A Warrior's Perception (2 page)

She returned as breathless as Demon. Kagan watched as her skirts pulled up as she dismounted Demon's back. His eyes rested on her lovely legs and backside.

Flawless.

She paid her skirts no heed as Kagan sized her up. Spellbound, he could only stare at her ethereal beauty. She was young, probably very innocent and ripe. Her large intelligent eyes filled her beautiful face and her lips were full and exquisitely perfect as was her straight tiny nose. Her breast was large and bountiful and stretched her top taunt. Her long silky hair hung below her waistline, which was still filled with childhood plumpness. Her waist gave way to her deliciously round hips and flawless legs.

She was indeed a very sultry young woman and in a year or two she would be a breathtaking beauty. Her plump childish features would melt away, revealing the woman Kagan was already seeing. He wondered who she was and wanted to know her name. And what the laird wanted, the laird got!

The laird emerged from the shadows and stalked closer to his prey,
“
Pray thee girl, ye did'na harm my steed.
”

The girl jerked upright from her position beside the warhorse. The resonating deep voice sizzled up her spine and the heavy brogue barricaded her senses. She feverishly fought with her skirts to hide her legs and backside. Frowning, he wondered what it was about her that affected him so. He had lain with women of all ages, from the pretty to the most beautiful, but yet this female was enchanting and alluring beyond compare.

Her face flamed as the voice behind her continued,
“
Men ha'e died by my hand o'er that horse. Do ye wish the same fate?
”

Andra turned fearful of the man's dangerously deep voice,
“
P...Pardon my ignorance, I.
”

He grabbed her arm and turned her to face him in the scant light that the moon offered. He peered into the most beautiful sea green eyes he had ever seen and his heart somersaulted. 

He faltered at her distressed appearance and his cold words turned soft,
“
Today, I will forgive such weakness to horse flesh, but yer crime must na go unpunished, for the Laid McKregan must abide his own rules.
”

Andra expected his hand to ring across her cheek so she closed her eyes and waited. To her surprise it didn't come. She slowly opened her eyes and fearfully looked up into the laird's hooded face. She swallowed hard. The laird was tall, broad, and entirely masculine. His scent of horse and leather made her dizzy and she grabbed his arm to steady her shaking legs. The touch was electrifying and she struggled to breath. Oh, he was a veritable ocean of pleasure.

“
Donna fear me,
”
he whispered as his head bent and his massive arms pulled her to his chest.

Her eyes widened in pure shock as the laird laid claim to her tender lips. It was a soft, light, and delightful kiss. She innocently leaned closer and returned the kiss. He was caught in his own trap, a bee addicted to his own honey. The kiss deepened, his tongue licked hers and sucked greedily at her sweetness, the sweetest nectar he had ever tasted. Her smell, honey and vanilla, filled his nostrils and danced through his senses.

Pushing her roughly back against the stone wall of the stable, he molded her body to his raw rigid frame. He lifted her in his arms as he pushed his tongue deeper into her warm sultry mouth. She tasted like honeyed milk, nectar of the gods. Taking him by surprise, she responded quickly, sucking on his tongue as eagerly as he had on hers. He broke the kiss, knowing where it would lead. She was young; perhaps even a virgin, ready and willing, but still a virgin all the same. His shaft was ablaze, but he refrained.

“
Was that my punishment?
”
she asked breathlessly.

“
Only part of it,
”
he replied as he kissed her neck,
“
Tell me yer name.
”

He licked her ear and lightly sucked and slid his hands down her sides grabbing her waist. He pushed hard into her body, spreading her legs with his. A feral roar greeted her ears as his lips tasted her skin.

“
Ell'andra,
”
she whispered as he showered her face with searing kisses.
“
Tis Ell’andra.
”

“
Ell'andra Duncan,
”
she moaned as he brushed her lips.

Duncan!

Damn. Double damn
.

He owed Duncan much; the man had been irreplaceable in the war after Kagan's father had passed. Duncan was loyal and his loyalty was unwavering. He simply could not deflower his daughter in a fit of passion in a dirty stable.

Damn, did she have to be so willing and passionate? He urged his hands to let her go, but they traveled to her skirts instead. He needed to run his hands down the
course
of her flawless leg and seeing as how he was lost in the moment, he pulled her leg up to his waist. He groaned as it instinctively curled around his waist and gave in to the pleasure of her touch. His fingers trailed down the length of her smooth leg to her toes. She wiggled against him and he groaned into her neck. Double
damn;
did she have to fit so perfectly to his body?

Flawless!

He devoured her lips as she grabbed his hair and pulled him closer, deeper. Her hand tugged at the leather strap holding his hair. It gave way and she wrapped her fingers into his black mane. She tugged his head back and showered his neck with feather-light scorching kisses, falling into a depraved urgent need to feast on a man so utterly perfect.

Andra felt the urgency of the raw desire burning inside her stomach, in her loins as Laird McKregan slammed her back into the wall. His hands melted to her buttocks holding her tightly against his hips, to his hardness, to his raw steel. She moaned as his mouth besieged hers once again and his rock hard body delighted the yearning of her own.

She met his kiss with a passion that burned to his core. His shaft threatened to erupt as she clung to his shoulders and arched against him. She was in heaven's floodgates, soaring to heights and places she had never seen. And the Lord McKregan was in utter awe of the fire in her soft supple body.

He pulled back and silently cursed as he tore away from her. She slid down his hot, sweaty body, such sweet torture. She leaned back against the wall, breathless and lost in lusty heat and he was right there with here. He turned quickly on his heel, fists at his side and stalked away, away from her, his traitorous horse, and from the sweet release he had almost lost control of.

He prayed to his god, Dagma, to give him strength not to turn back and finish what had begun. Only seconds from
losing
all restraint, he did what a warrior had to do in times such as these, he slammed his mighty fist into the closest tree and cursed the likes of which a pirate would have been proud of. The tree shuddered and bent under the savage onslaught. Its pain was his. Pain, glorious pain burst from his knuckles revealing the crimson stream of his mortality. He welcomed it as his shaft eased.

How in the name of Dagma had a sixteen-year old virgin seduced him, Laird Kagan McKregan, lover to many far and wide?

He cursed under his breath as her words to Demon mocked him. ..
.bareback against my legs....yer wild heart beat with pleasure....to be astride ye, dear dark, powerful warrior...

“
Dagma!
”

His furious footsteps slowly eased as he entered the keep through the main entrance. He had simply gone too long without a woman in his bed. That was it by Dagma. He would nip that problem in the bud before the night was over.

His roguish smile had returned when he reentered the ballroom in his full glory. Duncan laughed heartily with Kagan's men. They boasted and told tales of battle. The ladies, maids, wives, and even the respected elder women swooned in the warrior's presence. Kagan eyed them all, each one was tall, dark haired, and their skin was the color of goat's milk. He frowned, all of them suddenly seemed weak and inferior compared to the girl in the stable.

“
Come my
laird;
join us in drink, in song. We celebrate this mighty night, yer victory, and yer glory!
”
Duncan announced loudly.

“
Aye!
”
shouted his men, his friends.

The massive handsome laird took the offered cup and drained it to the last bitter drop, thirsty for its cure.

“
Aye!
”
he proclaimed in his deep baritone.
“
Peace has been restored to the highlands and her borders are secured. Drink and celebrate our good fortune and return. To my sworn brothers, to victory, and to...our women.
”

“
Aye!
”
answered his men holding their cups into the air.

As his cup was refilled, he watched Ell'andra sneak through the balcony doors and head up the stairs in the shadows. His thoughts traveled. He wondered if she would think of their encounter in her dreams. Would she envision him as a knight in shining armor, a dark sinister warrior, or a dark swarthy pirate hell bent on stealing her virginity? He smiled as he edged up the steps and followed her footsteps down the hallway. He watched her slip through her bedchamber doors and wondered why there was no lock on it.

Ell'andra. Ell'andra Duncan of Shinonoble Keep, a beauty hid right before my eyes for all these years.

He turned and slowly made his way back down the staircase to the awaiting crowd. Perhaps now was as good a time as any to become betrothed. He was well into his twenties and would soon need sons to inherit his titles and lands.

He raised his large hands as he entered the crowd to quickly put a stop to their tongues. When the laird spoke, all listened and even the proud Duncan bowed to his presence.

A hush fell across the room as he spoke.
“
It is with great pleasure that I come to the mighty Shinonoble Keep. My victories ha'e been just and good and my lands are rich with bounty. Now, it is time for me to take a wife. Accordin' to King James, I must take a wife in five
years’ time
to ensure my estates are entrusted to my lineage, so there will be a great gatherin' at McKregan Keep in four years. Pray thee all, keep yer daughters intact and I shall choose amongst our people. She must be strong, virile,
and flawless
-
the word dripped from his tongue like honey straight from a hive -
woman enough to sire my sons and daughters. What be yer answer?
”

“
Aye! Aye! Aye!
”
the crowd shouted and drank from their cups.

Crimm leaned against the wall in the shadows and smiled at his friend and laird, Kagan. He had witnessed the entire scene in the stables. His smile vanished as he remembered the way Kagan had touched his sister, like a man new to the ways of seduction. He chuckled as his thoughts went to Kagan's swollen knuckles. It served him right!