The Condemned Highlander by Donna Fletcher
19
“The woman is traveling with a merchant?” Annis asked, shaking her head. “How do we ever find her if she travels with a merchant?”
Brogan looked pleased with himself. “Grendel told me that he had spoken with the merchant and the woman not that long before he reached the village and that they were traveling in the direction we had already come from.”
“Why did we not come across them?”
“They were following the stream. We were not.”
“So, we return the way we came but by a different route?” she asked doubtfully. “Are you sure you can trust what he told you?”
“Grendel knows if he speaks the truth to me that, in turn, I owe him a favor. We have done it before and it has worked out well for us both,” Brogan explained.
Annis shot question after question at him. “Did he say where she had come from, if she had traveled far with the merchant, if she planned on staying with him?”
“For obvious reasons,” —he looked directly at her bruised eye— “I did not get the chance. We can get the answers directly from her when we catch up with the pair. We will head in that direction now, though I doubt we will reach them today. I know a place we can shelter for the night and start at dawn.”
“I feel as though the witch sent us in circles, but why?” Annis shook her head again. “There must be a reason for it.”
Brogan would not say what he was thinking, for she no doubt thought the same. He kept from smiling when she spoke both their thoughts.
“Do not dare think this quest senseless or that the witch plays tricks on us. She wants us to find not only the woman with the limp but the bairn who has now grown into a woman.” She tapped her chin. “I cannot help but keep wondering why? Why, after presenting Lady Aila with the curse to protect the bairn, does she now want to see it undone?”
He wanted the answer to that himself.
Annis’s eyes settled on him for a few moments before she asked, “How does my eye look?”
“The bruise grows deeper,” he said and wished he had done more damage to the man than he had.
“I thought as much, yet your bruises have done nothing more than turn a pale yellow. They heal already while mine worsen.”
“It is just the way it has always been with me. My body heals remarkably fast and there have been times I was extremely grateful for that,” he admitted, memories of previous injures surfacing to remind him.
“It pains my heart to think of what you must have suffered through the years,” she said, fighting back the tears building in her eyes.
He knew she disliked the frequent tears that often threatened her, but that her tears pooled for him said much about how much she loved him. “I believe you are the only one who is pained by my suffering.”
“Surely, your mother must have suffered along with you. I no doubt would embarrass myself with copious tears seeing a child of mine take ill or be injured.”
His wife would make a good mother. He only hoped he would not have to prevent her from being one.
“To my mother, my pain was a temporary inconvenience and there was no need for her to waste time with worry.”
“You have me now,” she said as if it made all the difference. “I will worry endlessly over you and do not bother to tell me otherwise.”
He smiled, not only at her remark but at the thought that he was not alone anymore. “On that I will not argue with you, wife.” He felt the blood slip from his nose, and he swiftly turned his head away and ordered. “Do not look!”
Annis kept her eyes turned away from him, though she wished she could do otherwise and voiced her annoyance with herself. “I should be able to help you, not turn away from you.”
“Have you always been this way with blood?” he asked, cleaning his face with the end of his cloak and reminding himself to clean it when they settled by the stream.
“As long I can remember. the sight, sometimes even thought—”
The faintness of her voice had him turning with worry and his hand reached out to take hold of her arm. “Tell me about the cottage you will build for us.” She turned and he did not like how pale she looked from just the thought of blood. “We may need extra rooms with all the bairns we will have.”
Her eyes turned fearful. “There is blood when giving birth.”
He silently cursed himself for not thinking of that and thought quickly. “Bliss would make sure you do not see a speck of it.”
“What will I do if our bairns bleed? How will I ever properly care for them?” Tears threatened her and she got angry. “This has to stop. I cannot continue to be so weak when it comes to blood or get teary-eyed over nonsense.”
“Whether you want to admit it or not, you are a sensitive woman.”
Annis gave him a look of disgust. “That is a terrible thing to say to me.”
He laughed. “You want honesty, wife. And your delicate side certainly does not pair well with your stubborn, demanding side.”
She was ready to jab him in the arm but smiled instead. “You are a wise husband to annoy me and force my thoughts elsewhere.”
He was relieved that color had returned to her face and intended to make sure there was no more talk of blood. “There is much building to be done before winter sets in, especially with others from the clan joining us and the elderly couple as well and whoever else you may invite.”
“Our village will be a welcoming one,” she said her smile growing, and they continued the safe discussion.
They stopped before dusk at a small dwelling in need of repair and their glance went to the roof. They both smiled.
Annis voiced what they both thought. “The roof has no holes in it. We can make love tonight without fear of it collapsing on us.”
Brogan grinned and winked at her. “We do not have to wait until tonight.”
“Hurry then, and let’s get the horses settled and wood for the fire,” she urged and slid off her horse.
That she was as eager as he was to make love, fueled his own desire. They worked well together and were done in no time—the horses settled and a fire going in the small hearth. Unfortunately, to Annis’s disappointment the narrow bed was in dire need of repair if they were to sleep there, and the earth floor needed to be cleared of debris.
Brogan saw her regret and hurried an arm around her waist. “We do not need a bed or the floor.” He nibbled at her slender neck, enjoying the mewling sounds he caused.”
“Where then?” she asked, his teasing nibbles tormenting her nether region while thoughts of making love with her husband had turned her wet and impatient.
He kissed her soundly, further flaring her passion, then he swung her up and around and planted her backside in the middle of the table. “Up with your legs and your garments,” he ordered.
She did so without question and a smile, her passion flaring when he helped shove her garments out of the way and spread her legs. She watched him push his plaid aside and his manhood sprung free; hard, thick, and ready.
“Lie back.”
Another command she eagerly obeyed, and he grabbed her backside and pulled her forward, his shaft probing between her legs, and she groaned with anticipation.
“Your so damn wet,” he said, the tip of his shaft being devoured by her moistness.
“I cannot wait. We can linger later. I need you now,” she demanded.
Brogan was glad she was as impatient as he was and that she was also right about lingering later in their lovemaking since he intended to make love more than once to her tonight.
He shoved into her, and she cried out.
“OH!” she said with a joyous smile.
She flamed his passion even more and he shook his head. “This is going to be quick, wife.”
He gripped her backside as he pounded into her over and over.
“Do not stop. Please do not stop. It feels so good,” she urged and wrapped her legs around his waist, hugging him to her.
Brogan thought he would come there and then, but gratefully he didn’t. He wanted to soak every pleasurable drop of passion he could from her and explode in a blinding climax together.
Her moans grew as he slammed into her repeatedly and her climax came on her with a sudden explosion. She cried out, feeling herself erupt over and over in the most exquisite pleasure.
He loved the look on her face as she came, pure joy and satisfaction, though he had wanted to come with her and was surprised when she cried out.
“Do not stop, please do not stop!”
He smiled that she would climax again, and he grabbed her around the waist and yanked her off the table to rush and brace her against the door. “Hold on,” he urged, and she wrapped her arms around his neck.
Her moans grew with each forceful thrust, and she climaxed with a scream in his ear as he burst with such fierce pleasure that he joined her with his own roar. It was his last thrust, that final push that yanked everything out of him when he heard the crack.
He raised his head, having rested his brow against the door right beside his wife’s face and saw that her eyes had rounded, having heard it as well.
The second crack came before he could yank them away and the door split in two sending them sprawling outside on the ground.
“Annis!” Brogan cried out, rising up quickly after landing on top of her, worried he had hurt her, her arms no longer around his neck. Her laughter told him otherwise.
“Do you think we will ever make love without incident?” she asked between laughs.
He grinned and kissed her. “We can try later.”
“I will remind you of that.”
He kissed her quick. “Believe me, wife, you won’t have to.” He eased off her and onto his feet and reached down to take her hand and ease her up. “Are you sure I did not hurt you, landing on you as I did?”
“Nay, I am good,” she assured him and wobbled some when she got to her feet.
“You are going to sit on that lone chair in the dwelling while I see us settled for the night,” he said, giving her a stern look.
Annis laughed. “That look will do you no good.”
“It was worth a try,” he said with a wink. “But spare me the worry and do as I ask.”
“I will leave everything to you,” she said and kissed his cheek. “Though you made need help repairing that door.”
In the end, the door was beyond repair especially with dusk upon them and night not far off. By the time Brogan found and cut some large tree branches to cover the open doorway and repair the bed so they could at least sleep in it for the night, darkness had fallen.
Annis had managed to find a sparse and broken broom and swept the debris to a corner of the dwelling. She placed one of their blankets on the lumpy bedding and moved the lone chair to the side of the bed where she also placed the cloth that held what was left of their food.
Brogan joined her on the side of the bed, and they ate the cheese and bread.
“Our quest is like a puzzle,” Annis said and nibbled at the cheese.
Brogan tore the piece of bread in half to share with her. “The problem is we do not have all the pieces to the puzzle.”
Annis ate the last of the cheese she held as she took the piece of bread from him. “And we must wait for the one piece to take us to the next. It is frustrating and taking far too much time. She shook the bread at him. “She is a witch. She should have known exactly where the woman with the limp was and—” A sudden thought turned her silent for a moment. “Why didn’t she know and why doesn’t she know where the bairn might be? Or does she know?”
“Why not tell you then?” Brogan asked, wondering himself.
“To bide time?” Annis questioned, shaking her head. “But for what? What could she be waiting for?”
“The woman with the limp might have the answers.”
“I hope so,” Annis said and having taken only a small bite of bread handed the piece to her husband. “Eat. I do not want anymore.”
He took it from her and finished it and seeing her drift in thought, asked, “What suddenly troubles you?”
“Bliss,” she said on a sigh. “Do you think Bliss has any chance of having Lord Rannick get her with child? I fear what she might suffer if she fails to deliver what she promised.”
“I tried to tell Lawler that it was useless. Rannick would never plant his seed in any woman again. I believe he agreed with me. Though he did not voice it, he did say he had orders that he must obey.”
“I have worried what Lord Rannick might do to my sister and now I wonder what will happen to her if she does not get with child.”
“Lord Lochlann demands obedience, though Lady Helice, Rannick’s mother, often tempers her husband’s demands. I do not think she will allow any harm to come to Bliss if she should fail to get with child,” Brogan assured her.
Annis rested her head against her husband’s arm. “We have never been parted, Elysia, Bliss, and I, until now. It is strange not to have them near, not to see them every day, talk with them, laugh with them… I miss them.”
“I do not know what the future holds for us all, but I will give you my word that if for any reason either of your sisters are unable to make their home with us, I will make certain you see them often when all this is done.”
She raised her head and smiled. “You are a good husband.” She poked him lightly in the side. “I thought for sure if we were forced to wed it would be a constant battle.”
He kissed her brow. “You would have realized soon enough that you loved me.”
She laughed softly. “There you go thinking highly of yourself again.”
“I am just too adorable not to love,” he said with a wicked grin and a wink.
Her smile faded and she placed her hand upon his cheek. “I do love you, Brogan. No matter what happens, always remember that.”
All he could think was that she sounded as if they would soon go into battle, and she was worried she would not survive. He cupped her chin tightly in his hand. “We will live a long life together. I will have it no other way.”
“Aye, I pray it will be so, but you still need to know that whatever happens in our life, I love you now and forever.”
His lips came down on hers with a fierce possessiveness, as if somehow his kiss could share the curse with her, and death would not touch her. They would be together always, never separated, then it struck him. He eased the kiss to rest his brow to hers. He was being selfish. He would not see her suffer as he had. He loved her too much.
He grinned. “I love you more.”
She poked his chest. “I think not.”
He whispered in her ear, “I know so and I will show you.” His hand went to the back of her neck to hold it firm as his mouth covered hers and his arm went around her waist, just before he dropped back on the bed, taking her with him.
The kiss was a prelude of things to come, and passion was quick to stir in Annis.
“I want you naked this time,” he said, and he yanked her up on her feet, quickly shedding her garments before yanking his off and tossing them aside. His hands caressed her breasts, ran down along her slender waist and over the curve of her hip and gripped her backside to push her against his hard manhood. Then he kissed her slow and easy before lifting her in his arms to lay her gently on the bed.
It was a slow coming together, each exploring the other with tender touches and kisses.
Annis’s hands roamed with curiosity and love. She had always cringed at the thought of making love and she had avoided thinking about how it would be like to touch her husband’s naked body. She had convinced herself it would not be necessary. She would simply submit as a dutiful wife did and lay beneath her husband until he was done.
How wrong she had been about that, but then she had not counted on Brogan.
She wanted to touch him, explore every part of him, put her mark on every part of him. She gripped his stiff shaft and looked him in his gorgeous blue eyes. “Mine. Only mine.”
He loved that she lay claim to him, that she enjoyed exploring him, that she freely loved him.
“Always,” he whispered and kissed her, enjoying every gentle caress that tempted and sparked their passion.
Brogan had never lingered with a woman. He had wanted no attachments. He would make certain their coupling was satisfying for them both, but in the end, there had always been something missing.
He knew what that was now. Love.
“I love you, Annis,” he whispered in her ear, needing to tell her again. Or was it he who needed to hear it?
“Not as much as I love you,” she whispered and rained kisses on his lips as her hand played along the silky, smoothness of his hard shaft.
“As much as I favor your touch, I would much rather be inside you.”
“Then why do you wait, husband?”
Brogan didn’t. He slipped over her and into her gently and with ease. He groaned as her wetness welcomed him and, once he was sheathed fully inside her, she closed tightly around him as if she didn’t intend to let him go.
Annis sighed, loving the feel of him sinking deep inside her, settling there where he belonged. She squeezed his shaft, hugging it tight and keeping him snug. He started moving and the world around her faded away as his thrusts turned potent and she was soon lost in an oblivion of pleasure.
Slow. Fast. Slow. Fast.
Brogan did not want it to end. The satisfaction—the pleasure—was nothing like he had ever experienced, and he knew it would always be this way with her. The thought further flared his already fiery passion.
It soon turned frenzied, and Annis thrust her hips up to meet his powerful plunges and it was not long before she climaxed along with her husband. She smiled when his moan drowned out hers, making her release all the more enjoyable.
They lay side by side after sanity returned—the bed too narrow for any other position.
He tucked a springy curl that fell along the side of her face behind her ear as he often did and watched it spring free. He knew it would and he supposed that was why he did it. He would be worried if it didn’t since it always reminded him of her resilience and was one of the reasons he loved her so much.
He startled when she hurried to rest her hand on his arm to push herself up to sit.
She glanced around the room with wide eyes.
He grew alarmed. “What is it?”
She turned a gleeful smile on him. “Nothing. We made love and nothing happened.”
That’s when they both heard the ropes under the lumpy mattress give way.
Brogan’s hand shot out to snatch her around the waist and deposit her on top of him just as they fell through the bed together.
