Page 14 of Highlander's Rebellious Affair
She was tense at first but when his lips worked over hers continuously, she relaxed in his arms and sighed. Ian drove his tongue into her mouth when her lips parted, and just as he had imagined, she tasted like a blend of honey and mint. It made his body swell with need. His hands on her waist tightened and her shaky hands moved and wrapped around his neck.
The kiss went on longer than he intended, his emotions spiraled out of control as his hands moved around her waist and moved up the small arch of her back so he could press her into him again.
He pulled back after a long time so they could both catch their breath and his eyes opened. Hers remained closed, her chest heaved and he wasn’t satisfied, so he closed his lips over hers again. This time, she kissed him back.
She was a fast learner. Her tongue met with his when he entered her mouth again, and it heightened his pleasure. When Ian pulled back the second time, they were both shaking, and he had put a little distance between them to stop himself from taking her right there and now in the darkness of the night surrounding them.
It was great effort, but it was a good choice. Her hands moved to her lips, and she stared at him, unmoving from where she stood. He took a few steps back, then turned and walked away from her so he could get a tight rein on his hunger.
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Hope was still shaken as she removed the cloak she wore and dropped to the ground beneath her. She folded her arms around her chest and shivered, and Ian returned, then sat beside her. They remained silent, Ian focused on sharpening a tiny log he picked up from the ground with a dirk in his boots and Hope continued to stare at him.
It was her first time kissing a man, or being this close to any man. Ian stirred strong feelings in her, and it made her crave more of him. The kiss clouded her mind, it was all she could think about the entire night as she lay on the cloak and forced herself to sleep for a little while.
She didn’t sleep for long before Ian woke her up so they could continue their journey. He helped her mount the horse again, and every time his hands touched any part of her body, it ignited a fire in her she couldn’t control.
As they rode, she leaned into him and marveled in the strength of his arms guiding her. When she had pressed against his chest, she had felt the solid muscles there and pressed herself harder against them.
Hope could tell he wanted her too from how he looked at her after the kiss. His hooded eyes held a dangerous fire she knew he was trying to control, and a part of her didn’t want him to even though it terrified her.
When they neared the borders between Drummond and Cawdor, Ian sucked in a deep breath behind her, and she closed her eyes and steadied herself for what was coming next. Her father’s wrath would not have cooled in the past three days, she was certain of that.
They continued riding, and as they got further into the village, Hope could see that the entire place was swimming with soldiers. She recognized some of them from the color of their kilt as Drummond men, and the others had to be men from Galloway because they wore a similar color to what Laird Galloway wore on the day of the celidih.
Hope knew that the moment any of these men recognized her, they would arrest Ian and take her to the palace. She didn’t know what instructions her father had given yet, so she hoped she could make it into the Castle quietly without getting noticed.
They made it to the palace gates, but the soldier at the entrance stopped them. The moment he saw her face, he recognized her.
“Lady Hope,” he called and she sighed as Ian got down from the horse.
“Take us to my faither,” she said to the man after Ian helped her dismount the horse.
“We’ve been ordered to capture whoever took ye from the Castle, and if this is the man, then we have no other choice.”
“I need to speak with my faither,” she said again, and the guard bowed his head to her before two of his men rushed toward Ian and grabbed both his arms.
Ian signaled to her to remain calm, and she swallowed what she had been about to say and walked quietly behind them. They entered the Castle and continued walking toward the Grand Hall.
Hope’s heart was pounding uncontrollably in her chest and she couldn’t help the panic clawing at her insides. She glanced at Ian again and noticed how calm he remained as the doors of the Hall opened.
The soldiers pushed Ian in first, and then she walked in behind them. From the entrance, her eyes landed on her father’s furious gaze where he sat and beside him her mother raised her bowed head, and lifted her teary eyes to Hope’s.
The soldiers pushed Ian to his knees the moment they reached where her father stood, and her father walked over to her without saying anything and struck her hard on the face.
Ian bolted up from where he knelt, but the guards pushed him back down. Hope held her stinging cheek, and tears slipped down her eyes as she raised her chin and stared at her father again.
“Ye have brought shame to me, Hope. Runnin’ away on the day of yer marriage? I had Lairds from all over the Highlands present and ye chose to disgrace me?”
“Faither,” she whispered in a shaky voice, and tried to speak up, but fear clamped her throat and she sobbed instead.
Ian shouted from where he knelt. “She has done nothin’ wrong,” he said, defending her, and Hope turned to look at him. “I kidnapped her from the Castle, she tried to fight me off, but she is a lass and is nay as strong as I am, so I overpowered her easily.”
Hope watched as her father walked to where Ian stood, and towered over him. “I kidnapped yer daughter, and took her far away from yer Castle to stop the ceremony,” Ian continued.
Hope’s heart swelled as she watched him defend her. It gave her courage to stand up to him, so she walked over to where Ian knelt and reached down to take his hand, linking their fingers.
The act made her father’s face redden in anger, and the veins in his neck bulge out as she said, “We are married, Faither. I am married to this man.”
