IntoEternity (9 page)

“This is not how it is supposed to be done,” he grumbled.

She shook her head. “I don’t understand.”

He reached for her wrist and untied the bonds then motioned
to the door behind her.

“The garderobe. Be quick about it.”

He pushed her through the door and into a primitive, indoor
outhouse. The smell hit her square in the nose. She gagged as she hurriedly
took care of business. Less than a minute later, she burst out the door,
gasping for fresh air. Alexander stood in the corridor waiting for her. She
flushed with embarrassment, knowing he had waited just outside the door.
Without a word he brushed past her and into the garderobe and closed the door
in her face. Cheeks burning, Gusty backed away, glancing around to see if
anyone noticed. A couple of maidservants at the end of the hall looked in her
direction before slipping away.
Dear
Lord…what
must
they
think?
She tugged the blanket more tightly around her shoulders.

Alexander suddenly opened the door of the garderobe, stepped
out and seized her arm. No surprise, he dragged her straight back to his chamber.
The moment the door closed behind them, he took hold of her wrist and began once
again to tie her to him. Gusty shook her head and glared.

“I don’t think so.”

Alexander gazed down at his very beautiful, very stubborn
bride. In the early morning light, even with that ferocious frown on her face,
she took his breath away. He took his time as he perused the length of her,
wanting to see everything that had been hidden from him the night before when
he had only the pale light of the moon by which to see. Now in the daylight,
with only his plaid wrapped about her lovely body, he could see just what a
treasure had fallen into his hands. Her luscious curves were made to please a
man, hips wide enough to carry his child and breasts bountiful enough to suckle
both him and, eventually, their babe.

She looked like a little hellcat with her long mass of
tangled, black-as-midnight hair. Her lips were full but not overly so, which
suited him just fine. His kisses would soon have them swollen as if they were
bee-stung. Alexander wanted to take her to his bed and bury himself in her
softness again and again until he was sated. But he would wait.

Gusty cocked her head and raised an eyebrow, as if
questioning his next move.

“I tied you to me for my peace of mind. I wanted the
assurance you would still be here when I woke up this morning.”

Alexander stared at her and his heart raced. He shook his
head. Told himself to rein in this raging attraction. He must control his passions,
not rush her… But the beauty before him left him feeling as if he were a
rutting ram, his cock hard and thick, standing at attention for the world to
see. The flush on the lass’ face as she tried not to stare at his manhood had
him grinning. He decided to take pity on her modesty and left her standing in
the middle of the room as he went to one of his trunks and pulled out a tunic
and plaid. Out of the corner of his eye, he watched her wrap his discarded
plaid tighter before she sat on the edge of his bed, plucking at the frayed
edges with nervous fingers.

Best to put some distance between them, give her time to
adjust to her new situation before he gave into his lust and did something he’d
regret. Shaking his head, he quickly donned his tunic and wrapped his kilt
around his hips. Grabbing his boots, he pulled them on and gathered belt and
weapons. He glanced around the room, stalling his departure. He shifted his
feet as he turned to face his new wife.

“I have duties to attend to. I’ll return later. Do not leave
this chamber, Augusta.”

He spoke gruffly in an effort to intimidate her but he
didn’t make it out the door before she questioned his orders.

“Why not?”

He should have expected she would not give in so easily. He
was learning already that his woman liked to have the last word.

“You might get lost,” he stated. He stepped out into the
hallway.

“No I won’t.”

Her shouted words reached him just as he closed the bedroom
door but he did not wish to argue. He continued down the corridor toward the
kitchen. Plenty of time later to banter with his new bride…once he figured out
how best to handle her.

In a room off the kitchen, which they used for bathing,
Alexander rushed to get through his morning washing. Once finished, he went
looking for Davin. He needed to speak with his captain about duties assigned to
his men for the day. He had planned on spending some time this morning on the
practice field, training the younger men, but he would have to put off those obligations
until he had his new bride settled in. He intended to return to her immediately
after he gave his instructions to Davin. Alexander had a feeling that if left
on her own too long, his new bride would venture forth from their chamber.

He did not trust her to stay where he put her, worried Gusty
would wander about the keep, a stranger in a strange place, wearing only his
extra plaid. This was a man’s household, after all. The only women about were a
few servant girls who kept the place clean and made themselves available to his
men.

Alexander’s thoughts turned to the events of the previous
night. He could not deny he enjoyed their first time together yet he regretted
taking her in such a manner—out in the open, on nothing but his plaid to see to
her comfort. Next time he would take her properly, on a bed, woo her with sweet
words and hot, wet kisses. She was special to him and she deserved better from
him. He would take the time to love her senseless with tender caresses until
she panted for him. And if her response to his lovemaking thus far was anything
to go by, he’d accomplish the wooing in very little time. He looked forward to the
years they had ahead of them. Their handfasting might be temporary but he’d
decided he wouldn’t wait a year and a day to make their union permanent. Within
the next few months he would find a priest to wed them.

Gusty wasn’t about to waste what little time she had alone.
Alexander had given her a reprieve, allowing her to recover from a very
embarrassing situation, and she wasn’t about to get caught in another one. The
icy water she’d found in the bowl made her shiver and goose bumps covered her
flesh but she managed to remove most of the grime and sweat from her body, and despite
the cold, the bath did wonders to refresh and revive her.

She wrapped the large plaid around her shaking body, using
the cloth as a towel and tucking the end in at her breasts.
What to do now
,
she wondered. Frowning, she perused the bedchamber, wondering if she had the
courage to snoop through Alexander’s belongings. Maybe she could find some clue
as to what kind of man her…was she to call him her husband? She shrugged. She
had difficulty thinking of the Sutherland as her husband. He was more like her “handfasted
significant other”. Yes—she liked the sound of that. A modern term that covered
their situation.

The sparsely furnished room offered a few clues to
Alexander’s personality. A table and two chairs sat in front of the fireplace. Colorful
plaid blankets draped over the back of the chairs. She found a game board on
the small table that, with only a few differences, closely resembled chess. She
picked up a piece and studied the delicate carvings in which someone had put a
lot of time and effort. Returning the piece to the board, she turned to view
the large bed that took up a great deal of the room. Next to the bed stood a
couple of big trunks and she moved quickly to kneel before one. Lifting the
lid, she found men’s clothes. She rifled through the freshly laundered shirts
and stockings on the top to find a couple of extra plaids beneath them. She
smoothed out the wrinkles she had made and gently closed the lid. Moving to the
second trunk, she found the lid locked shut. She slapped the trunk in
frustration and glanced around. What could she use to pick the lock? A hair
pin? Wasn’t that what the heroine used in the movies? She had nothing with
her—no hair pins, no knife…nothing long and thin that would fit inside the hole
in the large metal lock.

Her curiosity piqued.
What did he feel was important
enough to lock away?
Then she remembered that her grandparents had a small
chest stored in their bedroom where they kept money and valuables they did not
trust putting in a bank. They’d kept the chest locked but hidden the key in
plain sight. Curiosity had her glancing around. And then she moved to the large
desk and opened the top draw.
Voilà
!
There lay a large skeleton key. Grabbing it, she quickly unlocked the chest.
She lifted the heavy lid and gasped at the sight before her.

“Oh my God!” Gold coins and loose gems filled the wooden
chest. She scooped up a handful and let them shift through her fingers. “The
laird is not poor that is for sure,” she murmured as she swept her fingers back
and forth through the wealth.

Suddenly feeling guilty about snooping where she wasn’t
invited, Gusty dropped the lid and turned the key.

She returned the key to its hiding place and then, with
little else to keep her occupied, Gusty retired to the bed, where she sat
working the knots out of her hair with a comb she had found on the washstand.
The wind from the seashore, the wild ride through the night and then sleeping
on her unbraided hair had turned it into a snarled mess.

“I should have cut it last summer,” she muttered to herself
as she began to work on a handful of curls. One particularly vicious knot had
her yanking and tugging and she winced. She didn’t have a sensitive scalp but her
head was beginning to tingle from all the abuse.

“Let me help.”

Gusty jumped at the sound of Alexander’s voice. She jerked
her head around to find him standing right behind her. Apparently Scottish
Highland barbarians treaded as lightly as American Indians…or at least this one
did.

She hesitated a moment and then handed him the comb. He sat
down behind her, drawing her between his legs, and began working vigilantly at
the tangles. She relinquished herself to his ministrations. As he worked on her
hair Gusty relaxed, letting his large hands work their magic on her stubborn
tangles and her receptive body. Tiny shivers of delight began to spread
throughout her as he moved his hands over her head and back. After he had
gotten the last tangle out, he combed her hair until it fell around her in a
waterfall of waves. When he finished, he eased her hair off her back and draped
it over her shoulder. Before she could question his intentions his hands were
on her neck, massaging the knots of tension from her muscles.

His gentleness surprised her. She leaned back into his touch
and soon his fingers were caressing lightly across her temples and down over
her cheeks to her jaw. She shivered and sighed softly as he aroused her with his
caresses. His hands moved to her collarbone and then down farther, his long
fingers teasing the swell of her breasts. Her head dropped back against his
shoulder and his mouth moved up the side of her neck. He nipped and licked the
tender flesh before trailing a path of fire up to her ear.

“I want you, my little selkie. I want you very much,”
Alexander murmured.

She melted against him, closing her eyes, her lips parting
slightly as her breathing increased.

He slipped his hands beneath the edge of the plaid she had
wrapped about her body and cupped her breasts. He lifted them and her nipples grew
hard at his touch. Covering her mouth with his, he kissed her passionately until
she shook with need. He thrust his tongue past her lips and swept her mouth,
teasing her tongue into a timid response. She returned his kiss hesitantly at
first and then more enthusiastically, arching into his hands, offering him
more. He groaned as she wiggled her bottom against his erection.

“Oh God! Alexander, I feel so… Oh…oh my!”

She sighed and softly moaned as his hands moved over the
curve of her hip and then lower. He pushed the plaid aside and eased his
fingers into the nest of curls between her thighs.

Alexander smiled. Clearly his new bride wanted him as much
as he wanted her. He could have her now with little resistance but his conscience
told him he would come to regret seducing her so quickly. Gusty was worthy of
more than a hasty seduction—she deserved to be wooed properly, with sweet words
and small tokens of his esteem. He meant to keep her, wanted to win her heart,
and as such he needed to take care with her feelings. He did not want to wake
up in the morning with a bitter, disappointed bride who regretted having given
herself to him so easily. No, he would wait to take her.

With a suppressed groan of discomfort due to the aroused
state of his body, Alexander placed one last kiss on her neck and then pulled
away.

“I burn for you, my selkie. Never think otherwise. But I
fear we have to quit now, lest I find myself unable to stop until I have sated
myself with your lush body.” He eased her off his lap, pulled the plaid that
had slipped down around her thighs back up over her breasts and then slid off
the bed.

Gusty clutched the blanket to her breasts and looked up at
him, her face a mask of confusion and disappointment.

“I will have someone bring you something to wear. But for
now, you will stay here. Go back to sleep, if you like.” Alexander needed to
put space between them before he forgot all about his good intentions and
bedded her then and there. He had never known brushing a woman’s hair could be
so erotic. He thought about the dark nest of curly hair that graced the juncture
of her thighs and the treasure that was hidden there, and he swallowed hard.
Everything about this woman left him wanting to take her again and again.

“You will return, won’t you?”

Her soft question had him feeling guilty for leaving her
unsatisfied and he almost gave in to both their desires. He read the longing in
her eyes, knew just what she was feeling.

“Aye, my selkie. I will.”

A resounding knock on the heavy oak door rudely interrupted
the magical moment. With a muffled curse, Alexander glanced one more time at
Gusty as he pulled the torn and frayed piece of his plaid from his sporran. She
opened her mouth, no doubt to protest, but he shook his head and finished tying
their wrists together with the strip of cloth.

“Why do we have to stay tied?” she asked. She held the plaid
she had been using as a covering with her fisted free hand.

For a moment, he debated telling her the truth but decided
honesty was the best way to progress with her.

“It is the tradition of my clan. When a couple is handfasted
they must be bound together until they have consummated their union.”

“But we already did…that. Last night on the beach. Doesn’t
that count?” She looked closely at him, as if trying to read his mind.

“What happened last night will remain between us. As far as
anyone in this keep is concerned we still have to consummate this handfasting
today or tonight in this bed. The Sutherland’s bed.”

“Are you joking? That’s ridiculous.”

The feelings Alexander stirred within her were like nothing
Gusty had ever experienced. She enjoyed his kisses and caresses. She liked
kissing him back and if he had not ended the kissing and touching, she would
have been flat on her back, willingly welcoming him into her eager body. But
would she have regretted it later? Yes she found him attractive and he
obviously felt the same way. But would the attraction between them be enough on
which to build a commitment? Did she even
want
to commit herself to this
man? Did he think of a future with her beyond a year and a day? She sensed he
placed value on her but if she grew to care for him, could she trust him with
her heart?

He must have sensed her thoughts because when she looked up,
he was watching her in a way that made her heart race and her breathing grow
erratic. In that moment she knew she would have agreed to whatever he wanted.
To dispel the odd fluttering in the pit of her stomach she asked the first
intelligent thing that came into her mind.

“I’ve never heard of couples having to be tied together
until…until they…well you know…do it.”

“It?”

The hot flush that crept up her neck mortified her even more
than her stuttered comment.

“Customs vary from clan to clan but the Sutherland bride
stays tied to her husband until they do…it.”

Gusty didn’t appreciate Alexander’s teasing sense of humor.
His lips twitched as if he was trying to keep from laughing. He turned toward
the door, apparently forgetting she was tethered to him. She stumbled after him
several feet.

Seething over his impossible attitude, she flung the comb
she’d been holding, hitting him squarely in the back of the head. He turned
around to face her, no longer bothering to hide his laughter.

“This topic is not something to laugh about, it is very
serious. In case you hadn’t noticed, buster, we completely consummated our
union last night after we were handfasted and I don’t take things like that
lightly.”

“Nor do I, Augusta. And my name is Alexander Sutherland,
Wolf of the Highlands not Buster. You will address me properly. My name is known
across the land and is one to be respected. I am sure you have heard of it—even
in your part of the world.”

Gusty could not believe her ears. Talk about arrogant,
thinking he could hand out orders and she would jump to obey him. Boy was he in
for a rude awakening.

“Why would I have heard of you?”

“Your father probably cursed my name daily.”

“I never knew my father, therefore I wouldn’t know if he
cursed your name or not.”

“How could you not know your own father?”

“I was sent away as a child. My grandparent raised me. Well,
they are not really my grandparents but my guardians. Still they cared for me
and loved me.”

Alexander looked at his wife with skepticism. “I find it
difficult to believe Hagan and Maeve did not tell you about your father. Perhaps
you were too young to remember him. It is of little consequence. I am who I am.”

Gusty had more questions but another knock interrupted any
further conversation. Alexander walked the short distance to the door and Gusty
followed. He flung it open and her eyes went wide. In the hallway stood an
unbelievably huge man and an equally incredibly tiny woman.

Alexander towered over Gusty by at least a foot but this
white-haired, sun-bronzed giant dwarfed him. The man’s size was even more
noticeable due to the diminutive size of the woman beside him, whose head did
not even come to Gusty’s shoulder. Gusty found the sweet smile on the woman’s
round little face most welcoming, especially in light of the fierce scowl her
companion aimed in Gusty’s direction.

“It is true then?” He spoke with a heavy Scandinavian
accent.

“Oh my God!” Gusty gasped. Before her stood proof that
reality was more impressive than any story she had ever read about the race of
blond giants. She stared up at the man for a long moment and then laughed. “You
are a Viking?”

“Nay! A Norseman. I do not claim kinship with that murdering
horde, lady.”

Gusty’s mouth fell open at his words. It seemed she had just
insulted the blond
Norseman
. “Sorry. I meant no offense.”

Ignoring her apology, the Norseman looked pointedly at his
laird. “She is the one?”

“Aye, Davin, it is true. This is my bride, Augusta. Pass the
word that any man who even looks at her oddly or shows disrespect will answer
to me.”

The harsh tone in his voice had Gusty flinching and she
looked back and forth between the two big men, sensing some underlying message
in Alexander’s words. What kind of followers did Alexander have if he needed to
send out such a dire warning? If they were all as unfriendly as this Norseman, dare
she leave the safety of her room? She glanced behind her and considered
crawling back into bed and maybe never leaving it again.