Page 21 of Saved by the Cruel Highlander (Lairds of the Loch Alliance #1)

CHAPTER TWENTY

“ D id ye enjoy that?” Elias asked.

“I…” Holly mumbled something unintelligible, unable to form words.

Elias smiled and looked down at her as she turned to jelly under his touch. He withdrew his hand from her core and grabbed her waist, his other hand still on her wonderful breast. He did not play with her nipple any longer, holding the hefty mound in his hand and kneading it.

Her cheeks were flushed pink, and her brow glistened with a thin sheen of sweat. Her eyes were closed as if she were sleeping. After the noises she had made and the way her body had moved under his touch, he knew she could not be asleep.

He brought his hand up from her waist to her cheek, and when he pressed it there, her lips curled into a smile. He felt her chest rise and fall under his hand, but it shook a little, as if she couldn’t quite catch her breath.

He also felt his stiff member straining against his trews. He wanted nothing more than to rip all the clothes off hiz body and push his shaft into her sheath, thrusting in and out of her until he climbed and attained the relief he craved. He would do that, but not on that morning, not until they were man and wife.

“I ken ye enjoyed that,” Elias stated. “Yer face is lit up like the mornin’ sunrise.”

Holly chuckled in return, her laughter like the songbird in the far-off trees. Her laughter reflected pure joy, and his chest swelled with pride. He did not doubt his ability to pleasure a woman, but to see his betrothed lying beneath him, satisfied and content, was extremely pleasurable. And how he felt about wanting to make love to her suggested that their marriage would not be altogether unpleasant.

She was tall and slender, but her hips and thighs were still full, the creaminess of them visible above her partially undone breeches. The same was true of her ample bosom. The curve of her neck drew his eyes up to her swollen lips and her half-lidded eyes.

Her red hair was like fire, highlighted in contrast to her milky skin. He couldn’t resist her soft lips and bent down to kiss her again. She responded by pressing her lips to his. He wanted to explore her again with his tongue, but that would only excite him more, and then he would need to satisfy his carnal craving.

Elias pulled back, smirking when he saw the smile on her lips. He could not ease the pressure in his trousers, but there was another option.

He withdrew one hand, then the other. She murmured something as she lay with her eyes closed. He had always thought her an attractive woman, but under the pale light of the nearing-noon sky, her soft features became sharper. Everything was heightened.

All that mattered was that he could appreciate the goodness of the woman who would be his wife and would eventually give him a family. That would satisfy the clan, but what would satisfy him would happen in the bedchambers.

His hand reached out to take her breast again, to squeeze it and then ravage the rest of her body, but he held himself still for a second before taking her blouse and pulling it over her exposed flesh.

He moved some things out of the way and then pulled the blanket over her. Holly responded by taking the top of the blanket and pulling it up to her chin. The smile on her lips widened, and a small, satisfied moan escaped her lips. The sound ran right through him, and he still heard in his mind the moans she made when his fingers had played with her pink bud.

His manhood throbbed again, aching for the soft, wet pinkness his fingers had explored.

Elias got up from the blanket, towering over her languid form. Then, spurred on by the strain below, he took off running toward the loch. His desire for her consumed him, and he wanted to ravage her. He could take what he wanted, but he chose not to take her where she lay.

A cold dip was just what he needed to cool his desire.

He ran down the small mound of earth that jutted out into the loch, and when he reached the end, he leaped from it, soaring through the air like a bird.

Then, crash! He hit the water, and the cold pierced through him. His head went under, and not only his troubles but everything else disappeared from his mind. He opened his eyes and looked through the cloudy water of the loch, seeing nothing. For the briefest moment, he was all alone in the world.

He kicked his legs and propelled himself to the surface, breaking free. A sound echoed across the loch, but he couldn’t quite place it. He moved his arms about to balance himself on the surface, the cold refreshing him like nothing else. He ran one hand through his hair to move it back from his face and kicked his legs to float.

He realized what the noise was. Holly was sitting up, still wrapped in the blanket, her head thrown back in laughter at seeing him plunge into the water.

He raised a hand and waved it. “Ye find this funny? Should I come over there and hoist ye up and toss ye into the water?”

“No!” Holly shrieked. She held the blanket tight with one hand and waved back with the other. “Ye’ve left me so hot that I would make the water boil if I jumped in.”

“Ye’re doin’ yerself nay favors,” Elias called. “That’s a sight I’d like to see.”

And the sight of her in wet clothes is a sight I’d like to see.

She shook her head when she was done laughing and lay back down, pulling the blanket tight as if it would prevent any attack.

Elias couldn’t be sure if it was their pleasurable interlude, the way she had looked at him, her lilting laughter, or the clarity that had come from the cold plunge, but words and a plan came to his mind.

He had been angry. Angry that she had asked about his brother and angry at the mention of her ex-fiancé. He was not angry that she had been promised to another; he didn’t care a whit about that, and she was his now, always. What he did care about was the threat to poison her and take her money.

He understood why she had come to him and offered marriage, and he should have been angry about that, but he wasn’t. He was angry at himself. He didn’t know her when the threat had been made, but he knew her now, and he was her protector. They would be wed, and he would ensure she was safe and unharmed.

The throbbing in his trousers had ceased, but there was a new throbbing in his chest. Felix had meant to harm her, and she had been taken from him. It was an embarrassment that was likely festering. If he had planned to poison his own wife to take her money, what must be running through his mind now?

Elias could not take the chance. He would take matters into his own hands and ensure that Felix could not hurt his wife.

Not ever.

Three days later, Elias was in the Great Hall, poring over maps of the region. He scanned the regions that would not touch them in war, but he could never be too careful when it came to matters of the heart. To the south, the English were contained behind a border that would not stop anyone going in either direction, and in the north, the Highlanders had been known to want more than their share.

He picked up the wooden carvings and placed them on the map, showing the previous war that had ravaged the area. The wooden carvings, each a different shade and shape, represented the clans. He moved them into position, simulating how the next war might be fought and what he could learn from previous battles.

“The Battle of Cullflod,” a voice said from the doorway.

Elias turned to face the man he had summoned three days ago. When their eyes met, the man stepped into the room.

“Aye,” Elias agreed. “The English attacked us from the south and the Highlanders from the north. Both were formidable opponents, and that was before the politics of the clans came into play.”

“That’s why we need to stand strong together,” Laird McKinnon said. “As a clan alone, we can stand against another, perhaps two, but we would put up very little fight in a full-scale war.”

Most of any battle was fought off the battlefield. Elias was a fierce warrior, and he could cut down twenty men by his own hand, but it would mean nothing if they didn’t have the numbers. Being ready for war meant knowing that he had the backing of his allies when the enemy stepped foot on his land.

If we dinnae understand the past, we will be woefully prepared to deal with the future.

“Laird McKinnon, thank ye for comin’,” Elias said.

“The pleasure is all mine, Laird McAllister,” Ruben Miller returned.

The men deeply respected each other, but like all relationships between the clans, there was always a strain. What was best for the clan needed to be done, and it wasn’t unusual for clans to betray others as they grew weaker. The cure for that ailment was to ensure your clan was never weakened.

Laird McKinnon was not as large as Elias, but he was still a large man, with thick forearms covered in dark black hair. He strode toward Elias with his arm stretched out, standing barely an inch shorter than him.

Elias took the man’s hand and shook it firmly. The politics of the clans was intricate. It was not only about helping others so they owed you a favor but often doing the opposite.

By having the Laird of another clan do him a favor, he was in the man’s debt, and he would repay that debt in time. That brought him peace of mind. If another clan knew that Elias and his clan would rally to help when needed, they had no reason to distrust them. There was strength in weakening yourself slightly. Elias had asked Laird McKinnon for a favor to repay a previous favor, and the cycle would continue on and on, strengthening the bonds between the two clans.

“Ye must remember it well,” Elias said, gesturing toward the map.

“I willnae forget it for a long time,” Laird McKinnon said. “If it werenae for me, ye would have had a sword stickin’ out yer back.”

Elias guffawed, and his deep laughter reverberated through the Great Hall.

Laird McKinnon added, “Aye, there was also the small point of ye killin’ eight of the men who surrounded me, but ye still didnae see the one comin’ at ye from behind.”

“A coward, he was,” Elias stated. “And I was tired from killin’ so many.”

Laird McKinnon chuckled and clapped him on the back. “I shouldnae jest with ye, or ye might nae have me back in the next battle. God willin’ there isnae one in me bairns’ lifetime.”

“Aye, peace feels braw, does it nae?” Elias asked.

“The battles are brutal, but we need that brutality sometimes,” Laird McKinnon admitted. “Often, ye have to do what ye dinnae want to with yer own hand so the ones ye protect are safe. We do what must be done, so our bairns, our wives, our clan dinnae have to.”

“Aye,” Elias agreed.

He had a clan, soon would have a wife, and after that, bairns would come. In the past, he had only been focused on his clan and what was best for them, but that was changing. He also had to focus on what was best for himself.

“So, what has this man done to warrant askin’ for me and Laird McDougal’s help in trackin’ him down and bringin’ him to ye? He wasnae all that hard to find and capture,” Laird McKinnon said. “And why couldnae ye do it yerself?”

Ruben Miller and Hunter Gilmour had always been the strongest allies of Clan McAllister.

“I have a weddin’ to plan soon,” Elias admitted. “I dinnae have the time, though that’s never stopped me afore. Partly, I dinnae want him to see me comin’. I trust ye and Laird McDougal more than I do others. Ye have perseverance and intelligence, and Hunter has endless strength and guile. If I start to poke around, I fear he would slip out of the area and I wouldnae get a chance to meet with him face to face.”

“Is that what ye want?” Ruben asked. “To meet with him face to face?”

“To start,” Elias confirmed. “I want to talk to him and hear his truth or lies, and then I’ll decide if he’ll be killed by me own hand or if he deserves a different fate.”

“Hope for him?” Ruben raised an eyebrow. “I havenae heard ye talk like that afore. He must have wronged ye if ye asked for me help in bringin’ him to ye, but ye really will show mercy?”

“As a last resort,” Elias replied.

“Ye’re to be wed soon,” Ruben said. “Marriage changes us all. Well, most of us. I didnae expect it to change ye so, Laird McAllister. I would like to meet this woman who has tamed yer temper.”

“Me temper is there when I need it,” Elias explained. “In fact, it’s there more than ever now that I have other people to concern meself with.”

“Other people to concern yerself with?” Ruben echoed. “I havenae heard a kinder word uttered from yer lips, Laird McAllister. Ye arenae goin’ soft on us, are ye?”

“Do ye want to leave this hall, Laird McKinnon?” Elias asked, tapping his hand on the dirk at his belt.

“Me mouth often gets me into trouble,” Ruben said with a smile. “I only wanted to check ye were still the beast ye always were.”

Beast? Is it a good thing to be a beast or nae?

“He’s in the dungeons?” Elias asked, changing the subject.

“Aye, he is,” Ruben confirmed. “So, what did he do to make ye so angry?”

“He dared to threaten me wife-to-be,” Elias explained. “I willnae go into the details until I have heard them from his lips, but he’s a rogue, nae a man. He doesnae have the courage to face his problems head-on, but he must face them now. I believe he thought he could get away with his dishonorable scheme when it was only the lass he dealt with, but he didnae account for her intelligence, and now he has to deal with me.”

“Nay one touches the ones we love,” Laird McKinnon said.

“Och, I didnae say I loved her,” Elias complained.

“Nay, ye didnae say ye loved her,” Ruben replied.

“We’ll go together,” Elias said, changing the subject. “If his head is warranted, I want ye to be me witness when I deliver justice.”

Laird McKinnon nodded.

The two men left and headed for the dungeons, where Felix Grant was currently being held.