Pledged to a Highlander (Highland Promise Trilogy 1)

He dropped his head back for a mere second, then placed his brow against hers. “I want to throw you to the ground and jam myself deep inside you over and over and over until you overflow with my seed.”

She was surprised again that his words thrilled her and at the heavy wetness she felt between her legs. She was as eager to feel him inside her as he was to be there.

He shoved her away from him and took several steps back. “I’m not the mannerly man you once knew and loved. If anything, I’m more a savage. I’ve killed, beaten, looted, and stuck my shaft into more women than I can recall. Until I can control my savage instincts, you are to stay away from me. Now get on your horse.”

Oria took a step toward him.

“Get on your horse!” he shouted at her.

She did as he ordered, the threat in his tone warning against disobeying him, and he got on his horse.

Royden brought his horse near to hers. “Do not challenge me, disobey me, tempt me. Do I make myself clear?”

She nodded.

“We return home.”

“Please, let me go to Learmonth and gather my things. I don’t have much. It won’t take long. Also, a few of your clansmen came to stay at Learmonth and when they learned you returned they asked to go home. I could bring them with me when I return. Please, Royden, I need this.” She hated to sound like she begged, but she needed time away from him—if only for a few hours—to try to make sense of it all.

He stared at her, the taste of her still on his lips and his shaft still swollen from the touch of her hand. He didn’t want her to go. He wanted her with him—a dangerous thought.

“Go, but don’t be long,” he said.

Fearful she would fall into a heap of tears, she hurried to say, “Thank you.”

“Don’t thank me. I do what is necessary, otherwise you would be down on the ground your legs spread wide for me. Remember that when you think to tempt the savage in me.”

He rode off and she hurried in the opposite direction, not seeing him stop and look back at her, not knowing how much he hurt.

Chapter 5

Oria stretched herself awake. It had been two days since she wed Royden and he had done everything he could to avoid her. She’d been placed in the chieftain’s bedchamber, but Royden hadn’t joined her there. He had continued to sleep in his bedchamber, the one she would have shared with him when they first were to wed. She worried that their marriage wasn’t truly sealed without consummating it, which meant it could be dissolved far too easily. She didn’t want that, but how she would solve the problem, she didn’t know.

She had thought endlessly about the incident between them the other day. That he thought himself a savage disturbed her. She didn’t believe Royden could ever be a savage. He had been made to do things to survive just as she had been, though he had suffered far worse than she had. That time, however, was over. They could build a good life together. The only thing she could think to do to make that possible was to get to know the man Royden had become and show him that she loved him just as much as the man he had been.

She bounced out of bed eager to start the day, to move forward with the plan to get to know her husband. The first step was not letting him avoid her.

At least, she was happy here amongst people familiar to her, people who cared for her. Burnell’s clan had been overrun with warriors unfamiliar to all and they had made little friends with the clansmen. She had never felt at home at Learmonth and it was good to finally feel at home once again.

She hurried into a pale yellow shift and slipped a dark green tunic over it. She pulled on her boots, planning on tracking down her husband who’d been spending a good portion of his day outside, if weather permitted. Otherwise, he cloistered himself in the solar. She gathered her honey-blonde hair up on the top of her head with a couple of bone combs, though couldn’t keep several strands from falling free. At least it would be out of her way. She used the water in the bucket Bethany had brought to her to scrub her face fresh, leaving her cheeks glowing. She smiled at the dried mint in the small bowl near the bucket, recalling how Raven had told her about Bethany teaching her how to keep her breath fresh with it. Oria was grateful Bethany had extended her the same courtesy.

She hurried down to the Great Hall, hoping to catch Royden before he left the keep for the day, but she was too late.