Page 43 of Saved By the Cruel Highlander

No one had mentioned her wedding night, but she knew it was the tradition to wait.

The Laird reached up and tugged at the strings across her chest, battling to see her breasts. He ran his hands over them, rubbing her nipples through the fabric with his thumb. She could feel her wetness down below. Then, his fingers followed the ribbons to the back of her dress, and he pulled at the first one.

Holly ran her hands through his hair again and rubbed his back, egging him on. She leaned forward a little to ease the tension and make it easier for him.

What am I doin’? Am I really this willin’ to give meself to him?

The answer came to her immediately.Aye!

Holly breathed out. “Aye, Me Laird. Aye.”

A growl, a passionate one, rumbled in the Laird’s chest.

Holly felt the thudding in her chest as she squeezed her eyes shut.

The Laird grunted angrily, and she was brought back to the present. It was not her heart making the noise, but someone knocking on the door.

The Laird stood still, one hand on her breast and the other on her back.

“Me Laird,” Fergus called from the other side of the door.

“What is it, Fergus?” Elias growled.

“There’s a dispute over the land we share with Clan Murdoch.”

Elias straightened with his hands still on Holly, his touch impatient. His lips twisted into a snarl, and he looked down at the floor. He fought inwardly with what he must do.

Holly wanted to beg him to send Fergus away and continue what he had been doing to her, but that was not her place.

“Aye, a minute,” Elias growled. “I’ll meet ye in the hall.”

“Aye, Me Laird,” Fergus replied. His footsteps echoed down the hallway, growing quieter.

“I have to go,” Elias said softly.

“Aye,” Holly breathed.

“‘Tis me duty,” Elias told her.

“Aye, I ken. Ye should go.”

“The clan comes first.” Elias withdrew his hands.

“Aye, the clan comes first,” Holly repeated.

“I didnae mean?—”

“Nay, I didnae mean to say it like that,” Holly interrupted. They almost tripped over each other as they spoke. “I ken ye must.”

She did know he had to go, no matter how disappointed she was. Her core throbbed from how he had touched her up to that moment. She longed to feel it again.

We will be wed, and I hope he will make me feel like that and more. He told me once that I had to do me duty inthe bedchamber, and it scared me, but it doesnae scare me anymore.

CHAPTER SIXTEEN

“What are we doin’ back here?” Holly asked.

She took in her familiar surroundings, and even though it had not been all that long since she had been in the village, it felt like a lifetime ago.