Never Love a Highlander (McCabe Trilogy 3)

His fingers touched her cheek and grazed along her jaw.

“Fear. I was immediately filled with such fear like I’ve never felt. Fear that I wouldn’t be able to protect our child from men like Duncan Cameron. That if we had a daughter she would be as Mairin had been for most of her life. Always hiding, always living in fear of discovery. Wary of being used by a man for what she could bring through the birth of a child.”

She reached up to palm his cheek and he turned into her hand, brushing a kiss across her flesh.

“And joy, Rionna. ’Tis God’s truth I experienced a burst of joy that is indescribable. I imagined a daughter with your beauty and strength and a son with your spirit and stubbornness.”

She laughed. “And you, husband? What think you that our children will inherit from you?”

“I care not as long as they are healthy and that you deliver them free of complication.”

She hugged him again. “I’m sorry I worried you. ’Tis the truth I didn’t know I was with child, I swear it. I would have taken more care in our training.”

He clutched her shoulders and pulled her away from him, his expression one of utmost seriousness. “You’ll not lay hands on a sword again. ’Tis done with, this foolish idea of yours.”

“But, Caelen, now that we know, we can fashion our sparring so that no harm is done to our child. ’Tis important I am able to protect myself and our child.”

“I will protect what is mine,” he said fiercely. “I will take no chances with your health or that of our child.”

“But—”

He held up a hand. “ ’Tis not up for debate. ’Tis my final word on the matter.”

She sighed but couldn’t bring herself to be irritated when she could still see the worry shadowed in his eyes.

“Now come here, wife. I have need to hold you.”

She smiled and went into his arms. He kissed her hungrily, framing her face and holding her in place as he ravaged her mouth.

He slid his hands down her body, coming to stop at her waist. Then he placed his palm over the flat of her belly through the folds of her cloak. Suddenly impatient, he pulled at the material until she was free of the garment and standing only in her nightdress. Then his hand returned to her stomach and he held it there as he stared into her eyes.

“My son or daughter,” he said hoarsely. “I’d not thought I’d ever have children.”

“Do you like the thought now?” she asked with a smile.

“Oh aye,” he said softly. “I find I like the idea very much. I owe you an apology, Rionna.”

She put her finger to his lips and then followed it with a kiss. “It’s been an eventful day for both of us. Perhaps ’twould be best if we go to bed and start fresh on the morrow.”

“You’ve a very generous spirit, wife.”

“There is something I want in return,” she said as she slid one hand down to cup him intimately.

His eyes gleamed with quick understanding. “Oh? And what is that?”

She continued to caress him through the material of his trews. “A good husband would be mindful of his wife in her present condition. She needs lots of care and attention.”

“Does she now?”

“Oh aye, she does,” Rionna whispered. “Lots of tender, loving handling by her husband.”

“I think I can accommodate her.”

He bent and picked her up and walked to the bed where he lowered her onto the straw mattress.

“In fact, I think I should give her lots of extra loving.”

“Oh, I do, too,” Rionna breathed.

He stood back and stripped off his clothing, and then he leaned over her and worked the gown over her head until she was naked and breathless beneath him.

For a long moment he simply stood over her and stared down at her body. Then he cupped both hands over her belly before kneeling on the floor in front of her. He parted his hands and then pressed a kiss to her stomach, so soft and tender that her heart felt near to bursting.

She smoothed her hands over his hair and then dug her fingers into his scalp, holding him against the very heart of her.

“You hold our future in your womb, lass,” Caelen murmured against her belly. “ ’Tis what binds our two clans and makes them one.”

“ ’Tis an important obligation you give our child.”

He kissed her again and then kissed a path down to the juncture of her legs. With gentle fingers, he parted her flesh and pressed his tongue to the sensitive flesh at her core.

She moaned softly and writhed beneath his mouth as he loved her with his lips and tongue. He was exceedingly patient, never tiring as he brought her wave after wave of pleasure.

He pushed her to the brink only to let up and let the tide slowly recede. Then he’d work her back up again, each time more intense than the last.

He left her panting for breath and so tense that her muscles ached. She begged for him to stop and then for him never to stop. Her hoarse pleas rose, each one making less sense than the last.

Then his mouth left her and he fitted his c**k to her opening and slid deep in one forceful lunge. His body blanketed hers, warming her to the bone. Never had she felt quite so safe, like nothing could ever hurt her.

He was inside her, not just physically, but in her heart and soul. He was all she could think of, all she could see and hear. He’d spoken of her carrying their future, but he was her future. He was all she wanted. All she needed.

There was no sign of her rough, possessive lover this night. The man who’d so ruthlessly taken her so many nights past had been replaced by a gentle warrior who treated her as though she were infinitely fragile, a priceless treasure to be cherished above all else.