Page 33 of The Highlander's Inconvenient Wife
“I have always wanted to drink whiskey in a meadow,” she confessed as she bit her lips and glanced to the side.
“Why?” he couldn’t help but chuckle.
“I knew you would laugh,” she said as the tension between them began to subside, replaced by an air of mutual respect. “I’ve always wanted to try whiskey; everyone in London has always warned me off of the stuff.” She held his gaze once more.
“An’ yer friend, have ye nae tried whiskey at her castle?” He extended the conversation as a way of keeping his mind off of kissing her as the feel of her body against his still lingered enticingly against his hips. It would take every ounce of his being to keep away from her, but he knew it was for the best.
“Avery was just as protective of me as everyone else,” she replied as she turned her body slightly to the left, running the tips of her fingers over the varnished wood of the desk. “I’ve never truly been allowed to experiment with anything before. Decisions have always been made for me, including who I will marry now,” she said bitterly.
Jasper admired the delicate features of her profile as she looked to the side. He wanted to take her in his arms and say that she had a choice. She could stay at his castle with him and never have to marry anyone that she didn’t want to. Yet what would that mean for them? He still couldn’t do the honorable thing and make her his wife. There was far too much holding him back.
“An’ the meadow?” he asked, looking at her with one eyebrow raised. It was better to keep the conversation on lighter matters than to discuss the solid wall that prevented them from taking things any further.
“Where else would you drink whiskey in Scotland?” she teased him with a mischievous glint in her eyes. “It seems like a fitting place, and besides, isn’t that what true Scotsmen do? Sip whiskey from flasks in the countryside? Heck, add in some archery and a clan war, and I will feel more Scottish than you.”
“Is that what ye think we do?” he laughed genuinely at the innocent look in her eyes. He felt for the first time in his life as if he could be himself without holding anything back. There was something in the way she had opened up to him about her situation that made him want to do the same.
“Don’t you?” she gave him an uncertain smile that melted his heart.
If making her dream come true was the only thing he could do, then he would do it and do it well, he decided as they continued to look at one another. There was also the very real possibility that he would never see her ever again once she left his castle.
Walking over to the desk, he removed a bottle of whiskey from the bottom drawer and gave her a wolfish grin as he held it in one hand and gently ran the back of his fingers over her skin. “Come with me,” he said in a low voice.
“Are you ordering me around again, my laird?” She lowered her voice again to the seductive purr that sent shivers of pleasure down his spine.
“If ye like,” he teased her as he brought his lips closer to hers before drawing back and making his way to the door. “Ye can come with if ye like,” he called over his shoulder.
“What about the mess we created?” she called to him as he continued to leave.
“There are more maids in this castle than there are thistles in the moors,” he called back. “Are ye comin’ or nae? This whiskey willnae drink itself in the meadow.”
Jasper smiled to himself when he heard her footsteps following close behind. The doors to the study shut as Joan came running to keep up.
17
The orange sun hung low in the sky as Joan accepted the bottle of whiskey and took another small sip. The gold liquid was sharper than what she had imagined it would be, burning her throat on the way down. Yet she liked the way it made her feel, heating her body and warding of the chill that hung in the afternoon air. She wondered why people had warned her off the liquid for most of her life; it was almost as enticing as the country she found herself in.
Scotland was colder than she thought it would be but far more beautiful than the crowded streets of London. They sat on a damp piece of grass atop a secluded cliff overlooking a meadow as they passed the bottle of whiskey between them in peaceful silence, sitting side by side with their bodies barely touching while providing enough heat against the breeze.
“I’m sorry it’s nae a meadow,” Jasper spoke up as he accepted the bottle back. “We’d have to travel by horse to reach the meadow down there.” He gestured to the valley far below after taking a massive swig.
Joan followed his gaze to the open patch of grass in the distance where the clouds were casting shadows over the greenery. “It’s perfect up here,” she said quietly. “I wouldn’t want to go down there when I could stay up here forever…” her voice trailed off when a light breeze blew a few strands of her hair across her face. “In fact, I wouldn’t want to be anywhere else.”
She felt completely safe, nestled between the giant oak trees in the tiny alcove that seemed as if it were hidden from the rest of the world. She’d never return to London if she had a tiny house of her own on that cliff. She’d hide away, growing her own food and living off the mountain. She sighed and leaned back with her hands on the grass as the unwanted thought of leaving took hold.
“Ye dinnae have to leave if ye dinnae wish to,” he said softly as he placed the bottle between them on the grass, wiping his lips with the back of his hand. “I could keep ye captive in the dungeon forever if ye like.” He teased her with a glint in his eye that made her hope for a second that he wasn’t just teasing.
Joan loved the open side of him that he was currently showing her; it was almost as if he were showing his true self that she’d only seen glimpses of before.
“Only if you will allow me to command you from time to time.” She bumped his shoulder with her own in a playful manner, lingering for a second as the warmth of his body crept into hers.
“Very well,” he said as he stretched his legs out in front of him on the grass and turned to her with a cheeky grin. “Command me then, me lady,” he said sarcastically with a wink.
“It’s Joan to you,” she whispered as she leaned in closer to his lips, placing her one hand on his chest while using the other to support her weight. “And my command is that you should kiss me,” she demanded in a husky voice. She wasn’t sure if it was the few sips of whiskey that she had or the secluded atmosphere of the scenery, but she wanted him more than ever, the consequences be damned.
“Aye, Joan…” he breathed her name as he leaned in close and tenderly kissed her lips, drawing back after a few moments of bliss where their lips merely brushed against each other. “Was there anything else ye wished to command me, Joan?” His voice was barely above a whisper, softer than she had ever heard it before.
“Yes,” she said breathlessly as the final crumbs of sense left her body. Swinging her leg over his, she straddled his hips between her thighs, fanning her skirts over them both. “I want you to kiss me so deeply and so passionately that the rest of the world will cease to exist.” She reached down and gripped his shirt in her fists as she leaned in closer. “I command it,” she stated slowly in a harsh tone that she was sure would make him mad.
