The Imposter (27 page)

“What did they do
to you?” I whispered, needing to know, needing to share his pain.

Startling me, Devon’s
chest shook with laughter.  My eyes flashed up to his.

“They didna do
that, lass,” he said, eyes meeting mine.  “I did that tae myself when I found
Brennan this morning.”

“You what?” I
asked incredulously, shocked.

“I beat him within
an inch of his life.  Only spared his life because of Leti.”

“I agree that he
needed punished, but was that really necessary?” I asked, terrified of Leti’s
reaction to this turn of events.

“He disobeyed me,”
Devon said sternly.  “And tae make matters worse, not only did he disobey me,
but he also put ye in danger.”

“But did you
really need to beat him?” I asked, stunned by Devon’s brutality.

“Hell yes, I did!”
Devon exclaimed.  He was agitated now, and his temper flared.  “It is
unacceptable for one of my men, best friend or no tae disobey me.  And the fact
that he neglected yer safety was reason enough for me tae show no mercy in his
punishment!”

He looked away
now, breathing heavily as he fought to regain his control.

“I thought I’d
never see you again,” I whispered, changing the subject away from Brennan.  I
reached up and slipped my hand under his shirt, it had fallen open at the
neck.  I placed my hand on top of his heart, relishing the warmth of his skin. 
“I was so scared, Devon.”

His eyes were
hooded now, his expression softer.

“I thought the
same, Kate.  When I was in that cell at the Camerons, my thoughts of ye are
what kept me living.  I thought of how I wanted tae touch ye, tae kiss ye…”

The pain in his
voice struck me, and I captured his face in my hands, and carefully brought his
lips to mine.  I kissed him tenderly, being careful not to break open his split
lip.

“I’m sorry, Kate,”
he said, catching me by surprise as the anger faded from his face. 

I knew that he was
still displeased at the risk that I had taken, but for whatever reason, he was
softening.  

“I doona approve
of how ye put yerself in danger, but what is done is done.  Come here, lass,”
he said pulling me closer.  “I’ve missed ye.”

It felt good to
hold him, to know that he had returned to me all in one piece.  He rested his
cheek on top of my head, kissing my hair.  I found his embrace calming,
reassuring, and allowed my body to melt into him, bathing in the sense of
security that he provided.  He breathed out slowly and squeezed me gently,
drawing slightly away from me so that he could look into my face.

“I’ll not beg for yer
forgiveness, but I will try to explain to ye my reasons for acting the way that
I do,” he said, drawing further away from me and raking his hand through his
hair, as he did when he was unsure of how to begin a conversation.  “Well,” he
began, “To be completely honest, I’ve never had a woman that was mine,
completely mine, bound tae me as ye are, Kate.  I’ve told ye that I’ve been with
other women, but it’s not the same.”

The thought of him
being with other women always bothered me.  It was a fact that I tried to
forget about, and when I couldn’t get it out of my mind, it made my blood boil
with jealousy.  I felt the sensation of calm leave my body and it was once
again replaced by tension and a twinge of anger.

“When I was with
those women, I had no claim on them.  They filled a need that I had, but there
was no connection, no expectation other than the needs of my body.   It was
never my duty tae protect them, tae see tae their safety because they were not
mine.”   He looked over at me, intensity in his eyes.  “With you, Kate, it’s
different.  Yer mine.  My wife.  And when I see ye taking such a great risk,
even if it was tae save my sorry ass, I canna bear it,” his stare was intense,
serious. 

I reached out a
hand and covered his hands with mine.  To hear him speak of me in this
possessive way made me feel good, wanted. My warrior was showing me a
vulnerable side, yet vowing that he would not share me with others and staking
his claim to me as his woman. 

“I never thought,
never believed that I would have a wife.  My life as a warrior doesna
particularly lend itself tae having a woman to care for and I never thought
that Collin would force me into marriage.  But now that I have ye, I want all
of ye.  I want tae wrap ye up and keep ye for myself,” he smiled ever so
slightly, embarrassed by this admission.  “The anger that I felt today was
maddening, worse than any rage that I’ve ever felt on the battlefield.  I
wanted tae kill Brennan.  And at the same time I have missed ye sae much and I
wanted tae grab ye and hold ye and kiss ye….” he trailed off, trying to express
his conflicting emotions.

“Do ye understand
me Kate?” he spoke firmly, yet implored me to acknowledge the claim that he was
staking upon me.

“Yes, I understand
but I want you to know that I acted in the manner that I did because I felt
that there was no other choice,” I said, with sincerity.  “I didn’t want to
defy you, to put myself at risk, but I felt that it was the only way that we
could be together again.  I couldn’t bear the thought of living without you.”

“It was mighty
braw what ye did last night,” he said, now with the hint of a proud smile on
his face.

“I only did what I
had to to get you back,” I whispered, voice trembling now as the reminder
crossed my mind that this could have turned out vastly different.  What if I
had not been able to secure his release?

“Thank ye,” he
smiled a lopsided smile that melted my heart, taking hold of my hand with his
own and raking the hair back out of his face again with his other hand.  “Thank
ye for risking yerself tae get me back.”

I smiled at his
gratitude, knowing that it was very difficult for him to thank me for
disobeying his orders.  Devon was a man that was used to being obeyed.  “I
guess that means that you really do want me.”

“Want ye?  Yer all
that I think about, lass!  I swore that I wouldn’t let ye get tae me that way,
but I must admit that I am a complete and utter failure,” he chuckled softly,
and stood up from the settee, gently pulling me up with him.

            “Let’s start this over,
lass,” he sighed.

I took my cue,
knowing it best to take an olive branch when one was offered.               
“I’ve missed you, Husband,” I whispered, eyes blazing as I captured his lips in
a kiss. 

My kiss was
matched and returned with fervor, the fervor of a husband who had missed his
wife and was glad to be home.

I drew away from
him slightly, arms still wrapped tightly around his shoulders.  “If I recall, Husband,
I think that you promised me a riding lesson,” I said with a seductive smile.

“Mmm……I do want ye
to keep up with yer lessons.  We’d better get to that right away,” he smiled
back and kissed me again as he began to drag me towards the bed.

“But the stable’s
that way,” I feigned in protest as he lifted me into his arms and lowered me
onto the sheets.  A deep growl in his throat was his only response to my
protest, but I felt his smile in the kiss that he gave me as he settled his
weight on top of me.

            I squealed as he rolled
suddenly, taking me with him. Now I found myself on top of him, gazing down at
his playful hot smile.  He gently arranged my legs so that I sat astride him
now and I felt my face flush with color as I grasped the intimacy of our
contact.

“Will this do for
a riding lesson?” he asked, eyes sparkling mischievously.

I was too
flustered by our intimate contact to respond.  I felt him
, there,
right
between my legs.  The sensation of having his arousal pressed so intimately
against my feminine parts sent waves of desire pulsing through my body.  I bit
my lip as I considered what to do next.

Devon helped me
decide by pulling my faced down to his.  He kissed me deliciously, tongue
surging into my mouth, emboldening me with his desire.  His hands were under my
gown now, his palms hot against the skin of my thighs.  They continued up to my
hips and I groaned in pleasure as he grasped me firmly, one large hand on each
side of my bottom.

His hands began to
move me, to guide me as my most intimate parts glided tantalizingly over his
erection.  He groaned deeply at our contact and he shuddered when I broke our
kiss and sat up astride him, placing my hands on top of his chest.  My hair
cascaded freely down my back and I felt powerful, free as I watched how my
movement affected Devon.

I took over the
movement that his hands had taught me, riding him as he had shown me.  I felt
wanton and I savored the feeling of his manhood against my sensitive feminine
parts as I brought us both pleasure.

Suddenly, I found
myself wishing that the fabric of his linen pants was out of the way.  I wanted
to feel his intimate skin against mine.

Devon growled
deeply and clenched his teeth together as I continued to ride him, to torment
him.

A gruff knocking
on our chamber door startled us both back to reality.  Devon broke away from
kissing me reluctantly, breathing huskily, and emitted a groan of annoyance.

“Stay right there,
sweetheart,” he said softly as he rose from our bed.

I giggled as I
watched him try to make himself presentable.  He pulled a shirt on over his
head and raked a hand through his thoroughly tousled hair.   He looked very
guilty, and he knew it. He smiled playfully at me and gave up on fixing his
appearance.

He stalked heavily
over to the chamber door and opened it to find Collin standing in the doorway. 
Collin was the last person that I wanted to see right now.

“Did I disturb ye?”
Collin asked, peering past Devon’s shoulder to look at me.

I’m sure that I
looked guilty as hell, standing there with my hair all disheveled and my lips
ruddy from Devon’s kisses.

“Yes,” Devon said
coolly, clearly annoyed with his brother’s poor timing.

“I need an update on
the matters with the Camerons,” Collin said, it was more of an order than a
request.  “I heard of the Laird’s untimely demise, and I want to be sure that
we are prepared for any repercussions that may occur.”

Devon looked over
his shoulder longingly at me, his expression telling me that he wanted to stay,
but was not going to be able to.

“I’ll be down in a
minute,” he said to his brother. “I’ll meet ye in the study,” he said, closing
the door behind Collin, who had already started off down the hall.

Devon turned
around, and leaned his weight on the heavy wooden door.  There was a look of
annoyance on his face and I knew that he was not in the mood to deal with
Collin.

“I have tae go,”
he said, walking towards me and pulling me into his arms.  “I don’t want tae,
but duty calls,” he whispered into my hair before leaning down and placing a
chaste peck on my lips.  “Don’t wait up for me.  I expect that Collin will drag
this out as long as he possibly can.  I think that he got the feeling that I
was enjoying my time with ye just a little tae much,” Devon smiled, knowing
that Collin hated the fact that Devon and I enjoyed one another so openly.

“Hurry back,” I
said, disheartened by the fact that I would likely be spending another lonely
evening by myself.  I had just gotten Devon back and still hadn’t been able to
have him all to myself.  I just wanted to be alone with him.  I wanted to show
him just how much I loved him.  Losing him had nearly broken me.

“Will do, lass,”
he kissed me again and strode out the door.

I decided that a
long, nap would be rather restorative, given what I had been through in the
past 24 hours.  I stripped down to my chemise and crawled into bed, clinging to
the faint possibility that Devon might return from his meeting with Collin
early and get into bed with me.  The thought of Devon being in bed with me made
the butterflies go crazy in my stomach.  I turned the idea of making love to
him over in my mind.  I wanted him badly and I was ready to join myself to him
and become his wife in every sense of the word.  Maybe tonight would be the
night.  I fell asleep with a dull ache between my thighs, dreaming of what it
would be like to make love to my husband.

Chapter
Seventeen

I missed Devon
fiercely and my heart sank when I awoke from my nap and he had not returned.  I
resigned to the fact that I would go down to dinner alone again, but I put
extra effort into my appearance just in case I might reunite with Devon at
dinner.

I knew that
meetings with Collin always put Devon in a foul mood and I hoped that Devon’s
mood could be easily repaired with a few well placed kisses.

I wanted to resume
my riding lessons after all, I thought wickedly.

Lost in thought, I
flew down the stairs towards the great hall and as I turned the corner I ran
right into Collin.  Running into him was like running into a stone wall and the
force of my impact with his chest knocked me crashing to the floor.

His green eyes
glowered down at me, but he said nothing.  He stepped over me rudely and
continued on his way.

I composed myself
and stood up, brushing off my skirts.  My eyebrows were now knit together with
the feelings of hatred that I harbored for Collin.  He was so arrogant and the
way that interactions with him troubled Devon made me dislike him that much
more. 

I decided not to
tell Devon about my abrupt encounter with his brother, knowing that it would
only anger him further.  After hearing about how Devon had dealt with Brennan,
the last thing that I wanted to do was provoke his temper in regards to his
brother, the Laird.

I turned to walk
down the hallway that led to the great hall, and ran right into Devon’s chest. 
I gasped in surprise and his arms were around me, stabilizing me so that I
wouldn’t fall.  What a welcome contrast his strong arms were to my recent
interaction with his brother.