Authors: Fiona Knightingale
“William…” she said softly.
“Yes, Elizabeth?”
“You had a question for me?”
“That I did,” there was a lilt in his voice but his lips did not smile.
“What was it?”
She was holding her breath as she stood so close to him.
“Can you explain your answer to me? Why you want to stay here?”
She blinked at him with her deep blue eyes and answered without a word. She simply rested her palm against his broad chest and slid it upwards to the back of his neck.
This time she knew she felt the stirrings against her as he closed his mouth around hers. His kiss demanded her to yield and she gave willingly. He parted his mouth to let his tongue taste her lips and she exhaled with a soft moan.
As his lips slid from her lips to her neck, he whispered into her ear, “You have yet to ask me…”
“Ask you what?”
“I told you at the beginning that I would not take anything from you that you did not give willingly. But you still have to ask so that I’m clear.”
“William?” she murmured softly, “Will you share the bed with me tonight?”
He picked her up easily and carried her through the doorway, lips locked in passion and desire. His large hands cupped the curves of her hips as he set her down on the bed. In a flash, they snuck up under the long skirt of her simple dress and found a heat that neither of them expected.
“Oh god,” he breathed against her skin as his lips teased her breasts through the thin material.
His tongue and teeth taunted her, causing her nipples to crinkle and peak under in her dress. He broke their contact long enough to whisk the dress over her head and to toss his own clothing on top of the puddle of cotton. They scrambled to wrap the blankets over them and he ran his hands over the swell of her breasts, the indention of her waist and the arch of her hips. In her years of marriage, she had never had someone express such desire for her or to even touch her that way.
She could feel the heat inside her body growing, like stoking the fire in the stove. And when William finally lay on top of her, she felt his urgent cock pressing against the damp opening between her legs. She wrapped her legs around his trim waist and pressed him forward with her heels.
He groaned deep in his throat as he entered her warmth and dug his fingertips into the sides of her hips for self-control. He had been torturing himself with thoughts of her since he first laid eyes on her heaving breasts cowered in the corner of the estate, and had been taunting her with the earlier comment about asking him to share the bed.
But now as he felt the need and desire in her body, he could not find the self-control he sought. He drove himself into her time and time again, the sweat glistening on their bodies as they gasped for air.
Elizabeth did not know that it could be enjoyable, that she would have ever felt such pleasures as when William claimed her body for himself. The heat kept rising and it flushed her cheeks and chest pink. She raked her nails down his muscular back and moaned something against his chest.
He grunted loudly and she felt his fluid fill her. The heat inside her own body boiled over and she tightened her thighs around his waist as she fell into her own peak of pleasure.
He collapsed on top of her and gasped for breath.
“Heaven help me,” he groaned softly.
“I never knew…”
“Never knew what?”
“That it could be… well, that it could be good.”
He laughed, “That’s a Scot versus a Brit for ya.”
She giggled, and held his body closer to hers as sleep claimed them both.
The next morning, the sun beamed through the window and through the gaps in the walls. They stirred on the bed, legs and arms still entangled. He woke with a start when he realized they were still naked in bed. He tried to slip away but she cooed and stirred next to him.
“Where are you going?”
“I thought I would start the fire,” he offered.
She grinned up at him, and pulled his face to hers. Her lips tickled his neck as she teased him, “What sort of fire did you have in mind?”
He felt the first stirrings of his cock, but knew they had to get on with their day. He knew in his heart that they would have plenty of mornings to take it easy and enjoy the pleasures of each other.
They both dressed and went about the normal morning routines of breakfast and tending to the things around the cabin.
“We may not want to linger here at the house anymore,” he said, “now that they know where we are.”
“Very true,” she agreed. “But now what?”
“I have a, ahem, confession.”
“Now? Now you tell me you have a secret?” She indignantly grasped at the dress that she had so easily surrendered the night before.
He laughed at her wide-eyed response.
“Nothing like that. But I think it’s only fair to tell you that I am not what you might call a regular rogue. I’m just out and about, but I have to get home.”
“What home?”
“Scotland of course. My father will be expecting me. You see, my father is associated with the fathers of all of the band here. And they are all expecting us to report back in the near future.”
“I see…”
He fished the small metal key from the pocket of his trousers, and knelt before one of the locked boxes. He opened it with a flourish and brandished a small leather sheaf of papers.
“This is the proof of my family. I don’t travel without it, just in case I run into trouble.”
“Proof of your family?”
“My father is at least as wealthy as your husband, if not more. And together, with the fathers of my friends, they own almost all of northern Scotland.”
She gasped, “William! What secrets you’ve been hiding!”
He opened the other locked boxes to reveal treasures they had accumulated, as well as the finer clothing of a nobleman. The stock included two dresses like the one she had discarded upon arriving at the house. She gently fingered the fine brocade and filmy lace and smiled at him.
“You would prefer me in these?”
“I would prefer you in nothing,” he growled as he sunk his teeth into the delicate skin of her throat.
She moaned softly and felt her body warm to him again.
She had never been fully undressed in front of Henry but without a second thought, she tore off the grey housedress and let William carry her back to the bed. He ravaged her again and she moaned his name over and over, letting her body tell her exactly what she needed.
Once the passion subsided, he helped cinch her into the layers of corseting and dress and she twisted her own hair up on top of her head, to present herself as fully a lady again.
Within moments, his clansmen arrived with the carriage in tow. They gathered everything from the cabin that was worth taking, and packed into the carriage to leave. She made sure to take all of the food that would travel, since they now had an entire group to feed.
Elizabeth made sure to politely acknowledge the gentlemen that were going to escort them away. As she climbed into the carriage, she knew she offered them a full view of her ample cleavage, and smiled to herself when one of them winked at William.
The trip to William’s home was completely uneventful. After all, no one would suspect this nobleman and his “wife” to have been a rogue kidnapper and his willing victim. Elizabeth was thrilled to find herself welcomed into his household, complete with wedding ceremony and family blessings.
She was not sure what William did during his days, but she knew exactly what he did with his nights. Every night, they dined together in the estate hall. She loved the way William treated his servants with kindness even though it made her miss Olivia terribly.
And every night after dinner, and perhaps a little wine, Elizabeth would walk over to William’s chair and whisper in his ear, “Will you share the bed with me tonight?”
It always made him grin and he never refused her request.
About a year after Elizabeth’s grand escape from Henry, the family was out traveling and Elizabeth suddenly realized that her father-in-law was headed to make some sort of deal with Henry for horses or trade or some sort of business.
William felt her gasp next to him when she recognized the hills and ponds, and tightened his arm around her shoulders in unconscious protection. They dropped his father off at Elizabeth’s old estate, along with protection just in case, and headed into town for the afternoon.
As they strolled arm in arm over the cobblestone paths, Elizabeth ran into Olivia. She could not stop herself from hugging the older woman, and Olivia marveled at the change in Elizabeth’s life.
“I’ve missed you, child. There’s no one to share my tea and cheese and bread with.”
“Perhaps William can strike a bargain with Henry,” Elizabeth whispered conspiratorially.
Olivia smiled sweetly, “I’m just glad you are okay ma’am.”
Elizabeth and William returned to the estate to retrieve his father, and Henry walked him to the carriage.
William stepped out to formally meet the man, and made sure to help Elizabeth down from the carriage.
None of the group was certain that Henry would have recognized William as the highlander raider but Henry’s mouth gaped open when he recognized Elizabeth. Her dresses looked finer than anything he had provided for her; she stood straighter than he remembered; and her skin absolutely glowed. Elizabeth thought he was going to actually faint when his gaze finally swept down to her swollen belly.
She grinned at William and then at Henry. With a smirk, she leveled her gaze at Henry and told him, “Guess all I needed was good strong Scottish blood in me.”
THE END
Chapter one
“I don’t know what it is about the crowd tonight, but they seem to be very interested in one dancer and we all know who that is.” Jessica had always been riding me pretty strong, most likely because she was getting up there in age and wasn’t going to be much use to anybody in this industry for very much longer. “She’s got this wholesome act down to a science, but we all know that she’s not exactly pure, as the driven snow.” Jessica had black hair, her breasts were sagging, because frankly being 40 and two kids underneath her belt didn’t exactly make her a sought after commodity in the dancing industry.
“Jessica, I don’t know why you insist on talking about me behind my back. It’s not like I’m not able to hear every word that you’re saying.” I was what was called a natural beauty. There was nothing fake about me and you couldn’t say that about most of the girls that were dancing in the club. Frankly, I was only doing it to make enough money to go to college to become a veterinarian. It wasn’t easy work and I didn’t have the time or luxury of working three jobs just to make ends meet. Even with the extra curves, the guys seemed to go crazy to see me onstage.
“It appears that I have insulted the delicate constitution of one Chloe Masters. Oh my, whatever am I going to do?” I could tell that she was mocking me. She most likely was itching for some sort of altercation to come between us. If that were to happen, she might be able to get me thrown out of here permanently. I knew for a fact that the owner Jack and her was quite the item. If she really wanted to make trouble for me, then she was going to have to do a whole lot better than teasing. I’ve been through that all of my life and it’s not easy, especially when I was the one that was blessed upfront at a very early age.