Page 18 of The Highlander’s Auctioned Bride

CHAPTER 18

“Put me down this instant!” Maisie raged at him as James brought Kenzie close to the edge of the water.

He had brought her to one of his favorite places—the waterfalls at the edge of the MacLennan lands, a short ride from town.

He could feel how incensed she was by the tension in her whole body. He knew if they were to have a civil conversation he would need to diffuse her anger.

He dismounted, lifting her down even though she flailed at him wildly. He dragged her to the spot he knew behind the waterfalls, where there was a wide ledge and a makeshift cave behind the thundering water.

She seemed momentarily astounded by their location, her mouth hanging open as she looked out through the waterline—Kenzie now visible, drinking gratefully at the water’s edge.

James was in no mood to delay. He was desperate to touch her. He had never been so mad with need in his life.

Is this why me faither could never be trusted to do his duty? Because this madness took hold of him?

James shook off the thought. He undid his belt with one hand, pushing Maisie over to the wall and tying her hands with the belt without a word.

“What in God’s name dae ye think ye’re doin’—” she asked and then grunted as he claimed her mouth with his own, pushing her forcefully back against the rock and lifting her arms above her head, hooking them against a narrow space where a piece of slate stuck out at an angle.

She hung there, her feet still touching the ground, her arms tied above her head, glaring at him like she might kill him.

She yanked violently on the belt, but it didn’t budge, and she did not have the leverage with her smaller height to unhook it.

“I will kill ye,” she said angrily, kicking out at him. That was just what he wanted her to do. He gripped her thighs, moving into the space between her legs, and pushed her back against the wall.

Finally, she fell silent, those stunning blue eyes, as pale as the source of a Highland brook, looking up at him imploringly.

That’s what I want to see in her. I want her to beg me to let her free, and then I’ll have her just as I want.

He shuddered, moving closer to her, pushing a lock of hair behind her ear.

“James?” she asked.

“Now I ken ye’re angry with me, so I am keepin’ ye in one place so I can speak with ye.”

“Is that what ye are doin’?” she asked sarcastically, but he could see the lust banked in her eyes at their position. He knew she loved it when he touched her, it was evident in every movement she made, every sigh she let slip.

“Ye didnae have permission to leave the castle.”

“I wasnae aware that I needed it. Particularly as ye leave on a whim and tell me nothin’ of where ye are goin’.”

“I am the laird.”

“And I deserve to ken where ye are,” she stated irritably. Some of the fight had gone out of her now and from her position against the cave wall, her hands immobile and her legs wrapped tightly about his waist, he could feel that she was not trying to fight him.

“I went to see Laird Abingdon about the family feud?”

“And I came to buy a book.”

“Och, yes,” he said, kissing up her neck just to feel her tremble. “Which book?”

She grunted as he scraped his teeth against her flesh. “Ye are seducin’ me now, are ye? After kidnappin’ me from me own town?”

He chuckled. “Is that what I did?”

“It is.”

“Answer the question, woman,” he said, kissing her forehead and down her cheek to lavish attention on the other side of her neck.

“I went to buy Shakespeare, but apparently there was nae need.”

“Ye ask and ye shall receive,” he said, delighted that his impulsive choice to restock the library had finally given him a victory over his demanding wife.

“I cannae think when ye dae this,” she whispered, and he felt a violent jolt of desire at those words.

“I dinnae think we should make that bairn against a cave wall, dae ye?” he asked, and smiled at her as she rolled her eyes.

“Ye are about making bairns again then?”

“Aye. That was part of the agreement.”

“Three evenin’s and ye havenae been at one.”

“Two, and I will eat with ye tonight.”

He said it casually as he slowly moved down her body. She let out a soft moan as he disappeared beneath her skirts, and there was no more talking as she took her pleasure from him, her screams echoing around the corners of their little sanctuary.

Afterward, in her panting, sated state, she looked down on him as he emerged, and he saw the plea in his eyes.

“Let me touch ye.”

He released her, and then it was her turn to bring him to the brink of ecstasy. She stroked him to his peak, his cries joining hers as he kissed her with wild abandon, the waterfall behind them pounding into the earth, a perfect hideaway for a laird and his lady.

Later, as they lay on the cold stone floor looking up at the uneven and jagged ceiling of the cave, Maisie turned to him with a curious look.

“Where did ye go today?”

He sighed. “I was tryin’ to reason with the families that are fightin’, but they were all out in the fields. I only found the farmer’s wife there. I had to speak to the laird. It’s the Abingdon clan. It’s all getting out of hand.”

“What is the dispute about? Why are they fightin’?”

“Old man Campbell won a bet thirty years ago that me faither oversaw. Campbell bet his house on a hand of cards and said they’d swap homes if he won. It was stupid idle chatter between drunken men, but me faither wasnae one to leave a bet lightly. Campbell won and he upheld the deal. Overnight the Campbell’s were moved into MacLennan lands and the MacCarthy’s had to move to Abingdon.”

He shook his head. “The dispute was with the faithers years ago. Their sons were fine until recently, but suddenly, they’ve decided to continue the feud, and another drunken bet started yet another fight between them. Abingdon and I both want them to settle things, but they are stubborn men. I doubt they even remember what they are fightin’ over anymore.”

“The MacCarthy’s want their land back, is that it?”

“Nae. It seems they object to being separated from MacLennan lands. My rents are cheaper than Abingdon, and I care for me people better, too. But I daresay it’ll die down as the year progresses. These things always dae.”

He pushed to his feet, offering her a hand, but she was thoughtful as she stood.

“Why can’t the Campbells return?” James cocked his head at her. “And dinnae tell me a woman wouldn’t understand clan business.”

James snorted. “I wouldnae dream of it kennin’ the woman I’m speakin’ to. It is simply a matter of boundaries and land ownership. Where the MacCarthy’s live now isnae within me borders.” He shrugged. “They cannae move, I have nae more room for tenants.”

“And what if ye spoke to Abingdon about renegotiating yer borders? What if ye bought him out of the land, would that resolve the feud if the Campbells and MacCarthy’s are all on MacLennan soil?”

James paused, looking at her in surprise.

He had not considered that. His mind had been occupied with negotiating with the families, not thinking about solving the problems with Abingdon himself. Abingdon hated the Campbells and would be pleased to wash his hands of them.

James raised his eyebrows.

“That might work, ye’re right. It cannae hurt to ask.”

Maisie shrugged. “Animosity doesn’t usually dae much but breed more hate.” It reminded him of her answers at the contest, of her stoic realism in the face of so much mediocrity.

Not for the first time, he wondered if he had underestimated his new wife.