The Capture of Highland Desire (The Mac Coinnach Brothers) (19 page)

             
"What did ye say, lad?"  Leon’s voice held a clear challenge.

             
But Eian wasn’t about to back down.  "I said, she is mine!”  This time, his tone was fierce.  “And no man will ever take her away from me, including ye.  I would die first, or kill every man that stands in my way."  He started for the steps, and no less than four guards reached out to restrain him, and even all of them together struggled to hold him back.  The crowd held its collective breath, certain that there was about to be an obscene amount of violence.

             
But a slow smile spread across Leon’s face, and to everyone’s astonishment, he threw back his head and laughed, a great, bellowing sound.  Allia’s eyes widened in surprise and she watched him warily, not knowing what to make of the sudden change in countenance.  All of the other people who had gathered in the bailey looked at each other in confusion.  Eian’s face remained stoic, his stance battle-ready.                 

             
Leon stopped laughing and put his hands on his hips.  "Eian lad, stand down.  I must say I doubted ye in the beginning, but it seems ye have passed the test after all."

             
Allia stared at her uncle in disbelief.  She knew her mouth was hanging open, but she couldn't seem to close it. 
It was all a test?  What?
  She glanced at Eian, but he looked just as stunned.  Then the corner of his mouth turned up just a little. 
What the hell had just happened here?

             
“Eian, come here, lad.”  Leon motioned to Allia as Eian walked warily up the steps, and then put a hand on each of their shoulders, steering them into the keep.  "Now, let’s get ye both properly hand-fasted.  I'll no have my niece disgraced by yer Mac Coinnach hide a moment longer.  And no great niece or nephew of mine will be born with no name.  After the ceremony, ye may tup like rabbits, for all I care.  Ye can be properly wed later at Creagmor, if ye’ve a mind to."

             
Allia looked to Eian, and as he met her gaze, a slow, seductive smile spread across his face, his eyes sparkling.

             
Leon smiled broadly, because for once, everything had gone just according to plan.  After thirteen years of worrying and planning, it was done.  He led Allia and Eian into the hall, stopping just in front of the grand fireplace and calling for witnesses, as many as wanted to be present.  It had been a gamble, the way the two of them had finally been brought together, and for a while he had been uncertain of whether Eian Mac Coinnach had it in him to settle into being a happily mated man.  It had seemed like a long shot at best, and he had even second-guessed the oracle that had divined the identity of his niece’s soul mate.  Then the arrangement with Dirc to get the lad to Lochain for Allia’s arrival… her escape, which he had known about, her very worrisome capture, which had not been part of the plan… and at last the lad had come through.  Perhaps he had underestimated the powers of fate, and a beautiful woman.  Och, aye, after all that he deserved a well-earned rest!  But first things first.

             
Leon turned to face Eian and Allia, who were gazing at each other as if they were the only two people in the room.  He recognized the look of barely-banked hunger in the lad’s eyes, and figured he’d best hurry the ceremony along before Eian just up and carried his niece away.  He drew a dagger from his belt, taking Eian’s arm to slice his flesh.  As the blood welled up, he quickly did the same to Allia, pressing the wounds together so that their blood could mingle, making them one.  The ceremony was entirely for the sake of tradition and propriety, of course, since the
actual
joining of mates had taken place the night before.  But now, before all of Lochain, Eian and Allia were indisputably wed.  Leon was done. 

              Even though Eian knew this ceremony was virtually meaningless compared to what had already passed between them, and what was still to come, he could not help but feel proud and a little overwhelmed as he joined both hands and blood with the woman who would be his forever.  She was beautiful, aye, but she was also strong and brave and kind.  And his body reacted to hers in a way he had never dreamed possible.  Just thinking of all of the pleasure that would be his, no, theirs, in the times to come left him a little breathless.  Especially since he had heard things only get better and more intense between mates the longer they are together.  How could he ever have thought he preferred his former shallow existence to
this
?

             
When Leon finished the short ceremony, and Eian leaned in to kiss Allia’s soft lips, he had a mind to carry her straight off to the bed chamber.  But no, Leon thought to torture him a bit longer with a wedding feast and celebration.  He was now a married man,
him
!  His brothers were going to fall over in shock when they heard the news.  He couldn’t wait to tell them, and he couldn’t wait to bring his bride home to Creagmor and start their life together.  He hoped that he had already started their babe, growing inside her…

              Allia felt as if she had been swept up in a dream, and to be honest, she was afraid that at any moment she would awaken and find out things were not at all as they seemed. All during dinner, Eian hadn’t been able to take his eyes off of her, and she was feeling the same way.  She couldn’t wait to get him upstairs to her room, strip his shirt and kilt off, run her hands over the hard, smooth planes of his chest…  Since the moment last night when he had taken her and they had become mated in the old Druid way, she could feel that bond growing.  Whereas before she could still harbor doubts about whether what they had together was real or just physical attraction, now she suddenly could not imagine her life without him.  In the course of one day, he had become her whole world, and they would have all the time in the world to get to know one another.  Allia found she was looking forward to knowing all of the little things about Eian, like his favorite color, his favorite foods, and of course, what drove him wild in bed.  She felt the heat gathering between her legs at that thought, and Eian’s gaze snapped to her, as if he knew exactly what she was thinking about.  His pupils grew darker and he shifted uncomfortably in his seat.  Coming to a sudden decision, he rose from his chair and in one smooth motion, and scooped her effortlessly into his arms.             

             
“Sorry, lass”, he whispered near her ear, “but I truly canna wait another moment to be inside ye again.  Much longer, and I’m quite certain I would die from wanting ye.”

             
Allia blushed, but smiled up at him as he carried her off to the stairs and their chamber, followed by the raucous and bawdy cheers of the crowd.  She could feel his erection against her hip as he carried her, and she didn’t think the increasing shortness of his breath had anything to do with climbing the stairs.

             
He set her down on her feet just inside the room, and turned to bolt the door behind them with a solid thud, locking out any of the revelers who might have followed the couple up to wish them well.  She noticed that his hand shook just a little.

             
“Och lass, ye have me undone already.  Come here, I need to have ye naked.”

             
She stepped closer and he immediately reached for the laces of her gown, pulling them loose until the fabric fell to the ground.  She stood there completely bare, since he had torn her shift the night before and she hadn’t yet changed.  He grinned at her, obviously remembering.  But instead of falling on her right away as she expected, as she
wanted
, he took her hand and led her to a large tub of bath water that sat before the fire.  When she looked up at him questioningly, he said “I though ye might want to bathe, I mean… after being in that cellar and all.  And I fear I might still have some blood and grime on me as well.”

             
It sounded wonderful.  “Thank you Eian.  I… yes, it would be good, to be clean, I mean.”  She hadn’t even had time yet to think about what had happened in that cellar, and how close she had come to…   

Eian took her hand and helped her into the tub, where she sank down
into the blissfully warm water and watched as he pulled off his shirt and then unbuckled the belt of his kilt.  The fabric fell to the ground and he stood bare before her in all of his glory.  Her eyes roamed over him appreciatively, from the lean muscular strength of his legs to the thick muscles of his arms.  And the heavy erection that jutted proudly towards her.  Though she hadn’t seen all that many men in the nude, compared to those she had, Eian was especially well endowed.  And he knew it, the arrogant beast.  He stood still for a moment to let her look her fill before he climbed into the tub with her, sloshing water over the floor as he took up most of the good sized tub.

Allia laughed, shifting to make more room for him.  “I don’t think this tub is meant for two, Eian.”

“It is now, lass.  If I have my way, I’m thinking ye’ll never bathe alone again.”

She couldn’t resist teasing him.  “And just who will I be bathing with then, if you’re not around?”  His face tightened into a scowl, eyes flashing with instant fury.  Just the reaction she wanted, because it made her feel… desired.
  Protected.

“
If you are ever naked with any man but me, I will kill him.  Dinna doubt it”, he said through gritted teeth.  “Ye are mine now, Allia
Mac Coinnach
, and I will no’ be sharing.”

She narrowed her eyes at him.  “Neither will I.”

He grinned at her, his anger suddenly gone.  “No, ye fill me so completely, I have no need for more.”

She traced his dragon tattoo with her finger.  “What does it mean?”

“’Tis the symbol of my family.  My brothers each have one, and my father did as well.”

She smiled, still running her fingers over the design.  “I like it.  I think it’s very sexy on you.” 

Eian longed to kiss her, but then the bath would be over before they were clean, and he thought it was important to start their life together with no reminders of the terror of the last few days.   So instead he helped her wash her hair, and then he washed his own, before letting the small bar of scented soap glide over her breasts and between her legs.  Then, unable to resist any longer, he reached forward and pulled her closer, so that she was on her knees between his thighs.  Their damp skin slid together as he kissed her, deep and hard.  His tongue swept her mouth again and again, until she gasped and kissed him back with just as much passion as he showed her.  She had fire, his woman, and he knew he had yet to feel the full heat of it.

             
With a groan, Eian stood up with Allia in his arms and wrapped her in a linen towel before laying her out on the bed, following her down with his body.  “Tonight lass, I will make love to ye properly.  I want ye screaming my name so loudly that yer uncle will come running to see if I’ve murdered ye.”

             
She laughed.  “And will you scream my name too?”

             
His eyes darkened.  “Oh, aye.  Always.”  His gaze moved over the long, feminine lines of her body, from her perfectly full breasts down to her delicate toes.  There was not one thing he would ever change about her.  She was beautiful, perfect, kind, adventurous, intelligent…

             
She reached out boldly to touch his manhood, feathering her fingers over the silken tip.  He growled in pleasure and perhaps in warning, his eyes closing and his head falling back.  She captured him in her fist and squeezed lightly, making his breath hitch and his hips pump instinctively against her hand.

             
“Och lass, hands off or I’ll come right like this, and I want to be deep inside of ye when I spill my seed.”  His voice was already rough and hungry.  “That’s the only way to make a babe, ye ken.”

             
Oh, so they were back to that, were they?  She released his cock and pulled him down on top of her.  He might intend to go slow, but she felt empty and aching, desperate for all of him. She bucked her hips against his, impatient to feel that same completeness again, the bliss of having him fill her and take from her what he needed.

             
He shook his head, sweat already beading on his forehead.  “No… I wanted to go slow this time…”  But he was burning up, consumed by the fire that already raged between them.  He could feel it in the butterflies that filled his stomach, and the sparks of pleasure and anticipation that skittered across his skin. Never had he felt so completely alive. Every one of his muscles was taught with expectation and eagerness, and his cock was hard as stone and throbbing mercilessly.  He was a man walking the edge of his control, his body begging him to slide into her tight warmth and take the pleasure that awaited him there.  But there was nearly as much pleasure in the anticipation, the profound sensitivity of each nerve ending as he touched his mate, making her breath come faster and her heart race.  His skilled fingers delved between her legs, stroking and caressing until her head fell back and her hips reached toward every touch. 

But seeing Allia all
aroused and needing him, her fingers digging into his flesh to pull him closer, snapped the last thread of Eian’s control.  With a soft groan of pleasure, he thrust into her, and all intention of going slow was lost.  His need was just too great, and try as he might, he could not slow his strokes or be gentle with her.  His body was beyond his control, listening only to the demands of hers.  He rode her hard, their slick skin sliding together, until his balls clenched tight against his body and he felt his seed rise with a pressure that nearly had him screaming out loud.  Luckily, his mate was right with him, and he felt her squeeze him tighter as she found her release, calling his name in little sobs of pleasure.  One stroke, then another… he was so close.  Her legs rose to wrap around him and he rose up on his hands, barely able to contain the force of the tension gathering at the base of his spine.  Then it all exploded and he swore he saw stars as he threw his head back and called her name, intermingled with a few choice swear words because it was just that intense.