Highland Heat (14 page)

She felt her anger dissipating. He was a proud man and what he’d said was far more than she’d ever expected to hear from his lips. Even a wife would not enter his bed expecting to be his equal. She’d only be in his chamber to please him.

“It was no’ by design.”

“The man’s name.” Quinton pressed her. She could hear the solid authority in his voice which must have been instilled in him at a young age so he might be the effective laird he was. Highlanders did not follow weaklings. He’d been forged into solid steel by the position he’d inherited else he would have been broken by it. Which only served to make it more of a compliment that he was discussing the matter with her instead of seeking out his men.

“I tried to escape, and Coalan stopped me.”

“With a blade against yer flesh?” Quinton sounded aghast.

“Do nae interrupt me when ye ask me a question.”

He grunted. “So long as ye never use that tone with me in front of others, hellion. I cannae have disorder on me land. We’ll starve and be overrun by the neighbors because nothing will get finished due to all the squabbling if me men think raising their voices will make me bend.”

Deirdre nodded. She was being daring, many would say too much so for her place was lower than Quinton’s simply because of her gender. He raised an eyebrow when she didn’t continue immediately.

“And… well, Coalan tackled me to the ground, and I think he must have had a small knife tucked into his belt for I did nae even notice the pain I felt was a cut and no’ just bruising from being pressed beneath his weight. So let the matter be, it was nothing intentional. I only saw it for what it was when I bathed today.”

She raised the goblet once more and drained it.

“Ye have a need to see justice upheld,” Quinton muttered.

She couldn’t tell what mood he was in for his tone was pensive. His features were guarded and she sent a stern look back at him.

“Aye, I do. Yer man didna intend to harm me, at least no more than what ye had ordered him to do in bringing me here.”

“Something ye should thank me for.”

Deirdre scowled at him instead, and he stopped hiding behind a stony expression.

Quinton snorted, looking down at the wound. “Only ye could manage that bit of misfortune.”

Deirdre put the goblet back on the table. “Ye’re the one who sent him after me, so kindly do nae find amusement in the result.”

Her gaze finally had time to settle on him. He stood without any shame with the yellow light of the candle washing over his skin. She’d seen parts of men before, but not one entirely bare. Curiosity led her gaze down his length, but she stopped at his cock.

“Are ye never sated?” she demanded.

He laughed at her disgruntled tone. He reached across the space between them and cupped her chin. The contrast between his touch and the night air was startling. It was such a simple touch, but it felt like he had somehow renewed his control over her. A current flowed between them through that touch. He stepped closer, and it felt more correct than anything she had ever felt to have his bare body brushing against her own. Ripples of sensation moved over her skin from all the points of connection until it became as smooth as water submerging her.

“I was nae saying that I’ve dreamed of ye to get ye into my bed Deirdre.”

She drew in a breath that rattled in her throat because his voice was raspy and edged with the promise of more passion. He reached passed her and pinched the candle out, cloaking them in silver star shine once more. A soft sigh pasted her lips in response.

“Aye, we are best suited to the night shadows, ye and I.”

He swept her off her feet and carried her back to the bed. This time, he pushed the coverlet aside and sometime during the morning hours they both clung to one another beneath its warmth.

***

She was a distraction.

Quinton woke every time Deirdre stirred, which was often. She muttered in her sleep, moving away from him. He reached for her, frowning as he did it because he didn’t understand why it was so important to have her nestled against his body. It was something worth contemplating but his body was too content with her resting in his embrace to remain awake. He slipped back into sleep, more content than he could recall being in too long a time.

Deirdre woke tired.

She rubbed her burning eyes and her neck was tight, but she stiffened when she lowered her hands and beheld the sight of Quinton Cameron standing in front of his discarded clothing.

He stretched his back, groaning slightly before he lifted his hands so a younger lad might slip his shirt into place.

Her eyes widened, and she sank back down beneath the coverlet until her chin was beneath its edge. Heat flooded her cheeks, and guilt showed up to lash her with its claws over her fall from grace.

She had not even lasted a day…

The boy knew his duties well. He dressed his laird silently and efficiently. Light began to brighten the chamber. Deirdre glanced toward the windows to see Amber pushing the shutters open with a happy smile on her lips.

“Do nae dress yer mistress until Tully sees to her wound.”

Amber turned instantly in response to her laird’s command. She lowered herself and snapped her fingers at another girl, who had been working to clear away the supper she and Quinton had eaten so little of.

“Fetch Tully.”

Deirdre snorted. It was soft and muffled by the coverlet, but Quinton turned, showing her a frown. She bit her lip but narrowed her eyes to make sure the man knew she was irritated.

“Everyone out.”

There was immediate compliance with his command and there was no mistaking that it was an order. The man in front of her was every inch the Earl of Liddell.

Quinton kept his eyes on her, but the moment the door closed behind his staff, he spoke.

“The day has begun, Deirdre. Save that hellion nature of yers for when we are in private.”

She sat up, her temper rising above her shame. “If ye do nae care for my nature in the morning light, ye should sleep in yer own chamber.”

She shoved the coverlet aside and stood up. “Or better yet, wish me good travel and have done with this notion of forcing me to stay here.”

“Why? Because ye think now that I’ve had ye, I am finished with ye?”

She found an underrobe and struggled into it. “Ye are the one vexed with me, Laird Cameron. I simply think it best to be away from ye so I will nae have to guard each word. I’ll no’ treat ye like a titled man in the chamber I sleep in. Lovers do no concern themselves with the rules of society.”

He chuckled, but it was not a kind sound. She heard his step, light and controlled as he approached her. She jerked her attention back toward him, tiny pulses of awareness going through her in spite of the bright morning light. She was still too aware of the man.

“Ye are correct about one thing, lass. I am the Earl of Liddell. ’Tis a duty, and make no mistake about that. I’ve people depending upon me to make sure there is food next winter and protection from any who might want to raid their farms by moonlight. I’ve very little privacy. Ye’ll have to be adjusting to that fact.”

“I will nae. Being my lover does nae give ye the right to insist I stay anywhere.”

He folded his arms over his chest and looked down at her. “Aye, it does.”

Three little words had never sounded so much like an execution sentence. His tone was solid and harsh, without any hint of the tenderness that had seen her succumbing to his advances the night before. She propped her hands onto her hips.

Quinton lifted one finger between them. “Save it, hellion, unless ye want to confess that ye do in fact know who the queen was set to wed and would therefore know which direction to head in. I believe she set herself to wed the black knight of Lorn, but there is no confirmation of that unless ye can provide it.”

There was a hint of suspicion in his voice, one which accused her of lying to him. She lifted her chin.

“I did nae lie,” she informed him sternly.

Quinton grunted, and in spite of her irritation with him, she felt satisfaction filling her because he believed her. It flickered in his eyes before he nodded. “Ye have nowhere to go Deirdre and even a hellion such as ye are should recognize that taking to the road without an escort is foolish.”

He held up one hand when she opened her lips to argue.

“The day is young, and my captains are waiting on the other side of that door for me to see to the things which need doing. So unless ye want them to hear ye crying with passion, save yer argument for when they have finished their business with me and we might have privacy.”

He reached out and gripped a handful of her robe over her belly. With a hard tug he sent her stumbling toward him. His mouth claimed hers in a hard kiss that clouded her thinking almost instantly. She struggled to push herself away from him but he held her close and soon, she wasn’t able to resist kissing him back. She craved the man too much. There was a raw source of power inside him that bred excitement inside of her. She felt her grip on her self-control loosening and falling away as his mouth moved on hers, pressing her until her jaw relaxed and she opened her mouth. He thrust his tongue deeply inside, stroking over hers and she hooked her hands into his shirt to hold him close.

He lifted his head, and she heard a soft sound cross her lips that was without a doubt born of passion. Satisfaction glittered in his eyes. She growled at him and aimed a brutal shove at his chest.

“Oh… leave me in peace, ye savage.”

He snorted at her but allowed her to escape across the chamber. “Ye enjoyed my savageness last night.”

“That does nae mean I am no’ wise enough to recognize that we’d be better off far away from one another.”

“And the temptation to sin again?” he taunted her.

“Exactly. Have ye no shame, my fine earl? That title does nae set ye above God’s laws.”

His expression darkened, but it was the glitter that entered his eyes that made her pause. Her belly tightened with anticipation because she could feel him losing the fight to go and attend to his duties. As ridiculous as it might be, she was almost sure his cock was rising beneath his plaid. Her gaze slid down before she could master the urge to resist looking.

She heard him growl, “Oh I’m hard, ye hellion.”

A second later she was pressed up against the wall. He walked right into her and looped his arms around each of her thighs. With a quick rush of speed, he picked her up and pressed her against the stone wall of the chamber with her thighs spread around his waist.

“Does it please ye, Deirdre, to know ye can raise me cock with yer slicing tongue?” He leaned down and nipped the side of her neck with a bite that was just hard enough to send arousal shooting through her. She jumped, her body responding just as instantly as it had the night before.

He laughed, low and deep, before pressing his mouth against the bite and sucking hard. Her back arched as sensation jabbed into her so intensely she couldn’t remain still. Her belly was tightening with desire as her passage began to burn with the need to feel him inside her.

“Quinton, stop this.”

He raised his head so that he faced her, and what she witnessed in his eyes stole her breath. Hard need shone in his eyes, and God help her, she was proud to know she had raised such a fierce emotion in him.

“And fail to finish what ye began?” he growled softly at her, a mere inch from her lips. “Admit ye do nae want me to do that, sweet hellion. Ye bait me because ye cannae ignore the heat between us any more than I can.”

He pressed his hips forward, and she felt the hard bulge of his erection against her sex. The fact that her thighs were spread allowed the folds of her sex to open and expose the little button of her clitoris. He rubbed against it, sending shooting spikes of pleasure up into her passage.

“Do ye want me, Deirdre?” He used his chest to press her against the wall so he might use one hand to sweep the folds of his plaid aside and raise her underrobe. “Do ye want me to leave ye unsatisfied?”

His voice was deep and almost unrecognizable. But part of her knew the sound of her lover. Deep inside her mind, in that place where she had spent the dark hours of the night, she recognized the man who could satisfy her needs.

He brushed his fingers over her open sex, fingering the center of it before settling on top of her clitoris to rub it.

“Ye are nae the only one who demands action from their lover, Deirdre.” He sent one thick finger up inside her, and she shuddered with desire. “I’ll hear ye demand me to take ye, or I swear I’ll leave ye here with the fire burning in yer belly.”

“Oh damn us both, Quinton, for the fools we are,” she snarled at him. But she flattened her hand against the side of his face and turned it until he faced her. “Take me and kiss me so yer men do nae hear.”

It was an imperfect solution for her mind, but her body was happy. His lips smothered the sound that escaped her when his cock nudged its way back into her sheath. Pleasure surged through her with every hard thrust, but what made it impossible to resist were the sounds she heard from her partner. He worked his member, and their kiss smothered his groans of enjoyment. Too soon, satisfaction burst through her. It left her muscles quivering, and she tore her lips away from his to gasp for breath. Quinton buried his face against her neck as he thrust hard against her, and she heard him growl with pleasure. His seed filled her, hot and searing as she clung to him. His chest rose and fell rapidly as he left a trail of soft kisses against her neck.

“Ye intoxicate me, Deirdre.” His words were low and deep. At any other time she might have suspected he was mocking her, but she could hear the emotion turning his voice gruff. It touched her even as she was forced to recognize how much weakness she harbored for him.

“Release me, Quinton.”

He lifted his head and frowned at her, but his arms allowed her legs to lower. He remained in front of her, his hands cupping her face. “I do nae want to leave ye, for I can see the fight still flickering in yer eyes.”

Her legs quivered, but she forced herself to stand. “Would ye rather think me a slut who cannae resist a tumble whenever she spies a man who takes her fancy?”

He grunted and pressed a hard kiss against her lips. “I am the only man ye fancy, hellion.”

He moved away from her, returning to the table where his bonnet rested so that the feathers might not be crushed. He picked it up and settled it at an angle on his head. The large brooch that held the feathers was set with an emerald that twinkled in the morning light. It was a symbol of what he was, no mistake about it.

“Do nae look at me like that, Deirdre.”

She focused her attention on her overrobe and moved to pick it up.

“Like I used ye because I think myself yer better.”

She flinched, unable to dismiss the truth in his words. But she turned to face him, unwilling to duck her chin with shame. “I welcomed ye. I recall that well enough.” The gossips might call her many things but they would not label her a coward that laid the blame for her sins on the man that she had dallied with. “I am no’ set on making excuses for what I choose to do.”

“Stop sounding like we’re damned to Hades for enjoying the bodies God gave us.”

She tossed her hair over her shoulder and glared at him. “I might tell ye to stop behaving as though I should consider the fact that I warmed yer cock as anything respectable.”

He cursed in Gaelic. “I swear ye are the most vexing woman I’ve ever met.”

She snorted with amusement. “Aye, I believe I noticed that fact when ye called me hellion.”

He grunted and pointed at her. “Make no mistake Deirdre, calling ye hellion is a compliment. One I’ll be happy to explain to ye tonight when we have more time to explore just how much I enjoy yer fiery spirit.”

He cast a longing look toward the bed but shook his head. “But duty calls me.”

“Fare well.”

He aimed a sharp look at her. “Until tonight only, for ye will be here and in case ye have any doubt on the matter, ye’re me mistress.”

“I did nae agree to such.” She insisted.

His lips curled into a grin that was as mocking as it was promising. “Ah… something to look forward to then. I cannae wait for sunset and our debate of the issue.”

He pulled the door open, and Deirdre whirled around to hide her body from the men waiting outside the chamber. There was only a small platform at the top of the stairs and it was full. She heard them greet their laird and their steps as they descended the stairs. Bits of conversation floated in through the open door.

“There’s a difficulty at the mill. One of the wheels has rotted…”

“Twelve head of sheep missing from the south pasture. We needs hunt down the thieves…”

“The miller’s daughter claims she’s with child and the father will nae honor her…”

“A letter from the lieutenant general is waiting on ye…”

Deirdre turned and looked back toward the open door, almost pitying Quinton, because she could no longer hear the words clearly enough to understand them but without a doubt, Quinton was still being badgered by the needs of his clan.

That was the harsher side of being a laird. She’d witnessed her own father struggling to care for everything he considered his duty. It would have helped if Robert Chattan had married again so that his lady might have dealt with the matters that were considered a woman’s domain. Such as babies who would arrive even without the blessing of marriage. They needed to be recognized by their sires so they might be considered true members of the clan.

But she wasn’t Quinton’s wife. She growled, because she wasn’t his mistress either, no matter what the arrogant savage said.

“Yer wound must be paining ye, Lady Deirdre.”

Amber came through the door but paused when she heard Deirdre growl. The girl lowered herself, as did the two girls who followed her.

“Tully will be here shortly to tend ye,” Amber continued.

Deirdre shrugged into her overrobe with a snort. “There is no need. I want a bath. Tully can see me in the bathhouse.”

She needed to wash the scent of Quinton from her skin. Maybe that would restore her thinking. Deirdre ground her teeth as she left the chamber, because it was simply the truth that she doubted her ability to dismiss the man from her mind.

Curse and rot him!

***

“Amber, I am telling ye that I wish to wear more sturdy clothing.”