Chapter 16
“Leah!”
Magnus slammed through the door she had just passed through, seeing the train of her wedding dress disappear around the corner in the distance.
He could barely drag in a full breath as he ran to keep up with her. He would never have imagined that Gibson would arrive at the wedding, particularly with how little notice he would have had to travel there.
Magnus felt bitter shame and guilt warring inside him that he had not had the presence of mind to be honest with Leah before now. All this confusion might have been prevented if he had just opened his mouth and told her the truth instead of pushing her away out of fear.
Imagine hearing that accusation hours after yer wedding. That yer new husband is a murderer and a liar. Nay wonder she is fleein’ from me. Any woman would!
The door to her chambers slammed shut behind her, but he knew he would not be allowed admittance if he knocked. He pushed the door open forcibly, hearing a startled gasp as Leah turned around. She glared at him as he closed the door behind him.
It looked as though she had been in the act of ripping her wedding dress off her body, the many folds of the dress hanging from her hands, her fingers curled around the fastening at her shoulder.
Despite everything he would have to explain, Magnus could not help admiring her as she stood there before the window.
Her hair was tied into an intricate knot at the top of her head, her pale skin highlighted by the sunshine outside, and the pale blue fabric brought out the color of her eyes to perfection.
Betty was right, that color does suit her.
“Leah, please, ye have to listen to me,” he said, almost begging as she backed away from him.
“I don’t have to listen to a word you say, Magnus. You have lied since the day I met you. Is that the real reason why you did not wish to marry? Because you are still in love with your first wife?” she asked, her hand coming up to encircle her neck as she glared at him, breathing heavily.
Magnus tried to focus on the subject at hand rather than the rise and fall of her breasts as she railed at him.
He shook his head. “Nay, lass. Ye have this all wrong. I never cared for Elizabeth in that way. I have never wanted a woman the way I want ye.”
“And that is supposed to make things better, is it? You have just been accused of monstrous conduct in front of your whole clan!” she shouted, throwing up her hands in fury.
“I didnae ken Gibson would come today,” he stated solemnly.
“That’s what you are het up about? Not the fact that he accused you of murdering his child?!”
“I didnae lay a finger on Elizabeth,” he bellowed, his words echoing off the walls as she recoiled from him.
He took a deep breath so as to calm his rapid breathing and lowered his voice as he continued.
“Ye have to believe me. Elizabeth was a good woman, but we married for the sake of the clans. I would never have seen her come to harm, especially nae when she was carryin’ me child, but I didnae love her, and I ken she didnae love me.
” He paused, feeling the familiar pain spark in his chest. “I would have loved that bairn, though, with me whole soul.”
Leah calmed at that, pity flickering in her eyes as she watched him. “I am sorry that you lost them both,” she said quietly. “I could not imagine any man wishing to harm his unborn child. Why does Gibson think that you hurt her?”
Magnus ran a hand through his hair, beginning to pace as he tried to unravel it all.
“In truth, I have never believed Elizabeth’s death was an accident,” he admitted.
“Whatever do you mean?” she asked, looking puzzled.
“Elizabeth died suddenly as she traveled in a carriage back to the castle, but I have never believed it was an accident. I have always suspected that someone was tryin’ to get to me through her and to destroy me future and me legacy all at once by killin’ me bride and me unborn child.”
He walked to the far corner of the room and turned back to look at her pleadingly.
“It is partly why I havenae wished to have ye here with me. I believe whoever hurt Elizabeth isnae done with their revenge, and they may wish to see ye harmed in order to get to me.”
Leah sniffed. “So you wish to protect me from your enemies? Or yourself?” she countered, taking a step toward him and placing her hands on her slim waist.
“Both,” Magnus answered truthfully. “I am nae the husband any woman should wish for.”
“And what do you suppose a woman should wish for? Do you presume to understand every woman’s wishes based on your own assumptions?” she asked.
He raised his eyebrows as he walked a pace toward her. “And what do ye mean by that, lass? That I am a husband that ye’d wish for?”
She shook her head, backing away, but Magnus could see the lust in her eyes now, her gaze roaming over him.
“I said nothing of the sort.”
“I think it is best if we lead separate lives, just as I said,” he murmured, coming to stand in front of her and putting a hand on the small of her back, pulling her toward him. “But right now, the idea of bein’ separated from ye would break me.”
“What on earth do you mean?” she asked, her eyes widening as he slid his hands down her back.
“After all, ye are me wife. I couldnae stay away from ye now if me life depended on it,” he said firmly, pulling her body against his as she gasped.
Her hands came up to brace against his chest as he lowered his lips to her neck, feeling her shudder beneath him.
“Ye smell like wildflowers on the moors,” he whispered as he dragged his teeth across her collarbone, and she arched into him with a low moan.
His hands came around her waist and steadied her as he slowly backed her toward the wall. She seemed perplexed as her eyes flicked to the bed and then back to him.
“Aye, we’ll need a bed someday, lass, but I’m nae makin’ a bairn with ye today. I’ll have ye another way.”
He pushed her down into a straight-backed chair in the corner of the room.
She was panting now as she watched him, and he would have given anything to strip her bare and see her beautiful body in the flesh, but for now, he was content to give her all the pleasure she could wish for—all the pleasure she deserved.
“What are you doing?” she asked as he hovered above her.
“Takin’ what is mine,” he said reverently, and she shuddered as he buried a hand into her hair and took her mouth with his.
The angle was awkward with her sitting and him standing, but as he plundered her mouth, feeling the smooth skin of her neck beneath the intricate tangles of her hair, she melted against him with a moan.
“All the guests will be waitin’ for ye to return,” he muttered, pulling back slightly, trailing his lips over her jaw. “Do ye think they ken what we are doin’?” he asked as she gripped the armrests with a groan. “I think ye like the idea that they do, lass.”
He released her then, and she watched in fascination as he went down on his knees and his hands pushed past the many layers of her skirts and trailed up the inside of her leg.
“I have thought about this for many days, Leah Shaw, and I shall have ye moanin’ beneath me before we return to the party.”
Her hands were white-knuckled as she gripped the arms of the chair, her back arching upward as he pushed his hand further toward the wet heat between her legs.
As his fingers connected with her flesh, she cried out, parting her thighs for him, and he groaned as he pushed her skirts up to her waist, exposing her shapely legs.
She gasped softly as he lowered his head to the top of her thigh, licking her flesh as she trembled and moaned above him.
He flicked his tongue against the most intimate part of her as her hips bucked. Her thighs were trembling uncontrollably as he lapped at her entrance, pushing his tongue inside her as she gave a low, guttural groan of pleasure that made him harden even further in his trews.
He pulled away, looking up at her with relish as her hot gaze met his, and she watched as his hand moved to the same spot where his tongue had been. He waited until her eyes were fixed on his fingers, pushing her skirts out of the way so she could see what he was about to do.
Slowly, he pushed a single finger inside of her, and she trembled, a soft gasp leaving her lips as his knuckle came to rest at her entrance.
“Can ye feel that lass?” he asked, hooking his finger inside her as she arched against him. “I cannae wait to be inside ye, feelin’ yer heat. There is much pleasure to be had, and I’ll show ye it all.”
“Ugh,” she cried out, her hips moving relentlessly upward. “Don’t stop.”
“I willnae stop,” he said as he slid another finger into her.
In an instant, she had lowered back into the chair, her body bending forward, her hand delving into his hair as he pumped his fingers inside her repeatedly, their shuddering gasps filling the air as he sought out her lips once more and thrust his tongue into her mouth, meeting hers with a sigh of pure pleasure.
He kept pumping his fingers inside her as she began to shudder in earnest beneath him. Her hair fell between them, their foreheads resting against each other as he grunted and thrust against her, feeling her walls tighten around his fingers as she reached her peak.
As if on instinct, her hand moved between them, taking hold of his wrist, guiding his movements, taking her pleasure as she needed it, her body convulsing as she came apart, a loud shout of ecstasy leaving her lips as he felt the rush of pleasure consume her.
As she came down from her high, he slowly withdrew his fingers from her sex and ripped at his own trews, pushing them down and taking himself in hand.
She was still bent forward, gasping as she came to herself, and he crushed his lips against hers, thrusting his tongue into her mouth as she met his with a groan of ecstasy.
He stroked his manhood over and over, groaning against her lips as she pulled back from him to watch him finally find his release.
He quivered as he climaxed, letting out a shuddering gasp of delighted release as they panted against one another, both of them joined in a moment of pure ecstasy.
He kissed her again, licking at her tongue and feeling her meet him stroke for stroke.
As he finally pulled back, Leah collapsed into the chair, staring at him with wonder and surprise.
Magnus smiled, gently pulling her toward him. Then he pulled her off the chair completely so that she was suspended above him, in his arms. Her hair cascaded over her shoulders, tickling his neck as he gazed up at her.
“Let us return to our weddin’, wife of mine.”