Rogue Highlander: The King's Command

by Sondra Grey

  He wrung out of Edane some of the more pleasant stories from her childhood, growing up at Castle Campbell with Lady Campbell and her half-sisters and brothers. Leith listened to those stories silently, commenting only that her sisters sounded ridiculous and her step-mother sounded horrible.

  Edane shook her head when she spoke ill of Lady Campbell. “Honestly,” said Edane, “I don’t think she meant me harm. I think she meant to prepare me for what was to come. She knew I would be the Earl’s political piece – to be moved around the board as he saw fit.”

  “Your father might be a match for the King,” said Leith dryly.

  “I thought he did not care for me,” said Edane. “But when I asked him for help, he spoke with the king and secured my marriage to you. He knew… he knew how I felt about you.”

  Leith had smiled at that, but it was thin, a little sad. “I wouldn’t be so quick to label your father an altruist. It does not surprise me that he suggested to James that you marry me. The king awarded most the Macdonald lands to Lord Gordon, and Lord Gordon’s own son was married to my sister. It would make sense that Archibald Campbell would seek to establish a connection to the Islands through you. With James’ attachment to you, with you supposedly bearing his heir, there was a fifty percent chance that the future chief of Clan Macleod would be both a Stewart and a Campbell.”

  Edane was silent at that, and Leith had left her to her silence. After a time, he spoke up. “It doesn’t matter, in the end. Because you are here, not in Argyle. Not in Edinburgh.”

  Edane had held his hand and let his presence give her comfort.

  When she had regained enough strength to move about, she spent most of her time with Ruaridh Beaton. Leith had to pick up the duties of the estate, and it was Ruaridh who strolled the grounds with her, who took her out into the hills. They made walking the hills a daily routine, and Leith would join them sometimes. Ruaridh fed her steady diet of plants, meat, and a whole manner of healing tonics.

  Three weeks after her arrival at Dunvegan, Edane was beginning to feel a great deal like her old self.

  She was helping in the kitchens one morning when Leith appeared at the door. It was clear from how the women blushed and giggled at his approach that he was a favorite with them. “Oh, he’s just the best dancer,” they’d confided. “And Maisy from the village says he’s thick around as a man’s wrist.” They’d laughed good-naturedly when Edane turned scarlet.

  “The Beaton has been called to the village today,” said Leith, coming in and flashing his devastating smile at the serving women. “Would you care to walk the hills with me?”

  Edane wasn’t sure why she suddenly found herself nervous, but she nodded, wiping her hands on her apron and removing it.

  When Edane had first arrived, Leith had sent his sister Jenny to Portree to buy Edane clothing more practical for this part of the country. Gone were the fancy gowns and fine shoes. In their place were dresses of warm wool, and beautiful arasaids the same pattern as Leith’s kilt. As Edane picked up her wrap from where she’d hung it on one of the kitchen hooks, Leith took it from her hands and placed it about her shoulders. His hands lingered there a moment before he offered her his arm and escorted her out of the castle.

  Edane’s wind was getting better. She could climb the hills without breathing too hard, now, though she had to rest a few times.

  As they crested the top of one of the smaller hills, a piercing cry had them both turning to the sky, watching as an osprey soared past on a thermal.

  “There it is,” said Leith, voice soft.

  Edane looked over at him, but he was looking at her, not the osprey.

  “There was is?” she asked.

  “Your smile. It’s beautiful.”

  Edane felt her cheeks heat. She’d been mistress to the king, had enjoyed Leith’s bed a handful of times before they were wed, once to consummate the marriage, yet a compliment could set her blushing like a maiden.

  “Is that all it takes,” Leith asked, “bird-watching?”

  Edane pressed her lips together and continued walking. Leith fell into step beside her. Around them, Skye rose up, the hills jagged and inconsistent, wind-bare and beautiful in their starkness. “Your father has been teaching me to recognize the birds,” Edane said.

  “But what was it that made you smile?”

  Edane inhaled and looked up again to where the osprey had circled back around, as if following them. “I finally know what he feels like,” she said. “I feel free here, with you. Up here in these hills with the wind, I feel like I could soar with him if I tried.” She pointed at the swirling raptor.

  “Perhaps you could,” Leith agreed, and he was smiling too.

  Edane found herself reaching out and taking his hand. Leith held it a moment before tugging gently, and drawing her around in his arms. Gazing into her eyes, he gave her plenty of time to pull away. His descent was slow, so slow that Edane found herself lifting up on her toes, arching to meet him half-way. The kiss started softly, Leith’s full, beautiful lips pressing against hers. It was Edane who deepened the kiss, who wrapped her hand around Leith’s neck, pressed herself against him. Leith’s arms were firm around her, his lips hardened beneath hers. The kiss deepened until their tongue tangled, until they drew breath from one another.

  It was Leith who finally broke the kiss, who pulled his mouth away, gasping. “God, Edane, you set me aflame.”

  She could say the same for him. For weeks now she’d been burning for him, waiting for him to move past his gentle courtship and renew the intimacy they’d once enjoyed.

  “Let’s return,” he said, his voice low.

  “Leith...” Did he not want her?

  Leith took a deep breath, stretching his neck and rolling his shoulders. “Edane, my father has spoken to me about our issue with the king. It is his hope that we can avoid conflict by conceiving our own child and convincing James that it is his.”

  “Oh…”

  “For my part, I wanted to wait until you were strong enough before even bringing the subject up. I do not want to risk your health. I do not want to even try if you are in anyway unwilling?”

  Edane bit her lip. She wasn’t sure how to respond. “Do you…” She stopped and cleared her throat. “Do you want to? Want to have a child?”

  “Of course I do,” said Leith, squeezing her hand. “And I want to have one with you, Edane. But not at the expense of your health.”

  Edane nodded. “I feel much better. And as long as I keep following the Beaton’s orders, I have no doubt I will stay well.” And because she would rather show him than tell him, she reached up again, kissing him softly, letting her hand trail down his abdomen. Leith stopped her hand with his, breaking the kiss off and groaning. “Not here. Not here, Edane. In my bed. In my room.”

  He said not another word but turned and strode down the hill. When Edane couldn’t keep pace, he carried her on his back, sure-footedly navigating the hills like a mountain goat. Edane laughed with delight, with the speed of the ride. She teased him by kissing his neck, by breathing hotly into his ear and curling her tongue around its edges.

  “If you don’t cease,” Leith ground out, “I’ll have you on this hillside amidst the gorse!”

  And so Edane stilled, and Leith all but ran back to Castle Dunvegan.

  Her set her down only once they were just outside the castle walls. He hurried through the gate, through the inner bailey, and into the keep, and when she didn’t take the stairs fast enough, he hauled her into his arms again.

  They passed a clansman who hailed them with best wishes and a serving woman who burst into laughter as Leith slammed the door to his chamber behind them.

  Setting Edane on her feet, he gave her no time to catch her breath. He kissed her with a controlled ferocity, drawing her to his chest and holding her with one arm while the other hand cupped her breast, massaging it, pinching at her nipple until she was moaning into his mouth.

  He whirled her so that she was facing the bed and
drew her clothes off a piece at a time, pausing with each article to lavish attention to the recently bared skin. Once her stockings and skirts were off, he hoisted her gown to her hips and growled, “Hold it, and do not move.”

  Edane tried to hold still but cried out when his teeth scrapped the top of her buttocks, and his hands squeezed at the backs of her thighs, widening her stance. She wasn’t expecting his mouth, or his tongue when it slid into her from behind, causing her to shriek and tremble. But he held her still while he feasted, his fingers reaching up to touch the apex of her thighs, where she was most sensitive. She moaned and ground into his hand while his tongue teased her. And just when she thought she couldn’t take any more he stopped, stood, and drew her dress off so that she was stark naked.

  He was not as careful with his own clothes, discarding them in a hurry until he stood before her, naked as she. Oh, how she’d missed the sight of him, the hard muscles, the dark hair curling crisply across his chest, the pure size of him, erect and proudly jutting out from a thatch of midnight curls.

  Edane dropped to her knees and before Leith could stop her, licked him from the base of his cock to the tip, fitting her mouth over him and sliding down as far as she could go. Leith threw his head back and fisted his hands into her hair. But where James would have edged her on, Leith just held her, let her torture him as she would. He stopped her by stepping away, by drawing her to her feet and giving her a desperate, scorching kiss.

  “God,” he whispered into her ear. “The sight of you on your knees like that…”

  She shrieked as she was lifted into his arms, legs wrapped around his hips. He walked them like this to the bed, all but falling atop her, letting the mattress swallow them both.

  He took her lips in another kiss as his fingers probed her entrance, pressing in to make sure she was ready. He groaned against her mouth when he found her slippery with need, and he didn’t hesitate, but positioned his thick head over her entrance and pressed into her. Edane gasped at the intrusion, at the sensation his fullness evoked. She tilted her hips, wrapping her legs more tightly about his waist and moaning as inch by slow inch he filled her.

  “Edane,” Leith breathed, seated to the hilt. He ran his nose along her cheek, inhaling the scent of her. He withdrew so slowly she nearly cried aloud at the sweetness of the sensation. And he pressed back in just as slowly, treating her as if she were fragile. Edane thought she was going to die of pleasure. Leith withdrew again and came into her, so slowly, letting her feel every inch of him. He kissed her lips, her jaw, her chin. His thumb rubbed against her nipple until she writhed beneath him, urging him to go faster, to give her relief from the slow and torturous rhythm.

  “Please, Leith,” Edane was begging him, grabbing at his hips, holding him to her, trying to spur him on. Leith reached down and grabbed her hands, pinning them above her head and continuing his slow assault.

  Edane was crying now, tears streaming down her face as her body grew heavy, grew desperate, climbed so excruciatingly slowly towards climax. And then it wasn’t until Leith was panting, breathing heavy, staving off his own release that he released her arms, adjusted their positions until he was flush against her. And his pace quickened. He surged into her once, twice, three times. Leith cried out and Edane screamed, her climax slamming into her like a tidal wave, the same moment that he hit his. He exploded inside her, slamming against her womb as she clung to him and keened, spasming about him, milking him for more and more.

  “Edane,” he gasped into her hair. “Oh Edane. I love you. God! I love you.”

  Edane could only shudder beneath him, wordless. She clutched him to her, holding him there as he softened inside her. Her every limb quivered with exhaustion and as Leith shifted his weight, rolling them onto their sides and cradling her to his chest, she drifted into a sated, dreamless sleep.

  When Edane awoke, the sky was just beginning to darken outside her window. The birds had started their nighttime chorus, singing the sun below its horizon and welcoming the night.

  She realized, dazedly, that she was still in Leith’s arms, and that he was awake, his fingers tangled in her hair, stroking her head lightly, soothingly.

  “Leith,” she said, startling him into grunting. “Did you mean what you said? That you loved me?”

  He sighed beneath her, her head rising and falling with his chest. “Edane,” he said. “I fell in love with you those very first weeks of knowing you. You were bold, and forward, and soft, you teased and challenged me. I wish I had realized it then, and told you. But I didn’t. I was a fool.”

  “I think,” she said, “That I loved you from that first night we lay together. You were so gentle, so giving, so careful… In the tournament you were so strong, so sure-footed, and at the dinners you were the only one who would who speak to me. But I didn’t want to tell you. I couldn’t bear the thought that you might not love me back.”

  “I love you,” Leith repeated. “I’ll not relinquish you again to James. You belong with me, with the Macleods.”

  Edane stared out the window where the night was now fully dark. Soon, they’d have to get up and find food, but not yet.

  Edane turned back to Leith and ran her hand down his abdomen, tangling her fingers in the dark curls between his thighs. She felt him stir at her touch. “Again, Lady?” he said, amused.

  “Will you humor me?” she said, smiling up at him. His eyes were twinkling with mirth.

  “If my lady commands, I’m willing to serve.” And he bent his head down and kissed her.

  EPILOGUE

  “Y ou won’t be alone for one minute, I promise you,” said her husband, bending down so Edane could hear his low murmur.

  “I’m not afraid of James.” Edane shifted the sleeping toddler in her arms.

  “Then why are you standing as if you were made of marble?”

  “Because somebody’s been feeding this sack of oats too many sweets,” she said, casting a fond look at William Campbell Macleod who’d escaped from Mrs. McClure that morning and run about the whole castle until he was caught. Now, exhausted, he would not be awake for the King’s arrival. To be honest, that was for the best, as the baby resembled his father a bit too much when he was awake. At least, asleep, he looked like any other baby.

  Since learning of James’ arrival, Edane had been applying vinegar to poor William’s head and carting him about in the sun. A month of it, and the boy’s inky black locks had turned an acceptable shade of brown. There were even a few reddish highlights that had come out, likening his shade to that of the king’s. To mute the intensity of his green eyes, Edane had dressed her son in brown. From afar, his eyes took on the same hazel cast as hers.

  “It’s probably William’s grandfather, who can’t seem to say no to the boy,” said Leith, shooting his father a dark glance. “Let me hold him for you.”

  “No,” said Edane, wearily. “It’s best if you keep your distance from him, at least while James is here. Let him think you are kind to the boy, but not fond of him.”

  Leith nodded, taking a last opportunity to run a hand over his sleeping son’s head, reveling in the fine, silky strands of his hair. William’s birth had not been easy, but Edane had recovered well. It had pained her to not breast feed her own child – but Ruaridh Beaton worried that since Edane still suffered the occasional headache, she might still have Penny Royal in her system, even nearly a full year later. So, they’d brought on Mrs. McClure as a wet-nurse, and she cared for William when his parents were busy around the castle or out amongst the clans.

  “There they are,” said Leith, hearing a bugle sound the King’s arrival. The gate to Castle Dunvegan was thrown open and a considerable riding party came through the gates, in the midst of them was James.

  Edane couldn’t help but be impressed as James leapt nimbly from his still galloping horse and strode out to greet Alasdair.

  “My friend!” The King called, beaming joyously at the chief of Clan Macleod. “I hear things have been quiet on the islands.”


  Edane looked over to where the other riders were dismounting. It seemed as though Christopher Gordon and Leith’s sister Anne had made the trip as well. And she felt Leith start forward beside her when Richard appeared out of the crowd. Edane smiled as the cousins embraced one another and looked over as Angus Broadly moved in to stand beside her. Leith had not been exaggerating. They were not going to leave her alone for a minute.

  “There she is.” The clamor in the courtyard quieted as James spotted Edane. With William heavy in her arms, she curtsied as best she could, and rose to look into James’ eager eyes. “My word,” he said, loudly, “You are still the most beautiful woman in all of Scotland. Helen of Troy herself!”

  “You flatter me your highness,” said Edane. “It is good to see you again.”

  “You as well,” said the king, stopping before her. But his eyes were for William. “A boy,” he said, softly. “Just as you wrote. May I.”

  James held out his hands and Edane was suddenly incredibly grateful that William was large for his age. At a year and three months, he was as tall as Anne Macleod’s son Alec – who was three months older than his cousin.

  “I think,” said James, his voice pitched only so that she could hear it. “He has his father’s nose.”

  “But not his energy,” said Edane, holding her hands out and taking her son back into her arms. “He’ll sleep half the day away if you let him.”

  The king laughed, delighted at the small piece of information. “At dinner tonight,” said James, “You’ll have to tell me all about him.”

  But then James was spinning, calling out, “Sir Macleod!”

  Leith, who was still speaking with Richard, turned and gave the King a deep and generous bow. “I congratulate you on the birth of your son! So soon after your marriage, I hear! The Macleods waste no time.”

  “Indeed, we do not,” said Alasdair, clapping a hand on his son’s shoulder. “Your Majesty, as you are only here for a few days, perhaps we can show you around the Macleod lands. There is spectacular stag hunting.”