Highlander's Rebellious Love

by Donna Fletcher

  “I am already wet and aching for you.”

  He growled like an angry beast and grew so hard that his manhood throbbed viciously. He wrapped his arm around her waist and hefted her up to bring her bottom down on the edge of the table. Then he grabbed her legs, spreading them, forcing her to lie back and with a hard thrust, he entered her.

  She cried out with such pleasure that it brought a smile to his face. He grabbed her taut bottom, held it firm and helped her meet his every potent thrust.

  It did not take long before she was crying out his name as she exploded in a tremendous climax that she felt down to her bones and back again.

  Hunter did not stop. He had promised her more and she would get what he had promised, even though he was straining not to come.

  Her second climax came close on her first one, shattering her to pieces, turning her body limp.

  Hunter slowed his pace some, delaying his own satisfaction while he methodically teased the dwindling pulses of her last climax to life once again. “Once more,” he ordered and turned his rhythm hard and fast.

  Patience shook her head, thinking she would never survive another climax, but not caring. She welcomed the enormous wave when it hit her, drowning in its glorious pleasure until she had no breath left and felt faint.

  Hunter exploded in a blinding climax that had him groaning like never before. When he was spent and left standing unmoving between her legs, his body trembled with the last vestiges, and he dropped his head back and let out one final groan that shivered his body again.

  It took him a moment to realize that Patience was not moving or speaking and that her body was limp. “Patience,” he nearly shouted. When she did not answer, he pulled out of her and grew far more upset when he lifted her in his arms and felt how lifeless she was.

  He shouted this time as he carried her to the bed. “Patience!”

  She cringed and was barely able to whisper, “I am not deaf.”

  “What is wrong?” he asked roughly as he placed her on the bed and hunched down beside it.

  “It would seem,” —she paused, needing to take a breath— “that your sword is a mightier weapon than I had first thought.” She paused a moment again, though smiled. “It has done me in.”

  Hunter laughed with relief, then went and grabbed the bucket of water and a cloth and returned to hunch down beside the bed again. After wetting and rinsing the cloth, he gently wiped her face with it.

  Patience sighed. “You are a most pleasing husband, I will definitely keep you.”

  Hunter laughed again. “I am glad to know that, for I intend to keep you as well.” He rinsed the cloth again and wiped her neck.

  She shivered.

  “You grow chilled,” he said, reaching for the blanket.

  She rested her hand on his arm. “I would prefer that you keep me warm.”

  Hunter got in bed with her, settling her to rest her back to his front, then he slipped the blanket over them and laid his arm across her.

  She pulled it tight against her chest, snuggled back against him, mumbled something, and fell fast asleep.

  Hunter expected sleep to elude him again, but not so. Sleep crept over him as fast as it had his wife and his last thought before drifting off was that he could have sworn that Patience had told him that she loved him.

  Chapter Twenty-four

  Patience sat on her horse staring forlornly at the cottage. When they had first arrived here two days ago, she had been anxious to have the time pass quickly so she could meet up with her warriors and continue on their mission. Now she wished for more time alone here with her husband. It had been the most wonderful two days of her life. She had hoped to come to love Hunter one day as his mother had come to love his father. Never had she expected to fall in love with him so hard and fast. She could not think of life without him. It was as if he had suddenly become part of her, an essential part, she could not live without.

  “Are you ready?” Hunter asked, riding up beside her.

  “It is more difficult than I thought to leave this place.”

  He reached out, resting his hand over hers. “We take with us what we shared here. As long as we are together, that is all that matters. Besides, we have things that need tending if we are to ever enjoy our life together. Heather must be brought home and Greer must be seen to.”

  She leaned over and gave him a quick kiss. “You are proving to be a worthy husband more and more each day,” —she grinned— “and an exceptional lover.”

  “I told you I would be a good husband,” he said, turning his horse to lead the way out of the woods. “As for my skills as a lover... I believe I will continue to prove them to you.”

  Patience followed him. “I think that once we are home you should prove them at least twice a day.”

  “Why wait until we reach home?”

  “There is little privacy left to us on this journey,” she reminded.

  He laughed. “You misjudge my many talents.”

  A shiver of anticipation ran through her at the thought of making love with him in places other than the cottage. They had made love endlessly there. Every time she believed herself spent, her body satiated, he would touch her and her body would spark to life, though it was more a fire now than a spark.

  She sighed with the memories. “I truly love your talents and you displayed them most wonderfully when I straddled you on the chair this morning.”

  “You are welcome to straddle me any time, wife.”

  “Be careful,” she warned, “you may grow tired of me.”

  “That will never happen,” he said with a laugh that rang through the forest, though stopped suddenly.

  Patience’s hand instantly went to the hilt of her sword at her side.

  “We are being followed or perhaps the Dark Dragon feels we need an escort.”

  “Or does he protect us from what waits beyond the woods?” Patience pushed all thoughts from her mind and let the warrior in her reign. She had her warriors to see to, Hunter’s mother returned to them, and the both of them kept protected from Greer, and then there was Heather.

  There was not time to think about falling in love with her husband or making love with him. She needed to concern herself with more important things.

  “We need to hurry the pace,” she called out to Hunter.

  It was hard to ignore the distinct command in her voice. She was once again a warrior, the woman in her pushed aside and locked away. He had thought she was free, but not yet. In time, she would be, and then the warrior and the woman would finally become one.

  Patience halted her horse when she reached the edge of the woods and Hunter followed suit. Her stallion pawed the ground, anxious to be on his way, but she held him firm.

  She turned to Hunter. “Anything could be waiting for us.”

  “At least we are not alone,” he reminded.

  “Aye, and he wants no blood shed on his land.”

  “Though, he will spill it if necessary.”

  “And so will I,” she said with a fire in her eyes as she urged her stallion forward.

  “I know,” he whispered as he rode after her, “and it frightens the bloody hell out of me.”

  ~~~

  They stopped a few hours later to give the horses and themselves a brief rest.

  Hunter disappeared for a short time in the nearby woods and returned with news. “The ghost warriors have left us.”

  Patience wrinkled her brow. “That seems odd. Why leave us now when we still have a distance to go?”

  “Perhaps they believe we are no longer in harm’s way.”

  “Or something more urgent calls them away.”

  “Whatever the reason, we need to be more watchful,” he cautioned.

  “Is that concern I hear, husband?”

  “Aye, it is and you should be feeling it yourself. It is not only the unknown reason the warriors departed that worries me, but my brother as well. I have repeatedly warned you that Greer will stop at nothing to get what
he wants and you have seen that for yourself. If one plan fails, it will be followed by another, then another. He is relentless.”

  “And the Dark Dragon’s threat means little to him since he will make our attack appear as if he had no hand in it.” She shook her head. “The ghost warriors saw Greer’s men attack us and possibly heard what they said. They will inform the Dark Dragon.”

  “Greer will claim he gave no such order,” Hunter said.

  “I cannot believe that the Dark Dragon would believe him.”

  “He probably would not, but if distracted elsewhere...”

  “The Dark Dragon is much too skilled a warrior to be so easily deceived.”

  “You do not truly know the extent of my brother’s deviousness,” Hunter said. “He will kill, without remorse, anyone who stands in his way.”

  It struck Patience then. “Greer killed your father.”

  Though Hunter remained silent, the burning rage in his blue eyes answered for him.

  It was not curiosity, but concern for her husband that had her asking, “What happened?”

  A rustle close by had them both drawing their swords and turning. The two squirrels at play froze a moment, then scurried up a tree.

  “Time to be on our way,” Hunter said, sounding as if he commanded.

  She walked over to him. “You will tell me.” Her voice rang with authority, though her hand went to gently rest on his shoulder. “When you are ready.”

  Hunter’s arm shot around her waist and his lips came down on hers, brisk and potent.

  The brief, intense kiss shivered her down to her bones and turned her limbs so weak that she held onto his arms for a moment.

  “We ride fast and hard,” he said and swiftly lifted her onto her horse.

  It was not her horse that she wanted to ride hard and fast and annoyed at the distracted thoughts, she chased them away with a few silent oaths. However, a few lingered in the corners of her mind, taunting her.

  Hunter set a faster pace. He wanted to make certain that his wife was safely ensconced within the abbey before nightfall so that she would have the added protection of her skilled warriors.

  A roll of thunder was heard and a storm cloud hovered in the distance. Patience hoped it would leave them in peace and travel opposite of their direction. Another sound of thunder had her turning to see if the cloud had moved closer.

  “Riders!” she shouted to Hunter, catching sight of four men not far from them.

  Hunter turned and let loose with a sharp oath upon seeing the warriors bearing down on them. They were still too far from the abbey to try an outrun them. They would have a better chance of surviving if they stopped and battled them.

  Patience voiced the same. “We cannot outrun them.”

  “A clear field ahead,” Hunter said with a quick nod for her to take a look.

  She did and nodded in agreement.

  They were off their horses as soon as they reached the field. Patience did not waste a moment, she grabbed her bow and cache of arrows and positioned herself for a shot.

  Hunter was about to tell her it was too far of a distance, but never got the chance.

  Her arrow hit one man in the chest and he went flying off his horse.

  Hunter stood speechless as he watched Patience grab another arrow and with a quick draw of her bow sent it flying in the distance. It caught another warrior in the shoulder and knocked him off his horse. He took a hard fall, his head hitting a large rock.

  “To pests left,” she said as if talking of nothing more than a couple of annoying insects.

  The last two warriors slowed their approach and their pace, while talking between each other.

  “Get on your horse,” Hunter ordered and when she did not move, he yelled, “Now Patience!”

  “More warriors are coming, are they not?” she asked. “That is why they slow and no longer wish to engage us. They will follow and leave a good trail for others to do the same.”

  “Aye, now get on your horse,” he ordered again.

  Patience paid him no heed. She readied another bow, but when the two warriors saw what she was doing, they soon had their horses taking several steps back. The arrow missed its mark and she got angry and mounted her horse.

  “Now you obey me,” he said frustrated and mounted his horse.

  “They cannot be allowed to follow us,” she said and urged her stallion straight for the two warriors.

  Hunter froze, her action shocking him. He swore and took off after her, fearful that he would not reach her in time, but then she was a skilled warrior. But she was also his wife and that mattered more than anything. His worry surged. Once this was over and he got his hands on her he would—he shook his head—he would hug her tight and be grateful that they had survived.

  The two warriors wore big grins and rode directly at her.

  “Idiots,” she said to herself, giving her horse rein, as she had taught him to do, while she readied her bow.

  The two idiot warriors laughed and kept coming at her.

  “Perfect, you fools,” she said and let an arrow fly.

  It went straight through one man’s neck and blood flew everywhere. The warrior barely had time to grab his neck before he fell from his horse dead.

  The other warrior looked on in horror and abruptly brought his horse to a halt. Then his face exploded with bright red rage and he advanced on her with a horrific battle cry.

  Hunter’s blood ran cold and he reached for his sword as he watched his wife release another arrow.

  It pierced the man’s chest, going straight through his back and he toppled off his horse.

  Patience hurried and turned her horse, and Hunter was about to do the same when Patience called out for him to halt.

  She came up alongside him, her stallion snorting and stumping, annoyed over being reined in. “We need to separate.”

  She once again stunned him silent, though he did not take long to recover and with a jab of his finger in her direction said, “Absolutely not.”

  “We have no choice and no time to argue about it. Others will come and discover our tracks. We need to separate.”

  “And what stops them from dividing and following us?”

  “Nothing, but separating will not give them what they want... a scene where it appears that you and I died battling one another. And that could very well save our lives.”

  “I cannot let you go off on your own,” he insisted, even though she made sense.

  “We have no choice,” she reiterated, “and no time to argue. You know full well I can take care of myself and you have shown you are capable of the same. We separate and meet at the abbey.”

  “I am not leaving you on your own,” he said fiercely, reaching out to grab her reins.

  She yanked her horse away from him. “If you love me you will, for if you do not do as I say we both surely will die.”

  Her point was too valid to argue with, though he certainly was not pleased by it. As much as he hated to admit it, separating would spoil Greer’s plan, together they would not survive. “You better make it to the abbey, wife.”

  “Give me reason to,” she demanded with a smile.

  “I can give you many,” he said, his tone suggestive.

  Her smile softened. “I will give you one good reason to make it to the abbey.”

  “And what would that be?”

  “I want to make love with my husband tonight...the man I love with all my heart and then some. So hurry and do not keep me waiting.” She rode off, knowing if she did not they would wind up in each other’s arms and there was no time for that.

  After entering the woods that ran parallel to the field, she turned to look for him, hoping he was gone. She sighed when she saw that he was nowhere in sight and sent a quick prayer to the heavens that he be kept safe. Then she did what she did best, she called on her warrior skills to survive.

  ~~~

  Hunter took off and in minutes laid tracks that any idiot could follow. Then he dismoun
ted and followed backwards behind his horse, erasing their tracks. He ended at a stream where he mounted his stallion and took off... after his wife.

  He never had any intentions of leaving her whether her plan held merit or not. She had sealed his decision when she had told him she loved him. He had wanted to reach out, grab her, and never let her go. And when he caught up with her, he intended to do just that... never let her out of his sight.

  For now he had to create the illusion that they had separated and remained so. He followed the stream down for quite a ways, then crossed it. It was not long before he picked up her trail, though he halted his horse, realizing that there was not one rider but many. He dismounted and quickly examined the tracks, determining that they were fresh ones. One rider was light in weight while the others were heavy. Could Greer’s men have caught up with his wife so soon? He was about to find out since the riders were not too far ahead of him.

  Hunter mounted his horse once again and proceeded slowly and cautiously. It did not take long before he saw riders a few feet ahead and he eased his horse to a halt.

  “If you had not been so busy entertaining the lassies, you would remember what you were taught about tracking. One warrior always lags behind to catch fools like you.”

  Hunter shook his head and turned, relieved to see Ewan’s oldest son, Noble sitting astride his horse. “But just think of all the fun I would have missed.”

  Noble approached him and Hunter could see that he was a younger version of his father, fine featured and solidly built.

  Noble looked around. “Where is your wife? My father speaks highly of her and I want to meet the woman who has the unfortunate task of being wed to you.”

  “I am going after her now.”

  “Ran out on you already, did she?”

  “Running from Greer’s men,” Hunter said.

  Noble’s smile faded. “Come, we will talk with my father. My brother Ross and I insisted on accompanying him and your mum to the abbey.”

  Hunter was relieved to see that his mum was fine and that she now had the added protection of Ewan’s two sons. Beast circled his horse, his tail wagging rapidly, happy to see him. Once he explained to Ewan what happened, he ordered his sons to go with Hunter to find Patience. He would see that Una got safely to the abbey.