by Willa Blair
“Ach, lass, I havena begun to please ye,” he growled and shifted out from behind her. He lay her back on the sheet and stretched out beside her, then covered them both. “Though ye have picked a challenging spot…but I ken why ye have.”
“Because of how ye saved me. It seems only fitting that ye…”
He gestured at the waves rolling onto the beach below them. “Make ye mine by them as well?” He nodded and cupped her cheek, then bent to kiss her. “That does seem fitting,” he added when they came up for air.
She waved a hand, indicating the area around them. “’Tis almost as if we were alone in the cove again—only without the fear of drowning.”
“Without the whole of clan Ross after us, either” he teased. “I like this beach much better.” He let his hand trail down her throat. “I’ll do my best to make certain we both enjoy what we do here.”
She placed her hand over his and drew it down over her breast. “I ken what is to happen. I’m glad it will be with ye.”
“As am I, love.” He bent to take her lips again and whispered, “As am I.”
Euan’s hand slipped inside her cloak and warmed her through her dress, making her nipple bead and fire race from her breast to her core.
He trailed kisses down her throat and onto her chest, pulling down the neckline of her shift to lick and nuzzle even lower.
Her body softened as strange sensations raced to her fingers and toes, then back to the spot Euan’s mouth covered. His warmth heated her skin, but went deeper, melting her muscles, her bones, leaving her pliant and empty. She needed him, needed his touch, his kiss, everywhere. What insanity had made her think this cold beach was a good idea?
“I would have yer first time be somewhere ye could be more comfortable, lass,” he murmured as he reached for her skirts and smoothed them upwards. “But if this is what ye wish…”
“We have time for comfort later, husband,” she told him. Her heart swelled over his concern for her. He’d done nothing but care for her since he’d pulled her from the waves. She should have known her choice of location for their tryst would disconcert him. “Ye ken my reasons…”
“I do. And I will do all I can to keep ye safe and warm…”
“As ye have since I met ye. Yer touch sets me ablaze, my love. I need nay more than that.”
“Very well,” he told her with a smile that lit her heart.
In a moment, she felt his hand on the skin of her thigh. She might have expected his fingers to be cold, but they were as warm as the rest of his body, now next to hers, his leg over hers, trapping her limbs, yet protecting them from the chilly wind leaking under the blanket by their feet.
“Ye are my beautiful bride,” he told her as his hand slipped up her leg to the juncture of her thighs.
Muireall gasped as he feathered the curls he found there, then slipped his fingers into her private folds. She’d never felt a sensation so exquisite, or that made her ache so, hollow and empty and begging for Euan to fill her. She’d dreamed of this day forever, it seemed, and now it was happening, she never wanted it to end. Her body responded as he explored, making her moan and writhe under his hand until the stars over her head fell behind her eyelids. She arched on a long moan, then relaxed into Euan’s arms, murmuring his name.
“Ye are ready for me, lass, with barely a touch. Such a treasure…”
He lifted up onto his hands and knees above her, nearly losing the blanket to the wind.
She grabbed it, draped it back over him, and tucked in the sides, pleased to find the wind had blown his kilt up with it, baring his lower body. She ran her hands over his backside and reveled in the flex of muscles underneath her palms. “Unlike yours, my hands are cold…” she apologized.
“Think nothing of it,” he told her. “And dinna stop what ye’re doing.” He lowered himself between her thighs. “I will go as slowly as I can, but ye once said ye ken how it goes between a man and a woman.”
“Aye, and that the first time can be painful. I’m ready.”
He chuckled. “I ken ye are.”
Something nudged between her legs. Something very hot, very firm. “Oh!” she said on an inhale. “That had best be ye and no’ some creature of the sand.”
He laughed at that, and she was surprised to find she could as well, despite the anxiety coiling in her belly.
“Ye ken it is. Now we begin…” He thrust, breaching her defenses only a little. She tensed, then relaxed into the unfamiliar but pleasant fullness. “’Tis no’ so bad,” she told him, warming.
“A bit more then,” he said and filled her further.
Something twinged.
“I’m there, lass. The next bit will sting.”
She nodded and he thrust through, filling her completely, then holding still while she sucked in one breath after another, fighting to make the pain subside. When, after a few breaths, it did, she wrapped her arms around his neck and kissed him. “Now I am yers, and none can say nay.”
“That ye are, love, my wife. Mine, forever.”
His words were sweet, but his voice sounded strained.
“Am I hurting ye?”
He chuckled at that, too. “Nay, but I want to move in ye. To bring ye pleasure after the pain. Are ye ready?”
She nodded, unsure.
He withdrew almost all of the way, then slid back inside. “Are ye well?”
“A little sore, but no’ much. Try again.”
He obliged, starting slowly, then building in speed and intensity. Her body responded, surprising her when the pain faded and pleasure began to take its place. It built and built with each of Euan’s thrusts until she only knew Euan’s voice, his scent, and the heat and size of his body where they joined together. Gone were the waves, the wind, the cold. Her world consisted of Euan and the pleasure he brought her, until she could take no more and crested the wave of sensation he’d built. In moments, he, too, dived over, calling her name and filling her with wet heat as he thrust harder and deeper. Then he slowed, and stopped, breathing hard, sharing her breath, kissing her with a mindless abandon she could not have imagined before this night.
He collapsed onto her for a moment, then rolled to the side, pulled her against him and tucked the blanket firmly around her body and his. “Are ye well, lass?”
She draped a leg over his side and caressed his backside with her foot. “More than I ever kenned I could be, husband,” she told him, then lifted her lips to his. “I’m with ye, after all.”
Euan couldn’t believe how open and giving and willing and eager Muireall had been in his arms. She was everything he’d never dared dream for in a wife and lover. “Next time will be better,” he promised, holding her close. “And warmer.”
Her chuckle vibrated against his chest.
“Aye. In hindsight, this does seem to have been a daft idea.”
“Nay, lass. ”Twas memorable. Something we’ll be able to tell our grandchildren someday.”
She stiffened for a moment, then relaxed and chuckled again. “What a thought to have now! Yet, we could…”
“Aye, we could. ’Tis possible, but no’ likely. So if ye’d like to try again, let’s gather all this up,” he said and grabbed a handful of blanket, “and return to yer chamber. There, I can love ye as ye deserve to be loved. Slowly, gently, and at length. By a roaring blaze.”
Muireall grinned and stretched her arms above her head, then rolled atop him. “I dinna ken whether I can walk so far,” she said, then kissed him soundly. “No’ yet, anyway.”
Chapter 22
The next evening, Muireall was deep in conversation with Euan when the rumble of voices in the great hall changed. She glanced up but saw nothing amiss. Folk were eating their supper as usual. No one had come running from the kitchen. But the rumble was getting louder. That left only the door into the keep, behind her.
She suddenly realized the expression on Euan’s face had changed. He was staring behind her, surprise and consternation drawing down his brow over wide
ned eyes. She twisted around in her seat, then jumped to her feet. “Ella!”
Euan put a hand on her arm, holding her in place. “And Thomas. Something is wrong.”
Thomas stood behind Ella, arms planted on his waist, frowning. “Ye are home. Look around ye. Everyone is fine. So tell me how long we must stay here for ye to get better.”
Muireall blanched. Ella looked pale and thin and sad. Her heart broke for her friend. What had Thomas done to her?
The Munro stood, eating knife in hand, and called out, “Thomas Ross, what are ye doing here now, and what have ye done to yer wife. I warned ye to care for her.”
“I heard ye.” Thomas’s retort was sharper than the blade in the Munro’s hand. “And I tried to do as ye bid. But she was determined to return here.” He cut his gaze to the Munro. “So I brought her.” He turned back to Ella and his voice softened. “I feared for her life, so I brought her.”
This whole time, Ella stood, frozen, staring across the great hall as if she’d never seen it before.
With a disgusted growl, the Munro left his place and made his way nearer the couple. Muireall joined him. Euan stayed by her.
“What has happened to ye, lass?” Hugh Munro’s voice was gentler than Muireall had ever heard it, and his expression, as he studied Ella, sorrowful.
Ella still didn’t speak, so Thomas spoke for her. He moved beside her and faced her.
“I kenned ye wanted to come home. Ye were sickening, not eating. I canna keep ye if ye are so set against being married to me. I have brought ye home as ye demanded, hoping yer laird can talk some sense into ye.”
The Munro opened his mouth to speak, but Ella beat him to it.
“I’m sorry, Thomas, but nay. Ye stole me from my home and forced me to marry against my will. I…tried. To save our clans from war, I went with ye. But I will never agree to go back with ye again.”
Thomas studied her for a long moment.
Muireall wondered what he was waiting for. Looking for. As he’d proven the last time he was here, he had every right to throw Ella over his shoulder and carry her out of the hall and back to Ross, no matter what she said. Muireall wanted to go to her friend, to stand with her, if not between her and Thomas.
But Euan knew her too well. He grasped her arm and held her in place.
Muireall narrowed her eyes at him, but kept her mouth shut.
The Munro remained silent, too.
Muireall expected he hoped the quarreling spouses would find a way to make amends without him. He would have to side with Thomas Ross, as he’d had to when he first took Ella away more than a week ago. Only Ella could save herself from this horrible situation, and only if she could convince Thomas to agree to let her go. Muireall doubted Ella expected any help from the Munro.
Thomas’s voice pulled Muireall’s attention away from glaring at her Da.
“Very well, then, Ella Munro, as long as ye dinna carry my child…”
She shook her head, embarrassment coloring her face as she clenched her fists. “I dinna. Ye ken I am bleeding.”
“Then to save yer life, ye give me nay choice. I must give ye what ye want. I divorce ye, Ella Munro Ross.”
Gasps echoed around the hall and to the rafters, but they didn’t divert Thomas Ross’s attention from Ella.
Ella pressed her lips together, then took a deep breath. “And I divorce ye, Thomas Ross.”
Without saying anything else, Thomas studied her for another long moment. Then he turned to the Munro and spotted Euan and Calum beside him. His eyebrows lifted, but he kept his composure. “Ye will want to ken, Erik has gone to Rose to marry and collect Fiona Rose. We hear the MacBean once betrothed to her will now wed another Rose lass.”
“That will do,” the Munro responded.
Thomas nodded to him. “Ye will have no more trouble on yer border with Ross. Nor,” he added, with a frown at Euan, “will Brodie. The Ross laird has said so.”
With that, he turned and left the keep.
Euan’s gaze stayed on the door to the bailey, his eyebrows lifted in surprise.
Muireall could guess what he was thinking. Their plan worked and the crisis was over for now.
Through the open door, Muireall could hear Thomas calling to his men to mount up and go. She rushed forward and embraced Ella. “Ye are free!” She exhaled the breath she’d held since Ella had stood up to Thomas.
Ella stepped out of Muireall’s embrace. “I am mortified that he did this…in this way.”
“But ye must be relieved he will no longer pursue ye.”
“I am relieved, aye. But I dinna ken what to do now.” She glanced around at the faces surrounding her, most showing their surprise with raised eyebrows or dropped jaws. “I’m not sure I belong here anymore, either.” With a cry, she made her way to the stairs and disappeared up them.
Muireall felt sorry for the lass, but had no idea what to do for her. As her friend, she would have to think of something, to be sure. Then she noticed the expression on Calum’s face. He’d frozen when Thomas and Ella entered, but he’d perked up since she was freed.
“What are ye thinking?” Euan asked him.
“I’m thinking we canna leave for Brodie just yet. I need some time to woo that lass.”
The following day, Muireall gathered what she would need of her belongings for the next few days, while Euan met with her father to make arrangements to carry the rest of her belongings to Brodie. Despite the fact that Ella still broke down and cried every few minutes, Muireall was thrilled for her. She might be exhausted and ill, but she was free of Thomas Ross, free of the Ross clan altogether. Ella went with her, down the stairs to the great hall, Ella helping her carry her bundles.
She couldn’t fail to note the pleased expression on Calum’s face as he approached them, Euan at his side.
“Are ye well, lass,” he asked Ella.
She gave him an uncertain smile. “I will be.”
“Why no’ take a walk with me, then?” He held out his arm.
Shocked, Muireall looked from him to Euan, who nodded. So Euan had no concerns about Calum pursuing her friend? She thought back over her time at Brodie and how Calum had behaved, then nodded back. Nay, neither did she.
“But…” Ella objected, “ye were leaving for Brodie.”
Muireall suddenly knew what she could do for her friend. “Aye,” she said, “we were. We are. Why no’ come to Brodie with us, as my companion? Some time away from Munro will do ye good.”
Calum beamed at her. “Indeed. Ye must.”
Ella looked from Calum to Muireall to Euan, then nodded. “Very well. Give me a few minutes to gather my things, and we’ll go.”
Euan took Muireall’s hand. “There now, all will be well.”
In a few minutes, Ella was back, a small bundle in her hands.
Euan took the Munro’s arm. “We’ll take good care of the lasses, sir. Georgie, too,” he promised. Then he took Muireall’s hand and led them out of the village, on the way to their boat and their future, across the firth.
Epilogue
“Can ye believe it? Annie’s with child!” Muireall plopped down at the table in the great hall next to Ella, broke off a hunk of oatbread, and took a bite.
“’Tis taken her long enough,” Ella remarked while Muireall chewed. “Aye, I heard the news this morning during the sewing circle. Which ye missed…again. I rarely see ye, and I’m supposed to be yer lady companion. Out riding?”
“Aye. Then archery practice with the younger lasses. Annie wants me to take over for her in a few months until after the baby comes. I still have a lot to learn before then.”
“Ye must be thrilled. Since we returned to Brodie, ye’ve done little else—except closet yerself away with that handsome husband of yers. Are ye certain ye’re no’ expecting, too?”
“Nay, thank the saints. I’m too busy for that.” A young cat jumped onto Muireall’s lap. She smoothed its fur then scratched behind its ears. She couldn’t believe everyone she cared abo
ut, everyone she loved, had returned to her. Even the kitten escape artist young Janie had asked her to fetch that first day she’d arrived at Brodie. It now followed her everywhere she went in the village and keep. She and Euan were happily married. Calum was slowly finding his way through to Ella. Georgie was with her. Euan cared for and trained him as a young lad ought to be—with a firm but loving hand. She couldn’t believe she once thought staying at Munro was the only way she could be happy.
“And she’s having too much fun.” Euan came up beside her and threw a leg over the bench, plucked the cat from her lap and set it on the floor, then settled at her back.
Muireall silently blessed him for saving her from having to explain to Ella that she wasn’t avoiding her. Ella was spending a lot of time with Calum, and seemed happy for the first time since they’d been taken from Munro by Ross warriors. Muireall wanted to encourage that happiness. One good way was to make herself scarce so Ella had plenty of time to spend with Calum. She hoped one day they would be together. She was careful not to make an issue of it, which might make Ella avoid him.
“Ella,” he greeted her friend. “Annie’s news ’tis no’ the only thing to set tongues wagging about this day.”
Muireall turned to face him. “What could be more important than a Brodie heir on the way?”
“The Brodie heir Iain named until a Brodie heir is born. Kenneth, of course. That choice has surprised no one. If the wean’s a lad, and God forbid something happens to Iain before the lad is old enough, Kenneth will hold the chieftainship for him and train the lad.”
“What does that mean?” Ella asked.
“It makes Kenneth officially second in command to Iain, which leaves the position of arms master open.” Euan grinned. “Iain just named a new one to replace him.”
“Who?” Muireall asked, but from the expression on Euan’s face, she was pretty sure she knew the answer.
“Me.”
She threw her arms around his neck. “Oh, Euan, that’s wonderful. Ye are perfect for it!”