Her Broken Highlander (Highlanders 0f Cadney Book 3)

by Fiona Faris

  “We’ll shelter in that cave. I’ll find some wood for a fire,” Gavin said as Amelia led the horses to the stream to drink. “It’ll be a bitter night, best to keep the animals in the cave with us. An’ we’ll need every extra piece of clothing and plaid we have tae stay warm, lass.”

  Once they committed to spending the night in the cave, it seemed to Amelia that night rose quickly. They shared a brief meal, and the silence between them began to take over the small rock outcropping, that upon further inspection they both realized wasn’t exactly a cave and was much colder than either of them had anticipated.

  Amelia lay with a plaid wrapped tight around her and shivered, still able to see her breath in the night air.

  “Lass, why don’t ye come lay with me?” Gavin lifted his own plaid and offered her the shelter of his arms.

  “Are you sure? I thought after what happened today, you might want your space from me?”

  “Och, lass. After everything we’ve seen and been through, how could ye think that?” Indeed, perhaps she was foolish to think seeing her fight would turn him away from her.

  “You aren’t angry with me for fighting like a man?” He laughed out loud.

  “Angry? Nay, lass, more like desperate to have ye as me own. Now get ye over here, ye’ll freeze tonight on yer own, as will I most likely.” He smiled then, and Amelia’s heart clenched. “I was only quiet today to keep us on the right path. I’m nay as familiar with this part of the highlands, is all. I think yer a brave and braw lass. I’d watch ye fight a thousand men like ye did today, then let me warm ye in me bed.”

  She moved into his embrace, and he closed both plaids tightly around them. “Close yer eyes lass, tomorrow we’ll have a new adventure.” She did as she was told, smiling into his chest. The warmth she felt in the wilds of the highlands with Gavin by her side was the safest she’d felt in ages. She focused on making her breaths even, matching each inhale and exhale with his. The hardness of his body against the softness of her own, lulling her fast asleep.

  * * *

  Amelia awoke with a start. Something wasn’t right. She wasn’t cold, in fact, she was burning up, and there was dampness coming from somewhere.

  “No, no, no, no…” She looked to her right and saw Gavin had rolled away from her in the night. He was covered in a sheen of sweat, clearly still deeply asleep and moaning. “Do what ye will, ye sassenach bastard, but ye willnae break me!” he shouted.

  Amelia had seen night terrors before, but only in children around the village that surrounded their family home. Yet Gavin was surely in the throes of a full night terror. She sat up, moving closer to where he lay before settling back down. What was it Ella always said about nightmares? Don’t waken them. Yes, that was it. She said not to wake someone in the grasp of a terrible dream but rather be a calming force on the outside. She gently wrapped Gavin into her arms, trying her best to steady him. Or at least keep the shaking at bay. “Shhh, shhh, love, I’m here.’Tis only a dream,” she cooed.

  “WHERE IS SHE!” he shouted, louder this time, nearly scaring Amelia out of her wits.

  “I’m here, Gavin. I’m with you. You’re safe.”

  He continued to fight her for several more minutes, which to Amelia felt like an eternity, before finally settling back into slumber. Amelia nested in beside him, placing a light kiss on his forehead. When she pulled back, his eyes were open. Their green depths were darkened and questioning.

  “What happened, lass?”

  “It appears you’ve had a nightmare.”

  “A nightmare?”

  “Do you want to talk about it?” She knew he was a brave, stubborn man, and he most likely wouldn’t want to speak about such personal things, but still, she wanted him to know he could confide in her.

  “Nay, lass, but I do want tae hold ye.” He spread his arms wide, and Amelia tucked herself into his embrace.

  The gentle sound of far off waves crashing into the shoreline did nothing to help lull her back to sleep. She could tell by Gavin’s breathing that he ,too, was awake.

  “Tell me about the gaol,” she whispered into the darkness. She did not understand his pain, and mayhap revealing it to her could help some of it ebb away. She knew from their time in the garden at Cadney that he didn’t want help from her sister, but that didn’t mean he would refuse to talk about his time imprisoned with her.

  Not knowing if he would respond or not, she moved closer to him under the plaid and tucked one delicate ankle between his closed legs. Looking to silently tell him they were bonded by using the only physical touch she was brave enough to muster, even in the dark of the cave. They lay in silence for what to Amelia felt like an eternity. And she began to lose hope that he would speak at all, let alone confide in her. She so wanted to show him she was strong, she could help him carry his burden, yet she knew better than to push him in a direction he wasn’t ready to face. She kept her breathing even but moved enough to let Gavin know she was still awake. She was still waiting for his response.

  “It’s a horrible place, lass,” he began, his voice was husky with sleep. Amelia heard a deepening emotion come through in the one simple sentence. She nudged closer still, urging him to continue. “The English guards were nay kind. They used the men under their charge as pawns to gain favor with th’ warden, or worse, for sport.”

  “I cannot imagine the cruelty,” she said softly. “Those poor highland souls.”

  “Indeed, not all the men were strong when they were brought in. In fact, most were nay even able to lift their bodies to sit, much less stand or defend themselves. What the guards did tae th’ men was akin tae beatin’ mere bairns. We had all been captured from th’ same bloody battle.”

  “Dunkeld? I’ve heard Lucas speak of it. It was the battle that took your father, was it not?”

  “Aye, one and the same, a lot of the men were injured or had taken ill. But the guards didnae care, they still beat them. Thought us all traitors. They didnae understand, or didnae care tae understand most of the men didnae give a rat’s arse about England or Jacobites but fought for their fathers, their mothers, their clans. They fought for the way of life we’ve always kent that was disappearin’.

  “I decided I couldnae stand by and let weaker men take the brunt of the English hatred. So, whenever I could, I would step in. Allowin’ th’ guards tae use me own body as a way to protect the lads who wouldnae survive it.”

  “Tristan.” Amelia felt moisture begin to gather behind her eyes, she shut them fast to stop the flow of tears. She didn’t want Gavin to see her weep, but what he must have endured was too much for any one man to bear alone. “But doona fash lass,” he turned her to face him and ran a finger down her cheek catching a tear that had escaped and bringing it to his lips. “I found ye, did I not? Where would we be if I hadnae tried to escape for Tristan and found ye?”

  “What happened to you after the failed escape?”

  “It took the guards a day tae figure out that Tristan and two others managed tae get away during the horse line-up. Every other able-bodied man was sent tae the ships tae be loaded for th’ work camp. But somehow th’ guards kent it was I who organized the escape plan, they kept me behind.”

  “Gavin, were you tortured?”

  “Aye, beaten and whipped. Lass, it felt like it would never end. I prayed they would let me stay in the darkness. In the cell, I tried tae make myself small. Some days they whipped me before the blood from th’ last beatin’ still leaked from the wounds.”

  He rolled onto his back, his hand in her hair, gently rolling the wavy strands between his fingers, lost in the memory of those horrid nights. She pushed back the plaid and unbuttoned his shirt, suddenly needing to see the scars across his muscular chest. Scars that he received because he chose to save her rather than let her be trampled. Those scars were a love letter. A sad love letter that she wanted to read over and over until all the pain was worked away from its pages.

  He took a breath, Amelia thought, bracing himself for her d
isgust. But she didn’t feel disgusted. Each mark, each imperfection she revealed in the waning firelight was part of that invisible thing between them. She knew he felt it as well. She touched her lips to one deep, red, gash across his chest just above his nipple.

  “Lass, no.” His grip tightened on her shoulders as he tries to push her away.

  “This is us,” she replied, kissing him again. “Each mark, each beating, is something you endured because of me. Let me try and take the pain away, Gavin, please.” This kiss was different than any they had shared. Her lips on his body were reverence. She wanted to erase the feelings of pain and betrayal he felt each time he looked at his scars. She wanted his thoughts when he viewed his body to be only of her, and the feelings between them.

  “These are my fault,” she said, running her tongue and lips along the slash marks across his stomach.

  “Nay, lass, not yer fault,” he said as he lifted her to face him. Amelia was instantly lost as the fire danced in his eyes. They were as moist as her own. “For you, and I would do it all again.”

  She lifted her head, her eyes met his and held for a long moment. She willed her thoughts to him, not trusting her lips to form the words that needed saying. She needed him to feel her thanks, her apology, and to feel her, really feel her. Amelia would die protecting Gavin, she knew it as well as she knew her own name. He was hers.

  Chapter Twenty-Two

  Gavin read the need and desire in Amelia’s eyes. He needed her as well, maybe more than he needed air or water. He was free to admit that to himself now. She understood a part of his soul he thought long dead. He leaned up and touched his lips to hers. He told her softly with each press of his lips against hers that they were of one mind. He deepened their kiss, gently biting her lower lip, begging her for the access that would make him feel whole. She tasted of redemption; solace from the storm that always raged within him.

  He tasted her with his tongue, even in the dirty, cold of travel through treacherous lands she still tasted of berries and sunshine.

  How is this even possible? He instantly needed more of her. He rolled her onto her back and moved his kiss down her neck. The mixture of salt and sweet on her skin, driving him mad with desire. His own manhood was straining for freedom against his plaid. A low moan of pleasure escaped her throat as Gavin ran his hands down her shoulders, just lightly grazing the sides of her breasts. Just the way he liked them, not overly buxom but enough to satisfy a handful. He moved his hands down her sides and captured her waist, pulling her flush against the hardened length of him. Needing to be nestled in her softness. He kissed her again, this time the kiss was urgent, aggressive. He captured her mouth and made it his, stroking with his tongue and nipping with his teeth. She matched him stroke for stroke and heat uncoiled inside him.

  “Lass,” he moaned. “Ye doona ken what ye do tae me.”

  She looked up at him, the blue of her eyes darkened in the fire light. He saw the need and desire in them.

  “I want you, Gavin.” Her tone as sweet as the cakes that cook made for Beltane, and her fire just as wicked as Belenus, the Shining One. He was swallowed by her light. It was his undoing.

  * * *

  Tension coiled in Amelia’s body as Gavin undid the catches on her traveling gown. His fingers were everywhere leaving behind proof of their travels in red hot pieces of himself as they moved over her body. She wore a light chemise underneath the dusty gown, and when the cold air hit her breasts through the whimsy fabric, her nipples tightened, and she gasped from the pleasure.

  The contrast in the cold night air and the heat that Gavin was creating within her was almost too much to bear. A slick wetness formed between her legs. His kiss took her mouth again, and she arched her back, pushing her body up into his. A natural movement that she couldn’t explain, nor did she want to. Her body had taken over from her mind, and Amelia trusted herself in Gavin’s embrace completely.

  All coherent thought fled, replaced only with sharp need. He dragged his mouth from hers and lead kisses down her cheek to her jaw and only stopping briefly before taking the soft lobe of her ear between his teeth, gently biting, worrying and tasting the sweet, fatty flesh that was quickly driving her to the edge.

  “Are ye sure lass, this is nay how I imagined taking yer maidenhood. Ye deserve better.”

  “Yes, Gavin, please. There is no better than you. It was always you.” She didn’t know exactly what she was asking for, but she knew she wanted Gavin to be the one to deliver her from the pain and pleasure of need that was consuming her.

  He stripped her bare with what seemed to be one fluid movement, his mouth never leaving hers. She thought she should be embarrassed and moved to cover herself.

  “No, lass, let me look at all of ye.” His eyes giving away an emotion Amelia wasn’t ready to name, as she let her arms fall to her sides.

  He leaned in and place a kiss on the smooth flat of her stomach before moving down. “Open for me, lass.”

  She widened her legs, unsure of where he wanted to kiss her, but trusting him fully with her exposed body. He placed a light kiss on her inner thigh, causing Amelia to take in a sharp breath. Anticipation beating rapidly inside her to the rhythm of her own heartbeat, or maybe his, she couldn’t tell anymore.

  He leaned down and nestled against the soft curly hairs that gathered at the apex of her thighs, letting his breath hit her where her most secret desire pulsed. His finger gently parted the folds of her sex, and she pulled back, not sure what he meant to do to her…there. He placed his other hand on her stomach. “Gentle now, lass, yer beautiful, I mean tae taste ye. So wet for me, waiting.”

  He dipped his head and licked her opening. She gasped at the sudden sensation of it. Forgetting any trepidation, she relaxed into his kiss. His tongue found the center core of her. He licked and teased.

  She felt herself losing control, “Gavin, please, yes, there.” She bucked her hips, and he gripped her bottom hard with his hands as he continued his devil kiss. She felt the warmth in her stomach begin to spread, as he sped up his tongue and used a finger to enter her, mimicking the same rhythm. She clasped her body tightly around him, urging him to continue the motion that made her feel so very good. The sensations beyond anything she would ever have thought to imagine.

  “YES, GAVIN!” She screamed her release into the night air as stars exploded behind her eyes.

  * * *

  Amelia’s response to Gavin’s kiss was more than he could have ever imagined. He had been no stranger to pleasing a maid or two before his time in the gaol, but with Amelia, it was different. He would die for wanting more of her, and he could never tire of her body clenched around hers at once both so tight and giving.

  He moved his body above her, with the taste of her still on his lips he kissed her again. “Love, there is so much more, but I doona want tae rush ye for my own pleasure. They say for a maiden the first time can be a wee bit painful, and ye ken I doona want tae hurt ye, lass.”

  “There is more?” Her face lit up, and Gavin felt himself twitch and harden more than he had ever done before. God, how he wanted this woman.

  “Aye, but we can wait.” Please say no, please say no. His need for her was immense. If she said no, he would stop, there was no pain or promise of pleasure that would make him force himself on any maiden. Let alone a maiden, he lo—.

  “I don’t want to wait, Gavin, I want all of you, tonight, now.” He took her lips again, tearing through her. The last of his resolve melting. Her permission, her eagerness to please was music to him. His mind raced with thoughts of sinking into her and bringing her to pleasure again. He wanted to hear her angelic voice as it bounced of the rock walls carrying his name on the wind.

  He positioned himself so that he was above her, his hands resting on either side of her body, as to not crush her with his weight. She looked up at him, eyes hooded in desire, and she ran her hands down his chest, stopping briefly at each nipple, toying with them in the same way he did to her. Ripples of desire
flooded through him. How enticing could one lass be? He closed his eyes and pressed his hard length to her stomach, needing her to know exactly what she was doing to him with her curiosity.

  She reached down and tentatively stroked the tip of his manhood with her thumb, wetting it with the slick that had formed there and brought it to her lips.

  “Ahhh, lass, ye must nay do that again.”

  “Why? Was it bad?”

  “Nay, just the opposite. Ye keep on touchin’ me that way, lass, an’ I will nay be able tae control myself.”

  “Will you enter me?” Her upfront language would shock a lesser man, but Gavin found her question erotic.

  “Aye lass, if yer sure that’s what ye want. I want nothing more than tae feel yer body around me own, but not if ye have any doubts or questions.” She ran her hands down his chest again and bit her lip.