Highlander's True Love: A Cree & Dawn Short Story (6 page)

Dawn sipped at her brew, letting the truth of the old woman’s words sink in.

“You are part of him now, connecting in a way that no other ever could. He cannot hurt you without hurting himself and the same for you.”

Dawn thought about earlier in his solar and how he intended to punish her by leaving her aching for him. But the punishment was also his and he did not allow either of them to suffer. Old Mary was right. They were connected like no other and always would be.

Old Mary laughed softly. “Even now he does what he must before returning to you, for once he does he knows that he will not be able to leave your side.”

Dawn’s eyes shot wide. Why had she not thought of that? Of course Cree had not stopped to tell her that he needed to talk with Tallis, for if he had he would not have left their bedchambers.

Old Mary reached out and rested her hand on Dawn’s. “Do not let doubt rob you of the truth. Confront it and put it to rest before it can do harm to you or Cree.”

Dawn smiled and squeezed Old Mary’s hand, grateful for her wise advice.

“If you push aside what you know in your heart is true, it will leave room to discover what is not.”

Dawn nodded and gestured as if she held a small child in her arms and then scowled which represented her husband, and she shook her head.

“Cree is not father to the lad Adian,” Old Mary said and Dawn confirmed with a nod. “And how do you know this?”

She gestured repeatedly, knowing Old Mary would clearly understand her. She had since Dawn was a child.

 “You finally realize that Tallis loves another and it is he who she speaks about the night the lad was conceived. And why do you know this?”

Dawn felt a catch to her heart and gestured slowly.

“You saw in her what you had once felt in yourself,” Old Mary said softly.

Dawn nodded, wishing she had realized it sooner.

“Do not batter yourself because you have just now realized the truth. Love always interferes with sound reason and sometimes it needs to. Is love not interfering with Tallis’s plans?”

Dawn’s brow knitted in question.

“The woman cannot hide the love she has for the man who fathered her child. No matter how hard she tries, it continues to surface just as yours does for Cree. All is not what it seems and no matter what way one views the problem the woman and child are in danger. But I believe you have sensed that from the beginning or you would not have disobeyed your husband or fought to keep them both safe.”

Dawn was about to smile but an expected yawn stole it.

“Go now. Your husband returns to your bedchambers soon.”

Dawn gave Old Mary another hug before leaving and thanking her for having eased the burden she had been carrying all day.

Dawn could not wait to return to the keep and share her thoughts on Tallis with her husband, though she was more looking forward to being wrapped in his strong arms. She hurried her steps, though she stopped a few feet from the keep and glanced up at the night sky. She had no time to be bothered with it before, but now her heart was lighter and the beauty of the stars so bright in the sky whispered to her.

She stared up at their brilliance and smiled at the ones that winked repeatedly at her. It was a glorious night and she wished Cree was here right now to share this moment with her. The thought of him had her hurrying along, eager to see her husband.

The attack came so quickly that she barely had time to respond. She was grabbed around the waist and dragged toward the woods.

No hand bothered to cover her mouth. Why should it when she could not scream for help, though in her mind she did and with such force that she wondered how it could not be heard. She tried desperately to rip at the hand that held her, but the muscled arm would not budge.

Suddenly, she was thrown back against a tree trunk, a hand gripping her throat.

“The mighty Cree was wise in choosing a wife who could not speak, for then he does not have to listen to the endless harping of a woman. It even saves him from coming to her rescue since he would never hear her cry for help.”

Dawn glared at Fitzbane as she tried frantically to loosen his hand at her throat, his grip so harsh that she could barely breathe.

He let her struggle for a while before he ordered, “Stop, or I will choke the life from you and be done with it.” He squeezed harder.

Dawn had no doubt he would and so she stilled.

“Listen well, you will—”

Shouts, voices, and footfalls drew close and she prayed someone would find them.

Dawn was released as fast as she had been grabbed and she fell to her knees, grasping for breath. She struggled to her feet, not wanting to take the chance Fitzbane would return. She was glad she had, for once she reached the steps of the keep those who had frightened Fitzbane off were nowhere to be seen.

The Great Hall was also empty and as Dawn took the stairs slowly, she wondered over telling Cree of her ordeal. He would grow furious and go after Fitzbane, starting a possible war between the clans. But was it fair not to tell him?

She entered their bedchamber glad he had yet to return. It was not for her to judge what actions should be taken against Fitzbane for his attack on her. That was Cree’s decision. He ruled this place; his word was law.

She gave a thought to going to see if the twins needed feeding, but the women who cared for them throughout the night no doubt had them well in hand. Besides, the long day and its endless ordeal had finally taken its toll on her. She removed the combs from her hair to let it fall free, slipped out of her garments and climbed into bed naked to wait for her husband.

~~~

Cree entered his bedchamber to find his wife sleeping, her dark red hair spread around her neck and shoulder like a silky cape. Her body was tangled in the covers, though one or two naked limbs peeked out and the tip of a nipple tempted him. He could not blame her for not being able to remain awake. The day had been a demanding one on her and yet she had dealt with it with kindness and a generous heart.

If it had been a man who arrived claiming he loved Dawn, he would have killed him on the spot. He shook his head, recalling how she had heard him say that he would remember a woman as beautiful as Tallis, but he had said it only to see her reaction, to see if perhaps it would somehow illicit a remark that would help him learn the truth.

Cree slowly disrobed, thinking on what he had just learned from Tallis. After this evening spent with Fitzbane, he had an idea of what the truth might be and he had wanted Tallis to confirm it. At first, she had vehemently stuck to her story about him being the lad’s father until he told her what he believed to be the truth. She finally broke down and told him everything.

The problem now was... how did he protect them from harm?

Finding an answer would have to wait until morning. He wanted nothing more than to climb in bed and wrap his arms around his wife.

When he was finally completely naked, he climbed into bed and gently took her in his arms. She snuggled against him and it was difficult for him not to wake her and make love to her.

He stroked her back, his hand drifting down over her soft backside. He smiled, recalling how when he had warned her about punishing her for disobeying him that she had suggested she would not mind his hand at her backside. It had turned him hard as the thought of it did now.

Stop touching her, he told himself, but he did not listen. She felt too good and it had been a long month since he had last stroked her so intimately. He closed his eyes and let himself enjoy the feel of her.

They sprung open when only a short time later her hand moved between his legs and began to caress him, turning him harder and harder. He had not meant to wake her, but since he had...

He slipped his hand between them to stroke her as intimately as she stroked him. It was a pleasure to lay there in the quiet of the night touching each other, stoking their passion, eagerly anticipating what was yet to come.

“I have missed this between us,” he whispered and kissed her softly.

She tapped his arm, letting him know she felt the same and so pleased he had wakened her, in more ways than one, with his touch.

Cree had no intentions of rushing as they had done earlier today in his solar. This time was for taking it slow, lingering, and enjoying every kiss, caress, and climax they would share.

When she tossed her head back and her caress turned to strong tugs that threaten to bring him to climax, he knew it was time to make her come at least once, so that they could linger longer in this divine pleasure.

He eased her on her back and wished he had stoked the small fire in the hearth so that there was enough light to see her more clearly. She was a mere shadow and he loved to watch her face as she exploded in climax. Later he would see to it, and then make love to her again.

He was careful with her breasts, having learned that they could be tender if it had been a while since she fed the twins. So with his hands on either side of her head, he hovered just above her as his knee eased between her legs to spread them apart.

When she felt him nudge at her legs, she spread them wide, eager for him to slip into her and she sighed silently with pleasure when he did. He belonged there; he belonged to her. The thought suddenly turned her possessive and she wrapped her legs around him, forcing him deeper inside her.

“Hungry for me... are you?” he asked, obliging her and sinker deeper and deeper with every thrust.

She tapped his arm repeatedly.

He knew her well and the stronger the taps came the closer she was to coming. He cursed himself again, for he wished he could see her face and the way it contorted with pleasure when she burst in a climax.

He drove into her over and over and she grabbed his arm squeezing it as a climax gripped her entire body, sending a repeated shudder racing through her.

Dawn did not want the spiraling passion to ever end and she startled and grew angry when Cree suddenly pulled out of her. She went to grab his arm in protest, but he flipped her over before she could. In the next instant, he slipped his arm under her stomach and yanked her up so that she was on her knees, then he entered her from behind.

His hands took hold of her backside and held it tight as he slammed into her again and again, intent on making her come not just once more but repeatedly.

Dawn kept her hands braced firm on the bed, dropped her head back, and squeezed her eyes shut as her husband’s hard thrusts reignited the climax that had yet to fade completely.

“I am going to make you come until you are consumed by pleasure, and collapse.”

She smiled and pushed her backside hard against him.

He stopped a moment. “Is that a challenge to see who lasts longer?”

She pushed against him once.

He laughed and began again to move inside her only this time slow. “You will never win this one, my love.” His one hand slipped around her leg to tickle her small nub senseless.

Damn
, she yelled silently, though it reverberated in her head. He was not going to play fair. She smiled at her husband’s wicked ways, and thought to do the same.

She kept her hands planted firmly on the mattress and gave a good thrust back against him as she squeezed his manhood tightly, causing her own pleasure to soar.

“Damn,” he yelled and Dawn grinned wide.

She came quickly a few moments later and harder than the first time, which left her body spent, but she would not surrender and collapse, giving him victory. Besides, she was enjoying herself far too much to end it so soon.

She teased him with a roll of her hips and another thrust against him, and he thought he would come right there and then, but he held it back. Besides, he wanted her complete and utter surrender. He would have it no other way.

He stopped his thrusts to regain control and leaned over her to kiss and nibble along her back as his hand gently cupped one breast, weighted with milk, a drop of it slipping out as his finger teased the hard nipple.

Dawn tossed her head from side to side, passion racing through her like never before, urging her toward another climax.

“Good lord, I have missed the sweet taste of you,” he whispered, and then slammed into her so hard that she burst in a blinding climax.

Cree felt her legs grow weak from the shudders that wracked her body with a fierce climax and he quickly slipped his arm around her stomach to keep her on her knees as he let himself join her in a gut-punching climax that forced him to roar with pleasure.

They both collapsed together on the bed, Cree on top of her, his arm still around her waist. He was still inside her and he waited until the last shudder ran through both of them before he rolled on his side, taking her with him to rest her back against him.

Dawn laid her hand on his arm and tapped it repeatedly and softly.

“You enjoyed that?”

She nodded her head vigorously.

He laughed and gave her a squeeze. “I am glad, for I loved every moment of it.”

She gave his arm a gentle squeeze, letting him know that it pleased her to hear that as a deep yawn took hold.

She was wrapped snuggling against him, so he felt her yawn. “The day has been long and eventful. You need sleep and in the morning I will tell you what I learned from Tallis.”

While Dawn would have loved to have heard the news there and then, she was simply too exhausted and much too comfortable in her husband’s arms to want to do anything else but sleep. Her tired body agreed and in minutes she was lost in a deep slumber.

Cree pulled a light blanket over them and spent from their lovemaking, besides being pleased that intimacy had been restored between them, he fell asleep.

~~~

Light filtered through the two glazed windows, stirring Cree awake. He or Dawn usually woke with the sunrise, though not today. The sun was already up and so would he be shortly, having to see to the matter of Tallis and her son. First, however, there was the matter of waking his wife whose naked backside was planted snugly against him, which of course aroused him.

He would wake her slow and gently. He caressed the side of her face as he eased her hair away from her neck so he could nibble at it. His hand stilled when he saw the bruise that marred her lovely skin and when he saw that the bruise looked to go around her neck, he eased her on her back to have a better look.

His dark eyes filed with rage and he could not help but shout, “Dawn!”

She woke with a start, her wide eyes greeted by her husband’s furious ones.

He rested a gentle hand to her neck. “Who left these marks on you?”

Dawn scrunched her brow, wondering what he was referring to as she tried to bring herself fully awake and comprehend what he meant and why he was so angry.

“Who dared to choke you?” He all but ground out, trying to keep his temper at bay.

Choke.
She recalled then that Fitzbane had almost squeezed the breath out of her, evidently leaving the evidence for all to see.

“What happened? When? Why did you not tell me? Why—”

She pressed a finger to his lips and moved to sit up.

Cree quickly sat up, helping her to do the same.

She looked down at her breasts heavy with milk and knew that she must feed the twins soon, but first she had to calm her husband. She feared he would rush off and do Fitzbane deadly harm and that would lead to a battle and possibly war between the clans.

Dawn took her time explaining what had happened, prefacing with... you must not let your anger rule over reason. But as she told him what had happened, the rage in his dark eyes grew. She explained that no one had been about when she entered the keep and that she had planned on telling him but had fallen asleep. And their lovemaking had made her forget all about it.

 Cree got out of bed when she finished and started dressing.

Dawn was quick to do the same, fearful of her husband’s intentions. She grabbed his arm when he turned to walk to the door. She wanted to know what he intended to do, and she gestured her question to him.

He caressed the bruise at her neck, his fury growing ever stronger. “My greatest fear is just what happened to you last night. You were attacked, almost choked to death and you could not call out for help. And it happened here—home—the place that should be your safe haven. My warriors will hear about failing to protect you and their home... and Fitzbane will die for touching you.”

He turned to go and she grabbed his arm once again, but he yanked it away. She hurried in front of him and braced herself against the door, preventing him from leaving, not that she truly could. She only hoped to talk some sense into him.

She tapped at the side of her head and pointed to him.

“I do not need to think.” He grabbed her around the waist and lifted her out of the way, opening the door. “I do what must be done to protect and keep safe what is mine.” His hand shot out to take hold of her chin. “And make no mistake, you are mine. You belong to me and no one—absolutely no one—lays a hand on my wife.”