Chapter 7 #2
Fennella swallowed, running a hand nervously through her hair. “I know this is your duty, Aleck. Go...go ahead and do it already.”
He grinned, not moving. “Lass, there is so much more than just doing it. I want ye tae enjoy it too.”
She didn’t know how.
When his hands went to the leather buckles holding his kilt, she focused on the ceiling, her breathing coming in short gasps. She had seen naked men before, crude men who thought it funny to flash women as they walked past.
But this was her husband, her handsome strong husband, and he was going to be doing more than just lifting his kilt.
The mattress dipped under his weight as he lay down beside her, his bare shoulder touching hers.
Rain lashed against the stone wall as Fennella forced herself to turn on her side, pressing her back against the cold wall the bed was pressed against. Aleck was laying on his side as well, his head propped up on his hand. “Yer afraid.”
She laughed nervously. “I’ve never had a man in my bed.”
His eyes flashed, his expression possessive. “And ye won’t have another, lass.”
Fennella could barely stand the one that was in her bed now, much less another. “Tell me what to do.”
“Ah lass, that is not how this is going tae work,” he replied, rolling over until he was above her, bracing his weight with his forearms. Thunder crashed and rain hit the window, but Fennella did not jump this time around.
She was too aware of his strong legs on either side of hers, the way his shaft pressing against her core that suddenly felt as if someone had taken hot pokers to it.
Her palms were sweaty, her mouth dry, and she found herself staring into his eyes, her body tight with anticipation.
When he leaned down, her eyes fluttered closed once more, his lips pressing against hers.
Aleck groaned and deepened the kiss, covering her body with his.
A myriad of feelings coursed through her as his hand slid down her body possessively, touching her from shoulder to hip and back.
Fennella could feel the heat of his skin through her thin shift, suddenly wishing she had not worn anything to bed after all.
When his hand inched up the shift, she moaned low in her throat, feeling his hand on her bare skin, just above her hip.
She wanted to shift her body so that he was touching her intimately, to douse the fire between her legs, but Aleck broke his kiss, pressing his forehead to hers.
“I cannae wait lass. I promise tae make it better for ye but I have tae have ye now before I embarrass meself.”
Fennella had no idea what he was talking about, but she nodded jerkily and he fumbled under the covers, pressing at her entrance.
He swallowed her lips in a kiss and Fennella winced as he pushed into her core, his large length stretching her.
Fennella tried to shift her weight to accommodate him, but the burn was still there and then, it was gone.
He had taken her innocence.
A knock on the door broke the spell and their kiss, Aleck’s harsh breaths blowing over her face. “Bloody hell! What?”
“Aleck, we have a fire in the village!”
Aleck swore, looking down at Fennella. “I have tae go lass.”
She held his gaze until the footsteps moved down the hall. “Go,” she said, seeing the conflict on his face.
“Ah lass,” he breathed, his hand cupping her cheek, his expression bleak. “I have so much to be sorry for this evening.”
She pushed at his shoulders, not wanting him to see the tears that were gathering in her eyes. “Go you brute!”
He climbed off her and she winced as her lower body ached in protest, pulling the blankets tightly around her to cover her body. Aleck reached for a pair of breeks, shoving his legs into them. “Rest,” he said roughly as he pulled his shirt over his head. “Please.”
She didn’t respond and he was out the door, his heavy footfalls walking away from their chamber.
For a moment Fennella lay there, hearing the rain beat on the window as she tried to process what had just happened.
Surely that wasn’t what the fuss was all about.
While he had been gentle, it had been awkward between them.
Fennella sighed as she stared at the ceiling, the ache starting to wear off. This was not how she had imagined her wedding night to be.
In another part of the wilds of Scotland a woman hurried through the rain, her boots sinking into the puddles that had gathered on the worn trail.
She had not planned to do so in such weather, but she had been too far on the trail when the rain had started and there was no reason for her to turn back.
He would be there.
Through the blinding rain, she spied the hut in the distance, using the last bit of her strength to hurry toward it and push open the door. There was no fire on the inside, no way to warm her cold body, but he was there and she swallowed, seeing the disdain on his face. “Ye came,” he said flatly.
She pulled her cloak tighter around her body. “I need yer help. I dinnae know what tae do.”
Every fiber of her being told her that there was a chance that she wouldn’t survive this, especially not without his help.
“What are ye willing tae do for me?” he asked.
She fell to her knees, pressing her cheek to his wet breeks. “Anything. I will do anything for yer protection.”
She heard him sigh. “Rise. I do have something for ye tae do for me.”
She scrambled to her feet, her chest heaving.
It was hard to move these days with her burgeoning belly, the babe pressing against her ribcage and lodging itself there.
He eyed her and she imagined he saw the bedraggled, pregnant woman before him, one that usually was vain in her looks and her manner of dress.
Right now, she longed for a warm fire and a place to prop her aching feet up.
He reached into his pocket and produced a ring, handing it to her. “This is what I need for ye tae do. If ye succeed, ye will not have tae worry about yer future or that of yer bairn’s.”
She took the cold metal in her hands, rubbing her finger over the dull ruby.
He did not need to say anything else to her.
For her child, she would do anything. This child was her future, her reason for rising each morning.
Without his help, neither of them would survive.
“I will do it,” she breathed, looking up at him, her jaw set.
“For mah future and that of mah child’s. ”
He nodded and a moment later, he departed from the hut, leaving her inside to contemplate her next move. She would succeed in his plans, in what she knew he was likely wanting from her help. She would have to play a game in the shadows, a ploy.
She would not fail. It wasn’t an option.