His Bonnie Highland Temptation (The Clan Sinclair Book 2)

by Celeste Barclay

  Siùsan was waving and greeting Laird Sinclair when Callum noticed Elizabeth coming down the steps from the keep.

  “Shite.”

  Siùsan’s head whipped around to follow Callum’s line of sight.

  “What’s she doing here? I thought ye said ye sent her away. Why is she still here?” Siùsan tried to control the panic in her voice.

  Callum dismounted and lifted Siùsan down. He wrapped his arm around her from the back and pulled her against his chest. He was determined to show any and everyone that not only had he claimed and returned with Siùsan but that he was glad for it.

  “Lads, ye’re back and not looking too worse for wear. Well, all except for Callum. What happened to ye, son?”

  Siùsan ducked her head. At first, Callum thought it was from embarrassment, but then he felt her small body shake and realized she was laughing. He gave her a squeeze and that only made her snort. She covered her face with her hand.

  “Callum thought himself a tree nymph and tried to prance across the tree tops, but his clod hopping, giant of a body crashed through the branchs.” Tavish laughed as he clapped his older brother on his one good shoulder.

  “Is that so? Was he chasing a squirrel?”

  “More like an elusive dove,” Callum looked down at Siùsan.

  “Flattery might just get ye everywhere,” she murmured over her shoulder. Facing forward, she admitted, “Laid Sinclair, he was chasing me. I hadnae decided yet whether I wanted to be found.”

  “I take it ye made up yer mind.”

  “Aye, well, yer son can be persuasive. Though now I’m wondering whether I married him under false pretenses.” She jerked her chin in the direction of Elizabeth as she approached.

  Elizabeth moved provocatively towards the small group. She swayed her hips and jostled her breasts.

  “I truly didna ken she would still be here. I didna lie to ye. I wouldnae lie to ye about aught and certainly nae something like this that could drive us apart.” Callum whispered in Siùsan’s ear. She just nodded. Callum felt her tense in preparation for a confrontation.

  “Did I hear ye say ye were married?”

  “Aye, Da. We handfasted four days ago. We are well and truly wed,” Callum said proudly.

  “Then ye should be calling me Da, lass.” He reached out and opened his arms. Siùsan stepped forward without hesitation. Callum released her and immediately felt the loss of contact.

  The Sinclair engulfed Siùsan in a massive hug. She felt safe and cocooned by his fatherly embrace for only the second the time in her entire life. She turned her head and rested a cheek on his chest. She wrapped her arms around him.

  “Dinna fash at him. He truly didna ken she would be here. He tried to send her away. The storms kept her, and we’ve had a bit of an emergency where we needed a lady’s aid. That’s the only reason for her still being here.” Laird Sinclair quietly explained.

  Burrowing a little further into his embrace, Siùsan nodded.

  “Da,” she whispered.

  “Aye,” he squeezed her and then released her. She stepped back and felt Callum’s arm immediately come around her. He pulled her to his side.

  Elizabeth walked up to the group, but they shut her out. Except for Callum, who with one broken arm and the other gripping Siùsan could not, father and sons assumed their most natural position, arms crossed with their feet planted apart.

  Elizabeth tried to squeeze in or look between them but Siùsan was now family and to be protected at all costs.

  “Where is Alex? Why isnae he here to greet us?”

  “Ah well, we had a bit of our own adventure. Alex is caring for an unexpected guest who showed up during the storms. Our guest is a lady, so that is why we had Elizabeth come in to the keep from time to time. Otherwise, she has been staying in the village.” Laird Sinclair stated pointedly.

  “Alex playing nursemaid. I dinna believe it.” Callum laughed and scratched his head. “I’d like to take Siùsan inside and get her settled.”

  The small group turned to walk to the keep. Elizabeth seized this opportunity to gain Callum’s attention.

  “Ma lord, I can have yer bath prepared, so I can wash yer back just as ye like it.”

  Siùsan gasped quietly but, to Callum’s credit, he did not react or take his eyes off Siùsan. Growing desperate, Elizabeth tried again.

  “Our chamber is ready, and we can retire now.”

  This brought Callum to an immediate halt. His tight hold on Siùsan caused her to stop abruptly too. She stumbled into Callum. She felt how rigid he had become.

  “Never has it been our chamber. One night. One recklessly stupid, regrettable night is what ye spent there. Now yer assistance is nae longer needed. Return to the village. Dinna come back even to the bailey. I will arrange yer escort this vera day. Dinna ever insult ma wife again,” he ground out between clenched teeth.

  Callum turned to his brothers, “Magnus, Tavish, with me. Da, ye too if ye please.”

  The brothers shrugged and followed Callum and Siùsan across the bailey. Laird Sinclair walked alongside the couple.

  “Aboot time ye took yer bollacks back from that she-devil,” Magnus commented.

  “Ma bollacks have been just where I needed them.” Callum shot him a glare and looked down pointedly at Siùsan. Magus nodded sheepishly.

  The small entourage reached the chapel. Callum stopped at the doors of the small kirk.

  “Siùsan, we have pledged ourselves to each other when we handfasted and each time our bodies come together, but I would have the blessing of the church so nay person can dispute our marriage. Ye are ma wife, and I would make that permanent as of this moment. What say ye?” Callum held his breath. He believed that Siùsan would agree, but they had already been through much, and a small part of him still worried that she might take the opportunity to end their union after a year and a day, if not sooner.

  “Aye.”

  That one word seemed to lift the weight of the world off Callum’s shoulders. They all entered the kirk. Father Paul came out of the sacristy when he heard the party enter the chapel.

  “Ma laird, ma lady, lads, what can I do for ye?” Father Paul was one of the few who could still get away with calling the brothers “lad,” but he had officiated all their baptisms, and Alexander had even tiddled on him as an infant while receiving the sacrament. He was as much a member of the family as he was the clan’s priest.

  “Father Paul, Siùsan and I handfasted four days ago, but I would have us say our vows before ye and God right now. I would have our marriage registered.”

  “Is that so? Ye ken I havenae posted the bans three times yet.”

  “Father, we are already married in every way in the eyes of God. I would have it made official so nay person can dispute it.”

  Callum did not need to say more for Father Paul and Laird Sinclair to understand the relationship had been consummated but for good measure, he added, “even if we hadnae handfasted, we are wed by consent. Siùsan has said aloud she wishes to wed with me more than three times.”

  “I ken yer meaning, ma son. Ye dinna need to convince me.” Father Paul moved towards the altar and gestured for them to follow.

  Father Micahel kissed his stole and wrapped the vestment around his neck. He cleared his throat and looked at Callum and Siùsan. Callum and Siùsan joined hands and stood looking at one another with Callum’s plaid wrapped once more around their wrists by Laird Sinclair.

  “Ye will recite yer vows but I dinna think we shall do a full mass. We can save the nuptial mass for when the clan may witness it.”

  Siùsan looked over at Father Paul with her brow wrinkled. “We will still be really and truly wed even without the full mass?”

  “Aye, ma dear. It is the recitation of yer vows and ma blessing that makes ye wed in the eyes of the church. Are ye both ready?”

  Looking at one another again, they stated their agreement in unison. Siùsan felt like the ceremony went by in a blur. Having already made her betroth
al and then handfasting vows, Siùsan focused more on the man standing across from her. They were both travel weary, and their clothes were stained form the journey. Callum’s broken arm was in the splint and sling she had made. Despite all of this, or perhaps because of it all, Siùsan thought he had never looked more ruggedly handsome. So much had transpired in such an incredibly short time. She had spent over a score of years feeling unloved and unwanted. She had arrived at the Sinclairs and had feared more than once that her situation would carry on much the same way only in a new location. However, as she stood before Callum, holding his hand and looking into his smoky brown eyes, she felt his love for her coming off him in waves. She felt it as he squeezed her hand. She felt it in the secret smile as one side of his mouth tilted in a grin. She felt it in the smoldering look in his eyes that promised so much more later. She felt it in the way he leaned forward as if to touch more of her, to be closer to protect her. She knew she truly had found her home, and it was with Callum.

  Callum looked down at the woman he had come to love with a stomach clenching, heart squeezing fierceness. She barely came to the center of his chest, but she was filled with enough spirit and bravery to rival any of his men. His mind flashed back to the first time he saw her then to their first time on the beach together. He remembered the relief and anger he had felt when he spotted her among the leaves of the treetops, and he remembered the pride and fierce loyalty he had felt as she defended him and his men with her flying dirks.

  I didna want a wife, and I vera nearly ruined it all, but somehow this beautiful woman forgave me over and over and still had enough faith in me to wed me. Twice. I willna fail her again. I will cherish her for the rest of ma days. I just pray we can have the love and happiness ma parents shared. I just hope I have her by ma side longer than Da had Mama. I dinna ken if I could go on without her. I truly love her.

  Callum’s attention snapped back to the present when he heard the priest say amen. He looked down at the plaid that had been woven around their joined hands. He saw an extra sparkle in Siùsan’s emerald eyes. They were like the grass on the rolling hills after a summer rain.

  “Wife,” he whispered.

  “Husband,” she said on a sigh.

  Much like the night they handfasted by the steam in the forest, Callum pulled his injured arm from his sling. He ignored the sharp shooting pain in his shoulder, so he could wrap both arms around his bride. He pulled her in for a kiss filled with promises of passion and pledges of love. She melted into his embrace as she wrapped her arms around his waist. The laughs and snickers were not enough to separate them. It was only the dire need to come up for air that finally pulled them apart.

  “Ye really should be taking better care of that shoulder, or it willna heal properly.”

  “As ye say, wife.” Callum truly enjoyed saying that word now, but he knew it was only because it referred to Siùsan.

  The family left the kirk and moved to the Great Hall.

  “I wish now that we had summoned Alex. I regret not including him.”

  “He has barely left our guest’s chamber since she showed up. I’m not sure that he would have even come. He seems to have developed some sense of responsibility for her,” Laird Sinclair explained.

  “I will have to go and see him later. Da, Siùsan and I still plan to visit her MacLeod kin. We just returned long enough to restock our supplies.”

  “And long enough for ye to rest and heal yer arm.”

  “I thought ye were in a hurry to reach them.”

  “They arenae going anywhere. Ye need to heal.” Siùsan planted her feet and crossed her arms just as she had already seen the Sinclair men do at least a dozen times. “And at the time, I was running from ye. Now ye’re stuck with me.” She playfully scowled as she imitated his fierce look.

  “Yer wee bride seems to have ye by the bollocks again, brother,” Tavish goaded.

  “I wouldnae have it any other way.” Callum kissed the top of Siùsan’s head. “I will remind ye of this when it’s yer turn.”

  “It’ll be a day hotter than Hades in Scotland before that happens. I have ye and yer future bairns along with Alex ahead of me for the lairdship. I’m having too much fun to settle down. Besides, I couldnae deprive so many lasses.”

  “Ye will have a wife one day, and I doubt she’ll appreciate having yer past in her face, especially if ye sire any bastards.” Siùsan walked towards the stairs leading to the chambers.

  Tavish looked at Callum. “I’m sorry. I seem to put ma foot in shite around her just aboot as muh ye.”

  “Dinna fash. I ken.”

  Chapter Twenty-Four

  Callum took the stairs two at a time to catch up with Siùsan. When they reached the landing, Callum linked his hand with hers. They moved down the passageway. When they came to Callum’s door, Siùsan stopped but Callum continued. She looked at him confused. She did not understand why he did not want to enter his chamber.

  “Ye havenae been gone so long as to forget where yer chamber is.”

  “That isnae ma chamber anymore. Ours is down the hall.” He tried to continue on, but she would not budge.

  “I dinna understand. Why is Mairghread’s chamber now ours? It isnae larger. If anything, it’s smaller.”

  Callum ground his teeth and ran his hand through his hair. He really did not want to explain because it would require him to admit something he was ashamed of, but one look at Siùsan’s expectant face told him it could not be avoided.

  “I cannae bring maself, or ye, to use that chamber. I dinna want the reminder of ma transgressions.”

  Siùsan swallowed and slowly nodded her head.

  “Other than her, no others have shared that bed with ye?”

  Callum nodded.

  “That woman was there for only one night?”

  Callum nodded again.

  “It is now ma chamber. She may have had one night, but I will have it for a lifetime. I claim it just as I claim ye.”

  Siùsan took his hand and tugged him towards the door which she opened. Callum kicked the door closed and swung Siùsan around to press her against the wood. He looked down at her and smiled enigmatically.

  “I should have carried ye across the threshold or jumped the broom, but I didna think ye would want to be slung over ma shoulder like a sack of turnips anymore. Tis not very romantic.” He lifted his arm in the sling a little.

  “Ye wouldnae want me to think ye’d given up on the romance already,” she laughed.

  Callum dipped his head and captured her mouth. He slid his tongue along the seam of her lips. When she parted them, he pressed his tongue into her mouth. Siùsan sucked on his tongue. Callum’s cock became rigid and pulsed. He reached behind Siùsan and locked the door. He pulled at the laces of her kirtle as she unfastened the broach at his shoulder and then unfastened his sporran. They pushed and pulled at each other’s clothes and peppered each other’s faces with kisses.

  Callum bent slightly at the knees and lifted Siùsan over his good shoulder. She squealed as her hair hung down almost to the back of Callum’s knees. He walked over to the bed and unceremoniously dropped her on to the bed. He then climbed onto the bed and rolled over onto his back.

  “I decided that was easier and faster after all.”

  “Nae romantic but ever practical.” Siùsan ran her hand over the ripples of his abdomen. They flexed and twitched as she caressed his slightly hairy chest. She ran her hand down to where the nest of dark curls began. She teased him by sliding her fingers near his rod but then pulling away. She flicked her fingernail against one and then the other nipple. She leaned forward and sucked one of his nipples into her mouth and bit lightly. She rose up onto her knees and stradled him. She was careful not to rest any of her weight on him but leaned forward to tempt him with her breasts hovering over his mouth. He captured the back of her head and pressed softly until he was able to kiss her swollen lips. He noted that they were extra plump from their kisses. When she pulled back, he grasped one of her br
easts and brought it to his mouth. He used his one good hand to knead her other breast as he feasted on the first. When he had his fill of one breast, he moved to the other. He slid his hand down and began to slide his fingers into her moist sheath. She sat back and shook her head. She smiled mischieviously as she slowly backed towards his feet. She let her breast trail over his body. As they moved next to his pulsating rod, she squeezed her breasts around his cock. Callum could not take his eyes off his bride who held his cock between her ample breasts. She rocked slowly so that it slid up and down. He could not believe that his bride of four days, who had been an innocent not so long ago, was turning into sin incarnate.

  Siùsan watched attentively as Callum’s rod slid between her breasts. She used her hands to cup her breasts and to tighten her hold on his cock. She watched, mesmorized, as the tip leaked slightly. She remembered what Callum had done with his tongue several times on their journey home. She remembered what they had done at the loch and in the meadow that seemed so long ago even though it was only just a sennight ago.

  Siùsan bent forward and slid her tongue across the top of Callum’s shaft. She flicked her tongue over the small slit as it leaked more. Callum groaned and fisted the sheet in his one good hand. The hand of the arm trapped in the sling clenched and unclenched over and over. Siùsan released his cock from her breasts and slid back further to straddle his legs. She leaned down and ran her tongue from the hilt to the tip of his cock. She licked the ridge on the underside of his shaft and marveled when his cock twitched. She swirled her tongue around the tip and then flicked it against the tender spot where his shaft rounded to the tip. Callum growled as his hips surged up towards her. She wrapped her hand around his iron rod and took him into her mouth.

  “Siùsan! Ye dinna have to do this.” Callum was still always a little surprised when she took him into her mouth. It was something that he never thought his lady wife would do, but that was long before he met Siùsan. More than one woman had serviced Callum with her mouth, but that did not mean that he expected Siùsan to do it routinely. He tried to sit up and push her shoulder up. She batted away his hand and pressed her free hand against his chest.