Epilogue
Two weeks later
The cold blue light of dawn streamed in through the windows in Cathleen’s chambers. It was still early, but she couldn’t fall back asleep. Instead, she watched Macauley as he rested, taking in his strong, handsome features and the injuries that had almost completely healed. There was nothing but a faint green bruising around his eye now, a fading reminder of everything that had happened to him.
None of it mattered anymore, Cathleen told herself. They were free from Faolan’s tyranny and they were together. That was all that mattered.
Gently, she traced the contours of his face with her fingers and Macauley began to stir, his eyes opening just enough to look at her through his lashes. His beard was getting a little longer, she noted, and in a rush of heat, she couldn’t help but want to feel it on her skin.
“Why are ye awake?” Macauley asked, voice rough with sleep as he threw an arm over her waist and pulled her close. “It’s so early still.”
“I couldnae sleep,” Cathleen said with a small shrug. The sudden proximity didn’t help with her arousal. If anything, it only heightened it, especially when she felt Macauley’s half-mast length against her thigh.
They had been so busy in the past two weeks that they had barely had time for each other like this. It was the first morning that they could lie in bed for a while before having to get up and Cathleen wanted to make the most out of it.
With a smirk, she snaked a hand between them, wrapping her fingers around Macauley’s length. The previous night, he had collapsed onto the bed after his bath, exhausted from the day, and hadn’t even bothered to wear any sleeping clothes, so it was easy for her to stroke him, dragging a satisfied hum out of him.
“What are ye doin’?” he asked, though he immediately rolled onto his back, spreading his legs a little wider as Cathleen pleasured him. He gave her a teasing smirk, hips bucking into her fist with a groan, and that was how she knew he was now fully awake.
“I’m pleasurin’ me soon to be husband,” Cathleen said, sighing softly as Macauley craned his neck to press a kiss to the corner of her lips. He was fully hard by then, hot and heavy in her hand, slowly leaking from the tip, the moisture making the slide of her fingers easy and silky.
Macauley settled back on the pillow, enjoying the attention. “I’m a very lucky man,” he said. “Take off yer shift, my love. Let me see ye.”
As she pulled back to remove her nightshift, kneeling on the bed, Macauley pushed the covers down the bed, exposing himself. His length strained against his stomach, twitching when his gaze swept over her body, settling over her breasts and then over her mound. Though it still embarrassed her—and she doubted it would ever stop—she knew that Macauley liked to watch her. He loved looking at her body, he loved seeing her in the throes of her pleasure, and just that was enough to make her a little bolder and eager to cast her shame aside.
It was only Macauley, she told herself. There was nothing she had to hide from him. There was nothing about her that he didn’t already love.
A flush spread over her face and chest, her skin heating as though engulfed in flames as she took a moment to reach between her thighs, running a finger down her cleft. Macauley moaned at the sight, watching enraptured as she teased herself, fingers brushing over that sensitive spot that always stole her breath.
“Dinnae stop,” Macauley said, already sounding wrecked. He wrapped a hand around himself, though he did nothing more than give his manhood a squeeze before letting go once more, trying to relieve some of the pressure. “Spread yer legs. Let me see.”
Cathleen’s blush turned a deeper shade of red, but she indulged him, letting her knees spread even wider where she was kneeling on the mattress. She even leaned back, bracing herself with her free hand, heat travelling up her spine as Macauley watched, his gaze never straying from her fingers.
“Inside,” he whispered as he reached for her, one hand cupping her breast gently. His thumb brushed over Cathleen’s nipple, sending a jolt of pleasure through her, and she moaned softly as she followed his request, slipping one of her fingers inside herself.
The slide of it was so easy, her walls pliant with arousal, that she quickly pushed a second one next to it, her body trembling as she pleasured herself. Macauley pinched and rolled her nipple between his fingers, lips parting open and breath coming out in soft pants as though he was the one being pleasured.
“Look how yer drippin’ down yer hand fer me,” he said. Cathleen could tell he was barely restraining himself, his entire body tense as though he was about to pounce. His words spurred her on, hips rolling as she took her fingers deeper and deeper, chasing her climax.
Macauley wouldn’t make it that easy for her, though.
“Come here,” he said, grabbing her by the waist to pull her closer until she was kneeling over his face. She gasped at the change of position, suddenly feeling even more exposed than before, but at the first swipe of Macauley’s tongue over her folds, all thoughts were driven out of her mind.
Macauley’s hands curled possessively over her rear, fingers digging into her flesh as he pulled her firmly over him. Cathleen had no choice but to surrender to his ministrations, hands curling over the wooden headboard of her bed just to have something to hold onto as he pleasured her relentlessly. He pressed the flat of his tongue against her, his hands encouraging her to move her hips, and Cathleen threw her head back with a cry, the sensation too much and not enough at the same time.
There was nothing in the room but the labored sound of their breathing and the slick slide of their bodies as Cathleen took her pleasure from him. She tried to be unabashed in her quest, just like Macauley wanted her to be, moaning and trembling over him when he sucked at her without trying to keep herself quiet.
A litany of pleas tumbled past Cathleen’s lips as Macauley brought her closer and closer to the edge. He was like a starved man, pushing into her, his tongue flicking relentlessly over her until she couldn’t take it anymore. Her climax washed over her like a wave, lips parting in a cry as she stilled above him, her entire body taut with pleasure.
It took Cathleen a few moments to catch her breath and move down Macauley’s body with a breathless laugh. He smiled at her, lips and chin glistening in the soft light, looking entirely pleased with himself.
Well, I can play this game too.
Slowly, Cathleen kissed her way down Macauley’s chest and stomach, stopping right above his neglected manhood. He groaned before she even touched him, hips canting up as she licked a stripe from the base to the tip just to tease him. Then, she took him in her mouth, sucking gently at the head, and Macauley cursed under his breath, his hand tangling in Cathleen’s locks gently.
“Ye’re so bonnie,” he said, thighs trembling with the effort it took to keep himself still. “I want tae be inside ye forever.”
Cathleen couldn’t help but chuckle around him. It sounded ambitious, she thought, and certainly exhausting, but they could at least try. Taking him deeper, she wrapped her hand around what she couldn’t fit in her mouth, pleasuring him slowly, unhurriedly, enjoying the feel of him on her tongue.
Macauley didn’t seem to have the patience for it, though, and he quickly reached for himself, wrapping his hand around hers and squeezing his shaft.
“I willnae last like this,” he said. “I want ye too much. Come, I wish tae be inside ye.”
Cathleen pulled off him slowly, with one last drag of her tongue just to hear him moan. Macauley rolled on his side and pulled her next to him, grabbing her thigh to sling it over his hip before guiding himself to her entrance.
It was an intimate position, the two of them face to face, clinging onto each other as he pushed inside until he was buried to the hilt, both of them holding their breaths. Cathleen was so full, Macauley’s length stretching her just like she wanted, her core pulsing with pleasure as he began to move. She met his thrusts, rolling her own hips in the same slow rhythm, the two of them wishing against each other and pressing impossibly close.
With a sigh, Macauley captured her lips in a kiss, sucking gently on her tongue. One hand lay between the pillow and her cheek while the other stroked her shoulders, her back, her arm, never once stilling. Every thrust of his hips pushed back more and more until she was on her back, Macauley hoisting her legs up around him to press even deeper.
Cathleen was entirely surrounded by him. He was all she could see, all she could smell and hear. Their breaths mingled as his lips hovered just over hers, brushing against her mouth but never quite kissing her, just to drive her mad with desire.
When he reached between them, fingers rubbing small circles over her sensitive nub, she knew she wouldn’t last. It only took a few flicks of his wrist for her to reach her zenith once more, a warm sensation coursing through her as her orgasm throbbed through her body. Though it wasn’t as intense as the first time, this one was longer, each drag of Macauley’s manhood inside her prolonging the pleasure until she was clenching down hard around him, sending him over the edge as well.
Afterwards, they rested side by side, Macauley wrapping his arm around Cathleen after he pulled the covers over them once more. It was chilly in the room, the fire having long burned out, but with the blankets over her and Macauley’s arms around her, Cathleen was perfectly content, letting her eyes slip shut and thinking that perhaps she could get a little more sleep, after all.
That was when the door was thrown open and Cathleen clutched the blankets in alarm, looking up to see Bonnie there. Her sister screamed upon seeing Macauley, as though she didn’t expect him to be there, her hand coming up to cover her eyes.
She must have forgotten he sleeps in this room.
Bonnie and Cathleen had a habit of barging in each other’s bedrooms all the time, ever since they had been little, as they had nothing to hide, but it was a habit that they had to break now. She figured that after that morning, Bonnie would never make the mistake of entering without knocking first again.
“Why are ye screamin’ so early in the mornin’, lass?” Macauley asked with a groan, rubbing the sleep off his eyes.
“Why are ye naked?” Bonnie said, her voice high-pitched and her face flushed behind her hand. “Why wouldnae ye tell me tae stay outside?”
“How could we have kent ye would come in?” Cathleen pointed out. “Ye didnae even knock!”
“We never knock!”
“Well, ye should certainly knock,” Macauley said with an amused chuckle. “What dae ye want?”
Bonnie turned around, speaking to the wall as though she couldn’t bear to look at them, even though all she could see was Macauley’s chest and Cathleen’s shoulders.
“The council is summonin’ us,” she said. “They said they have come tae a decision.”
Cathleen had both been waiting for this day and dreading it. After everything that had happened, she had little faith in the council, though the members who had once been loyal to her father had helped her rebuild the team with people she could trust.
“I suppose we should get ready,” Macauley said with a sigh. “We shouldnae keep them waitin’.”
“I’ll be outside,” Bonnie said quickly, leaving the room as though she was being chased and closing the door behind her.
Cathleen couldn’t keep the frown off her face as she fell back onto the pillow with a sigh, making no move to dress or even get out of bed. Noticing her apprehension, Macauley came to sit next to her, dressed in nothing but his undergarments, taking her hand in his.
“Dinnae fash,” he said. “I’m sure whatever they decide will be fer the best. Besides, there is nae one here now tae threaten the clan an’ with our weddin’, ye’ll gain useful allies.”
That much was true, Cathleen thought. Clan Drummond and all their allies would be their friends. Cathleen had nothing to fear, but that was what she had also thought when her parents were still alive, before Faolan had shown up. She didn’t want to risk the clan another time. She didn’t want to put her trust in some men who thought they knew better than she or Bonnie did.
Not for the first time, Cathleen wished the lairdship could go to her sister. She would make for a formidable leader. Had she been born a man, no one would have thought twice about handing her the title.
But she was a woman, and so was Cathleen. The council would never accept such a thing and neither would anyone else.
“Come, dress,” Macauley said, dragging Cathleen out of bed and out of her thoughts. “The sooner we ken, the better.”
Cathleen tried to swallow her nerves as she prepared for the day, making sure she looked perfectly presentable for the council. The decision had already been made, she told herself. There was nothing to be done now, whether she liked it or not.
Once they were both dressed, Macauley laced their fingers together and opened the door, the two of them joining Bonnie who, just as she had told them, had waited right outside.
“Ready?” Bonnie asked. She tried to give Cathleen and Macauley a smile, but it soon slid off her lips.
“Everythin’ will be fine,” Macauley assured them both, wrapping a comforting arm around Bonnie’s shoulders and giving her a gentle shake. “An’ if ye dinnae like their answer, well, ye can always bring yer bow out, Bonnie.”
That drew a laugh out of Bonnie, some of the tension bleeding off her shoulders. Cathleen caught Macauley’s gaze and the two of them smiled at each other, ready for anything the council could throw at them.
* * *
The advisors all stood in the study, talking amongst themselves. Two of them had once been her father’s men, while the rest had been handpicked to serve the new laird of the clan, whoever that would be.
That was what they were going to announce to them. Would Macauley take the lairdship now that he would be married to Cathleen or would the council find a suitable husband for Bonnie, as she was the eldest?
Cathleen’s heart hammered in her chest, not so much because she wanted Macauley to be the laird, though she knew he would be a fair and kind leader. No, it was the thought that her sister could be forced into another unwanted marriage that scared her, knowing it was the last thing Bonnie wanted.
Bonnie had expressed her fears to her just the previous night, telling her that she had tried her best to convince the council to give the lairdship to Macauley. If she was going to be married, she wanted it to be on her own terms, just like their father had intended, but there was no telling what the council would do. They hadn’t yet given her an answer.
“We have come tae an agreement,” the Toiseach said, stepping forward. As dictated by his role, he was the oldest of all the Chieftains, and one of the two who had served Cathleen’s father. “Macauley Sinclair shall be the new Laird MacLaren.”
Bonnie was the first to react, a sob of relief wracking through her body. She laughed as she pulled Cathleen into an embrace, while Cathleen was too shocked to do anything but stand there, staring in disbelief.
As much as she had wanted this, she never thought it would come true.
When they parted, Cathleen reached for Macauley before the council could drag him away, wrapping his arms around his neck and pressing a soft kiss to his lips.
“Laird MacLaren,” she teased, eyes sparkling with mirth.
A wash of color coated Macauley’s cheeks. He seemed a little overwhelmed by the decision, a little in disbelief just like Cathleen had been, but the smile on his lips was unmistakable.
“Lady MacLaren,” he responded with a tilt of his head, Cathleen laughing at the small, artless bow. Before they could say anything else, the Toiseach approached, already stealing Macauley away.
Cathleen watched him as he sat behind her father’s desk—his desk now, one that he would pass down to their heir. It suited him, she thought. He wore the role of the laird better than Faolan ever could.
“Here’s tae many, many years o’ his rule,” Bonnie said as she came to stand next to her. “I’m glad it’s him. He’ll make a good laird.”
“Aye,” said Cathleen. “I think so too.”