The Highlander's Time (12 page)

Other than the baggy wool long-john-esque underwear being about as sexy as a parent lecturing a teenager on the birds and the bees, she had a real problem with the knowledge they were hand-me-downs. There was just something about that truth which turned her completely off.

He straightened, stripped off his tunic and tossed it aside. The play of his muscles, the firelight turning his skin a burnished gold hue, had her back in the mood. The anticipation became a palpable energy in the ether.

His blue eyes darkened. Easing her panties down, he laid a kiss to her knee. Her underwear followed the path of his tunic. She couldn’t have cared less where they landed.

A long line of kisses traced up her thigh. His lips leading the way until she was shaking with lust.
So close. So damn close
. She silently beckoned him to send her into the passionate stratosphere.

The first tease of his tongue across her wet folds would have jerked her off the table had he not held her down with a hand settled on her chest. Through her bodice, he massaged her aching breast until her already hard nipples became painful nubs.

She wanted him—now.

Her back arched as he eased her calf onto his shoulder and his hot breath on her femininity made her crazy for him. She bucked when he held her free thigh down. Open to him, the throb in the pit of her belly turned to a driving pound. “Please,” she cried.

The gentle stroke of his tongue across her clit was pure bliss. Then he inserted his finger, and added another. Squirming, urgency enveloped her. She started to gasp. The more his mouth worked on her and his fingers moved in her, the thicker the haze of desire.

“Iaen!” she cried when he moved away.

“Easy, lass.” Leaning over her, he made quick work of her laces. Releasing her breasts, he feasted. He suckled and nipped until she writhed. Tension built in her until she felt ready to snap. She braced her hands on the worn smooth surface of the table and arched her back.

“Yes,” she moaned when he jerked her against his fabric-covered cock. “I want you.”

She was more than ready for him. “Oh, God. Oh,
God
.” Anticipating his next move, her gaze slashed from his face to the thick line of dark hair cutting a bee-line to his erection. As if in slow motion, he undid the ties and released his cock. It was a scene right out of a porno. He was the hot hunk of muscle and she was at his mercy with her ankle propped decadently on his shoulder.

Jenny sucked in a deep breath and released it slowly. “I can't wait any longer.” Hell no. She sensed he was in the same situation. Her eyes returned to his face. “Iaen, don't torment me.”

Abiding her, he slammed into her, and forced a scream of ecstasy from her throat. He wrapped his hand around her shoulder, the other cupped her bottom. There was nothing measured about his thrusts this time.

He plunged into her with abandon. His thick shaft filled her completely. Each thrust bringing her sensitive nub into contact with the base until she couldn't hold back.

Contractions ripped through her all the way down to her toes. “Don't stop,” she hadn't realized she'd screamed her command until he chuckled.

She'd never been multi-orgasmic, but damn. She wanted to feel her climax again. Wanted him to come with her. “Give it to me, Iaen.”

She was already quivering when he gritted his teeth. Her second orgasm in as many minutes overwhelmed her. “Now.”

His hot ejaculation surged into her in the same instant her feminine muscles milked him. “Oh...oh...oh.” She pulled him down, hugging him. He gathered her to him, his weight braced on his elbows. “Thanks,” she whispered, haltingly, against his hair.

“For?”

“I don't...know.” She did. He made her feel desirable and cherished at the same time. It was crazy since she had hardly spent any time with him since coming to the past, but Iaen was getting under her skin in a good way.

How easy would it be to fall in love with him?

Too easy.

Chapter Nine

I reserve the right to change my mind
.

The man was a pain in her ass. Gritting her teeth together, Jenny wanted to kill Iaen. Not only had he left her in the middle of the night to meet with someone, but he'd had her escorted home by twelve warriors.

Dammit, she'd felt like an errant schoolgirl who'd gotten caught smoking in the bathroom. She wasn't even allowed to ride Serendipity but was given a worn out mare. It wouldn't have been so bad except the horse's pace was about as fast as a slug crossing hot pavement. The other tangent that sent her rage into overdrive was when none of her guard would talk to her. They weren't even halfway back to Castle Kincaid when she started wondering what she'd done wrong.

She'd done nothing wrong except share hot sex with a man who continuously tore down the walls she'd built up around her heart. It just wasn't fair.

Her ire grew in direct proportion to the number of hours Iaen stayed away. A silver lining in her anger was she finally got to the bottom of the Kevin and Charlzie debacle. After a heated discussion with her friend, she finally told Charlzie the truth.
These men don't give a shit about birth control. They want babies
.

The expression on Charlzie's face was priceless. For the life of her, she couldn't get it through her thick skull that heirs and spares were important in the medieval times. Under orders to go home and explain to Kevin that the shot only lasted for a little while, Jenny turned to taking control of her life.

She had the Keep buzzing before Iaen returned. The spare bedroom was refurnished. The holiday menu was planned to the last detail and all the linens were counted. With Elspeth by her side, Jenny chose the crockery that would be used for the high table, and got her seating chart formulated in her mind. Lila remained a wild card, but Father Thomas informed her Lila was spending some quality time with God and he didn't know when she'd return to the castle.

Jenny didn't know what he meant or care by that point.

All she wanted was to get at the object of her ire.

She'd just handed Mary over to Patricia when
he
walked in. “Where the hell have you been?” The shout slipped out of her mouth so fast, she didn't have time to realize Iaen wasn't alone.

Sending him a good glare to let him know she wasn't letting him off the hook, Jenny strode forward and offered the stranger her hand. “Hello.”

“Aye, she's a spitfire for certain,” the stranger said.

Jenny gritted her teeth and forced a smile to her lips.

“From Ireland, you say?”

“Aye,” Iaen said.

Jenny didn't have a clue what they were talking about. “And you are?”

“Laird Wulfson,” Iaen informed her. “He wishes to pay his respect to you, milady. Yesterday, a member of his clan shot at you.”

“At me?”
What the fuck?

“I assure you, milady, the man has been punished.”

“Thanks, that's good to know,” Jenny muttered. She held up a finger.
I’ll never make sense of these people
. The thought echoed in her head. “Why did he shoot at me?”

“He listened to women's gossip.”

That was an explanation?
Taking the high road, Jenny tilted her gaze to Iaen, before centering it on Laird Wulfson. “No harm done to me.”

“Laird Wulfson will join us at table,” Iaen said, a warning hanging in his simple sentence.

“Welcome,” she responded, following Iaen's lead. “I'll go get you a snack.” She didn't wait to be excused. Instead, she hurried away. What the hell was going on? Rushing into the kitchen, Jenny motioned for Elspeth to join her. “Laird Wulfson is here.”

“Aye, milady.”

“I don't know what to do.”

“Milady, let's fix a trencher of bread and cheese.”

“Did you know Iaen—I mean, milord—was going to meet him?”

“Nay. Milord is trying to keep the peace with his cousin. 'Tis a heavy task for him. The Wulfson is forever searching for greener pastures. With our shared border, 'twould make sense that he attacked Kincaid land. Milord worries for you, milady. Sending an arrow at you is an insult.”

She'd learned enough about the Highland mentality to know an insult was a quick path to war.
He'd sent her home for her own safety
. The thought came out of nowhere and hit her like a ten-ton anvil. “And to think, I was mad at him.”
How could I have been so stupid?

“There, there, milady.”

“Wait.” Jenny held out her hand. “What did Laird Wulfson mean by 'listening to women's gossip'?”

Elspeth had the good graces to blush. “Lila.”

“You mean, the guy who shot at me thought I was Lila?” Warmth of a masculine persuasion encroached on Jenny. “Uh-oh.”

“Aye,
wife
. Would you care to accompany me to our chamber where you may speak your mind?”

“Sorry, I was trying to understand.” Jenny turned and hugged him tight.

“There is only one thing you need to ken. I will protect that which I care for.”

“You care about me?”

“Milady, I do not wish to repeat myself.”

“I care about you, too.”

“That, Jenny, is the right answer.”

***

The Border, Spring 1112

Laughter shouted across the meadow disturbing a nest of quail.

“I'll never catch our supper if you keep on,” Iaen chastised her.

“I can't help it. This is the best day of my life,” Jenny said. Yes, he was trying to teach her how to hunt. They both knew it was hopeless. She didn't have it in her to kill, even if she was starving.

“Aye, the morn is fine, and the view is lovely.” Iaen turned his gaze to her face. “Are you glad to be free of the Keep at last?”

She didn't mind spending endless hours at home, but she knew he did. Iaen was one of those guys who needed to ride across the land when the mood struck him. The fact he'd spent most of the winter with her showed her he was trying to make their marriage work. “I was thinking.”

“Should I be afraid?” he teased her.

“No. I was thinking I'd like a church wedding. You know something tangible to seal my place in the Clan.”

“Milady, the Clan adores you as do I.”

Her heart beat wildly in her chest. Reclining back on the sweet grass, she watched him follow her down. The emotion grew until it beamed in her smile. “I love you.”

She played with his hair as he bent his head to give her a soul-searing kiss.

“I love you, milady.”

“Enough to die an old man in our bed?” She thought aloud. It was the only part of his personal make-up they hadn’t resolved. The memory of him telling her he’d rather die in battle was never far from her mind, especially when he had to be away from the Keep. It was like living inside a pressure cooker until he strode back through the Great Doors. 

“Jenny,” he growled a warning. “We’ve been over this afore. How I die isnae in your hands.”

“But you’d prefer it to be sooner rather than later.”

“I prefer not to harp on my demise.”

“Promise me, you’ll always come home to me.” She knew she was being silly but couldn’t help herself. All her worries were growing in direct proportion to her love for him. 

“Jenny, I will forever be your Highlander. I will love you until I die and from beyond the grave. Whether I am taken from this world on the morrow, or I live to see my twilight years, there will always be us.” A sigh broke from his lips to wash across her face. “This isnae about me, lass.”

“I know it isn’t.” It was the terror of waking up one morning alone, knowing she couldn’t come to him when she needed him, having him love her when her mood dipped so low she couldn’t scrape her emotions off the stone floor of their bedroom. Any future without him terrified her. Leaning up, she laid a kiss to his bewhiskered cheek. “Just promise you won’t die anytime soon.”

“You wound me, milady. Do you think I cannae protect myself?”

She would have thought he was being serious if he hadn’t flashed a smile. How many times had he told her to live for the happy moments and let the sad ones go? Too many to count. “Okay, I’m being a nitwit.”

“Aye.”

Reclining, her fingers twined in his hair. She giggled when he kissed her shoulder blade. “What about the crofters? Won’t they wonder what we’re doing?”

“Aye.”

“Is that all you can say?” Mortified when he began undoing the laces of her gown, she tried to push his hands away.
Like that ever works
. “Anybody could walk up on us.” She twisted her head to the side, inspecting the area for a clansman. True, the grass was high enough to protect her modesty, but for pity’s sake, anybody could stumble over them.

He chuckled. “Methinks milady needs a distraction.”

“Iaen stop.” Her laughter rang over the meadow when he tickled her. Another nest of quail went dashing for the heavens. “At this rate we’ll never catch supper.”

“We’ll?”

“Okay,
you
will never catch supper.”

“I donnae need to. Elspeth packed enough food to last us two days.”

“Then why did you bring me out here?” Fighting him was useless. It also served no purpose. He’d already gotten her gown open and was fondling her breasts. Her feminine folds turned slick as he wove his passionate spell over her.

“To start a new tradition, one our sons can repeat when they marry spitfire sable-haired lasses.”

She knew he was teasing. Or at least she hoped he was. “You ordered all the crofters to stay away from the meadow, didn’t you?” she asked, her body temperature climbing with each caress he gave her. The feel of his hand skimming up her leg shredded the last of her resistance.

“Of course.”

“Did you tell them why?” Gasping, she squirmed to get closer to him when his fingers brushed over her core. 

“Jenny, cease your idle prattle and live for this moment.”

She cried surrender when he drove his finger into her, and then added another one. He pumped her until she was mindless. Her orgasm built to a crescendo.

“Never forget this, my lady. I love you.”

“I love you.” Desperate for her release, she clutched his cock through his chauces.