Wed to a Highland Warrior

by Donna Fletcher

  “How long till then?”

  “We’ll reach home by nightfall tomorrow.”

  She smiled and squeezed his hand.

  “I thought you would like that; it is the most we can delay. I need to get home to my brothers. The time draws near for the true king to step forward and claim the throne.”

  “I know, but at least we’ll have this brief time, and for that I am grateful.”

  They continued walking, in circles at times, and as the day wore on, and dusk was about to claim the land, Trey turned to her.

  “We need a warm, safe shelter tonight, for I intend to make love to you.”

  She smiled, though she asked, “Do you think it is safe?”

  “The soldiers have searched all day on foot and no doubt are as exhausted as we are and have probably already camped for the night. I’m surprised we can’t hear their complaints and loud snores. Besides, do you sense any soldiers near?”

  She shook her head, knowing that he asked so as to put her mind at ease.

  “Good, then tonight is ours,” he said with a satisfied grin.

  “Where will we find”—she smiled—“you knew I would sense a place.”

  “I hoped you would.”

  “It is a short distance from here, tucked in the woods, a bit worn but usable enough,” she said. “A gift, I believe, from fate.”

  “A good gift; I gratefully accept.”

  As they drew closer to the abandoned cottage, her heart grew heavier, and, at first, she wasn’t sure why; and then she realized that not soon after tonight, they could possibly separate. She didn’t want to believe it, and she certainly didn’t want to tell Trey. It would weigh too heavily upon them both and interfere with their night of love.

  She would say nothing, though . . .

  He was staring at her when she looked his way.

  “Are you going to tell me, or do I have to ask again?”

  She had to smile though the occasion certainly didn’t call for it, but she couldn’t help herself. It was wonderful to know how attuned he was to her and how he didn’t get annoyed with her over it. He simply waited for her to accept how closely they were tied.

  Duncan and Mercy may have had real, solid chains that bound them, but Trey and she were bound by a solid force that no one could destroy.

  She was about to share what she had sensed when a vision hit her so hard that it drove her to her knees.

  Wild and screaming, Leora rushed at her. “Bring him home. Bring him home now, I need him. Now! Now! Now!”

  “Now! Now! Now!” Bliss yelled, as her eyes sprang open.

  She was in Trey’s arms, his expression one of sheer determination.

  “I was about to shake you senseless to wake you.”

  “It was a brief vision.”

  “Leora?”

  Bliss nodded. “She wants you to return home. She says she needs you.”

  “She is dead. What can she need from me?”

  “I don’t know, but I do know we will find out soon.”

  Trey scooped her up in his arms. “But not now, not here, not tonight.”

  She was glad when he carried her to the cottage and said no more.

  Once inside, there was some preparing to be done. A fire needed starting, the small space needed sweeping, and the bed needed tending. They both went to work, wanting it all done as soon as possible.

  “I’m thinking that I would prefer a cottage of our own rather than a bedchamber in the keep,” Trey said, sending a grin her way as he stoked the fire. “More privacy.”

  The words spilled out of her mouth before she could call them back. “What of my cottage?”

  Trey stood and slipped off his shirt. “A place to visit.”

  It wasn’t that she had expected a different answer. After all, women followed where their husbands went, but then, to her, Trey wasn’t like other husbands. He was different, and that was what she loved about him. She also had to consider that he served the true king. He had a duty . . . but, then, so did she.

  He stepped toward her, and she took a step away. He was too appealing bare-chested, and this issue needed to be discussed before she surrendered to him, and perhaps that was her worry. That she would surrender everything to him, and what would be left of her, her people, her ways?

  The thought suddenly frightened her. Was love demanding too much? Or was she surrendering too much?

  “We need to talk,” she said, her hand going up to stop his approach.

  He laughed. “Now is not the time for talk.”

  She kept her eyes on his face, the sight of him half-naked making her hands itch to touch him. “Appease me.”

  He grinned wickedly. “I’d rather pleasure you.”

  “Consider it a prelude to our lovemaking.”

  His grin vanished in a flash. “A necessary one?”

  She nodded.

  “This night was meant for us. Can this not wait?”

  She supposed she could let it go for now and discuss it another time with him, but that would be one more step to complete surrender. Would she lose another part of herself? Her abilities were part of who she was, and, while at times, she found them a burden, she could not live without them. They defined her.

  “Your hesitation tells me you are thinking it over and therefore perhaps it is not as important as you think.”

  That was enough for her to hear. “It’s more important than you’ll ever know.”

  He quirked a brow. “Then let us talk and be done with it.”

  “It cannot be discussed and dismissed easily.”

  “If it is nonsense, it can be discarded easily enough.”

  She told herself to be patient. He was eager to make love to her and annoyed that a discussion should delay their pleasure. She had to make him understand the importance of this matter to her.

  “It’s about my home,” she said.

  “You’ll love your new home,” he assured her with a smile, as if the matter were settled easily.

  She shook her head. “Not your home; my home.”

  His smile disappeared. “My home is your home.”

  “No, it isn’t. I have a home with my people—”

  “You belong with my clan now.”

  “I cannot simply desert my people,” she said.

  “You are not deserting them. We’ll visit with them.”

  “And what if I wish to remain there a while?” she asked.

  “If such a time comes, I’ll see what can be arranged.”

  A shiver ran through her, as if part of her was slipping away. She had come and gone as she pleased for so long that it was strange to think she would need to seek anyone’s permission to do as she pleased.

  “Do not fret over it. We will see that you can visit often with your people and they can come to the keep when in need of healing.”

  She shook her head. “That will not do. My door is always open to my people, and there are times I sense when I am needed.”

  “They must understand that your marriage will take you away from them, to a new home. It is part of marriage. A wife makes a home with her husband. We will make a good home together.”

  “I have no doubt of that. It is where that home will be that troubles me.”

  “You know I serve the true king,” Trey said, as if no more discussion was necessary.

  “So what you are saying is that there is no room for discussion.”

  “What is it that truly bothers you? It can’t be this senseless chatter about where we will live. You know a wife goes with her husband. So what is it that has you stopping us from making love?”

  “I am to abide by a rule that has me surrender my home without thought to what I lose?” she said, more adamantly than she had intended.

  “You think you lose, not gain?�
� he said with a raised voice. “That is what you think of our marriage.”

  Her voice rose as well. “Our marriage is not in question here.”

  “Then tell me what is.”

  His demanding tone irritated her. “You should know.”

  He threw his hands up. “I do not have your abilities, and why don’t you just use them to answer whatever it is that frustrates you and be done with it.”

  Her eyes narrowed, and her lips clamped shut.

  “Don’t even think about remaining silent. We’ll have this out and be done with it.”

  “You tell me to find the answer myself, then order me not to remain silent. Make up your mind.”

  He shook his finger at her. “This was a discussion best left for another time.”

  “You are the one who encouraged me to share all my thoughts with you.”

  “Not when I hunger to make love to you,” he snapped.

  She felt a pang to her heart, but her chin went up. “I didn’t know there would be specific times to discuss things with you.”

  “That’s not what I meant, and you know it.” He rushed his fingers through his hair again. “Damn, but you’re frustrating me, but then you know that too. You know everything.”

  “And that bothers you?” she more accused than asked.

  He stomped over to her and placed his face so close to hers that their noses almost touched. “You know the answer to that too. Now tell me what truly troubles you, and let’s be done with it, though I doubt by now either of us are in the mood for making love.”

  His words hurt, and she stepped back. Had she approached this matter at the wrong time? Was this rift between them entirely her fault? Would she lose a night of making love with a husband she dearly loved because she had thought only of herself?

  Or was she once again surrendering another piece of herself for love?

  “Now you say nothing,” he snapped, “which is what you should have done in the first place.” He turned his back to her, walked to the fireplace, and braced his hand on the mantel.

  She stood where she was: shocked, disappointed, feeling guilty, all feelings foreign to her. Her world had always made sense, but then she had been in control of it. Love had taken that control from her and had taught her what . . . to share?

  But hadn’t that been what she was doing when she had attempted to speak with him?

  Not truly, and he knew it; he knew her. He knew there was more to the matter than the issue of her new home. So why hadn’t she been honest with him? Thus far he had not grown angry with anything she had discussed with him . . . until now.

  He certainly had grown angry, and she understood why. He wanted to make love, not talk, and yet she needed to talk before . . .

  She shook her head. She had wanted him to ease her doubts, her misgivings and her fears that this sudden marriage had been forced on her.

  She glanced over at him and winced, the scars on his back looking as angry as he had. He had suffered so much, and she had felt most of it when she had helped heal him. He was a good, caring man, and, suddenly, the need to end this senseless rift between them overwhelmed her, and she walked over to him.

  With a bit of reluctance but an overpowering need to touch him, she rested her hand on his back.

  As soon as her hand connected with his warm flesh, he turned in a flash and grabbed her wrist. Anger mixed with passion in his eyes and in the next second he scooped her up into his arms.

  “I’m sorry for my harsh words. I wanted nothing more than to make love with you. I could think of nothing all day but making love to you. Even when I led those two fools on a merry chase, I was thinking of what I would do to you tonight. Let me love you. And then we will talk until sunrise if you wish.”

  She smiled and nodded, and hurried them to the bed.

  Chapter 25

  Trey kissed her like a starving man, then quickly shed his plaid and boots and helped her out of her clothes. When he had shed the last of her garments, and she lay naked on the bed, waiting for him to cover her, he took a calming breath, his body so hard for her that it hurt, and slowly moved over her to cradle her hips between his knees.

  He brought his mouth to hers and kissed her lips gently though he wanted nothing more than to ravish them. “I’m sorry for disappointing you.”

  She shook her head in protest.

  He nodded. “Yes, I did disappoint you. I promised I would always be there for you, and I wasn’t this time, and I regret it.”

  “I should have waited,” she said.

  “No, you needed to talk with me, and I could think only of making love with you.”

  “Not a bad thought,” she said with a smile.

  “A selfish one.”

  “Not so,” she said, “for I get great pleasure from making love with you.”

  “I won’t let it happen again. I prom—”

  She pressed her finger to his lips. “Do not promise, for it is one you will not be able to keep.”

  He nipped playfully at her finger, then kissed her lips gently. “I’m going to kiss every part of you.”

  “Do I get to do the same to you?”

  “Only if you want this night to end fast.”

  She laughed and shook her head. “I’d rather what you promised—a night of making love, though”—she grinned and slipped her hand down between his legs to stroke him—“I wish a night to do the same to you.”

  His hand grabbed hold of hers and moved it off him. “I will make certain of it, but tonight . . .” He smiled slowly, the smile turning wickedly sinful as it spread; and then he kissed her.

  Bliss had shared many a kiss with Trey, but this one was as if he kissed her for the first time. She couldn’t say what it was about it that made it feel that way, she just sensed it. It was as if this moment they were starting their life together as husband and wife.

  The thought tugged at her heart and made her senses explode, her body responding like it had never done before. It was as if his kiss had brought every fiber to life. Her skin prickled with passion, her nipples turned hard, aching to be suckled, her stomach fluttered with anticipation, and a tingling desire raged between her legs.

  He had only begun, his lips now at her neck, and already she was mad with the want of him. She would never survive this. She would be crazy with—she nearly bolted off the bed when his lips claimed one nipple, and his tongue played unmercifully with it.

  She moaned and squirmed beneath him. “Trey.”

  His tongue moved to her other nipple, and his hand gripped her breast as his tongue and teeth alternately forced the bud to turn even harder.

  “Trey, I can’t wait.”

  “Not yet,” he said, continuing to torment her.

  “Please, I can’t wait,” she pleaded. “I want you so badly.”

  He glanced up at her and, with a smile, released her breast. “I’m going to make you come over and over and over tonight.”

  His hand had traveled down over her stomach while he spoke and was now slipping between her legs as his mouth returned to torment her nipple.

  She jumped when his thumb grazed her pulsating nub; and then his fingers slipped inside her. His thumb and fingers worked in a rhythm that had her body arching, aching for him to slip inside her, but he didn’t.

  He teased and tormented her until she thought she’d go mad. While she knew he could pleasure her easily his way, she preferred sharing this moment of madness with him. She wanted him inside her, deep inside her. And so she slyly maneuvered her hand down until she was close enough to grab hold of him.

  His body tensed, and she groaned with pleasure at the way the thick size of him fit so snugly in her hand. She then did what he was doing to her—she played with him.

  “Bliss,” he said in a whispered warning.

  “You’re hard for me,” she murmured
in his ear. “Bury yourself inside me and pleasure us both.”

  He groaned. “Damn, Bliss—”

  She intensified her playful tugs. “It’s been too long since you’ve been inside me. I need you to fill me.”

  Her words did the trick. He moved so fast that it stunned her. He drew her legs up over his shoulders and grabbed her bottom as he plunged into her in one swift motion.

  She gasped with pleasure as he drove repeatedly into her, inflaming her passion to unimaginable heights. Her moans grew with each thrust, and she slipped her legs off his shoulder to wrap them around his waist and draw him closer.

  His rhythm intensified, and she could feel his own passion building as wildly as hers. It wouldn’t be long now for either of them. They would climax together, she could feel it, she wanted it, and she wanted them to be one.

  It hit them so hard and quick that they both cried out at the same time, exploding together in a climax that seemed to go on forever, rippling through them again and again and making them shiver down to their souls.

  Trey collapsed on top of her, and she welcomed him. Tingles continued to run through her, and she didn’t want the deliciously delightful feeling to leave her just yet.

  He went to move off her, and she grabbed hold of him to stop him, but she couldn’t, and when he took her with him, rolling her over to rest on top of him, she smiled and settled her head to rest on his chest.

  “I love the feel of you inside me,” she said.

  “Then I will reside there often.”

  She glanced up at him and grinned. “As often as you’d like.”

  He stroked her face. “I am a lucky man to have you as a wife.”

  “Oh!” Bliss cried out and slipped off him, her hand rushing to her stomach as she jumped out of bed.

  Trey was beside her in an instant, his hand resting over hers. “What is it? Did I hurt? Are you in pain?”

  Her eyes turned wide, and she smiled. “We made a child.”

  It was his turn for his eyes to grow wide, and he stared at her, speechless.

  She moved her hand from beneath his and pressed his hand against her stomach. “I felt it the instant he took hold and nested.”