Highlanders Collection. Ann Lethbridge

D’Avignois will speak on your behalf,’ Nairna reassured him. ‘I believe he will protect our clan from the English.’

      He sobered. ‘Then we owe him a debt.’

      She touched his back. ‘We’ll ally with Marguerite’s family and offer protection to one another. She was grateful to you for rescuing her from Cairnross.’

      He gave a slight shrug of acknowledgement, but it didn’t appear that he truly believed the danger was over.

      ‘Bram, what is it?’ she prompted.

      He closed his eyes, as if he didn’t know what to say. Nairna sat beside him, waiting for him to speak. At last, he said, ‘Tonight, I wasn’t afraid of my own death. I was afraid of yours.’

      He took her hand and brought it to his face as if drawing strength from her very touch. ‘When I thought he would harm you—’ He broke off, holding her hand so tightly.

      ‘He didn’t. You kept me safe,’ she murmured. She held him tightly, knowing that there was more he hadn’t said.

      ‘You asked me what it was like,’ he said quietly. ‘As a captive.’

      She took a breath, not wanting to reopen such raw wounds. ‘You can tell me about it later, Bram.’ She stroked his hair away from his face, leaning down to kiss his mouth.

      ‘No.’ He took her hand and touched it to his throat. ‘You should know everything. And then you can decide if you want to be with me.’

      How he could even think she could bear to be parted from him, she didn’t understand. But right now, he needed her to listen, and though she didn’t truly wish to hear it, the confession might ease him. Nairna touched the scar upon his throat, then brought her lips to it.

      But he turned his back to her, showing her the scarred surface. ‘Six years ago, my brother was beaten until he couldn’t stand. I lost my temper that night and used my chains to strangle the guard.

      ‘It didn’t work. As a punishment, they cut me with their knives. One cut for every day of the year.’

      Nairna was sickened by the thought of such torture. ‘You survived it.’

      ‘I prayed to die, at first. After I healed, I vowed that I would master my temper and bide my time.’

      He rested his forearms on his knees, lowering his head. ‘But when I had the chance to escape, I risked his life. Callum might have died that night.’

      ‘He didn’t. And I don’t think he blames you for leaving him.’

      ‘Did you?’ he asked softly. ‘When I left our wedding, did you blame me for leaving you behind?’

      She wanted to say no, that it hadn’t mattered. But it wasn’t the truth. She’d been devastated when he hadn’t returned. Many times, she’d grieved for him, wishing that he hadn’t gone home with his father.

      ‘At the time, I understood why you left,’ she admitted. ‘You needed to go with your family to defend Glen Arrin. But I never expected to be a widow so soon after our wedding.’

      ‘When I escaped from Cairnross, I almost didn’t return to you,’ he admitted. ‘I thought you were better off, believing I was dead.’

      ‘Why did you?’

      ‘Because I needed to see you. The image of you, of your smile, had given me a reason to hold on.’

      She embraced him, closing her eyes as his strong arms came around her. Though she wished she hadn’t remarried another, she let go of the past years, for she now had the man she loved.

      ‘I don’t deserve you, Nairna. Today, when I almost lost you, I realised how much I need you.’ He brought her hand to his heart and she could feel the pulse beneath her palm. ‘I love you. And though I’m not the man I once was, I want to be a good husband to you.’

      ‘You already are,’ she whispered. She pushed away his tunic, caressing his warm male skin. Lowering her mouth to his pectoral muscles, she kissed him gently. ‘You’re all that I need.’

      He pressed her down onto the bed, fully aroused. She welcomed the thick feel of his erection against her softer flesh.

      He removed her clothing, then his own, before lying down beside her. She took him into her arms, shivering when his mouth covered hers.

      ‘I have years to make up for, Nairna. If you’ll allow it.’

      She opened her arms to him, and with his hands and mouth he caressed her skin. Her nipples puckered and he kissed each of them, cupping her breasts as his mouth moved lower.

      ‘When you touched yourself the other night,’ he murmured, dropping a kiss upon her stomach, ‘I was watching you. I wonder if I’ve learned how.’

      With his fingers, he entered her womanhood, caressing the secret flesh that was already moist for him. Nairna gasped, lifting her hips as he withdrew his fingers.

      ‘I’m not going to use my hands, though.’ He sent her a wicked smile, raising his hips to hers. With a shallow penetration, he entered her, coating his shaft with her arousal. Then he took his length and used it to rub against her hooded flesh. The thick pressure made her grow swollen, sensitive to every stroke. He teased her, moving in a slow rotation that made her arch against him.

      He ground himself against her, with both hands upon her bottom, until she hooked her leg around his waist and took him deep inside.

      ‘I haven’t finished with you,’ he said, moving slowly.

      ‘Haven’t you?’ She kissed him, taking his tongue into her mouth while he penetrated her fully in slow strokes.

      In answer, Bram stopped moving. He withdrew, leaving only an inch of his manhood inside her, while his thumb moved up to touch her hooded flesh. He used a soft rhythm to caress her, and she grew wetter as he quickened the pace in a circular motion.

      ‘I love you, Nairna,’ he said, his eyes locked upon her. She cried out as he intensified the pressure, guiding her towards the shimmering pleasure she needed so desperately.

      ‘And I love you,’ she whispered, arching her back and shuddering as the first swollen wave broke through her. As she started to tremble, he drove inside, and she gripped his length, letting him feel her release as she climaxed.

      She saw his own pleasure tightening, and he took her body in swift strokes. ‘I’ll never leave you again, Nairna. You’re mine, for always.’

      The intensity of his lovemaking and the way he held her made her lose control of her own body. She stopped thinking about what was happening and simply let herself go.

      When another storm of release overtook her, she took his mouth in a kiss. Bram ravaged her mouth until he let out a groan, losing himself in his own fulfilment.

      ‘I love you,’ she breathed. ‘Now even more than I did then.’

      Her husband rested against her, their breathing growing steady. ‘It will take time before I can be the man you want.’

      ‘You’re already the man I want,’ she said. ‘And what you endured has only made you stronger.’

      Bram’s answer was to take her in his arms and love her again.

       Chapter Twenty-Two

      Winter came and went, and although there was still unrest in Scotland, the clans were united by a common enemy in King Edward Longshanks. Bram and Alex had supported Robert the Bruce, and that spring they saw him crowned king of Scotland. The fight for Scotland’s freedom had not ended, but it had taken a turn for the better.

      When Bram returned from Scone, he noticed a transformation in his wife. Laren had given Nairna free rein to handle the household and she’d spent the past few months sorting through the accounts, selling unneeded items and trading with the merchants.