‘Don’t worry, Isobel? Don’t worry?! Look at you, lass – that spanking you took in the hall, it was not the first one he had given you, was it?’
‘No, it was not, but Alasdair...he will not do anything that I cannot cope with or do not find pleasurable, Catriona, and he will keep me protected from the rest of the men,’ Isobel said softly, unsettled to find herself convinced of the truth of the words, for despite all that had happened, she was growing to believe that Alasdair would keep her safe and in only his bed – something that Isobel was also coming to realise was a prospect that thrilled her. She desired him deeply, and strangely, his declaration that she would be his wife was a future that she sensed she could accept.
‘Isobel, allow me to ask you frankly,’ Catriona said slowly, coming to kneel next to the tub and staring intently into Isobel’s eyes. ‘Alasdair – does he please you? Are you actually now willing to take him as your husband?’
‘Catriona, it was only a matter of time after my father’s death before someone would come to Glen Carrick and either take it by force or take me by force. And I find...well, I think I am glad that it is Alasdair rather than another man who perhaps would not...who I did not...’ she trailed off awkwardly, ashamed to confess to her cousin that she desired the man who had done such things to her, but Catriona seemed to understand.
‘If you desire him as much as he so clearly lusts for you, Isobel, then maybe he will be able to make you happy – and that is all that I want, lass, to see you happy. The rest of the women, though...’
‘The men are obedient to Alasdair, Catriona – I think, perhaps, that if I beg him, he would command them to be respectful,’ Isobel suggested, a sharp twist of desire coursing through her as she imagined how exactly she could beg him for such a boon.
‘For you, Isobel, I think maybe he would – after all, it is far easier to catch flies with honey, and I saw how thrilled he was when you obeyed him, and then when you kissed him afterwards...’ Catriona sighed heavily as she handed Isobel the soap. ‘Perhaps you are right, cousin – we fought, and valiantly so, but they still overcame us. Undoubtedly they are here to stay, but if Alasdair pleases you and you are happy to submit to him, then it will be a better life for all of us, I suspect.’
Exhaling with giddy relief, Isobel nodded earnestly. ‘What choice do we have, Catriona? I never, ever imagined that I would accept a new lord and a husband that was forced upon me, but then I never expected that anyone like Alasdair would come and affect me the way he does. He is not a gentle man by nature, cousin, and I do not expect that will ever change, but I have never felt pleasure like that which he showed me! If I must have a husband, then I think I would far rather it be Alasdair than anyone else.’
‘Then in that case, I will inform the women of your decision,’ Catriona murmured, smiling sadly as she helped Isobel wash out her hair. ‘He is a handsome man, Isobel, even if he is a cruel one, and you seem to have entranced him. I only hope that he will make you happy and keep you safe.’
‘Aye,’ Isobel replied quietly, stretching out her slender legs and allowing her eyes to close as her cousin tenderly washed away all the dirt from her body and hair. She was barely awake by the time that Catriona helped her out of the tub and towelled all the moisture away.
‘Shall I go and see if I can find you a shift to wear?’ Catriona asked, glancing with a grimace to where the ruins of the clothing Isobel had worn yesterday still laid discarded and torn next to the bed.
‘No, don’t worry,’ Isobel assured her with a blush, for she felt sure that Alasdair would much prefer her to be bare and ready for him when he came to awaken her as he had promised. ‘Thank you for understanding, cousin.’
‘Understanding?’ Catriona echoed. ‘I am not sure that I do, entirely, but I can see how much you desire our new laird, Isobel, so there is nothing I can do but accept your decision. Do you need anything else, or shall I leave you to sleep now?’
‘All I need is to sleep now.’ Isobel leaned forwards and kissed her cousin’s cheek before slipping gratefully in between the rumpled sheets and breathing in deeply, the scent of Alasdair assaulting her senses and seeming to envelop her just as completely as the sheets that Catriona tucked around her. Her eyes closed tightly, and she was asleep before her cousin had even left the room.
It seemed, to Isobel, that barely any time had passed before she felt the sheets being drawn back from her body again. Shaking her head drowsily without opening her eyes, she buried her face into the pillows and moaned softly, but the hands that were now groping painfully at her breasts and twisting her nipples were insistent, and would not allow her to drift back to sleep.
Her body tensing up, Isobel slowly realised that something was wrong. It was not Alasdair’s scent that she could smell, and the low, cruel burst of laughter that she heard did not come from his lips. With a gasp of horror, her eyes flew open as she felt the man climb onto the bed to see Douglas next to her, his eyes burning with lust as he straddled her bare body and covered her mouth with his large hand.
‘Awake now then, pet?’ he drawled, licking his lips lewdly as he shifted his hips so that his swollen cock was pushing against her. ‘You will see, Lady Isobel, that we are alone – there is no-one here to stop me doing as I wish with you; and oh, how much pleasure you are going to give to me, against your will or not!’
Twisting her head desperately to the side, Isobel managed to free her mouth from his hand as she kicked out at him. ‘Get off me!’ she hissed furiously, trying to conceal the terrible fear she felt. ‘Where is Alasdair?’
‘Where is Alasdair?’ he repeated in a mocking, sing-song voice. ‘Your precious laird is downstairs, little Isobel, and I have his full permission to be here with you.’
Isobel froze, his words sending a fresh shock of horror through her body. Her lower lip trembling, she stared up at him, not wanting to believe that Alasdair would go against what he had earlier promised and allow any of the other men to use her in such a way. Douglas lowered his head to bite her breasts with a lascivious grin, and the jolt of pain brought her back to her senses. Trying to forget the irrational tormented emotions that had filled her mind, she tried futilely to roll out from underneath him.
‘Stop it, pet!’ he snarled, slowly grinding his hips against hers so that she could feel his cock as it twitched impatiently at her opening. ‘I have been craving your lovely body ever since I first saw you, Isobel. Now, I am going to tear my pleasure from you if I have to – and I am not like Alasdair, I won’t waste time on giving you any pleasure in return!’
Shuddering in growing horror, Isobel swallowed hard. ‘B-but Alasdair said –’
‘Alasdair’s orders for me were to ensure that any child you conceive could only be his,’ Douglas interrupted with a lop-sided sneer, pushing the tip of his cock into her with a low groan and slapping her face when she tried to desperately scramble backwards, seizing a handful of her hair to pull her back towards him. ‘And that’s fine; I won’t spill my seed inside you, lass, as delightful as I am sure that would be. But Isobel, there are plenty more ways in which I can force you to pleasure me.’
As he dragged her up and seized hold of her head with both hands, Isobel suddenly realised what he meant. Regardless of whether or not Alasdair was expecting her to pleasure Douglas in such a way, she could not bear the thought of submitting to the brutish, cruel man as she did to Alasdair – for it was only Alasdair that she desired.
Fighting against him with all the energy she could summon up, Isobel screamed at the top of her voice and wrenched her head free of his hands as he tried to force it down towards his cock.
‘Bitch!’ he hissed furiously as she threw herself sideways off the bed and landed painfully on the bare floor next to it. The force with which she hit the floor took her breath away momentarily. Dazed and confused, her head rolled to the side as Douglas leapt down from the bed and crouched down, snatching her back up into his arms and backing her up against the wall.
‘Oh God,
please!’ Isobel begged with a low whimper, realising that if Alasdair had given his permission, she was entirely helpless to stop Douglas from doing as he wanted; and perversely, her struggles only seemed to be pleasing him all the more. ‘Please don’t, please don’t do this –’
Her desperate plea was cut short as the heavy door burst open, slamming back against the stone wall as Alasdair sprinted through it, breathing heavily as he dashed across the solar and tore Douglas away from Isobel. The fearsome and terrible anger she saw upon his face left her in no doubt that he had not, in fact, given Douglas permission to take her, and that realisation was just as great a relief as the fact that he had spared her just in time.
With a loud sob, she slumped down against the wall and slipped to the floor as Alasdair drew back his clenched fist and struck Douglas with all the force he could muster in the stomach before following it up with a vicious left hook that broke the other man’s nose. He had been sat at the table still, silently surveying the hall as his men began to return it to some semblance of order when Isobel’s piercing scream of terror echoed throughout it from the solar above. Finally noticing Douglas’s absence, he had put the pieces together and hurtled up the stairs three at a time, his face bloodless as his heart raced in terror.
To enter the room and see Isobel trapped by Douglas, just moments away from being raped by him, had confirmed his worst fear and filled him with a reckless, all-encompassing fury. Barely retaining a tenuous grip upon it, he advanced upon Douglas again, ushering him towards the door. ‘Get out, bastard!’ he growled, his fists clenching tightly again at his sides. ‘I said, out! Begone – from my solar, from my lady, and from Glen Carrick!’
‘From Glen Carrick?!’ Douglas echoed in astonishment, unable to prevent his eyes from wandering back towards Isobel – a fact that did not escape Alasdair’s attention. ‘Come now, old friend, such anger over some lass –’
‘My Isobel is not just some lass! She is mine, Douglas, in every possible way, and any offence against her is an offence against me. Now, get out of here before I call for my sword and run you through – for I promise, were it not for Isobel’s presence, I would have done so already!’
Douglas stared at him incredulously, but it was very clear that Alasdair’s threat was sincere. Shaking his head, he scowled at Isobel before turning on his heel, wiping the blood from his face as he stalked from the room and pulled the door shut behind him.
The sound of Douglas’s footsteps faded away down the stone steps as Alasdair hastened across the solar to pull the shaking Isobel into his arms and cradle her against his chest. ‘Darling, my darling Isobel!’ he crooned, a pained grimace upon his face as he felt the tears streaming from her eyes. ‘You are safe now – I have you, and I give you my word that no man but me will ever touch you again! Why are you still crying, my lovely?’
Isobel clung to Alasdair tightly, drawing comfort from his nearness as her sobs finally began to abate. ‘I...I was afraid –’
‘Of what he would do to you?’ Alasdair interrupted, his face contorted.
‘No – well, yes, of course, but more that...’ Isobel trailed off, a blush creeping up her face as she hesitantly met his curious stare. ‘Alasdair, he told me that you had given him permission to do as he liked with me! I thought that it meant that you...that you and I...’
‘You thought that I had broken my promise to you and no longer cared if another man took you?!’ Alasdair finished for her. ‘No, Isobel –God, no!’ he exclaimed fervently.
‘You swear?’ Isobel pressed him anxiously, laying her head on his chest as he gently wound one hand through her hair and caressed her head.
‘I swear to you, darling!’ he assured her. ‘You are mine, Isobel, and you have captivated me entirely, lass – I am yours now as surely as you are mine, and I will not have our marriage tainted by either of us sharing a bed with another person. But Isobel, why does it matter so much to you? In what way was Douglas so different to me – is one conqueror not the same as another?’
‘It seems not,’ she said hesitantly, reaching up to lay her hand upon his face. ‘Oh, when I saw you standing in my hall with such arrogant pride on your face, I wanted so badly to hate you, Alasdair!’
‘Yes, darling, I gathered as much by the way that you tried to stab me, my devious lass!’ he said wryly.
‘I am glad now that I did not succeed, if that makes it any better?’ Isobel murmured.
‘Aye, it does!’ he said in delight. ‘But why, Isobel – have you something you finally wish to confess?’
‘Are you going to force me to say it, Alasdair?’
‘Indeed I am, my Isobel – I have been aching to hear you confess your desire for me since first we kissed!’ Alasdair said passionately. ‘Please, darling, won’t you tell me – or need I spank your buttocks again to force the truth from your reluctant lips?’
‘Ah, Alasdair, that is hardly an encouragement for me to own up, is it?’ she said mischievously, smiling faintly once more as he groaned with pleasure. ‘I know that I failed miserably in my efforts to hide from you how much I enjoyed it when you spanked me.’
‘That you did, my lass, that you did! But do not tease me any longer, darling – please, Isobel, tell me the words I so want to hear!’
Unable to deny him, Isobel moistened her lips nervously as he leaned back against the wall and settled her more comfortably in his lap. His hands roamed possessively over her body, and she revelled in his touch, the pleasurable sensations doing all that was needed to calm her and make her bold enough to speak the words that Alasdair yearned to hear. ‘Alasdair,’ she began softly, ‘I cannot hide it any longer. The thought of lying with any man who is not you is now intolerable – I never imagined it could be possible for me to desire anyone the way I do you, yet alone the man who invaded my home and forced himself upon me!’
‘But do you desire me, my Isobel, don’t you?’ he said triumphantly.
‘Oh, I do, Alasdair! Maybe you are the devil incarnate, but I find myself unable to protest, not when you have shown me such pleasure, and not when my body craves yours –’
Isobel wanted to say so much more now that she had finally found the courage to confess to her desire, but Alasdair silenced her with a pained, lustful groan as he leaned down and covered her lips with his own. She responded to him instantly as he awkwardly rose to his feet and carried her back to the bed, for her words had aroused him more fiercely than anything before. ‘My lovely lass!’ he said hoarsely as he laid her down and she reached for his breeches, just as desperate for Alasdair as he was for her. ‘Isobel, may I confess something to you now?’
‘If you do so quickly!’ she replied with an impatient, urgent little moan, tugging away the last of his clothing and pulling him down towards her.
Propping himself over Isobel in readiness, Alasdair smiled down at her, thrilling in her eagerness to give herself to him so completely. ‘I think, darling, that if you allowed me to, I could very easily fall in love with you!’ he declared, sharing the revelation that had been enough to take his breath away as he had sprinted up the staircase to tear Douglas away from her side.
‘Alasdair – oh, Alasdair, if you continue to give me such pleasure then you may do anything to me that you like!’ Isobel moaned, surrendering herself to Alasdair completely with a rush of physical and emotional ecstasy.
‘Isobel, I think those are quite possibly the most wonderful words I have ever heard spoken!’ With that, Alasdair drove himself into her to claim her once more, already gasping for breath as he fervently offered up thanks to whatever impulse it was that had persuaded him to fight to take Glen Carrick – for in its walls, he had found the greatest of all prizes and joys.
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Prisoner of Desire Page 5