Page 23 of Stolen Highland Dreams (The Highlanders #9)

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D ashiell whispered to Ella as their people celebrated, “We dinna have to do anything but sleep together on our first night.”

She wanted to do everything with him. She was his wife. She was curious. She wanted to consummate the marriage so Lennox had no chance to snatch her away.

“I’m ready.”

He smiled. “Good.” Then he raised a tankard of ale to his clan and said, “Enjoy the eve.”

Everyone cheered them.

Yvaine smiled at Ella in a way that said she was happy she had married her nephew. Ella was glad because she had been a little worried that Yvaine had thought Lady Lantana might have been more suitable despite saying she wouldn’t have been.

Ella and Dashiell left and went up to his chamber, a couple of guards following them. She was glad they remained diligent but hoped they wouldn’t hear them when they made love.

Then they walked into the bedchamber, and Dashiell shut the door. He pulled her into his arms and began to kiss her. She loved the way his warm and inviting mouth felt on hers, and she loved kissing him just as thoroughly. Her hands were at his waist, but then he unfastened her belt. Then he was running his fingers through her hair.

She ran her hands over his hair, taking his cue. She’d never made love to anyone before, and she wanted to do this right. Before she knew it, he was out of his clothes. She looked at his beautiful body for a moment, so muscled, toned, amazing. He was smiling at her figure, and she felt he was just as much in awe of how she looked as she was of him.

“You are beautiful,” he said, kissing her cheek.

“So are you.” She hugged him, and then he lifted her in his arms and carried her to the bed. When he pulled aside the covers, they found purple, sweet violet petals all over the bed.

She chuckled. “Mina did that. Or had someone do it.”

“I had some of my men collect the flowers,” Dashiell admitted. “And they fetched the healing herbs you ladies had gathered.”

“Oh good.” She was amused and loved him for it. Though thinking of how the men had brought the flowers to their wedding bed?—

“Because of Lennox’s men camped beyond the castle walls.”

“Ahh, now I see.”

“The lasses scattered the petals on the bed.”

She smiled. He was beside her, not thrusting inside her like she thought he would be. No, he was gently kissing her, licking her lips, unassuming yet arousing. Her breasts felt fuller, heavy, tingling with anticipation.

Her heart beating wilder, she felt the place between her legs was wet with expectation. His fingers combed through her hair before sliding down to her breast, and he fondled her most exquisitely. Her nipples quickly protruded with the contact, reaching out for more of his touch. This was heavenly. She ran her fingers through his hair, and he kissed her again.

Only this time, he pressed his tongue for entrance. Even though she’d never kissed anyone in such a manner, it felt right, natural, and she quickly opened to him but slid her tongue around his, and he smiled a little.

She loved when she could make him smile. Then she captured his tongue and sucked. He groaned. She quickly released his tongue, but he did the same thing to her, and she realized just how erotic that was. She moaned with pleasure.

Then he pressed his warm mouth against her throat with gentle kisses all the way down to her breast. Mina never told her that her husband had done all these moves with her. In truth, Mina had said ‘twas mostly kissing and then thrusting. But this was so much more, which delighted Ella.

He kissed her breast and then licked her nipple, had her gasping and then smiling. But then she wanted to do that to him and pushed him onto his back, startling him, his eyes wide. He might have thought she had decided she didn’t want to make love with him after all this eve. She wanted to lick his pebbled nipples and give him the same pleasure.

When she did, he moaned, and she sucked on a nipple, and he clenched her hair and groaned. She loved that she could do that to him. He kissed the top of her head while she licked and sucked on his other nipple.

His hand swept down to her breast, and he squeezed gently. He settled her on her back, and he moved his knees between her legs. She spread them further, readying herself for what came next.

Again, she didn’t expect him to do what he did—spearing her between her legs with a finger, startling her, making her jump, but then he began to stroke her. At the same time, he was kissing her mouth, and she wrapped her arms around his neck and kissed him back. Her pulse quickened as she gave in to the feelings of joy, building ever higher until she felt a release she’d never experienced before.

Her body shuddered with ecstasy when Dashiell moved between her legs and pushed into her, and she sucked in her breath, gripping his muscular arms tightly. He held off for a moment before he pushed all the way in. “Are you all right?”

“Aye.” She’d felt a pinch of pain, but her body was becoming accustomed to his fullness.

He began to thrust and continued to kiss her. She kissed him back, inserting her tongue between his lips, and he stroked her tongue with his when he suddenly held himself still, then thrust again. She found herself moving her hips toward him until he groaned with deep satisfaction.

He moved off her, kissing her bare shoulder and then her mouth again. But then he left the bed, and she was surprised to see him wash himself with a cloth dipped in a basin of water. Then he took a fresh cloth and cleaned her.

“Do…do we need to save that to prove we did it?” she asked.

He smiled and dried her, leaving the rags on the table. “We have proof.” He pulled their covers and furs over them and snuggled with her. “Are you all right?”

She felt languid and happy. “Aye. ‘Tis good you married me.”

He chuckled. “I feel the same way about you. You’re the perfect lass for me.”

He sighed, and the way he did it made her think he wanted to change the subject to something that wasn’t as pleasant to talk about. “The day that the stream was dammed up, do you know who did that?”

“Aye. Mina saw MacAfee overseeing his men, blocking the stream. She was certain they thought I would try to remove the blockage so the deer could drink there.”

“Bastard. I dreamed about the stream being blocked and another time of you crying beside the stream when you put flowers in it.”

She sighed. “As a homage to all those we lost. I did it every spring.” Then she looked at him. “You dreamed of these things?”

“Aye.” He kissed her forehead. “The next time you wish to go, you will have a fully armed escort, and I will be with you. The first time I saw you?—”

“I thought you were a friend of MacAfee.” She kissed his cheek.

“Nay. MacAfee said he wanted to celebrate the transfer of properties. I suspected something was going on that he was keeping a secret about. He wanted to hunt in my forest.”

“For me.”

“We have delayed everyone from breaking their fast,” Ella said, kissing Dashiell’s bare chest that morning.

Her kiss made him tingle all the way to his toes and started his staff to rise. She was enjoying this as much as he was; if he hadn’t had a duty to perform, he would have stayed in bed with her forever. If she continued to run her hand over his chest and kiss him like that, he was going to have to take this further.

“They will set something aside for us while they eat and then be off to work.” But he knew they needed to join his clan, to show she oversaw the staff now. He reluctantly left the bed and started to dress while she watched him, smiling. “How are you feeling?”

She raised her arms above her head and stretched. “Like I am in love and the luckiest woman alive.”

He came over to the bed and kissed her. “‘Tis I who is the luckiest man in the world.”

She wrapped her arms around him and kissed him deeply. Then he pulled away, and she climbed out of bed while he considered her beautiful body, her perky breasts half hidden in her long red hair. Then she began to get dressed in a léine and brat, ready to start their day.

He placed her shoes on her feet and then finished with his boots.

“What are you going to do about my uncle and cousin?”

“Send them on their way. After what they did to your own da and your kin, he’s no’ welcome here. Particularly because he might wish to take Amelda and Finnegan with him.”

“Good.”

“Did my aunt ask you about what the key belonged to that was at your hut?” Dashiell asked.

“Aye. I told her it belonged to a chest that was in a secret garden. Did you find it?”

“Nay. Where is it located?” He ran his hand through her hair.

“At the south part of the herb garden. ‘Tis walled in, just a small area where my mother used to sit and write in her journal. It has a little locked garden gate. A hedge conceals the entrance. It makes it appear that it is all just plantings. I have no’ thought about it since we fled the keep.”

“Do you ken what is in the chest?”

“‘Tis my mother’s chest. She had it moved there if anything went wrong after my da’s brother tried to take the clan over.”

“We’ll eat first, then look for the secret garden.”

“Aye, your aunt wants to come with us.”

“She is one of the most curious women I know.”

“I asked her if she felt you should have married Lady Lantana instead.”

Dashiell was surprised. “Nay, I would never have wed the lady. No’ once I had seen you.”

“That is just what I wished to hear.”

Then she and he were served bread, cheese, and honeyed mead in the great hall. Dashiell saw Quinn and Fallon coming to join them. “Where is Lennox?”

“He and his men left this morn,” Quinn said.

“I took a force of men with me and made sure they were truly gone,” Fallon said.

“I dinna want Finnegan or Amelda to be outside the castle walls at any time unless they are accompanied by a force that would protect them. Amelda shouldna need to leave. Finnegan will hunt with us when he is a wee bit older.” Dashiell had every intention of treating him as one of his kin. The same with Amelda.

“Aye,” Fallon said. “What are your plans for the day?”

“This morn…”

Quinn and Fallon both smiled a little.

“Late morning,” Dashiell said, “Ella and I are going to find her mother’s secret garden, and Lady Yvaine wishes to go with us.”

Quinn motioned to Paden, who was waiting near the entrance to the great hall.

The boy came running over to see what Quinn wanted. “Find Lady Yvaine and tell her that our chief, his lady, and I are going to the secret garden.”

Dashiell raised a brow.

Paden raced off.

“I wish to see this secret garden that has eluded us since we have been here,” Quinn said.

“Like the Nymph of the Forest,” Fallon said.

Dashiell smiled and looked down at Ella. “Aye.”

“I wasna afraid of you,” she said defiantly.

“Nay, you feared for your family. ‘Twas understandable.”

She sighed. “I was concerned that you might have believed I wished control of the castle and its lands as the rightful heir, which you could not allow.”

Dashiell, Quinn, and Fallon laughed.

“And if he had thought so, he would have been right,” Fallon said.

Then they heard someone coming and saw Paden and Dashiell’s aunt in a rush to get there. Even Christopher soon joined them.

The group headed for the herb garden, and at the back of it, Ella frowned, peering around the vegetation against the wall but not finding any entrance. “The plants have overtaken the entrance in my five years away.”

“Send for the master gardener,” Dashiell said and was glad Paden was with them as he ran off to fetch him.

After a while, the master gardener hurried to join them and asked where he needed to cut back the vegetation.

“There,” Ella said. “The path should be right there.”

The master gardener clipped away until they saw an iron gate behind the vines and ferns. Once he had cleared the plants out enough, Ella approached the gate but then frowned and turned to Dashiell. “Do you have the key to the gate? The one I have is to the chest. It willna open the gate.”

“Fetch the locksmith, Paden.” Dashiell felt he would have half their clansmen here before they reached the chest inside the secret garden.

“Do you need me to stay?” the master gardener asked.

“Aye. The garden probably needs a good cutting back also,” Dashiell said, having every intention of making it as beautiful as it had been when Ella’s mother had come here to write in her journal.

It took even longer for the locksmith to arrive. Dashiell looked up from examining the lock and smiled to see the locksmith. “Prithee, open this lock for me, my good man.”

The locksmith examined the lock and then used a key to unlock all locks of unknown origin. As the lock clicked open, Dashiell smiled.

Dashiell opened the gate, but Fallon said, “Let me go first, in case of snakes.”

“Very well, but if you see something like a chest let us ken at once.”

Fallon unsheathed his sword and then walked into an overgrown mess of weeds. He turned to the master gardener. “You have your work cut out for you. Come in and chop some of this back so the ladies have a path to walk on.”

“Aye.” The master gardener strode forth, and while he cut the plants back, Paden hurried to pull them to one side of a growing pile.

Once there was a narrow path, Dashiell took Ella’s hand and walked into the garden. Quinn and Yvaine followed them.

Vines covered the stone walls and wrought iron trellises in the garden, letting in enough light for the plants beneath them to grow. Violets bloomed in profusion around a large oak tree, while pansies and violets smiled amongst several flat rocks that seemed to be there for seating.

As everyone explored the garden, Dashiell spied a moss-covered object square in shape that looked out of place. As he approached it, he could see that it was a chest. “Look here, a trunk.” Dashiell pulled at the lid, but it was locked. He pulled out the key and unlocked the chest with a click.

Ella bumped heads with Dashiell as they peered inside the chest. She reached in and pulled out a journal.

“This is my mother’s.” She opened it up and said, “She talks about her garden, the weather, how her husband has been preoccupied with the Crusades and fighting for the King of Scotland and Wales. She worries about her daughter, Margaret, me.”

Ella paused, tears welling up in her eyes. “She says MacAfee wishes to wed Margaret, but she doesna like the man.” She glanced up from the journal. “‘Tis true.”

Dashiell couldn’t believe they hadn’t known about the secret garden before this, but in a way, he was glad that Ella had been with them to show them the location. Particularly because, as she had said, it was her heritage. He wanted her always to feel that way.

He felt her sadness when she was reading her mother’s journal, knowing that her mother hadn’t been able to see her daughter grow into a woman, marry, and have a family of her own.

The master gardener cleared off a buried stone bench, and Dashiell guided Ella to sit while she read her mother’s journal to them.

He wondered if she preferred reading it in privacy, but she looked up from it and said, “Come, sit with me,” to Yvaine.

She was happy to sit beside Ella and patted her lap as if comforting her for being so upset.

In the meantime, the master gardener continued to snip and clip, and Paden soon got some other men to help haul off the plants that the gardener had cut to clean up the secret garden.

Ella continued to read the journal and said, “My mother said she has been ill of late and that MacAfee has come seeking Margaret’s hand in marriage again, but Coinneach said no again.”

“MacAfee was persistent,” Dashiell said.

“Aye. There is much about gardening. Besides managing the staff, her love of gardens takes up much of her time. More ladies talk about who is marrying whom and whose baby is due when and what so and so said that was inappropriate at dinnertime.”

Everyone listened quietly.

“Then all about me and how I was dancing so well and helping manage the staff and how much I loved gardening with her and Finnegan and all the mischief he was getting into.”

Ella skimmed through the book further, then stopped again. “Earlier, she discussed the account concerning my uncle’s revolt. Fifteen men, in addition to Lennox, took part in the fight. She said we were eating dinner when Lennox told my da he was taking over.”

Dashiell knew then that it had to be near the end of her mother’s journal.

“My mother thought that Lennox believed that when he led the uprising, most of the clan would follow him, but other than the men he’d convinced to do it, everyone else stuck with my da.”

“That was a good thing,” Dashiell said.

“Aye. She mentioned how proud she was for me cutting Lennox to protect my da. I didna know that. She said that in two days, MacAfee was visiting. That was the last note she made. She must have secured the journal, and then MacAfee struck.” Ella closed the journal, and Yvonne patted her hand resting on top of the journal.

“Is there anything else in the chest?” Fallon asked as he peered over Quinn’s shoulder.

“The lady did some sketches of people,” Dashiell said as he unrolled a piece of parchment and examined it.

Ella wiped away the tears that had gathered and spilled down her cheeks, and he stopped what he was doing and hugged her.

“This appears to be of Finnegan when he was about five years old.” After pulling another from the chest, he smiled. “Ella, you have always been beautiful. This must have been done shortly before your mother died. You look to be around fifteen or so here.”

“Aye, thank you.”

Dashiell stared at the pictures and planned to have them framed on the wall in their bedchamber.

He pulled out the next drawing, then said, “Perhaps this is your da.”

“Aye, that is my da,” Ella said, looking it over.

He pulled out more drawings and showed them to her. “Who are these of?”

“My other aunt and uncle. She’s the one who had Amelda before MacAfee massacred everyone. My mother didna have a chance to draw the baby.”

Dashiell leaned into the chest and found flower seeds, a dagger, and an assortment of gold coins.

He pulled out a letter bound with a ribbon and opened it, then smiled as he read it. “This is a love letter from Coinneach to his beloved Catherine. I should have written letters to you. Wait, what frightened you when I handed you the parchment and the pen to write your name to me?”

“I saw blood on the parchment. My mother’s blood. The letter from MacAfee stated he would wed me over my da’s dead body. That’s what I saw. ‘Tis the first time I’ve seen parchment since then. I couldna remember at the time when you showed it to me. Only that it was covered in blood.”

“Have you recalled everything that had happened that fateful day?” he asked.

“Most of what I saw. Though you must remember, I was trying to follow my mother’s guidance to get my baby cousin and young brother to safety at once.”

“Do you still feel your uncle might have sent MacAfee here to kill your family in an act of revenge for being banished from the castle? Of course, MacAfee had the notion he would force a marriage on you if your people were dead. Then he would take over the castle and properties as well?”

“Aye. And I believe my uncle came here to take me up north to see that I married MacAfee, his last act of revenge on the last of his kin. Who knows what he would do to Finnegan,” Ella said.

Finnegan walked into the secret garden and said, “He would have to kill me because when I’m old enough, I will avenge our family.” Then he stared at the garden as the master gardener was taming the overgrown tangle of vines and plants. “This is the secret garden.”

“Aye.”

“I guess we couldna have hidden out here,” he said.

“Nay. We would no’ have been able to escape if we’d come here once MacAfee and his people took over the castle. And MacAfee might have killed you and Amelda once they found us.”

“Aye, Amelda would have cried.” Finnegan looked at the drawings his mother had done.

“We wouldna have lasted long without water. We would have managed on the food grown here for a while.”

Finnegan eyed the drawing his mother had done of him.

“We’ll hang them in a special place,” Dashiell promised.

“I was so little,” Finnegan said. “Too bad we dinna have one of Amelda.”

“We have an artist who can make one of hers and one of us.” If she agreed, Dashiell wanted to do that for Ella, him, and Mina.

“That would be lovely.” Ella took a deep breath, and he knew she was sad over her family’s death again.

He ran his hand over her back. “Tell me if you want to move anything out of our bedchamber and replace it with anything else.”

“I’m fine with the tapestry, bed, and everything. All the items still in the keep make me feel I am home,” Ella said.

“Aye, me too,” Finnegan said. “So many things are just like they were. It’s like MacAfee came in, murdered everyone, stayed here, then left, and all that was gone was our kin.”

Dashiell thought Ella’s uncle would no longer be a problem—at least he hoped not—but he wanted to make sure MacAfee wouldn’t be either.