Highlander's Embrace

Chapter 16

Elyn nodded, grabbing Barron's attention. "She's been all giggles around him since she came to the castle."

"Aye," Barron said, nodding. "Sounds like someone else I've seen around these parts as of late." He glanced at Gavin. "Since you're a MacDonald lass, what is yer feelin' in all this?"

"My feelin'?"

He grinned. "The contract for yer marriage with Gavin is still pending, lassie, they donae tear those up just because someone goes missing."

Elyn blinked hard and stared at Barron, unable to pull her eyes to Gavin. She could feel herself blush, goosebumps rising over her arms and legs. She rubbed them furiously to try and quell her chills. "Marriage?"

"Aye. I'm sure the clans will still be interested in the union, especially after this battle. I'd reckon it is more important than ever."

She tore her gaze from Barron and looked to Gavin, who had a wide grin. He opened his mouth, but Elyn cut him off with a kiss. When she broke away, she gazed into his eyes. "Do you even have to ask, Gavin MacKenzie? Of course I'll marry you."

***

Barron had vanished during their kiss, leaving with a knowing smile on his lips. He chuckled to himself as he joined another fray of clansmen throwing their ale on each other, making a loud mess of themselves. When he looked back to Gavin and Elyn, their spots on the bench were gone. He laughed even louder at that revelation.

"Those sly dogs," he muttered under his breath. "All wound up I bet."

***

Elyn took Gavin's hand, leading him from the mess-hall and toward the living quarters. In the carpeted hallway, he traded places with her, lowering his arm and swinging her over his shoulder. She laughed as he hoisted her up the stairs, her stomach pushing against his shoulder and her long red hair hanging down over his back. Every ascending step seemed to lift her spirits higher.

They reached his chamber and Gavin threw the door open, moving in large strides to the bed and tossing her on it. He moved and closed the door with a flick of his wrist. The smell of fresh rain filled the air, a moist and calming scent that pervaded the highlands at times of prosperity. Elyn thought it was as if the highlands were crying in joy, too enraptured to do anything else.

Gavin moved back to the bed where Elyn had pulled herself up. He was gentle for her, almost too gentle. It was her first time, but she didn't want him to go too soft on her — it was the fiery aspect of him that made her crave him so much. He knelt down over her and kissed her shoulders, pulling at her sleeves to expose more skin inch by inch. She shook her head with a giggle and prodded his shoulder, nearly knocking him off balance.

"Donae go easy on me, MacKenzie, it's the last thing I need."

He chuckled. He tore at her sleeve and severed it from her dress, leaving her clothes ragged. She gasped as he moved down her arm, kissing her more feverishly now, the stubble of his beard irritating her goosebumps.

A dark throbbing desire pulsated between them. Elyn hadn't encountered anything like it before. It reminded her of the lonely nights when she'd wander out of the house. She would sit on the fence around her family's farm and stare into the highlands. She couldn't quite see the landscape, the darkness of the night too suffocating to let her vision wander for more than a couple hundred feet. But she could feel them. She could feel their whispers call to her. The wind traveling along the grass would howl in a distinct way. It would feed her imagination, beckon her to escape into them. Tempt her to take herself away from her family. Tempt her to leave her life behind. The throbbing darkness that reached out.