To Conquer a Highlander

by Mary Wine

  Her actions came too slowly. Torin caught the ties at the back of her overgown and leaned over her to keep her in place while he worked the knot loose. Her skirts were already raised above her knees, and once he’d finished with the tie, he pulled both garments straight up her body.

  Shannon snarled with outrage, but she was dropped back onto the bed in nothing but her stockings and shoes.

  “Brute. Highland barbarian.”

  He laughed at her. Shannon flipped over, curling upward to launch herself at him. Torin caught her easily, clamping her squirming body against his.

  “And ye are a Lowland wildcat in need of taming. A task I’m finding I have an appetite for.”

  He bent his face toward her, but she flattened one hand against his mouth.

  “I am no shrew. I was ever a gentle daughter, obedient as the church tells me to be, and look what that gained me.”

  He shook his head, gaining freedom from her hand. A moment later they both landed on the bed, but he caught his weight on his hands, controlling the amount that pressed her down onto her back beneath him.

  “It brought you to me, Shannon. Something I am happy about, which is why I will nae see ye taking a risk with yer life. Promise me ye’ll take what fate gives ye without complaint.”

  Torin didn’t give her the opportunity to agree or argue. He pressed his mouth down on top of hers, forcing a hard kiss on her. Yet she lacked the will to truly resist. Her lips parted for his demand, moving beneath his and welcoming the sure thrust of his tongue. Hunger swept aside her anger, transforming it into a passion that refused to be quiet or submissive. She pulled on his shirt, seeking the ties that secured it at the front. Torin refused to lift his head away from hers, kissing her while she struggled to rid him of his shirt. She was acutely aware of the fabric between them, and it annoyed her. Her skin longed to be free.

  She strained against his hold, determined to find the last tie on his shirt. A deep rumble of male approval was her response.

  “If that’s what ye crave, sweet Shannon, I will be happy to give it to ye.” His voice dipped down into a low tone that made her shiver. “Very happy indeed.”

  The bed rocked, and she was suddenly alone. Torin stood next to the bed, pulling his shirt over his head with one powerful motion. His eyes glittered with hunger when she could look into them once more, but her attention didn’t remain on his face. It slid down his bare torso, across the ridges of hard muscle, to where he yanked back the end of his wide leather belt until the metal prong holding it secure about his waist popped free. The folds of his kilt slithered down, unveiling his lean hips and thighs. His cock sprang up into view, the head ruby and swollen. Her mouth went dry, instantly this time. There was no building of desire. Her body felt like it was suspended over a fire, and all she could do was twist while the flames licked at her flesh.

  Torin watched her, studying her with his dark eyes. “I enjoy the sight of ye in my bed.”

  His tone was dark with need, even if there was still sunlight illuminating the chamber. She enjoyed being able to see him but suddenly felt too much on display herself. Her thighs closed, trying to keep that most intimate part of her concealed.

  “Do nae hide from me, Shannon. The sight of ye is more pleasing than I can say.”

  He lay down beside her, his warm skin soothing her when it pressed against her own. It felt so very right, nothing between them but the desire to share the pleasures their bodies might give one another. His hands smoothed along her sides and up to cup each of her breasts.

  “I swear I cannae stand the sight of ye doing anything but being eager while in my bed.”

  “I am eager.” Her voice had somehow become husky. She shivered as his thumbs began to toy with her nipples. Each one was drawn into a hard peak that was more sensitive, more needy of his touch.

  “Not nearly enough for my taste.”

  There was dark promise in his tone. He leaned down to capture one nipple between his lips. Hot pulses raced down her, raising gooseflesh across her skin. Delight rippled through her, and she reached for him, her fingers hungry for the touch of his skin. Torin sent the tip of his tongue over the top of her nipple while his lips drew on it. The heat licking over her made her squirm as soft little sounds of enjoyment escaped from her parted lips, gaining her another deep chuckle from her lover.

  “Better.”

  His hand left her breast to trail down the center of her body, his fingers touching off more delight as they stroked their way toward her mons. Her pearl throbbed with anticipation, her passage suddenly feeling even emptier as she felt him teasing her damp curls.

  “Still, ye might yet be more eager.”

  He whispered against her ear, his breath making her shiver. Or perhaps it was his words coupled with the feeling of his fingers beginning to penetrate the folds of her sex. She whimpered, the anticipation becoming too intense. Torin made a soft male sound that drew her eyes to his. Hard need glittered in his dark eyes, but his lips were set into a smile.

  “I enjoy knowing that I can make ye more willing for my cock.”

  Shannon gasped. “Ye shouldn’t say such things.”

  One dark eyebrow rose, but her attention was snared by the first touch of his finger against her pearl. It slipped easily over the sensitive bud, threatening to drive her insane.

  “Shouldn’t speak the blunt truth that I can feel how slick yer sex is and that it excites me to know ye’ll take my cock easily, even readily?”

  “Words like that aren’t meant to be spoken.” But her tone was husky and rough with excitement. Hearing him say such things in his deep voice made her more keenly aware of how much she wanted them. The images played across her mind, tightening the sensation inside her belly. Beneath his finger, her flesh throbbed more insistently, her hips jerking upward without any thought. She was too tantalized by his words to resist any longer.

  He leaned down until the crisp hair on his chest teased her nipples and the soft skin of her breasts.

  “But lovers say such things, just as a lover has the right to ride atop instead of lying docile on her back.” He rubbed her little passion pearl harder, drawing a deep moan from her lips.

  “But I admit that at the moment, I like ye on yer back.” He rolled over her, pressing his knee between her thighs. He pressed his hands on either side of her body and rose above her.

  “Spread yer thighs for me, sweet lover. I’ve a craving to be buried deep inside ye that will nae wait.”

  His words were wicked, but she adored the sound of them. Somehow she did not feel submissive while complying either. His attention was completely on her. He sat back on his haunches while she pressed her elbows into the bed and leaned on them.

  “But am I eager enough for ye?” Her tone was still husky, and it added to her teasing. There was a deep intimacy to the moment, something else that she was beginning to crave from him.

  “Yer hard nipples tell me ye are.”

  He hooked his hands under each of her knees and lifted them, obviously finished with waiting for her to spread her legs for him. His eyes flashed with triumph as she felt the folds of her slit opening wide.

  “But I will have to make very sure, else ye’ll label me a brute for rutting on ye before I’ve stoked yer passions.” His eyes hardened. “We cannae be having that.”

  “What of yer reputation as a Highlander?”

  His fingers began teasing her sex, slipping easily along the slick folds.

  He smiled large and arrogantly, with his finger, began teasing her sex once again. “That is exactly what I am thinking of, lass. A Highlander is known for his way at winning the favors of his lovers. Those English lords have naught but their weeping brides because they lack the skill to stroke their sweet flesh just right.”

  He slid his fingers down to the opening of her body, fingering the entire entrance before thrusting deep inside
her. Pleasure spiked through her, sending her back onto the bed as she lost the will to toy with him. Her body demanded more than that finger. He was too far away, and she sat up again, reaching for him.

  “Aye, lass, ye have the right idea.”

  He growled his words through clenched teeth, his body easily coming with her demanding hands, falling down to cover her while the head of his cock pressed against the opening of her passage.

  He didn’t make her wait but thrust hard and smoothly into her. A hard grunt teased her ear as his hands captured the sides of her face.

  “Sweet Christ…”

  His words echoed her feelings. Being filled by his hard flesh sent her mind into a state of bliss. There was no thought outside of the need to lift her hips so that she might capture every last bit of his length. He pulled loose but sent his cock back into her with a powerful motion that sent a moan up and out of her body. Pleasure was tightening deep in her belly already, refusing to wait another moment. His cock was so hard, too large to resist allowing it to push her over the edge of reason and into rapture. Torin snarled something next to her ear that made no sense because she was caught in the grip of a pleasure so intense, it ruled her completely.

  There was only one thing she wanted to notice, and that was the hard thrusting of her partner, the feeling of his length plunging deep inside her over and over, until his body went rigid and she felt the hot spurt of his seed against her womb again. He unleashed another burst of pleasure in her, this one deeper and longer than the first. Her hips curled up, determined to keep every last drop inside her.

  Ten

  “My hair is impossible. Ye should leave it braided.” Shannon was too relaxed to care that she was lying with her back exposed. At some point, Torin had rolled off her and she’d turned onto her belly. Her body was so relaxed, she remained even when she felt Torin move and prop his head into the palm of one hand so that he might study her. She’d never had a man look at her bare body before, and she nibbled her lower lip with nervousness. But the memory of the way he seemed to enjoy looking at her kept her from trying to cover up. It was the truth that he made her feel pretty without any words at all; it was there in his eyes when he was studying her. It was something that she discovered she enjoyed. Possibly too much, but that idea wasn’t enough to get her to move; she wanted to linger in the moment and savor it.

  Torin didn’t heed her warning. He plucked at the tie holding her braid and began to thread his fingers through the sections until he had it all free. His eyes narrowed and his lips thinned, but there was no mistaking the enjoyment etched into his expression while he slid his fingers down the length of her hair.

  “Yer hair is magnificent. If I were nae worried ye’d catch it on fire, I’d forbid ye to bind it.”

  He reached for a silver comb that sat on the table near the bed and began to pull it along the length of her hair. She was amazed to see his larger male hands holding the delicate silver comb. It seemed tender, his acting the maid for her. It felt too good to really argue against, but the urge to tease him was too great to resist.

  “Except that ye are nae my husband, so ye cannae forbid me such. Or I should say, I’d nae be bound to obey ye.”

  The comb paused, and there was a low rumble from him. “Careful, lass. Yer bottom is tempting me.”

  He reached over and rubbed a hand across her bare backside. “I could teach ye to respect my word.”

  “All spanking me would do is teach me to fear yer strength and the fact that ye would nae hesitate to cause me pain in order to bend my will. I know ye are stronger than me.” Shannon shifted and looked at him over one shoulder. “Do ye wish for a woman who will shiver in this bed out of fear?”

  It was a bold question, for the church preached that a woman was bound by heaven’s law to obey her father first and then her husband. Most men wouldn’t even tolerate a woman’s asking. They expected women to learn such as girls and accept their place. Shannon stared straight at Torin, unafraid of pinching his ego. Part of her needed to know what he thought of her boldness, because it was the part of her that she had always hidden.

  His lips twisted with distaste, but his eyes held a frustrated look. “What I’d like is to hear yer promise that ye will nae try that witch weed. It is a risk no woman should be taking. Especially ye.”

  Shannon chewed on her lower lip, studying him for a long moment. “I would have thought that you would be grateful that I was nae of the mind to bind ye to me with a child.”

  Yet he was not. She witnessed it flash across his eyes, only a momentary glimpse before he hid his true feelings by looking at the length of her hair that he was running the comb along. A heavy silence fell over them; she actually heard the comb moving through her hair. Another snap came from the window, reminding her that the undergown was still flapping in the evening breeze.

  “Take my gown out of the window.”

  “Nay.” Firm and unbendable, his tone drew a soft hiss from her.

  “Ye have no right to announce anything to yer clan.” Shannon sat up, taking her hair away from his reach. “It was between us. Lovers do not share their relationship with others.”

  “I am laird here, Shannon. Privacy is not something I have a great deal of.” Each word was edged in the same steel that she recalled from the first night she met him. The fact that he was bare as a newborn didn’t seem to have any impact on the man. He expected his authority to be recognized.

  “Ye are nae my laird.”

  His face darkened, displeasure glittering in his eyes. “Ye are on my land, lass, which means ye answer to my law. The undergown remains where it is.”

  She snarled at him and rolled over the opposite side of the bed to escape. Her feet had barely touched the floor when someone used the heavy brass door knocker to announce his arrival. Her eyes widened, but Torin reached across the bed and hooked one large arm around her waist. He lifted her off her feet and pulled her back onto the bed. With another soft grunt, the man tossed the coverlet over her, folding it over to conceal her nudity.

  But her face was still visible when Baeth entered the room. Three other maids lowered themselves in courtesy before carrying trays and a large pitcher toward the table. They began to set the table for supper, laying out plates. Baeth watched the maids with a practiced eye before her attention was captured by someone else at the doorway. Another girl entered the room and offered a quick courtesy before bringing something to Baeth. The maid shook it out to reveal a dressing gown.

  “Up with ye, Shannon, before supper goes cold.”

  Baeth waited with the dressing gown held up for her to slip into, as if Shannon were the mistress of the house.

  Her face flamed hotly. What she was, everyone from the lowest stable lad knew, thanks to the undergown hanging from the window. Since the only thing that she might control was whether she looked like a coward, she slipped over the edge of the bed and onto her feet. The maid took the dressing gown and brought it forward before easing one side of it up her arm until it rested on top of her shoulder. The maid took up the weight of the garment while she passed behind her and brought the other sleeve up for her bare arm. Shannon reached for the tie, but the maid never allowed her the chance to grasp it. The girl overlapped the edges of the dressing gown and secured it with nimble hands. She lowered herself before quitting the room.

  Shannon had to catch her lower jaw, else it would have dropped open. Maids did not lower themselves before her. As a McBoyd, she was beneath every one of them.

  Baeth snapped her fingers. “Come in now.”

  Two lads appeared in the doorway, each of them holding a large tray. They inclined their heads respectfully before carrying the tray toward the table.

  “Thank you, Baeth.” Torin’s voice was firm and without a hint of regret. Satisfaction showed on his face while he watched Shannon.

  “Enjoy yer supper, Laird.”

  T
he head of house motioned the lads out the door with a quick wave of her hand. They went silently, but their eyes darted toward Shannon until the door frame cut off their view.

  “Was it truly necessary to make my position so public?”

  The dressing gown was warm and comfortable, a true luxury, but her cheeks brightened with shame.

  “Is it really so important to ye to keep our relationship secret? Ye are the one who used the word ‘lover,’ sweet Shannon.”

  “Do not mock me with those words.” She discovered that she could not bear it. Tears stung the corners of her eyes, taking her by surprise because she hadn’t realized how much she treasured the endearment. She looked at the floor, trying to regain her composure.

  A warm hand cupped her chin and raised her face.

  “Ye’re right, lass. Those words do not belong in our quarrel.” His eyes held tenderness for a long moment.

  “Yet the answer to yer question is yes.” He walked back across the chamber until he reached one of the chairs at the table, then he pulled it back and looked at her.

  “Ye will nae refuse to admit that we are lovers.”

  Pride flashed from his eyes and determination as though she’d slighted him.

  “I meant no insult.” Her words were edged with her rising temper. “But I do nae have any wish to polish yer ego by announcing to one and all that I haven’t the discipline to—”

  “To resist me?” Now his lips curved up in roguish delight.