A single candle flickered on the bedside table. The only other light came from the fire that blazed on the hearth.
Through the open balcony window came the fragrance of spring flowers carried on the evening breeze.
It was quiet. The only sound in the room was that of strained and shallow breathing.
Jamie studied the woman in his arms. She shimmered in a golden halo of light.
Though he was half mad with desire, he knew that he must go slowly. He would bank his needs and take the time to allay all her fears.
“How long I have waited to love you.” With a kind of reverence he removed the combs from her hair and watched as it drifted like a silken veil around her face and shoulders. She heard his quiet moan as he drew her close. With a sigh he plunged his hands into her hair and drew her head back until he was staring deeply into her eyes. He nibbled the corner of her mouth with great tenderness until he felt her respond, hoping it put her at ease.
“Soft, my lady. You are so soft, so small and delicate.”
“And you are so strong, it frightens me.”
“You need never be afraid of me, Lindsey. I know I displayed a wicked temper. But it was the passion driving me. I would never hurt you.” I would kill for you, he thought. I would die for you. But I would never hurt you.
Lindsey smiled, and he saw the way her lips trembled. “I know, Jamie. I know I am safe with you. But I am—afraid, all the same.”
“As am I,” he whispered.
“You?” She smiled. “You tease me.”
“Nay, my lady. You terrify me.”
With a rush of feeling she wrapped her arms around his waist and brought her lips to his throat.
Her touch brought a flare of desire that nearly drove him mad. He dragged her against him and covered her mouth with his. Though he longed to take her, he cautioned himself to hold back.
With great tenderness he kissed her lips, her ear, her throat. When he brought his mouth to the sensitive flesh of her throat, she gave a little moan and arched her neck, giving him easier access. He ran open-mouthed kisses along the column of her throat, then brought his lips lower, until he encountered the ruffled neckline of her gown.
He needed to rid himself of the barriers between them. Lingering over her lips, his fingers found the fasteners of her gown. With a rustle of satin it drifted to the floor. He ran wet kisses across her shoulder, causing her to tremble and clutch blindly at his waist. As he drew her close he untied the ribbons that held her chemise. It drifted like a flower petal to the floor, where it joined the rest of her clothes.
“God in heaven, Lindsey, how lovely you are.”
His hands moved over her, touching, exploring, seducing.
With an unexpected boldness Lindsey reached for the buttons of his shirt. As it slipped from his shoulders she brought her lips to his hair-roughened chest and gloried in the freedom to touch him as he was touching her. But her courage failed her when she fumbled with the waistband of his breeches. Her fingers were stiff and awkward, and he was forced to help her, until, at last, his clothes joined hers on the floor at their feet.
“I want you, Lindsey. How I want you.” He spoke the words into her mouth as he covered her lips in a possessive kiss.
She lost herself in him, drinking in all the dark, mysterious tastes that were his alone. The scent of pine forest clung to his hair. On his breath was a hint of ale. She felt drunk with the heady taste of him, the musky male scent of him. Her man. For all time, he would own her heart.
As he took the kiss deeper she felt her knees weaken. Scooping her up, he carried her to his bed and lay her among the linens, then lay beside her and drew her into the circle of his arms.
His kisses were by turn harsh, then gentle, as he cautioned himself that this, her first time, must be savored slowly.
Leaning up on one elbow he studied her as she lay beside him. Her hair, glinting red and gold in the firelight, was a splash of color against the white linens. It spilled across one breast, then fanned out around her like a silken veil.
He caught the strands, lifting them away from her neck. He stared, fascinated, as they sifted through his fingers. With a fingertip he traced her collarbone, the slope of her shoulders, the curve of her breast.
He lowered himself until his lips could follow the trail his fingers blazed and he felt her tremble as his lips closed around her nipple. With his tongue he teased it until he heard her little moan of pleasure.
His lips covered hers in a kiss so demanding, she prayed it would never stop. When at last his lips left hers to explore her body, she felt bereft. She had a need to take and give until she was both filled and drained. Never before had she wanted to open herself to someone. But this man, his touch, his kiss, had taken her higher than she had dreamed possible.
His kisses seared a fiery trail across her tiny waist to the smooth, flat skin of her stomach. He chuckled as she flinched, then ran his hands across the softly rounded flare of her hips. His touch was so gentle, so easy, Lindsey lay seeped in pleasure, drifting on a cloud of contentment. But when his touch suddenly moved to her inner thigh, she started to protest. Her words were swallowed when his mouth covered hers in a savage kiss. And as his touch became more intimate, his mouth sought her breast and his lips closed around her hardened nipple. All she could do was absorb pleasure after pleasure as his lips and his fingertips continued driving her until her body was alive with feeling.
She was no longer shy or afraid. Her head was thrown back, her body arched for him. As he hesitated above her she clutched at him, drawing him to her.
“Love me, Jamie. Please love me now.”
Jamie was determined to be gentle. But as he entered her, he forgot everything except his need for this woman. He was kissing her lips, her cheek, her hair. And as he began to move, she moved with him, matching his incredible strength.
Her lips were avid, and hungry, as they found his. He murmured incoherent words of love against her mouth. He pledged his life, his heart, his soul, and knew that it was not enough. He needed her with a desperation that bordered on madness.
The taste of her, the scent of her, enveloped him, filling his mind, his senses. He heard the cry that broke from her lips as she shuddered and reached the final crest of intense pleasure. Her name was torn from his lips as he followed her high among the stars. Together they hovered a moment, before exploding into a million tiny pieces. Then slowly, slowly, they drifted back to earth.
Jamie rolled to his side and drew Lindsey into the circle of his embrace. With great tenderness he touched his lips to the sheen that covered her forehead.
He felt the little tremors that rocked her and lifted her face for his inspection.
“Tears, my lady?” His tone roughened. “I have hurt you.”
“Nay.” She touched a finger to his lips to silence his fears. “I am just so filled with wonder at what we experienced. I never dreamed...” She swallowed. “It was beautiful.”
“As are you.” He pressed his lips to her temple.
They lay in silence a moment, feeling their heartbeats slowly return to normal.
Idly she traced the scars that crisscrossed his chest and shoulders. “You have been wounded so many times.”
He lay very still, loving the feel of her fingertips on his flesh. “They have all healed.”
“But you are scarred. I wish—” her voice lowered “—I could erase all your scars.”
“You already have,” he said softly. It was the truth, he realized. With her he was renewed, refreshed. With her love he had been reborn.
“This was not supposed to happen,” Lindsey murmured against his throat.
“What was not supposed to happen?”
He lay very still, loving the tiny thread of contentment that curled along his spine. She fitted so perfectly into his arms. And into his life. She was the missing piece to this puzzle. With her, he was whole, complete.
“Being loved by you.” Lifting herself on her elbow, she traced the outline of his lips with her finger and gave a laugh when he bit it.
“And why is that?”
She traced his nose, his cheek, his shaggy eyebrow, while he lay steeped in pleasure. Hers was the gentlest touch he had ever known. While she leaned over him her hair swirled forward, tickling his chest. Already he could feel his passion growing, and he marveled at the magic of her touch.
“I heard my mother tell my father after my—accident that the Highland lads would be put off by my shattered leg.” At Lindsey’s words he suddenly felt chilled. For a moment even his heart forgot to beat. “And she made my father vow that he would always keep me with him, to atone for the fact that I would never have a husband.”
He felt her pain as if it were his own. “That is why your father has always been so protective?”
“Aye.”
“But all this was said before they knew that you would walk again. Surely, when you regained the use of your limb, they recanted.”
“Nay. Even after I could walk, they felt that I was somehow—flawed by my limp. I remember lying in my bed and dreaming of a proud Highland laird who would storm my father’s fortress and carry me off to his fine castle. But always,” she said with a sigh, “I knew that it was only a silly dream. For my mother was right. No man would want a flawed wife.”
Jamie sat up so quickly she was startled. Pushing her gently down against the linens, he caught her foot in his hand and lifted it for his scrutiny. Then slowly, reverently, he lifted it to his lips.
Lindsey chuckled. “Stop. Whatever are you doing?”
He pressed a kiss to the bottom of her foot, causing her toes to curl. Then he kissed the top of her foot and her ankle and each of her toes.
“I am worshiping the foot that saved you from all those other men,” he said softly.
Her laughter suddenly faded when she caught sight of the look on his face.
“You do not jest?”
“Nay, my love. I would give anything to remove the pain you suffered. But I am grateful that there has been no other man.”
He pressed a kiss to the bend in her knee and heard her little sigh of pleasure. And then he rained kisses along her thigh to her hip, and upward until he found her breast, where he fed until she caught his head and dragged him to her for a long, pleasurable kiss.
“Do you know what you are doing to me?” she asked.
“Aye. The same thing you are doing to me,” he mumured against her lips.
He would not have believed he could want her again so soon. But, he realized as the kiss deepened and his heartbeat quickened, he would never have enough of her. If he lived to be a very old man, he would still want this woman in his arms, and in his bed, until his life ebbed.
This time their lovemaking was not nearly as heated and frenzied. There was time now to be slow and easy. With soft sighs and tender kisses, they slipped into that private world of pleasure where only lovers can dwell.
* * *
“My lord. The queen awaits you below stairs to sup.”
Jamie glowered at the closed door, then glanced at the sleeping woman who lay curled in arms. His frown was replaced by a look filled with love. He would never tire of looking at her lovely face.
Lindsey’s lids fluttered, then flew open as a loud knock rattled the door.
Sitting up she reached for the bed linens but Jamie stopped her and lifted her hand to his lips where he pressed a kiss to her palm.
“We must hurry and dress,” she whispered frantically, “or the queen will be furious.”
“I do not care to sup with the queen. Or to endure an evening of music and games. Unless,” he said with a roguish smile, “the games are with you.”
Lindsey giggled, then looked up in alarm when Mistress Macnab’s voice filtered through the door again.
“My lord. Are you there?”
“Aye.” Jamie’s voice was gruff. “You may tell the queen that I will not be coming down to sup, Mistress Macnab.”
The woman’s voice sounded incredulous. “You will not...? But my lord, the queen has commanded it.”
He swore, loudly, savagely, until Lindsey placed her hand over his mouth.
“What say you, my lord? I did not hear,” came the housekeeper’s voice.
“I said you may tell Her Majesty that I will be down shortly.”
“Aye, my lord. And what about Lady Lindsey?”
Lindsey cast a worried glance at Jamie. “She must have found my door ajar. Surely she knows that I am in here.” He shrugged. “If she does, she will be discreet.”
In a loud voice he called, “The lady will join me below stairs.”
Mistress Macnab’s tone brightened. “Aye, my lord. I shall tell the queen.”
Jamie stared at the woman who shared his bed and could still not believe his good fortune. Earlier this day he had despaired of finding her alive. His despair had turned into a black, burning rage at her, at himself, at all those who would harm her. But now, just hours later, he felt more at peace than at any time in his life.
He loved her. Loved her desperately. And she had said she loved him. For now, that was all that mattered. He would not think about tomorrow, or about how he would manage to keep her safe, while still guarding his queen.
Right now, her arms were slipping around him, drawing him down to her. And her arms were the only things he needed around him. She was the only place he wanted to be.
“To hell with them all,” he muttered thickly. “We will just have to be late.”
* * *
Everyone looked up when Lindsey and Jamie entered the drawing room. At first Mary thought it was the golden gown that accounted for the lady’s radiance. But what would have caused Jamie MacDonald to have such a glow of happiness? From her position in the chair beside the fire the queen watched with interest.
Lindsey’s hand rested lightly on Jamie’s sleeve. The look he bestowed on her was one of tender concern. As they crossed the room they were careful to draw apart. Jamie walked to the fireplace, where he bowed stiffly before the queen.
“You are late. Mistress Macnab was forced to delay our meal.”
“Aye. Forgive me, Majesty.” Jamie offered no reason for his delay.
Lindsey walked to where her father and Donald stood deep in conversation.
“So, my dear. Have you recovered from your latest misadventure?”
Lindsey’s cheeks turned very pink. “Aye, Father. As you can see, I suffered nothing more than a few scratches.”
“My lady.” Ian MacPherson hurried to her side and lifted her hand to his lips. “I was deeply concerned about you when we became separated. I was overjoyed to find that you were safely home when I returned.”
Across the room, Jamie’s hand clenched into a fist at his side.
“How is it that we became separated?” Lindsey demanded. “Did you not boast of a keen sense of direction?”
He gave a careless shrug of his shoulders. “I know not, my lady. One moment you were in front of me. The next, you and your mount had disappeared from view.”
“We slipped down a ravine,” she admitted. “But I thought surely you would see me and come to my aid.”
“I was beside myself with worry. We are very fortunate that Jamie MacDonald found you, else you might still be lost out there.”
She shivered and withdrew her hand from his grasp. “That is not a very pleasant thought, my lord.”
“Nay.” Ian cast a speculative glance at Jamie.
“Dinner is served, Majesty,” Fergus Macnab announced.
“Douglas,” Mary called, “you will escort me to sup.”
“Where is Lord Darnley?” Jamie glanced around the room.
“My husband is—indisposed.” Mary did not mention the latest argument she had had with Darnley over the noblemen who had killed her secretary. Though Darnley continued to profess his innocence, he was weakening. Soon, she knew, he would give her the names she sought. And then those loyal to her would rid the land of such monsters.
The queen glanced at Fergus Macnab, who gave no indication that he and his wife had overheard the angry words exchanged between Mary and her husband.
Jamie saw the empty decanter on the sideboard, along with the discarded tankard. It was obvious that Darnley had started drinking earlier than usual this day. He suspected that Mary secretly encouraged the drinking in order to loosen Darnley’s tongue.
Mary placed her hand on Douglas Gordon’s arm and led the procession to the refectory.
All the while that Mistress Macnab and her daughter served the meal, Jamie and Lindsey exchanged veiled glances. When Lindsey thought about the pleasures that awaited them in their chambers, her cheeks grew flushed. Seeing Jamie’s enigmatic smile as he ducked his head, she knew that he was entertaining the same thoughts.
At the head of the table, the queen watched with interest. She was not imagining it. These two looked different tonight. As though they shared some special secret. She glanced at Douglas Gordon, seated on her left. It was plain that he noticed something out of the ordinary, as well.
When the meal ended, Mary led the way to the cozy room filled with hunting trophies. A fire blazed on the hearth. As the talk swirled around them, Jamie and Lindsey watched each other when they thought no one was looking.
“Play for me, Lindsey,” the queen commanded. “I would hear a tender ballad or two.”
Lindsey hid her disappointment. The last time she played for the queen, she had been forced to stay up half the night.
As Robbie retrieved the virginal, Lindsey glanced at Jamie and felt her heart nearly stop. The look he gave her was so filled with love, it was as if he had reached out from across the room to touch her. She felt her cheeks grow hot as she bent to the instrument.
The melody she played was hauntingly beautiful. At the sound of it, the queen saw the smile on Douglas Gordon’s lips.
“Do you know this song, Douglas?”
“Aye, Majesty. ’Twas a favorite of my wife’s. She played it when we were wed. And again when each of our bairns were born.”
“So this song has meaning to Lindsey, as well?” Mary glanced at Jamie, who stood beside the hearth, watching Lindsey with a strange, burning light in his eyes.
“Aye, Majesty.” Douglas followed the gaze of the queen. He had seen the heated glances between his daughter and Jamie MacDonald. And he heard the passion the lass poured into her music.
It had already been decided that they would leave for the Highlands on the morrow. It would be none too soon to suit him. But the decision would not sit well with his obstinate little daughter, he thought with a frown. Especially if what he surmised about Lindsey and Jamie was correct.