Chapter 21
Rose’s chambers were quiet, the fire flickering in the hearth to keep the space warm.
It had been another trying day, and the world beyond her room felt as if it were attempting, each day, to thwart her happiness.
She had at last given herself to Dominik, and the moment had been so very wonderful before his sudden change of mood.
He’d corrected a bit of their tense misunderstanding and distance this morning at her inherited property, but there was still so much strain between them. And that was before Mirren had arrived and delivered her devastating news.
How could someone believe I had been abducted? Where are my parents in all this? Have they said nothing in my defense?
Rose had done so much to improve the way the clan thought of her.
It pained her to think that someone within the keep could have started the rumor to rid themselves of her presence.
She could think of no one else who might do it, after all.
She had no grand connections in England, no cabal of people around her who were indeed false friends and would use any opportunity to destroy her reputation.
In point of fact, she didn’t have many friends at all. A small group of women with whom she socialized at soirees and events were the extent of her acquaintances. She was something of a solitary person because of how diligently she had to work to guide her parents.
Had she wronged someone she was unaware of? No, the odds seemed much stronger in the direction of someone within Clan MacKay detesting her presence.
Knock, knock, knock.
Rose jumped slightly in her chair, realizing that she had been sitting in front of the mirror in her room, staring into her own reflection in silence. Standing, she got up and proceeded to the door, pulling it wide to see Dominik standing in the hall.
“Dominik.” She couldn’t keep the surprise from her voice. “I will admit to being taken aback by your arrival. Is there something I can do for you?”
He sighed, a slight chuckle rumbling through his exhale. “I wish to speak with ye, lass. In private, if that is all right with ye.”
A tremble slithered through her, those familiar nerves tingling in her blood before she managed to nod and step aside to let her husband enter her bedchambers.
Dominik followed in quickly enough, proceeding directly to one of the two chairs that sat at the table in the corner.
His stare was fixed on the table’s surface as she sat down across from him, and then another heavy sigh left him.
“This isnae how I wished to be spending the day or evening.” Looking up, Dominik met her eyes with a grain of levity amongst his frustrations. “I find…I find that I cannae stop thinking about me maither and how she viewed the marriage to me faither.”
Curious, Rose tilted her head, folding her hands in front of her on the table and saying, “Why is that?”
“Ye ken that she dinnae view the Scottish people in the best light. The woman was always more concerned with political ambitions and increasing her station. Even me faither dinnae view the arrangement with rosy feelings. He knew it was a match of purpose, nae love or affection. It also dinnae grow as they remained together.”
Dominik paused, but Rose didn’t speak up. She allowed him to speak, watching his eyes roam over the room and table before finding her again.
“She was incapable of, or perhaps refused, to adapt to Scottish life, to embrace the customs of the clan and the country. She wasnae the Lady of the castle in actions, only in title.” Her husband’s eyes burned, and he reached across the table to take her hands.
“And I ken that her attitude affected how I viewed the English, how I viewed ye.”
Rose’s expression softened, and she tilted her head as she offered a sympathetic smile to Dominik.
“I understand what you are saying. I do. We talked about this some, Dominik. Did you think I still did not see the keep as my home?”
“On the contrary,” Dominik’s cheek lifted in a sly grin, one accompanied by a tiny nod, “I see now that ye are truly the lady this keep needed. I see how ye have worked, despite being hesitant in the beginning. After the explosive news this afternoon, I have seen how ye continue to rise to any occasion.”
Heat bloomed through Rose’s face, quickly sinking down her neck all the way to the very core of her.
Dominik’s words of praise lit her up like a roaring hearth on a cold winter’s day.
She did not want to admit how much they meant to her, but there was little denying it.
Their relationship had begun to change over the past few days, especially since that kiss on the top of the hill.
She didn’t see them as merely acquaintances in their lives. They were steadily becoming more and more like partners in charge of this massive keep, like…friends or perhaps more.
Most of all, as Dominik spoke, his voice was raw and charged with emotion, displaying utter honesty.
He held nothing back from her, and Rose not only appreciated it but also respected the confidence and trust that it took.
She’d yet to see her husband truly like this before, and it moved her to stand up from her seat and go to the space just in front of him, kneeling before his legs and glancing up at him.
“I cannot fathom what it was like to grow up in an environment where your mother could not appreciate half of what you are. I am endlessly grateful that you have taken note of how much caring for the clan means to me.”
Silence fell over them, charged and fiery. Rose could feel the tension in her muscles, in the very air around them. She looked up at her husband, the proud Laird, and he didn’t blink as he held her eyes, reaching for her cheek and stroking his thumb back and forth over the heated flesh.
After a moment, Dominik leaned forward in his chair, pulling Rose up from the floor with his hands on her face.
He followed along, reaching his full height and gazing down at her as he cupped each cheek.
She could scarcely breathe as they were enveloped by the moment, intimate and without formality or that same lingering pressure of duty.
This, what existed right here between them, was about two souls coming together.
“Ye are precisely what this clan, and its Laird, needed, lass. I could never have guessed. I can see in ye the same fire to do what is right for yer people that has been my entire purpose for as long as I can remember.”
Rose melted into Dominik’s hold, allowing him to sweep her against him, one of his hands going to the small of her back while the other cradled her head.
“I see ye.”
Smiling softly, ever so faintly, Rose let out a long breath. “And I see you, Dominik.”
Before any words could be exchanged, her husband pulled her toward him gently, placing his lips upon her like delivering an offering of gold to the highest monarch in the land.
The kiss was unhurried, smooth, and they twined themselves together as the intimacy swirled around them, exploring and appreciating the other person’s pointed caresses.
Against her lips, Dominik’s hushed whisper vibrated her skin. “I would touch ye, lass. I would feel me wife for meself and nae for duty.”
Rose didn’t hesitate or overthink, nodding against her husband’s head.
This was different, a moment of release and arousal born of their growing connection.
Dominik did not come to her now in a duty-driven move.
He had no need to, and it filled her heart with an unfamiliar yet welcome emotion, one she could not put a name to.
“Yes,” she whispered back. “Yes, Dominik. Please.”
Dominik’s intense stare found hers, and she smiled bashfully, wondering at what the expression on her face said to her husband.
But he swiftly dove back into the kiss, now walking them both backward and leaning her down to the bed.
She followed readily, lying across the smooth, soft surface as Dominik towered over her.
The air was warm and charged, revealing a pure vulnerability between them that could be crystallized into something glimmering like ice.
Rose ached in the same way she had the night her husband had properly claimed her, the need in her blood louder than the bagpipes that’d played during the gathering.
A low moan bloomed from Rose as Dominik lowered his caresses, dragging his kisses up the side of her neck and nibbling gently. It was so different, so profound and perfect, Rose nearly cried. She arched against Dominik, the curves of her breasts pressing into his chest.
“Aye, lass,” he whispered in her ear. “Ye are a thing of wonder. To feel ye against me…”
Dominik’s words drifted off as he lavished her skin with his lips.
Then, with his free hand, he began to push down the fabric shift beneath her stays, pulling the fabric firmly so that he could reveal her collarbones and chest. She squeaked as the sensations overwhelmed her nerves, and then Dominik’s large fingers brushed the side of her breast.
“Oh, God…” Rose’s voice was a throaty whisper, and she was unable to think beyond reveling in the feeling of her husband so intent on exploring her every inch.
It was truly intoxicating, and then Dominik reached for the laces on her stays. He unwound the tie, letting the binding garment slip open. Even before the move revealed her, Rose’s nipples were hard. The tiny buds pressed against the fabric before the cooler air of the room chilled her.
Or did it? The fire was blazing steadily. Perhaps it was only that the internal flames within her were so much stronger.
Dominik’s fingers swept over her breast, finding the small buds at her tips and dusting them with featherlight touches.
“The sweetest, tiniest little beads,” he murmured, lowering his mouth to her skin and circling around the needy flesh as Rose arched up once more, “and so very divine, lass.”
He squeezed gently on the fair pink skin, Rose’s areola disappearing behind the strong fingers of her husband.
“Oh, Dominik.” She kept her voice down as much as she could, seeking to restrain herself so that no one walking nearby would hear her groan loudly. The Laird smirked down at her.
Sliding just the tip of his tongue against her nipple, Dominik planted his foot down on the ground somewhere unseen, using his other knee to slowly nudge her legs apart. He wished to touch her, and Rose was beginning to truly understand the implications of that desire.
“Oh my,” she dragged out, and her sweet Laird grinned as she glanced up at him, rolling her nipple between his teeth before pulling back.
Licking across her heated flesh once more, Dominik began to gather up the plentiful fabric of her skirts.
Rose blushed as her husband gazed down at her, his stare perceiving every part of her.
Quicker than previously, he returned his attention to the bud of her untouched breast, gifting it the wondrous sensations he’d given to the other.
Still, he continued to wind up the mess of her skirts, more and more of her legs becoming exposed.
Her eyes flared briefly, Rose’s thighs clamping together.
But any tension there all melted away as Dominik continued to worship her with his touch. It felt heavenly, truly divine, and Rose’s eyes fluttered closed. She was cared for under this man’s touch, relished, desired.
“Ye are a fine as delicate porcelain, lass. Smooth, soft…warm.”
Dominik’s hand found the intimate space beneath her skirts, gently caressing the eager part of her that responded so profoundly to his touches.
She’d had no experience with any of this, of course, but even more, this was not as commonly gossiped about with brides before their wedding night.
This was something else, something deeper that they shared as man and wife.
And in particular, this act was something Dominik gave to her, igniting her every nerve.
“Oh, Dominik…I…I…”
“Shh, lass. Think only of how I touch ye, how I tend to ye.”
If it were possible for Rose to blush harder, she did.
Beauty and connection flared so brightly between them that she could scarcely think.
Dominik raked his stare over her figure, devouring her with only his gaze.
Half undone like this, Rose felt so vulnerable, so exposed, but there was no part of her that didn’t trust herself in Dominik’s hands.
And my what hands they were.
His touch found her in that intimate place, sliding across skin that had never been touched as it was now. She sighed against his caress, this alien sensation one that she could readily grow to adore.
“Me bonny lass.” Dominik swiped a finger up her, tumbling up her mind so that there was nothing beyond how he touched her, pleasured her.
He teased that spot, such a dexterous move that he had not been capable of with his manhood.
This was quite different indeed, a tiny bit shocking, but undeniably arousing.
Her husband had hardly done much to her, his wandering fingers moving all the way down her thigh before returning to her core, and she was already on that sharp edge.
Rose recalled the feeling from their time together, and she craved more, mindlessly rolling her hips, seeking out Dominik’s touch.
And still he teased her, not doing more than gliding the pads of his fingers across her most sensitive skin.
It was enough to drive her mad, and indeed she was, knocked about by the intensity of the need boiling in her blood.
A frantic whimper left her, and Dominik chuckled, this devilish, gorgeous sound.
His kisses found her lips again before ducking down her chin once more, the smooth warmth of them landing on the top of her breast, then the center of her sternum, and then back to her pained nipples that longed for his touch as much as the rest of her.
“Dominik. Dominik, please.”
That sinful chuckle again, humming against that aching bud. “Sweet Rose, have I coaxed ye enough? Shall I at last relieve ye?”
“Please, God, yes. I—”
Knock, knock, knock.
The sound of someone outside their door sent Rose into a panic, and her eyes flared wide only moments before she ducked into the corner of Dominik’s arm as if it might shield her from the embarrassment that raked through her.
“Aye,” her husband called out.
“A letter, me laird. It has come from English officials.”
At that, Rose shot herself upright, looking at her husband with her heart in her throat as the panic rose up to choke her. Dominik’s irritated expression shifted to one of genuine distress, and he swallowed hard before he replied to the servant who had knocked.
“Thank ye. We shall be down to receive it momentarily.”
English officials had written to them. This was not good, not good at all.