The Highlander's Promise

  Eyes widening, Jetta clasped her hand around the base and withdrew her lips somewhat until a more comfortable amount remained inside, and was startled when the action drew a long moan from her husband. Glancing to him sharply, she saw with relief that he was still sleeping, but his expression was almost pained and his head and hands were shifting restlessly. So were his legs, she noted as they moved too. Encouraged by this clue that she might be doing something right, Jetta eased more of him into her mouth before pulling back again and smiled with satisfaction around the monster when Aulay groaned what sounded like her name.

  That had to be a good sign. Certainly, it would have been distressing had he groaned another woman's name, she thought and decided to step up her game. Letting him slide from her mouth, Jetta used her hold to shift the member so that it was positioned like a cob of corn before her mouth. She then began to press little nibbling kisses along its length. Much to her disappointment, however, that didn't seem to work as well. At least, her husband didn't moan again under the attention. Frowning, she pulled his erection upright and tried sliding her mouth over the tip once more, relieved when it brought another one of his deep, hungry groans.

  All right then. This was what he liked best. Good. She could do this, she thought, sliding her mouth up and down on the tip in long, slow strokes. Jetta was concentrating so hard on what she was doing that when Aulay suddenly growled her name and tangled his hand in her hair, she gave a start and unintentionally bit down. Realizing what she'd done when he suddenly roared in pain, Jetta released him at once and leapt back to peer at him wide-eyed.

  "Oh, husband, I am sorry," she cried anxiously as he curled into a fetal position with his hands covering his maltreated organ. His roar turned into a long string of curses. "Truly, you just startled me. Please, I am so sorry. I did not mean to bite you. Did I hurt you?"

  "Oh God," he groaned, his face pressed into the pallet of furs.

  "I mean, I know I hurt you," she said quickly. "But did I break the skin or--" Pausing, she bit her lip and peered at where his hands and upper legs now hid him from her view. "Mayhap ye should let me look and see how much damage was done."

  "Nay," Aulay growled, the word muffled by the furs he was pressing his face into.

  "But--"

  "Get into bed, wife," he said, and even lifted his head to say it.

  His voice was as hard as stone, she noted and stared at him helplessly for a moment, but then climbed dejectedly back into bed and crawled under the linen. She had thoroughly messed that up, Jetta acknowledged to herself. He would never want to touch her again now. She would spend the rest of her life in a marriage where her husband was kind and gentle with her, but would not share his passion, and she didn't know why.

  Jetta sniffled as tears began pooling in her eyes and spilling over to run down the sides of her face and into her hair. The worst part was that she had almost the perfect marriage. She might not have a lot of memories, but she knew in her heart that few women were lucky enough to have a husband as wonderful and considerate as Aulay. She knew without a doubt that he was much more attentive and sweet than most men, and if she had just been able to sort out this business of why he wasn't bedding her, her marriage would have been as close to perfect as she thought was possible. But she'd failed, Jetta acknowledged, snuffling as the tears began to pour out of her eyes in earnest.

  She'd failed and would never again know the pleasure of his sweet lips on hers and his hand and mouth on her body and whatever else it was happy couples did in the bedroom. This time a soft hiccupping sob followed the thought and Jetta squeezed her eyes closed with misery.

  "Jetta? What's the matter? Why are ye crying?"

  Blinking her eyes open, she stared in surprise at Aulay as she saw that he was off the floor and now bent over the bed, eyeing her with concern. She'd hurt him and he was worried about her. He was so sweet, she thought, and cried all the harder.

  "Jetta." Aulay sounded alarmed now as he sat on the bed beside her and scooped her up into his lap. Pressing her to his chest, he rubbed her back and asked, "What is it, lass? Did I hurt ye when ye bit me?"

  Jetta blinked her eyes open at the ridiculous question, and then released a small watery laugh and shook her head. "Nay, of course not. I just--I really did not mean to bite you, husband."

  "Aye," he said on what sounded like a relieved sigh. "I ken."

  "I am so sorry."

  "I ken, ye are," he murmured, rubbing little circles on her back. "'Twas an accident."

  "Aye, and now I have ruined everything," she said unhappily and felt his hand pause.

  "What have ye ruined, lass? What were ye trying to do exactly?" he asked and Jetta could hear the frown in his voice now.

  "I was trying to please you," she admitted shyly. "I thought mayhap you have not kissed or touched me again because you thought I did not want it because when you . . . did what you did, I just lay there like a dead fish and I wanted to show you--"

  "Ye did no' lie there like a dead fish," Aulay interrupted, sounding amused. "Ye responded as passionately as any man could wish."

  "I did?" she asked, pulling back to peer at him with surprise.

  He nodded solemnly.

  "Then did I do something to anger you?" Jetta asked with a frown.

  His eyebrows rose at the question. "Nay. What would make ye think that?"

  "Because you have not kissed nor touched me again since then. I thought either you believed I did not want you to, or that I had somehow angered you, or that you simply tired of me and did not want me anymore because of my shorn head and my being too thin."

  "Oh, lass," Aulay said softly, cupping her cheek with his hand. "Ye've no' angered me, and I am definitely no' tired o' ye. In fact, nothing could be further from the truth. Every minute I am with ye I have to fight no' to kiss and touch ye," he admitted, his eyes dropping to her mouth and his face moving closer.

  "Truly?" Jetta whispered uncertainly.

  "Aye, truly. All I think of all the day long is kissing ye senseless, stripping yer shift off so that I can look at all o' ye without it in the way, and then cupping and caressing yer beautiful breasts before claiming them with me mouth and suckling at them until ye groan me name with need."

  "Oh," Jetta breathed weakly, her body tingling at the thought.

  "I want ye, lass," Aulay admitted on a growl, although he really needn't bother saying it now. She could feel that he wanted her. He was presently hard and pressing against her bottom where she sat in his lap. "I truly do. I've never wanted anyone so much in me life. All I can think about is laying ye across the bed, spreading yer legs and tasting yer sweet passion again until ye scream and then driving meself into ye and--" His words died when she suddenly leaned up and kissed him.

  Jetta hadn't been able to take it anymore. His words and the pictures they were creating in her mind had her body tingling and wet and she wanted what he was describing. She wanted more. She wanted to make him groan again as she had with her mouth. She wanted his body naked and covering hers everywhere. She wanted . . . well, she wanted it all. And she put all that want into her kiss. This time she was the one urging his lips open and sliding her tongue into his mouth, and this time it was her hands moving over his body, caressing his arms and chest and then reaching around and down to cup his bottom.

  Aulay had frozen the moment she kissed him, but when she squeezed his behind and rubbed her chest against his, he was suddenly all passion and motion. His tongue thrust forward to tangle with hers, and his hands made short work of tugging her shift down and claiming her breasts.

  Jetta moaned as he kneaded them and then plucked at her nipples. She then gasped in surprise when she found herself suddenly on her back on the bed with him over her.

  Tearing his mouth from hers, Aulay pressed kisses along her cheek to her ear and growled, "Spread yer legs."

  Jetta obeyed at once, and then groaned when he lowered himself to rest against her and ground into her very core with only the thin cloth of the shi
ft between them. Aulay groaned too, and then his mouth was on hers again, his kiss a fiercely demanding one as he ground his hips into her again. A sound much like a sob came from her throat then and Jetta shifted restlessly and then wrapped her legs around his hips, urging him on. The move shifted the cloth between them, and when he next ground against her she felt his flesh against hers. He was hard and hot and the feel of him sliding against her slick heat made her moan into his mouth and tighten her fingers on his arms where she was now clutching him. But it made Aulay freeze again.

  Afraid he was going to stop, Jetta tore her mouth from his and cried, "Husband, please."

  Rather than urge him to continue, the words made him close his eyes and lean his forehead on hers. "Lass, ye're killing me."

  Jetta stilled now too and frowned with confusion. "I do not understand. Why are you stopping?"

  "Why indeed," Aulay muttered, sounding bitter, and then said almost wearily, "We can no' do this, lass."

  "But I want to," she said, bewildered by his refusal. "And we are married. I--" Her words died and they both glanced sharply toward the door when it opened. Rory started into the room, paused abruptly as he took in their position, and then turned a sharp angry look on Aulay and snapped, "A word, brother," before turning away and stepping out of the room. He pulled the door closed silently behind him.

  "Well, hell," Aulay muttered, rolling off her and flopping onto his back on the bed.

  Jetta hesitated and then sat up and tugged her shift down to cover herself before pulling it back onto her arms. Once she was decently covered, she looked uncertainly to Aulay.

  "Your brother seemed . . ."

  "Angry?" Aulay suggested when she hesitated to say it.

  "Aye," she admitted, and then cleared her throat and asked, "do you know why?"

  "Oh aye, I ken why," he assured her dryly. "He's upset at me for what we were doing."

  Jetta frowned. "Well, that is just ridiculous. We are husband and wife. Besides, we should be angry at him for entering without knocking."

  Aulay was silent for a minute and then sat up and slid his feet to the floor. Standing up then, he knelt to begin pleating his plaid and murmured, "I should not have been kissing and caressing ye or anything else."

  "Why?" she asked with dismay. They were husband and wife . . . and she liked it. She wanted him to do it again, and more. "We are married, bedding is part of that, and if we want to we can--Well, at least I want to," she added uncertainly.

  "Lass, I want to as well," he assured her, raising his head to eye her solemnly. "Surely ye ken that?"

  Her gaze dropped to his still very erect member and she blushed and nodded.

  "But the fact is, ye do no' ken everything," he said solemnly.

  "What do I not know?" Jetta asked with a frown.

  Aulay hesitated long enough that he was finished with his pleating before he said, "He warned me no' to excite ye until ye've recovered. He fears it can hamper and even set back yer healing."

  Eyes widening, Jetta watched him don his plaid, and asked, "Is that why you have not touched or kissed me since--?" Her question died when he stood and then bent and pressed a quick, hard kiss to her lips.

  Straightening then, he strode to the door, saying, "I will send Mavis to ye."

  Jetta watched him go with a sigh, disappointed that the passionate interlude was over.

  Chapter 5

  "If ye can no' control yerself, I will ha'e to insist ye avoid spending time alone with the lass," Rory snapped the minute Aulay stepped out into the hall and pulled the door closed again. "She is me patient, Aulay. I--"

  "I can control meself," Aulay snapped, cutting him off. "I was controlling meself. I have no' even kissed the lass since ye warned me no' to more than a week ago, but this morning she--" He cut himself off abruptly, unwilling to tell his brother that he'd woken up to find Jetta kneeling next to him with his cock in her mouth.

  God's teeth, just the thought of it made Aulay hard as a rock. He still couldn't believe she'd done that. Well, he could since she'd explained why she'd done it, but . . . no, he couldn't believe it. It had certainly been a lovely way to start the day . . . right up until she'd chomped down on him like he was a tasty side of beef. The memory made him wince. He'd only been half-awake at that point. Awash in the pleasure she was giving him, he'd been swimming toward full consciousness and then, pow! He was wide awake and howling and the pleasure wasn't even a memory, but had been pushed out by the pain.

  Sighing, he glanced at his brother and said, "She was hurt that I had not kissed her again and thought it meant I no longer found her attractive so tried to rouse my interest."

  "And obviously succeeded," Rory said grimly.

  "Aye, but I only kissed her. I did not take her innocence. Her virtue is still intact. And after ye left I explained that ye did no' think it was a good thing fer her to get excited until she'd healed, so all is well. She'll no' do that again, and I will continue to control meself."

  Rory eyed him solemnly for a minute, and then sighed and nodded. "Very well. But I will warn you one last time, brother. If you take her innocence, you will have to marry her."

  Aulay scowled at him with irritation. "Brother, I understand ye're only looking out fer the lass, but I am the eldest brother. I am laird at Buchanan and you can no' make me do anything I do no' wish to do." Mouth tight, he added, "And I'll no' let ye force her into doing anything she does no' wish to do either."

  He fell silent for a moment, allowing that to sink in, and then asked, "Now, why did ye come to the room? Is something amiss?"

  Rory grimaced, and then admitted, "Nay. Well, aye. I thought I heard ye shout and howl. 'Tis what woke me. So I came to be sure all was well."

  Now it was Aulay's turn to grimace. He could hardly tell Rory what had happened. So he continued to remain silent, searching his mind for some excuse for his shout and howl that didn't involve Jetta, her teeth and his cock.

  "It was probably just a dream I had," Rory offered suddenly.

  "Aye," he said at once with relief. "A dream."

  Nodding, Rory turned toward the stairs, but as he walked away, he added, "Odd Mavis had the same dream wake her up though."

  Aulay closed his eyes on a sigh. Really, he should have put more care into building this place. Sound carried as if the walls were parchment thin. However, he hadn't considered sound an issue when he'd set the men to building it. There had been no woman in his life then, and in truth, he hadn't expected there ever to be, or considered the sound issues a woman's presence might cause.

  "I'll send Mavis up to help Jetta with her ablutions."

  Aulay opened his eyes in time to see his brother jog lightly down the steps, and then turned to re-enter the bedchamber. He stepped inside and closed the door, and then paused when he saw that the bed was empty. Blinking in surprise, he glanced swiftly around the room, finding Jetta at the window. She'd pulled the shutters open and was leaning out to peer at the clearing around the lodge in the dawning light.

  "Careful, lass," he said, moving quickly to her side. "We would no' want ye falling out the window."

  The caution made her chuckle softly. "I will not fall out, husband. I just . . . the fresh air is so lovely. And I wanted to see something besides this room."

  Aulay frowned slightly and peered out at the trees surrounding the lodge. It was a lovely sight, the tall, strong trees waving in a light breeze, the sound of birds chirping, the grass as green and bright as Jetta's eyes. He himself had spent most of the last more than four weeks now in this room watching over Jetta, but had made the occasional excursion outside. He had returned to Buchanan a handful of times to handle castle business too, but they had been short trips before she'd woken. Since Jetta had regained consciousness he hadn't left the lodge, although he had gone outside early in the mornings while Mavis had helped with her ablutions, often hunting up some game for their meals, or riding to a nearby loch for a morning dip to clean up. The ocean was closer than the loch, but the fresh wat
er was better for his purposes than the salt water the ocean offered. Besides, Aulay had enjoyed the brisk ride in the morning air after the hours inside.

  Jetta, however, hadn't been out of this room at all. A change of scenery and the fresh air might do her a world of good, he thought suddenly.

  "If ye're feeling up to it mayhap we could go for a short walk, or a ride today," he said impulsively. "Mayhap we could even ride out and break our fast by the ocean."

  "Really?" She turned a face full of excitement to him, her eyes wide and happy.

  "Aye," Aulay said, smiling at her expression, and then he frowned and added, "Well, if Rory says 'tis all right. I would no' wish to do anything to set back yer healing."

  "Oh aye," Jetta said her smile fading and worry taking its place now. "Do you think he will allow it?"

  Aulay opened his mouth to answer, but then paused and glanced to the door as a soft knock preceded Mavis entering. He nodded in greeting to the woman, and then turned back to Jetta and took her arm to urge her away from the window.

  "I'll ask him while Mavis attends ye," he promised, and, noting the way she was now worrying her lip with her teeth, added, "I'm sure he'll think it a fine idea."

  "Absolutely not."

  Aulay rolled his eyes at Rory's firm words and said, "But she has been cooped up in the room upstairs for weeks now. Surely some fresh air will only do her good?"

  "She has been unconscious most of that time," Rory pointed out with a scowl. "The lass only woke up little more than a week and a half ago. She's been very ill, Aulay. And she is still ill."

  "Not really," Aulay argued. "I mean, I ken she has no memory ere waking here, but otherwise she is fine. There is no fever, no open wound, the back of her head has mostly healed and while she is weak still, she grows stronger every day. She has even put some weight back on."

  "Not nearly enough," Rory said at once. "The lass is still far too thin and frail. She needs to build more strength before we risk outings."

  "She is hardly going to gain strength lounging about in a bed," Aulay pointed out with exasperation. "She needs to be up and about."

  Rory was silent for a moment, and Aulay could tell by his expression that he was considering it, so said, "A compromise then. A picnic by the ocean. She will need only walk below and to the horse, and then from the horse to a blanket on the beach and back. That way she can get fresh air, a very little bit of exercise, and the sight of the ocean might even spark a memory for her. Perhaps she'll recall the ship she was on and its sinking."