever done it like that. It hasnae ever felt like that.”

  “If I wasna doing it properly, ye should have told me how ye wanted it.”

  Alex almost choked on his tongue as he looked down at her. Will this woman never cease to say the last thing I ever expect to hear. Is she a bampot? How could she possibly think I didna like that or that she did it wrong? Alex, ye daft bugger. She’s never done it before. I should be counting this as a blessing both that I am the only mon she’s ever touched and she’s a bluidy natural.

  “Brie, I dinna ken how ye could think ye didna do it right. It was the most pleasurable thing I have ever felt. But, Brie, a mon doesnae ask a lady to do that. That’s nae even something many men ask a whore to do. Ye didna have to do it.”

  “I ken, but I wanted to. What ye did for me was—was---well, I dinna even ken how to describe how good it all felt and how much I wanted to do the same for ye. It was like ma mouth suddenly ached too and watered at the idea of tasting ye. I just felt this overwhelming need to take ye into ma mouth.” Brighde shrugged, “And ye didna let me touch ye earlier. I wanted to then, and it was like a need now. Nae only because I felt like I should reciprocate but because it gives me pleasure to touch ye. To hopefully give ye the pleasure ye gave me.”

  Brighde fisted his leine and tugged none too gently.

  “Come here,” she breathed out.

  Alex leaned forward, and she pulled him in for a scorching kiss that lit the fire all over again. Alex laid her back on the rock and stretched her arms above her head. He pulled the ribbons loose from the neckline of her chemise. He pulled apart the collar and freed both her breasts. He simply took a moment to look down and appreciate their size and dusky rose tips. His stare and the cool breeze made them harden into little points. He grasped one of them and lifted it to his mouth. He had no patience to toy with it, and instead took as much of the generous mound of smooth flesh into his mouth as he could. He suckled like a starving bairn. He simply could not get enough, and Brighde’s moans only spurred him on. Switching hands on her wrists, he used the other to gently pinch her free nipple. When her knees clenched his hips, and hers lifted off the rock, he bit lightly onto the nipple in his mouth and pinched the one between his fingers.

  “Alex!”

  Brighde could feel the pressure growing between her legs again. It started as a slow ache and restlessness that eventually began to
burn almost to a level of pain.

  “Alex, please. Please. Do something. I dinna ken what’s happening again, but dear merciful God, I ache for ye.”

  Alex lifted his plaid and fisted his fully erect rod, bringing it to her entrance. He allowed the head to slide through the juices pooled within her again. He slowly rocked his hips back and forth as he coated the head of his shaft. He was seconds away from finally finding relief for them both when a seagull squawked, and a seal barked. The noise somehow permeated the sound of his heartbeat pulsing in his ears. He jumped back and looked down at his cock in his hand and Brighde’s legs spread wide. He looked around at the beach as if in a trance. It was only as Brighde scrambled up the rock, tugging her chemise down, that he fully understood exactly how close he came to claiming her innocence. His honor rebuked him for being so reckless and selfish while his desire screamed that he should have made her his.