The Highlander’s Bride Trouble Read online

  She kneaded his backside and lifted her chest so her bared breasts brushed his chest.

  “Too fast…” he snarled. “But I cannae stop…”

  He thrust into her. Once, twice, and rolled his hips once he was buried deep inside her. The motion unleashed a whole new set of sensations, and she felt rapture breaking apart inside her. It surprised her, how suddenly it burst, and pleasure flooded her.

  “Yes…yes, Nareen…that’s what I will always give ye…”

  She would have screamed—and not cared who heard her—if he hadn’t covered her mouth. In that moment, her need for him was greater than anything else.

  When she opened her eyes, his attention was on her face, triumph shimmering in his eyes.

  “I will pleasure ye and make ye glad to be in me bed.”

  There was a promise in his voice that made her shudder. Her passage actually tightened around his cock, and he groaned. It was the sort of pure reaction she was beginning to become used to happening with him. But she wasn’t willing to submit.

  She lifted her hips and tightened her muscles so her passage contracted around his cock again.

  He bared his teeth at her. “Yes…”

  He flexed and thrust into her. His powerful body moving hers as he thrust and retreated in a motion that drove the breath from her body.

  She dug her fingers into his cheeks and matched his rhythm.

  His eyes slid shut as he lost the battle to maintain his control. He arched his head back, the muscles cording along the thick column of his neck. He was breathing hard, and his member felt like it was swelling even more. Two more hard thrusts, and she felt him erupt. His seed began to flow deep inside her. She tightened her core muscles again, pulling it from his length.

  His eyes opened wide, and he gripped her hair as he settled his face an inch above hers.

  His cock finished emptying, but he held her beneath him, smoothing her hair back with gentle touches.

  “Mine,” he repeated softly. She shook her head, denying his claim, but he laid a kiss against her lips, pressing them open and tasting her.

  A moment later, he stood up and pulled her up with him. Her skirts fell down to cover her as he scooped up his kilt.

  Somehow, she’d missed the brightening of the horizon. The sun wasn’t really visible, but the night was losing its hold on the world. “We’ll touch MacLeod land today.”

  “I want to go to Grant land.”

  Saer looked like he had the first time she saw him. Immovable. His stance powerful and unyielding. His seed was hot inside her, marking her like a possession, and she shook her head.

  “Ye said ye would take me to me brother.”

  “When ye were a maiden, I would have,” Saer countered swiftly.

  “I hold ye to no agreement.”

  He cupped her chin and captured her bicep when she tried to jerk away. “Honor is a personal duty, Nareen. Me seed is in yer belly, and I’ll nae see any child of mine bastard-born.”

  “Then ye should stay away from me.”

  His lips split into a grin that was menacing, promising a fight. “Ye clung to me…”

  She pulled back, but he held her steady and continued.

  “And milked me…”

  She snarled at him, but he wasn’t finished.

  “And I will take ye home with me, Nareen Grant, for ye are a prize far greater than I could ever have wished for.”

  He let her go, his stance still unwavering. The first rays of sun broke the horizon behind him, illuminating the hard certainty on his face.

  “Ye have a few minutes of privacy, no more.”

  His gillie had come up and taken the length of MacLeod plaid from the ground and was pleating it on a large rock. Saer turned and let the lad help him dress.

  He was just proving his authority.

  She knew it because it was the first time she’d ever seen him let the lad serve him. The youth had even hesitated for a moment before jumping forward.

  She wasn’t his. She wasn’t.

  Four

  Saer gave a roar when they reached MacLeod land. He sounded primitive and savage, and his men lifted their voices to match his.

  It was the last straw for Nareen.

  When they had left that morning, the MacLeod retainers had formed around her the moment she mounted her mare. They kept her in their midst as they rode hard for the MacLeod land.

  Saer led them, looking too full of authority to suit her mood. His sword was strapped to his back, driving home the fact that he would defend his will if necessary.

  She felt the noose tightening.

  Looking past the men riding near her, she glanced toward her father’s land. She couldn’t see it, of course, but it felt as if it was calling to her.

  One of the retainers’ horses tried to nip her mare, because Nareen had started pulling the horse in the direction she gazed. The stallion snorted, and his rider growled something in Gaelic before she was able to bring the mare back into the center of the road. But she couldn’t resist one last look toward Grant land.

  The retainer riding along the opposite side of her peeled away in a fluid motion as Saer guided his stallion into step beside her. She had only a moment to register his appearance before he reached across and scooped her off her mare.

  She squealed as she felt herself passing between the animals. It was a dangerous place to be with the rest of the retainers behind them. If she fell, she’d be trampled.

  Saer hauled her in front of him and turned his stallion away from the other horses.

  “Are ye mad?” she demanded as she tried to push away from him, but with the horse in motion, it was impossible. He clamped a solid arm around her, binding her against his hard body.

  She’d forgotten she enjoyed the way his skin smelled.

  “Put me back on me mare!” she insisted.

  One short, solid word was his response. “No.” His tone was clipped and unyielding.

  “Ye’re a spitfire at times, Nareen.”

  He stopped his horse, and his men pulled up as well. Dust swirled in the air and the animals snorted.

  “But ye’re my spitfire,” he informed her smugly.

  “I am nae,” she argued.

  Determination flickered in his eyes, making her mouth go dry. The savage side of his nature was showing through. She recognized it now.

  “We’ll see,” he promised softly. “But for that, ye’ll have to be coming home with me.”

  She opened her mouth to argue, but he wrapped something around her arm. He started knotting a strip of his tartan around her wrist.

  “Ye cut yer kilt?”

  It was such a waste, and most Highlanders considered it an insult. Saer chuckled darkly.

  “There is no better way to bind ye to me and ensure everyone knows exactly what I intend.”

  His meaning eluded her, until he grabbed her belt and slipped her around behind him. She swung her leg over the horse frantically, to keep herself from sliding, and grabbed his belt to steady herself.

  Saer captured her free wrist and tugged her forward until she was flush against his back.

  She sputtered, fighting against him, but he had too much strength.

  “Savage!”

  “Aye.” He looped the tartan around her free wrist and tied another knot. “I am that. Remember it the next time ye want to test me.”

  He’d left only enough space between her hands so the tartan wasn’t biting into her wrists and the girth of his body wasn’t straining her arms.

  But she was pressed against him. There was no way even to move her hips away from his firm backside. She had to lean against his right shoulder to avoid his sword.

  His men sent up another cheer when he rode back up to join them.
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br />   She grumbled against him and bit back a curse.

  Saer moved in motion with the stallion, and she had to as well. Other travelers on the road looked up and stared at her in bewilderment. A few of them gave Saer wicked grins, making her grind her teeth.

  The fields to the side of the road were full of crops. Even angry, she couldn’t help but admire the barley stocks that were beginning to turn gold. Saer had inherited a striped land. Those clans who had ridden with the young king James IV had taken their pay from the lands of those defeated at the battle of Sauchieburn by raiding the MacLeod and carrying off everything of value.

  The MacLeod had suffered more than one raid, and there had been little left behind two years ago. Yet they passed a village, with round homes built from stone and crowned with peat-moss roofs. There were cattle and other animals, even flocks of sheep being grazed on the land that was not suitable for farming.

  But the real achievement was revealed when the MacLeod towers came into view. The sun was beginning to set, but she could still hear the sound of the stonemasons, the steady clip, clip, clip of their chisels against solid stone. The old towers stood inside a massive construction site. New, taller towers were being built, as well as walls to enclose it all. Stones were being lifted to the towers by several large wooden wheels, which were operated by men walking inside them. Fires burned in the yard as mortar was mixed and then put into baskets tied to the sides of ponies that walked up narrow ramps to where stone was being laid. A loch stretched out behind the site, adding even more security to it, because no one could attack from that side.

  Saer pulled up and turned his stallion so she might see the entire castle.

  “We’ll nae be raided again,” he promised ominously.

  “But where did ye get the silver for so many workmen?”

  He rubbed her hand gently. “Worried I am interested only in yer dowry, lass?”

  “It would explain why ye have tied me around ye like some raiding prize,” she bit back.

  “Me sister had a fortune for dowry.”

  “I heard the rumor, but wasn’t it taken?” she asked.

  “The dowry had been transferred to the Sutherland coffers before Sauchieburn.”

  “But yer sister Daphne wed Norris Sutherland,” Nareen said, still confused by the cattle and sheep. They could not have been replaced without coin.

  “Me in-laws were willing to negotiate a bit on the amount.”

  “That is unheard of,” Nareen exclaimed.

  “The Sutherland enjoy a good reputation,” Saer explained. “I may have mentioned that the MacLeod would think more kindly toward them if they didn’t take every last bit of that dowry, seeing as the MacLeod had so little at the time. It would be rather simple for the MacLeod to view Norris Sutherland as another raider, for he did come down and insist on taking Daphne.”

  “Aye, I can see that.” Nareen then pulled on the wool binding her wrists. “Have ye given any thought to what sort of reputation ye’ll be enjoying if ye persist in riding into yer castle with me tied around ye?”

  Someone began to ring a bell on the top of the old section of wall. Another bell joined it, and soon there were over twenty, ringing out to gain the attention of those working.

  “Ye and I are fighting a personal battle, lass.” He angled his head back so he might see her face. “That is why ye are bound.”

  “Ye’re humiliating me.”

  “I am also making a point.”

  He rode forward as his people waved and cheered. They came out of everywhere, wearing aprons and with sweat on their foreheads. Saer rode through what would become the new gate to a new tower that rose four stories into the air.

  “Ye built that in a single year?”

  She couldn’t help but be astonished.

  He rode up to the base of the new tower and stopped his stallion.

  “Aye.” He pointed up to the top of it. “Our chambers are there.”

  “Yer chambers,” she corrected.

  He reached down and pulled a dagger from his boot. The last of the sun’s rays flashed off the blade before he used it to slice through the strip of tartan binding her. He lifted his leg over the head of the horse and slid to the ground while she was stretching her back.

  He reached up, grasped her waist, and lifted her off the animal.

  “They will be ours, Nareen.”

  He winked at her before bending over and throwing her over his shoulder. She let out an outraged screech that only brought laughter from those watching. Many whistled in encouragement as Saer took the stairs two at a time and then entered the keep through a wide double doorway.

  Nareen only had a glimpse of women lined up to greet the laird, before Saer mounted the stairs and carried her away. But she still heard the giggles.

  She fumed. But what bothered her most was that she had to fight off the urge to cry. She’d not weep.

  At least the satisfied smirk on Saer’s face when he set her down ignited her temper. She snarled at him, but in response, he only closed the doors he’d carried her through.

  When he turned around, she froze, recognizing the look of desire in his black eyes. He was impossibly handsome. Every inch of him hard and sculpted. She enjoyed looking at him and challenging him.

  It was damned frustrating the way the sight of him distracted her from what she’d decided she wanted.

  “Do nae stop sputtering now that I’ve got ye alone.”

  Nareen propped her hand onto her hip and lifted her chin. “So ye need me irritated, do ye?”

  He shrugged and offered her a grin. “No’ at all, lass. Although I’ll admit to enjoying the fire in ye.” He moved closer, and she ordered herself to stand still. She heard him make a short, gruff sound of approval as he closed the space between them completely. He stroked her cheek with the back of his hand.

  She shuddered, the contact instantly awakening a hunger. Her body wasn’t slow to respond, because she already knew what satisfaction might be hers.

  If she yielded.

  “Well…I will nae,” she stated firmly as she stepped away from him.

  She half-expected him to reach for her, but he cast her a questioning look and held his position.

  “Ye will nae…what?” he asked.

  Her cheeks heated as she realized she’d spoken aloud.

  Saer took a step after her, the privacy of the chambers allowing her to hear the soles of his boots making contact with the stone floor.

  “Will nae…what, Nareen?”

  She had to tip her head back to make eye contact. She felt him near her, like the heat coming from a hearth on a cold night. Her flesh welcomed it.

  “I will nae wed ye.” She forced the words past her lips, but her temper had deserted her, leaving her trying to convince him of the rightness of her words. “That is what ye crave, in the end, and I cannae grant it to ye. Tying me about ye and forcing me to come here only makes me more certain. I will nae promise to obey ye as a wife must.”

  He crossed his arms over his chest. It looked like he was forcing himself to keep his hands off her and think on her words. It struck her as tender, and kept her in place as she waited to hear his reply. What they both needed was rational thought.

  But that didn’t explain why she felt disappointed to see him thinking though her argument.

  He sighed. “I suppose I should nae have bound ye, nae when I know yer cousin treated ye much the same way.”

  “I do nae wish to speak of her.” Nareen turned away.

  Saer reached out and captured her wrist. But he didn’t pull her into his embrace; he merely kept her from walking away.

  “I ask only that ye allow us the chance to know each other.”

  She faced him and tried to shake off his hold. His lips pressed into a hard line before he
snorted and released her wrist.

  “Ye have dragged me into yer personal chambers after arriving with me tied around ye. That is nae asking for anything.”

  “Ye closed yer hand around me cock and demanded satisfaction once I was inside ye, Nareen.”

  Her cheeks burned, and her jaw dropped. “That has naught to do with—”

  He moved toward her, pressing her backward across the wide expanse of open floor. She needed to look behind her, but knew turning her gaze away would be the fatal mistake he was waiting for her to make.

  “It has everything to do with why ye are here, Nareen.”

  Something caught her eye, and she realized she’d backed right into a huge bed. Saer closed his hands around her waist and sent her onto its wide expanse. The bed ropes creaked and then groaned as Saer lunged after her.

  He pinned her down, capturing her wrists and pressing them to the surface of the bed.

  “Let me loose,” she demanded. But her voice had grown raspy.

  “Are yer nipples tightening, Nareen?”

  “Get off me.”

  His lips twitched. “Ye were a maiden.”

  “Aye, and I wanted to remain one.”

  He leaned down and kissed the side of her neck. “No ye did nae.” Sensation rippled down her body, and her nipples did indeed begin to tighten. “Ye wanted to choose who ye let become yer lover, and that was me.”

  She chewed on her lower lip.

  He nodded confidently. “I understand ye, and I dare ye to argue against that.”

  “It does nae mean it is right for me to be here. Have ye thought what me brother will make of it?” She twisted her wrists, and Saer rolled onto his back with a disgusted grunt.

  She stumbled to her feet, irritated by how clumsy her steps were. The man had set her knees to feeling weak again.

  “Kael gave me his permission to chase ye.”

  Saer sat up, but was in no hurry to follow her. The chamber doors were closed.

  “Did he grant ye leave to lock me in yer private chambers and post yer retainers at the doors to keep me with ye?”

  Saer shrugged and stood up. “I did nae sit down and compare courtship details with him.”