My Highlander: A Cree & Dawn Novel, page 21
Dawn rushed around her husband and out the door.
“Dawn!” Cree yelled as he chased after her, knowing where she was headed.
He could not believe how fast she took the steps down, though it did make him realize she had healed well.
Beast burst past Cree when he reached the bottom step, almost knocking Cree off his feet.
Cree stopped himself from falling and those few lost minutes delayed him from reaching his wife before she got to his solar. He was not surprised when he saw her standing outside his solar door and even less surprised when she opened it just before he reached her side and stepped in.
It appeared as if Cree allowed her to enter first while Beast had squeezed himself in along with Dawn and remained close by her side.
“Demon certainly has attached himself to you,” the Lord of Fire said with a hint of a smile.
Cree did not fail to catch that he called the dog by the name he had given him, marking the animal his property. Or that his slight smile vanished quickly when Beast growled.
“With your wife present, I assume you wish to discuss the time she spent with me, Lord Cree? Then we can discuss what has brought me here.”
Cree did not care for the way he made it sound as though Dawn’s time spent with him had somehow been intimate.
Cree nodded. “Aye, since I am trying to decide whether to express gratitude or seek revenge, against you, Tarass.”
That Cree did not address him with respect, as he had done with Cree, was not lost on Tarass. His jaw tightened and his right hand fisted at his side.
Cree was pleased to see it unnerved the man and to discover he was right handed. He had learned long ago to learn all he could about anyone who might prove a foe.
“I am sure your wife told you, Cree, that she was treated well.”
Cree expected Tarass to address him as such after not addressing him properly and it did not disturb him in the least. He also was not surprised when his wife stepped forward and nodded, confirming what Tarass had said.
“You should not have gone off on your own, Dawn. I would have seen you home safely, though it is good to see you made it home unharmed,” Tarass said, then looked to Cree. “Your wife is far from obedient.
“Dawn obeys only me,” Cree said and tried not to choke on his words since Dawn barely obeyed him. Though, he was pleased she did not argue the point in front of Tarass.
“Is there anything in particular you wanted to know about her time spent with me?” Tarass asked.
Cree once again did not like the way Tarass made it sound as if she had been with him and him alone.
“Dawn told me that your people treated her well,” Cree said, making it clear that Tarass had not been alone with her.
“They did when they finally reached me.”
Cree saw his wife’s body tense and so did Tarass.
“I can see you did not realize it was almost a full day before my people arrived at the campsite,” Tarass said. “I had gone on ahead and settled in a spot waiting for them to meet me when I saw you draped over a large branch in the stream. “You were unresponsive and your lips blue. I did not think you would survive. I believe the heat I provided you with spared your life.
Cree fought the anger rumbling in him. While Tarass had saved his wife’s life he had left one thinking as to how he had provided the heat that had spared Dawn. Had he done it on purpose? Did he want Cree to think he had been intimate with his wife?
Dawn shook her head and looked to her husband, tapping her lip, pointing to him, then to Tarass.
Cree understood what she wanted him to say. “Dawn was told by your women that they tended her after you found her.”
Tarass turned to Dawn. “They did once they arrived at camp, though I can understand you thinking otherwise. You woke periodically, though not fully, and your affliction made it difficult to understand you.”
That did not satisfy Dawn. She was blunt, tugging at her garments and shaking her finger back and forth at him.
Cree did not have to interpret her gestures. It was obvious she disagreed with him about the removal of her garments.
“Your wet garments had to go and quickly if you had any chance to survive. I built a strong fire first, stripped you, and wrapped you in a blanket. I stripped myself as well, my garments soaked. I wrapped myself around you when you remained unresponsive, doing all I could to heat you and keep you alive.”
Cree saw how upset his wife was at Tarass’s explanation and Beast’s low whine confirmed it, feeling it himself, as did he. Tarass provided some details of what had happened, but he left more unsaid and Cree wondered if it was on purpose. Did Tarass feel somehow that it would give him an edge over Cree? If so, he had thought foolishly. Cree would leave it be for now, though he much preferred to beat the man senseless, which had been why he had not wanted his wife present when he spoke with Tarass. There were just some things that needed to be handled between men and men alone.
Tarass looked to Cree. “Dawn told me that two men took her from her family. Have you found the ones responsible for her abduction?”
“Not yet, but I will” Cree said concerned for how still his wife had become.
“If I can be of any help,” Tarass offered.
Dawn turned to Cree and gestured and, without looking at Tarass, she left the room, Beast following close beside her.
She went straight to their bedchamber and sat in the chair by the hearth, needing to chase the chill that had taken hold of her. Beast licked her hand, then sat down to lean against her leg. She rested her hand on his head, petting it slowly.
She felt at a loss. She had hoped she had been told the truth. That there had been others there when he had pulled her out of the stream. It did not matter to her if he had seen her naked. Other men had seen her naked the time she had bravely gone into the dungeon where Cree had been taken prisoner to help him escape. Old Mary had saved her from the prison guards having their way with her, and that was what mattered to her.
She had never been with any man before Cree. Colum, the liege lord at the time, had forbid any of the men to couple with her. He had worried she would produce more dumb ones like herself.
Dawn had possessed scarcely anything in her life, anything she could truly call her own, so when Cree and she had finally made love, it pleased her to give him something that was hers and hers alone to give, something she had never given to another. It was her gift to him and she did not want to be robbed of that gift.
But now, with Tarass telling her what had happened, how would she ever know for sure if that special gift had been taken from her?
Cree was at odds with himself. Tarass had saved Dawn’s life but he had also left a question hanging in the air. He might have made it seem he was the hero, rescuing and keeping Dawn from death, but was there more to it than Tarass had said?
“I am here to discuss the Clan MacLoon pledging its fealty to you,” Tarass said. “I will see it settled and be on my way in the morning.”
That was fine with Cree, but he planned on getting an answer, for the taunting question he had purposely left hanging between them, from the man before he left.
Cree approached him. Though, Tarass might be lean, they were almost equal in height and there was a solidness to the man that warned he was no less powerful. He would make a worthy opponent.
Cree remained standing and as did Tarass. Sloan remained off to the side, if Cree should need him.
“Have your say,” Cree ordered.
“While I am grateful to you for protecting the Clan MacLoon in my family’s absence, I have now returned and their fealty is owed to me,” Tarass said as if Cree had no recourse.
“I have spent time and coin on seeing them kept safe while your clan land and responsibilities remained unattended. What is my compensation for that?”
“I can offer my friendship and warriors if ever you are in need,” Tarass said.
“You will pledge your allegiance to me?”
“I pledge my allegiance to no man or clan,” Tarass said with a strength in his voice that made it clear he would lead, never follow.
“Then how do I trust you?”
“My honor is my word. I would not betray my honor,” Tarass said.
Men may claim their word was their honor but Cree had seen too often the opposite. So it remained to be seen if Tarass was as honorable in word and action as he claimed to be.
“So you say,” Cree said, letting the man know that he was yet to believe him. “What of the Macardle situation and the piece of land they claim belongs to them?”
“They are mistaken about that. It does not belong to them.”
“From what I hear it has caused quite a problem,” Cree said.
“Nothing I cannot settle with little difficulty,” Tarass said confidently.
Cree thought of a solution, though he did not think Tarass would take to it, but it could work to calm the unrest in that area. “The Clan Macardle has three daughters of marriageable age. You should wed one and unite the clans. It will strengthen your rule in that area.”
“I know of the three daughters, Willow lacks strength, bending far too easily to others, Sorrell,” —he rolled his eyes— “does not hold her tongue enough, and Snow, unfortunately was blinded in some accident at the keep.”
“Snow may not suit you, but one of the other two could prove a good wife and secure peace for all concerned.”
“When I wed it will be to my benefit. Marriage to a Macardle daughter provides little benefit to me and I do not need to wed one of them to secure peace there. Of course, I would not mind having a wife with Dawn’s mettle, venturing off on her own to return to you took great courage, though I could do without her disobedience.”
That he praised Dawn in one breath and faulted him in another for not controlling his wife was not lost to Cree.
“Dawn belongs to me and always will,” Cree said. “So I have your word—your honor—that you offer me your friendship and warriors if ever needed.”
“Aye, you have my word on it and again my gratitude for looking after the Clan MacLoon in my family’s absence,” Tarass said.
“There is one more thing I will have from you before this agreement is sealed,” Cree said.
Tarass smiled. “You want Demon.”
Chapter 22
After ordering Sloan to keep a close watch on Tarass and his men, Cree went to find his wife. Not that he had to look far, he knew she would seek solitude in their bedchamber.
She turned and looked at him when he entered the room
He was glad there were no tears in her eyes, though it troubled him to see the sadness there.
“Beast, come here,” he ordered.
The large dog turned sorrowful eyes on Dawn, rubbed his face against her hand as if bidding her farewell and reluctantly left her side, taking slow steps to Cree.
Beast stopped in front of him to await his fate. Cree crouched down and took the animal’s face in his hand. “We, me, Dawn, the twins, Lizbeth and Valan are your family now. You will remain with us. You are Beast and will remain Beast. Now guard the twins.”
Beast’s eyes widened and his tongue shot out and caught Cree’s cheek in a wet, sloppy kiss before he could avoid it, then with a spry gait left the room.
Cree shut the door and turned to Dawn. “Come here to me, wife.”
Dawn rose and went to her husband, his arm reaching out to snatch her around the waist when she got close. She settled against him, the warmth of his hard body and the strength of his powerful arms engulfing her with love as they always did when he embraced her.
Cree pressed his cheek to hers. “I care about one thing and one thing alone. That you returned home to me. I thought I knew heartache, but I was wrong. I did not know the tormenting hell of heartache until I believed I had lost you. I cursed the Heavens for taking you away from me, then I begged them to give you back to me. And here you are and nothing—absolutely nothing—matters except you being here safe in my arms.”
Tears filled her eyes, she could not keep them away, his loving words tugging at her heart.
“You belong to me. You are mine always,” he said with a roughness that challenged anyone to deny it. “You are the gift in my life I will always be grateful for and will cherish forever.”
Those words melted her worries and seeped deep into her heart.
She was the gift and no one could take that from them.
Cree kissed her, not softly, but with a firmness that felt as if his lips had sealed something for all eternity between them, a bond of sorts that could never be broken.
The sense of such a deep rooted love between them fired Dawn’s passion for her husband like a spark set to dry kindling, blazing hot in seconds. And she felt it do the same in him, his manhood sprouting hard against her.
This was not the time for them to make love. Her husband had important matters to tend to. It was enough that he had known she was upset and had taken the time to come to her to chase away her worries, though it would take much strength to let him go when her need for him so overwhelmed her.
She lingered with her cheek resting against his after their kiss ended, trying to calm her thudding heart and ease the ache that had grown her wet. She told herself to hurry and step away, be done with it, release him to his duties.
Her body thought differently, begging her to press closer, tease him into making love to her, for she knew if she did, he would not deny her. But it would be a fast joining, since duty presently took priority, and she did not want a fast joining. She wanted to linger and enjoy each other.
Before she could surrender to her own maddening passion, she went to take a step back away from him.
“Oh, no, wife,” Cree said with a soft chuckle, tucking her back close against him. “You will not turn me rock hard and walk away from me.”
Dawn smiled and did her best to explain she needed more than a quick one.
Cree nibbled at her ear. “I agree. A quick poke will not suffice.”
She scrunched her shoulders against the tormenting tingle that raced through her from his nibbles that he continued delivering down along her neck.
“I want you naked,” he whispered.
Dawn tapped his chest.
“Aye, me to.”
They both got busy getting each other out of their garments and when done, Cree lifted Dawn in his arms with a playful bounce and carried her over to the bed and laid her down. He placed his knee on the edge of the bed and looked her over.
“I do not tell you often enough how beautiful you are,” he said.
She smiled softly and stretched her arms out to her husband.
Cree leaned down slowly over her. “I am going to kiss every inch of you.”
Dawn shivered at the thought and, shaking her head slowly. did her best to let him know she would never last that long.
Cree chuckled. “I intend to have you climax more than once, wife.”
And it was not long before she did.
Cree lay on his back, his body covered in a fine sheen of sweat, his breathing finally calming, along with his racing heart, and his hand locked with his wife’s lying beside him. He had had various types of climaxes from not so great to satisfying ones through the years with women before Dawn came along. Once he had made love to Dawn, he knew there would never be another woman who could satisfy him the way she did. That had been proven true over and over again through the last two years and even more so a few moments ago when he climaxed for a second time, leaving him completely spent.
“Love,” he said between breathes that continued to calm.
Dawn turned her head to look at him, her own breathing still rapid and her heart thumping rapidly. Her husband had brought her to climax three times, the last one leaving a sensual tingle that still rippled through her.
Cree turned his head to look at his wife. “I love you, wife.”
Dawn smiled, patted her chest, turned on her side and laid her hand on his chest.
Cree rested his hand over hers and chuckled. “With the way you just rode me, I would say you love me an awful lot.”
Dawn’s silent laugh shook her body gently, and she nodded.
Cree turned on his side, facing his wife, his hand slipping down between them to rest on her flat stomach. “I planted my seed deep and it is bound to take root. It will be a spring bairn we have.”
Dawn knew without a doubt that the bairn would be his, but she wondered if Cree had even a brief doubt that it could be otherwise. The thought disturbed her even more so now that Tarass had left an inkling of doubt to linger in him.
“Do not let Tarass rob us of what we have,” Cree said when she failed to smile.
Her brow scrunched in question.
“Love and trust,” Cree said. “Do not let him take them from you.”
Dawn smiled then and gestured, tapping his temple, letting him know how wise he was.
“Of course I am wise,” Cree boasted playfully. “And lucky you are to have such a wise man for a husband.”
Dawn chuckled, though it ceased quickly when a knock sounded at the door, and Sloan called out.
Cree hurried his wife into his arms and yanked a blanket over them as he shifted them to sit up in bed, then bid Sloan to enter.
“Sorry to disturb,” Sloan said.
“A problem with Tarass and his men?” Cree asked.
“No, they eat, drink and get on well with our warriors,” Sloan informed him. “It is Dawn who is needed.”
Dawn turned questioning eyes on Sloan.
“Elsa has ordered Lucerne to rest, the bairn having made her ill too often today. Now Elsa is insisting she, herself, tend those in need.”
Dawn shook her head.
“Neil agrees and asked me to see if you could help.”
Dawn nodded and shooed him away so she could get out of bed and dress, but Sloan did not move. She was quick to turn to her husband. It was his permission Sloan waited for and Dawn tapped his chest and pointed to Sloan.
Cree looked to Sloan. “Have a warrior follow her.”
“As you say, but our warriors are busy keeping watch on all of Tarass’s warriors and we have extra warriors patrolling the village, then there are those who patrol the outlying areas to make certain more of his warriors do not wait to attack. And even more that have traveled a distance beyond our boundaries to make certain no more of his warriors have followed. There is no reason she should not be safe in the village with so many patrolling it.”
