The Highlander's Triumph (22 page)

They’d made it back, but only to see this gruesome sight.

“Dinna look, my sweet. ’Tis not something a woman should have to see.”

“But I already have,” she whispered. This was not the first body she’d seen. King Edward had made the whole of his court witness countless deaths.

Brandon caressed her face, holding her tight to him. His comfort was calming, not something she’d felt before, and she closed her eyes to make it last.

She felt him squeeze the horse’s sides with his legs and the mount trotted forward. Like a
bee drawn to a flower, she couldn’t help but open her eyes and stare at the man who hung lifeless and bloated from the top of the gate. She recognized him instantly.

Ross.

“’Tis a message,” Brandon murmured. “To any English or Scots traitor who comes to find us, to find our rightful king. They will die.”

Mariana nodded. The English had long passed their welcome here.

“We will nay find my men within.”

Mariana shook her head, having guessed as much already.

“Night comes. We’ll need to find shelter.”

“Is it not safe within the castle?”

“My guess is, if the English are not already here, they will be coming soon.”

Neither of them would be spared, nor treated with mercy.

“We shall make camp for the night elsewhere.”

Brandon turned his mount away from the ghastly sight that’d greeted them, and urged it east
, away from where they’d come.

Pressing a hand to hers, he lifted it and pressed it to his
lips.

“I’m afraid, Mariana, that a life with me is not always going to be pleasant.”

“No one’s life truly is.”

“But ye will be witness to so many things like ye’ve just seen.”

“And as long as I have you beside me, I can overcome it.”

Bringing her hand to his lips, he kissed her knuckles sending a shiver of warmth through her. “How did I get so lucky to meet
ye?”

“’Twasn’t luck, Brandon, but your compassion that brought us together.”

“I never thought of myself as a compassionate man. But ruthless. Hard. My father was a brutal man, even to my mother. ’Tis in my blood. I fear it. Fear who I might become, what might already be inside me.”

“The measure of a man is not in his blood.” Mariana turned around in the saddle and pressed her hand to his heart. “’Tis here. And here.” She slid a fingertip from one side of his forehead to the other. “What kind of man do you truly believe yourself to be?”

The intensity of Brandon’s eyes locking on hers, held her captive.

“I want to be the man who is good enough for ye. The man who protects ye, honors ye, cherishes ye. Loves ye.”

Love.
Mariana’s heart constricted. “Do you?” she asked. Waiting for his answer was enough to make her wish she’d not asked. The seconds ticked by like hours, and her stomach started to sink.

Brandon’s lips were pressed so firmly together they were turning white.
“Aye. I do.”

“
Moi, aussie. Je t’adore
.”
I love you.

“Life with me will nay be like ’twas in a French court or an English court. I’m not as refined. Nor interested in gold, silver and jewels. But I will take care of
ye. Love ye with every breath. Endeavor to give ye pleasure and joy.”

“That is all I could ever ask for. You, Brandon Sinclair, are a true man.
An honorable, compassionate, fierce warrior. I will never ask for anything more, save that you keep me as yours and yours alone.”

“Ye were mine, the moment I first saw ye.”

And then he kissed her, filling her with all the passion words could not express. Mariana wrapped her arm around Brandon’s waist and returned his kiss with every ounce of love she possessed.

Above them, the sun had started to set, and
all around them was quiet. Rain still fell, but in a mist that cooled her burning skin. Brandon led their horse into a private copse of fir trees where they were hidden from the outside world. Helping her down from the horse, he held her close against him so she could feel every line and ridge of his body, including his thick arousal pressed to her hip.

“When I make love to ye this time, I will call ye by your given name.”

“
Oui
, and this time it will not be so I have a memory to savor, but a new beginning, a new life.”

“Oh, my love.”
Brandon buried his face in her hair, his deep indrawn breath and whooshing out, tickling her neck.

His lips skimmed over her cheek and chin to find her mouth. Tenderly, he brushed his lips over hers, as soft as sigh. But Mariana didn’t want him to kiss her softly, she wanted him to take possession of her, to thrust his tongue deep and show her the pleasure she knew he could give her. Taking the lead, she flicked her tongue over the crease of his lips. Brandon growled low in his throat and returned the movement with his tongue.

“Oh,
oui
,” she moaned, touching her tongue to his.

“I will never let ye go.”

“Never.” Mariana gripped her arm around his waist, her fingers massaging the muscles that connected with his spine. The throb she felt constantly in her broken arm faded, as though he healed her. She knew that he cured not only her body but her broken mind. He made her whole again, or perhaps whole for the first time. No one ever made her feel as cherished as he did.

Brandon wrapped his
sturdy arms around her, his hands stroking over her back, her ribs, cupping her breasts. She arched into him, her nipples hard as pebbles, and aching for his touch. He teased her with small brushes of this thumbs over the turgid peaks, then pressed harder as he rolled each one between a thumb and forefinger.

“Ye have perfect breasts,” he murmured against her lips. “Plush and round, they fit perfectly in my
grasp, and your nipples… They respond to me with the slightest touch. I wonder what ye’ll do when I kiss them, lick them…”

Mariana moaned at the thought. “Please,” she whispered.

Brandon slid her gown over on shoulder, then skimmed his fingers over the top, reaching just inside to tease the bare flesh of her breast. Her breaths quickened, heart beat rapid. Brandon kissed her shoulder, slid his tongue down the top of one breast, teasing her with his hot mouth until she gasped for air.

He tugged her gown lower, her breast spilling free, and his lips brushed against her nipple. “Even more beautiful than I could have guessed.
Pink and ripe.”

Mariana forgot for a moment that they’d made love before in the dark and he’d yet to see her in the light. “Let me undress fully so you can see all of me.”

Brandon stepped back, his eyes slightly wide and a wicked grin on his face. “I can honestly say a woman has never said that to me before.”

Mariana smiled and winked. “Y
ou’ve never been with a woman like me.”

“And well I know it.”

With her good arm she untied the laces of her gown, then lifted the hem, gripping it with both hands.

“Let me undress ye,” Brandon said. “I’ve
been wanting to do that very thing since I saw ye all covered in soot.”

Mariana smiled gratefully. He may have wanted to undress her, but he’d also seen her struggling. Brandon used care when tugging off her gown, and he tossed it over the horse’s saddle so it didn’t get wet on the moist earth.
He removed her chemise next, and then just stared at her. His eyes wide, a wicked grin on his face.

“Good lord, woman, ye’ve a body made for a man to pleasure.”

Heat burned her cheeks at his compliment. His words of praise were real, not like those she’d had before that whispered the same phrases to every woman. Brandon meant every syllable he uttered.

A shiver covered
her gooseflesh, and she shuddered.

“Are ye cold?” he asked, suddenly concerned.

“Only a little,” she said shyly.

“I suppose spring is not full upon us yet.” He whipped off his cloak and wrapped it around her. “I’m sor
ry to miss the view, but wouldna want ye to freeze before I’ve the chance to set ye afire.”

Mariana nodded. Suddenly shy, she was no longer the seductress, but a woman about to experience lovemaking with a ma
n more precious to her than breath. Anticipation heated her blood.

“Let me see you,” she
said, her voice low and husky.

The seductress was back.

Chapter Twenty-Two

B
randon swallowed hard, internalizing a groan. His cock was swollen thick, pushing against the restrictive confines of the breeches he still wore—and Mariana’s gaze was concentrated there, her eyes flashing with potent desire.

“As ye wish, my lady,” he whispered.

Whipping off his shirt, he tossed the soggy piece of linen onto the horse. Mariana’s eyes were wide as saucers as she took him in. If he didn’t already know better, he would have thought she’d never seen a man in the skin. A thought occurred to him—’haps, she hadn’t. ’Twas entirely possible that all of her previous lovers had bent her over fully clothed, or taken her in the dark. Winking at her with confidence, he decided that her appreciation stemmed from having never bed a Highlander before him. Never having seen what a real man looked like sans clothes.

Following his instincts, he
grinned at her and plucked slowly at the strings tying his breeches in place. Mariana licked her lips, as though she watched a cook make a meal after she’d not eaten in a week. A woman starved for flesh, his flesh.

“Are ye satisfied with what ye see?” he asked, noting the way his voice sounded gravelly even to his own ears.

Mariana’s gaze flashed toward his, a heady sense of passion filling their depths. Was it him or did her lips appear plumper? More red? Lord how he wanted to feel them wrapped around his—

“Very,” she murmured. “Don’t let me stop you.” She stepped closer, the chill Highland air suddenly feeling
sultry. Mariana’s fingers skimmed along the waistline of his breeches, her nails scraping tantalizingly over the flesh of his hip. “Unless you want me to help you.”

For the first time in his life, Brandon was speechless. The woman… Ballocks, but she was a siren. A faerie bent on seducing him and then claiming his soul. But he was powerless to move and every inch of his skin wanted to feel her touch.

“I’d never turn away a woman willing to assist me with undressing.” Now, dressing was another matter. That meant he was either too old or she wasn’t interested, neither case he wanted to be in at the moment.

Mariana smiled up at him, her eyelids lowered slightly, the curve of her lips sensual. Brandon dipped low, and kissed her. He slid his mouth over hers, licked at her lips, her tongue. Mariana eagerly kissed him back, not afraid of him in the least, but showing enthusiasm, desire.

He cradled her face in his palms, loving the taste of her, so fresh and sweet, along with her scent of flowers and passion. Mariana was like a sweet drink to a man dying of thirst. She opened up all the doors that had been previously closed to him. Made him realize that he was more than he once thought, that he could be more than he set out to be.

How could he possibly have lived before her, for he knew he’d never be able to live without her
again.

Mariana slid his breeches low over his hips, his cock less than inch from being free. Once it sprang forth, he
was sure to lose control, needing desperately to bury himself between the sweet folds of her sex, where he could find the ecstasy he’d sought there before.

“Och, woman,” he murmured as he slid his lips over her chin to bite at her earlobe. “What are ye doing to me?”

“Exploring,” she said breathlessly.

Exploring? He understood what she meant with a jolt when her fist wrapped around his cock, squeezing lightly and then stroking up over the tip and back down. Groaning, he bit her earlobe, and caressed the plush globes of her milky
breasts. The woman tempted him beyond reason. Made his blood burn with a fire that would not be easily doused.

“I want to explore, too,” he said. Hands massaging over her rear, he bent his head to her breasts,
flicking his tongue in teasing swirls over her hard nipples. “I like what I’ve found.”

Mariana laughed between moans. “Anything I have is yours to keep.”

“Anything?”

“Anything.”

“Even this?” Brandon slid his fingers over her damp cleft, sliding between the folds to gently massage the swollen bud. Mariana jumped a little at his touch. Precisely the reaction he was in search of. He suckled a little harder at her breasts, massaging her nub with the flat of his finger in a little circle.

The action had the exact effect he was looking for. Mariana stopped touching him, her forehead pressed hard to his shoulder.

“No man has ever…cared about my…” Her words were broken up by moans.

Brandon could feel her tensing against him. “Pleasure?” he asked, hoping that was t
he word she’d been looking for.

“
Oui
, pleasure,” she panted. Her breathing was erratic, her heart pounding a beat against his own.

Brandon picked up the pace, rubbing quicker, a little harder. He kissed her breasts, suckled her nipples and continued ceaselessly with his touch.

Mariana writhed against him. His cock out of reach, she’d found a grip in his arms, massaging his shoulders between squeezing his muscles tight.

“Don’t stop, please,” she begged.

“I never would. Never.”

“Mmm…”

The woman’s reaction was so genuine, raw. Brandon could almost believe this was her first time—or that she was new at it. When they’d made love before it had been the same way. The shock, awe and beauty of pleasure for her.

“I want to feel ye finish on my tongue,” he whispered in her ear.

Mariana’s gasp was so deep, it sounded as though she choked on it.

Brandon didn’t allow her a chance to negate his desire. He dropped to his knees, breeches still only partially down, and buried his face between her thighs. Heaven met his tongue.
Glorious, slick heat. She’d washed with lemon soap, the scent still tangy on her flesh.

Nails dug into his shoulders as she cried out, her thighs quivered against his face.
He loved her raw passion, her fiery nature. Slipping his fingers over her curves, he continued to lave at her cleft, flicking his tongue mercilessly over the bundle of nerves.

“No one…has ever…” Her panted words broke off as she moaned.

“No one?” For shame, she should have been devoured many times over. The woman was delicious, her response surreal.

Brandon gazed up at her, head thrown back in the fading light. Her chest heaved with each deep breath she took. She bit her lip, eyes wide and blinking up at the clouds, then she looked down at him.

A shudder took hold of him, delicious and wicked, it wound its way around his body before centering in his cock. He was the luckiest man alive.

Pleasure wrapped its stroking fist around Mariana.
Pure decadence. She watched Brandon nuzzle between her thighs, his tongue making swirls in the place so many had used, but none had ever thought to indulge. Watching him watching her only heightened the wondrous sensations quickly taking over any control she might have once possessed. She was a woman in the throes of ecstasy. When Brandon thrust a finger inside her slick channel, she couldn’t hold on any longer.

Her eyes widened, mouth formed an O and she cried out as her body shattered.
He continued to nuzzle her until the waves subsided.

“Och, lass, ye’re beautiful when ye peak.” Brandon slid his hands over her hips and around her waist as he stood. “I want to see ye do so again and again.”

She sighed, pressed her forehead to his chest and kissed the place over his heart. “Thank you,” she murmured.

“For what?” he asked, sounding puzzled.

“For…that.”

Brandon chuckled. “For tasting
ye?”

She nodded.

“Dinna be shy with me, lass. I enjoyed every…last…drop.” His words were separated by each slide of his fingers over her swollen nub.

Fire anew
, ignited, and she moaned. “Brandon…”

“Aye?”

“I want you inside me.”

“A need I canna deny, for I verra much want to be inside ye.” He spread out his plaid on the ground and laid Mariana down atop it.

The soft wool caressed her back as his hard, hot body pressed down on her. She was instantly filled with the warmth of his body, the heat of her passion.

Wrapping her legs around his hips, she lifted up, her body searching for his.
Wanting, needing, this intimate connection. Tonight, before the stars and moon, they were claiming each other. In this most natural state, they danced in the age old undulation of life.

Brandon kissed her softly,
careful to keep his weight off her arm. His tongue was a soft pressure against her own, sliding back and forth. Tingles prickled over her skin, and unbidden, moans fell from her lips. This may have been one of the happiest moments of her life—indeed every moment in Brandon’s arms, she felt cherished, honored, delighted in.

The softness of his shaft slid over the firing bundle of nerves, hidden by the folds of her sex. He opened her up, revealed her,
treasured her. And she reveled in it. Wanted him to feel the same way. She massaged the muscles of his spine, down to his taut rear. He felt so good beneath her fingertips, as though made just for her.

Boldly, Mariana slipped her hand between them, gripping his shaft, she slid it between her folds, arching up against the wondrous sensations such a move elicited.

“Woman…” Brandon ground out, his jaw clenched tight as he met her gaze.

“Warrior,” she tried to tease back, but her words came out a
whimper.

“Good God,” he moaned. He wrapped his hand around hers, so they both held his hard length, and he skimmed it lower over her opening, slick with natural essence.

Eyes locked, they both pushed him inside her, inch by precious inch. When he was buried to the hilt, Mariana didn’t move her hand. She wanted to feel their union with not only him inside her, but sliding in her grasp.

Without questioning her, Brandon slowly pulled out then plunged back in. His cock was slick with her desire, and slid easily th
rough her hand. The sensation was almost too much to bear. For her sensitive palm to feel him driving in and out…

Mariana bucked upward. Dear God, she’d never thought herself to be such a sensual woman, even with her position in
the king’s courts.

Brandon brought out this side of her, showed her what could truly happen between a man and a woman, especially when they felt so deeply for one another. This had to be
magic, must be. Even her mind was afire.

“I love the way ye respond to me… Mariana, ye are so verra…sensual.” Brandon’s words were low, husky, whispered against her ear between his moans.
“I love ye.”

With his uttered confession, Mariana’s world turned upside down and inside out. She cried out, her body quivering and trembling fiercely. Her thighs shook, her insides reeled with pleasure in tumultuous waves.

“I love you, too,” she managed to say as the tremors of ecstasy slowed.

“Mariana,” Brandon moaned. He thrust deep and hard and she clung to him, completely unprepared for the subsequent onslaught of another peak.

She cried out, nails digging into his rear, hips thrust upward in time with his. Brandon too, shuddered, his body tense above hers. Liquid heat consumed her, filling her.

They lay motionless for minutes, Brandon hovering above her, his eyes locked with hers. Mariana could see within his gaze that this moment had changed him as much as it had her. That lovemaking had never been so potent for Brandon.
For either of them.

He collapsed beside her, pulled her into his arms and wrapped the plaid around them both.

“I meant what I said,” he whispered.

“What did you say?” she asked, a smile covering her lips. Although she knew, Mariana wanted to hear it again, to forever ingrain that memory of him whispering those most sought after words against her cheek.

“I love ye.”

“I love you, too.”