There was a knock on the door, though Ishbel didn’t know who it could possibly be. She stood up and opened it, and saw Angus on the other side, looking haggard and weary.
“Angus,” she said as she stepped aside to let him in the room. “What are you doing here?”
“I came to see ye, Ishbel,” Angus said, closing the door behind him. He sounded tired, too, Ishbel noticed, as though he hadn’t slept in days. “I ken that ye’ll be leaving soon, and . . . I couldnae let ye leave without seeing ye one last time.”
Angus’ words only served to deepen Ishbel’s sadness. Knowing that he felt the same way for her as she did for him made her heart ache since she knew that they were already doomed.
“You are looking for a wife,” Ishbel said then, and it was a statement rather than a question. Angus nodded regardless, though he seemed hesitant to admit it.
“Aye,” he said. “I suppose ye heard the rumors. ’Tis true, Ishbel. I must take a wife if I wish for my people to be united.”
“Yes, I know that.”
Ishbel held no ill feelings regarding Angus’ decision. It was politics, after all, and so it was hard to argue against it. She only wished that Angus wasn’t the Laird of his clan, that they were both simply farmers, free to do as they pleased, free to love each other and be with each other.
Wishing was futile, though.
“Who is it, then?” Ishbel asked. “Who will you marry?”
“I dinnae ken,” Angus admitted. “I . . . I dinnae ken if I can marry any of the noble lasses. After all the rumors that have spread about me, it’s no wonder that they dinnae wish to be my wife. They’re all scared of me.”
Ishbel placed a gentle hand on Angus’ shoulder. What would it take for the world to see him the way that she did? What would it take for his people to realize that he was a good man, a man who could have never killed his wife and daughter?
“I’m sorry, Angus,” she said. “You don’t deserve this.”
Angus didn’t reply. He simply looked at her, gazing into her eyes for what seemed like an eternity to Ishbel. Then, he kissed her.
Ishbel allowed herself to melt into the kiss, wrapping her arms around Angus’ neck and pulling him closer to her. For once, there was no urgency between them. They kissed slowly, sweetly, languidly, allowing themselves to explore each other’s bodies with their touch.
Ishbel had never felt such a strong desire for another man before. She didn’t simply want Angus; she needed him. She needed him like flowers need the sun and the soil; she needed him like she needed air to breathe.
And she would make the most out of it while she could still be with him, even if it would be for only one night.
Ishbel pulled Angus towards the bed, and she lay down, letting him move on top of her, all the time touching him, kissing him. She tried to keep him in her memory, every line and groove of him, every muscle, every single speckle of color in his eyes, all of it tucked safely away inside her mind so that she could keep him there forever.
Angus began to work on her dress, unbuttoning the buttons and unlacing her corset until she was free of any garments. Isabel didn't have the chance to reciprocate, and Angus didn’t stop to undress, but before she could protest, Angus began to pepper kisses down her neck and over her chest.
She surrendered to him.
Angus scattered more kisses on her breasts, stopping to suck on one nipple as his hand snaked down her body and found the slickness of her cleft, two fingers slipping inside her easily and drawing a breathless moan out of her.
The brush of fabric against Ishbel’s bare skin had her trembling. Angus didn’t even seem to care about his own pleasure and was instead focused on her, teasing her with his fingers and his mouth. He seemed to have a way with both, and soon Ishbel was reduced to a moaning, blabbering mess, her entire body covered with a sheen of sweat.
“Angus . . . Angus, please,” she said, her hands clawing at him as she tried to rip his clothes off. “Please, I want to feel you, all of you.”
“Ye will,” Angus assured her. “Patience, mo ghràdh.”
Ishbel couldn’t complain even if she wanted to, not when the pads of Angus’ fingers hit something deep inside her that had her toes curl in pleasure. She couldn’t help but roll her hips, chasing her pleasure on his fingers, but before she could move too much, Angus stopped her, holding her hips down onto the mattress.
“I said patience, mo ghràdh,” he repeated. “Ye are mine to please. I’ll give ye what ye want.”
Ishbel let her head fall back with a moan, her legs falling wide open as Angus began to move lower and lower, kissing her abdomen and her hip bone, until his mouth was right there with his fingers. He began to lick and kiss her sensitive flesh, just like he had done in the garden, and Ishbel felt a rush of pleasure as she remembered their encounter there, out in the open.
Just like then, her pleasure built more and more inside her, until it reached its peak, leaving her moaning and shaking through her completion.
She didn’t see it, too lost in the haze of her pleasure, but only then did Angus pull back and discard his own clothes before moving on top of her once more.
She didn’t think that she could handle any more so soon, but Angus began to push inside her, exquisite torture that made her hips move again to meet his thrusts. This time, Angus didn’t hold her down. Instead, he welcomed her movements, thrusting his own hips in the same rhythm.
Angus’ hands came down to rest on her, one on her hip and one on her breast. He made love to her slowly, taking his time and making sure that he kissed every single spot on her body, lavishing Ishbel with attention.
Their moans mingled as they kissed, and Ishbel could feel Angus’ chest reverberating against her. He, too, was covered in sweat, his skin hot to the touch.
Ishbel knew that she could never love another man as she loved Angus. She could never want another man as she wanted Angus, with such ferocity, such need.
She could feel her pleasure growing once more, Angus hitting that same spot deep inside her with every thrust of his hips. She could see that he, too, was close, his entire body shaking and his rhythm faltering, and then they both reached their climax, Angus biting down on Ishbel’s shoulder as he tried to muffle his groan.
Ishbel was louder than him, her moans and sighs echoing around the room until Angus kissed her again. She could feel him pulsing inside her, a strange, incredible sensation that left her gasping.
Angus rolled to the side, then, before he pulled Ishbel in his arms. Ishbel went happily, curling up against him and burying her face in his chest, pretending that she could stay there forever.
The two of them stayed like that for the rest of the night, both of them unwilling to part with each other. They were determined to spend as much time as they could together, and so Angus didn’t leave her room in the middle of the night, even though there was a chance he would be spotted by someone the following morning.
Consequences be damned, Ishbel thought. She would have him for herself for as long as she could.
The next morning, they were both awakened by the first rays of sunshine. It was still early, and so Angus didn’t hurry to leave the room.
Neither of them mentioned Ishbel’s upcoming departure. Neither of them spoke at all. Instead, they kissed, embracing each other tightly.
“Angus . . . I want you,” Ishbel said. “Let me have you one last time.”
Once again, they moved slowly. Ishbel took Angus in her hand, feeling his already hard length as she guided him between her legs. They rocked against each other slowly, their fingers intertwined as they gazed at each other.
Ishbel sighed softly again and again as Angus parted her flesh, and soon she closed her eyes, her pleasure exploding inside her.
It was over too soon, and yet by the time it was over, it was late enough for Angus to leave. Ishbel wanted to cry, to shout at him, to beg him to let her stay.
She didn’t do any of those things. It wouldn’t make a difference;
it would only make her look like a petulant child, and she didn’t want Angus to remember her like that.
She also didn’t want their last words to be an argument.
“If I dinnae see ye again, Ishbel, ken that I wish it was meant to be,” Angus said, interrupting her thoughts. “That we were meant to be. But there isnae reasoning with fate.”
Ishbel could feel the tears as they threaten to spill out of her eyes, and no matter how much she tried to stop them, she couldn’t. She walked up to Angus, wrapping her arms around him tightly, and held onto him for dear life.
“Go now,” she said. “Go. The more you stay here, the worse it is for us both.”
Angus nodded. He pressed a kiss on Ishbel’s forehead and wiped her tears away with his hand. Then, he turned around and suddenly, he was gone.
Ishbel was left alone in her chambers, standing there, in the middle of the room. She felt as though her limbs were made of lead, heavy and unmovable, and it took her a long time to head back to the bed. When she did, she perched herself on the edge of her mattress, her gaze unfocused as she stared at the stone wall in front of her.
She had to gather herself. She had to take all her feelings and bottle them up, push them as far down as she could so that they would never see the light of day again. She took a deep, shaky breath, and then she put on her clothes, her movements slow and labored.
It felt as though Angus had taken her life with him when he had left the room. Ishbel felt drained, and the only thing that kept her upright was the fact that she didn’t want anyone to see her break.
Once she was dressed, she fixed her hair and splashed some water onto her face so that her eyes wouldn’t be red anymore. Only then was she ready to head out of her room in search of Donal, so that the two of them could start the long journey to the Cameron castle.
She would soon see her cousin, she reminded herself. She would soon see Vanora, and she would make up for the lost time with her. She would meet her children, and she would get to know Donal, too, and in the end, she would have a grand time, she told herself.
Ishbel took one last look at her chambers, which had served as her home for so long by then. Someone would come and pick up all her belongings, she knew, so she simply made her way down the stairs to the bottom floor of the castle.
Ishbel found Donal finishing his breakfast, and she walked up to him with slow steps. Unlike her, Donal didn’t seem to be ready to leave in the slightest, and Ishbel had to crush what little hope was reignited inside her. Surely, he wasn’t ready simply because they wouldn’t leave quite yet, but they would leave; that much was certain.
“I am ready whenever you are, Donal.”
Chapter Sixteen
“Ach, Ishbel!” Donal said, his hand coming up to clutch onto his chest as his fork clattered onto his plate. “Ye gave me a fright, lass.”
“Forgive me,” Ishbel said. “I didn’t know that you were unaware of my presence.”
Donal waved his hand dismissively before he gestured at her to take a seat beside him. “Come, sit . . . are ye hungry?”
“No.” Ishbel shook her head, but she sat down next to Donal even though she didn’t feel like eating. She didn’t think that she could stomach anything at that moment.
Donal gave her a look, one that Ishbel didn’t quite understand. She watched as he tapped his fingers on the table, taking in a sharp breath as though he was about to speak.
He didn’t say anything, though, staying quiet instead, but Ishbel knew that there was something he wanted to say, and she couldn’t ignore the itch to know what it was.
“Would you like to say something?” she asked him.
Donal laughed softly at that and shook a finger at her. “Aye, I do,” he said. “I wanted to ask ye about Angus.”
“What about him?”
“About Angus and ye,” Donal clarified.
Ishbel didn’t really know what to tell him. She didn’t think that it was an appropriate topic of conversation in the first place, though she wasn’t surprised that Donal knew about them. They were best friends, after all, the two of them, and it was no surprise that Angus had told him about the feelings that had blossomed between them.
“I dinnae mean to overstep,” Donal said quickly, perhaps because he saw the way that Ishbel’s mouth turned into a thin, disapproving line. “I’m only curious, lass, but if ye dinnae wish to speak about it, I understand. I willnae mention it again.”
Ishbel stayed quiet for a few moments, as she contemplated whether or not she should even start such a conversation. She couldn’t see the harm in it, though, not really, and besides, she could hardly refuse a Laird.
“What do you wish to know?”
“How do ye feel about him?” Donal asked. “Ye must ken by noo everything that the people here say about him, aye? Do ye believe them?”
“Of course, I don’t!” Ishbel protested. “Angus has been nothing but kind to me. I know that he is a good man, you don’t need to tell me that. I believed the rumors at first before I had met him, but I don’t anymore. He changed my mind the very first time we met.”
Donal hummed, and Ishbel could have sworn that just after that simple question, he had warmed up to her a lot more. She didn’t blame him for being protective of his friend, of course, not after everything that Angus had been through.
“Good,” Donal said. “That is good . . . the lad has gone through some rough times, ye ken.”
“He hasn’t told me much about it,” Ishbel admitted. “He doesn’t seem like it’s something he wishes to talk about.”
“It isnae,” Donal confirmed. “He used to be so happy when we were younger. I remember him . . . Angus, my brother, and I . . . we all trained together. Yer Uncle Cormag trained us right here, in this verra castle, did ye ken that?”
“Yes,” Ishbel said. “My uncle loved you very much. Both you and Angus, though he never mentioned your brother.”
“I think it must have hurt him too much to speak about Ronald,” Donal said. “Ye see yer cousin, Vika . . . she was the reason why he died.”
That was something that Ishbel hadn’t known until then, and her mouth hanged open as she stared at Donal in disbelief. She knew that Vika had done something bad and that she had treated Angus badly, too, but she had no idea that she had been responsible for a man’s death.
“Aye, I ken,” Donal said. “It’s hard to believe, but Vika, she . . . she has done verra bad things in her life, and Angus suffered the most out of all. My poor brother, he died because of her, but Angus lives with her shadow looming over him every day. I was surprised to see that ye are the lass that he’s been talking about, ye ken . . . ye look so much like her, it’s a wonder he can even bear to look at ye. I’d have thought that he’d hate ye, simply because ye’d remind him so much of her.”
Ishbel used to be flattered when people compared her to Vika. Her cousin had always been a beautiful girl, after all, and being told that she looked like she used to make Ishbel puff her chest out and smile. Now, though, she wished that people wouldn’t compare them. Now, she could only see Vika as ugly and vile, as the kind of person that she would never want to be.
“What did she do?” Ishbel asked. Now that she knew some of it, she wanted to know everything that Vika had done to Angus. Her curiosity would only grow from there, she knew, and the only person who could tell her the truth in the castle was Donal.
She doubted that Angus would ever speak about it as openly as his friend.
And yet, even Donal hesitated. “I dinnae ken if I should tell ye the details, lass,” he said. “Perhaps it’s something that Angus himself should tell ye.”
“You know that he won’t,” Ishbel pointed out. “You know that, and . . . and I want to know. I must know.”
It was the only way to understand the burden that Angus was carrying, after all.
Donal sighed, a hand coming up to brush through his hair. “Fine,” he relented. “After my brother died, I came here to confront his killer. I kent that
it was one of yer cousins, and it turned out to be Vika, but by then, Vika had sunk her claws deep into Angus. He was infatuated with her and weel . . . she accused me of forcing myself on her when I wouldnae have her. Angus almost had me killed before I proved to him that she was lying. He loved her verra much, ye ken, and that made him blind to everything else. He didnae believe anyone but her, he didnae listen to anyone but her, and when he finally realized that she was lying to him, everything that he thought he kent turned out to be a lie. He has nae loved another woman since then, not even his wife . . . weel, apart from ye. I was surprised that he even married Kirsteen, and when I heard that she had died along with the bairn, I thought that would be the last time Angus was happy. He may not have loved Kirsteen, but he loved the bairn, and he was happy to have a daughter. I thought . . . I thought that she broke him, Ishbel. I thought that he would never be happy again, but ye make him happy. It’s a shame that ye have to leave.”
Highlander’s Veiled Bride: Scottish Medieval Highlander Romance (Highland Seductresses Book 2) Page 12