Page 20 of Bound to a Highland Beast (Tales of Love and Lust in the Murray Castle #8)

CHAPTER NINETEEN

“ O n the morrow? Are ye certain?” Isabeau asked as she worried her bottom lip between her teeth. She didn’t like the sound of it. Hadn’t Tiernan said that they had to find out more about Constantine? Had he already figured out how to get him alone? Would he risk killing him near his men?

“There’s nae more time,” Tiernan said as he pulled their horse to a stop at a ridge at the top of the hill. “I fear Constantine may be gettin’ suspicious.”

Isabeau looked at Tiernan as he dismounted the horse, following him soon after, her heart racing in her chest. “What dae ye mean? How dae ye ken?”

“He asked me why I was there,” said Tiernan. “Why I was really there. An’… I dinnae ken. There was somethin’ about him that made me think he may suspect us.”

Isabeau reached out to steady herself on the edge of the saddle, holding tightly onto it as though she feared she would collapse the moment she would let go. Beag was a dangerous man; there was no doubt in her mind about that. But Constantine seemed much more dangerous to her; he seemed like the man they should fear.

“Then, dae ye think ye can kill him?”

“Aye,” said Tiernan, and though he spoke immediately, Isabeau couldn’t say it was without hesitation. She could see it in the strain around his eyes; she could hear it in the tone of his voice. He didn’t want her to know the truth, but he doubted himself. “Dinnae fash. Everythin’ will be fine.”

But how could she not? Danger lurked everywhere around them, behind every corner. They were caught between Beag and Constantine, and there was only one way out.

For a while, Isabeau remained silent, gazing at the idyllic scene before her without really seeing it. The golden setting sun seemed to rest over the valley below them, which stretched as far as the eye could see. Time seemed to slow there, an absolute stillness permeating everything. Even the trees in the valley were still, undisturbed by the breeze. The rustle of leaves, the soft twittering of birds, the bubbling of a small creek nearby blended into the silence as though they were a part of it, no other sounds reaching them.

“Why did we stop?” Isabeau asked with a small frown.

“Tae watch,” said Tiernan, his own gaze sweeping over the valley. “One must appreciate bonnie things.”

It was only then that Isabeau truly looked at the view, taking in the magnificence of it. A day like this, with the clouds parted and sparse on the sky, the last of the sun shining so brilliantly over the land, was rare, and she took a moment to breathe in the crisp air, to feel the breeze on her skin.

“It makes ye feel like everythin’ will be alright, daes it nae?” Tiernan asked with a small smile as he turned to look at her.

Isabeau couldn’t disagree. In that moment, at least, she thought herself lucky to be there with Tiernan by her side.

When he reached for her, pulling her close for a kiss, Isabeau sighed softly against his lips, parting hers to deepen it. It stunned her, how one kiss was enough to light such a burning desire within her, how it was all it took for her to forget about everything else and surrender herself to the fact that even if she had wanted to put an end to this, to act responsibly and remember her station, it would be impossible. She and Tiernan were now intertwined; nothing and no one could pull them apart in her eyes.

Tiernan’s grip on her waist soon turned more insistent, drawing a gasp out of her. Her cheeks heated immediately, blood rushing to her head at the thought that they were out in the wilderness, just a little off the main path, without the safety of the walls of a room. Anyone could pass by, she thought. Anyone could stop to admire the view just as they had, and if they did, then they were bound to see them, too.

But that wasn’t enough to stop her. In the back of her mind, where logic still prevailed, she couldn’t help but think that she should pull back. She needed to put some distance between her and Tiernan before they both forgot themselves, giving in to pleasure. But the more Tiernan kissed her, the more she felt his soft, dry lips on hers, then down her jaw, down her neck, the more the words died on her tongue before she could speak them.

Her fingers curled into his hair, gripping the dark strands as he nibbled at the spot where her neck met her shoulder, teasing the sensitive skin there. When he pulled back to gaze into her eyes, his were dazed, as though a fog had rolled over them, his lust turning his gaze faraway and distant. It was then that Isabeau knew there was no going back. With his gaze unfocused like that, his hair mussed from her hands, his cheeks flushed with desire, he seemed irresistible to her. Giving in sounded like a much better choice than waiting until they were back at the inn, consequences be damned.

The heated look Isabeau gave him, along with a small, barely perceptible nod, was all the confirmation Tiernan needed before he began to tug at her tunic, pushing and pulling at the fabric until it dropped off her shoulders and pooled around her waist, leaving the swell of her breasts covered only by the thin material of her shift. It was barely enough to conceal anything, her hardened nipples peeking through the fabric, her shift rubbing against them every time she moved in a way that cut her breath short.

And when Tiernan knelt before her, craning his neck to lick the sensitive nub over the shift, making the fabric stick to her skin and her body shiver when the breeze hit her, she couldn’t help but moan, so loudly that she desperately wished there were no other travelers around to hear her.

“What dae ye want, me bonnie?” Tiernan asked, looking up at her with wide, lust-filled eyes. “How can I best please ye?”

“Anythin’,” Isabeau said, arching into the kiss he pressed to her stomach. “Anythin’, just touch me.”

With a small grin, Tiernan tugged at her shift, pulling it up along with himself, until he could take it off her and toss it carelessly aside. Isabeau had no time to feel the cold of the wind before he cupped her breasts, his fingers clamping around her nipples to tease them gently. Each tug, each gentle pinch sent another wave of pleasure through her, making her tremble in his grip and moan his name, her arms coming up to wrap around his neck to pull him in for a kiss.

“I wish I could spend all me life with ye like this,” Tiernan told her, breathing quietly against her lips. His hands trailed down her body, his touch leaving goosebumps in their wake, and then rested on her rear, gripping the soft flesh there to pull their hips together. Isabeau could feel him against her thigh, hard and aching, and she couldn’t help but roll her hips once, twice, just to hear him gasp in pleasure.

Isabeau wished it, too. Unrealistic as it was, she wished it could just be the two of them, with no one around to tell them what they could or couldn’t do, with no one to threaten their happiness. Sometimes, a part of her wondered what it would be like for the two of them to disappear, to leave everything else behind and find a quiet place to live, perhaps in a small village or even a cottage in the woods. But it was always a fleeting thought, for Isabeau loved her family too much and she was also aware it would be too hard for a girl like her, who had grown up with the luxuries of a castle.

Still, it was a pleasant thought—just the two of them together, finally free from all burdens.

She didn’t know how to express any of this, though, and so she simply kissed Tiernan again, trying to pour into that kiss everything that she couldn’t tell him. It was rare that words would fail her; she had a way with them, finding the right ones for every occasion, but no one had ever prepared her for something like this. No one could have predicted she would fall for a man she wasn’t supposed to. That she—the jewel of Clan MacGregor, the clever, obedient girl after whom all other noble parents wished to model their daughters—would come to love a brigand.

Former brigand, she reminded herself. Tiernan had changed his life.

Former brigand, but still a peasant.

“Where have ye gone?” Tiernan asked, his hand coming up to cup her cheek gently, his thumb rubbing small circles on her cheekbone.

Isabeau shook herself, pushing those thoughts out of her mind. She just wanted to not have to think.

“I’m right here,” she promised Tiernan, pressing up against him to take both their minds off it. “I’m right here… I want ye.”

As she spoke, Isabeau ran her hand down the length of Tiernan’s arm until she reached his hand, taking it in hers to guide it between her thighs. Tiernan gave her a blazing look, drawing his bottom lip between his teeth as he teased her entrance with a single finger, gathering some of her wetness although he had barely pushed in. Isabeau held onto him, one hand closing around his shoulder as the other gripped his wrist, letting her hips move of their own accord as her body chased her pleasure.

Dragging his fingers over her folds, Tiernan drew gentle lines on her heated skin, until he reached that sensitive spot at the top of their seam. There, he pressed circle after torturous circle into her, his movements so slow and deliberate that Isabeau’s knees went weak, her fingers digging into his forearm as she tried to hold herself upright.

“Does it feel good?” Tiernan whispered in her ear, his tongue darting out to lick the shell of it and draw a shiver out of Isabeau.

She could only nod, feeling her entrance getting slicker with every touch. “So good,” she said as she buried her face in Tiernan’s neck, biting down to muffle a moan. Tiernan, though, couldn’t muffle his when her teeth sank into his flesh, nor could he stop himself from pushing two fingers inside her, sliding them in all the way to the knuckle with ease.

Another moan, another mark on Tiernan’s skin. Isabeau didn’t even care that there would soon be a bruise on Tiernan’s neck, a sign of everything they had done. All she cared was that his fingers reached deep inside her, relentlessly rubbing against that spot within her that made her entire body go weak with pleasure, until she couldn’t even hold herself upright anymore. Tiernan’s hand on her rear was the only thing keeping her up, holding her against his body as he pumped his fingers just as Isabeau wanted it, hard and fast, giving her no time to think or even breathe.

Like that, it didn’t take her long to reach her climax, moaning in abandon against his shoulder as she clenched hard around his fingers. Tiernan worked her through it, pressing the flat of his palm against her mound, but soon it was all too much, her skin oversensitive, every touch bringing her too much stimulation.

But Tiernan wasn’t ready to let her go.

“One more,” he said. “I love seein’ ye like this. One more an’ then I’ll let ye have me any way ye want.”

Isabeau couldn’t understand what it was that Tiernan found so mesmerizing about pleasuring her, but he seemed to enjoy it even more than he enjoyed receiving pleasure, and Isabeau didn’t want to cut him short. It didn’t hurt that with every thrust of his fingers, her pleasure returned once more, growing underneath her skin until it began to come in waves again, any overstimulation soon forgotten.

“Ye’re so wet fer me,” Tiernan whispered in her ear, and Isabeau knew it to be true, but that didn’t lessen her embarrassment. Her cheeks heated at the sound of his fingers thrusting in her slick walls, the only thing she could hear save for the wind and their panting breaths. “Just like that… ye make such a bonnie sight, Isabeau.”

Shifting his grip on her, Tiernan cupped her mound with his palm as his fingers continued to work inside her, delivering pleasure from the outside, as well. Every slap of his palm against her drew another moan from her, high-pitched and desperate, and this time, her climax crashed into her suddenly, making her collapse in his arms.

For a few moments, her entire body convulsed and she cried out in pleasure, Tiernan holding her through it and whispering sweet nothings in her ear as she tried to catch her breath.

She didn’t know how much time had passed when she opened her eyes again, but it couldn’t have been too long. Tiernan’s fingers were still inside her and he pulled them out gently, immediately bringing them to his lips to taste her. Isabeau watched him, her heartbeat kicking up a notch at the sight. It shocked her as much as it aroused her, the sharp jolt of lust that coursed through her surprising her.

She had just reached her peak not once, but twice, and yet her body seemed to desire even more.

Pulling Tiernan down for a kiss, Isabeau ran her hands up his stomach, his chest, then around his shoulders and down his back. Never before had she been so bold with him, so obvious in her hunger for him, but now she could hardly control herself. She wanted to touch him; she wanted to taste him just as he had tasted her, without allowing propriety hold her back.

Slowly, she began to tug at his tunic until Tiernan took the hint and helped her undress him. He had no qualms being entirely nude in the middle of the wilderness, it seemed, since he took off everything, standing naked before her, his manhood straining against his stomach as a bead of moisture gathered at the tip.

In the dying light of the day, Tiernan looked like he was carved from marble, his pale skin glowing in the dim sunlight. Like that, Isabeau could trace the contours of his muscles with her gaze as much as with the tips of her fingers, letting them dip in the grooves and valleys of his chest and stomach. When she reached his hips, she hesitated for a moment, wondering if she could even do this, but in the end, she decided that it could hardly be that difficult if everyone else was doing it.

Tentatively, she wrapped her fingers around his length, feeling the heat and weight of him in her palm, the silky feel of him on her skin. Her touch drew a gasp out of Tiernan and Isabeau could see his body trembling ever so slightly, as though it took all of his self-control to keep himself still and let her explore him as she wished.

“Show me,” Isabeau urged him, and the mere request drew a broken groan out of him, as if the thought of it was enough to wreck him. Tiernan wasted no time before he wrapped his own hand around hers, moving them in tandem slowly over his length, guiding Isabeau’s movements.

“Just like that,” he said, and after a few moments he let go of her, letting her stroke him on her own. Isabeau couldn’t tear her gaze away from him, watching as her hand dragged over his manhood, from the base all the way to the tip. It was a sight she didn’t think she would ever forget, one that had her head spinning and her breath getting shallower and shallower, her lust rekindling itself the more she touched him.

“Ye can dae it faster,” he said, nodding encouragingly as his head came to rest on top of hers, pressing a kiss to her forehead. Isabeau quickened her strokes, each tug pulling a choked off sound from Tiernan’s lips. She loved to hear him like this—she loved to know she was the reason why he was on the brink, that her touch could reduce him to this. “I willnae last.”

At that, Isabeau slowed down her tugs, much to Tiernan’s chagrin. “I want ye inside me,” she told him, surprising even herself that her body could take more—not only that but craved it, even, her core pulsing every time she glanced down at him.

With a groan, Tiernan nodded, pulling Isabeau into a hasty kiss before he pulled her towards the nearest tree, making her brace herself against the trunk with her hips back, the swell of her buttocks high in the air. Tiernan took a moment to drag his hands over her lower body and then, much to Isabeau’s embarrassment, spread her wide, simply gazing at her body for a few moments.

“Even here,” he said, dragging a single finger over the seam of her folds, “ye’re so bonnie.”

Isabeau shivered, half in anticipation and half in embarrassment, feeling as though her entire body was on fire. When Tiernan finally lined up his manhood to her entrance, she took a deep breath, her slick walls parting with ease around his girth. That first thrust was enough to push all the air out of her lungs, the pleasure so overwhelming that her entire body shook with it, her core already throbbing around him. She knew neither of them would last; after reaching her peak twice already, Isabeau’s flesh was oversensitive, responding to the smallest of touches, and Tiernan had already been close after her ministrations.

With every thrust, Tiernan’s hips slammed against her rear, his hands closing around it, fingers digging into her skin. He wouldn’t be the only one bearing marks by the end of this, Isabeau knew, but she welcomed it. She wanted the reminder of this day on her body, the bruises that would form under his fingers. She wanted to feel him on her body for days to come, to have a solid memory of him with her.

Bracing herself against the tree, Isabeau let herself be ravaged, each of Tiernan’s movements rocking her entire body. He was just as desperate as she was, she could tell, his manhood twitching inside her, moving hard and fast against her walls. Her entrance quivered with every thrust, and she could feel herself getting wetter around his length, drenching them both in her slickness.

But it was when Tiernan reached around her, his rhythm never once faltering as he began to tease that sensitive spot, that Isabeau was once again brought to the brink of her orgasm. All it took was a few more thrusts and she was coming once more around him, clamping down on his length like a vice, her body finally reaching its limit.

It only took Tiernan a few more thrusts to follow her, pulling out just in time as he spilled over her thighs. For several moments, neither of them moved. They were too exhausted and too satiated, but soon, the chill got to Isabeau. Tiernan must have noticed, she thought, as he gathered her in his arms, gently prying her away from the tree and wrapping his arms tightly around her.

“That was…”

He couldn’t finish his sentence and Isabeau found that she didn’t have any words for it either. She only laughed, nodding, which prompted a laugh from Tiernan as well.

“Come,” he said after a few moments of silence, pulling her back to the horse. There, he grabbed the canteen of water they carried with them and his undershirt, wetting the edge of it. Before Isabeau could point out that he should probably wear his undershirt in this weather, he began to wipe her thighs clean, then her mound, as she stood there in shock.

It felt too intimate, like something she should have never allowed him to do, but at the same time, she couldn’t get over the sweetness of the gesture, the sheer kindness of it.

She also couldn’t get over her embarrassment, burying her face in her hands, only for Tiernan to laugh as he pried them away.

“I’ll always take care of ye,” Tiernan said tenderly.

As he spoke, Tiernan proceeded to gather Isabeau’s shift and pull it over her head, and she begrudgingly let him dress her until she looked proper once more. He was, indeed, taking care of her, and it wasn’t as though Isabeau wasn’t used to it. Her maids always took care of everything for her, to the point where she rarely even dressed herself. But having Tiernan do it felt different, so different that she couldn’t untangle the ball of feelings that nestled in her stomach.

There was embarrassment, yes, and much of it. But there was also a warmth, a fondness unlike anything she had ever felt before.

Only once she was clean and dressed did Tiernan focus on himself, despite the chill of the day. Once he was done, he bunched up his undershirt in his hands and stood straight, frowning as he looked around.

“I’ll be right back,” he said. “There’s a creek nearby, I willnae be long. Stay here.”

Isabeau didn’t like the idea of staying there all alone very much, but she also didn’t want to leave the horse and all their—meagre—belongings there without anyone to guard them. She would simply have to hide a little better, to make sure that anyone who passed by wouldn’t see her or the horse.

As she pulled the horse behind the line of trees to her left, she watched Tiernan disappear deeper into the forest, hoping he wouldn’t take too long.

It was even colder in the woods than on the ridge. The wind didn’t reach that deep into the forest, but neither did the sun, and so the temperature dropped, leaving Tiernan with goosebumps on his skin. That, coupled with the fact that he didn’t want to leave Isabeau alone for too long, made him hurry through the trees, his feet expertly avoiding the raised roots and the shrubs that grew around them, until he finally found the bubbling creek he had heard from the ridge.

With a sigh, he knelt by the bank and dipped his undershirt in the cold water. It stung his hands, but it was also refreshing, the waters clear and sparkling and inviting. In a warmer day, it would have been a beautiful place for a dip.

As it were, he simply wanted to finish his task as soon as possible. A part of him cursed himself for not waiting until they were back at the inn to do this, with water he could warm on the fire. Another part of him, though, didn’t know what else to do with his soiled shirt.

He was almost finished with his task when he heard the unmistakable sound of voices over the rushing water. Swiftly, he hid himself behind the trees, in the shadows of the forest, hoping they would be enough to conceal his presence, and waited.

Perhaps it was nothing but a few travelers, he thought. Perhaps there was no real need to hide, but after a lifetime of working as a brigand, making a living out of attacking people, he knew it was always best to avoid anyone in a forest like this.

The voices were accompanied by heavy footsteps, which were muffled by the mud on the wet bank. On instinct, Tiernan reached for the dagger strapped on his calf, slowly grabbing it and standing up straight once more, plastering himself against the trunk of the tree that was hiding him. It was a large oak, tall and thick, its foliage casting a large shadow over the ground, and Tiernan took full advantage of it as he waited for those men to pass him.

But as they came closer, his heart stopped when he recognized one of the voices.

“Did the Eagle really send them?” Constantine asked. Tiernan tried to see if he recognized the other man who was with him, but he couldn’t get a good look at him from where he was hiding, nor did he recognize his voice when he spoke.

“I dinnae ken,” said the other man. “But I havenae heard o’ it, so I doubt it. I’m sure he would have told me if he had.”

Tiernan’s blood ran cold in his veins, bile rising to the back of his throat. Now, more than ever, he knew there was no more time to waste. He had to kill Constantine. His time was up.

Tiernan waited for them to walk by, only half-hearing the rest of their conversation. It didn’t matter anyway, not when he had heard the most important part. It felt as though time trickled by slowly now, seconds staggering until they were finally gone and he could run back to Isabeau, everything else forgotten.

It must have shown on his face, the shock and fear. The moment he emerged from the trees, Isabeau ran to meet him halfway, her hands hovering over him as if to check for injuries.

“What happened?” she asked. “Ye’re pale as a ghost. What’s wrong?”

“Constantine,” Tiernan said, trying to catch his breath. While running through the woods, he hadn’t even realized he was breathing heavily, the cold air stinging his chest. “I just heard him talk tae someone… he kens, Isabeau. He kens we’re nae who we say we are.”

Isabeau also paled the moment she heard those words. Her hands shook where she had rested them on his shoulders and she looked around as though she expected Constantine to turn up right then and there and kill them both. If Tiernan were honest with himself, a part of him feared that, too.

“Let us go,” he said, eager to get out of there as soon as possible.

“What about Constantine?” Isabeau asked, her voice trembling with fear.

Tiernan drew in a deep breath. This was no time for him to panic, but with Isabeau next to him, it was difficult to keep his composure. He didn’t fear for his life; he only feared for hers.

“Dinnae fash,” he said through gritted teeth, his nails digging into the skin of his palms as he balled up his fists. “On the morrow, I’ll kill him. Ye will be safe.”