Lachlan waved his hand through the air. “Ye have done plenty for me in the past, Highlander. Ye saved my son. I am forever indebted to ye. Please, go upstairs. Take a rest. I will prepare a meal for ye and yer friends.”
“It is much appreciated, Lachlan,” Sean said. “Ye have no idea.”
“Take yer rest. Please. What’s mine is yers.”
“I promise we will not be long, my friend. We only require a few hours of respite.”
Lachlan took them upstairs, showing them to the two quaint but nonetheless comfortable rooms consistent of a small bed made of straw covered with cloth and a tiny porthole window that looked out onto the village grounds. Kelly took the room on the right, Sean and Rose decided to rest in the room on the right. Lachlan fetched them several plates of roasted meat and vegetables, and then proceeded to tell Sean that he would fetch the stable owner in town to set about negotiating with Sean to retrieve them a trio of horses for them to use. Once they had finished their meals and Lachlan fetched the plates, Rose, seated on the edge of the bed and sighing with relief, said to Sean: “My bones are weary. I cannot believe we walked on foot as long as we did.”
“Take yer rest,” Sean said. “It is much deserved.”
Rose sighed, rubbing the back of her neck from the tension that had gathered. Sean looked at her as she closed her eyes, sensing the turmoil brewing inside of her, palpable to a level that it practically hung in the air.
“Are ye alright?” Sean said. “I can see that ye are troubled.”
Rose nodded. “I still think about the rest of my companions leaving me. They trusted me for so long. I just cannot believe that I…failed them.”
Sean shook his head. “Ye did not fail them. They made a foolish choice. They are merely distraught by all that has occurred. Dire circumstances tend to make people act…irrationally.”
Rose huffed, laughing with a bit of dismay in her tone. “No…I failed them…it is no one’s fault but my own.”
“Ye cannot blame yerself. Ye did well, Rose. Ye led yer people for so many years without encountering resistance that ye were not able to manage. It was just a matter of time before something happened. Again, do not blame yerself. Ye have done all that ye could.”
Rose laid back on the bed, bringing her hands to her face and covering her eyes. “I just don’t know what happens now. It is only the three of us. I just…I don’t know what is going to happen to the rest of the Scots. I wish they were here. I wish we were still together.”
Sean lingered over to the edge of the bed, feeling that titillating sensation rising inside of him as he glanced at Rose’s curves, his heart beating and skin turning flush. “Give it time,” he said. “They may come around. Yer absence will no doubt prompt them to think twice about the decision they made to leave.”
Rose sat up, placing her hands on the side of the bed and looking Sean square in the eye. “What did the tavern owner say,” she said, “about his son? He said that ye saved him?”
Sean shrugged. “It was a long time ago. It is not a story worth telling…Why do ye ask?”
Rose stood, coming up to Sean and hooking her arms around his neck. “Because ye make yerself out to be such a…I don’t know…ruffian. Ye act like ye are a scoundrel, but deep down ye are a good man. I look in yer eyes and see…pain…turmoil. I can see yer suffering lingering, yet ye pretend that it does not affect ye.”
Sean hung his head. “I do have pain, aye. But my past is my past. I want to focus on the future…Rose, there is something about ye that has…awakened something in me. I cannot explain it. And I no longer want to run from it.”
“Can’t ye tell me? Can’t ye tell me what plagues ye?”
Sean held Rose’s face gently in his hands, stroking her skin and pressing his forehead delicately against her own. “Another time,” he said. “I just want to hold ye. I just want to dwell in this moment with ye for as long as we possibly can…”
Rose smiled, bringing her lips up to Sean’s and gently pressing them against his. Sean felt as if he was slipping into a warm bath with Rose kissed him, his entire body feeling alive and coated in sheets of sheer ecstasy.
Sean let his hands slip away from Rose’s face, his palms slowly grazing Rose’s breasts. Is it time? he thought. Is this the moment? Do I even have the stomach for it?
Sean let it happen, cupping Rose’s breasts gently with both hands as she released a sigh, her body trembling under his touch as her hands began to graze his belt and slide slowly down the front of his pants.
Sean huffed with pleasure as he felt Rose’s palms gently glide toward his manhood, her hand gripping onto it firmly yet delicately, Sean immediately going stiff and pulling Rose in closer as the intensity of their kissing began to pick up.
Rose pulled Sean toward the bed, falling onto her back as she lifted her shirt up over her head. Sean’s eyes went wide as he stared at her bare chest, her skin smooth and beckoning him to place his mouth upon it, which is exactly what he did.
Sean’s tongue began to graze Rose’s chest, working his way up from her naval to her breasts. As Sean came on top of Rose and once more began to kiss her, Rose began to tug at her pants as Sean did the same. They were then completely nude, the two of them grinding on top of one another as Rose took Sean’s manhood and began to place it inside of her.
“Are ye sure?” Sean whispered, his lips hovering above Rose’s.
“Aye,” she replied softly, kissing him before placing him inside of her and moaning with sheer pleasure as she felt his hips gyrate and twist.
They moved in unison, the two of them entangling their limbs together and becoming one. Their passion was like a roaring fire as they moved together, their bodies feeling elated and awash in a sea of sheer tranquility as they locked eyes and never wavered.
Sean moved faster, Rose swiveling her hips as he did so, their lovemaking like a delicately and finely tuned dance with no moment of it dull or without the feeling of sheer joy. They moved faster, and faster, and faster, finally climaxing in unison and collapsing onto their sides as they panted and heaved and smiled while they held each other close.
“I love ye, Rose,” Sean said, his lips not far from Rose’s.
Rose smiled, biting her bottom lip as she replied: “I love ye, too, Sean,” before the two of them slowly slipped into a slumber and held each other’s naked bodies close in a delicate and warm embrace.
Chapter Twenty-Three
Rose was smiling the entire next morning as she met Kelly downstairs in the tavern while Sean set about fetching their new horses from the stable master of the village. It was impossible for her not to giggle as she played back the recent memories she had made with Sean, feeling, perhaps for the first time in a long time, completely alive and elated at the fact that she had found love, though it was in the most peculiar of places, with the one they called the Wanderer.
I am in love, Rose thought. And I never thought it would happen. Oh, God in heaven. I know that we are facing such troubling times. I miss my people. I still regret and feel that I have failed them—but I am so grateful for this, so grateful for Sean and the fact that we have crossed paths.
But Rose could not help but ponder what was going to happen after the events that occurred just a few hours before. There was still a significant amount of ground to cover, a whole terrain that they had to traverse before they reached their final destination. Will our love survive? her mind gibbered. Will we be able to stand the test of time? Will we even make it to our destination before the Redcoats catch up to us?
Rose shook her head, knowing that it was not worth thinking ten steps ahead of where they were currently at. Her love with Sean was still so new, still so tender, and there was no predicting what was going to happen. The only solution, the only thing she could do, that anyone could do in a situation like this was wait it out and see what would happen.
Her thoughts then drifted back to when she was a young girl, before her family was killed, before the Scots had been formed. Sh
e was all of ten years of age when she was inside the cottage of her family’s dwelling, her mother preparing a meal as Rose watched on with an intense gaze. She recalled her mother smiling in the way that Rose was smiling after her intimate moment with Sean. Even at such a tender age, Rose knew that something pleasant was stirring up her mother’s smile and causing her to beam in the proud and glowing way that she did that one particular morning.
“Why do ye smile, mother?” Rose asked.
Rose’s mother ran her fingers gently through Rose’s hair. “I am just happy, my love.”
“About what?”
“A great many things. Ye. Our family. Yer father.”
“Where is Daddy?”
“He is fetching me some herbs for our meal,” Rose’s mother had told her. “He goes above and beyond for his family, no matter how small the task. It is just one of the many reasons that I am happy that I married him.”
Little Rose, seated on a stool, perked up, rested her elbows on the countertop, and looked at her mother with a quizzical expression. “How do ye know?” she asked.
“How do I know what, my love?” her mother replied.
“Who to marry? How does one know when ye have fallen in love?”
Rose’s mother laughed, a hand on her hip as she tilted her head to the sky and tried to think of the answer. “It’s difficult to explain, my dear,” she said. “One just…knows. There is no method to it, no way of determining how or when it is going to happen.”
“So…” young Rose said. “One just…knows?”
“Aye, my dear. Ye will feel it when it happens. There will be no doubt in yer mind when ye meet the person that ye fall in love with that it is meant to be. And I will promise ye this, my young daughter—it will take ye by surprise. It will sneak up on ye without yer knowledge. It will be scary. Ye will try to doubt it, knowing ye, my love…but it will be rewarding when ye finally accept it.”
Rose, years later, the morning after her first night alone with Sean, smiled as she reflected fondly on the memory of her mother. She was right. I found love and tried to deny it…but it has been more than rewarding once I finally accepted it. Oh, Sean. How I feel for ye the way that I do. I do not know what this love will entail, at all the highs and lows that it will bring. But I will face it with ye. I gladly accept it. I run from it no more and take pleasure in being able to say that ye are the man that I love…
Rose was just outside the door, lost in her pleasant thoughts as Kelly came up alongside her and said: “What are ye smiling about?”
Rose bit her lip, trying to stifle her beaming though she knew that it was in vain. “Nothing,” she said. “I just merely had a good night’s rest.”
Kelly squinted, smiling herself as she said: “A good night’s rest, eh?”
Rose nodded. “Aye. Nothing more.”
Kelly’s eyes went wide, grabbing Rose by the shoulders and replying: “Ye devil! Did ye…did ye do what I think ye did?”
Rose held a finger to her lips. “Quiet! I don’t want others to overhear.”
“Ye did, didn’t ye! Rose, ye sly little—”
“Hush, Kelly! Please! Ye are going to spoil the moment.”
“I highly doubt I will spoil a thing. Ye look like ye are glowing.”
Rose covered her mouth for a brief moment, her eyelids fluttering as she felt herself swaying slightly from side to side. “I can’t explain it,” she said. “I did not plan for any of this to happen, though I do not argue or find a problem with the fact that it did.”
“What was it like? Tell me!”
“I will not!”
“Oh, come now. The Wanderer is not here.”
“Sean.”
“Come again?”
“Sean,” Rose said. “His name is Sean. He told me just the other day.”
Kelly crossed her arms. “And I trust,” she said, “that all of this started to become kindled when ye took off the other day and Sean had to catch up with ye.”
Rose nodded. “Aye. It did. I confessed my feelings for him…and he did the same.”
Kelly grabbed Rose’s hands, pulling her in close. “I cannot believe this has happened. I know that we are in the midst of dire times, but I am so thrilled for ye, my dear.”
“It is insanity,” Rose said. “I know that it is. But again—I am not going to argue with it. I…” she laughed, holding her head in her hands. “I love him, Kelly. I truly do. It has all happened so fast, but I will not deny that it is true.”
“Then go with it,” Kelly said. “Embrace it. God knows that one of us needs to have the comfort of a man’s company, and I run my mouth far too much to make that happen.”
Rose breathed easy. “I am just scared.”
“I thought ye just said that ye weren’t.”
“No, about what the rest of this journey will entail. We are, quite literally and figuratively, not out of the woods yet.”
“Well,” Kelly said, “take comfort in knowing that ye have yer very own steed now to accompany ye on the journey.”
They laughed, exchanging quips and more quick exchanges about what happened a few hours earlier before Sean arrived several minutes later on horseback with two other horses tethered alongside him. “Ladies,” he said. “I have secured our rides.”
“Are ye sure ye are up for another ride?” Kelly quipped.
Rose nudged Kelly in the rips, shushing her as Sean shook his head and hid a grin. “I see that ye two have talked.”
“Not at all,” Kelly said as she mounted her steed. “We were not talking about last night’s events.”
“Kelly!” Rose said with a laugh.
“I apologize. Let us make our leave. I don’t think I can even stand the sight of ye two lovebirds.”
Sean hid a laugh as Rose mounted the horse beside him, the two exchanging quick and loving glances as the Lachlan stepped foot outside of the tavern.
“Are ye making yer leave?” Lachlan asked.
“Aye,” Sean replied. “We do.”
“Where are ye headed to?”
“East. Far from here. We have about two days ride ahead of us before we reach our destination.”
“Best of luck to ye.”
“Much obliged, Lachlan. I can’t thank ye enough. I owe ye greatly.”
Lachlan held up his hands. “Ye owe me not a thing, Wanderer. I bid ye well on yer journey.”
Sean forked a thumb over his shoulder. “Chances are high that the English will come through here. I worry they will try and question ye about our whereabouts.”
“I have no doubt,” Lachlan said. “But I will be sure to steer them in the wrong direction. I shall tell them ye attempted to take refuge here but that I turned ye away. I will tell them ye headed west. Hopefully, they will believe my lie to be a truth.”
“This is a lot to ask of ye, my friend,” Sean said. “Again, I owe ye greatly.”
“Godspeed, Wanderer. To all of ye.”
Rose nodded, extending her hand and letting Lachlan grab it. “Thank ye, Lachlan,” she said. “I am forever indebted to ye.”
Lachlan shook her hand. “Go with God,” he said. “And safe travels.”
The trio turned their horses and tugged at the reins, all of them trotting out of the village in light gallop as they headed off to the east and left the village.
They rode for two hours, passing through another forested area before entering a sprawling valley covered in greenery. The sun shone bright overhead, casting a pleasant glow somewhat diluted by a series of ripe and billowing clouds overhead. The wind blew pleasantly, the sun warm enough that it staved off any overwhelming chill as the group rode together through the valley and slowed their pacing to give their horses a bit of respite.
“How do ye feel?” Sean inquired.
Rose was beaming. “Quite a silly question. I feel like I am still wandering through a pleasant dream.”
“The same for me. I don’t know how to explain it.”
They looked upon each other’s face
s for a moment, saying nothing and exchanging silent bids of love to one another.
“Ye know,” Rose said, “there is still something I wish to know.”
Sean shrugged. “Anything, my love.”
“About yer past. I want to know what happened that led ye to becoming the Wanderer, to the man that ye are today.”
Sean nodded. “Aye…I think that…I think that ye are right. The time has come to tell ye all. I do not wish for there to be any secrets between the two of us.”
Rose sat up straight on her saddle, waiting with a curious glint in her eye for Sean to tell the tale.
Legend of a Highland Lass: Scottish Medieval Highlander Romance Page 20