Her Highlander for One Night, page 15
And it was, or rather it would be, if she had the night she wanted.
Glynnis walked to the small, closeted area in the corner and held the lantern up. A pile of blankets sat on a small stool along with a few pillows. Anna kept them and the small cot that lay tucked under one of the tables, in case she needed to rest while waiting on a concoction or other medicament to cook or cool. Even now in the warmest weather, these chambers below ground remained chilled, so the blankets would be a blessing. Gathering them up, she carried them to one of the long worktables.
Her stomach tightened and a strange feeling made her nervous as she waited. Glancing around, she saw so many jars and bottles and bowls, some covered, others not, and wished she could identify them. What she needed was something to calm her nerves while she waited. Oh, to have Iain’s flask right now.
‘I do not have my flask with me, but you’re welcome to some of this.’
She spun around to find Iain standing inside the chamber, holding out a small jug of what must be the chieftain’s special uisge beatha to her. Had she spoken aloud? He smiled and held it out until she crossed the chamber and took it from him.
He was here!
He was here.
Could he see her hands trembled as she took the jug from him? Glynnis turned back to the shelves and tables, looking for some cups. It took longer than it should to find them, even though they sat just inches away from her hands. When she faced him, he was just staring at her with the most intense gaze and she stopped moving. She stopped breathing.
‘I ken you do not fear me, so why is your gaze filled with it now?’
‘I have something to ask you, Iain. And I ken not what you will say.’
‘Then I guess you will just have to ask me to find out, Glynnis. I doubt I could deny you anything, but what is it you want?’
She inhaled slowly as she tried to gather the words, the right words, together that would explain what she wanted and why. They all flew free in her thoughts and she lost them, as he waited for her to speak.
Finally, when no explanation would come, she just blurted out the simplest one.
‘You, Iain. I want you.’
Would he laugh? Was he shocked? From his silence and the way one of his brows lifted, she thought he must be unable to believe she’d said something so outrageous.
Realising she held the cups of powerful spirits in her hands, she lifted one to her lips and tossed it back. The burn as it rolled over her tongue and down her throat cleared her thoughts. As she handed the other to him, she wondered if she had the courage to see this through.
‘And I want you, Glynnis. I always have. I never stopped.’
Her whole body ached at his words. A throbbing began deep within her, something dormant that now reawakened. She knew she must explain this wild, unconventional, unladylike, sinful plan of hers before...before he could decide.
‘I have received word from my father.’
‘You must go home. I thought so,’ he said.
‘You did?’
‘There was something different about you at supper and the celebration. I noticed it. Lady Elizabeth did as well.’ He drank down the contents of his cup and held it out to her for more.
Good. It gave her something else to do while proposing this scandalous thing to him. Lifting the jug, she poured more of the amber liquid in both.
‘Have a care. That jug has much more than my flask carries.’ It did not stop him from drinking it down in one mouthful—as she did herself. That eyebrow raised again. How had she never noticed that before?
‘So, aye, I must return and accept whatever arrangements my father has made for my future.’ She pulled them back to the matter at hand.
‘Must you?’
‘Must I? What choice do I have, Iain? I have no skills or other kin to call on for my support. If I defy my father, any of his allies will turn against me and not take me in.’ She put the cup down on the table and clasped her hands together. ‘No matter, I must return to do his bidding just as you must carry on with your duties here. You chose loyalty and a path and have worked hard for the honours you are receiving and you deserve it all.’ Glynnis reached out and touched his hand. ‘And that your father would be so proud to see you accomplish it adds to the importance of following it through.’
‘What will you do?’ he asked, covering her hand with his.
‘Marry as I must just as you will.’
‘I wish—’ She boldly placed her fingers on his lips to stop him.
‘We will each do our duty, Iain.’ She saw so many regrets in his gaze. ‘When we must.’
He lifted her hand from his mouth and tangled their fingers together. ‘When we must?’
‘On the morrow, I will prepare and leave for my father’s lands, where he will marry me off to a man who needs no more children or has some other use for me. But, Iain, I do not want to waste this night and walk away with more regrets.’
‘What are you saying, Glynnis?’ He pulled her closer and leaned into her. A gentle touch of his mouth stirred such need within her.
‘Give me this night with you. I am tired of living with the questions and regrets of my actions three years ago. And in fear of lying with another man who loves me not. If we cannot be together after this, then I want this one night with the man I love to carry with me in my memories.’
She glanced away, afraid of what his immediate reaction would be. A slight squeeze of his fingers brought her gaze back to his.
‘’Tis yours, Glynnis.’
Chapter Fourteen
He thought he’d come up with every possibility of why Glynnis wanted to meet him here. A final kiss goodbye was the most logical one. But never in his life would he have dreamed she would ask this of him. Still, he could not, in all good conscience, take advantage of a distraught woman or one not able to see all the consequences of such an action.
Especially not Glynnis.
‘Are you certain about this?’ He slid his hands along her arms to her shoulders, holding her close, already feeling the disappointment that would fill him when she came to her senses over this. ‘Is it wise?’
‘I am certain. ’Tis not wise,’ she said, moving into his arms and leaning her head against his chest. He shifted his hands across her back to hold her there. Iain stroked her hair, pulling it free of the braid she always wore. She lifted her head back and smiled at him—one he was sure every temptress wore when doing their best.
To hold her like this. To kiss her as he’d wanted to since desire had overwhelmed his reason in the stables when she’d asked for one. To peel off her layers and discover the woman he’d missed for nigh on three years. He wanted all of those things and more.
Her smile faded and she stepped out of his embrace.
‘If you do not wish to, I understand, Iain.’
‘Not wish to, Glynnis?’ He barely had control of himself right now as she stood before him offering herself to him. ‘Does this feel like a man who does not want you?’
He took her hand and placed it on his hardened flesh, guiding it along his length—his very erect, very ready flesh. When she closed her fingers around him, he did lose control. He released her hand and encircled her face with his.
‘Glynnis,’ he whispered. ‘Glynnis.’
Iain took her mouth, not a kiss. Nay, he possessed it with his lips and tongue and tasted her deeply. Sweet, with the hint of the uisge beatha. Her lips melded to his and he eased her head and kissed her over and over until they were breathless. Her fingers yet surrounded him and she met every stroke of his tongue on hers with a stroke on his cock.
He walked her back several steps until they stopped, her body trapped between one of the worktables and his own body. He noticed when she released him to slide her hands into his hair and keep his mouth against hers.
He needed to touch her, to feel the heat of her skin, the tightness of her core. Lifting her to sit on the table, he stepped between the legs she spread for him as he unlaced the back of her gown and tugged it off her shoulders. Glynnis leaned away, her eyes filled with desire, and watched his every move. Once the gown was out of the way, he untied the ribbon that held her shift and eased it open. Iain reached out to caress the dark pink nipples now exposed to him.
‘So beautiful,’ he said as he took the left one in his mouth and flicked the edge of his tongue over it.
Glynnis sighed and then gasped with every taste he took and his erection surged between their bodies. He captured her other breast in his hand, sliding his thumb over the taut tip and stroking it until she pressed into his grasp. Her breast filled his grasp, and as he moved to suckle on the other side, she could not stop the sounds of pleasure from erupting. Glynnis arched her body against his, wanting more. Wanting all of him.
‘I want to touch you, Glynnis. I want to feel your heat.’ He took hold of her gown and waited on her reaction. She held on to his shoulders and nodded. ‘Good lass,’ he whispered.
He gathered the length of her gown in his hands and pushed the garment up to her hips, allowing him to see her most private place. A wave of nervousness passed through her. This was the first time since...well, since everything and he was the first, only, man other than her husband to see and touch her.
As though he’d heard her self-doubts, he whispered again, ‘Steady on now, Glynnis.’ He kissed her quickly and waited for her. ‘Steady on.’ She nodded and with just the tips of his fingers, he caressed the insides of her thighs, seeking out the places that made her sigh and tense. Her breath held, as inch by inch, he touched her until he reached the curls there.
‘Iain.’ She moaned out his name. So close. So close and yet the anticipation and need for his touch made her shudder.
It took only three strokes of his knuckles through her intimate folds to have her panting in shallow breaths. Her body wept its arousal on to his hand and she began moving against it.
He whispered to her, ‘Touch. Me. Glynnis.’ He groaned out the words and heat poured through her blood.
She loosened his belt as he rubbed deeper into those folds. Luckily, he’d worn his tunic and trews to supper and she had only two layers of clothing to get through. And she did it quickly, increasing her speed as he did until she opened his trews and took hold of him. Their moans blended and echoed across the chamber.
Glynnis stroked his length, using her fingers to encircle his hardness as Iain moved one hand to her head and brought her mouth to his. He was hard, growing harder in her grasp as she massaged the length of him. She was touching him as she’d wanted and he thrust into her hands, telling her he liked it. From the need spiralling inside her, the tension tightening and her body’s wetness at the growing pleasure of his touch, Glynnis wanted the rest. To be filled with him. To join with him.
‘Now, Iain. Take me now.’
All of Iain’s plans of making love to her in a slow and satisfying way, of bringing her to completion with a building pleasure, disappeared at her words. He guided her hips just over the edge of the table, wrapped his arm around her waist and thrust into her, deep and hard and fast.
Everything stopped. He watched her face as he filled her and withdrew almost all the way out. Her teeth worried the edge of her lower lip, but the smile returned as he plunged once again. He paused, buried within her, and eased her knees up and around his hips before repeating the movement. A wonderful moan escaped her as he continued. She put her hands on the table behind her to brace herself against his thrusts.
Iain looked at her and fell in love again.
Her hair was loose and wild around her face and flowing over her shoulders. Her shift gaped open, allowing him to see her perfect breasts, tipped in tight, dark pink nipples that made his mouth water. Her head fell back and a low whimper began deep in her throat as the muscles within her tightened around his flesh. Rippling waves that urged him to his own release. And his body did—spirals of pleasure burst through him as his seed spilled. Her woman’s flesh trembled until she, too, arched in passion against him and he absorbed the keening sound by kissing her.
He did not know how much time had passed before they came back to themselves, but he felt her shiver as gooseflesh rose on her skin. Shifting her back to sit on the table, he tugged his trews back up and shook out the length of her gown to cover her bare legs. Iain could not help but stare at her dishevelled loveliness which made him laugh. It got her attention.
‘I fear I should beg your pardon, for I treated you less like the noblewoman you are and more like a round-heeled serving maid sneaking off with her lover,’ he said as he continued to right her garments and help her down to stand. ‘’Twas not how I pictured this happening between us.’
‘’Twas how I’d hoped it would be.’ This was spoken quietly as she gathered her hair back over her shoulders and he looked at her to see if she was jesting.
‘I realised weeks ago that I wanted this. Wanted you. And whene’er I imagined it, I wanted you to take my breath away.’
He laughed at her honesty and her composure. Tupping Lady Glynnis MacLachlan on a table in a workroom was not something he would have ever considered a possibility. And that she had been considering it for weeks made him want to laugh aloud. But having taken her quickly, and thoroughly from the look of her, he thought he might like to do it again.
His way.
Slowly.
On warm blankets.
Naked, skin against skin.
And again.
‘Aye,’ she said. He blinked and frowned, for he’d not asked a question. ‘Aye, I want to have you again,’ she admitted.
He felt the heat fill his face and was not certain if it was a blush to match the one in her cheeks or just desire rising.
‘Then have me, my lady. I do your bidding this night.’
* * *
The second time was not as slow as he’d wished. One moment he was teasing her breasts with his teeth and the next, she managed to roll them both until she straddled him and controlled their movements. Oh, he could have rolled back easily and taken the lead, but when he could have the lovely Glynnis astride him, with her beautiful breasts that perfectly filled his hand or in his mouth so close above him, why would he?
There was an instant, as she rode him, when he felt like this was nothing but a dream. One he’d had so many times since he realised he loved her and could never keep her. He’d been so young that his idea of how they would be together was so innocent. Not until he’d found a willing village widow had he any idea of the extent or imaginative ways of bed play. The reality of it with Glynnis this night far surpassed any of his experiences or those naive dreams and now these memories would remain.
He could not miss the hint of desperation that entered her gaze when she did not think he was watching. It was as she’d said—she was trying to savour as much pleasure in this night as she could.
All the while preparing herself to accept the life she could not change.
And never once did she beg him to fight for her or to ask her father to change his mind on the matter. Nor did she suggest anything else but that they were duty-bound and nothing should change that. He could hear the fates laughing at him now. Now that he was within weeks of the final step that would see him attain everything he’d wanted. Now that she was the one taken out of contention, out of his possible choices, because she had proven unacceptable.
Not in his eyes. Never in his. Yet the rules of hierarchy and inheritance and the men who controlled such matters did not favour a woman unable to bear children. As she could not.
Understanding the difficult decision she’d made between them the last time and that it was now his for the same reasons, he would give her what she’d asked him for and do everything he could to make it easier for her to leave this time than he had the first time.
So, if he accepted this noble decision of his and understood all the reasons for it, why did he feel he was making the wrong choice?
* * *
The third time that night was the one he’d wanted—gentle, caressing, teasing, pleasuring, filled with sighs and moans as he savoured every touch and taste of her. The fourth began as an exploration of each other and ended in a silent, slow-building explosion of bliss as they joined their bodies.
But, even worn out from their explosive passion, the question that had plagued him earlier followed into his dreams as he drifted to sleep between their bouts of lovemaking. He feared it would haunt him for the rest of his life—the life he’d chosen.
What if he’d been wrong?
* * *
Glynnis shifted against the warmth at her back and felt the twinges and aches as she turned over to face Iain. He yet slept—well, dozed—and so she lay watching him. The sounds and subtle changes as the household woke to begin their day could be heard if one knew what to listen for, as she did.
They did not have much time.
Glynnis studied his face, every curve, every angle, so that she would remember this Iain. At ease. Satiated. Well pleasured.
Kind. Giving. Considerate.
The tears formed and trickled down her cheeks. She’d sworn that she could handle this with some dignity and she would. This night had been perfect, exactly what she’d imagined and wanted and needed, and she would not ruin it with tears. Dashing them away, she lay in the warm cocoon they’d made with the blankets and pillows, gathering her resolve around her once more. Finally, as the pale light of day teased its arrival through the small window in the wall that looked out on the yard, Glynnis knew she must leave.
They must part.
‘Dinna greet, lass.’ His gentle touch on her cheeks where the tears had not dried nearly undid her.
‘’Tis time, Iain. The kitchen servants will be about their chores and we cannot be seen leaving here together.’
