The Rogue’s Redemption

by Mecca, Cecelia

  When he did, he laughed aloud at the expression on her face. He couldn’t recall ever laughing this much while making love to a woman, but she looked as amused.

  “I don’t believe I’ll become accustomed to that,” she said finally.

  “I should hope not.”

  He waited until her body relaxed, all of the tension seeping out. When she smiled at him as if he’d given her a gift, Reid positioned himself over her.

  “I want to say the words now,” he said, surprising them both.

  She knew what he meant, and nodded. “I’d have said them a fortnight ago.”

  “It will be our secret,” he said conspiratorially, wondering why they’d not made it official already.

  Poised over her, Reid said, “I, Reid Kerr, by the life that courses within my blood and the love that resides within my heart, take thee to be my chosen one.”

  Without pause, Allie repeated the words back to him.

  “I, Allie Bowman, by the life that courses within my blood and the love that resides within my heart, take thee to be my chosen one.”

  They were wed. Some would argue an agreement of marriage and the act of making love formed the same consent as the words they spoke. But now there would be no doubt, in the absence of witnesses, to the two of them at least.

  Reid guided himself toward her, ensuring she was indeed still ready for him, and prepared to make her his wife in truth.

  “It will hurt,” he said regrettably. “But not for long.”

  When he reached the barrier that proclaimed her a virgin, Reid stopped. He hated the thought of hurting her, but it was unavoidable. All he could hope to do was get the painful part over as quickly as possible. He broke through and froze, shocked when Allie wrapped her hands around his back and squeezed. She did not say a word, but her lips were pursed and she was clearly uncomfortable.

  Do not look down. Do not look down.

  He looked down. One glance at her full breasts and hips, curvy waist and their joining . . . ah God, why had he done it?

  When she began to move, ever so slightly, Reid forced himself to wait.

  “You will not break me, husband.”

  Husband.

  Had there ever been a sweeter sound than that word on her lips?

  “Maybe not, but I do not wish to hurt you anymore, lass.”

  He corrected himself. “Wife.”

  This time, her movements were more pronounced.

  “Does it still hurt?”

  “Nay,” she said with the same smile she’d given him upon entering his chamber. “It does not.”

  Reid matched her movements with his own and reached up to cup one beautiful breast. “Good.”

  Still giving her time to adjust to having him inside her, Reid slowly began to move. Circling his hips, thrusting harder and harder, he dropped down until his body completely covered hers. He took her bottom lip, nipped it and captured her mouth in a kiss meant to devour.

  He would leave her senses as overwhelmed as his own, worship her body as he did every part of her.

  Reid propped himself on both hands, putting just enough space between them so Allie could watch. He looked down to where they were joined, and to his exquisite pleasure, she did the same.

  His dreams of this moment paled in comparison to the sight of her under him, the feel of Allie all around him. Their gazes locked as Allie met his ever-increasing pace.

  “I need—”

  “You need me,” he said as their bodies moved together in perfect time.

  Her arms moved from his back and gripped the coverlet on either side of them. She was close.

  Reid pressed himself against her one last time, reveling in the feel of her breasts against his chest for the briefest of moments, and took her lips . . . capturing her tongue and giving her every last bit of himself.

  When she cried out against his lips, Reid let himself go. Together, their bodies tensed and exploded, Reid refusing to break contact as they recovered.

  * * *

  Reid pulled away, moved to her side, and collapsed beside her. Allie wasn’t sure if she could ever move again. Nor did she want to. She would be perfectly content to lie here next to . . . her husband . . . forever.

  Though her body railed against the idea of moving, she did shift to her side and prop her head in her hand. Reid’s smile pinched at her heart. That she could make this hardened man look so—

  “You’re pleased,” he said. His eyes danced even as his grin deepened.

  “Had you any doubt I would be?”

  Reid reached up and tucked a lock of hair behind her ear. “None.”

  Incorrigible.

  “Aye, I’m pleased,” she admitted. “Are you?”

  Why she should feel shy now, Allie wasn’t sure. But she couldn’t deny that lying beside Reid, completely unclothed, after . . . that . . . well, it simply wasn’t a feeling to which she was accustomed.

  Reid mimicked her position, but when he turned to look at her, his eyes did not rest on hers but traveled down the length of her body.

  “Everything you do pleases me.” He cupped her cheek and rubbed his thumb in circles on her neck. “It has since the very moment we met.”

  Allie thought back and challenged him. “The very moment?”

  “The very one.” His hand dipped lower and lay, for a moment, on her shoulder. “You talked as if Highgate belonged to you, despite the very humble clothing that had me curious from the start.”

  “And did it shock you to learn why I donned such attire?”

  When his ministrations with his thumb moved to the sensitive spot between her neck and shoulder, Allie wondered how long their conversation would last.

  “Perhaps a bit.” His hand stopped moving, and the sudden seriousness of his expression startled her. “I am proud of you, lass. Your skill with the longsword has improved greatly, and I do not doubt it will continue to do so.”

  Allie hesitated to ruin an otherwise perfect moment, but she saw an opportunity and took it. “As I am proud of you for what you did at the Day of Truce.”

  “I did nothing but anger Toren and the entire clan.”

  “Nay.” She shook her head. “That is not true. Juliette says there are others who believe as you do. That open rebellion will lead only to conflict. Especially after what my father learned.”

  “I should have convinced Toren and not gone against him.”

  Allie knew enough about chiefs and clans now to realize his words were likely true. The chief was obeyed in all things.

  “Perhaps,” she agreed. “But that does not make me any less proud to call you my husband.” She reached up and returned his hand to her shoulder, and he immediately began to move his thumb in circles once more. She did not doubt that he loved her, and this night was proof of their commitment to each other. But the discord between Reid and his brother bothered him more than he would admit, even if news of their wedding had softened their discord.

  When Reid’s caresses became more insistent, she put aside all thoughts of border politics.

  At least until tomorrow.

  35

  A week had passed since they’d said the secret vows. A week as Reid’s wife. For Allie, it had been a wonderful, glorious week filled with time in the training yard and lessons on how to love, and be loved, by the man she’d chosen to spend the rest of her days with.

  But for Reid, though he claimed otherwise, it had not been quite as idyllic. She knew he was troubled by his discord with Toren.

  Now that Reid and Gillian were speaking, Allie’s relationship with her sister had gone back to normal. She wanted nothing more than for her husband to have that same contentment with his own sibling. With the clan she knew he loved and honored.

  Then, shortly before the wedding, visitors rode to Brockburg. Graeme had already returned, and was occupying most of Gillian’s time, so it wasn’t him. Allie and Juliette, who had been walking around the grounds, made haste to the courtyard to find who’d arrived. It was clearl
y becoming uncomfortable for her friend to walk, but Juliette insisted that she would not be forced to her bed before “’twas necessary.” If Allie hadn’t been so worried about whether or not it was safe for her, she would be amused by Juliette’s attempt to drive the poor midwife mad. The two women had very different opinions on what was best for Juliette and the babe.

  As the riding party got closer, Allie counted seven men, though she could not see their faces, nor even their colors, from this distance.

  “They are not English,” Juliette said.

  Their lack of banners had already told her as much. “You do not recognize them?”

  “Not yet.” Juliette stood on her toes to get a better look.

  “There you are.”

  Reid and his brother sounded so similar, and for a moment, Allie thought it might be her husband behind her.

  Trying not to appear disappointed, she greeted Toren, who slipped his arm around his wife’s waist.

  “Who are they?” Juliette asked.

  “Can you not tell by his size?”

  Two men broke away from the others, dismounted, and began to walk toward them. Indeed, one of the men was as large as Graeme.

  As he approached, Juliette’s eyes widened.

  “Did you know he was coming?” she asked Toren.

  “Who is it?” Allie asked, still not recognizing the men.

  “Nay, he’d not sent word. I was warned just as we finished the midday meal. You and Allie had already left for your walk.”

  Allie smiled. The poor man did not know if he should concur with the midwife or Juliette.

  “At least we did not get far,” she offered. They’d only taken a few steps away from the keep before the newcomers made their approach.

  She could see the tall man’s face clearly now. And suddenly, Allie wished she did not know his identity.

  “He looks quite unhappy,” she whispered to Juliette.

  “Always,” Juliette said.

  Allie resisted the urge to take a step backward.

  “Lady Allie,” Toren said as he approached. “Will you please tell my brother we have a visitor?”

  “Of course,” she hurried to answer, anxious to get away from the newcomer.

  She nearly laughed at the way that sounded, as if this ferocious-looking man were here to dine with them, perhaps listen to a minstrel’s tale. Nay, whoever he was, this man was here for a very specific purpose. One she hoped did not involve Reid.

  “I will tell him Douglas is here.”

  And before she could appear rude by not greeting him, Allie turned in the direction of the training yard to find Reid.

  James Douglas, Lord Warden of the Eastern Marches, was here at Brockburg.

  So many questions floated through her mind, but only one truly mattered.

  Was Reid’s arrest the reason? Oh God, please no.

  * * *

  Reid handed the broadsword to Ansley. Each day the armorer left his shop to visit the training yard to “see his weapons at work.” He also maintained the weapons. He would oil Reid’s sword and return it to him on the morrow. On a typical day, Reid spent most of his time out here in the yard, training himself and the men.

  But today was no ordinary day.

  “Where are we going?” Aidan asked.

  Graeme’s brother had traveled to Brockburg with him for the wedding. Reid knew he owed the man a great debt for his role in bringing him and Allie together. He’d thought of the perfect way to repay him, and it was Ansley who had helped him carry out his plan.

  Reid raised his chin in question to the armorer, who nodded in return.

  Good. It was ready.

  “To the armory. Will you join us, Ansley?”

  “Nay, my lord. ’Tis your gift to give.”

  Aidan shot a curious look at Reid then, but he would not reveal his purpose just yet. As they walked past the training yard, where men from Clan Kerr and Clan Scott trained side by side, Reid couldn’t help but reflect, “I fear they will be using those skills in truth soon.”

  Aidan frowned. “They’ve been doing so for years.”

  Reid looked up as a strong wind made its way inside the castle walls. A storm was approaching. “Against reivers, aye. And in the occasional clan fight. But not against trained English armies.”

  They ascended a set of uncovered stone stairs spotted with moss.

  “You are in good spirits, despite everything,” Aidan said.

  Toren was meeting with the elders that afternoon. They’d insisted on beginning the proceedings to declare the chief’s second in command. His brother had wanted to wait until after the wedding, but the task had been put off too long. The clan demanded otherwise. Even Reid could admit it needed to be done. Now that they’d rejected him as a choice, another needed to be chosen.

  “I am getting married to the woman I love in four days’ time,” he said, attempting to dismiss Aidan’s concern. “War has not broken out . . .”

  Aidan frowned.

  “Yet.” He ducked under an archway and opened the door that led to their destination. “And Lady Gillian actually smiled at me this morn.”

  They stood inside a large room that held every manner of weapon, some in need of repair and others freshly forged. The distinct smell made him feel oddly at home. He watched as Aidan walked through the room admiring Ansley’s work.

  “I had no doubt you would win her to your side . . . eventually.”

  “Which is the very topic I brought you here to discuss.”

  Aidan picked up a dirk by its studded handle and turned it around in his hand. “Lady Gillian?”

  “Nay, your support with . . . Allie.” He nearly said my wife. Trying not to smile like a young lad who’d just been given his first weapon, he pushed aside thoughts of the night they’d exchanged vows.

  Aidan laid down the dirk. “I’ve known you for a long time.”

  He said no more, but it was enough. Reid would not talk about all the misdeeds Aidan had overlooked. He would no longer apologize for the man he was when he’d first met Allie. Though he still needed to make restitution for his past behavior, it was in the past. He cared more for the future now.

  “You have,” he agreed, moving toward the very same dirk that had attracted Aidan’s attention. Picking up the one next to it, Reid handed the weapon over. The hardwood handle bore a chevron pattern and the blade itself was engraved.

  “Thank you, Aidan,” he said. “I bested you that day with the longsword because my will to win, and train Lady Allie, could not be matched. But I know well if it were a test of skill with that”—he nodded to the dirk—“you’d have claimed victory.”

  Tales of Aidan’s accuracy with the blade were not exaggerated. Reid had seen him use it more than once and was glad to be the man’s ally rather than his foe.

  “It is yours.”

  Aidan looked up in confusion.

  “I’d commissioned it for myself a while back. When I decided it should be yours, I asked Ansley to carve that into the blade.”

  “Sero sed serio,” Aidan said aloud. “The Clan Kerr motto?”

  “Aye,” he explained. “Late but in earnest. To remind you that the man who married Allie is the one you championed. You will never regret doing so.”

  Aidan’s slow smile reached his eyes. It would be easy to forget that such an affable man could be so deadly. “I never expected to.”

  “There you are!”

  Both men turned toward the sweet sound of Allie’s voice. She burst into the armory, releasing her skirts as she attempted to catch her breath. “I’ve been looking everywhere for you!” Seeing Aidan with him, she hastily greeted her brother-in-law, then turned back to Reid.

  “Toren sent me to find you. Douglas is here.”

  It took Reid a moment to grasp the meaning of her words. When he did, he looked at Aidan, who was already moving past them.

  “An interesting development.” He lifted the dirk into the air. “Thank you, my friend.”

 
As they followed him out of the armory, Reid took Allie’s hand, fitting it into his own. Why was the warden here, at Brockburg? More importantly, what member of Clan Kerr would be greeting him as Toren’s second? For as often as he’d told himself it did not matter, that he would serve his brother loyally and faithfully until the end of his days regardless, Reid could finally fully admit what he should have the moment Alex left.

  He wished to be that man.

  36

  Allie stood. And then sat. She tapped her fingers on her knees, staring at the wall in front of her. Had she been alone in the solar, she likely would have begun pacing, but Gillian and Juliette were waiting with her.

  When Allie rose to stand again, her sister rolled her eyes.

  “I’m sure all is well—”

  “Except that it is not.”

  Juliette put the book she had been reading on her lap. “What worries you most?”

  As was her custom, Allie’s sister-in-law spoke in soothing tones. Typically, Juliette’s mere presence could improve her mood. But today was not just any day. The elders’ decision had not been put off by Douglas’s arrival. After Toren and Reid had an audience with the warden, they would decide on the chief’s second.

  Graeme and Aidan, neither a member of Clan Kerr and thus not invited to the proceedings, had stayed in the solar with the ladies for a time, but they’d quickly become restless and retreated to the training yard.

  “I’m not sure,” Allie admitted. “I fear that Douglas was not successful and the border clans will revolt. But I also worry for Reid—”

  “He will be fine,” Juliette said again. “Toren remarked just this morning how happy he has been these past few days. Whatever happens below—”

  “Will set the course for years to come. Both for Clan Kerr and for Reid.”

  Juliette and Gillian exchanged a glance.

  “Perhaps.” Juliette stood, something that had become more awkward over the last few days, and clutched her stomach protectively. “I will go down and—”