Page 66 of A Two-Faced Laird
In the beginning, Lady Findlay had been quite distant, immersed in her grief, but as time passed she and Edina became closer.
One day when they were sitting sewing in the smallest parlour, the one closest to the bedrooms, Aidan’s mother said, “You know, Edina, you are the daughter I never had.”
Edina’s eyes opened wide in a kind of delighted shock, and she smiled widely.
“Thank you, Milady,” she breathed. “That is one of the loveliest things anyone has ever said to me.”
“I say it because it is true,” Eleanor reached over and put a hand on Edina’s. “You might be my daughter-in-law, but I feel as if you really belong to me.”
They smiled at each other again before looking up as Edina’s mother came in.
“I am sorely in need of a glass of wine,” Bettina said, sighing and rubbing her forehead.
“What is it, Mother?” Edina asked, concerned.
“I visited the school today,” she told them. “I wanted to take some cakes to the children, but I had forgotten how much energy they have! They have been running rings around me all afternoon.”
“You were warned, Mother,” Edina told her, giggling. “I told you what they were like!”
“You will be laughing on the other side of your face when you have some of your own!” Bettina warned, but she was laughing.
Edina had no need to go to the village school any more, because not only were the two teachers she had employed still there, but the school had expanded. Now there was aschoolmaster too, and a few of the pupils had actually gone to boarding school in Inverness.
This was something that had been utterly unheard of before, but Edina heard that Aidan’s father had started the practice, selecting the most intelligent and adept pupils. He had also had a school built especially for the expanding population of children, who had begun to attend from some of the outlying villages, and all of it was funded by a charity that he had started. Laird Findlay had been a shrewd negotiator, and had managed to collect contributions from major landholders and even nobles, and it had all been done in an astonishingly short time.
The sewing enterprise Edina had started was still going strong, and she was gratified to see many of the local girls and boys wearing the plain but hardy creations her seamstresses had made. Their clothes were beginning to sell further afield too as their fair price and good quality became recognised.
“It seems that my little enterprises are growing,” she told Aidan as they made their way up to bed one night. “The schools, the seamstresses—Aidan, I am so proud of the ladies. They are all such hard workers.”
“So are you,” he said proudly. “You started all this, Edina. If it were not for you, none of this would have happened.”
“But your father kept it going and made it bigger,” Edina pointed out. “And it is still growing—don’t forget him, Aidan.”
“He was a good man,” Aidan said sadly. “I will never forget him. I missed him when we were away, and I miss him even more now.”
Edina leaned her head on his shoulder as they made their way upstairs.
“Is there anything I can do?” she asked gently.
“Just be near me,” he replied. “Never leave me, Edina. I don’t think I could live without you.”
“I never will,” she promised.
Suddenly, his mood changed.
“How can I be sure of that, Edina Findlay?” he asked, his eyes twinkling with mischief.
“I think you will have to tie me up,” she answered wickedly.
Aidan swept Edina off her feet and tenderly removed her clothes, all the while kissing, licking and nibbling every part of her. Then he laid her down before tying her wrists loosely to the head of the bed with silk ribbons, which they kept in a drawer in the bedside cupboard for just such occasions.
When he had taken off all his own clothes, Aidan stood naked before Edina, and her
lingering, lascivious gaze travelled down every sculpted inch of him. She feasted her eyes on him from the top of his reddish brown hair to the tips of his toes.
Aidan held her gaze while he gently parted her legs then ran his tongue through her warm, wet folds and caused her to moan with pleasure. He teased the little nub of her clitoris, then he climbed astride her and thrust his hips forward so that Edina could take him in her mouth.
She teased him with her teeth and her tongue until Aidan was almost screaming, then he pulled himself out of her mouth and thrust inside her, and it only took a moment before they climaxed together, both crying out at the same moment.
