The Scottish Lord’s Secret Bride (27 page)

‘Wha…?’ What was good or bad about red silk? Somewhere she found the sense to file that titbit away.
Fraser likes red silk.

‘I’m going to touch you, love you, lave and caress you all over. Learn every inch of you. Imprint you on my mind, so I could close my eyes and know you. To touch you here.’ He put his lips to the downy curls that covered her entrance and hid the tiny sensitive nub that ached for his touch.

The light caress went from her mound to her nipples by that invisible thread that held them together. Then back again until the pulse between her legs throbbed unbearably. She had to grip him or fall over but her hands were immobile.

Morven saw stars, dancing motes of light, and swore she heard music playing.

‘I have to… I need.’

‘I need as well. Hold fast.’

She swayed, and then whirled around as her feet left the floor and she moved, held fast in Fraser’s arms. Morven opened her eyes a crack to watch Fraser, his face alight with love, lower her onto the bed and drag her blouse and skirts off. She moved her hands to the ties of her garters and he batted them away.

‘I have the urge to make love to you with you wearing those. Then every time I remember or see red silk, I will dream of this moment.’

‘Ohhh, how perfect.’ If she hadn’t already been fathoms deep in love with him, that statement would have sent her tumbling into the depths. ‘Then come and enjoy making love with me…and my red silk.’
Before I shatter by listening to your words and nothing else.

‘What an offer.’ He laughed smokily, a noise full of promises, and stripped rapidly.

Morven’s mouth went dry as he stood in front of her, his staff proud and erect, his eyes dark and to her love and amazement, his hands trembling slightly.

‘I had so wanted to be slower, but you, my love, have made it beautifully impossible.’ Fraser climbed onto the bed, and put her hands high above her. ‘For all you hold dear don’t touch me or we won’t get any further before I spill.’ He sat at her feet and lifted her legs so her ankles settled on his shoulders. ‘Hold on to the thought that soon we will indulge in one night of ecstasy. For now, though we’ll indulge in a short, hard, perfect…’ He aligned his cock to her channel and pushed. ‘This.’

Morven whimpered with pleasure, arched into him, as he filled her, and began a steady thrust and release. Within seconds she matched him stroke for stroke, tightened and relaxed her muscles as he groaned and began to shake.

‘Now, love.’ He roared the words. ‘Fall for me now.’

Never had Morven felt happier to obey a man’s order.

Nothing was more important than falling into the abyss with him. Dimly she heard Fraser shout his release and then shudder and slump onto her, his breath harsh and rasping in her ear. Morven dropped her arms from above her head and held him tightly to her. His warmth was her warmth. His heart thundered next to hers, and their love surrounded her. She cleared her mind, and drifted on a cloud of contentment. This was where they both should be.

Eventually Fraser stirred. ‘I’ll move. I’m heavy and… Oh Lord.’ He stiffened and looked down at her, his eyes clear and concerned.

‘I can’t believe it. How could I forget?’ He hit the mattress with a thump that made the bed shake.

‘Forget?’ What on earth was he talking about?

‘Forget,’ Fraser said grimly. ‘Holy hell, love, once more we addled my brain. I didn’t withdraw.’

‘What?’ Morven began to laugh. What a time to think of that. ‘Neither you did.’

‘Bloody thoughtless.’ He pushed himself onto his elbow to stare at her. ‘You could be with child.’ Fraser gathered her in his arms and rolled them over until she rested on top of him, her breasts squashed tightly against his chest.

‘I could.’ Morven gave into temptation and kissed the tip of his nose. Her head fell forward and stroked his chest. His eyes glazed over and she smirked. ‘Oh my.’ It was easy to forget all her vows of less is more, and let him recover before you go on the attack. ‘Maybe we should do it all over again to make sure?’ She moved from side to side so more hair tickled him, and he groaned.

‘Lord, love, don’t do that. My body likes it far too much. One more stroke and I will no doubt be hard again.’

‘Oh good.’ She essayed two long separate wriggles so her tresses swept slowly and deliberately over his nipples.

‘No, stop it.’ Fraser put his hands around her wrists and did his best to lift her upwards.

She resisted.

‘Morven,’ he said in a desperate voice. ‘We need to be sensible.’

‘Why?’ She opened her eyes wide and then sniggered. ‘Oh in case I’m in mother mode? Don’t worry—if I am, I am. You see, you have forgotten one very important thing.’

Fraser looked puzzled as he stared at her. ‘I have?’

‘There is a difference this time to last.’

‘There is?’

Oh Lord please let me have this correct. Let him be pleased.

‘Of course. Now we really are wed.’

Fraser’s eyes widened, and then he began to laugh, jigging her up and down as his chuckles rumbled through her body.

‘Now why didn’t I think of that? So, therefore…’ He lifted her slightly and deliberately stared at her tightened nipples and then down his own to where his cock was already semi hard again. ‘Shall we practise again. Just in case you’re not?’

‘I thought you would never ask.’

Chapter Fifteen

The tolling of a bell impinged on Fraser’s subconscious and he groaned. Who was ringing a confounded bell at this unholy hour of the morning? Something else jarred. What was the other noise, almost hidden by that damned bell? He couldn’t tell, and although an idea scratched at his mind, it didn’t develop.

Has someone died?
He opened one eye as Morven stirred and stared up at him sleepily.

‘Wassat?’ She twisted a whorl of his chest hair around her finger and tugged. ‘Sleep more, ‘s’needed. S’good, shhh.’

‘The kirk bell. Why on earth I don’t… Oh Lord, yes I do.’ He rolled onto his back and pulled Morven with him so her head rested on his chest and he could stroke her head and shoulders with ease. ‘It’s Sunday. Early service.’ He settled deeper into the pillows, content now he realised what was happening. ‘Wind must be in the right direction for us to hear it.’ A horrible thought struck him, and he sat bolt upright. As Morven still had a tight grip on his chest, the movement hurt. ‘Oh Hades. We’re in Ardfoot.’

‘We are and in bed.’ Morven sighed happily. ‘It’s perfect. We can stop here and… Why are we sitting up and why do you look like you have been hit with a hard instrument?’ Morven yawned, stared at him intently, let go of him—luckily—and pushed her tresses back from her face. ‘Fraser, what is wrong?’ she asked him urgently, all sleepiness gone from her voice. ‘What’s happened? Do I need to find the pistol and use it?’

Sometimes her thought processes were beyond him. Why on earth would she need a pistol to silence the church bell? ‘To hit the bell? You’d need to be the best shot in the world. It’s not even within cannonball distance.’

‘What are you talking about?’ Morven said in a puzzled voice. ‘I thought I might need to shoot someone!’

Fraser laughed. ‘The minister, for allowing the bell to ring? One of the elders for actually doing it? Tempted, but no. I’ve just had a very uncomfortable thought. It’s the Sunday in the month that Ardfoot has a kirk service.’

‘You said that happened even if you never mentioned today was the day. Does it concern us? Do you usually attend?’

He shrugged. ‘I haven’t since I got back. Mama has gone in my stead. Nevertheless, I will have to soon. However, not today.’

‘Oh good.’ Morven wriggled back onto the pillows. ‘In that case, come back down here, snuggle in and give me a cuddle.’ She lifted the edge of the blanket and let it drop over their stomachs. ‘Let’s forget there is a world outside. After all, we have no horses.’ She stroked his chest and pinched his left nipple.

Fraser smiled grimly and took hold of her hand to clutch it between them. Now he knew what the other noise was that had woken him. ‘Oh if we could. However, I would wager that if we went downstairs and out to the stables we would find two perfectly rested mounts there waiting for us.’

Morven blinked rapidly. ‘You
what?
’ She wriggled up the bed and swung her legs over the side to stand on the floor, put her palms on her still-naked hips and glared at him. ‘How do you know?’

Fraser slid across the bed to follow her until they stood side by side and then circled her with his arms. She leant towards him, and automatically he began to stroke her back to soothe and offer his strength.

‘I was woken by noises. Sounds that were alien to that moment in time. The bell? That I processed. The other sound I couldn’t fathom out until just now.’

She looked up at him. ‘Yes?’

‘Hooves on cobbles. That was a risk although I imagine someone who doesn’t know you, or the person I am now very well, would probably reason we should be fast asleep. It’s only because I’m used to waking at noises my mind thinks aren’t right that I did.’

Morven chewed her lip and then tapped her fingers on his mouth. ‘What should we do? What do you think will happen?’

He sucked her finger into his mouth, pleased to see her pupils dilate and her skin ripple. ‘Sadly not what we would prefer. Dress and await what happens next.’ His stomach gave a most unedifying grumble. ‘Eat maybe and not worry. What will be will be.’

Morven studied his face intently and sighed. ‘The idyll is over?’

‘Temporarily halted,’ Fraser said. ‘For now until we discover who has done what and why.’

‘Then whilst we are in a hiatus, I’ll dress and see what we can have for breakfast,’ Morven said, and turned to the wardrobe. ‘Day dress I think. Good grief what were they thinking about? I’ve found this behind everything else.’ She held up the most diaphanous night-rail he’d ever seen. ‘To wear in Scotland. I’d be a block of ice.’

Fraser leered and stroked his chin. ‘Not for long. I’d thaw you.’

‘Yes well, I think we managed very well without it.’ Morven giggled, dropped it back in the wardrobe and pulled on a pretty day dress of yellow sprigged lawn and covered her arms with a fringed shawl in green.

He looked her up and down. ‘You look like a daffodil.’

She rolled her eyes. ‘That’s a bit mundane.’

‘Not at all, I love them. Cheerful, hopeful and battle the odds.’

****

Morven clattered down the stairs, her riding boots echoing on the bare wooden boards. House shoes had been forgotten, and she decided bare feet would put her at a disadvantage if she needed to look collected and in control.

The bottom step had a jagged edge and she frowned. Splinters. If this house were to be home to goodness knows how many people, would they need to carpet it. What sort of covering would work best for heavy-footed males? Something hardwearing and nothing to make the occupants wary of soiling it.

I am thinking like a wife. Like the lady of the estate.
Morven made a mental note to bring the lack of carpeting, and the need for someone to smooth the ragged wood, to Fraser’s attention. She decided that on reflection the position as Fraser’s wife and his chatelaine was one she enjoyed.

A swift perusal of the contents of the pantry refreshed her mind with regards to what food she had to conjure up breakfast. The coffee pot was on the stove and she was breaking eggs into a bowl so she could scramble them, when Fraser rejoined her. He looked over her shoulder, dropped a kiss on her neck and sniffed. ‘Coffee and scrambled eggs?’

Morven nodded as she poured most of the eggs into a saucepan, and put a saucer full on the floor for Lucky who had emerged with a triumphant mew from the direction of his dirt box. She patted the kitten absently and turned her attention back to Fraser. ‘Will that do? My breakfast skills are limited to this or bread in egg.’

Fraser grimaced. ‘I prefer this to eggy bread. That reminds me of school. Er, scrambled with salmon?’

She laughed. ‘Yes with salmon—I remember your preferences. Look to your left.’ The plate with shredded salmon was waiting to be mixed into the eggs. ‘Ten minutes. Can you set the table?’ It would get him out of her way. It was one thing cooking for him, another to have him hovering whilst she did so. Morven wasn’t that sure of her skills.

‘As soon as I’ve checked that indeed we do have mounts and they are safe and secure. I’d hate to find they’ve been left without food or water.’

Even better. She went back to her scrambling.

Half an hour later, Fraser had confirmed that their horses
were
back in the stables with fresh water, oats and bedding; eaten two plates of food and declared himself replete. He shoved back his chair. ‘That, love, was perfect.’ He looked at the large clock on the wall. ‘Hmmm service will be over by now. I think perhaps we night just prepare ourselves for a visitor or two. To whit, my mama and perhaps yours. Where is the best place to receive them?’

Morven thought for a moment. ‘I’d love to say in the bedroom, or failing that mucking out the stables, but I suppose in the small sitting room?’ She sighed. ‘Is our private time over?’

‘I’d wager it is almost, for now. Don’t worry, there will be other times later. Lots of them. The dower house is ready and waiting for mama and my siblings.’

‘You can’t send them away just like that; that’s cruel.’ Even if it did mean they would be left in relative peace.

‘I’ve mentioned it to mama on several occasions,’ Fraser replied firmly. ‘She knows and allegedly accepts it. If she does not that is too bad. She’s always understood the time would come, and now she has the dower house or the spare house to pick.’

Morven hoped she’d choose the dower house and leave the spare house for her and Fraser to use as their private bolthole.

‘Come on. Grab that shawl.’ Fraser pulled Morven to her feet. ‘You’ve chosen the perfect place.’

‘I have? Where?’ He was dragging her to the door to the kitchen garden, not the one that would bring them to the sitting room.

‘Outside. We, my love, are going to be mucking out the stables. Bucolic bliss. Be ready to look puzzled at their entrance and follow my lead.’