Falling in Deep Collection Box Set

by Pauline Creeden

  “Watch yerself, lass. Ye’ll no’ be wanting me angry.”

  It was true. I didn’t want him angry.

  “I just don’t understand how you can take the generosity of such a man and turn his care and concern for me into something filthy.” I’d managed to calm my voice to a gentler whisper.

  “He’s a man with a cock hanging beneath his kilt, no?”

  I wanted to slap him, but managed to keep my voice civil, though my words were not. “Lachlan, not everyone is as greedy and filthy-minded as you.” I mocked him with a smile.

  A grin slid over his face. “Aye, maybe ye’re right because my greedy mind is filthy. If ye only knew the things I think of doing to ye.”

  My smile faded.

  “Things I plan to do to ye when ye’re legally mine.”

  Oh God, what is he talking about now?

  “See, Jinny, it came to me tonight after a few drinks cleared my head. Even though I decided to take ye and make ye mine, I didnae think to marry ye. But ’twould solve all my problems to make ye my wife. I’d get to fuck ye anytime I wanted, seeing as how a wife is a man’s property. And her property becomes his, too. With Da pointing out my enslavement to him financially, it dawned on me that with yer money and ship I would no’ need his help. My problems would be solved.”

  He took hold of my wrists and shoved them above my head.

  God help me.

  “But I don’t want to talk about my da. I want to talk about getting to fuck ye anytime I want. I want to now, Jinny. So, I’m going to. If ye know what’s good for ye—and my da—ye’ll no’ fight me. Ye’ll just accept what will be.”

  He held my wrists with one hand, and hiked my shift above my breasts. I wanted to scream, but what would happen if I did? Would Uncle come running to my aid and be harmed by his own son? Would it get out of hand and someone end up dead?

  Lachlan’s hot mouth opened wide over my breast and he sucked … gently. An action I didn’t expect. I thought he’d be harsh, cruel. Against my will, my nipple budded beneath his tongue brushing over it again and again. He circled his fingertips like a feather around the other. His touch was so light, so gentle, so …

  I tried to breathe and remember that I didn’t want this.

  His hushed affections had a severely disturbing effect on me. What was wrong with me that I liked the sensation he provoked?

  He flattened his palm against my stomach and slid down between my thighs. His gaze darted up to meet mine, leaving a rush of cold air against my vacated breast. A smile tipped his lips.

  “Ye’re wet. Ye are aroused and like what I’m doing to ye.”

  Oh my God! He was right. But how could I like what this man was doing to me? How can my own body betray me this way? Was it because I should do as he’d said and accept my inevitable future with him?

  He released me and crawled his way backward to the foot of the creaking bed and spread my legs, burying his face between them. The act both embarrassed me and stirred me in a new way. I didn’t want it to feel good. I didn’t want to like it, but I did. What was wrong with me? Was I as sick as he was, or just too weak of flesh to resist the pleasure of it?

  He whispered against me, “Oh, Jinny, ye’ll no’ convince me ye don’t want my cock fucking deep into ye. But no’ before I finish sucking the nectar from yer sweet peach.” He dipped his head again.

  He was wrong. He had to be wrong. I did not want that part of him in me or anywhere near me … I didn’t!

  I tried hard to keep that in mind, but all my wits fled, leaving only the unbearable tension in my body that his mouth had provoked. Another moment and that tension snapped. A sudden explosion shook me from within and waves rippled through my whole body. He pulled away, and his mouth found mine, his knee rubbing hard between my legs to keep the waves coming. He kissed me madly and I let him, crazed by the call of the flesh and carnal lust despoiling my body.

  Groping through the fog that clouded my mind, I came to realize there had been a knock at my door. I pushed at Lachlan.

  “Jinny,” Uncle’s voice said softly.

  I looked at my cousin; he was breathing heavily and scowling. He whispered, “Answer him.”

  “Yes, Uncle?”

  “Are ye all right?”

  I tried to calm my laboring breath. “Yes. Just feeling a bit restless. Having trouble sleeping. I’m sorry I woke you.”

  He chuckled. “Ye didnae wake me, lass, I’m clear in another wing. Your aunt woke me saying she keeps hearing ye in here and wanted me to check on ye.”

  Hearing me? Oh no! “Oh. Well, please tell aunt Fia I’m sorry I woke her.” Lord, what a stupid thing to say! Why did I say that when he just reminded me their bedchambers are clear in another wing?

  He chuckled again. “Ye didnae wake her either. She’s waiting up for Lachlan and will no’ get a minute’s rest until he returns home I’m afraid. Ye know the receiving room is directly below yer bedchamber.”

  Good heavens, what did she hear?

  “Can I bring ye something to help ye sleep? Warm milk with a wee bit of whiskey?”

  “No. Thank you.”

  “All right then. Jinny … I—” There was a long silence and I didn’t know if he’d gone or if he wanted to say more. And then: “Try to get some rest.”

  “Good night, Uncle. Thank you for checking on me.”

  “Good night, Jinny.”

  When he was sure Uncle was gone, Lachlan snorted, and mocked his father. “The man wants ye. ‘Can I bring ye something to help ye sleep … warm milk with a wee bit of whiskey?’ He knows that bringing something to yer room while ye’re tucked in yer bed wearing only yer shift would no’ be proper. Why’d he no’ ask if he could have something sent up with a maid? I’ll tell ye why. He wanted to bring it to ye himself.”

  I wished I could have corrected him, but he was right about the impropriety; However, I knew he was wrong about his ludicrous accusation concerning Uncle’s motives.

  Lachlan eased farther away from me. “We’ll have to finish this tomorrow, and no’ here. I’ll no’ worry my maw longer. But I can no’ allow this night to be all about yer pleasure. Ye might get the wrong idea. It was about me wanting ye, and having yer agreement one way or another.”

  Before I could think what he meant, he shoved his hand over my mouth and bit me hard on the shoulder.

  “Ahhh!” I shot a muffled cry against his palm while trying to jerk away.

  When he was content with the damage he’d done, he released me and I clutched the deep puncture wound, feeling the warm, sticky wetness there.

  He looked aroused, and a bit crazed. Swallowing against the searing pain in my shoulder, I stared at his bloodstained mouth wide-eyed, horrified, and completely sickened at what I’d just participated in with this monster. All I could think was how he’d used that bloodied mouth of his as a weapon in so many ways.

  He gave a disturbing grin that said he’d resigned himself to this new mission he’d conjured in his head.

  “If ye fight me on this, Jinny, there’s more where that came from. A lot more.”

  Chapter six

  September 8, 1829

  Douglass McGrail

  “What should I say to Da then, Douglass? ‘Da, we’re horny, fix it?’” My brother’s voice sounded with frustration.

  “I dunno what ye should say, Muireach, only dinna sit back and say nothing. ’Tis a serious matter and no’ one to be laughed at. The other males are complaining and wanting to hear what Da plans to do. Ye’re the heir to this clan and the one ’tis going to be without clansman who can fight in another twenty and thirty years if ye don’t say something to him to make him see reason. He has ye and me and a hundred other young studs to do his fighting for him. He’s no’ worried about it because it willnae be a problem while he’s clan chieftain. Na, that ugly mess will fall to ye, and ye’ll be the one trying to tame a bunch of old rutting and frustrated stags beneath yer rule while there are no young strong studs to do yer fighting for ye. We need
to find mates.”

  Muireach plopped his big body onto a rock and looked down at the sand between his toes. His head swung in aggravation, and his long pale hair fell around his face. “What are the odds that a clan could go eighteen years and no’ a single female be born to it during that time? And wouldn’t ye know it would happen so as the repercussions of it would fall during my rule?”

  “Well, that’s the truth of it. Ye know Lair’s the last female to be born to the clan until yesterday when Morgan was born, both of them sired by Da, and therefore both of them our sisters. Neither will do ye or me or our brothers any good concerning this problem. Though there are a few older females to choose from for those of us who have yet to wed, ’tis nowhere near enough for all of us.”

  “So what do ye suggest?” Muireach lifted his head to look at me.

  Thankful he seemed to be opening up about the matter, I sat down on the rock opposite. “Ye know we are the strongest clan by far right now—the only good thing coming from all of us studs being born. I think we should wage war on one of the other clans. We kill all the males, even their young, and take the females for ourselves.”

  Muireach’s brows pressed in as he considered my proposal. “Do ye have a clan in mind, Dougie?”

  “Aye. There’s a clan on one of the nearby islands. That’s the closest, and I’ve seen some of their females. They’re fine to look at and strong.”

  “And what if they don’t let us mate them? We will have killed over a hundred male ech-ooshkya for nothing.”

  “Na, brother. Do ye no’ ken that killing their males will be the very thing that ensures they will take us to mate? What choice would they have? Mate us or die out.”

  Muireach scrubbed his hands over his face. “Grrr! ’Tis mad, this scheme of yers, and I don’t want to think about it right now. Can ye no’ just rejoice in the birth of our sister?”

  “’Tis the birth of our sister that sheds light on the fact we have no other females to grow into fine lasses over the next decades. Do ye no’ ken that it will take Morgan eighteen years to grow to maturity? Then she’ll marry one of us lucky bastards, though it will no’ be ye or me since she is our sister. She’ll have to carry for a year, and then that young will have to grow for eighteen years. That means if she births a female, then in thirty-seven years the whole process will start over, and if she births a male, in thirty-seven years ye’ll have an army of one.” I shot my finger in the air to emphasize the number. “Unless she does like Maw did with ye and me, and bears twins, but we both know how rare that is among our kind. Either way, I think ye ken what I’m trying to tell ye.”

  “I hear ye, Douglass, but I’m no’ going to Da with this mess and stealing his joy away. Let it drop, brother.”

  Frustrated, I looked at my twin and thought how different we were. Though we equaled in size, I had hair black as octopus ink; his was so pale it was the color of goat’s milk. My eyes were dark as an angry sea; his were light as a peaceful sky. I was always thinking of the future and consequences, and he was happy to live in the moment. I sometimes felt we had at one time been one in the womb, and Epona, the great mare goddess herself, split us apart so we were no longer a sensible being, but needed the other for balance.

  Unable to come to an agreement, I stormed off, heading down the beach so I could think. Muireach knew how I was and that he should no’ follow. I heard him run toward the sea, his footfalls turning to a heavy gallop just before he splashed back into the water. I put two miles between us before I could even begin to calm my frustration.

  I tried to be reasonable. I kent the pressure it would put on a successor to have such responsibility laid at his feet, but really, what choice had we if we wanted the clan to survive? Even the McGrail motto, “to conquer or die,” proclaimed our fate. What was the damn man thinking? Of course we would have to fight other males if we were to have a female of our own. We had no choice but to conquer the competition or die out. ’Twas no’ like we would each be gifted with our own female appearing out of nowhere on the beach right in front of us, from the goddess herself.

  “Ahh-ngh-a-cnt-gree!”

  What the devil? I stopped and listened to the sound—muffled words and tussling in the tall grass up the dune. I moved closer and inclined my ear, trying to figure if it was a struggle, or two lovers making pleasure together. I could tell the sounds were human and no’ some hungry animal winning himself a meal.

  “Och! Ye bit my bloody hand.” The heated male voice was deep, with a strong burr.

  “You bit me first! Now get off me!”

  Panic and urgency rang in the polished, upper crust English voice—a feminine voice. That settled my dispute, and I ran over the short distance to find a man struggling with a woman. He was atop her with her skirts hiked up and trying to shove her squirming legs wide with his knees. Though I didnae see her face, I heard him slap it hard, drawing a cry from the poor lass.

  “Be still, damn ye! I told ye I was going to fuck ye, and I meant it.”

  I leapt forward and grabbed the scruff of his neck, throwing him off, and marched toward him through the thick sand to do worse. The well-formed face lit up with alarm, but I saw readiness there, too, as he scrambled to his feet. I was at least impressed he didnae run, but stood to fight.

  “Come here, ye foul piece of liver.” I grabbed him by the throat. He was stronger than many of his kind and swung, clipping me in the ear. He then used my arm as leverage, pulling himself up to kick me hard in the chest. He did me no damage as his size was nowhere near mine, but it didnae feel pleasant either. I slammed him onto his back and straddled him, spreading his legs with my knees, hooking them with my feet so he could no’ move. I slapped him hard in the face and mocked him.

  “Be still, damn ye! And take what ye like to dish out!”

  “This is none of your business,” he hissed at me. I ignored him and bent to sink my teeth deep into the muscle of his chest, drawing blood and a shout from him.

  “Ahhh! Ye sorry fuck!”

  I laughed. “Na, ye’re the sorry fuck, as no woman wants to be fucked with teeth tearing her skin open, and a hand knocking her senseless. Since ye think that’s the way to fuck, now who is the one getting fucked, eh?” I hit him a few more times, his head knocking back and forth. “Do ye like that, ye freak?”

  I bit him again and again on his chest, drawing a gush of blood and a howl each time. I swallowed the bits that pulled free. The tang stirred my hunger. He tasted damn good and I wanted to eat his guts out and gorge on his blood until I had my fill and was content, but I heard the lass cry out at the sight of what I’d already done, and I knew I had to stop. I could no’ continue in front of the poor thing. So I quit tempting myself by taking my mouth from his flesh, and I beat his pretty face until it was bloody and swollen and no longer pretty, which didnae take long.

  It dawned on me the lassie might be hurt and needing me. Feeling I’d done this beast enough damage that he would think better of it before attacking another female of his kind, I pushed off of him.

  I wiped my hands down my face, clearing away the blood and gore, and then scooped a handful of sand, scrubbing my palms and knuckles clean while walking to the lass.

  The man at my back got no more of my attention other than me hearing him stumble to his feet and stagger away, groaning.

  The lass sat shaking in the sand and tall grass with her knees to her chest and hugging her skirt to her face, as if to hide from all she’d just seen and been put through. I felt a bit guilty, as I didnae have to be so vicious with her attacker, but after my fruitless discussion with Muireach, something had come over me and I wanted to teach the depraved bastard a lesson.

  Here I was, considering war for a chance to get my hands on a female to cherish, and that ungrateful lout was treating this one so brutally.

  Hoping to comfort the victim, I tucked my kilt so as no’ to shock her even more and squatted down before her.

  She dug her hands into the sand and scooted away from me. Th
e skirt fell, revealing her face.

  My eyes stretched wide. “Ye again—” The words stuck in my throat and all I could do was stare. Seeing her face again was that staggering. It was just as appealing to me as I’d remembered.

  “Again?” Her voice was no more than a whisper. “When have we met, sir?”

  “That day those months ago, on the sea cliff road … ”

  I closed my mouth when she looked at me like I’d grown another nose, and I realized my blunder. ’Twas that chance meeting that got me keen on finding a mate. I could recall every second of that day like it happened only moments earlier …

  I ran faster and harder, challenging my younger brothers to do the same, sweat soaking our bodies.

  Cainneach-Balfour—our home—was a short distance ahead.

  My gaze hit the living sea before us, her white waves breathing in and out against the sand and pebbles at the water’s edge. We broke away from the castle road and onto the shoreline, gaining ground quickly, the burning muscles in our legs taking us farther, each stride battering the earth and water, which sprayed in all directions around us.

  My eyes were again drawn to my home across the bay until the sound of carriage wheels drew my attention. I yanked my gaze around from the castle and up to the sea cliff road above. A bonnie lass hung half out the window watching us round the bay. Her coach was coming from the direction of Dalmahearn and headed toward Balfoureigh.

  The lass was a fine sight to behold—not that I’d seen many fine lasses. We were so close now I could see she was dismayed by our threatening presence as we continued sprinting toward her—my brothers and I were all solid and of great size.