Page 46 of A Highland Bride Taken
Whoever the woman was, she was quite good at subterfuge that no one could remember her. When a few more hours of searching the surrounding areas yielded no result, he headed back home, thinking hard about how to increase security around the towns and, in particular, the castle.
The ride home on horseback yielded no clear solutions either, because one problem with fighting wars for so long was that onemade several enemies. Too many that in times like these, it was difficult to single out a single suspect.
He had kept the bairns’ existence secret well enough, but if one of his enemies had gotten wind and hoped to hold them for ransom, he would indeed have to drive his men harder in preparation for battle.
When he arrived, he went straight to the nursery to wish the boys goodnight, since he hadn’t seen them the whole day, and with the budding relationship between them, he didn’t want them ever to feel abandoned.
He had to pause for a while to admire the beautiful picture that greeted him when he opened the door to their chambers. Mabel must have read them stories because the boys were fast asleep, and she was on the floor, her head lying beside their bed, snoring softly.
The fact that she had not woken up at the sound of his footsteps told him that she was well and truly fast asleep. The dark circles around her eyes were a testament to her exhaustion.
Unwilling to disturb her, Campbell exited the room in search of his housekeeper.
“Missus Norah,” he called when he found her in the dining hall. “I have been wanting to ask ye something about me wife. She seems to tire easily in recent days. Do ye perhaps ken the cause?”
“Yer wife is a hard worker, Me Laird. I ken I push her, but I only want to see if she is strong enough to be with a stubborn oaf like ye, and she has indeed proven herself. Nae that I will tell her,” Missus Norah answered. “But she is much too busy with her duties as lady of the clan and caring for the bairns. She has her hands verra full. I believe ye need to employ a governess to help her a little. The twins are full of energy at this age, and she can only do so much.”
Her words surprised him because whenever he had seen them at their lectures, she always had such a disapproving look on her face that one would believe she didn’t like his new wife. He had thought as much as well, which was why he had had to remind her of her place.
“Ye seem to care about the Lady, Missus Norah. I would have sworn ye disliked her greatly when ye first met her,” he drawled.
“I dinnae dislike her,” Missus Norah replied with a sniff of outrage. “I was just wary of her, as I am whenever we have a new addition to the household. We cannae be too careful, Me Laird.”
“If ye say so,” Campbell said, enjoying her discomfort. “I want me wife to rest for a few days, starting tomorrow. I dinnae care what ye have to do. Assign more maids to the nursery if ye need to.”
“Aye, Me Laird.” Missus Norah nodded.
Campbell returned to the boys’ chambers and, after tucking the covers tighter around them, he lifted Mabel into his arms,enjoying her slight weight. She stirred then, shifting in his arms so that her arms hung around his neck and her head rested on his shoulder.
That position allowed him an unhindered view of her face. It was beautiful in repose. Just as his eyes lingered on her expressive mouth, his lips tingled with the memory of the last kiss they had shared.
She stirred again, and he caught a whiff of her scent. Lavender and something else uniquely hers. He ached to bury his face in her neck, to find the source of that scent, but somehow he found the willpower to move, carrying her to her room and laying her on the bed.
She immediately made a sound of protest, unhappy to leave his arms. He understood her reluctance, but he had to leave, or else he would not be able to resist her charms.
“The dress… so tight,” she murmured in her sleep, squirming as she tried to loosen her dress.
Her movements were sluggish and ineffective because of her exhaustion. So he took pity on her and decided to help her loosen her dress, even though he knew he was only going to torture himself in the process.
With every layer he removed and every inch of skin exposed, Campbell could feel his cock harden, his self-control fraying. By the time he got to her shift, he was panting heavily, ready to bolt away and seek refuge in the cold waters of the loch.
But Mabel chose that moment to stretch and sigh in relief.
“Thank ye,” she said, blinking those forest-green eyes at him, and he was lost.
He did not know who moved first, but one moment he was sitting beside her, the next he was kissing her, devouring her mouth like a man starved.
She gasped in surprise, and he swooped in, plunging his tongue into her mouth. The kiss caught fire, and in no time, he had forgotten why he was not supposed to do exactly that.
She was his, and he was going to claim her. He had a feeling he would lose his mind, otherwise.
19
Campbell knew that kissing his wife was a mistake. But at the first taste of her lips, after denying himself of it for so long, he had damned himself.
He should never have touched her or carried her out of the boys’ room. He shouldn’t have helped her undress when he had heard her sleepy plea, but he had loved dancing on the edge of the knife, thinking himself strong. Now, the hot stream of lust pooling in his blood had won, and he was tasting the sinfully sweet mouth of his warm and willing wife.
She made such erotic sounds that had him groaning and burying one hand in her hair, taking care not to crush her with his weight by propping himself on one elbow.
