The Condemned Highlander by Donna Fletcher

23

“BROGAN! Annis screamed as she struggled against the thick arm locked tight around her middle as she was dragged backward.

The man’s hand slammed across her mouth but not high enough to completely cover it. It gave her time to bite down with force on the skin between his thumb and pointer finger.

His scream echoed through the hills and woods.

Annis drove her elbow back and stamped down on his boot with equal force. His grip on her weakened but he did not let go.

She screamed out again. “BROGAN!”

“ANNIS!”

He was close, but would he be able to find her in the rain and dark. She had to keep fighting, keep the man from dragging her farther into the woods, away from her husband.

She threw her head back and caught the man in the face.

He cried out and swung her around, his fisted hand heading straight at her face.

She ducked just in time and with his strong swing missing her, he lost his balance and stumbled. It gave her enough time to kick him hard enough in the leg to send him to the ground.

He cursed and spat as he struggled to his feet. “If you were not worth so much unharmed, I’d—”

He suddenly turned silent, his mouth dropping open, and his eyes bulged with fear. Annis swerved around expecting to see her husband, but it was not her husband that had frightened him silent. It was several pairs of red eyes glaring at them from the darkness.

“Wolves,” he said, his voice quivering, and he took a step back. “They can have you.”

“They are not here for her.”

Annis almost collapsed with relief hearing her husband’s commanding voice.

The large wolf that had kept Brogan company earlier stepped out of the woods snarling; his teeth bared. Two more wolves followed, flanking his sides.

Annis was not sure what to do. Thankfully, her husband did. He came up behind her, his arm going around her waist.

“Step back with me. They are not here for us,” he said.

Annis realized he was right. The witch had sent them to protect her and Brogan.

“Do not leave me to them,” the man begged.

“What do you want with my wife,” Brogan demanded.

“There is good coin to be had to abduct her,” the man said, keeping his eyes on the wolves.

Brogan continued to demand answers. “And do what with her?”

“I do not know. We have not received word of her fate yet.”

“We?” Brogan snapped.

“Mercenaries hired for the job.”

His wife trembled against him, and he asked what she no doubt thought herself. “Others are here with you?”

The man shook his head. “Nay, not here. I drew the short stick. None wanted to come here—home of the witch.”

“Where do they wait?” Brogan demanded.

“Keep the wolves from me and I will tell you,” the man bargained.

“They are not mine to command,” Brogan said.

The wolves’ snarls increased as did their steps toward the man.

“I beg you, help me,” the man pleaded.

Brogan clamped his arm firm around his wife’s waist and lifted her enough so that her feet did not touch the ground, then he took cautious steps back.

“You sealed your fate when you trespassed on the witch’s land,” Brogan said. He swept his wife up into his arms and rushed off, leaving the man to his fate.

The man’s screams filled the night and Annis buried her face against her husband’s chest, trying not to think of the man’s horrible fate.

After entering the dwelling, Brogan leaned back against the closed door, keeping his wife firm in his arms and allowing his breathing and fear to calm.

Annis kept her arms snug around his neck, not wanting to let go. That she had almost been taken from her husband sent a shiver of pure fear through her. The thought of never seeing him again, never feeling his hand close around hers, never enjoying another of his kisses, or the pleasure of his intimate touches made her realize the depth of her love for him.

“Our garments are wet,” he said.

Annis raised her head. “We should shed them so they can dry.”

“Aye,” he said, images of his wife standing in front of him naked rushing into his head. He tried to chase them away. It would do him no good to strip and have his shaft fully erect in front of her after what she had been through. But he could not stop the ache, the need for her. He realized then how she must have felt earlier and how selfish he had been to refuse to make love with her.

He did not wait, did not seek permission, or offer an explanation, he pressed his lips to hers and ravished her mouth with a kiss he sensed they both needed.

Annis could barely catch her breath, he kissed her with such hunger and command. He left no doubt as to his passion, it boiled to a point where it would be too hot to handle, and the thought sent a shiver of anticipation through her.

She had to tear her mouth away to get a much-needed breath and his lips went directly to her neck, nipping, nibbling, kissing, and fueling her passion.

He carried her to the bed and dropped her down on it, pushing her garment out of the way and spreading her legs before dropping down over her, his hands braced on either side of her. He rested his face close to hers, his blue eyes fired with a scorching passion.

“Never. Never walk away from me like that again. It felt as if my heart had been ripped from my chest.” He shut his eyes a moment. “And when you disappeared into the darkness, I feared hell itself had opened up and took you from me. I will not lose you, Annis.”

She gasped as he sunk his shaft into her with a deep and hard thrust. It was what she had wanted from him, needed from him—to forget everything else and know their love was strong no matter what was happening around them. That nothing—no one—could take that away from them.

“You are all I want. All I need. All I love,” she said, tears tickling her eyes.

His manhood stilled and throbbed inside her impatiently, and taking a strong breath to temper his desire, he rested his brow to hers. “Your demand taunted old memories and I foolishly failed to see that your need for me was driven by love.”

Annis smiled. “It is time to make new memories that will drive the old ones away.” She wrapped her legs around him. “Do not keep me waiting, husband, my need for you—only ever you—is insatiable.”

He did not keep her waiting. He could not, his own need just as voracious for her.

Annis knew it would be quick, the incident having fueled their love and fear of losing each other. Each deep, forceful thrust she felt assured her of their love, of their need to join, to know they had survived the ordeal.

She burst in a climax that stole her breath and pounded her heart until she thought it would explode, and he tossed his head back and released a feral roar as he joined her, letting her know he felt the same.

When she was finally able to speak, Annis said, “We need to shed our garments.”

He lifted his head to grin at her. “Cannot get enough of me?”

She poked him and chuckled. “Never. But it is a more practical reason I say that.”

He realized then their garments were wet, and he hurried off her and the bed, reaching to take her hand and pull her up. He rid himself of his clothes quickly, then set about helping her off with hers. They worked together spreading their garments over the benches and table Brogan moved closer to the hearth so the heat could dry them.

Annis grabbed the bowl of cheese and bread on the table and hurried to the bed to slip beneath the blanket and made a face when her feet hit a wet spot.

Brogan rectified that by replacing the wet blanket with the dry one at the end of the bed, then he crawled beneath to join his wife, sitting with her back braced against the pillows.

“Do you think we are safe here? Or will the mercenaries send another man when this one fails to return?” she asked, cuddling in the crook of her husband’s arm.

“With him having drawn the short stick says that none wish the task of stepping foot on the witch’s land, and they will give his return time. The rain and darkness would also have someone thinking twice. Not to mention the howl of the wolves.”

“The wolves howled?’ she asked and perked her ears to listen.

“Several times, but you were far too engaged to notice,” he said with a playful wink.

She frowned. “You were not too engaged to notice?”

“I was definitely engaged, but I also kept an alert ear for other sounds to keep us safe.” He laughed. “Until the end, when our lovemaking completely consumed me, but by then the wolves had calmed and I knew all was well.”

Annis let her head fall back on his shoulder. “The mercenaries must be the danger the witch warned me about. Who do you think hired them to abduct me? And whatever do they want with me?”

“There has been talk through the years that there are those who want me, Odran, and Rannick dead so the curse can die with us. We paid it little heed, but of late I believe that perhaps there is more to it. With you being my wife, there is a chance of you bearing a child and the curse continuing.”

“All the more reason to see the curse broken,” Annis said.

“All the more reason for you to stay close to me and take no chances,” he ordered.

She grinned and poked him in the chest. “I do not mind in the least staying close to you.”

“That is what I like, an obedient wife. OW!” He laughed when she playfully punched him in the arm. His laughter ceased when he gripped her chin in his hand. “I may laugh, but this is serious, and I need to make sure I keep you safe. You will do as I say and not fill my days with worry.”

“I will do my best not to worry you,” she said. “But I cannot let this threat stop me from my quest. We need to find the couple who Gunna gave the MacWilliam bairn to.”

“Does nothing frighten you?” he asked, running his finger tenderly along her cheek.

“Aye, losing you and my sisters which is why I cannot let anything else frighten me. I must see this done.”

“We must see this done,” he corrected, proud his wife had such courage, yet worried over her at the same time.

She turned questioning eyes on him. “Am I a good wife?”

Her question surprised him. “Why would you ask that?”

“As I once told you, I never gave thought to marrying and even less thought to wifely duties. I do not know how to stitch, at least properly, and trust me when I say you do not want me to cook for you. I had even cringed at the thought of coupling, though my thought on that has completely changed.”

He turned a wicked grin on her. “Thanks to me.”

“There you go thinking highly of yourself again,” she said with a playful twinkle in her eyes.

“The truth speaks for itself.” He kissed her before she could respond. He finished with a soft brush of his lips across hers. “We not only need to continue the quest, but we also need to find out who hired the mercenaries to capture you.”

“It might have been wiser for us to keep the man alive so we could find out more,” she said.

“It was not our choice to make,” he reminded.

With the witch having spoken to her about knowledge, the man’s death left her with a question. “Why would the witch see the mercenary dead before gaining information?” She answered for herself. “I suppose she did not want to take the chance that either of us could be harmed.” She waited to hear her husband’s thought on it and when he remained silent, she cast a curious eye on him. “You always have an opinion. Why the silence?”

He tilted his head and smiled. When he smiled at her like that, with love in his soft blue eyes for her—only her—her heart fluttered wildly, as it did now.

“I haven’t told you recently how beautiful you are.” He tugged at one of her many springy, red curls.

She swatted at his hand. “You do not answer me. Why?”

He tugged at her curl again. “You will not like my answer.”

“I will like it even less if you do not answer me,” she said, leaving him to tug at her curl. “Besides, would you like it if I kept something from you?”

He shook his head and kissed her. “You win, wife. You always do.”

“Then tell me.”

He tucked her close, resting his hand with a squeeze at her waist. “When you were snatched away from me, I knew a rage I never felt before. All I could think about was making the man suffer who dared to take you from me. That rage grew as I searched for you. I wanted to rip him apart until there was nothing left of him. I spotted the wolves and knew they would lead me to you. I also knew that they would do far more damage to your abductor than I could and that pleased me.”

Annis shivered and Brogan drew the blanket up around her.

“You are always safe when you are with me, wife, on that you have my word,” he whispered and kissed her gently.

“Of that I have no doubt.”

“Then why do I see doubt in your eyes?” he asked, then grinned. “Knowing you, wife, as I do, the doubt does not concern me and, if I ventured a guess, I would say your doubt centers on how we are going to find the mercenaries.”

She smiled. “You do know me well.”

“I think perhaps I should get to know you even better,” he said, his hand roaming down over the gentle curve of her hip.

“Not fair. You know I cannot resist you and you know we must find the mercenaries to find out who hired them to abduct me or there will be more attempts to do so,” she warned, annoyed her body was responding to his caresses and knowing it would not be long before her hand roamed over him. And she knew the exact spot she intended to caress.

“We can discuss it later,” he said, leaning down to nibble at her neck.

She knocked the wood bowl, with what little food was left in it, off the bed as she worked her hand down his body to settle over his already erect shaft and stroke it gently, teasingly.

“Your word on something, husband,” she said, feeling him grow hard in her hand.

“Anything,” he said, his hand going to caress her breast.

“You will take me with you when you go hunt for the mercenaries.”

His head shot up from where he nibbled at her neck. “You will not—”

“AHA! I knew it,” she said, poking at his chest. “You plan to go find them without me.”

“Listen to me good, wife,” he ordered. “There is no way you are going with me when I go after the mercenaries.”

Annis sat straight up. “And who will you entrust to keep me safe?”

Brogan went to respond and stopped, struggling to find an answer.

“There is no one,” she challenged.

A thought came to him, and he spoke it before giving it any consideration. “I will take you to my family’s keep. You will be safe there.”

She laughed. “I would rather be locked away in the dungeon.”

“That can be arranged,” he threatened.

“You would not dare,” she warned, poking at his chest again.

He grabbed her finger. “I gave you my word I would keep you safe and I will do it no matter what it takes.”

“Then your word settles it. You will take me with you since you said yourself that I am always safe when I am with you.”

He shook his head. “You tricked me, wife.”

She grinned wide. “I did and you will keep your word for you are an honorable man.”

He smiled, a wicked smile as he eased her back on the bed. “Now let me repay you in kind.”

Annis chuckled softly. “Be careful or you may find yourself tricked again—though this time you might enjoy it.” Her hand shot down and grabbed his shaft firmly.

Brogan gasped and Annis chuckled.