“I’d truly love that bath first, if you don’t mind.” Her fingers rested on her lower lip as if she could save the kiss he’d given her.
“First?” Braden took her hand and squeezed it as he led her into the kitchens.
“Aye, first.”
He grinned, kissed her cheek and piled wood in the hearth to start a fire. “This is a grand hearth your sire had made. I doubt ‘twill take long to heat your water. Stay here and rest while I look belowstairs. Mayhap I’ll find some whisky or ale, something to quench our thirst.”
She said, “I’ll see if I can find something to eat.”
“Don’t go far, temptress.”
Chapter Twenty
Once Braden got the tub settled for Cairstine, he left to give her the privacy and quiet she needed. He didn’t want to go outside in case anyone returned to the keep, so he stayed within its doors. During his search of the cellars, he’d found a few things that he thought she might enjoy, so he decided to decorate her chamber. After several trips back and forth to her chamber at the end of the passageway, he was finally satisfied, and then ran out to the well to get himself enough water for a quick bath. He found a small tub, set it in front of the hearth in the hall, and suffered through the immersion in cold water.
As he set to scrubbing himself, he thought long and hard about his future with Cairstine, about what their lives might be like together. As he’d noticed before, thoughts of Cairstine brought a calm to his soul that he treasured. Now that calm was also bringing clarity.
He’d just gotten out of the bath when he heard her emerge from the kitchens. He grabbed his extra plaid and wrapped it around himself, but he left his tunic off. She wore a night rail, a beautiful white gown with roses sewn into the bodice and pink ribbons on the front, something delicate and feminine. Her beautiful, long hair was unbound, fanning out around her like a halo.
“You look beautiful. I must ask. Are you sure you wish to do this?” He stayed where he was, hoping she’d come to him. Knowing her history in this castle, he would never encourage her to do anything she wasn’t completely ready to do.
She nodded. “I love you, Braden Grant. Whether you want it or not, I give you my heart and I trust you completely with it. I know this has been verra quick for you, so if you wish to wait, we will. I am also willing to take the risk that you may not fall in love with me. If that happens and you choose another, I will be grateful for our time together—and for all you have done for me.”
Her words reached down to his soul and shook him. He reached for her and tucked her in his arms, resting his chin on the top of her head while he paused to think about what he wished to say. “I struggle for words as I’m not verra good with them, so I’ll simply say this. I love you, Cairstine Muir. From the moment I saw you, I could hear what you were telling me with your eyes. That you needed to be saved. That you needed to be protected. And that you needed to be loved. And my body spoke in response to yours without my having to find the words. I vow to keep you safe, protected, and loved for the rest of my life.”
She pulled back, a wide smile on her face. “Truly? I won’t ask you to say it again. Once is enough for me. But you’ve made me verra happy, Braden Grant. We’ve been blessed to find each other.”
He surprised her even more when he dropped to one knee. “Will you do me the honor of becoming my wife, Cairstine Muir?”
Tears misted her eyes, but she didn’t hesitate. “Aye, I will.”
He kissed her, searing her lips with his, deepening it to try to tell her how he truly felt. This was not something that would ever leave him. He knew they were meant to be together. A warm breeze blew across the hall, something they both noticed because they broke their kiss, looking toward the door for the source of the wind.
They found nothing.
Cairstine’s gaze dropped to his chest and she gasped. “Oh, Braden.”
He followed her glaze and glanced at his chest, just then realizing what she was seeing. His torso was covered with bruises and cuts from the beating he had taken from the Lamonts’ men. She stepped close to him and ran her finger down a path between the worst of his bruises, passing through the dark hair on his chest until she reached his waist. Then she began to kiss each of his wounds. He threaded his fingers through her hair on her neck, being careful not to touch the swelling in her head, then closed his eyes to the sweetest torture he’d ever endured.
“Know that there is nowhere I would rather be than right here with you,” he whispered. “When I first saw you on Drummond land, I thought you were the most beautiful woman I had ever seen.” He ran his finger down her jawline and underneath her chin, tilting it slightly to lift her gaze to his. “And you must indeed be the strongest woman I’ve ever met. I know that I would like you by my side when we return. The idea of waking up with you in my arms every day makes me ecstatic. I don’t wish to wait to marry.” His lips dropped to hers and he gave her a soft kiss. “When you denied me? I’ve never felt such pain.”
“Braden, I’m so…”
“Hush,” he said. “You need not apologize. I know why you did it, and I’m proud of you for staying strong. I neglected to ask if you will allow me to be a sire to your son?”
“Aye,” she whispered, giving him a soft kiss on his lips. The happiness in her green eyes, which had oft looked so sad, sent a wave of emotion through him. “Naught would make me happier. I’m sure Steenie will be thrilled to have you as his father.”
“I wish I had a ring for you like the one your sire gave your mother. I will travel to Edinburgh someday soon and find a beautiful one for you. I promise.”
She stood back with a stunned expression on her face. “Nay, you will not.” She held her hand up, showing him her mother’s sapphire ring. “This ring was from my sire’s mother. ‘Tis a Muir ring that has passed down through the generations. If not for you, Braden Grant, I would never have found it. We found this ring together, and it represents our love. Only a man who truly loves me would have had the patience to search my parents’ chamber as you did. In my mind, my mother guided you to this ring. Can you accept that?”
He nodded. “Aye. ‘Tis an heirloom that belongs on your finger, and we did find it together. Even I cannot explain why that stone caught my eye. Mayhap there are special forces guiding us. Many in my family would agree with you.” So many people he knew believed in the spirits of angels or something similar—who was he to argue with them? And there was that gust of wind that had buffeted them twice in the empty castle…
He stepped closer and ran his hand down her arm, wishing to remove every separation between them. “I can accept that it represents our love. I will always remember it that way.”
She held her ring up, turning it from side to side to show him how it sparkled, even inside. “I’d always admired this ring.” She dropped her hand and whispered, “They must have left those things there before the clan was attacked. They guessed what would happen.”
“Whatever they did, they did for you and your brother.” He took her hand and kissed it, then said, “Come with me? I have something to show you.” He led her upstairs to her chamber at the end of the passageway.
When they reached the room, she hurried toward him and threw her arms around his neck, kissing him deeply, teasing him the way he teased her. Leaving him no doubt that they would be good together.
He pulled back and said, “I like this part of you, but will you come inside?”
She nodded, and he opened the door, allowing her to step inside first.
She gasped when she saw what he’d done.
He arranged a row of lit candles across the chest, and her bed was covered with Muir plaids.
“Where did you find them?” she asked as she moved over and settled her hand on the soft fabric. “They’re so beautiful.”
“They were stacked in a chest way in the back of the buttery, a place no one had ever looked, I would guess. I also found this.” He reached for the bottle of wine he’d found in the cellars and pou
red two goblets for them, handing one to her before holding his own up to make a toast. “To our love and to our forever.” He took a long swig from his goblet but then set it down, taking hers from her hand, too, and setting it down next to his.
“This waiting has tortured me, lass. I wish to touch you.”
She reached for the ribbons on the front of her night rail but he stayed her hand.
“May I?”
She nodded, blushing.
He undid the fine ribbons, surprised to see his hands trembling, tugging on each one in a slow process that seemed akin to torture. “Mayhap I should have allowed you to do this. I’m not verra quick with it, am I?”
She settled her hands on his hips and took a step closer. “You are perfect for me, Braden Grant.”
He arched his brow at her. “I hope you’ll say that later.”
She giggled and ran her hands up his abdomen, causing him to gasp in surprise, then she moved them up to his chest, running her fingers lightly across his skin.
“You’ll not hurt me,” he said, barely recognizing the huskiness of his voice.
“But the bruises…”
“You’ll not hurt me, trust me.” He grinned at her, then glanced down at the protrusion showing in his plaid. “Do I look hurt?” His cock had hardened the moment he’d touched the first ribbon. “There. I think I’ve undone the last of them. May I touch your skin now?”
She nodded, and said one word, “Please.”
How he wished to do this right. He knew she wasn’t a virgin—indeed, her experience probably outstripped his own—but her experiences with Greer Lamont had likely not been pleasant. He wanted more than anything to show her how it was supposed to be.
He could ask her about her experiences, about what she liked or disliked, but he didn’t want either of them to think about the awful man who’d so ignored her will and wishes. This night was to be about them.
He cradled her face in his hands and captured her lips with his, a slow, sensual kiss that he intended as proof of how much he desired her. She tilted her head back, telling him her desire equaled his own. His tongue circled hers in a carnal dance, tasting her sweet cavern. His hands moved to her hair, slowly massaging her scalp as they moved down through the damp strands, separating them until they cascaded down her back and over her shoulders.
“I’m not hurting you, am I?” he whispered, aware of the swelling still there.
“Nay, your touch is wonderful.”
He moved his mouth across her jawline to her neck, trailing a line of kisses down across her shoulders as he moved her night rail down, his hands sliding it off her shoulders and, with the lightest of touches, down her sides until it dropped and pooled at her feet. His hands moved to her breasts, cupping both of the pert mounds until his tongue followed, eager to taste each pink crown.
Cairstine whimpered the softest of sounds as he continued to pleasure her breasts, paying close attention to each areola, each nipple until she grasped his shoulders, her nails digging into his flesh.
To his surprise, she tugged on the broach of his plaid, dropping it to the floor, and fell to her knees in front of him, gripping him in her hand before she followed with her tongue. She lapped the head of his cock before making long strokes down the length of him. He fought not to finish in her mouth, fought not to wrap his hands into her hair because he feared she’d misinterpret his movements as force.
Everything she did with him would be of her own free will. Always.
He groaned when she took him full in her mouth. When he could take it no more, he lifted her to her feet and then scooped her into his arms and set her on the bed. She squealed and smiled, even more so when he said, “You’re torturing me, and I’ll not lose it like a laddie our first time.”
He kissed her again and moved his hands to the vee between her legs, pleased to find her slick with juices for him. He teased her folds until she spread wide for him, then slipped his fingers inside, moving in a rhythm to tease her, make her want more.
“Braden, please. I want more of you…‘tis so different.” She tilted her hips toward him in a small, trusting movement that absolutely humbled him.
He gripped her hips and moved over her, settling his cock at the sweet juncture of her thighs. He breached her in one swift movement, and she moaned as he filled her completely. As he began to stroke in and out of her, stretching her to take all of him, she grasped his hips in a frenzy, pushing him into a pace that nearly forced him over the edge, but he would not finish before her. Her molten heat spread all around him, welcoming him inside her.
Hell, but they were wonderful together.
***
Cairstine thought she would explode. Braden made her feel things she’d never experienced before. She wanted to share this with him because her mother had told her this was what married couples do, but she’d had no idea it would be a totally pleasurable experience because it never had been before. This was the man she loved, and every touch, every stroke, brought her pleasure she hadn’t imagined possible. Indeed, he couldn’t move fast enough to suit her. She grabbed his hips, moving her pelvis in the rhythm she wanted; no, that she needed. She trembled with a fever she didn’t understand but couldn’t stop.
“More, Braden. I know not what I want for certain, but more…please…”
He plunged into her, thrusting and thrusting over and over again until she thought she would die from the need pulsating inside her. He drove into her with an urgency that she shared, and they moved together in a beautiful beat that brought her to tears.
When she thought she would lose her mind, he reached down and touched her in just the right spot, caressing her until she screamed as her insides shattered, catapulting her over the edge. Her body thrummed with exquisite pulses of pleasure as he continued his strokes, extending her peaks. Then he gave a ferocious roar as he experienced his own climax.
All she could do was stare at him in awe as she fought to control her own breathing. He held himself up on his elbows, kissing her neck, her cheek, her lips, and sucking on her lower lip just a bit before he collapsed on the side of her.
He stroked the curve of her cheek with his thumb, a soft caress that he continued as he stared at her.
She could stare at him for hours.
The man held her and touched her so reverently it was as if he worshipped her. Her breasts still pressed against him, she could feel the hammering of his heart inside, the power of that beat strictly for her. She wished to shout to the world how happy she was lying here in Braden Grant’s arms.
Before this day, she’d thought of this act as something horrible, something to dread, to hate. With Braden, the act was beautiful and special, an act of giving and receiving, so magnificent, she’d had no idea the possibility existed.
“I love you,” she whispered, strictly because she could think of nothing else that fit the moment. The way he treated her was such a declaration of his love that it just felt right to say it again.
“I love you, too. I pleased you, lassie?”
She couldn’t help but giggle. “Lassie? I’m hardly a lassie, but aye, you pleased me in so many ways.” She thought for a moment, wondering how to tell him this was the first time she’d experienced pleasure. “Umm…‘twas verra different with you.”
“Have you never climaxed before?”
“Nay,” she blushed.
He brushed his thumb across her bottom lip. “Do not be embarrassed. ‘Tis probably wrong, but that fact pleases me. In fact, I could crow about it, but I’d not do that to you, just know that you made my chest puff out a wee bit.”
She giggled, but the giggle turned into laughter, something she hadn’t done in a long time. “Will you feel the same way every time I climax?” The need to touch him hadn’t diminished, so she ran her hands through the short dark hairs smattered across his chest, surprisingly alluring to her.
He smirked, rolled his eyes, and said, “Aye, probably. ‘Tis naught wrong with loving to see your pleasure, is ther
e?”
“Nay.” She decided to change the subject and snuggled against him. “What do you think will happen to Muir Castle now?”
He tipped her chin up so he could gaze into her eyes directly. “You are the only heir to this castle. My uncle and sires will see that it stays in your clan.”
“But if I’m the only one…Would you consider living here with me after we’re married?”
He moved his hand behind his head, staring up at the ceiling. “Uncle Alex had mentioned he might be interested in taking it over if ‘twere empty. This was before we came to investigate and found the Lamonts here. He said the fields are not that fertile because of the foundation and the way it was built, but I think he would allow us to live here. He gave my brother Loki his own castle and he’s laird, though ‘tis small with verra few clanmates. They’re still part of Clan Grant, so Uncle Alex assists them with anything they need. I’m sure he’ll confer with our king, but there are no sons of your father. I think once we marry the king would grant us this castle.”
Her eyes lit up. “And you can be chieftain of all that is here?”
He chuckled. “Me? Chief?”
“Aye, why not? Your uncle was a laird, and your cousins are.”
“I’d be laird of five of us.” He grinned. “You, me, Steenie, mayhap Corc and Hilda if they return with us. I like that idea. I might be able to handle five people.”
She moved up onto her elbows and rolled onto her belly to stare at him. “Aye. If anyone wished to join us, we would welcome them. Mayhap Aunt Fina is hale, and she could move here with Eva and Edith. Anyone else who wished to join us would just have to pitch in like we all did when it was Clan Muir. We could get Corc to handle the stables, and Hilda to tend to the kitchens, and a few others to work the fields. I know there are not many, but we had oats and turnips and carrots, even a small apple orchard that has been ignored. Could you imagine if we had our own bairns and raised them here with our own clan…” She paused and her face curled into a frown.
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