Branded By a Warrior (15 page)

Hearing her pleas mad
e him sink in farther, slowly stretching her until he hit her maidenhead, kissing her he whispered against her mouth as he thrust forward, obliteratin
g her virginity, “Mine,
forever
”

The pain rippled
through
her body, she had known it was coming. Compared to her shoulder pain, it barely made her flinch as she took in the erotic sensation of having Broderick fully inside her. His possessive words made her feel protected and cherished, worthy and loved even though no words of love were whispered between them, she felt it.

Running her hands through
h
is hair as he slid in and out of her
slowly,
sensually
,
she watched as his
muscles flexed with his thrusts. H
er hips rolled with his pace as he
wrapped her
legs
around his hips and grabbed his
ass as he buried himself to the hilt time and time again.

Licking her nipple he sucked on it as her breasts bounced to the cadence of their rhythm, “Jesu Elisabeth, you are so tight, you don’t know how long I’ve wanted ma
ke you mine, you are perfection.” W
hispering in the darkness as the candles slowly burnt out one by one.

“Teach me how to please you Broderick, show me,” she
begged with a breathless whisper
as she ran her hands over his shoulders, kissing hi
s neck as he increased his pace
pounding into her as their need grew.

Rolling over quickly, he had her sitting atop of him, his hands on her hips showing her how to ride upon his velvet cock, “You are in control my queen, I will teach
you all you need to know. Nothing between us is forbidden, as y
ou are mine, I am yours
. Everything you do pleases me love, everything.
”

Biting her lip she straightened her shoulders and rolled her hips moving up and down upon his large cock,
with
his hands upon her hips
he
helped her rise and fall.

Her hair began to fall from the crown upon her head down across her back in loose curls as she rode him,
her urge bordering on oblivion, leaning down she kissed his mouth as he grabbed her ass and pounded into her, “Mine,” she whispered biting his lip as he buried himself deeply.

***

One hand on her ass, he buried his other hand deep into her curls as he pulled her closer to her release, taking her mouth he worked his hips as she exploded into climax, throwing her head back she screamed his name as she milked his cock with her core.

Elisabeth had stirred an emotion in him long thought dead as he watched her climax; he had given himself a part of her he had protected viciously for years. He had entrusted this woman his heart without even telling her, they had claimed each other in a beautiful union that he had never experienced in his life. No other woman had made him feel this way, no other woman made him feel the desire and possession he felt as she rode his rock hard shaft. She had knocked down his walls and marched into his heart, as he watched her have wave after wave of raw pleasure he silently handed this woman the key to his heart. Joining her moments later, he squeezed her sweet as
s
as
he
pulled almost all the way out and thrust back into her warm center time and time again, locking eyes with the dreamy eyed vixen, he whispered, “Mine,” as he thrust one last time into her, filling her womb with his hot seed he released his unfiltered climax, refusing to hold anything back from her.

Catching her in his arms, he brought her down beside him and
brushed away her fallen hair, claiming
her sweet mouth as he slowly pulled out of her and tucked her into his arms, both breathing heavily.

Waking to the sound of people in the bailey below, Elisabeth stretched out in the bed and reached for her betrothed only to find herself alone in bed. Temporarily saddened at his absence, she looked around the room to see he had taken the hounds with him as well, but had left her something.

On his chair, now placed back by the fire
,
she saw his
carefully folded tartan plaid over the chair with a note attached to it. Pulling back the warm covers she walked across the room naked to the waiting plaid
and picked up the parchment.

To the queen of my heart,

Please wear my plaid, join me downstairs when you wake.

Yours forever,

B.

Setting aside the note she saw not only had he left
his personal tartan clan plaid
, he had also left a beautiful golden thistle broach for her to secure it over her shoulder as his people did. To the left
of the plaid
was the golden dagger he had given her last night, along with a two matching golden cuffs for her arms
, both bearing the MacMillan crest
.

Her heart warmed at his kind gesture, he was a thoughtful man. Smiling, she turned around to get dressed and find her future husband for the day.
He claimed her body last
night;
her heart was falling fast for him as well. Today, he gave her items that would claim her publicly as his, it made her proud.

Slipping into a warm dress, she had pulled back the window covering to see that a blanket of fresh snow had fallen upon the castle grounds while they slept
last night. Securing his tartan over her shoulder and across her breast falling at her hip
,
his colors of
black,
red
and green looked wonderful against the light ivory gown she had chosen. Slipping on her golden cuffs she attached the thistle broach above her heart, and secured the golden dagger at her hip.

Looking in the small mirror she brushed her hair until it crackled and shined. Plaiting her long hair she wound i
t up into a crown upon her head
.
Slipping on tall leather boots that Rhona h
ad made for her
, she
walked over to Broderick’s wardrob
e and opened the doors to find his
beautiful
black
sable fur. Securing it over her shoulders, she felt like a female version of Broderick.

Taking one last look in the mirror she saw
his
mark all over her, his dagger, his gifts, his tartan, she felt worthy of every piece of it.
She bore his colors and his crest with pride, embracing the idea of becoming his wife she went in search of him.
Smiling to herself she opened the door and floated down the circle stairs through the corridor and keep, smil
ing she greeted the
castle help and clans people
warmly
along her way.

His people
noticed the tartan right away as she walked through the castle, their comments were endearing as she took time to thank each one.

“O
ur colors look fine on you miss
!
”

“Welcome to the clan my lady!
”

Approaching the main castle doors, an elder warrior opened the
doors for her as she approached, “He’
s outside training with the warriors lass.
”

Straightening her shoulders, she walked out into the fresh snow.

***

In the snowy bailey, Broderick and his men practiced as normal in the early morning. Their strict training was part of their success over the
years;
walking around with his brother they oversaw each warrior’s progress. Although he was present, his mind kept floating back to the woman who occupied his bed upstairs, his future wife,
The Warrior Queen of Scotland
.

Last night he had seen her challenge him as she stood before his fireplace and ordered him to find another room, he could sense her jealousy as they spoke of Siobhan. She commanded his attention as she
spoke;
he was rewarded with seeing a flash of his warrior queen as she spoke of his former betrothed.

Since the moment he found her he had pondered her fate, over the weeks it had grown increasingly hard to accept she needed to marry. Last night when he declared only she would be his wife, the words had slipped out of his mouth before he could think. His
heart spoke where his mind had
stalled. Over the week he had thrown away the idea that marriage was not for him, for when he looked at Elisabeth he knew he’d found the one.
 

One by one Broderick’s
warriors stopped
drilling
and directed their eyes to the front of the ca
stle.
Seeing
his well-trained war
riors divert their attention, Broderick
followed their eyes to the front of the castle and saw her.

Standing at the top of the castle stairs his redheaded future queen stood cloaked in his sable fur, draped in his personal tartan she looked like a royal queen,
his
royal queen.
Captivated like all of his men, he watched
as she slowly walked down the stairs with he
r eyes upon him the entire time. S
heathing his broadsword he walked away from his men directly towards his beautiful betrothed.

Ignoring his clan of warriors behind him, he met her halfway and eyed her from toe to crown with an approving gaze, “You look stunning lass, I think you’ve enchanted my entire army
, and most assuredly their L
aird,” bending down he kissed her in front of every person present in the courtyard. Entwining fingers with her, he smiled and turned to face his men, “Clan MacMillan, I take great plea
sure
announcing Elisabeth
Drummond, the Warrior Queen of Scotland
has agreed to become my wife!”

***

His announcement was met with deafening applause and cheering, people came out of the huts and shops lining the courtyard to join in welcoming their new queen.
Blushing,
she waved to the people and warriors surrounding them in the light snowfall, and looked adoringly into his eyes.

“Elisabeth!” Isobel ran from the stables directly across the courtyard to the couple with her arms outstretched, smi
ling at the announcement.

Letting go of Broderick’s hand, she knelt down and opened her arms wide for the oncoming child, wrapping her arms around the wee lass she picked up five year old Isobel with ease and hugged her as Broderick and the clan watched.

“You will be my Aunt?” Elizabeth asked with bright eyes, smiling widely.

Nodding and setting the lass back on her feet, “Aye, Isobel. Uncle Broderick is keeping me after all,” smiling at the child and then back to the da
rk warrior standing by her side,
she saw him
grin at her words.

The following week had flown by in a blur
for Elisabeth, she had
stepped in and took up the rei
ns in the castle and saw to duties typically reserved for the laird’s wife with ease.
Day after day brought her work and new faces, she was overjoyed for both. She had never been a woman to sit down and watch others do, she wanted to help with everything. Once Broderick gave his approval for her to leave the room at her will, she was in the kitchens in the morning
,
and helping
the castle run smoothly throughout the day
. The
tedious work kept her mind busy
and allowed her to make friends with so many warm people.
With the snow
falling constantly, the clan was busy preparing
for the long winter ahead.

Elisabeth’s ni
ghts were filled with making love to her betrothed
, he had taught her so much in the past week.
The two of them fought to keep their hands off each other when in public, however the moment they closed their door, they never quit.
Each morning
she would wake to Broderick sliding into her.
Typically not a morning person,
she found her attitude had changed drastically when the day began with sex with her flawless warrior.

Her shoulder was healing well; it pained her very little anymore
unless she lifted heavy objects
. The linen
wrappings
had been discarded days ago. Her scar was long and still very red as it ran from her shoulder between her breasts. Each night as Broderick undressed her he would place kisses down it, assuring her it didn’t mar her beauty.
In fact, she was quite sure he loved all of her scars; he worshipped her body with his tender touch.

She
had brought up the conversation of starting to train with his warriors on several occasions this week, feeling
confident that
her
sword
arm was
finally
strong enough
. Broderick
had shot down each attempt by making love to her
and getting her to forget
; she had easily caught on to his tactics. Biding her time she pushed aside the continual dismissal, for now.

Not everything had been going her way as
she settled into her new home.
Although
the majority
of the women
were welcoming and wa
rm,
Siobhan and her cronies were a different matter
altogether
. Over the week it was apparent that Siobhan wasn’t taking the news of the laird’s engagement to
her
well.

She had caught Siobhan talking with
Broderick several times; she had watched them from a distance where she wasn’t seen. Siobhan wasn’t giving up on the handsome warrior easily; Elisabeth could tell she was pleading with
Broderick
, trying to tempt him with her overly exposed body.
Siobhan would find
some way
to isolate Broderick
, begging for another chance, pleading with him to uphold their original betrothal for the sake of their clan.

Time after time, Broderick would remove her hands off of him and walk away; his dismissals were cold and consistent. She had yet to bring it up with Broderick, she s
aw no need since he handled each
situation with cold rejection.
She trusted Broderick entirely, if had wanted that woman he would have married her years ago.
It appeared that Broderick saw through Siobhan’s attempts with ease, his words were strong and concise. Each time she witnessed her
future
husband give Siobhan a
blistering let down, she smiled. T
he
beautiful
woman was a
veritable
thorn in her side.

In addition,
Siobhan went out of her way to snub
her
every
chance she got; in fact, Elisabeth
had yet to actually meet the woman. Every time she attempted to approach the black haired beauty, Siobhan would turn up her nose and promptly walk in the other direction. Refusing to let such a bitter woman ruin her mood, Elisabeth simply held her composure and smiled knowing Siobhan was scared of her on some level.  

Over the
week
Rhona had given
her advice on how to deal with such a jealous tart,
all of it made her laugh. Rhona’s humor livened her mood during the day while inside the castle,
her extensive tours of the entire castle
kept Elisabeth busy and away from Siobhan. Rhona took her all over, from
the towers and battlements, cellars and
dungeon. Elisabeth quick
ly
learned the castle was far larger than she ever
knew;
i
t had been built into the mountain
.
There were caves and secret tunnels, hidden cellars and caches of extra dry goods in the event th
ey were robbed or ran out. The c
astle was
awe-inspiring;
she had never seen such ingenuity used in such an ancient castle.

Over the week
she
had memorized the entire layo
ut, and
started to remember an impressive amount of names, she was fast enjoying learning her new people.
Little
Isobel never left her side, from the moment Elisabeth appeared in the keep
in the morning
until the moment she went to bed, Iso
bel flourished in her company. Elisabeth
h
ad reassured
Kendrix that
Isobel was a welcome addition to her day,
for she truly enjoyed the joy the little girl brought back into her
life. Her innocent questions,
silly humor, and her sweet giggle made Elisabeth smile throughout her entire day.
It was apparent to Elisabeth that Isobel needed a mother figure in her life, she easily stepped in and started teaching the wee lass thing
s a young lady should know, things that her beloved mother had once taught her.