Page 29 of Highlander's Captive Bride
The invisible pull she seemed to exert over him just by being in the same room suddenly made him stand up and come around the desk. He perched on the edge by her chair, folding his arms. He did so because, secretly, he found himself fighting the urge to take her in his arms and kiss her.
Instead, he confined himself to saying, “I trust ye. I ken ye’ll find the solution.”
She sighed and said quietly, “But ye ken as well as I do that time is of the essence here. I need to hurry. I must find the answer soon!”
She looked up at him then, her big, brown eyes full of anxiety. The urge to comfort her overcame him, and he reached out and laid his hand gently on her shoulder.
A look of panic appeared on her face then, and she rose abruptly from her chair, so quickly that she stumbled against him. Bellamy’s instincts kicked in, and rational thought flew out of his mind as he caught her in his arms.
Her hands went up in front of her as if to push against his chest. Instead, her palms rested there. He felt their warmth burning through his shirt. Her head tilted upwards, her gaze meeting his. Her lips were slightly open, so plump and inviting that he could not fight the arousal that was compelling him onwards.
Taking her face in his hands, his eyes scanning hers and seeing a desire that matched his own, he lowered his lips to hers, caressing them gently. When her hands closed on his wrists and he felt the tip of her tongue graze his lips, snaking between them in hesitant exploration, heat surged through him.
His arousal flared to new heights, growing hard against her belly, and any uncertainty he might have harbored fled.
He smiled against her lips as a realization suddenly hit him like a tidal wave: she wanted him as much as he wanted her. It was then that he abandoned all restraint.
* * *
Daisy was caught up in a dream of raw desire, powerless to resist the tide of need for this man that was flooding her body like a river of fire running through her veins. All thought vanished as she gave herself up to the heady feeling of his strong arms encircling her, crushing her to his chest. At that moment, she was swept away by desire, her mouth craving his with a shocking, passionate hunger she had no wish to deny.
The unknown feeling of his hardening manhood pressing against her belly, which should have been shocking, only inflamed her further, driving her to pull him closer, her arms wrapping around his neck, her fingers tangling in his hair. Their tongues entwined in a tantalizing dance as she answered every questing demand of his mouth with her own.
She did not know what would have happened if someone had not hammered on the door just then, crying out her name. She and Bellamy leaped apart, staring at each other in alarm.
“What is it?” Bellamy called out, straightening his ruffled clothing and combing his fingers through his hair.
“Oh, M’laird! ’Tis Lady Elodie, she’s having some sort of attack. Poppy says ye must come right away!”
The maid had not finished her sentence before Daisy was at the door, wrenching it open, with Bellamy hot on her heels as she raced down the hallway and up the stairs. They arrived at Elodie’s chamber door together and burst into the room, panting.
Poppy was at the bedside, her arm around Elodie’s shoulders, helping the child to sit up as she vomited into a bowl. She looked up when she heard the door burst open.
Daisy and Bellamy ran to the bed.
“Has it just come on?” Daisy asked the servant as the poor child retched into the bowl and then lay back against her pillow, which matched her pallid complexion.
Poppy nodded frantically. “Aye, about five minutes or so ago.”
Elodie whimpered and clutched her stomach. “Ach, Daisy, make it stop, please!” she sobbed through clenched teeth.
“I will, darling,” Daisy told her, hurrying to the door. “I’ll get the medicine from the healing room. I’ll be back in a trice.”
She ran as fast as she could to fetch the medicine and was back at Elodie’s bedside a few minutes later, dosing her with the concoction that had proved effective in soothing the pain.
The Laird sat by his daughter, his expression anguished, holding her hand tightly as they all waited for the medicine to work. Daisy sat on the other side of the bed, checking Elodie’s pulse, eyes, tongue, and temperature, while Poppy went to empty the bowl down a drain.
Elodie writhed on the bed, whining with each fresh cramp. But after twenty minutes or so, she began to grow calmer.
“Is the pain starting to go now?” Daisy asked her.
Elodie nodded weakly, clinging to her father’s hand as if for dear life. Daisy was moved to see him resting his head against her small fist, pressing his lips to it. Lips that had been on hers just half an hour ago.
In light of the situation, guilt pierced Daisy like a spear.
After a while, the valerian in the concoction began to take effect, and Elodie fell into a peaceful sleep. The Laird, his brow furrowed, watched his daughter intently, holding her hand and stroking her hair from time to time.
Daisy could not help it, her heart went out to him. Only when Jamie came to escort him to a council meeting and Daisy assured him that she and Poppy would watch over Elodie and send for him if anything happened did he finally agree to leave, promising to return as soon as he could.
