Rose In Scotland (19 page)

She was mulling the matter over when she heard the door between her room and Hugh’s creak open. She lifted her head to see him silhouetted in the doorway, but even as she was absorbing the sight of him he turned as if to leave.

“Hugh?” she blurted out, and then blushed at her boldness. “I—I’m not asleep.”

He hesitated, and then started toward her. “I am sorry for disturbing you,” he apologized, walking over to stand beside the bed. “But there is something I must discuss with you and it will not wait. May I light the candle?”

“Please,” she said, gathering the bedclothes
around her as she sat up. In the warmth of the night she had foresworn the use of a nightcap, and her hair was streaming about her shoulders in untidy disarray. She’d just brushed an errant lock back from her face when the candle flared to life, the dancing flame illuminating the harsh planes of Hugh’s face. He looked so grim, so forbidding, that she reacted without thought.

“What is it, Hugh?” she said, reaching out to gently touch his cheek. “What is wrong?” A terrible fear made her stomach clench. “Has something happened to Grandfather?”

He reached up and closed his fingers around hers. “No, he is fine,” he assured her softly. “It is your uncle. Tonight, before you joined us, he spoke of having our marriage overturned.”

A tremor of fear shook Caroline. “Can he do that?” she asked, her voice not quite steady.

Hugh nodded, his expression growing even more grim. “He claims he can,” he said. “And he does not strike me as the kind to make idle boasts. He has one magistrate in his pocket already; who is to say he does not have another?”

This was news to Caroline, but upon reflection she was not in the least surprised. She already knew her uncle to be dangerously well-connected, which was why she had taken his threat to have her locked up so seriously.

“What do you think we should do?” she asked, raising her gaze to meet Hugh’s intense scrutiny.

“I have been thinking,” he said slowly, brushing a calloused finger down her neck. “And the more I think on it, the more I realize there is but one way to put an end to your uncle’s plotting.
One way to make forever certain he can never have our marriage declared invalid by the courts.”

Caroline’s heart began pounding in an uneven rhythm. “And what way might that be?” she asked, although she already knew what his answer would be.

“I thought by sleeping in your bed I could convince others ours was a marriage in fact,” he said, the music of the Highlands rich in his voice. “But now I know it will not serve. The only way to keep you safe, Caroline MacColme, is to make you my wife in truth as well in name.”

His blunt declaration had the breath catching in her throat. “You mean by making love to me,” she said, the rush of her own blood roaring in her ears like the sound of a mighty sea.

“Aye.” He leaned forward to gently kiss the base of her throat. “Make love to you. But only if you decide it is what you want as well,” he added, his silvery-green gaze burning into hers. “I’ll not force you, not now nor ever. ’Tis a choice only you can make. I’ll abide by whatever you say.”

Caroline tried to think, tried desperately to understand the powerful emotions tearing at her. “And if the answer is no?” she asked, drawing a shuddering breath.

“Then I will do all that is in my power to keep you safe,” he answered with such honesty she believed him at once. “You are my wife, and I pledge to do what I must to protect you.”

She digested that in silence before finding the courage to speak again. “And if the answer is yes?”

His hard mouth curved in a smile that promised both danger and delight. “Then I will make love to you,” he said simply. “Which is it to be, Caroline? Is it yes, or is it no?”

Caroline continued gazing at him, her emotions tangling themselves into a Gordian knot before smoothing out in a single strand. She drew another breath, held it, then let it slowly out again. She lifted her other hand to frame his face in her palms. “The answer is yes, Hugh MacColme. Make love to me.”

There was a tense silence, and at first Caroline didn’t think Hugh had heard her. He stood so still, his countenance betraying nothing of what he was feeling. She bit her lip, desperately wishing her impetuous words unsaid, when he reached out and cupped her face in hands that weren’t quite steady.

“Are you certain, Caroline?” he asked, his voice harsh.

She nodded, swallowing the last of her lingering doubts. “I’m certain.”

He stared at her for a long moment, his gaze searing her as it moved slowly over her face. When it came to rest on her lips she felt its touch as vividly as if it was a kiss. Then his mouth was closing over hers, his kiss deep and strong as he swept her up into his arms and pressed her down on the bed.

She clung to him, her head spinning with an intoxicating mixture of anticipation and dread. She should be afraid, she thought, while thinking was still possible. She should be shrinking in horror at the intimacies they were about to share, and crying for him to stop. But it was hard to
think of such things when her heart was racing and her breath was thick as honey in her throat.

“
Mo
leannan, mo maise,”
he groaned, whispering the exotic words against her throat. “You are so beautiful, so sweet. I burn from wanting you.”

“Hugh …” His name eased through her parted lips like a sigh. She could feel his touch as he slid the robe from her shoulders, leaving her bare save for the transparent silk of her gown. She should have been embarrassed, would have been, she was certain, had it not been for the look of wonder in his eyes.

“How pale your skin is,” he said, his fingers brushing over the soft swell of her breasts. “Like the purest of cream.” His touch slid lower, circling her aching nipples. “And these, they are as pink and dainty as the first roses of spring.”

The ardent praise had her feeling pleased and more than a little flustered. She was a stranger to lovemaking, and did not know how to respond. Was she expected to return his lavish compliments? she wondered, her hands clutching at his broad shoulders. If so, she could think of much she could praise.

“Easy, little one.” As if sensing her confusion he dropped a reassuring kiss on her throat. “I will nae rush you. Relax now, and let me show you how it can be between a man and a woman.”

Emboldened by his words of comfort, she gazed solemnly up into his face. “I’m not afraid,” she said, brushing back a strand of russet hair that had tumbled across his forehead. “It is just I do not know what to do. That is to say,” she added, blushing at his startled expression, “I
know what will happen, but not what my duties are to be. I don’t wish to do anything wrong,” she concluded, shooting him an anxious look.

His expression lightened, and he gave a low chuckle as he brushed another kiss over her mouth. “Your duties, my sweet, are to enjoy yourself. Nothing more, and certainly nothing less.”

He was making a very good start of it, Caroline mused, her lashes fluttering closed as his fingers resumed their soothing strokes. His touch was like fire on her skin, and she shuddered with pleasure.

He continued murmuring to her, daring compliments that made her blush, and exotic words she could not understand. She noted that the bolder his caresses, the more pronounced his accent became, and the insight brought a womanly smile to her lips. It was pleasing to know he was as affected by their lovemaking as was she. Intrigued by the notion, she slid her hands up his neck and buried them in his thick hair.

“That’s it, sweeting,” he groaned, clearly delighted by her caress. “Touch me. I want you to touch me as I am touching you.”

She tipped her head back, opening her lips to his as he kissed her deeply. When his tongue flicked against hers she responded, shyly at first, and then with increasing boldness as he trembled in her arms. Their caresses grew increasingly heated, and each brush of his fingertips across her sensitized skin was more arousing than the last. Her gown melted away, and she noticed only when he bent his head and drew the tip of her breast into his avid mouth.

“Hugh!” She squeezed her eyes shut, her body arching as pleasure shot through her arrow-sharp.

“Easy, dear one,” he said, nipping playfully at her breast and slipping his skillful fingers lower to tease and torment her womanly flesh. “Dinna fight it. Let go. Let go.”

She heard his husky chanting as if from a great distance, but she was too dizzy to care. He suckled at her breast like a babe, alternately nibbling and licking until she was certain she would go mad. Her body was tightening with an unbearable pleasure that grew so strong, so full, she wondered she did not burst from it. Then abruptly she
was
bursting, a keening cry tearing from her lips as she convulsed with ecstasy.

Even as the overwhelming sensations pulsed through her, she could feel him shifting away from her, but before she could protest he returned, gently parting her thighs as he settled between them.

“I will try to be gentle,” he promised, his voice strained with passion. “You must let me know if I hurt you. Tell me, and I give you my word I will stop.”

She tensed, but he was already easing into her, his entry gentle but inexorable. The sensations were overwhelming, and she felt dazed anew as he continued pressing forward. There was a quick flash of pain as her maidenhood gave way, but before she could gasp it was already fading, and in its place was a return of the ecstasy she had experienced moments before.

“Caroline,” Hugh moaned against her neck, his body shivering in her arms “Are you all
right,
leannan?”
He lifted his head to study her anxiously. “Did I hurt you?”

Caroline took a moment to consider his words. Was she hurt? she wondered, a delicious languor making her bones feel as if they were made from water. “No,” she said at last, her voice soft with satisfaction. “You did not hurt me. I am fine.”

A relieved look stole across his face and he lowered his head once more, lightly biting her nipple just as he surged forward to seat himself more deeply in her welcoming warmth. She cried out, her arms tight about his massive shoulders as she gave herself over to the dazzling magic he wielded with such stunning skill.

She thought what had come before was the most wondrous thing she could ever have imagined, but he showed her how wrong she was as he brought her again and again to passionate surrender. Time slid away as he loved her through the long night. Sometimes he was gentle, tenderly solicitous of her as he stroked and kissed her to ecstasy. Other times he was more impatient, hungry and ardent as he rocked her to fulfillment, his head thrown back as he groaned out his release.

It was the most incredible experience of her life, and as she settled down to sleep she thought that perhaps this temporary marriage of hers mightn’t be as bad as she feared. In fact, she decided snuggling against his sweat-dampened chest, it would seem it had much to recommend it. The thought had her lips curving smugly, and she tumbled headlong into a deep and dreamless sleep.

Hugh woke to the sound of his wife’s gentle breathing, and to the weight of her head resting on his chest. Feeling dazed, he sifted a handful of her golden curls through his fingers; impossibly erotic memories brought a smile to his lips and an unmistakable hardness to his lower body. He gazed down at Caroline, lazily pondering the possibilities before shaking his head with regret. Too soon, he decided, brushing a kiss across her creamy shoulder. He’d give her time to recover before showing her any more of the delights to be found in the marriage bed.

Marriage
. The smile faded from his lips as realization dawned. He had made his marriage to Caroline a true one. Never mind that there had been no other choice for either of them, that they had only done what was necessary to stymie her uncle’s devious plans. The fact remained he had made love to her, and by doing so he had put an end to any chance of a simple dissolution of their marriage once the year was ended. Even if he never touched Caroline again, it could already be too late. She could already be carrying his child.

The image of a babe with his red hair and Caroline’s vivid blue eyes filled his mind. If it was a boy, the lad would be his heir; a son he might never be able to claim. Children had never been part of the bargain he and Caroline had struck, and he wondered how they could have been so shortsighted.

Some of his tension must have communicated itself to Caroline because she stirred restlessly, her eyes blinking open as she gazed at him in sleepy confusion.

“Hugh? What is it?” she asked, her voice slurred with exhaustion. “Is something wrong?”

“No,
annsachd
, nothing is wrong,” he soothed her, even as he wrestled with this new dilemma. “Go back to sleep.”

“I’m not sleepy now,” she protested, albeit with a yawn. “What time is it?”

Hugh judged the weak light filtering in through the closed drapes. “Early,” he told her, unable to resist brushing a kiss across her sleep-flushed cheek.

“Mmm,” she said, and then stunned him by snuggling closer. “What are your plans for today?” she asked, sounding surprisingly prosaic considering she was laying naked in his arms. “Do you wish to spend the afternoon together?”

Hugh thought it was as well the room was in shadow, else he knew he would have been hard-pressed to hide his astonishment. He would have thought Caroline would be uncomfortable around him now that they had made love, and that she was not filled him with cautious hope.

“I have several appointments that will take up most of the day,” he began, reviewing the tasks he had set for himself. “But if all goes well I should be home by four o’clock. Would you care to go for a drive in the park?”

She gave another yawn. “That sounds lovely,” she said, and by the way she was slurring her words Hugh could tell she was already half asleep. He held her closer, gently stroking her arm until her breath softened and then deepened. He was beginning to think she had drifted off to sleep when she spoke.

“Will you tell Grandfather of Uncle Charles’s
threats?” she asked, sounding surprisingly coherent. “He may wish to come to London after all.”