Page 6 of The Highlander’s Hellion Wife (Legacy of Highland Lairds #1)

6

A lison groaned and wriggled uncomfortably in her sleep as large, warm arms wrapped around her. Somehow, despite her husband’s body heat and snores, she had drifted off to sleep.

Her eyes flew open as a heavy, muscular arm fell across her body. She let out a loud scream and flailed wildly as she flew backward and careened off the bed, landing in a heap on the wooden floor.

“What’s wrong?” the Laird sputtered, his eyes flying open from the shock of her scream and the clatter her fall had caused.

“Ye put yer arms around me, ye big brute!” Alison admonished while trying to push herself off the floor.

She winced and moved gingerly. Her muscles, which had relaxed so deliciously in the warmth of the tub, had once again become stiff and sore during the night. She moved a little slower, keenly aware of her body’s protests.

The lantern beside their bed had long since gone out; the only remaining light came from the silvery moon outside the window. But even in the dim light, she could still make out the shocked, wide blue eyes that watched her as she clambered back onto the bed.

“Why’d ye throw yerself off the bed like that?” The Laird’s voice was still hoarse from sleep as she pulled the covers back around her.

“Because I didnae ken who was touchin’ me.”

“Well, who else would it be?”

He was now more awake, and he rolled over, propping his head on one large hand as he regarded her.

Alison’s heart was still racing, the chaos of the moment still fresh in her veins as she lay beside him.

“I was asleep. How was I to ken? I was kidnapped nae long ago and was held for three days. Mayhap they came back to steal me from under yer nose.”

Duncan replied smugly, “They’d have to go through me to get to ye, and I’ve already shown ye that they cannae do that.”

“Aye. That ye have.” She hated being unable to argue the point.

Silence fell between them for a moment, and Alison tried to will herself back to sleep, but sleep eluded her.

The presence of the man beside her had thrown her completely off-kilter.

She rolled onto her side, finding the Laird still looking at her, his head propped on his hand.

“Stop starin’,” she demanded, and saw a flash of white teeth in the dark as he grinned.

“Ye’re the one who woke me up screamin’ like a banshee. Mayhap I am waitin’ to see if ye’d turn into one and fly away.”

“Dear God, me daughter has yer imagination.”

She expected him to protest again about calling Rosie her daughter, but he did not. Instead, a pensive look crossed his face.

“Does she?”

Alison nodded. “Aye, always makin’ up stories. Has a wild mind, that one.”

There was another silence, but this one was filled with unsaid words. Her heart rate began to return to normal, but still, the heaviness of sleep eluded her.

“Ye ken,” the Laird said in a teasing tone, “there’s one thing a man and wife can do that will make ye tired.”

Her mouth dropped open in shock, and she turned to glare at him through the moonlight.

“Is that what ye think?” she scoffed. “That ye can disappear for five years, leavin’ me with a child to raise on me own while ye do God kens what, and then ye’re just goin’ to find yerself beddin’ me once ye’re back?”

Even in the dim light, Alison could see his eyes darken at her words.

“I was protectin’ ye,” he growled. “Do ye think I wanted to spend five years fightin’ in a war that I never wanted to start in the first place?”

“How am I to ken what ye want?” she barked back. “We hadnae even been married a day when ye left. I ken more about the maid than I ken about ye.”

Duncan glared at her. “I already told ye, they had invaded our borders. There was nothin’—”

Alison cut him off. “Aye, there was nothin’ ye could do. Ye keep sayin’ that. Ye’ve said a lot of things, though. And I dinnae ken ye enough to trust a single one of ‘em.”

“I came to rescue ye! Is that nae enough?”

She sat up, unable to remain lying down as they argued.

“I dinnae want to do this,” she stated, turning to face him. “I dinnae want to argue. I only want to sleep. And then, in the mornin’, I want to see me daughter.”

“She is mine ,” he insisted, the last word ringing out in the space around them.

Alison raised her hand to her lips, praying that the guests in the other rooms hadn’t heard them. After screaming like mad when he woke her up and him now raising his voice, she did not doubt that they had disturbed anyone who was sleeping nearby.

“Try tellin’ her that,” she said pointedly.

The emotions that she had been trying to tamp down throughout the argument spilled out of her. Words that she had not meant to speak tumbled over one another in a rush, pushing past her lips without a thought.

“Ye left us.” She emphasized each word, making sure that each one came out harsher than the last. “She was nothin’ more than a babe! She didnae ken ye or me, and I was the one left to raise her. Dinnae misunderstand, I’m glad ye left. She is the greatest love of me life. But I willnae have ye stakin’ yer claim to a bairn I’ve loved for her whole life, and she doesnae even remember ye! The only reason she even kens who ye are is because of me.”

Alison dropped all attempts at pretense. Once the words had begun pouring out of her, she was powerless to make them stop.

“Ye rode off in the middle of the night with barely a word about where ye were goin’ or when ye were comin’ back.”

“We were bein’ attacked!” Duncan repeated angrily, throwing the covers back as he sat up to glare at her harder. “I thought ye would understand that I was leavin’ to protect ye.”

Alison threw her legs over the side of the bed and began to pace. Restless energy whipped through her, making it impossible for her to sit still.

“Ye keep sayin’ that,” she hissed. “That ye were protectin’ us. But in those five years, ye didnae have one spare moment to come home? There wasnae a single pause in the fightin’ for ye to come back and see yer daughter? To get to ken yer wife?”

“I couldnae abandon me men—they needed me at the front. There was too much goin’ on. If I left, they’d have lost morale.” His tone was furious.

It was Duncan’s turn to leap out of the bed. But he did not pace. Instead, he crossed the space between them in a few quick steps, easily making his way around the bed.

“Ye have to understand.” His voice was low, anger and frustration bubbling just below the surface. “The MacKimmons attacked that night. When I arrived at the front, it was a full-on assault. An entire village had been burned and raided. Soldiers slain. I couldnae allow that to keep happenin’ to me clan. They needed me.”

“And yer wife and daughter? We didnae need ye?”

The words hung between them, and Duncan stared down at her, his blue eyes searching her face.

Alison was unsure what he was looking for, but whatever it was, his proximity made her feel unbalanced. It was not like when they were lying in bed.

No, when they were in bed, they were close because they had to be. They did not have the space to spread out. But now? All the space in the room surrounded them, and still, her husband stood close. His eyes darkened with some unreadable emotion, and he stepped even closer.

The air between them grew thick, and Alison could feel her blood beginning to boil in her veins. She could feel the same heat rolling off him. A rush of desire, the likes of which she had never experienced before, coursed through her, drawing her toward him.

Duncan also seemed to sense it, because the next thing Alison knew, there was no more space between them. He had closed the distance in one large step, pushing her backward with his chest against the wall.

His fingers curled into her hair, tugging it so her chin remained tilted as his mouth crashed down on hers. His zeal enveloped her as their lips began to move.

She arched into him, pressing her body more firmly against his. They were separated by nothing more than their thin undergarments, and yet Alison still wondered what it would feel like to press her bare skin against his.

Duncan’s tongue darted into her mouth, dueling with hers, sending fireworks of bliss through her body. The hand that was not gripping her hair rested on the small of her back, pressing her against his chest, while her shoulders still dug into the wall. The sensation threatened to overwhelm her, but she could not get enough.

The kiss they had shared at their wedding came to her mind, but it paled in comparison. That kiss had been a simple, chaste press of the lips. But this? This was all-consuming, and she felt herself becoming lost in it.

She did not want to get lost in it.

“Nay.”

Alison pushed against his chest, breaking their kiss.

“Nay,” she said more forcefully, staring up at the man who had abandoned her so easily after the first time their lips had met.