When a Warrior Woos a Lass

by Julie Johnstone

  Gently he eased her back, running his hands over the silken skin of her stomach and down to her inner thighs. He eased his hands under her buttocks to flip her to her belly. She shot up onto her knees so fast, she nearly knocked him backward with her motion. “Lena?”

  She glanced back at him, panting, a wild look in her eyes. “I… Ye… It’s just that he—”

  He pressed a finger to her lips, a now very familiar rage filling his chest. He could only guess what Findlay had done to her. “Dunnae fash yerself, Mo chailin chalma. I have many other desires to experience with ye.”

  Hearing Alex call her his “brave one,” combined with the tenderness and concern in his eyes, and his willingness to only go where she led him was enough to instill bravery firmly back in Lena’s heart. She wanted to wipe all her old nightmares from her mind, and there was no better way than to replace the horrible memories with new, wonderful ones. Her husband was an expert wooer, whether he knew it or not. He had but to give her a kind look or a tender word, and she was like clay in his hands.

  Silently, she turned and made her way back onto her belly. Her heart thumped wildly, but she was going forward into the dark, allowing Alex to shine light. “Show me,” she whispered.

  Suddenly, his thighs brushed either side of her hips, the bed dipped under his weight, and the heat of his body pressed down on her. His fingers came to her back, and she fought the rigidness that came by clenching her teeth. Yet, when he started to rub her back gently, then her neck, shoulders, legs, and buttocks, every bit of tension that had consumed her slipped away. He spoke softly to her, repeating the refrain he had before: Mo chailin chalma.

  She could not say how long he attended to her body, but she felt almost leaden, as if lifting an arm or leg would take more effort than she could gather. He feathered kissed down her back, trailing them along her spine, and worshiping each of her globes. When she was sure he was close to having his way, he surprised her by gently easing her onto her back and showering her front with the same attention he had shown her backside. Each kiss, touch, and caress was exquisite and loving, and stoked that same hot desire he had managed to ignite moments ago.

  Soon, she was panting, writhing, and demanding he cease teasing her, and he answered by suckling on one aching nipple and then the other. He kissed his way down each of her legs in turn and worked his way back up to the juncture between her thighs to bring her so much pleasure that she could not hold back her cries of ecstasy. When he was finished, he came up to hover over her and moved to grasp her under her buttocks, but she shook her head.

  “Nay,” she whispered and flipped onto her belly. “As ye were going to before.”

  “Ye’re certain?” he asked, his lips pressed close to her ear. His fingers trailed over her back, leaving gooseflesh in their wake.

  “I—Alex, I’ve nae ever been more certain of anything in my life.”

  And then he gently cupped her hips and eased into her with care, stilling when she was positive he had to be at his hilt. She felt full in body and heart.

  “Are ye fine?” he asked.

  “Aye,” she said. “I’m wonderful.” Tears of joy came to her eyes, and Alex began to move and introduce her to exactly how beautiful and pleasurable such an act could be. As he stroked in and out of her faster and his fingers curled into her flesh to grip her tighter, her own need mounted and clawed back to the top. She cried out and sobbed at once when she found her release, and at the same time, she knew Alex had found his.

  He stopped abruptly, pulling her hair back from her damp cheek. “Have I hurt ye?”

  He sounded horrified, so she quickly shook her head. “Nay,” she assured him. “Ye brought me so much pleasure I could nae contain it.”

  “’Tis how it should be,” he replied, kissing her shoulder and then slipping off the bed.

  “Where are ye away to?” she asked when, after a brief moment, her bedchamber door squeaked as it was opened. As she flipped onto her back, the sight of her husband’s muscled back and legs greeted her. Only his manhood and buttocks were covered by the plaid wrapped around his waist.

  He turned at her question and grinned, looking like a child with a secret. “Dunnae fash yerself. I’ll return verra quickly.”

  She frowned. “Ye kinnae go about like that!”

  “I’m nae venturing far,” he said and then shut her door before she could protest.

  By the time she had untangled herself from the bed linens, used the washbasin, and managed to don her léine, he returned, this time with a mischievous look on his face.

  “Come,” he said, gesturing to her.

  “But I’m nae dressed!”

  He chuckled. “Ye’re too dressed as it is. Besides, ye dunnae need clothing for what I have in mind.”

  “I kinnae depart this—”

  She did not get the rest of the sentence out. Alex swept her off her feet just as he had before, except this time he slung her over his shoulder, and gently smacked her bottom as he strode out of her bedchamber, in spite of her protests. To her embarrassment, two servants were exiting his room, and both men chuckled.

  “Put me down!” she bellowed, which only elicited a cluck of the tongue from her husband.

  But seconds later, he did set her down on her feet, placing a steadying hand on her elbow. She opened her mouth to tell him she did not appreciate being handled like chattel, but Freya stood before her. Lena promptly clamped her mouth shut.

  Freya looked between her and Alex with amused wonder, only seeming to remember herself when Alex pointedly cleared his throat. She blinked, and color kissed her cheeks. “My laird,” she rushed out with a bob of her head. “Does the sup please ye?” she asked, sweeping a hand toward the wall behind Lena.

  Lena turned around and gasped at the vast spread of food laid out on the table. Any irritation she’d been feeling disappeared as her heart squeezed in her chest.

  “That will be all, Freya,” Alex said in a smooth, deep voice from behind Lena.

  She heard Freya’s departing footsteps, but she was too absorbed with taking in all Alex had done in such a short amount of time that she did not turn around to bid the woman good night. Cheese, bread, mince pies, and apple tarts filled the trenchers, and a pair of goblets were brimming with wine. In the other corner of the room, along the same wall, a wooden bathing tub was filled with steaming water. As she drew nearer to it, she gaped at the flower petals floating in the water and the scent of chamomile wafting from it.

  Suddenly, she felt Alex behind her, a pillar of strength and a fountain of generosity. A lump lodged in her throat, and she swallowed it down. She did not just care greatly for this man. She loved him. She’d blurted before that she could love him, but she did love him. It didn’t matter that they had not been married long. He had slipped inside her heart and staked his claim, whether he had meant to or not. He’d shown her tenderness, kindness, understanding, and patience, and he’d asked nothing in return.

  She wanted to tell him of her feelings, but she feared it may be too soon, that he might not be ready to hear such a thing from her, particularly given how he still was keeping secrets from her. Beyond that, she wanted very much to think that if she told him she loved him, she might hear it in return, and she just could not say for certain that she would. There was also a frightened part of her that knew how heartbreaking it would feel if he did not reciprocate, so instead of professing her newfound love, she turned in his arms, stood on her tiptoes, cupped his face, and brushed her lips to his.

  “Thank ye,” she said.

  “Ye are most welcome. Are ye still vexed with me for carrying ye out of yer bedchamber?”

  She shook her head. “I’d be a shrew indeed to be vexed in light of what ye have done for me. Ye are verra thoughtful.”

  He suddenly looked chagrinned. “Nay. I’m greedy.”

  She cocked her eyebrows in question.

  He swiped a hand over his stubble. “I had a fantasy to bathe ye and with ye, but I’m famished,” he a
dmitted ruefully. “I was hoping that if I fed ye and gave ye wine, ye’d let me have my way again.” He grinned like a naughty lad, and she simply had to chuckle.

  “About being famished,” she said, seeing an opportunity to address one of the things she wanted to discuss with him.

  “Aye?”

  “Dunnae ye think ye are being too harsh nae allowing Fardley any food or drink while ye train in this heat?”

  “Nay,” Alex answered, his tone ringing with an air of finality and authority that made her hackles rise. She swatted them down. He was used to being obeyed without question, and here she was, his new wife, questioning his decisions. She needed to go about this in a more delicate way.

  She nodded, trying to recall how Bridgette had used her wiles to attain what she wanted with Lachlan, and how Marion used her feminine cunning to convince Lena’s stubborn, overbearing brother Iain to hear and accept Marion’s opinion. Lena didn’t really care to be deceptive, but in this case, she’d make an exception since Alex was foolishly endangering himself with his punishment of Fardley. He could become gravely ill training all day without eating or drinking, and if Donald’s earlier teasing words were to be believed, Fardley’s training was likely to take many days.

  “I’m sure ye are correct, Husband,” she said, pitching her voice low and running her hand down Alex’s bare, chiseled chest. “Ye are wise and knowledgeable in the ways of training warriors, and ye are laird,” she added for good measure while trailing her fingertips over the defined planes of his stomach muscles down to his braies, which he must have slipped on in his own bedchamber after departing hers. She tickled a finger under the upper edge of his braies, and he hissed his pleasure, causing a sharp sensation to pulse in Lena’s belly and even lower to her core.

  “I’m simply a woman,” she continued in almost a purr, relishing the sudden surge of power his obvious desire for her made her feel. “I fear for yer well-being. I heard that ye were nae taking food or drink, either, and it makes me fash so for ye. Ye dunnae wish me to fash, do ye?” She stared up at him, hoping her ruse had worked.

  He caught the fingertips she’d been tracing up his stomach, and he brought them to his lips where he pressed a kiss to them. “I see what ye’re doing, and I’m pleased that ye now have the boldness to do it, amused that ye believe it would work on me, and filled with regret that I must continue to vex ye, but I kinnae alter the punishment I’ve set.”

  Pursing her lips, she tugged her hand away and glared at Alex, which elicited a devastating smile from him. The man was impossible. He had the ability to make her elated and irritated at the same time. “Will ye nae ever hear my opinions and take my advice in matters of the clan?” she demanded.

  “I will, but nae in matters that are to keep ye from harm.”

  “How is punishing Fardley protecting me?” she demanded.

  “He showed that he did nae ken how to accurately assess a situation, and he must be able to do that if he is to correctly judge my enemies, which are yers now, too. A good warrior must perceive their enemy’s actions before they make them. Regarding perceiving actions…” Alex gave Lena a look that she was sure would make most men tremble, but she’d come to know his tender side, so she stared boldly back, provoking a disgruntled sigh from him. “Dunnae forget what I told ye about trying to defend me from any who might be my enemies,” he said, his tone unyielding. “I’ll nae abide ye putting yerself at risk.”

  “Is that an order?” She set her hands on her hips as her heart thumped angrily against her ribs. Findlay had ordered her about, and it hurt that Alex might do the same, even if his dictates were born out of a desire to keep her safe. But he took away her right to choose with such actions. How could he not see that?

  Unmistakable irritation flickered across his face but did not linger. “I dunnae wish to order ye about, Lena, but if ye need to be commanded to do as I say, then aye, it is an edict.”

  She could feel her eyes narrowing and her pulse escalating. “So, just to be clear, any time ye believe something may put me in peril, ye will give me a directive nae to do it?”

  “Aye,” he immediately replied, apparently needing no time to think about it.

  Men! They are so very frustrating!

  “I’m nae to have the same rights as ye?” she asked on a growl as she poked him in the chest. “Ye will do as ye please while I’m to obey ye always like a well-trained hound?”

  He went to catch the finger she’d poked him with, but she snatched her hand away. This time, distinct weariness settled on his features. “Everything I do,” he said slowly, “I do to keep ye safe. If that means ye are cross with me now, I regret it, even despise it, but I kinnae change my actions. I would rather die than allow harm to come to ye, so it’s verra easy to live with yer being cross. What I could nae live with would be kenning that harm came to ye because I had allowed ye to do something that put ye in danger, simply so ye would nae be vexed with me.”

  “Why must ye put it that way?” she wailed, even as she curled her hands into fists. She could not stay truly angry, knowing what he did came from a desperate need to protect her, and now she could not share with him her suspicions about Greer’s treatment at her brother’s hand. She feared that if she did, he would forbid her to go to the kitchens and see Greer until it was settled. Or he might not be cautious at all, even when told of Greer’s warning. Lena sensed the situation with Greer and her brother required caution and sensible plotting. And what of the situation with Marsaili? Lena had to tell Alex what she had learned, but if he decided Marsaili was a threat to her, would he keep them apart? And what if he was really was planning on joining forces with the Steward as Marsaili believed he might be? Lena sighed. She had to know, though there was a part of her that did not want to learn anything to shatter the fragile happiness she’d discovered with Alex.

  “Does that mean ye are nae so vexed with me that ye will refuse to eat and bathe with me now?” Alex asked, interrupting her musings.

  She glanced from her husband, to the food, to the bath. Whatever she was going to learn, she would prefer to hear it while clean and with a full stomach. Heartbreak was likelier easy to take that way. Directly after the bath, she’d speak with him about Marsaili.

  “Lena, are ye purposely nae answering me?” he asked, smirking.

  “Nay, just lost in thought. Let us eat and bathe.”

  He grinned and wasted no time filling them each a trencher. She watched, astonished, as the man consumed massive amounts of food and drink. She barely had five bites down before he refilled his trencher. “Ye ken, ye’re so famished because ye did nae eat all day.”

  He winked at her from where he stood at the table. “I’m so famished from how ye worked my body. I need to replenish myself for what’s to come.”

  “Ye’re that certain more is to come, are ye?” she replied, teasing.

  “Only if ye wish it,” he said, serious. He set his trencher down, walked over to her, and kneeled in front of her, putting his hands on her knees. “I would never force ye, Lena. Ye have the right to refuse me anytime ye wish. Ye ken this, aye?”

  That new love she’d discovered swelled to near bursting with her. “I ken it, Alex.”

  Once they were finished eating, they slowly undressed each other. Alex slipped off her gown, exploring her body with eager hands and devouring her with hungry eyes. Despite her scars, he managed to make her feel flawless and beautiful, and she was keen to do the same for him.

  Standing naked before her husband, she ran her hands along his long, strong legs from his calves to his thighs, and over his tight buttocks, up his corded back, and over his broad shoulders to come back down his chest where he captured her hands, pressed them to her sides, and then scooped her up, only to deliver her a moment later into the now-warm water. He slid in the small basin behind her, sloshing water over the side to the wood boards.

  He settled her back against his chest, the springy hairs there tickling her back as his thighs pressed against hers and
caged her in the protective shelter of his embrace. “May I wash ye?” he asked, his warm breath fanning the sensitive skin of her neck as his arms encircled her. Her soft body molded to his hard lean one, and she could feel the powerful beat of his heart. He’d shown her more care, concern, and tenderness than she’d ever known, and though he’d not opened up to her when she’d asked him to reveal his past, he was revealing things about himself, even though he likely did not know it. He was gallant and gentle while being fierce and ruthless when need be. She nodded. Every memory she made with him truly was replacing the bad ones she still held from her time with Findlay.

  He picked up the bar of soap and lathered it in his hands. When he placed his hands on her breasts and began to massage them, hot spirals of desire shot out from her center. Once he had washed her breasts, stomach, and arms, he brought his mouth close to hers and said, “Lean forward for me, lass.”

  She did as he bid, and his strong hands came to her head and carefully tilted it back, before she heard a swish and warm water sluiced over her head to trail down her neck and shoulders. He delved his hands into her hair and massaged her scalp until she felt her eyes grow heavy, and her limbs as well. Once he had rinsed the soap from her hair, he shifted her forward, reached around her to cleanse her legs, and then he rose to stand behind her.

  “What are ye doing?” she asked drowsily, looking up to see him. He was magnificent—all male and all hers.

  He grinned most devilishly at her. “I’m getting a wrap for ye.”

  She blinked in surprise. “Do ye mean to tell me yer fantasy consisted only of washing me?”

  “Nay,” he said, his voice gliding over her and making her shiver in anticipation. “I’ll show ye what else my fantasy consists of,” he teased.

  And a heartbeat later, as he brought her to the height of pleasure with his tongue and then gently hefted her off her feet and took her against the wall with his arms supporting all her weight, she learned well what an imagination he had. When he was done with her, she felt deliciously exhausted.