Kidnapping the Laird (4 page)

“
Look at me, Cat.”

She did, watching as his strong hands unbuckled his belt and then dropped it at his feet. His tunic and trews followed, even his boots and hose, until he stood naked before her. She felt the heat rising in her cheeks as she watched his body react under her gaze. Cat followed the dark thatch of hair down his chest, past his belly and then to where his manhood rose from the curls, proving his readiness to join their bodies. She swallowed and then swallowed again, fighting the fear that tried to replace the heat in her.

“
Trust me, Cat.” This time his words were spoken softly, a plea more than an order and it warmed her. She nodded, though truly not certain she could.

* * *

Padruig knelt beside her, watching as her eyes widened and as her gaze flitted to touch on his cock and then away. She’d seemed to enjoy kissing so he eased her back and touched their mouths together. Tasting and teasing her lips and tongue, he waited until she panted before touching any other place on her body.

Though he wanted to touch her everywhere at once.

He almost forgot how innocent she was. He almost forgot the last four months. But when she reached out and boldly wrapped her hand around his hardened flesh, he forgot to breathe and forgot how to think at all. Trying to distract himself from the arousing caress so that he did not disgrace himself, he began loosening the ties of her tunic and undergown and leaned down to suckle on her now-exposed breasts.

Had they always been this full? Had the nipples been this enticing rosy shade that night too? Their joining had been quick and accomplished in the dark, giving him no opportunity to savor her beauty or her lush womanly curves. This time it would be different for both of them. When she arched against his mouth as he took the tip of her breast into his mouth, he swirled his tongue around it until it pebbled tight and hard.

The gasps turned to moans, his and hers, as they teased each other with tempting kisses, arousing caresses and the need to join their bodies together. When he felt the readiness of her body and the heat and wetness between her legs, he eased on top of her, spreading her legs with his body and rubbed the center of her arousal until he felt her body begin to tremble. Then, he pressed his hardness deep inside her, inch by inch, allowing her body to adjust as he filled her to her core.

The sounds she made drove him insane with the need to claim her, to bring her to completion now, one that he’d not accomplished that first night, and one that he could not fail to accomplish this time. Easing back out until only the tip of his cock remained within her flesh, he thrust deeper and deeper, feeling her flesh tighten around his, increasing his hardness and readying him to spill his seed there.

Cat could not believe the way her body felt in this moment. Not invaded or violated, but filled with his flesh until they were one. He urged her towards something with whispers and words and caresses and his body until hers responded in kind, rippling from where he thrust, sending waves and waves of indescribable pleasure through her, body and soul. Her muscles tightened, that tension building deep within sprang loose and she moaned out even as he spilled his seed. Her flesh responded, softening and opening, giving over to his complete possession. When she came back to herself, he lay on her, panting softly in her ear. Padruig eased off her, drawing her into his embrace and yet remaining within her at the same time.

She lay silent in his arms, listening to the steady beat of his heart and trying to understand all that had happened between them. He kissed her forehead as he eased out of her body and the place there ached with an emptiness she did not know she could feel. Had she pleased him enough to make him give up Seana though? She feared asking him anything that would mar the wondrous satisfaction that filled her in that moment. Still though, she wanted to know. But before she could ask him, he spoke.

“
Did you prove it to yourself, Cat? Can you find pleasure in my bed?” He turned on his side and touched her cheek, drawing her gaze to his. “Will you return to my bed and be my wife in all ways?”

Catriona understood the cost of his question to his pride. He was admitting his part in the debacle that had sent them down this path of separation and unhappiness. Padruig was giving her a chance at fulfillment and happiness. . . and mayhap even love.

“
Aye, if you’ll have me, Padruig.”

He smiled and her heart raced at the beauty of it—the masculine angles of his face eased at her words and his dark green eyes sparkled in reply. Still, there was one matter than needed to be clarified between them.

“
And Seana?”

He laughed then, kissing her on the mouth quickly before nodding. “She left a sennight ago, Cat.”

Catriona sat up, gathering her garments around her and shook her head. “You sent her away? Why?”

Padruig pushed up to sit next to her, quite at ease with his nakedness. “I had this foolish notion to ask my wife to return to my bed. I would have, but I was kidnapped before I could discuss it with her.”

“
You jest!” she said, unsure if she could or should believe his words. “You mean none of this was necessary?” She’d risked so much, not the least of which was his brothers’ relationship with him as brother and as their laird if he discovered their involvement in her plot.

“
Not necessary but, besides the ambush, quite enjoyable,” he said, laughing. He grew serious then and stared at her intently. “Did it please you, Cat? Did I please you this time?” Had it not been obvious to him? She’d melted in his embrace, her body played by his touch and his hands and his mouth. As though she’d spoken the words aloud, he continued. “What happened between us that first night should never have happened. Will you be able to put it behind us and forgive me?”

Tears burned in her eyes but she dashed them away. She nodded, believing for the first time that they did have a chance at happiness together, something completely unthinkable just days before. He kissed her, pulling her close and holding her to him.

“
When will Dougal and Jamie return to free us?”

Cat drew back, surprised at his words. Did he know or was he seeking out information? His mischievous smile told her that he did indeed know.

“
In two days,” she answered, watching his expression change into something dark and enticing and wicked.

“
Time enough to begin. . . .” he said, as he began kissing not just her mouth but her neck and then her shoulders and then. . . and then. . . .

By the time his brothers arrived two days later, she could not move a muscle. His possession of her body complete and that of heart begun, she almost wished she’d told them to wait three days before returning.

Chapter Five

With the excuse of seeking out the good wine from the storage room below, Padruig pulled on his trews and climbed down the stairs to that chamber. Instead of heading for the barrel of wine, he sought the hidden door behind a storage trunk. Making his way through the tunnel and along the stream, he climbed up to the path and returned to the front of the house where his brothers waited.

Giving no warning, he grabbed and tossed Jamie to the ground and then managed to land a solid punch to Dougal’s jaw before they realized he was there. The feel of it was satisfying, for he was certain that Dougal had been the one who sent him to his knees during the kidnapping.

“
What the hell?” Dougal said, rubbing his face.

“
That was for agreeing to carry out her foolish plan without telling me about it,” Padruig said. Dougal shrugged as though kidnapping your brother and laird was a commonplace thing.

“
Did it work?” he asked. “That’s all I want to know.” He crossed his arms over his chest and angled his head while waiting for Padruig to answer.

“
Come back in two more days and I’ll tell you,” he answered. Those were all the words he was willing to say right now.

“
I was right, Padruig. Just admit it,” Dougal pushed.

Padruig did not answer. Instead he walked away, retracing his path back to the tunnel. He heard his brothers laugh as he did, but he cared not. The entire clan would know soon enough that he’d claimed his bride, even if it was four months late.

After entering the storage room and finding the wine, he climbed back up to the loft with it. Cat lay as he’d left her—replete and exhausted from his attentions. A purely male sense of satisfaction filled him now as well, knowing that he’d seen to her pleasure countless times already and would again now that they had two more days of privacy away from the world.

As he climbed onto the wide surface of the bed, she stirred, reaching out and resting her hand on his stomach as he moved closer. He stirred, well his flesh did, and she welcomed him between her thighs with a delicious sigh he was coming to crave. When they could speak again, Cat reminded him that his brothers would arrive soon. Unwilling to confess that he could have escaped her at any time, Padruig smiled and suggested that he remain kidnapped for two more days.

But it was four more days before the laird and lady returned to their keep.

Together.

* * * * * * * * * *

Terri Brisbin
has been writing romance fiction since 1995 and has more than 25 historical and paranormal romance novels, novellas and short stories published since then. When not living the glamorous life of a romance author in the southern NJ suburbs (or lusting after Gerard Butler), Terri spends her time being a wife to one, mom to three as well as a dental hygienist to hundreds.

A National Readers’ Choice Award finalist, three-time RWA RITA® finalist, and winner of the NJRW Golden Leaf and Desert Rose Golden Quill, Terri is now working on more romance novels and novellas for release through 2012 from Harlequin Historical and Kensington Brava. You can visit her website for more info about the author and her work or to contact her:
www.terribrisbin.com

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Also available from
Terri Brisbin
:

His Enemy’s Daughter

A Storm of Pleasure

The Mercenary’s Bride

A Storm of Passion

The Conqueror’s Lady

Upcoming releases from
Terri Brisbin
:

What the Duchess Wants, April 2011

Mistress of the Storm, July 2011

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Copyright © 2011 by Theresa S. Brisbin w/a Terri Brisbin

KIDNAPPING THE LAIRD copyright 2011 by Theresa S. Brisbin. All rights reserved under International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions. By payment of required fees, you have been granted the non-exclusive, non-transferable right to access and read the text of this e-book. No part of this text may be reproduced, transmitted, downloaded, decompiled, reverse engineered, or stored in or introduced into any information storage and retrieval system, in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereinafter invented without the express written permission of Theresa S. Brisbin.

Originally published in the Mammoth Book of Scottish Romance.