Mated By The Demon Collections: Paranormal Romance

by Riley Moreno

  ‘Yes, of course my love,’ Ashley said, ‘And so he shall.’

  CHAPTER II

  Ashley and Tristan stood on the ramparts of Lennox Castle watching the Hogmanay torch procession across the moors. Tristan carried Kirk and kept up a constant commentary about the events unfolding below. Kirk smiled and gurgled. Ashley left them for a few moments and called out to Laren who was watching the procession with her betrothed, Lachlan.

  ‘What seems to be the matter my lady?’ Laren asked, concerned.

  Ashley gave her a reassuring smile. ‘Oh nothing at all serious, Laren – just that I am superstitious and would want our first footer to be a dark haired man. Could you perhaps ask Lachlan to be ready to walk through the castle doors at midnight?’

  Laren giggled. ‘It would be my pleasure to do so, my lady.’

  ‘What is the cause of your concern?’ Tristan asked Ashley as she returned.

  Ashley shook her head. ‘I’m superstitious, my love. I want to be sure that our first footer is a dark haired man.’

  ‘Ah, does my English wife embrace Scottish traditions so completely? I am pleased.’

  ‘Well, my laird,’ Ashley said, turning her face up to Tristan’s, and puckering her lips for a kiss. ‘Now that I have embraced a Scotsman, I might as well embrace his traditions as well.’ She kissed him and then kissed Kirk, who was still in Tristan’s arms.

  ‘Do you really think we will have bad luck if our first visitor after midnight is someone with light hair?’ Tristan asked, amused.

  ‘Or a woman – yes, I do,’ Ashley said. She wrapped her arms around Tristan’s waist, her body pressed against him from behind. ‘Have I told you how much I love you Tristan Kincaid?’

  Tristan laughed. ‘Well, you found several different ways to do so last night since you were finally allowed, by the midwife you trust so much, to open yourself to your husband again.’ He moved slightly to plant a kiss on the top of Ashley’s head and she felt a shaft of heat light up her body, reaching right to her core. ‘There are places here atop these battlements that are shielded from view,’ Tristan murmured. ‘I want you now.’

  ‘Patience my laird,’ Ashley smiled, her eyes full of promise, ‘Plenty of time later. I am mindful of our bairn here, and anxious about the clock. What hour is it?’

  Tristan sighed, ‘Ah well, later then.’ He looked up at the sky. ‘It is not even close to midnight. Could we, maybe, ask Laren to hold Kirk for just a little while?’

  Ashley laughed. ‘So impatient? Alright then, I will ask Laren to mind Kirk for a while.’

  Ashley walked over to Laren and Lachlan and handed Kirk over. Then she and Tristan tried not to hurry over to the other end of the ramparts. Kirk lifted Ashley onto a ledge and then jumped up beside her. Ashley was breathless. ‘Where to my darling?’ she asked, intrigued.

  ‘Follow me,’ Tristan said, and led her over to where the ledge led to a covered lookout point that was completely sealed from view. They were hurrying now, hearts racing and panting in anticipation. Tristan lifted Ashley up roughly in his arms and pushed her against the wall. Memories of their encounter in the arbor came flooding back as Tristan tore at her skirt and she wound her legs about his waist, eagerly drawing his majestic weapon deep inside of her. He took her masterfully, like a god of the highlands wielding his claymore; his passion piercing her heaving body; his tongue unleashed inside her mouth, probing its depths even as he moved inside her.

  ‘Oh Tristan,’ Ashley groaned, ‘You drive me into a frenzy!’

  ‘Only because you make me insane with wanting you,’ Tristan said raggedly, his breath coming in short bursts as his pelvis ground against her softness. He filled his hands with her breasts and kissed and sucked them, reclaiming them as his own; filling his senses with the nectar like sweetness that dripped from them. He wound his fingers into her hair and pulled her head back so he could kiss her neck, his teeth sinking into her flesh as he rode her to a frantic climax. He spilled into her in searing, copious jets that filled and flooded her as she tore at his back, and he lunged hard against her as she reached one shuddering climax after another; pulling his mouth down to her breasts in ecstasy. When their breathing returned to normal, Ashley looked down at herself in dismay.

  ‘Oh, I am so disheveled!’ she exclaimed.

  Tristan adjusted his kilt and smoothed down his hair. ‘Well, I am not as wild as you, my love,’ he said with mock gravity. Ashley slapped him playfully on the arm. ‘Whatever am I to do?’ she said, pushing her ample breasts into her blouse. ‘I will have to return to my room and get myself in order.

  ‘Come back quickly,’ Tristan said, ‘Or I may come after you and that might have consequences.’ Ashley giggled happily, ‘Oh but you are insatiable.’

  Tristan cupped her face in his hands. ‘I’m insatiable? And what about you?’ He grabbed her rounded hips in both his hands and pulled her against his pelvis. Ashley looked up at him. ‘I’m impressed,’ she said. ‘Meet me in our bedroom?’

  She ran down the stone steps and through the corridors to her room, feeling a lightness she hadn’t known in so long. In her room she closed her door and pulled off her clothes, standing before the mirror to look at herself. Motherhood had rounded her body and accentuated her curves. Her bosom still rode high and firm and Ashley cupped her breasts, balancing them on her palms, aware that her nipples were sore from Tristan’s eager lovemaking. She soaked a towel in warm water and sponged her body down, looking at her reflection all the while. When Tristan came into the room, the towel was between her thighs as she reluctantly wiped off her husband’s spilled passion from between the folds of her luscious flesh.

  ‘Naughty Ashley,’ Tristan teased, coming up behind her and grabbing her breasts, squeezing them together as he kissed and licked the side of her neck, all the while looking at her reflection in the mirror.

  ‘Why am I naughty?’ Ashley whispered through a soft moan.

  ‘What were you doing with that towel?’

  ‘Sponging myself,’ Ashley answered, ‘Before you take me to heaven and back again.’

  Tristan picked her up in his arms and threw her on the bed. He tore off his clothes and stood naked and majestic before her – his muscles rippling in the candlelight; his dark hair falling in waves to his shoulders; his eyes alight with a feral gleam and his manhood, strong and powerful, springing from his loins like a dangerous weapon. Ashley gasped as he fell on top of her, taking her hungrily, as if he had not already done so moments before… and she was as ravenous – giving herself with complete abandon as he tore into her, rocking her to a shattering climax. Afterwards they held each other, their limbs entwined, lulled by the afterglow, until suddenly Ashley sprang up.

  ‘Is it midnight, Tristan? I hear cheers and singing.’

  He kissed her languidly. ‘And what if it is? Happy New Year, my love.’

  Ashley leapt from the bed and threw on her clothes, urging her husband to follow suit. She flew down the stairs and into the great hall, aware that the singing outside had intensified. ‘Laren!’ she called, ‘Laren!’

  And suddenly the door of the great all flew open and there on the threshold was Rona – flaxen haired, with a sneer on her face and her eyes flashing.

  ‘Laren! Lachlan!’ Ashley screamed, her worst fears realized. But then Ashley saw Laren running forward and Rona was pulled back from the doorway and Lachlan entered. Ashley ran forward to greet him, crying tears of relief as she watched Laren drive Rona from the castle grounds.

  Tristan emerged just then and took Ashley into his arms as she buried her face in his chest.

  ‘I’m sorry my love, I’m so sorry,’ He said.

  ‘It’s alright my darling, Lachlan came in first.’

  ‘I will be back in a moment,’ Tristan said, and ran after Rona as she reluctantly made her way out of the grounds.

  ‘Why do you persist with this?’ He shouted, ‘I don’t want you to come here again!’

  ‘I merely wanted to be your first guest in the
New Year,’ Rona crooned.

  ‘You know it is deemed to be bad luck, and that’s what you are – bad luck!’

  Rona’s face puckered. ‘That isn’t what you used to think, Tristan,’ she whimpered.

  ‘No…until I discovered the kind of woman you really are,’ he growled. ‘Leave us alone, you hear? I know who is putting you up to this!’

  ‘Who is?’

  ‘Lydell, of course!’ Tristan shouted. ‘Isn’t it? Isn’t Lydell using you to try and destroy us? Well let me tell you Rona, he will never succeed and neither will you!’

  Rona said nothing, but turned on her heel and walked away.

  ‘You’re right,’ Tristan said, returning to Ashley, ‘We should go to Duffries for a while. Let us leave tomorrow.’

  CHAPTER III

  It was a dark night and the only sound was the howl of the wind across the moors and the occasional whinny of a horse, but for the most part Duffries castle slept, as Lydell Mackenzie rode from south of Duffries and prepared to ambush the Kincaids who were completely unprepared. It had taken Lydell only a few months to muster an army of dysfunctional, disillusioned youths who wanted nothing more than to fight against what they perceived to be the tyranny of the united clans under Tristan Kincaid.

  Word had reached Lydell that Ashley and Tristan had taken up residence in Duffries with only a few of their staff, and though the castle was guarded by Kincaid clansmen, they were so few in number that Lydell was certain he would have the advantage over them. So he and his newly formed army rode to Duffries under the cloak of night, with not even a star to guide them.

  Meanwhile Tristan and Ashley held each other under the thick mantle of darkness, shivering as the fire went out in the grate. Ashley had swaddled Kirk to keep him warm and she wrapped her body around Tristan’s for warmth.

  ‘I had no idea it would be so cold here,’ Tristan remarked.

  ‘And you wanted to send me here to cure me of the fever I was suffering with – all on the recommendation of the physician?’

  ‘I can’t imagine why he would have made such a suggestion when it is so obvious that Duffries is quite the wrong place to be if one wants to keep warm.’

  Ashley looked up at Tristan, the bare outline of his face visible in the blackness of the room. ‘Do you suppose that someone could have prompted the physician to make the suggestion? Someone who did not have my best interests at heart and only wished me harm?’

  Tristan frowned. ‘You mean Rona?’

  ‘She seemed to have been camping out in the grounds of Lennox Castle, accosting you at every turn. Perhaps she even accosted the physician, and told him to administer medication that would do me no good…until she came along with a remedy that helped me …thereby placing you in her debt.’

  ‘Only I didn’t allow her plan to move towards the outcome she wanted, because I told you everything.’

  Ashley couldn’t shake off a feeling of deep unease. ‘I am afraid, Tristan.’

  ‘Why?’

  ‘What if Rona is not working alone? What if she is still working for Lydell?’

  Tristan sat up in bed. ‘I hear something,’ he said.

  Ashley’s hand flew to her mouth. ‘What?’

  ‘Stay in this room and keep the door locked. I need to go and investigate.’

  ‘No! Please my love, no! You cannot leave us.’

  Tristan kissed her forehead. ‘A man must defend his home and family, Ashley. I will be back. I am Tristan Kincaid, remember?’

  ‘Yes, but you cannot always be invincible.’

  ‘Always. Especially when I know I have my bairn to protect…and my wife.’

  Tristan left the room and Ashley closed the door and bolted it. Then she gathered Kirk up into her arms and held him close.

  Outside on the moors Lydell’s newly mustered forces galloped towards Duffries. Tristan climbed onto the battlements and threw his head back – his war cry renting the stillness of the night. Lydell blanched. ‘It would seem like the Kincaids are expecting us,’ he remarked to his men. ‘And we can’t beat the combined clan armies. Our victory tonight is dependent on a surprise attack.’

  Tristan peered into the darkness of the landscape below and in the distance could just about discern the shadowy shapes of the horsemen. His heart raced. There were more than he could handle singlehandedly, and certainly more than the few guards he had, could take on. He threw his head back and let out another war cry. He saw his guards fan out and more men emerge from the shadows of the castle.

  Meanwhile Ashley left her room and called out to Laren.

  ‘Send Lachlan out from behind the castle to muster men to fight Lydell,’ she said.

  ‘But we need him here to stand with my laird,’ Laren said.

  ‘True,’ Ashley said. She squared her shoulders. ‘Here,’ she said, thrusting Kirk into Laren’s arms. ‘Stay in my room behind locked doors and do not tell anyone that I have left the castle.’

  ‘My lady!’ Laren exclaimed. ‘Where are you going?’

  ‘To get more men. I will ride to Dunnotar and Glamoos and muster Bruce’s men and tell them to send the word on to the rest of the clans.

  Laren began to protest but Ashley was determined. She pulled a thick cloak around her and rode away from the rear of the castle. Riding at night was not easy and Ashley feared the moors. But when she thought of Kirk’s safety and Tristan’s, her path became clear. She needed to hurry to Dunnotar without any delay.

  Lydell reached the periphery of Duffries and consulted his men. ‘Should we attack? Can you see the united clan army?’

  ‘We can see very little in this darkness,’ one of the men said. ‘Even if there are hundreds of horsemen, we won’t see them until they are upon us.’

  ‘Then let us send a scout out first before we attack,’ Lydell said.

  But the scout was ill-trained in the art of camouflage and Tristan was upon him before he reached the gateway of the castle. Tristan silenced him with a blow and then carried him inside the gateway and ordered a guard to bind him. They tore the clothes off the scout and one of Tristan’s guards was directed to don them, pose as the scout, using the darkness to hide his true identity, and return to Lydell with a false report of how many men there were to defend Duffries.

  While this was going on, Ashley galloped steadily on to Dunnotar and roused Bruce and Leana. Within minutes the Mackenzie clan under Bruce was on its way to Duffries and four men had gone on to Glamoos castle and back to Lennox and beyond to alert the rest of the clans. Ashley rode back with Bruce, anxious now to return to Kirk and Tristan.

  As Lydell debated whether to retreat or attack Duffries, he heard the wind across the moor, and the wind turned to thunder and all at once he realized that the thunder was horses hooves and the wind, but the surge of hundreds of men. Before he could make a move to retreat, Lydell was surrounded by first Bruce’s men and then the Kincaid clan, and soon by every other clan – from abercromby to agnew, and Campbell to Crawford; Dunbar to Gordon and MacDonald to MacDuff. In that one single moment Lydell realized just how much he was hated – that even the Mackenzie clansmen were not on his side anymore and that he had lost everything he had had, because of all the wrong he had done. He turned his horse this way and that, even as his own army sped away across the moors; but escape was impossible and his horse reared up and threw him down onto ground where he lay defeated and alone. Tristan rode up to him and spoke to him from atop his steed.

  ‘I have only one question for you Lydell,’ Tristan said, ‘Why have you sent Rona repeatedly to torment us? What reward lies in it for you?’

  ‘Do you think I will answer any of your questions, Kincaid?’ Lydell said and spat on the ground.

  Tristan jumped off his horse and stood towering above Lydell. ‘I would put my sword through your black heart right now, Lydell, but I won’t, because you have a family that depends on you.’ He bent down and picked Lydell up and threw him down on a rock. Tristan didn’t see Lydell sneer in the darkness, but he knew his
captive was incapable of humility. As Lydell tried to raise himself off the rock, Tristan pushed him down again and clasped one giant hand to his throat. ‘I will render you speechless for life if you do not tell me what role Rona has been playing in your evil schemes.’

  ‘Kill me then, but I won’t tell you,’ Lydell said, choking as the pressure of Tristan’s hand on his throat increased.

  ‘Look who we have here!’ Bruce cried, coming into view with two horsemen accompanying a third horse on which rode a flaxen haired woman – Rona.

  ‘How came this whore to be here?’ Tristan growled, planting his foot on Lydell’s chest.

  ‘She is your whore. Ask her,’ Lydell ground out.

  ‘She is no whore of mine,’ Tristan said, ‘but now I am beginning to think you know her rather better than you would have me believe.’

  ‘Which man doesn’t know Rona? She gives herself freely to anyone who will attempt to quench the fire between her thighs – a fire that never seems to go out,’ Lydell said, sneering again.

  ‘Is that how you would speak of the mother of your child?’ Rona screamed.

  ‘Ha!’ Tristan exclaimed and Bruce let out a roar.

  ‘What did you just call Lydell, Rona? The father of your child? Which one? The one you tried to say was mine? Or is there another that you carry in your belly now?’

  ‘I carry no child in my belly…and Lydell is the father of my one and only child,’ Rona said.

  Tristan removed his foot from Lydell’s chest, and his hand from around his throat, but Lydell continued to lie there.

  ‘Rise, coward!’ Rona said to him.

  ‘What a pair you make,’ Tristan said, his aversion apparent, ‘How I could ever bed you is a mystery to me.’

  Rona began to weep. ‘I loved you Tristan Kincaid. I loved you so much, but you never had any value for me…ever.’

  ‘Your tears are false. Just as your protestations of love are not genuine. You only ever loved yourself, Rona. And Lydell is the person you deserve. A viper like you are. I shall leave you both to each other. As for your child, may the gods protect her, but I would question whether she is Lydell’s as well. How many men have you had Rona? How can you tell whose seed your child is born of?’