The Highlander's Forbidden Bride (21 page)

“C
arissa is not Mordrac’s daughter?” Ronan asked, wanting to make certain he understood what his mother had just told him.

“No, she’s not,” Addie confirmed. “Kate told me in full detail how Mordrac plundered their village and how she had watched from a hiding spot in the woods as Mordrac killed Carissa’s father. Kate told me that Shona knew she was with child and probably didn’t let Mordrac know for fear he would harm her babe.”

Ronan shook his head. “Why would Mordrac care so much for a slave?”

“He didn’t want her as his slave; he wanted her as his wife. Kate told me that he had passed through the village on several occasions, no one knowing he was a barbarian leader and had expressed interest in Shona, a kind and beautiful woman. An elder of the village told him that Shona was pledged to another and he grew furious. When they didn’t see him after that, everyone assumed he had simply gone his own way.”

“But he didn’t,” Ronan said. “He planned to have Shona for his own.”

“Kate told me that Shona loved her husband Cormack and could have never lived without him. She assumed that Shona perished with the child.”

“While this should make Carissa happy,” Ronan said, “I believe it will also make her sad, and perhaps hate Mordrac all the more. I will tell her about it at the appropriate time. Now we must rescue her.”

“Cregan is a determined one,” Addie said.

“And I,” Ronan said with a pound to his chest, “am a man who intends on saving the woman I love.”

Cregan dragged Carissa by the back of her hair along the ground. Her eyes stung from her hair being pulled so tightly. Stones and branches dug into her backside and legs as he was unrelenting in his efforts to get her back to the horses.

She knew he worried that he had lost precious time, and no doubt the Sinclares were drawing closer. If he didn’t reach the contingent of men she was certain waited for him somewhere up ahead, he and the few men with him would find it impossible to defend themselves.

He released her suddenly, then grabbed her by the back of her cloak and dragged her to her feet. Once she stood, he backhanded her across the face. The blow sent her head reeling back, but she dug her feet into the ground, refusing to stumble.

When she felt the trickle of blood at the corner
of her mouth, she smiled at Cregan before spitting a wad of it in his face.

He wiped it off, his face red with fury. “I do not know if you’re worth the trouble.”

“Then release me and avoid more trouble for yourself.”

“You think me afraid of the Sinclares?” he scoffed.

“It isn’t only the Sinclares you’ll face. It’s my men, and they are more barbarian than civilized.”

That bit of knowledge infuriated him all the more, and he lashed out at her once again, only this time she deflected the blow with raised arms.

“Hit me again, and I’ll kill you,” she said.

He laughed. “You have no weapon.”

“I don’t need to kill you now, but I promise you that if you strike me again, you will die.”

“We need to leave here,” Sully dared to say.

“My men will be here sooner than you think,” she said with a grin.

“She’s right,” Sully said. “We have wasted time searching for her.”

“Get the other woman, and we’ll leave,” Cregan ordered.

Sully took a step away from Cregan. “The other one escaped.”

“What?” Cregan yelled. “Did you search for her?”

“We were too busy going after
her,
” Sully said with a nod toward Carissa.

Cregan grabbed Carissa by the throat. “It appears that your plan has worked.”

Carissa fought to smile though breathing was difficult.

“I should kill you and leave you for the animals to feast upon and for your love to find what is left of you,” he said, releasing her.

“If I can defend myself against an animal like you,” she said hoarsely, “then I certainly can manage the animals of the forest.”

“You belong to me,” Cregan shouted.

“Are you certain that you want me?” she challenged.

He approached her again, and Carissa did not move away in fear. Instead, she proudly stood her ground. He grabbed her chin.

“With my men and your men combined, we could be an unstoppable force. Just think of the power we would have. The fear we could instill in people, the places we could conquer, and our children could carry on our supreme reign.”

She looked at him oddly as if suddenly realizing something. “That’s why you waited to come for me. You knew I was amassing a troop of mercenaries, and you wanted them as well as me.”

“I’m no fool. There is power in numbers.”

“My men would never serve you,” she spat.

“They would if you ordered them to.”

“That will never happen,” she said.

“I think otherwise.”

“Think all you want. It will never be so,” she said.

He squeezed her chin tighter. “I will have what I want.”

She opened her lips to protest, and he slammed his mouth over hers in a savage kiss.

Ronan was annoyed to see that Cavan had arrived. They had just come upon Cregan, and he wanted no interference from his laird. It was his to choose what he would do.

Lachlan and Alyce were also there, as was Zia, who was busy fussing over his mother.

“Where’s Artair?’ Ronan asked annoyed. “Isn’t this a family affair?”

“Someone had to protect the keep in case Cregan had other ideas in mind. Zia wanted to come in case Mother or Carissa needed tending. Now tell me what goes on here.”

Ronan was quick to explain that they had just come upon the spot where Cregan’s crew had stopped. No sentinels were posted, and it seemed that the chaos their mother had told him about was still going on.

Loud voices had him and Cavan suddenly dropping to the ground, and they watched silently through thick branches as Cregan dragged Carissa into camp. Ronan would have jumped up if not for his brother’s heavy hand on his back.

“Don’t be foolish,” he whispered. “We need to surround them.”

“Then hurry and have it done,” Ronan murmured, “for I will not wait long.”

When Cregan landed a hard blow to Carissa’s jaw, he was ready to jump again, but this time
Dykar stopped him. “We’re almost ready, and she can take it.”

“I don’t care. I’ll not see her suffer like that.”

“If it were you, she would strike when the time was right,” Dykar said.

Ronan said nothing. He watched and when Cregan’s mouth hungrily connected with Carissa’s he jumped up, shoving away Dykar’s arm and marched straight into the camp.

“Get your hands off her and get ready to die!”

Carissa smiled. Her Highlander had come for her. He stood proud and strong in his plaid, with his claymore planted in front of him waiting for his opponent to face him. She wanted to run to him and throw her arms around him and tell him how very much she loved him, but she restrained herself. She worried that such actions could do him or even her harm, and she would not chance losing her love.

Cregan turned around, planting himself in front of her. “She’s mine.”

“Not likely,” Ronan said with a laugh. “She belongs to me. She
always
has and
always
will.”

“I’ve already marked her with my lips,” Cregan boasted.

Carissa scoffed and craned her head past Cregan’s back. “You can’t call his smashed mouth against my lips a kiss.”

Ronan roared with laughter. “I guess you just don’t know how to kiss, Cregan.”

Cregan stepped forward. “But I do know how to kill.”

Ronan raised his claymore and stepped toward him. “What I’ve been waiting for.”

Cregan sidestepped him and gave a signal. His men surrounded Ronan in a flash.

“You idiot,” Carissa cried.

“See what she thinks of you now,” Cregan said on a laugh.

“Carissa doesn’t mean me,” Ronan said.

Cregan turned to glare at Carissa.

“Are you truly foolish enough to believe he has come here alone?” she asked.

“My men would have warned me—”

“What men, you fool? All your men were busy chasing me.”

Cregan froze as he finally realized what she was telling him. Just as he did, Cavan, Lachlan, Septimus, Dykar, and more stepped from behind bushes and trees and surrounded them.

Cregan shook his head, as if he could not believe what was happening.

“Carissa has a way of making a fool appear even more the fool,” Ronan said. “But don’t feel too bad. You were doomed as soon as you captured her.”

Ronan stepped forward until he was so close to Cregan that he could hear the man’s rapid breathing. “No one takes what belongs to me and, as I’ve told you, Carissa always has and always will belong to me.”

“Then she is yours,” Cregan relented wisely. “I’ll take my leave.”

“Not that easily you won’t,” Ronan said. “Carissa, go with my brothers and wait for me.”

She looked ready to object, and he glared at her. Surprisingly, she obeyed, though she detoured to give him a kiss first.

“This one time I obey you, Highlander, but don’t get used to it.”

Ronan laughed. God, he loved that woman. Life would never be dull with her around to challenge and to love him.

Cavan ordered the men to go and take Cregan’s men with them.

Ronan could see that Cavan was reluctant to leave him, but he didn’t need his big brother to help him this time. In the two years he had been away, he had become a man in his own right. He had matured with confidence.

He smiled, and Cavan bowed his head, acknowledging his brother’s ability and determination to handle Cregan on his own. So, with a smile, Cavan turned and left his brother to fight his own battle.

“There’s no need for either of us to die,” Cregan said. “I had thought that once I spoke with Carissa, she would see the wisdom of us uniting. Without her men, my troop pales in comparison to your warriors. I pose you no threat.”

“That we both know,” Ronan acknowledged. “But you dared to abduct not one, but two women I love, and for that you must suffer the consequence.”

“Death seems a harsh consequence when I meant them no harm.”

Ronan tossed his claymore aside. “True enough.”

Cregan grinned and threw his weapon aside. “What if I win?”

Ronan laughed. “There’s not a chance of that.”

“There is blood on your skirt,” Zia said. “Let me have a look at your legs.”

Carissa would not sit still long enough for Zia to have a look. “Ronan is taking too long. Someone should go see if he is all right.”

“He’s fine,” Cavan said, walking over to her. “Now sit and let Zia tend you.”

“No,” she said, and went to walk past Cavan.

He grabbed her arm, and she winced.

“That’s it,” Cavan said. “Ronan will have my head if he finds out you’ve been injured and not tended to.”

“You’re the laird, he can’t have your head,” Carissa said.

“But I can have yours, now sit,” Cavan ordered.

Her eyes turned wide, and she yanked her arm free and sped past him.

Cavan turned just as she reached a battered Ronan, and he smiled.

Carissa didn’t care if Ronan was bloody and bruised, she ran into his outstretched arms, and as they closed around her, she attempted to kiss him. They both winced from the pain of their split lips.

“I thought…” She could not vocalize her fear.

He cupped her face. “I’m not going anywhere. You are stuck with me.”

“It is you who are stuck with me,” she said.

“Good, then we’re stuck together.”

“Forever?” she asked softly.

“Forever,” he repeated, and placed a gentle kiss on her lips.

“It is done?” Cavan shouted to him when their lips parted.

Ronan nodded. “Send his men to collect him. He will bother us no more.”

“Good, then we can finally all go home,” Cavan said.

“Home,” Carissa whispered.

“Yes, home,” Ronan said, then whispered in her ear, “and when I get you there, do you know what I’m going to do to you?”

She giggled as he poked her playfully, but gently, in the ribs. “Tell me.”

He wrapped his arms around her waist, drew her near, and whispered exactly what he intended to do to her. Her face flushed bright red, her body tingled, and she wished they were already home.

I
t wasn’t until later that evening that Carissa and Ronan got to be alone, and only then because they sneaked away. First, Zia insisted on tending their wounds, which only amounted to minor abrasions and bruises. Then Artair and Honora wanted a detailed description of what happened, which Addie happily supplied while wrapped in Hagen’s arms. Later, when Carissa and Ronan were about to take their leave and have a quiet supper to themselves, Dykar and Septimus arrived, and Cavan invited them to the table.

The abduction was discussed again in more detail, and Dykar told them all that a contingent of mercenaries was only too glad to join Sinclare warriors in escorting Cregan and his men off Sinclare land.

Dykar assured them that Cregan would return home, lick his wounds and stay put, knowing he had been soundly defeated.

It was during this constant chatter that Carissa and Ronan managed, separately, to slip away and reunite in their cottage.

A light snow fell as Carissa hurried along, and for a moment she stopped and looked up at the night sky. Clouds kept the half-moon from shining through, and with the air having turned crisper, more snow was bound to fall.

She smiled and drew her cloak around her. This time she and Ronan wouldn’t mind being stranded in a cottage together. They truly would delight in the prospect.

The door to the cottage opened, and Ronan stood silhouetted in the doorway. Her smile grew, for he wore only his plaid, which meant he had been busy undressing.

“Carissa,” he called out, and held his hand out to her. “What kept you?”

She hurried to him, her hand ready to grab his. “I’ve been thinking about how lucky I am.”

He took her hand and swirled her around right into his arms and kissed her. Not hungrily, but lovingly.

“And you’re about to get even luckier,” he said playfully when the kiss ended.

“Promises, promises,” she said, as they drifted together inside the cottage, Ronan shutting the door with his foot.

“Promises, I will always keep,” he said with a gentle kiss, and rid her of her cloak.

Her hands easily found the end of his plaid and in no time she rid him of it, letting it fall to the ground.

“Now that’s the way I like you,” she teased.

“And I you,” he whispered in her ear as he set to work undressing her.

Of course his lips had to trail where his fingers touched, and when Carissa shivered, he moved them closer to the warmth of the hearth and finished until finally they both stood naked together.

“You are so very beautiful,” Ronan said, his hands roaming lovingly over her.

Every part of her body tingled, and she quickly grew wet with the want of him. “I don’t want to wait,” she said, and took hold of him. She chuckled. “Obviously, you don’t either.”

“I’ll not have you only once tonight, woman,” he teased.

“You would disappoint me if you did.”

He laughed as he lifted her about the waist, and she locked her legs around him to rest on his hips.

“I will not disappoint you,” he said, and lowered his lips to her hard nipples.

She dug her fingers into the back of his head as he suckled her and made her moan with pleasure. His mouth continued to torture her until, finally, she could stand it no more.

“I will come here and now, Highlander, if you do not stop.”

He chuckled and, while his mouth continued to feast, his fingers found their way inside her, and in mere moments he had her screaming out in pleasure. But as ripple after ripple claimed her body, he hurried her to the bed and came down on top of her, delving inside to set her flesh tingling again.

She wrapped her legs around him to take
him deeper inside her, and it didn’t take long for them both to cry out as they exploded in pleasure together.

When calm returned to them, Ronan rolled to the side, taking her with him to lie close beside him, his arm wrapped snug around her.

She laid her head on his chest and settled contentedly against him.

“Rest, for it will not be long before I want you again,” he teased.

“I will be ready before you.”

“How lucky am I to have found an insatiable wife.”

Wife.

Carissa had never thought to be a wife to a man of her choosing, and she silently thanked the heavens for this miracle.

“Are you all right?” he asked with concern. “You tense in my arms.”

“It is I who am lucky,” she said softly, placing her hand over his heart. “I never thought I would be a wife to a husband of my choice and that he would truly love me.”

Ronan lifted her chin for her to look at him. “Hear me well, Carissa. I love you with all my heart, and I intend to have you as my wife because of that love and for no other reason.”

She had to ask, “You want Carissa not Hope?”

“You are hope,” he said. “You gave hope to me and you have given hope to many. Hope resides in you whether you want it to or not. And I love every part of you, Carissa.”

She smiled. “You can love any part of me anytime you want.”

“Do you know what that smile of yours does to me?”

She shook her head, and he took her hand and guided it down over him.

“I’m going to have to smile all the time.”

“You may just kill me if you do that”—he laughed—“but what a way to die.”

She climbed on top of him. “I’ll temper my smiles since you have trouble keeping up with me.”

“A challenge?”

She ran her hand over his hardness. “You seem to be up to it.”

He laughed again, but before he could take charge, she slid down over him, and he cried out with the exquisite feel of her.

“My turn,” she said, and proceeded to love him.

They lay snuggled together, Carissa yawning.

“I tired you,” Ronan boasted.

“The night is still young,” she challenged, and yawned again.

“You are tired and need to rest.”

“I have not had enough of you yet,” she said, draping her leg over his and snuggling closer.

Ronan hugged her tightly. “We have the morning and the day after and the day after that. We have forever.”

“That sounds delightful.” She sighed and couldn’t help recall a time she thought differently.
“I once believed that I would never have you, that it was an impossible dream, and now I can’t imagine not being with you, not having you hold me, not growing old with you.”

Carissa looked up at him. “That tale your mother made up for me to tell Cregan was so sad. While I suffered greatly when I sent you away, at least I knew that you were alive and well.”

“About that tale, Carissa,” Ronan said with a tender stroke of her cheek. “It was no tale. It was the truth.”

Carissa popped up in bed, her long blond hair falling over her bare breasts as the blanket fell away from her. “What do you mean?”

“My mother told you that you looked familiar,” he reminded. “She finally realized who it was you reminded her of, and had Hagen take her to the village. The woman, Kate, whose fine yarn my mother favored is who she thought you resembled and it was Kate’s sister, Shona, who was your mother.”

Carissa shook her head. “Are you saying that Mordrac truly wasn’t my father?

“That’s right. You are not the daughter of Mordrac.”

“Mordrac killed my father?”

Ronan nodded and reached out and took her hand.

Carissa grasped tightly to him. She couldn’t believe what he was telling her. The news brought a mixture of relief and heartache. And it explained so much. She had often wondered how her nature was so different from that of her supposed father.”

She smiled and squeezed his hand. “I am like my true father.”

“I would say that you are.”

She gasped. “Do you know what this means?”

“What?”

“I have family other than yours. I have an aunt, and she can tell me all about my mother and father. I will be able to get to know them through her.”

“Yes, you will,” he agreed, “especially since my mother has already extended an invitation to our wedding to her and her family.”

“My aunt has a family?” Carissa said excitedly.

“A husband, two sons, and two daughters.”

Carissa squealed with delight.

“They do not live too far, and their village does not thrive well,” Ronan said. “I had an idea how you could help them.”

“Tell me.”

“You have a good-sized mercenary troop, many of whom have grown tired of battle and wish to settle. Why not see who would like to make your aunt’s village their home. With their help and protection, the village could thrive. And, of course, they would come under the clan Sinclare protection.”

“I know many of them who would like that, though others will wish to return to our camp near Everagis.”

“At least they will have a choice,” he said. “Something I think they would all prefer.”

“This is all so unbelievable,” Carissa said, shaking her head.

Ronan reached out and stroked the corner of her eye. “I thought perhaps this news would finally bring tears of joy to your eyes, and yet you still do not cry.”

She struggled to find an explanation. “I don’t know why I have yet to cry. And I don’t know how to explain that it is a sad joy that I feel. Learning that Mordrac killed my father because he wanted my mother saddens me beyond belief, and yet the joy comes from knowing that Mordrac’s cruel nature is not part of me. Happiness mixes with sadness, and yet I feel no tears.”

Carissa drifted back into his arms. “I was once told that when at last I cried, it would be with tears of joy.”

Ronan kissed her softly before she settled against him. “Somehow I will find a way to bring joyful tears to your eyes.”

Carissa sighed. “It has been so long since I cried.” She shook her head. “The tears I remember were sorrowful ones. I have never cried tears of joy. I don’t think I know how.”

“I will find a way,” he repeated.

She snuggled against him. “You make me happy, that is enough.”

Ronan rolled her on her back and leaned over her. “It is not enough for me. I want to give you all I can and more.”

“You want to make me cry?”

He gently touched the corners of her eyes. “I will never make you cry in sadness, but I will see you cry in joy.”

“That’s a tall task you set for yourself, Highlander.”

“There you go challenging me again,” he said with a smile.

“You do well with challenges.”

“I succeed in all of them.”

“This may be one time you don’t,” she said sadly.

He kissed the corners of her eyes. “I promise you that tears of joy will spill from these eyes soon enough.”

“A promise.” She sighed. “Then it will be so, though soon?”

“Trust me,” he said, his smile spreading.

She reached out and pressed her hand to his cheek. “I was taught to trust no one, but you changed that. I can’t say when I began to trust you. It just seemed to follow a natural course, and somehow trust developed on its own. It was there staring straight at me, I only needed to recognize it.”

“Like love.”

“You’re right,” she said with a nod. “Like love. Suddenly you realize it’s there staring you straight in the eyes and tearing at your heart.”

“And love has you and won’t let you go,” he said with a kiss.

Carissa stared at him for a moment.

“You don’t agree?” he asked with a raise of his brow.

“No, I mean yes, I mean…” Carissa smiled. “I was thinking that you have proved Mordrac wrong. Love not only endures, it conquers hate.”

“That loves does,” he agreed. “And it’s time for us to—”

“Make love again.”

“You’re not too tired?”

“I am, but I want you more than sleep,” she said, and kissed him with the desire of a woman for the man she loved, and it set his soul on fire.

They joined eagerly and impatiently, yet didn’t rush. They wanted this joining to last, to linger in every touch, every kiss, every moment of pleasure.

They explored each other with their hands and with kisses and nibbles and laughter and sighs. It was a cherished joining, a beautiful memory that would linger long in their minds.

When finally they found it too hard to deny themselves, they came together in a frenzied rhythm that had them catapulting in a climax that left them both completely breathless as ripples of pleasure burst over their damp, tingling flesh.

And then they finally slept.