Highlander's Beloved 02 - A Highlander's Passion (13 page)

“Breath for breath.

“Laughter for laughter.

“Heartbeat for heartbeat.”

Her gaze flicked from the beauty of the ring to the sincerity of his expression. He was often a tease, but tonight his countenance bore nervousness. Golden flecks glowed in his brown eyes and his breathing was irregular. His wide hand was splayed over his chest, covering his heart.

“Are ye serious, Bry?
ʼ
Tis no joke?”

Gone was the cocky smirk and the smiling eyes. “No joke, sweetheart. Sometimes saying certain words comes easy. Other times, sharing the importance of the true emotions within me are hard.” He lifted a shoulder. “Rejection stings for anyone, and the way I’ve treated ye in the past, I deserve the wound of yers if ye chose to deny me.”

This proposal was the last thing she’d expected, although she’d dreamed of it for years. Longed fer it. He’d been the only man she’d ever truly loved, even when she was mad as hell at him. “Och, Bry.” This
really
had come as a complete surprise. If she refused him, he’d demand to know why. If she told him of her plans to leave this part of Scotland to keep him safe from Fauste, she kent him well enough to suspect he’d mess with her car so it wouldna run.

Bryce took her trembling hand and held the diamond near her ring finger. “I’m repeating me daughter’s words now. ‘Will ye marry me and Colleen?’ ”

Tears flooded her vision. She’d have the man she’d loved since childhood, and she’d finally have a chance at being a mum. But at what price? Their safety. Yet, it was what she’d wanted for so damn long. Selfishness overruled protectiveness. “Aye, Bry. I will marry ye and Colleen.”

The warmth of the gold band soared to her heart as Bryce quickly slid it onto her finger. Once it was in place, he kissed it, and then stood. He cupped her face in his large, calloused hands and locked his warm gaze on hers. “In Scottish, we say, ‘Ah love ye.’ In Gaelic,
ʼ
tis ‘
Tha gràdh agam ort.
’ ” He lowered his head until his lips brushed hers, and then they shared a few soft, gentle nips. “Me love for ye will never fade. It will only grow stronger. I love ye and want ye to be me wife and mum to me daughter. Fer every time I’m near ye, yer pure quality and remarkable beauty take me breath away.” He kissed her again. “Yer sweetness does too.”

Sweetness? Did she have any left after Duncan?

“I’ve always loved ye, Bry. Always. But with all that’s passed between us, surely ye can understand I’ll need time to believe ye mean what ye say. Even with this diamond on me finger.”

“Aye, I ken yer reluctance. I will romance ye until ye have no doubt.” His lips covered hers and turned potent and possessive. His mouth tasted of berries, honey, and a tang of whisky. It was a combination a woman could succumb to without a moment’s hesitation—succumb to and be seduced by.

Kisses rained over her cheeks and neck. “I’ll be indulgent and tender with ye, but God help Fauste if he tries to take what’s mine. Fer ye are me heart, me woman, me future. When ye called me name through Effie’s window, all I could think of was getting to ye as fast as I could. That ye needed me—bear or man. Ye needed me.”

“I did. All I could think of was having yer strength around me.”

“
ʼ
Tis what every man wants from his lady…to be needed.
ʼ
Tis an important part of our male pride, that we can provide safety, security, and love fer the woman in our lives.”

The tone of his voice had a bite of warning to it. Kenzie was almost afraid to make eye contact for fear he’d ken what she’d been planning. Aye, she’d accepted his ring and his proposal, but at the first sign of Fauste she would head fer parts unknown. She couldna allow Bryce or Colleen to be hurt.

“Look at me now, fer I ken yer thoughts.” His arm banded around her waist. “Get this fact through yer bonnie head. No matter the danger, no matter the fear ye feel, ye willna run and hide. Yer safety resides at the lodge, in me arms.”

Seconds ticked by as they stared at each other. How had he guessed?

His finger rose and trailed down her cheek. “I can read ye like a book, luv.
ʼ
Tis not yer job to protect me or Colleen.” He tipped two fingers under her chin and leaned in to murmur against her lips, “
ʼ
Tis
me
job. A Scot takes care of what’s his and whom he loves. Are we clear?”

She was Macha Verena, one of The Protectors. Surely she could keep a secret or two from one bossy, sexy Scot and do it well enough he’d never suspect. “Aye.” This was not a lie, was it? Nay, it was part of her Wiccan job—to protect.

He tugged off her T-shirt and began kissing her shoulders. “Tonight, we will make love several times, in many ways, because just as ye needed me strength around ye earlier, I need your moist tightness around me now.” He unsnapped her bra and cupped her breasts. “And, believe me, one time with a sexy woman like ye willna be enough.”

“Come.” He sat in the floral wing-backed chair by the fireplace and untied the towel that hung low on his hips. His erection sprung free. “Straddle me lap so I can kiss those lovely breasts.”

The corners of her lips lifted into a smile. The man was so cocksure of himself. Well, he had a surprise coming. “Dinna think I will follow every order ye give.” She dropped to her knees, and with her palms on his thick thighs, forced them apart so she could get between them. “Sometimes women get ideas too.” She kissed the inside of first one thigh and then the other. “Better ideas.” She wrapped one hand around the base of his cock and leaned in to run her tongue around the head of his erection. When a drop of pre-cum oozed out of the slit, she lapped it away, the salty, musky taste of it turning her on. She licked his cock from the head to its base while her fingertips teased his balls. Power was a heady feeling, and right this instant she kent she possessed him in as many ways as he planned on possessing her—physically, emotionally, and mentally.

Bryce’s hands clasped the arms of the chair. “Sweet mother of God! Do ye mean to—”

She twirled her tongue around his head two times before she took him completely into her mouth.

His hands fisted in her hair. “Bloody hell, Kenzie. Holy, fukin’ hell. So good. So damn good.” From that point on his words didna make a whole lot of sense, and she reveled in the power she had over him. “Stop or I’ll come.”

She worked her lips harder and did more wicked things to him with her tongue. Her fingernails scraped across his balls. Duncan had taught her to fear him. Bry had taught her he’d protect and love her.

“Ye want it, dinna ya? Ye want me to lose meself to ye like this. Ye seek to own me.” His head reared back and he yelled her name as he shot hard and fast into the back of her throat.

His rasping breaths echoed off the walls of the sitting room. “Holy hell.” Another moment passed before he spoke again. “Did ye shave yer pussy? Or have ye challenged me on that request too? Although I must say”—he glanced at his semihard penis, passed out in its nest of dark curls—“defiance isna
totally
a bad thing.”

Bryce absorbed all the nuances of Kenzie’s facial expressions and body language—the wagging eyebrows and the smirk at her full lips. She was right pleased with the blow job she’d just given him, and well she should be. He’d feared for a few rapturous minutes the top of his head was going to lift off like one of those whirligig toys he’d had as a lad.

Once the initial twinkle faded from her eyes, a sadness took over, a soul-deep sadness that tore at his heart, for he kent he was the cause of it. She’d never once hurt him, but he’d hurt her over and over.

Maybe tonight shouldna be about sex. Maybe he should treat her like the jewel she was and save the sex for another time. How could he win her heart if all he paid attention to was her sexuality? There was more to this wonderful woman than what nature had placed between her legs.

He stood and reached for her hands to help her stand, as well. “Ye are a true wonderment, me future wife. The most generous person I have ever met. Except for a wee bit of temper, ye are damn near perfect.” He kissed away the scowl his remark about her irritability created on her luscious lips. “In years past, I have hurt ye, and yet ye treat me like I’m someone special.” He feathered kisses over her face, trying his best to be as gentle as possible. “Why dinna ye get ready for bed while I take a quick shower. Sometimes the odor of me bear remains after I shift back. I want to hold ye against me all night, so I need to smell me best.”

She nodded and started for the bedroom.

“Kenzie?”

She stopped and regarded him over her shoulder.

“Tonight, I have offered apologies, made many promises, spoken more words of love than I think I ever have before—and I have meant them all. My proposal came from two hearts who love and need ye, Colleen’s and mine. From this moment on, ye will be treasured like ye’ve never been before.”

“
ʼ
Tis a lot to take in all at once. I’m trying, but old insecurities surface.”

“I ken that. All I ask in return is that ye tell a wee lie.”

She made a step in his direction before her eyebrows dipped into a V. “I dinna lie.”

He lifted a shoulder. “Well, help me weave a story then. Colleen had this vision of how my proposal should go. I was to wear golden satin breeches and gold shoes with heels and buckles.”

A snort escaped Kenzie, which he chose to ignore.

“I was to toss a pillow on the floor”—he motioned to the pillow, still bearing the imprint of his knee—“which I did. But
ʼ
tis the satin breeches and buckled heels I need help with.” He gave her his most disarming smile, hoping he could charm her into telling a wee fib.

“Och, so I’m not to tell her ye wore a pink towel around yer naked hips with yer pecker tenting it like a wee toad under a blanket?”

His hands grabbed her narrow waist. “A ‘wee toad,’ is it?”

She glanced down at his resting pecker and chuckled. “Aye. One tiny toad. Fried, died, and laid to the side.”

He smacked her firm backside as she entered the bedroom. She yelped and slammed the door in his face.

He tossed his hat onto the sofa and hurried into the bathroom to take his shower. While the hot water sluiced down his back, he rubbed the rose-scented soap over his arms and chest. How long would it take him to convince Kenzie his feelings were real and permanent? He’d hoped the diamond would be enough, but now he wasna so sure. Between her worthless husband and his own actions, they’d torn her to shreds emotionally.

Then there was this problem of Fauste. Bryce would have to come up with a plan. How could he protect her from someone who could change shapes? He snorted as he rinsed the shampoo from his hair. Hell, he’d been dealing with shape-shifters all his life. The devil-loving bastard would come to this house, looking fer her. Matheson Lodge would be the safest place fer her to stay. Effie too.

Now, to convince her to move there until he caught and killed Fauste. He banged his forehead once against the green-tiled wall of the shower. His woman wasna one to be pushed around. The miscarriages and beatings had changed her. She was a survivor, and, damn, but he was proud of her.

Without a doubt, he’d have to be one sneaky bastard to get her to move into the safety of the castle-turned-lodge. Could he convince her that their wedding plans could be better made there? Nay, she’d never fall for that. She’d want something small and intimate, if he kent her shyness.

Maybe he could talk Effie into moving back into the castle while some repairs were done here. Like new plumbing or insulation, or window replacements. He’d have to pay fer whatever renovations Effie decided on, but Kenzie’s safety was worth any amount of money. Once they were safely ensconced in the lodge, he could arrange fer delays in the job to keep both of the women there until he had a chance to take care of Fauste. Aye, that sounded doable.

A dim light sat on a little stand on his side of the bed, shedding enough illumination to keep him from knocking his shin against the bed railing. Kenzie’s back was to him when he lifted the blanket to crawl in. She sniffed once, leading him to suspect she’d been crying. His heart nearly ripped in two. She’d been through a lot today—hell, her whole life. The bed dipped as he settled in. “At moments like this, I wish I were an artist.”

She sniffed again and reached for a tissue from a box on the nightstand next to the lynx planter he’d given her. “Why?”

“So I could paint yer bare shoulders glistening in the moonlight beaming in the open slats of the window blinds.
ʼ
Tis a sight I shall carry in me heart forever.” His fingertips trailed over the soft skin of her shoulders before he planted several kisses across her alabaster body. She had skin a man dreamed of touching, from her scalp to the soles of her feet.

Her hand disappeared for a couple seconds as she shoved a crumpled tissue under her pillow. “Well, I wish I could paint smells.” She grabbed his arm, brought it against her nose, and inhaled loudly. “Fer I’d paint a bouquet of roses right about now.”

He flipped her over and forked his fingers into her long curls. “Och, would ye, me sweet future wife?” He bit her chin, and she slapped his shoulder amid a giggle. “Roses are a male flower, ye ken, with all those masculine thorns.” He slid one arm under her neck and wrapped his other at her waist so he could roll her until they lay on their sides, face-to-face. “Will ye tell me all Effie told ye tonight? The more I ken, the better we can work together as a team.”

In the muted moonlight, her green eyes rose to lock on his. “A team?” Suspicion laced her words.

“Aye.
ʼ
Tis what a marriage is—a team. Although I wager we’ll argue about who heads our team.” He brought her hand to his lips and kissed her knuckles before flipping it to plant a long, slow kiss to her palm. “I ken how ye like to be in charge, especially after Duncan ran yer life. I’m betting deep down ye fear giving up control.” He bit her earlobe and she gasped. “Yer a strong woman. Ye’ve had to be to survive. I respect that. In fact, I find it damn sexy.”

“Sexy, is it?” She kissed his neck in several places. “Och, ye are so full of blarney. But then ye are half Irish and half Scottish. While I’m half Romanian and Polish. I ken about me fake Scottish heritage, but very little about me Polish side and absolutely nothing about Romania. Bry, I dinna ken who or what I am anymore.”

There was despair in her voice, and it hurt him deeply to hear it, fer
ʼ
twould take him a long time to dispel her feelings of being lost in a world where most everyone knew their family and their heritage.

“I would feel the same way were I in yer spot.
ʼ
Tis a hellofa raw deal ye’ve been given. But as ye work through all yer questions and emotions, please remember one or two verra important things.”

“What?” She burrowed closer to him and entwined her legs with his.

“Ye are the woman I adore. Because of that, I will help ye face whatever ye learn.” He nuzzled his cheek against hers and kissed her temple. “Fer what affects ye, affects me.” His thumb rubbed her engagement ring. “I love ye, Kenzie Denune.”

“I’m trying to come to terms with all this. On the same day I learned about the nightmare of my true life, my dream about ye and me came true.” She exhaled a shaky breath. “Who kent ye could experience the opposite ends of the emotional spectrum within a couple hours.” Suddenly she trembled in his arms. “Fauste sounds like one scary bastard, doesna he? To think he was going to kill his son with no compunction just so he could drain Rune’s blood to continue in his evil ways.”

Tears shimmered like diamonds on her eyelashes in the strips of moonlight filtering through the wooden shades. He pressed kisses to each of her eyes. “I love ye. I have fer a long time, but I’ve also been damn stupid for a long time, keeping ye from me. We are due fer our lives to change. Allow me to keep ye safe, for I couldna bear to lose ye. Not now, not after ye’ve told me about Blaine and McKenna, and we’ve made love. Dinna ye feel the connection between us? The strength of it?”

“Aye. As much as it scares me, I do.” Her arms slid around his neck and her head rested against his collarbone. His hand slipped from her waist, and he began to slowly stroke her back. In the quiet of the bedroom, she shared all Effie had told her before she’d urged his bear to come inside. “Isna it odd that your da erased my memory and yet I can recall how Fauste smelled of sulfur and what his eyes looked like? I dinna remember a thing about me brother. We were twins. Shouldna twins have a special bond left over from the womb?”

“I was five, the same as ye, when Da erased yer memory. Some details of that day I recollect. Some I dinna. I had started shifting a year younger in age than me brothers had, and Da wanted to start teaching me things. He claimed me shifting so young meant I would fight a mighty foe one day. So me mind was full of battling Vikings, dragons, and the Loch Ness Monster.”

She kissed his neck. “A superhero?”

“Aye. In me childish mind. In reality, I think he sensed how sensitive I was and he wanted to boost me ego. He sought to make me aware of me importance as a shifter. He explained to me the power of erasing someone’s memory, the responsibility it held. He told me ye and yer mother were running from a bad man.”

She leaned her head back and looked into his eyes. “Did he mention the bad man was me da?”

Bryce kissed her quickly on the lips. “Nay. But as he held his paws to yer temples, he told me he would allow ye enough memory to keep ye safe. He wanted ye to be able to identify this evil person, as he called him, if the bastard came near ye.” He nuzzled her neck. “I wish he’d allowed ye to keep something of yer twin, but I’m thinking he was afraid even a vague remembrance of your sibling would eat at yer soul. That ye would feel part of ye was missing.”

“At first I was angry as hell with him for erasing everything. Now I ken why. He was a wise man, wasna he? To allow me to keep two details about my da that would help keep me safe?”

“Aye. I recall his reciting Gaelic words over ye as he pressed his paws to yer temple.”

“Ye ken Gaelic. What did he say?” Her hand rubbed over his pecs and he tried not to allow her innocent touch to affect him. Tonight was about her emotional needs, not his physical desires.

“He told the spirits that his sleuth would look out for ye and that his family would love ye as if ye were one of us. He asked that ye be hidden within the strength and security of the Highlands. ‘God’s country,’ he called it. No matter what ancestry ye have in yer blood, ye are Scottish now. Ye belong to us, to me. We will keep ye safe.”

His lips covered hers, and he counted on his self-control to keep his kiss gentle. “I love ye. Now snuggle against me and sleep. We have a little magpie to take to the movies tomorrow. Fer that we will need our rest, believe me. Colleen will sap our energies. Good night, me sweetheart.”

“Okay. Good night, me man.” Kenzie rolled over and snuggled her firm arse against his groin. Sweet Jesus, she fit against him perfectly. He focused his mind on other things so his pecker would behave and not turn any harder than it already was. Things like pruning bushes, and weeding the vegetable garden, and planting his cock deep inside her.
No. No, not that. I mustna dwell on that.

Her hand covered his at her waist and slowly slid it down her abdomen until it covered her bald cunt.

Bloody hell! She’s shaved just for me enjoyment.

She wrapped her fingers around his index finger and slid it between the shaven folds of her pussy, back and forth until it was covered with her wetness.

“Good night, Bry.”

Och, she was a sly one, she was. Honey dripping from her words like it did from his mum’s homemade pecan honey buns. How could he possibly sleep with his cock hard enough to break rocks and his fingers sliding in her bald, wet cunt? His thumb circled her clit while his fingers slowly journeyed from one end of her slit to the other. “Sleep well, darling.” He bit her shoulder as his fingers continued moving, working her into a sexual passion, if her amplified breathing was any indication. He stopped stroking her long enough to raise her leg a couple inches, and she moaned in protest. He slid his cock between her legs, began stroking her clit with his pecker’s bulbous head, and pushed first one, then two fingers into her. His fiancée nearly purred.

He placed openmouthed kisses all over her back. “Tell me what ye want to dream of tonight, me love. Tell me how I can fulfill yer fantasy.” While he spoke, his hips set a gentle rhythm so that his cock rubbed over her sensitized clit, deepening her breathing and increasing her moans. He was a heartbeat away from losing control. She felt so fukin’ good, and he had hungered fer her body fer what seemed like forever, even though it had been only a few hours since they’d been together this afternoon.

“I want…I want…” Her backside wiggled against him in a silent plea.

As much as it killed him to stop, he stilled. Giving her sex exactly the way she wanted it was damn important tonight, especially after all she’d been through. “Tell me. I canna read yer mind, sweetheart. Tell me what ye need, right now, right this moment.”