Authors: Connie Mason
Highland Warrior (16 page)
A smile kicked up a corner of Gillian’s lush mouth.
“Gillian.”
“Oh, verra well, I promise... but only until you do something that warrants my taking up a weapon.”
“Gillian.”
“Doona scold me, MacKenna. A woman must have the means to defend herself.”
Ross sighed. “We’ll discuss this later.”
“What are you going to do now?”
“We will sup first, and then I’m going below to repair the damage you did with your fist.”
“Seana deserved it.”
Ross’s lips twitched. “Aye, she did.”
“Are you laughing at me, MacKenna?”
“Och, can you blame me?You are one of a kind, lass.” He let her hair slip through his fingers, mesmerized by the flow of living flame that cascaded over his hand.
“I am going to kiss you,” Ross whispered scant moments before his mouth clamped over hers.
Gillian felt the fervor of his kiss clear down to her toes. Resisting something she found so enjoyable was impossible. She leaned into his hard body and kissed him back. She knew Ross would have taken the kiss to the ultimate conclusion had a timid knock not sounded on the door.
Ross sighed regretfully.
“That
will be our food.” He set her aside and opened the door to Alice and her cousin Annie, each carrying a tray.
“That
will be our food.” He set her aside and opened the door to Alice and her cousin Annie, each carrying a tray.
“Set the food on the table,” Gillian said over the rumbling of her stomach.
Ross pulled a chair up for Gillian and one for himself. Then he joined her at the table.
“There’s water heating in the kitchen for Gillian’s bath,” Alice said before she and Annie departed. Gillian smiled her thanks.
They ate ravenously: cock-a-leekie soup, slices of leftover boiled beef, root vegetables, and thick slices of bread slathered with butter. Once he had eaten his fill, Ross slid his chair back and rose.
“I’ll leave you to your bath while I go below and try to placate Seana.”
“Why do you even bother?” Gillian huffed.
“For many reasons. My kinsmen were angry with you earlier today. I need to make sure they understand you had naught to do with the raid.”
Ross took his leave of her when the tub and water bearers arrived. He descended the stairs, wondering what had taken place during his absence. He found a knot of people gathered around Seana. He forced his way through until he reached her side. She was holding a wet cloth to her cheek and chin. When she saw Ross, she removed the cloth, revealing a purple bruise.
“See what that traitorous witch did to me?” Seana screeched.
“Gillian is no traitor.” He raised his voice so all could hear him. “Though I have already said this, I will say it again: No MacKay was responsible for the raid. My wife isna a traitor.”
Seana raised tear-filled eyes to him. “The redheaded witch hurt me, and you allowed it.”
Ross sighed. “You should have held your tongue, woman. I doona blame Gillian for retaliating. ’Tis time you left Ravenscraig, Seana.” He looked around. “Where is Niall?”
Niall stepped forward. “I am here, Roses.”
“Will you escort Seana to her father’s keep tomorrow? She has insulted my wife one time too many.”
“I doona want to leave, Ross,” Seana said, pouting. “I’ve made my home at Ravenscraig. My father’s new wife is relieved to be rid of me and willna welcome me back.”
“Nevertheless...”
“I want to wed the lass, Ross,” Niall said. “Seana means well. I will make her behave. Doona send her away.”
“Och, Niall, are you certain you want that kind of responsibility? I doona think Seana would fit in here. She and Gillian doona get along.”
“I can handle Seana; I promise.”
Ross could not deny his kinsman, even though he feared Niall didn’t realize what he was getting into. Then again, marriage might be exactly what Seana needed to silence her acid tongue. He considered the match for a moment and arrived at a better solution.
“Would you consider handfasting, Niall?”
Niall thought about it and nodded. “If that will convince you I am serious, Seana and I will handfast for a year and a day.”
“Will you take Niall for your handfast husband, Seana?” Ross asked. “Can you be a faithful and dutiful wife for a year and a day?”
Seana slid Niall a sidelong glance. “Can we live at Ravenscraig?”
Niall turned to Ross. “What say you, Ross?”
“’Tis against my better judgment, but if you can control Seana, then I suppose you can both live here. But at the first sign of trouble, I will ask you to take Seana elsewhere.”
“Agreed,” Niall said.
Ross’s sweeping glance encompassed everyone in the hall. “Hear this,” he proclaimed loudly. “If anyone insults my bride, he or she will earn my wrath. Neither my wife nor her family was responsible for the raid. I swear I will get to the bottom of this. Both MacKay and I want peace between our clans.”
Turning on his heel, Ross headed toward the stairs and almost ran over Gizela. “Doona sneak up on me like that, Gizela. How can I help you?”
“Beware of the viper, laird.”
Ross stiffened. “Are you referring to my wife?”
“The viper, laird, send her away.”
“Send who away? Nay, doona tell me. ’Tis difficult to believe anything you say. Have you no one to heal?”
“I can give you a charm to win your wife’s heart, laird. She is nae too happy with you just now.”
“First you call her a viper and then you wish to help me win her heart. Make up your mind.”
Gizela looked startled. “You misheard me, laird. I go now to prepare the charm.”
“Forget it,” Ross called after her as she scurried off. He continued up the stairs, shaking his head. Gizela’s words were mostly puzzles no one could solve. He didn’t know why he even bothered.
To Ross’s regret, Gillian was sleeping when he entered the bedchamber. She appeared so deeply asleep he didn’t attempt to awaken her. He spied the tub set up before the hearth and tested the water. It was still warm, and he hadn’t bathed yet. He undressed, climbed into the tub, and made good use of the soap. Because the water was cooling rapidly, he didn’t linger. He left the tub, used Gillian’s discarded towel to dry himself, and climbed into bed beside her.
She was warm and soft and oh, so tempting. And she smelled heavenly. His arm stole around her waist, and he pulled her into the curve of his body. She sighed but didn’t open her eyes. Would she be angry if he awakened her? he wondered. He wanted her. Ross didn’t understand his constant need for his reluctant bride. Even though she reviled him and considered him an enemy, her response to his lovemaking was anything but reserved.
Gillian was an enthusiastic lover, a fact Ross thoroughly appreciated and very much enjoyed. Though she claimed to prefer Angus Sinclair, she wasn’t a wee bit reticent about responding to him. The woman was an enigma, one Ross hadn’t been able to figure out yet. Of course, he hadn’t helped his cause by jumping to conclusions about her kinsmen. The raid was another puzzling, potentially disastrous situation, one he hoped to solve before his clansmen clamored for the feud to resume.
The feel of Gillian resting warm and supple in his arms distracted Ross’s thoughts, making him painfully aware of his erection. He inched closer to her, felt himself lengthen and thicken, and pressed the head of his engorged cock into the hot crevice between her thighs.
Ross tried to sleep, but his body was too tense, too needy. Still, he resisted waking her. But naught could stop him from exploring her lush curves, inhaling the arousing scent of her. His hand settled on her knee, and then moved upward, over the smooth expanse of her thigh and the gentle curve of her hip.
Though Ross knew he should stop, he couldn’t. His wandering hand found her breast. He cupped it, toying with her nipple. He smiled when he felt the tip harden and elongate. He squeezed gently. Did she realize she was responding to his touch without conscious knowledge?
A soft gasp warned Ross that Gillian had awakened.
“What are you doing?”
“You’re awake.”
“I am now. Go to sleep. Mayhap you’re not as tired as I am.”
He flexed his hips, his erection probing relentlessly against the soft hollow between her thighs. “I want you, lass.”
“Nay, MacKenna, I am angry with you. I want naught to do with you.”
“I doona believe you.”
He turned her on her back so he could reach her mouth. Then he kissed her. At first her lips remained tightly closed, hard and unyielding. He probed them gently with his tongue, then more firmly, until they parted beneath his. Groaning, he entered the warm cavern, tasting her sweetness even as he knew that her mind had yet to accept him.
“Surrender, Gillian,” Ross whispered against her lips. “Your flame burns brightly; only I can douse the fire smoldering inside you. I will chase the flame until you yield.”
Gillian said naught as he kissed a burning path along her cheekbone, down her slender throat to her breast, where her nipple begged for his attention. He heard her moan when he took the tender morsel into his mouth and suckled. She arched the fluid curve of her back, panting softly.
“Do you yield to me, love?”
“I... am ... not... your... love.”
Her actions denied her words as her arms crept around him, pulling him closer. She rose against him, pressing her breast more firmly into his mouth. Pleased with her response, Ross alternated between one breast and the other, suckling her nipples into hard points. When she began writhing beneath him, his mouth left her breasts, kissing a trail of fire down her taut stomach to the patch of fiery hair at the juncture of her thighs.
“Ross.”
Though his name was no more than a sigh on her lips, Ross accepted it as her surrender.
“Aye, love, I ken what you want.”
He parted her tender nether lips with his fingers; she was hot and slick, and they slid inside on a cushion of honeyed dew. He moved them in and out until he felt her body grow taut, felt the tension coil inside her, felt her headlong rush to completion. She cried out in protest when he withdrew his fingers, then sighed with pleasure when he placed his mouth where his fingers had been.
He aroused her slowly, adeptly, his tongue teasing then darting inside, only to retreat and begin anew. She grasped his head between her hands, holding him in place while he continued his sweet torture. When he felt her start to shatter, he crawled up her body and shoved his aching cock inside her, burying himself deep as she spasmed around him.
Then he began to thrust in and out, faster, harder, deeper. The firestorm within her reignited, intensified; he heard her moan, felt her slick passage clench around him, stirring him to greater heights. He exploded in a rush of hot seed as she climaxed a second time. A long while passed before Ross could breathe, let alone move. Gillian must have felt trapped beneath his weight, for he felt her push against his chest. Only then did he summon the energy to lift himself off her.
Gillian rolled away from Ross, too disgusted with her easy surrender to face him. He had but to touch her and she yielded. Had she no pride? How could her body betray her when her mind rejected him utterly? He had shamed her before his clansmen, who distrusted and disliked her because she was a MacKay.
He touched her arm. “Gillian, are you all right?”
“Aye. Are you happy now that you got what you wanted?”
“I made us both happy. Go to sleep, lass.”
“Not yet, MacKenna. Tell me what happened below-stairs. Are your kinsmen still angry at me?”
“I spoke with them. They ken that your kinsmen are nae to blame for the raid. I suspect you will find them more respectful than they have been in the past.”
She rose up on her elbow. “What about Seana? Did you send her away?”
A log in the grate sparked, briefly illuminating his face. His frown told her what she wanted to know. “I canna believe you let her stay,” Gillian scolded. “Unless” —she bit her bottom lip—“you intend to bed her yourself. I willna stand for it, MacKenna. You have shamed me enough.”
She started to leave the bed, but Ross stopped her by wrapping his arms around her. “Och, lass, I doona want Seana. She is handfasted to Niall. I couldna turn them both out.”
“I heard naught of a handfasting.”
“It happened when I returned to the hall. I asked Niall to escort Seana to her father’s keep. He asked permission to handfast with her instead.”
“You shouldna have allowed it. Seana is a troublemaker. She still wants you. Think you handfasting with Niall will keep her happy and out of trouble?”
“Niall is a braw lad, capable of controlling his woman. Now go to sleep. Tomorrow we will prepare for our return to Braeburn to attend your brother’s wedding.”
A large group of MacKennas left Ravenscraig two days later shortly after daybreak. A small number of men were left behind to defend the tower against attack, though in truth none was expected. Gillian and Ross rode at the head of the contingent, which included Gordo, Niall, and Seana.
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