Heart of a Highlander

by Tammy Andresen

  “I’m listening,” she gasped as his hand grabbed her other hip increasing the pressure and the rocking.

  “I love you,” he said. “I’ll never love another. The summit was so difficult on ye, I didn’t want to tell ye I was leaving fer the Highands and then there wasn’t time after I asked ye to marry me. But I never would have left without ye. Ye’re my everything.”

  He moved her in a steady rocking motion that had heat curling in her belly as the ache grew. “Ye love me? I’m yer everything?” she moaned as he pulled her shift up over her hips.

  “Ye ken ye are, Fiona. I’ve already gotten permission from yer father to marry ye.”

  “Then why didn’t he say that?” she cried. But her resistance had melted and she reached between their bodies, grabbing his manhood and positioning it at her entrance.

  He grunted as he sunk into her. “Bloody hell, Fiona, ye feel so good, love. He didn’t want tae ruin the surprise I’m guessin’ and I couldn’t tell him I’d proposed while lyin’ in yer bed the night before. It was a misunderstanding. That’s all.”

  Fiona tossed her head back, arching her hips to take him all the way in. His words made perfect sense. He’d asked her father. And her father had been shifty that morning. He’d been trying to find out if Colin had already proposed. Fiona could have groaned with frustration if she weren’t moaning in pleasure.

  Rising up off of him, she sank back down. “Ye mean ye really didn’t leave me? Ye weren’t running away?”

  “No, but I don’t blame ye fer thinkin’ I had. But I meant it, Fiona. I want ye tae come wit’ me and if ye refuse, then I’ll stay too. I’ll find another way to support us. I swear it.”

  He sat up then and sucked one of her nipples into his mouth. Grabbing onto his shoulders she bucked her hips against him, crying out in pleasure. “Ye’d stay for me?”

  “Without a second thought.” He rolled them over then and pushed inside her, sending her spiraling out of control.

  “Ye asked me where I wanted to marry.” She dug her fingers into his back as he picked up the tempo. “The smithy will marry us tomorrow.” She gasped about to fall over the edge. “We can have another ceremony for our families but I want to ken ye’re mine.” Because everything came apart when they were separated. “No more being apart.”

  “Yes,” he hissed as his body increased the tempo even more. “It will be you and me, Fiona, forever.”

  “Forever,” she gasped as her body shattered into a thousand pieces.

  Colin held her in his arms. Haggis might kill him for marrying Fiona like this, but there was no way he’d deny her anything now.

  From here on out, there would be no more secrets, no more attempts to shield his heart from her. He belonged to her.

  He held her in his arms for the entire night and when the sun rose, he woke her once again with kisses.

  Her eyes popped open and he could see the weariness in them. “Where are ye goin’?” she asked assessing him as she leaned back.

  “We,” he emphasized the word. “Are going to Kirkaldy.” He gave her a rueful grin. “We do best when were together, don’t ye think? I’ll not be parted from ye again.”

  Her looked turned from weary to glowing in an instant as she showered his face with kisses. “I agree,” she finally managed to answer. “But the maid won’t be in for another hour, maybe more considering yesterday. I want ye to take me standing again. That was glorious.”

  Colin nearly choked. Fiona was going to be insatiable. Like everything else she did, she would make love to its fullest. It would be glorious indeed.

  An hour later, they shimmied out her window and stole horses out of the barn to make their way back to town. They’d spent their life sneaking about. To marry this way, it felt so right.

  It only took a few minutes to find the smithy and a few more to convince him to perform the ceremony. Normally he wouldn’t give it a second thought, but Haggis was not a man to make an enemy of.

  It took a fair number of coins but Colin finally got him to agree. He left for a brief moment to bring his son and wife in to perform as witnesses.

  Colin hoped Fiona would agree to move to the Highlands, they’d need some distance from her family. At least for a while.

  As the smithy tied their hands together with a ribbon, Colin looked into Fiona’s green eyes and forgot the rest of the world. Forever was theirs.

  He heard the rumble of the hooves, but he ignored them, focusing on her instead. But something was wrong. The smithy didn’t start the ceremony.

  “Drat,” he heard Fiona mumble as her eyes cast out the window.

  That word didn’t begin to describe it. Dismounting from his horse was Haggis, Keiran behind him.

  “How fast can ye marry us?” Colin swung his gaze to the smithy.

  “Not fast enough,” the man muttered, his eyes on the giant about to enter his shop.

  Colin swallowed a lump in his throat. He might be able to take one of them, but he doubted he could take both. “If I die, I’ve got a full purse in my vest. Ye take it, and ye sign the documents that Fiona and I were man and wife. She’ll need the protection, dae ye hear me?”

  “Yer not goin’ tae die,” Fiona pronounced as she turned to face the door.

  Her father entered, rage turning his face near purple. Colin felt the blood drain from his face. As he opened his mouth to speak, Fiona beat him too it. “Ye were almost too late.”

  Her father stopped, blinking. “Too late?”

  “Tae see yer first daughter get married.” Fiona turned back to Colin as though that settled the matter.

  “Does yer mother ken ye’re here?” Haggis growled out.

  Fiona had the decency to blush then. “This is between Colin and myself.”

  “Like hell it is.” Haggis slammed a fist on the wooden table next to him making the entire place shake. Colin was surprised the furniture held without breaking into several pieces.

  Fiona huffed. “Da, we don’t do well when we’re apart. And I wished ye told me he’d come tae ye with a marriage proposal. I thought he was running away again. My reputation is so thoroughly ruined that we thought it would be best to do this quickly.”

  Haggis blinked at her. “Ye were a petulant child and ye’re a menace as an adult.”

  Fiona gave him an angelic look. “Fortunately fer you, I’ll be Colin’s problem in just a few minutes. Now, did ye ken that he was inheriting a Lairdship in the Highlands?”

  “What of it?” Haggis asked.

  Fiona clucked her tongue. “Neither of ye thought to mention it to me!” Then she used her free hand to smooth her hair. Colin tried to keep the grin from his face. Haggis could no more deny her than he himself could. “How could ye, Da?”

  “Fiona, be reasonable,” Haggis started then looked to him, a growl rumbling in chest. “You and I will be talkin’ later.”

  “I don’t think so,” Fiona’s voice rose. “The two of ye talkin’ without me was part of the problem.”

  “Keiran told me ye turned him away yesterday, how are ye here now?” Haggis stepped closer, his sheer size imposing.

  “I called to her through bedroom window,” Colin quickly answered before Fiona could say something different. He hoped Haggis accepted the Romeo and Juliet explanation.

  “We agreed, Da, that we do best when we are together. When we part…” Fiona took a breath.

  Colin filled in. “That’s when things go wrong.”

  Haggis’s shoulders slumped. Then he pointed at the Smithy, “Ye’ll be in attendance when they marry again on Saturday next.”

  Fiona gave a little bounce. “Thank ye, Da.”

  But Haggis only shook his head. “I’m only agreein’ because I’ll sleep better wit’ ye married. I love ye Fiona, but thank God there’s only one of ye.”

  “Do ye think my sisters will be easier?” She quirked a brow.

  Haggis only shook his head suddenly looking tired. “Emilia is too shy by half and Ainsley always has a hoard of men follo
win’ behind her. They won’t be any easier, just different.”

  Colin felt a twinge of sympathy for Haggis. He was right, his daughters were each challenging in their own ways. “Emilia might surprise ye. Ye should have seen the lecture she gave me.”

  “Dumfries said he’d help too. Mayhap, I’ll send Ainsley to him.” Haggis straightened at the thought. “On with the ceremony,” he declared.

  Colin breathed a sigh of relief. Mayhap, he’d live to see tomorrow after all. He looked at Fiona and all those thoughts fell away. She was lovely standing in the morning light. He’d never be apart from her again.

  Epilogue

  Fiona rolled over in their small bed and ran smack into her husband. What a delightful way to wake up on a crisp October morning.

  They’d spent the last five months on their Highland property, Colin taking over the management. His uncle had excellent overseers and the transition had been nearly flawless. But the baby was comin’ soon and they wanted to be closer to family when he or she finally arrived.

  “Good mornin’ mo chridhe,” Colin nuzzled her ear as his hand immediately spread over her rather large belly. Her mother informed her it would grow much larger still. Fiona couldn’t imagine.

  “Good mornin’, husband.” She grinned. Colin rose from the bed and stoked the fire to warm the room. It was small, like the rest of the house and it wouldn’t take long to heat. Fiona could already hear Mary stirring downstairs. Laird Stewart had allowed Fiona to hire Mary as her personal maid. While most of the staff stayed at the Highland estate, Mary travelled with them, taking the other bedroom in the cottage.

  “Purchasing this cottage was a marvelous idea.” They’d bought the little abandoned house in Kirkaldy to stay at when they came to visit.

  Colin grunted his agreement. “It still wouldn’t be wise fer me to stay with yer father.”

  Fiona bit back a laugh. “We could have stayed with yer parents but then—” she stopped knowing that her father would have been green with envy had they stayed at the Campbell’s.

  “Exactly,” he returned to the bed, pulling her close. His hand spread over her abdomen again as his other hand came to her breast. They were ridiculously sensitive and his touch was light as he softly tweaked them.

  Rolling her onto her side, he pressed against her back, his manhood nestling between her thighs. She couldn’t help it, when it dragged across her lips she gave a little moan and swirled her hips. “My greedy love,” Colin chuckled in her ear.

  But the hand on her belly slid down between her legs. She gasped, then gave a little mewl as he found the sensitive nub. “I’m just getting started,” she teased as she rolled her hips faster.

  “I ken,” he nipped at her earlobe. “It makes me wonder why I ever resisted.”

  The rolling of her hips pressed the head of his manhood at her opening and she gave a swirl that allowed him to sink into her warmth. He gave a rough moan as he pushed in as far as he could. “I’ve often wondered the same,” she said through tiny gasps of pleasure.

  “Such a fool,” he rasped as he picked up the tempo making her body hum with need. She was wrapped in his warmth as he touched her in all the right places.

  Reaching an arm up, Fiona looped it around his neck, pulling him even closer. “Promise me, you’ll never doubt again.”

  “I’ll never doubt again.” He pushed inside her. “Fiona, you are my everything. I love you, forever.”

  She tried to respond but the pleasure was consuming her body, driving her forward as she shattered into a thousand tiny pieces and then became whole again, transformed into something even greater in his arms.

  He fell over the edge too and as his racing heart quieted, she softly stroked his hair. “You are my everything too, Colin Campbell. I’ll never love another.”

  They kissed softly and Fiona was sure she’d fall back to sleep when the loud grumbling of her stomach interrupted their bliss.

  Colin chuckled. “The baby is trying to tell us it’s time to eat.” He rose from the bed. “Stay there, I’ll bring you breakfast.”

  She gave him a grateful smile. “What shall we do today?”

  “Are you up for a ride to the loch?” he asked as he pulled on his kilt.

  Fiona sighed. She’d love to ride at a breakneck pace, sweeping over the land as she and Colin had done so many times before. But a leisurely ride to reminisce would be nice too. “Do ye hate that I’m so big we can’t do all the things we love?”

  Colin came back to the bed. “We just did do something I love.” He gave her a naughty wink. “Besides, if I’m with you, it doesn’t really matter what we do.”

  She sat up then, scrambling onto her knees as best she could, to give him a kiss. He wasn’t going to like what she was about to say, and so she’d best soften it. “You should write to Keiran and tell him so. Agnes will be arrvin’ at Clarissa and Ewan’s in a few days’ time. They are bound to see one another and I wish he would open himself up to her.”

  Colin grimaced. “I’ll not meddle—”

  “Please,” she looped her arms around his neck. “Just tell him how happy ye are. How ye wish ye hadn’t resisted. That it’s wonderful to open up to love.”

  Colin gave her a long kiss. “It is, my love. But men don’t talk like that to one another.”

  She huffed but her eyes were pleading, she could tell they were as she stared up at him by the way he grimaced back. “They should. What if he doesn’t come ‘round?”

  He stroked her cheek. “He will, if it’s meant to be. But I’ll write him a little something if it will make ye feel better.”

  She clapped her hands. “That’s wonderful. My mother and Ainsley are going to visit Clarissa and Ewan as well. They can deliver the note.

  “They’re leaving? They aren’t going to be here for the baby?”

  “They’ll be here,” she assured him. “Clarissa is due to have a baby of her own any day now. My mother wouldn’t be leaving otherwise.” Her stomach grumbled again.

  Colin gave her a wink and stepped away, pulling on his shirt. “No more talk. Time for eating.” As he strode to the door, he turned back to her. “Please tell yer mother to be here for the birth.” There were lines of worry about his eyes.

  “I will,” she blew him a kiss then settled back into the bed. Of course he was worried after what had happened to Shamus’s mother.

  “I love ye, Fiona.” Swiftly he crossed the room again and captured her lips in a fierce kiss. “I’ll have yer mother here, and the doctor. But don’t think fer a second, I’m leavin’ yer side.” His words were fierce but his touch gentle as he stroked her hair away from her face.

  “I wouldn’t have it any other way.” She cupped his cheeks between her palms. “I love ye too, and I’m not going anywhere.”

  He gave a nod. “Ye’re my forever.”

  “Forever,” she repeated, her heart so full of love, she thought it might burst.

  Want to find out if Keiran and Agnes can find their happily ever after? How does the birth of Fiona and Colin’s son go? Find all these answers and more in A Scot’s Surrender. Order today!

  Keep reading for a sneak peek!

  A Scot’s Surrender

  A Laird to Love Book 3

  Tammy Andresen

  USA Today Bestselling Author

  Prologue

  Agnes lay in bed, the sounds of muffled voices filtering into her room. Well, it wasn’t her room actually. And she wasn’t alone. On the floor, within arm’s reach, lay Laird Keiran McKenna.

  His steady breathing captured her attention and she found herself breathing along with him, entranced by the sound.

  “Go to sleep, Agnes,” he growled from his spot on the floor.

  “I’m trying,” she huffed, her head lifting from the pillow. “But I can’t seem to stop thinking about how I will be ruined after tonight.”

  He let out a long sigh. “I’m not sleeping in the common room. It doesn’t matter how much ye squawk.”

  She sat
up then, the ropes underneath the mattress creaking. “I am not squawking and it’s your duty as a gentleman to allow me to have the room…alone.”

  “There are no more rooms and I am not sleeping with the riffraff. I paid for a room.”

  “But a gentleman—”

  He stopped her before she could say more. “I’m not a gentleman.”

  She inched closer to the edge of the bed, trying to see his face. “It’s not as though I didn’t know that already.”

  He didn’t answer but she heard him turn away from her, grumbling to himself as he moved. He was laying on the hard floor, with nothing but a single blanket that was half under him and half covering his body. A coat was tucked under his head.

  She couldn’t help it, it looked so uncomfortable that she grabbed the pillow from her own bed and slid her feet to the floor.

  “Agnes,” he warned again.

  Crouching down next to him, he turned toward her then. Even in the dark she could see a glint in his eyes that made her breath catch. It was like the one time she’d tasted brandy. It had slid down her throat like fire, causing warmth to spread through her entire body.

  That was how Keiran’s gaze made her feel now. She thrust the pillow at him, not knowing what else to do. “I’m in the soft bed. I’ll use my coat for a pillow and you can use this.”

  He took it out of her hand, their fingertips grazing, the tiniest gasp escaping her lips. But he heard it. She saw the way his gaze narrowed, heard his breath stop for a moment as something delicious crackled in the air. “You should go back to bed.”

  She nodded, getting ready to stand but then she paused. “I’ve never been alone with a man like this before.”

  “Keep it that way till yer married,” he said turning away from her again.