Highland Deception (Highland Pride) (17 page)

Finally, Maggie looked at him. Tears filled her tired eyes. “She said if I told anyone he would kill her, so I never said a word.”

Maggie lifted the glass and gulped the rest of the whisky. “He told her to come show me what was going to happen to me when he got me home. He said he was going to enjoy breaking me in.”

Lachlan remained silent, but he secretly swore he would kill Conall if he ever laid a hand on Maggie.

Her body trembling, she stared down into her cup and swirled the now empty vessel nervously. “Conall kept coming to visit. He threatened me every time. I closed myself off and stayed away from people. I was afraid he would hurt someone else.”

As the truth rolled in his head, Lachlan went still. He couldn’t send her back, not knowing what Conall was capable of. He had heard stories of the man’s cruelty on the battlefield and had seen what he had done to the priest and the church, but he’d had no idea the bastard could be so cruel to an innocent lass. The thought of Maggie in his hands made Lachlan’s blood run cold.

“Please dinnae send me back to him.” A hiccup escaped as she pleaded. She looked lost and helpless. His fearless Maggie, who had braved a skirmish to save his brother, dived naked into a river, climbed the tallest tree to save a wee kitten, and rode a horse as if she was chased by the devil himself, was terrified of Conall.

“I can go to the convent. I can join them. He doesnae have to know I was here.” Maggie put her cup down on the tray and went to her knees before him on the bed. She gripped both his hands so tightly he was sure there would be marks, but at the same time, the vise that had been strangling his heart since the motherent he’d found out who she was lessened and he finally felt as if he could breathe again.

“Please, please dinnae send me back.”

The lass had no idea he even knew Conall. How had he ever thought she might be plotting against him?

He put a hand on her cheek. “I willnae send ye back, Maggie. I willnae let the man touch ye ever again.” He meant it. His Maggie would not be going anywhere.

“Will ye send me to the nuns, then?”

“Nae, Maggie, ye belong here. I’ll write to yer father. He and I will come to some agreement.”

“He willnae back out on the contract with Conall. He is a man of honor.” She shook her head, eyes wide again with fear.

“Let me worry with that. I can persuade yer father. I have proof Conall is not what he appears to be.”

Still, Maggie looked frightened.

She didn’t know what he had in his possession, so he told her about the letter to Argyll pledging the support of Erskine men to the Covenanter cause and that Conall had vowed to kill his own father and become governor of Edinburgh. How Conall would be an outcast after Lachlan and his allies were done with the bastard.

She was still on her knees, nestled between his legs. He pulled her in for a tight embrace, thrilled she had no part in Conall’s deceit. Her cold cheek brushed against his warm face. Guilt stabbed at his heart, and he hugged her closer.

He had been cruel, had locked her in this dank, cold room since before dinner the previous evening. Scanning the sparse surroundings, he cursed. She was Maggie, not some prisoner.

“I am sorra for denying ye the chance to explain yesterday. I was so angry. I shouldnae have locked ye in here. I should have listened.” While he had been warm with drink in his study, she had huddled on the floor of this prison. Why had he not believed in her innocence? But something still bothered him—he’d just said he had proof of her betrothed’s treachery, and she didn’t flinch, didn’t even ask about it.

Doubts remained, but he shook them aside as he loosened his grip and slid his hands down to her hips to pull her off her knees and onto the bed beside him. Mayhap she was just distraught.

“I couldnae blame ye for being angry. I didnae tell ye the truth.” Her gaze cut to a corner of the room and stayed there. “The day ye found me in the woods, I was running away. Freedom isnae my horse. I gave him that name after I stole him. I didnae have a plan except to run. I needed to get somewhere safe and far away.” He took in the shattered look, the one that said she had been desperate and had no one to turn to but a stranger. “Ye said ye would bring me to yer home, but I thought if I told ye who I was ye would insist I return to my father. If I had, I’d be married to him right now.”

“Eat,” he instructed. “We can rest after. I didnae get enough sleep last night, and I cannae imagine ye did, either.” She was weary, and he just wanted her in his arms.

She had not plotted against him. Her only crime had been trying to save herself from life with a monster.

He’d do whatever it took to make sure that didn’t happen.

…

Lachlan guided Maggie down the steps. Despite her weak and wobbly legs, she had become light and unencumbered by the secrets that had weighed her down for years. Her mind still reeled. He wasn’t going to send her home, was not even going to send her to the nearest abbey—he wanted her to stay.

A slight mist still swirled as they walked hand in hand out into the morning air, where they were met by a crowd of people. Lorna ran up and nearly tackled her as her friend hugged her fiercely.

“Whoa, slow down, Lorna. Ye dinnae want to hurt her,” Lachlan chided.

Maggie was glad to see Lorna had been on her side. It was nice to have a true friend, one who believed the best about you without question. At one point, Miranda had been that person, but it had been so long since she’d had someone to trust, a person she could count on, that she almost broke out into tears again.

“Ye should take better care of her, and I willnae have to worry so,” Lorna huffed.

Pinning Lachlan with imploring eyes, Elspeth asked, “Is all well with ye now?”

“Aye, ye were right.”

Elspeth let out a sigh, and her eyes became bright. “Ye look pale, Maggie. Are ye sure ye are well?”

“I am a little tired.” It was an understatement. She was exhausted with fatigue all the way to her bones, because sleep had eluded her during the night, and she’d cried until her tears were dry.

“She needs rest.” Elspeth glared at him, and Maggie wished, not for the first time, her mother had been like this woman. She was a fierce woman who would do anything to take care of her babe.

“I am taking her to rest,” he bit out defensively. “Malcolm. Ye take over for the day?”

“Of course,” he replied. Maggie heard him say something else, but Donella pushed Lorna out of the way and latched onto Maggie in a sideways embrace so her swollen belly would not push into her.

“Thank God ye willnae be going anywhere. I like ye here, and I think Coira needs yer help to bring my babe into the world.”

Alan appeared at their side and tilted his head down toward Lachlan, crinkling his brow up at the same time. Lachlan leaned over and whispered something in his ear.

“The thought of marrying Conall would scare the hell out of me, too,” Alan burst out. Maggie laughed. She couldn’t help it—maybe it was from the fatigue. He grinned at her response.

“He may come for her.” Lachlan broke the mood, and her insides twisted.

If he knew she was here, he would come; he was not a man to easily relinquish what he thought to be his property. “Mayhap he doesnae ken I am here.”

“We cannae go on that assumption. One of the men who attacked us outside Kentillie has disappeared. They seemed to recognize ye. Did ye ken who they were?”

Her steps faltered, and she gulped as the implications washed over her. “Glenn.”

“Aye, were they after ye then? I thought they were after Robbie and the letter.”

“Nae, they were just as surprised to see me as I was them. Why would they be after Robbie?” A cold breeze skidded across her skin and dotted it with rain that had started to fall harder, and Maggie shivered.

“He witnessed Conall murder the priest.”

A vision of the charred remains of the church and Robbie standing over a newly dug grave invaded her memory, and she gasped. “That man will go to hell for all the horrible things he has done.” She turned her head into Lachlan’s shoulder as the watery assault increased.

“I need to get ye in out of the rain.” Lachlan picked up the pace and pulled her along with him.

Behind her Elspeth called out, “I’ll send up some water to bathe and then get some rest.” She’d almost forgotten about the trail of family and friends in their wake as the fear of Conall’s imminent arrival chilled her.

Practically dragging her up the stairs and to the bedchamber, he said, “I thought they would keep us out there all day.” Exasperated, he let go of Maggie’s hand to turn and bolt the door.

“They made me feel wanted.”

He touched her cheek tenderly, and she turned her head into his palm. “Why would ye not feel wanted?”

“After yesterday, I thought everyone would hate me.” The remembered stares of the Camerons as she was escorted to the tower made her shudder. Focusing on his gaze, she saw something there she’d never seen before, something sad and haunting, mayhap regret.

His hand combed her hair, but his thumb lightly rubbed back and forth on her cheek. Resting his other hand on her waist, he said softly, “I shouldnae have done what I did yesterday. If I could do it over, I would.”

His head tilted down and almost imperceptibly shook as raw emotions swirled in the depths of the eyes focused on her. “I will make certain the entire clan kens ye belong here.”

His head dipped, and his lips gently, reverently caressed hers. It made her feel precious; she melted into him. Pulling back, his gaze penetrated to her soul. “Everyone will ken ye belong here at Kentillie. In my arms, in my bed, by my side.”

She believed him and knew he thought his own words to be true, even though she was aware that in time he would move on to another.

Those words went straight to her heart, and the walls she had built for years crumbled down and disappeared. He would hurt her, but it no longer mattered because she would give anything to stay by his side. She was falling hard into a place she’d never wanted to be, and as much as she had tried to fight it, it was there, stark and vivid. A truth she could no longer deny. She loved him.

His mouth eagerly closed over hers in a scorching kiss, and her thoughts scattered, leaving her senseless and needing. She knew it was too much to hope for, but it was as if he was telling her with that gesture that she was his whole world. That he was as lost to her as she was to him.

Chapter Fourteen

His mother had set up yet another feast with music, likely sensing how tense Lachlan was over the imminent meeting with the lairds who would arrive any day, the threat of Conall and Argyll on the offensive on his land, and the lack of reply from Maggie’s father. Almost a week had passed since he’d sent his proposal to the Duke of Kirk, and until he received a response he was in no mood to celebrate.

The men he’d sent to deliver the message that she was safe and in his care still hadn’t returned. Had he put too much information in the missive? Had it not been enough? What would be the duke’s answer? Was Maggie’s father in league with Conall? The questions ate at him.

Elspeth had ordered some of Maggie’s and his favorite dishes prepared: meat stewed with carrots and potatoes for him, while Maggie enjoyed the roasted mushrooms. He hand fed her a few just so he could watch her close her eyes and savor the morsels. The sight of her in the candlelight relishing the small bits tempted him to haul her upstairs and end the night early.

As before, tables were moved aside and the volume of the music intensified as Maggie pulled him onto the floor. ’Twas the bonniest sight he’d ever seen as her dark curls bobbed playfully while they twirled to lively fiddle music, and he reluctantly admitted that his spirits were slightly lighter. She captivated him. Hell, she captivated everyone with her full lips and easy smile.

Several times over the last few days, there had been one calamity or another to deal with, but her unhampered zest for life had pulled him through. He would be exhausted at the end of the day, but just seeing her face light up when he came into the room filled him with a hope he had never expected to feel again, and he was able to put away feelings of frustration and enjoy life himself.

That was what she did for him. She brought back the joy he’d not felt since his father’s passing, since he had become the man in charge of his clan. There had been no peace, only duty and responsibility. Now though, he had Maggie, and every day was worth it. He could deal with whatever the day brought as long as he had her at the end of it.

The song ended, and Malcolm claimed her for the next dance. Although Lachlan skirted back along the wall to avoid Arabella, she found her way to his side and attempted to pull him out to dance. Her infatuation had gone too far, and he snapped at her insistence, “Since ye havenae been able to accept that there is nothing between us, I have contacted yer Fraser cousins and ye will be leaving tomorrow to live with them.”

“Ye will regret taking that spy to yer bed. She isnae a Cameron and cannae look after ye like I can.”

“Nae. ’Tis done. Ye are no longer welcome on Cameron lands.”

Her eyes turned cold, and he caught her wrist just before the palm of her hand connected with the side of his cheek.

“Ye bastard,” she screeched, “she’ll betray ye just as Aileen did.”

“Leave. I’ll send Dougal to take ye to yer new home tomorrow.” She scowled then pivoted and ran from the room. Instead of regret, Lachlan was relieved.

He walked back to his table, and Alan greeted him as he took a swig of ale. “Any word from Maggie’s father?”

“Nae, nothing yet. They should have been back by now.”

“I ken,” Alan said grimly.

“If they arenae back soon, we will have to go looking for them.” As he watched Malcolm twirl Maggie around the floor, he took another gulp.

“’Twas a good idea to put Robbie with the MacDonalds. If anyone will keep him safe from the Covenanters, ’twill be them.” Despite the Campbell clan’s continued attacks on MacDonald lands, the MacDonalds never failed to beat them back.

“Aye, the Campbells are a miserable sort. Murdering innocent women because they are Catholic. ’Twill be war if they ever come near a Cameron lass.” Lachlan’s chest tightened along with his fists.

“Duncan Campbell is heartless and bloodthirsty. Ye ken his mother is an Erskine. Probably how Conall got involved with them.” Alan’s jaw clenched. “Ye should have Kirstie come home. I dinnae like the Campbells are between us and the Macnabs. If there is war, we may nae be able to reach her.”

“I will write to her again, but the Macnabs have sworn they will keep her safe.”

“Can they promise ye that if Argyll comes down on them with all his Campbells she will still be safe? She belongs here.” Desperation flashed in Alan’s eyes, the same anxiety Lachlan felt at keeping Maggie safe with the possible approach of Conall. There was no better man to care for his sister, but until the threat here was dissolved, Kirstie would remain where she was.

At some point, he would have to force them back together and let them sort out whatever had gone wrong between them. A pleased smile crossed his lips at the thought. He glanced over to check on Maggie, and Alan mistook his grin, because he said, “I kenned ye wouldnae be able to resist her after that first day she spent with us at camp. Ye ken she fell for ye right away, too.”

“Ye wouldnae be insisting I wed the lass.” He tried to sound angry.

“She is the one for ye, Lachlan. When are ye going to admit it?”

“Aye, ye were right. She is.”

Alan’s jaw dropped open. It was worth telling him the truth just for the response.

“I didnae expect to hear ye admit it.” His friend put his hand over his heart and held his other up as if he were in shock.

“I want her as my wife. ’Tis why I am so anxious to hear back from her father. I let him ken as much in my missive.”

Alan whistled.

“I asked him if we could discuss terms and let him ken I had proof Conall was a traitor to his own family and no’ fit to be her husband.”

The music ended, and Lorna rushed to take Maggie’s hand.

“Ye shouldnae have to wait much longer. Any man in Scotland would be proud to have ye for a husband to his daughter.”

“I hope you’re right.”

“Does she ken ye want her?”

“Nae. I dinnae want to promise her anything before I ken how it will go. We still have Conall to deal with.” His eyes cut back to Maggie as his thoughts turned to the task ahead.

“With the letter, though, Conall shouldnae be a problem for long. His own father will have to put him in jail.”

“Let’s hope it works. Robbie is reluctant to testify against him.”

“If we can get enough to send him away without using the boy, we should,” Alan agreed.

“I get the impression he is hiding from someone himself.” Lachlan reflected on Robbie’s reclusive behavior. He was intelligent and skilled with a weapon, but he hid his face when they were in public and nervously rubbed at his shirt where the cross they had retrieved from Conall lay hidden beneath. If all went well, within a few days’ time, Conall would no longer be a concern, and Maggie would be his wife. He left Alan’s side and walked toward her but couldn’t shake the dread.

Nothing was ever as easy as it should be.

…

During the night, Maggie woke to a delicious sensation of warmth that flooded her senses with longing. Lachlan’s hand curled around her waist, and he rose up on the other elbow, leaning his powerful, taut body into hers. His hungry blue gaze scorched her right to the center of her heart.

Although she wanted to beg him to touch her, to claim her, the words did not come, but her eyes must have reflected her desire, because he groaned and lowered his head to her neck. He trailed kisses down the tender curve to her shoulder, then back to the sensitive area just below her ear. She shivered as his teeth gently nipped at the lobe of her ear.

His warm breath sent yearning spiraling through her, and her hand clenched on the covers as need exploded in her. Shock waves pulsated through her veins right to her core. Gasping, she flung her head back to give him better access.

As she nestled closer into his body, he groaned, and his cock was hard with yearning as it bulged into her hip. The evidence of his desire thrilled her. Her core was hot and eager, and wetness pooled at the apex of her thighs, which spread and rose in a primal response, involuntarily seeking the fullness of his staff.

Craving to taste him in return, Maggie turned into him to reach his lips. Gentle at first, her lips touched his. Seeking, her tongue delved into his mouth, and his covered hers in a hunger that matched her own, taking from her as she gave.

His hand slid up and caressed her breast, reverently kneading the soft flesh and sending involuntary shudders pulsating through every part of her body. His thumb and forefinger clamped down on her erect nipple and pulled. She drew back from his mouth and gasped with the pleasure. The intensity in his eyes shocked her. It was raw and tangible, a searing desire only matched by her own heated yearning.

In the moonlight, his golden hair appeared brown and his eyes had darkened as well, predatory and ravenous. He watched her with a primitive appetite that spoke to her soul.

This was how she wanted to spend every night for the rest of her life. Never would she get enough of him, so she surrendered to the emotions she had been fighting the last few weeks. He had become her whole world, and consequences be damned, she loved this man with all her heart.

Lachlan shifted onto his back and pulled her into the warm length of his body. “Straddle me, Maggie.” The strangled order was more like a plea. There was desperation in his voice he was only barely able to control. He was on the edge, waiting to be pushed over a cliff into the pleasurable abyss. “I want to be inside ye.”

Not sure what she was doing but trusting him, she flung one leg over his body and came into a sitting position over him.

“Raise up your hips.” His hands were on her, and he guided her up.

Her sheath ached to take in his cock.

Reaching down with one hand, he guided himself to her entrance and slid the head of his shaft back and forth over her slick folds. He groaned and then inserted the tip. Slowly, he guided her down onto him, impaling her, the walls of her passage stretching to accommodate the engorged length of him. She was full and complete.

His hands spanned her hips and held her still. “Dinnae move, Maggie. I want to look at ye on top of me.” His gravelly voice was harsh and strangled. She wasn’t sure if she wanted to cry out in frustration, pleasure, or the realization she had given her heart to this Highland warrior.

“Please, Lachlan.” It was too much. She was dizzy with longing and an all-consuming need to reach her climax, but he held her there, a sweet, unbearable torture.

“Ye look so bonny,” he said as one hand held her in place and the other trailed over her belly. His gaze traveled from where they were joined up to meet her eyes, and the desire she saw there heated her more than she thought possible.

Just as she thought she would go mad, he guided her hips up. Her gaze riveted on him as the length of his shaft became visible and then disappeared again into her waiting sheath. He was enthralled at the sight, and she was transfixed by him. He was beautiful.

Moving her slowly until she got a rhythm of her own, his hands traveled back to palm the globes of her backside. He squeezed hard, and she gasped at the pain. Or was it pleasure? The wicked smile he flashed at her sent tremors through her, and the pace he’d set faltered, but she found her own. Her hips ground into his, and she rotated in delicious circles as his cock hit places in her channel that made her feel complete.

“I willnae outlast ye with ye moving like that,” he growled between clenched teeth. “I want to watch ye climax above me.”

She nearly reached her peak at his words, but he put his hands back on her hips, stilled her, and took away her control. He fixated on her face as he slowly lifted her up and then pulled her back down. She gasped at the intensity. He did it again and again, each time his length thrusting inside her; he was so deep, the tip of his erection slammed into her womb.

One of his thumbs lowered to the sensitized nub between her legs and flicked back and forth as he continued to raise and lower her on and off his manhood. It was too much sensation. Flames ignited and beat a rapid pulse deep in her core, spreading out and encompassing her whole being.

When the explosion came, the waves overtook her and pulled her into a vortex of drowning feelings and emotions. Strangled gasps, somewhere between a scream and a pant, came from her throat as the pleasure shattered in her again and again and again. Her clenching muscles pulled Lachlan under with her.

He shouted her name as his pelvis rose into her, quicker and harder, no longer in control. Their shared climax drew out the ecstasy, making it go on and on as her clenching muscles milked the seed from him. It filled her to bursting.

Maggie collapsed on top of Lachlan, spent and exhausted, her legs shaking, their bodies slick with sweat and the evidence of their lovemaking. He trailed his fingers reverently over her as they lay there sated.

Sprawled on his chest, she realized nothing else mattered but being with Lachlan. This Highland laird who cared enough to go against alliances to protect her. The one who knew what her favorite food was, the one who worshipped her body in the night. He was the man who cut right to the essence of her being and spoke to the part of her she’d denied all these years. There would never be another. She loved him, and nothing else mattered.

…

Beams of light from the moon softly filtered in the window as Lachlan lay with his arm draped around Maggie’s naked waist and his hand cupping her breast. Her back was against his chest, skin to skin, and he was drifting in between that place where reality and dreams melded together and peace seemed attainable.

It felt right. The way it should be. He could no longer imagine sleeping in his bed alone—it was now their bed. She had just made him feel like the luckiest man in Scotland, because never had he had such a mind-blowing experience or felt such contentment.

She gave him faith again. That there was a woman for him, and she was here.

Maggie spoke so softly he thought he had imagined it at first. “I love ye, Lachlan Cameron. I tried so hard not to. ’Twill break my heart when ye are done with me. But I can no longer deny it. I love ye.”

He remained still, almost not breathing. She had thought him asleep and had not wanted him to hear her declaration. He couldn’t help but smile.