Page 26 of Trapped with the Vicious Highlander (Falling for Highland Villains #5)

CHAPTER 26

When Ava opened her eyes, she didn’t recognize where she was for the first minute. The room was different. Bigger than any of the rooms in the castle, except the Great Hall. There were a few chairs at the corners and candles flickering on several sconces. Only when her vision narrowed on the light did the realization dawn on her.

She didn’t recognize this room because it was Brodrick’s.

It was probably the only room in the castle she had never entered.

Her eyes flicked to the other side of the room, studying everything around her ever so slowly.

“Ye’re awake,” Brodrick’s voice called from beside her.

She turned her head to find him sitting on the edge of the bed, watching her with worried eyes.

Had he been sitting there the entire time?

“How long was I?—”

“Nae more than half an hour. Ye’re lucky ye only hit yer head,” Brodrick responded.

That triggered her memories, and she felt everything return. The grey-haired man, the gun pressed to her lower back, the arm around her throat, the rage on Brodrick’s face at the revelation.

The—

“Margaret,” she gasped, bolting upright.

“She’s safe. She’s with me sister, and they’re in her room. It is all right.”

Brodrick grabbed the cup of water resting on the table behind him and handed it to her. She drank and began to feel better almost immediately.

“Ye’re all right, lass. Dinnae ever scare me like that again,” Brodrick continued.

Ava nodded. “Aren’t you going to ask why I came back?”

“Do I need to?”

“Do you not want to know?”

Brodrick leaned closer. “I made a mistake, Ava. I was a coward. I didnae tell ye how I felt. The truth is that I have never felt this way about a woman. What I feel for ye… I dinnae ken what to do with it.”

Ava could feel the tears welling up in her eyes, but she didn’t stop him.

“I should have come out of the castle the morning of yer departure. I should have told ye I want to be with ye for the rest of me life. Because I am in love with ye, Ava.”

The tears rolled freely down her cheeks and dripped from her chin now.

“So, to answer yer question, ye came back because ye’re mine. Ye have always been mine. I will never let ye go again.”

And that made something inside her burst.

Ava cupped his face in her hands and kissed him. He returned the kiss, at first gentle and careful. His hands roamed over her body, only covered by the thinnest of her dress.

She felt everything she needed to feel at that moment—safe, secure, and fortunate. With him.

His hands trailed down her skin, his fingers grazing her arms, her wrists and her palms, before his hand stroked down her legs. Her body trembled with immense need and desire.

Slowly, everything that had happened earlier faded away. All that remained was her desire for him. Right then, she wanted nothing else. Nothing but him.

And she knew from the way he pulled her dress down her shoulders that he planned to give himself to her as well.

He straddled her on the bed and resumed the kiss, now a bit more frantic, deeper, and harder. He pulled her dress down her torso as his lips traveled down her neck and then her collarbone. She moaned and trembled beneath him, her hands fisting in the bedsheets. When he finally pulled her dress down her legs and discarded it, the cold air in the room kissed her skin.

There she was, completely bare to his hungry gaze for the first time. She didn’t feel comfortable, and she knew he could tell.

She crossed her arms over her stomach and tried to shield herself from the low sunset, and from him.

He yanked her hands back immediately. “Hide yer curves from me again and ye’ll be severely punished.”

His words, coupled with the raw desire in his voice, only made her want him more.

He continued to kiss her chest, then her stomach, then her inner thigh. Her hands returned to the bedsheets, and she held on as tight as she could. His lips trailed to her wet folds, and she moaned, letting his mouth work her into pleasurable oblivion. But before she could climax, he rose from the bed and took off his shirt, then his trousers.

She swallowed, watching him stand bare before her, his arousal intoxicating. He climbed into the bed again, lowered his head to her neck, and began to gently nip, bite and kiss her.

Then, he reached for her hands, grabbed them into one of his, and lifted them above her head. He pinned her down with one hand and gently held her chin with the other.

Then, he drove into her with one sharp thrust. She cried out and clung to him, a loud gasp escaping her lips.

He didn’t give her time to recover. He drove into her again and maintained the pace, one hand pinning down her wrists and the other fisting in her hair and roaming over her body. The bed creaked with every thrust, and her body burned with pleasure.

Ava could feel him in every part of her body. She could feel his hands on her wrists, his lips against her ears as he whispered something in Gaelic. Something that sounded rough and primal. It didn’t matter that she couldn’t understand the words. She understood him . She understood what he felt .

And with that, she realized she’d never felt closer to him than she did now.

When her body tensed and her climax crashed over her, her voice grew unrecognizable as she screamed out his name. Brodrick’s release followed almost immediately, a low growl escaping his lips before he stilled and collapsed on top of her.

Ava wrapped her arms around him, and they lay tangled in the sheets, his weight anchoring her to the bed. For almost a minute, there was nothing but silence.

Blissful, peaceful silence.

Eventually, Brodrick turned onto his side, and Ava followed him, watching strands of his hair flutter gently in the soft draft from the window.

“Did you mean what you said earlier?”

“About replacin’ the bed? Aye.”

Ava narrowed her eyes at him. “Hilarious, My Laird.”

Brodrick laughed. “Aye. I do mean what I said about bein’ in love with ye. I am certain ye feel the same way.”

“You are quite sure of yourself, aren’t you?”

“Well, either ye feel the same way, or what just happened was the greatest mistake of yer life,” Brodrick countered.

That earned him a laugh.

He took her hands and squeezed them affectionately. “I cannae wait to spend the rest of me life with ye… Governess.”

Ava’s eyes widened, and her laughter died down immediately. “Are you…”

“Asking ye to marry me? Definitely. I said I was never lettin’ ye go again. I meant it.”

Ava leaned closer and kissed him, tightening her fingers around his.

For the first time, their kiss was soft, gentle, and calm. Like waves lapping at the sand. Like crickets chirping among the soft, rustling leaves under a full moon.

They broke apart, and Brodrick stared into her eyes, at the deepening flecks of green.

“I love ye, Ava,” he whispered.

“And I love you, Brodrick,” she whispered back.

“Well, I said it first.”

“I mean it more.”

“Do ye, though?”

“Yes.”

“How do I ken? I only have yer word to go on.”

“We are not arguing about who loves the other more. I’d say we both love each other equally.”

“Definitely nae equally.”

Ava laughed, tugging the sheets up to her neck.

At that moment, she knew that this was all she had ever wanted. A man who could match her sharp wit. A man who loved her for who she was. A man who got cross with her if she ever hid any part of her body. A man who would kill and, most importantly, die for her.

A man like Brodrick Culloch.

They both got dressed and walked out of the room, breaking the news to everyone. Margaret, who had her mouth filled with bannocks, jumped up and down with joy, while Flora drew Ava into a tight hug. Darach stood by the corner, a warm smile on his face.

“I would’ve beaten some sense into him meself if it was any other person, Ava,” Flora gushed.

Ava broke the hug and laughed.

As she reached for Margaret, whose hands were smeared with fresh honey, she could see Flora and Darach exchanging knowing smirks.