by Ashlee Price
“Why are you rushing, Damien? We have all night.”
I groaned with the idea of it, but I knew that I wasn’t going to last another minute if she continued to stand there as she was. Instead I pulled her over onto me and her legs straddled my thighs. Her eyes went to the hardness underneath her and she slipped down lower to open my pants and set my manhood free. Her eyes widened and then mine did as well as she leaned down to take me into her mouth.
My member disappeared into her mouth and I finally couldn’t stand the sight any longer. Closing my eyes, it only made the sensation harder to deny and soon I had to stop her before I lost myself so quickly. I wanted it to last, but more than anything, I wanted inside of her.
Pulling her back up to my waist, I lifted her up and eased her down onto my hardness. She gasped and I groaned as I filled her slowly. It had been so long since I had felt the perfection, every inch fully taken and squeezed from all sides by her slick, suffocating folds. She whimpered above me when I held her hips still. I needed a moment to adjust to the pure heaven that I experienced, still wanting to last as long as I could.
She was impatient though, as she had been the first time and started to move, grinding me deeper with only the inch or two that she was able to manipulate inside of her. She was becoming frantic, wanting more and I could feel her wetness surrounding me. “Please, Damien, I need all of you.”
I could no longer prolong the inevitable and instead of trying, I slammed her body the rest of the way down as my hips thrust upwards. Harriet screamed out my name as I felt the rush of fluid around me. It was too much to take and as I gripped her, I thrust upwards over and over again until I too was groaning her name in release. It was always so perfect with her.
Harriet collapsed on my body and I moved the silken strands out of my face as she tried to catch her breath, my thickness still inside of her, pumping seed and being clenched with each lingering spasm of pleasure. It was a time before she started to sit up and I felt myself growing larger in her again. Harriet whimpered and I asked her if she wanted me to stop.
“Never, Damien, please don’t ever stop.” A surge from beneath stopped her words and her bright eyes were gone behind her lids again, as I felt the inner cling of her sheath around me. Harriet was made for me and no matter what happened next, it didn’t matter if she was with me and our son was healthy. They were all that mattered to me now.
~THE END~
Highlander’s Bride
Prologue
Callie is tired of life in Ireland and decides to make a fresh start for herself in Scotland. But as a woman traveling alone in dangerous times, she needs a man to keep her safe and take care of her. She hears about a man at the docks named Spurgis who can set her up with a marriage to a Scottish man. Since life at home is so bad she jumps at the chance, figuring that she could get lucky and get a nice man. Her other choices are not much better, and she can always run away if she has to.
When she meets Thomas, she thinks her dreams have come true. He is kind and considerate from the beginning, with a smile that makes her swoon. She is excited to be his wife, but it doesn’t go as she thought it would. She can tell that Thomas is holding something back. There are things in her new husband’s life that she isn’t privy to, and Callie herself has her own demons from her past to forget.
Was it all just wishful thinking that out of everything that had happened, out of all the men it could have been, Callie had married the man of her dreams?
Chapter 1
Thomas was tired. It had been a long day and going home to a cold, dark house was the last thing that he wanted to do. Instead he wanted to come home like Bertraud did. He had a wife, children and a nice hot meal while Thomas was usually left with whatever was left over from the day. It was the kind of life that he had wanted in his younger days, but as he got older, he was starting to see the merit in settling down with a family.
Before that, all he was worried about was war and a warm body next to him at night. It didn’t matter what her name was, or really anything else except that he got what he wanted in the end. The next morning nothing mattered as long as the woman left before too long after her eyes opened. It was not the right way, he knew that now, but now he wondered if it was too late for him. He had been like that for so long, that no one in the village would have anything to do with him. They knew how he was and when he traveled, they seemed to know the same. There was something about Thomas that told the interested party that there was something wild in him. There was something in him that no woman could tame.
So as he closed the door behind him and sighed in the dark surroundings, he shivered a little with the chill in the air. It took some time to get a fire going and the heat and light were not enough to get him feeling any better. Thomas had had enough.
He left his cold home to go back to Bertraud’s. Thankfully he was always welcome and he needed some cheering up. After a quick knock, he was invited in and given something to eat. That was really all he needed. “Thank you, Mariss. I hope Bertraud’s knows how lucky he is.”
The older woman smiled back at him and for a moment he could see the appeal of her. She wasn’t his type, waif thin and quiet, but there was something to be said for such a docile woman. Thomas had a tendency to find ones that were easy on the eyes and good for only one thing.
“You just have to settle down, Thomas.”
“There is no one here that would.” It was an honest answer that no one disagreed with. He had a reputation and though he was good for a night, by morning they had to be gone. No one in the villages would take him seriously. His friend and his wife were wondering the same thing.
Mariss was not one to say much, however when she did it was usually worth listening to. She had an idea that would give Thomas what he wanted or show that he didn’t and it was all just him feeling lonely because he didn’t have time to get a bedmate.
“You should go down there by the docks. There is a man there that sets up marriages with Irish women coming over.”
Thomas looked towards her and was actually surprised at the suggestion. “Sets up marriages?”
She nodded and tried to explain the practice. The women wanted to come to Scotland, but many wouldn’t have any money or family to help, so marrying a Scottish man gives them security. He seemed amazed at the idea of marrying someone he had never met before, but then when he thought about it, it made sense. He was not necessarily looking for love. He was looking for someone to take care of the house and put something hot and edible on the table when he came home after a long day patrolling. The rest of it, his other needs, were never hard to find satisfaction for. His reputation wasn’t all bad.
His mind was reeling and Mariss could see that he was taking her words to heart. Maybe he was ready to settle down, she thought to herself, though no one could read his mind.
“You will have to tell me where. I may very well go down there tomorrow.”
Bertraud gave his wife a side look, not sure why she was getting in the middle of it. Mariss just ignored him as she always did. Bertraud would warn of marrying a woman too smart, but would never say it out loud with his wife in present company. While he would never change his marriage to his wife, Bertraud was sure that there were many things that Thomas was not aware of.
“So what do you think, old man?”
He sneered at the title that he was still trying to get used to. Pulling on his gray beard slightly, he just smiled and then shook his head. “If that is what you really want, they would not know anything about you. You may have a chance, but do you really think that is what you truly want?
Thomas wasn’t sure, but he was sure that he was ready for a change. The worse thing that could happen was he would be stuck with a woman that couldn’t cook. “I don’t know. It is something to think about, though.”
***
Thomas did think about it all night. He couldn’t stop thinking about it, but at some point in the night, his mind went from if he could marry a stranger, to wha
t it would be like. He tried to picture it and then he started to think about how to actually make it happen. Where would she sleep? His thoughts never included romantics, but instead it was what she could make his home like. What it would feel like to come home to a warmth hearth.
By morning he had made his decision and it was only with the sunrise that he knew things were going to change. He liked changed and had a good feeling that this time it would be good as well. When he found Bertraud and asked him to come with him to the docks, the man wasn’t as ready to go.
“Are you sure this is really what you want to do?” He wanted to impress upon him the permanence of it. He didn’t think that his young friend understood that there was no getting out of it. He would have to take care of the woman for the rest of their lives and Bertraud wanted him to really think about it.
“Do you think this is a bad idea?”
The older man almost looked over his shoulder to make sure his wife wasn’t around. “I just think that maybe you haven’t thought this through all the way. It is forever and I don’t think you have ever done anything for that long.”
Thomas nodded and agreed, but he didn’t see it as this great love connection that Bertraud had with his wife. He wasn’t looking for love. He was looking for someone to come home to that would take care of him. When he explained it the way he envisioned it, the older man just shook his head and smiled. “Well I suppose we shall see. If you want to go down there, you know I will go with you.”
He had given him a little pause in his plans, but Thomas was ready to move forward. He was quick to find his way down the path to the docks. Mariss had told him who he was supposed to be looking for and soon he had the red-haired man in his sights. It was easier than he thought and after he paid, Thomas was told that there would be another boat arriving in a couple of days and then he would be dropped off to the address he had given.
Walking away from it, he didn’t know if the feeling in him was anticipation or an impending sense of doom. He had talked about the women as if they were things to be sold and he guessed in a way that they were. It was only then that he wondered if he had done the right thing. Had he just bought a slave or a wife?
Chapter 2
The ride there was horrendous and even though Callie had known the seas were rough between Ireland and Scotland, she was not prepared for the overnight trek. The rough waves bounced them all over the place and there were several times that she was sick over the side. It was not what she had expected and when she got to the docks in her destination, she was rightly sweating and a general ill feeling overcame her.
When the man named Spurgis called her name, she walked towards him and he made a grimacing look. His mind went to the young guard that had been there a couple of days before. As his father was in the dungeons because of men like him, he thought that the woman would be perfect for him. He smiled at her and was satisfied that he would be able to get some sort of revenge with her. She was hideous looking, pale and considerably weak. She was perfect. Where most of the other women were put together, Callie looked like she was going to faint at any minute, her black hair hanging in her face.
“I have someone perfect for you, lass.”
She smiled at him and then waited with the rest of the ladies. Callie noticed that they were much more dressed up than she was. She didn’t have fine dresses like the others, but Callie held her head high. Callie was all nerves, but one way or another she was going to have a husband by the end of the evening. While many had chosen to come to Scotland for a chance at a new life, Callie was more or less running away from something.
The wait seemed to drag on while they were rounded up like sheep. It made her nervous that she looked so different than everyone else. While she had traveled for comfort, it seemed everyone else had worn their best. Callie wished that she could clean herself up, but they were soon taken to different areas in the town. The new fiancées were to make sure that everything was ready for the marriage and she was to be wed that evening.
Callie was dropped off at a single-story house that was modest, but far nicer than the one she had shared with three other family members back home. There was nothing to suggest that someone lived there though, no personal belongings out to be seen. It made her curious of what type of man could live there, but she wasn’t given much time before she found out.
Thomas stopped for a moment when he opened the door and took in the wretch that was to be his new wife. Already he was reminding himself that it wasn’t because of anyone else that she was there. He had made the decision and it didn’t matter what she looked like. At least she didn’t appear to be able to blow away in the end, though it was hard to tell with all of the layers on her.
“I’m Callie, nice to meet you.” The woman pulled her hair back from her pale face and her blue eyes sparkled back at him. They didn’t fit into the rest of her, so vibrant where she was so dull.
“Nice to meet you, Callie, my name is Thomas, and welcome home.” It was strange in the context to say that, but that was exactly what it was. It was now her home and he really hoped that she could cook. She may not have been much to look at, but he wasn’t looking for love.
She moved into the darkened room slowly, taking in her surroundings. The inside was much the same as the outside and the first thing she did was pull away the covering of one of the small windows. Then she could see the real state of the place and she sighed to herself. It was clear that he was in need of a wife and he seemed cordial enough. Callie hadn’t been expecting a man so young, or handsome, but she was thankful that he was.
“The wedding is for later this evening, so I will leave you to it here until then to get yourself ready. My friend’s wife has agreed to come over and help you.” Thomas didn’t know what else to say and he was trying to fight back the awkward feeling.
Callie was as much at a loss of words as he was and breathed a sigh of relief when he left. Callie didn’t know if she should start on herself or the small house and her surroundings won out. She didn’t see herself and the wretched state she was in yet. All she could see was the dirt and cobwebs all over the house.
She was halfway through the front room when she heard a soft knock at the door. Callie hollered to come in and she turned to see a slight woman with straw colored hair. “Hi, you must be Callie.”
Callie nodded and Mariss closed the door behind her and smiled. “This place is already looking better. Though I think we should get you ready before the rest of the place is taken care of. Did he show you to your room?”
She shook her head that she hadn’t. The woman’s words made her self-conscious of how she looked. “I got sick on the way over here, many times, do I look that bad?”
Mariss just smiled with a little sympathy. “Well, dear, you look like you have had a rough go of it.”
Callie thanked her, it had been a heck of a journey there and now she was just a little overwhelmed but she made her feel better already. “Thank you for being here. He just kind of told me to have at it and I don’t really know where anything is.”
Mariss was already starting some water to boil and just waved her off. There were a lot of things that Thomas was known for and his tact was not one of them. She was sort of surprised that he had taken the time to light a fire. She also wondered what he had seen when he saw Callie. She looked a right state for sure, but she saw passed the still clammy skin and bedraggled hair. Mariss saw the beauty within and she had a feeling that Thomas was going to be surprised at the results.
“Don’t you worry about a thing. We will have you and this place right as rain soon enough. I have a feeling you are going to be good for Thomas. He needs someone to shake him up a little.”
“What is he like?”
Mariss paused to think of how she could describe her husband’s friend. He was loyal to Bertraud, but that was the exception. He was a man that liked many women, but never for long. “Well he is quite friendly.”
“He seemed nice, but a little shy.”
/> The comment made the older woman laugh a little as she prepared a tub of water. “I wouldn’t say that he was that, but it will take time. I have a good feeling that he will be even more tongue-tied when he sees you for the wedding. Did you bring something to wear?”
Callie nodded though there was a surge of emotions of how she got the garment she was going to wear. It was given to her as a going away present, though she had not wanted to leave, but had had to. Shaking off the feeling and the heat in her eyes, she looked away for a moment. “Yes, I have something to wear.”
“Are you okay?”
“Yes, I am just missing my family. It’s just… a lot of changes so suddenly.”
Mariss put her arm around her, trying to imagine what it would be like to leave everything she knew behind. She would have done it for Bertraud, but she was very thankful her family was close by and she could see them every day. To not see them again or for long stretches of time couldn’t even be imagined.
“You will find your home here. I know it won’t be the same, but it will all work out.”
Callie wanted to believe her, but she wasn’t sure. There was something about all of it that made it all finally hit her and what she needed was to sleep, but there was still so much to do that she knew she would not be able to. She had to make herself presentable for her marriage. The wedding night was what kept lingering in her mind. Callie was shocked to see that she would have her own room, but she figured it was just a custom until they were wed. Surely they would stay together, right? Scotland couldn’t be that different, she thought to herself. They weren’t that far away and they seemed much like she did. Callie was doing and saying it all so that she would calm herself down. Mariss helped and by the time she got into the tub of hot, steaming water, she closed her eyes and tried to relax.