Broken Highlander's Blood Oath Read online

  “I’ll not take the demise or land!” she cried. “I swear it. I don’t want it!”

  “You are not married!” Armand shouted, with his spittle hitting her face.

  Analise struggled against the ropes holding her wrists above her head. He was mad—so insane.

  “It is unlawful! And here and now—” Armand flung himself around, wildly looking out into the empty church. “In God's House, I will fuck you, and I will wed you! It can be done!” he bellowed, turning back to her.

  Analise knew that in Armand’s mind, as much as he had lusted after her and Cheval, his true terror came from losing the station he'd gained as a nobleman. Gaul had been a knight with no lands, and Armand lusted for more.

  “I am your stepsister,” Analise cried, knowing it was futile, yet any amount of time gained keeping Armand’s hands from her was a blessing.

  “Wedding a stepsister is legal. Kings do it!”

  Analise wanted to scream at him that she was married, but she didn’t want to further incite him.

  “We will simply twist the ceremony,” Armand said, reaching his hand forward. “Fuck first! Wed after.” His words gave rise to his evil cackle.

  Analise screamed when Armand grabbed the collar of her gown and he ripped it to her waistline. There was nothing she could do, but toss her body helplessly, as he tore the gown from her body, leaving only the thin under-shift. Hot tears scalded her cheeks and she forgot in her terror and revulsion, not to incite Armand further, when she screamed.

  “Donan!”

  “That cripple will never save you!” Armand shouted.

  Armand’s hands grabbed the bottom hem of her shift and he began tugging it upward.

  “Donan!” Analise screamed, sobbing and thrashing her legs.

  Crash! ... The sudden crashing sound reverberated through the church, shaking the floorboards. Clomp ... Clomp ... Clomp!

  Analise raised her terror-stricken gaze to see that Xavier had crashed through the Abbey’s church doors and was now trotting down the middle aisle with Donan atop him.

  “Donan!” she cried, while her heart leaped.

  Donan saw that Analise was hung from the cross like a barely clothed pagan sacrifice. The realization that Armand had his hands on her curving and helpless body stroked his rage, as he lifted the crossbow toward Armand with an arrow notched.

  “The marriage is unlawful, Eagle! The king will listen to me! Analise is too young, and I am her legal guardian!”

  Donan saw Armand raising a knife to Analise’s throat as the crossbow settled on his shoulder ready to shoot. He was deadly accurate with any bow, but Xavier was shuddering beneath him, trying to stay standing, while Armand’s knife was so close to Analise’s tender throat.

  “It is not true!” A woman’s voice suddenly screamed from behind Donan, startling him to be sure, but especially shocking Armand. “We are twins! The same age, Armand. Mary was not our mother.”

  “Cheval!” Analise cried.

  “Lair!” Armand bellowed, at the same moment his knife lowered and he pointed it toward Cheval. “Lair!”

  Twang!

  No mercy, flashed through Donan’s mind as he loosed the arrow that pierced Armand’s heart. Then, Xavier careened and buckled, a harsh sound escaping his nostrils as he fell heavily, this time on his side between the aisles of the church.

  “Donan!” Shancy yelled, and Donan felt Shancy beside him, dragging him free from having his leg crushed by Xavier’s fall.

  Jesu, Donan realized, he’d never taken the time to tie himself in or Shancy wouldn’t have been able to pull him free. It was a miracle that he was able to use just his arms to stay aloft Xavier as the great war horse crashed through the doors of the Abbey church.

  “You bloody well know how to nearly give me a stroke!” Shancy yelled at him, breathing as if he’d run a race.

  Donan looked up at Shancy as they lay on the ground just beyond Xavier. Shancy still held him in his lap with his arms under his armpits. It was a wee bit like a mother holding her babe, Donan thought, and he gruffly pushed away from Shancy, until they were sitting side by side.

  It was then Donan saw Analise cradling Xavier’s big head in her lap, crooning over him, while tears fell down her cheeks. A woman who looked nearly exactly like Analise knelt beside her and Donan could only assume that it was Cheval, and she had cut her sister loose. It was uncanny how closely they resembled each other.

  “Will he live, Donan?” Analise asked, with her small chin trembling.

  Donan leaned forward and pet Xavier’s velvet nose near where Analise was gently stroking the stallion.

  “Aye, well now that he knows you’re not afraid of him, of course he will.” Analise’s lips trembled, and his hand clasped her hand, guiding her petting. “The arrow wound isn’t fatal, but it took a lot of Xavier’s heart to do what I asked of him.”

  “For him to help you save me,” Analise murmured.

  “Aye, lass, but with tender care and rest there is hope.”

  Analise nodded with new hope shining through her liquid blue eyes.

  Beside them, Shancy muttered, “The red knight got away. If Cheval had stayed where I’d told her—”

  “Your order was silly. I couldn’t leave my sister!” Cheval countered, thoroughly interrupting Shancy.

  Donan looked at the stubborn tilt of Cheval’s chin and the mutinous glance Shancy gave her, then he looked to Analise.

  “They like each other,” Analise whispered.

  “We do not!” both Cheval and Shancy exclaimed at once.

  “Aye,” Donan said, and it resounded after their denials.

  “Are we truly twin sisters?” Analise asked Cheval.

  “Yes,” Cheval answered quickly, while she twisted a length of blond hair exactly like Analise’s around her finger. Her other hand lay over her belly, rounded in the middle stages of being large with a child. She wore Shancy’s kilt over what appeared to be a nightshift.

  That was telling, Donan thought, as he began to undo his own kilt, while listening to Cheval’s answer. He was very curious to hear the answer.

  “I met a very old priest at the Abbey, Analise,” Cheval said. “So old, he remembered the old Brenin kings.”

  “The old people,” Analise whispered.

  “And he remembered us ... and our father.”

  “Oh, Cheval!” Analise exclaimed.

  Donan saw Cheval pausing as she peeked uncomfortably toward him, then toward Shancy, and then she said, “It could be dangerous to tell anyone. Lives were lost to keep the secret. To keep Analise and I alive.”

  “Och, and I only just saved your life and now you don't trust me,” Shancy said, but Donan held up his hand silencing him.

  “It is not that!” Cheval exclaimed, then bowing her head. “I trust you with my babe's life.”

  “She’s worried for your safety, Shancy,” Donan interrupted. “But, lass, those old ties and kings no longer hold sway anymore. All your people are scattered into new people, new lands. I still agree it should be kept between us, but the fact that you and Analise are daughters of a Brenin king, is no longer so dangerous a thing to be.”

  “Daughters of a king?” Analise asked, as she intertwined her fingers with his.

  “Aye, lass. A princess you are. But I already knew that.”

  “How?” Cheval asked.

  “It was the song Analise sings. I would venture to say your father was losing his kingdom and to keep you both safe from his enemies he sent you off with someone he trusted. He also muddled the truths about your ages, and about being twins, and who your mother was.”

  “Mary,” Analise whispered. “Mary must be who our father trusted.”

  “Aye, but to protect you more he gave you each the song to one day sing to your husbands, giving them chance to better protect you.”

  “We never had to stay beneath Armand’s charge,” Cheval spoke sharply, and with sadness.

  Suddenly there was a clamor behind them and they all looked u
p. Donan saw his knight Dunn who appeared breathless.

  He was speaking quickly as he approached, “My lords, only the red knight escaped. The rest are felled.”

  “How many of ours, Dunn?” Donan asked solemnly.

  “None killed, my lord, and only two wounded.”

  “Good fortune,” Donan said, and then he ordered, “Have the monks bury them, and get a written account from the monks of what happened here for their king.” Donan turned to Analise and handed her his kilt, “You’ll wear the Glenncannon colors now, wife, and if any ask, you are a good Scottish lass.”

  Analise grasped the kilt. “Aye, my lord,” she replied, with a fair imitation of a Scottish lilt.

  “And that goes for you as well, Cheval,” Shancy added. “And you'll keep my kilt,” he muttered.

  Donan looked at Analise’s smile, and he commanded, “We ride to the heather!”

  Chapter Thirteen

  Analise swayed toward Donan wearing an ethereal nightgown, so sheer, the curving outline of her body beneath could be seen in teasing glimpses. The airy collar had fallen down off one of her creamy shoulders, enthralling him, as the shadowy peeks of her feminine tuft aroused him.

  “Are we truly husband and wife then, Donan?” Analise’s voice was husky and low; a whisper of feminine charms.

  “Aye we are, wife.”

  Analise’s returning smile was filled with love and the ever-present mischief that was her nature. “I think Cheval and Shancy, might be—or are a match.”

  “Aye, I do too, lass,” Donan said, with a bass lilt of pleasure in his voice.

  “It could be as the song then?” Analise stopped by his feet where he lay on the bedding furs, propped up on his elbows, taking in everything she offered for him to see.

  “Aye, our song ... their song.” Donan lifted his gaze from Analise’s loins to her rich blue eyes. “And you cried for me, lass.”

  “I did, Donan.” She nodded, swaying her honey-gold hair about her hips. “And I vowed never to walk away from you, and I promised to do anything you desire.”

  Donan reached his hand up to Analise and she lowered her hand to his. She bent to do so, giving him a sensuous view of her full cleavage, while he intertwined their fingers. “And I, Analise, vow to do all that you ask of me.”

  “You do?” Analise’s blue eyes twinkled as her breath caught on a smile.

  Donan used a bit of effort not to add "within reason" beneath Analise’s impish and inventive nature. But aye, he trusted her with his soul. And he loved her. He would ride the merry ride she would bring to him wherever her nimble mind wished to go. And he would be pleased about it all, thanking God every day for such a miracle in his life.

  “It is truly sealed, Donan, our vows as husband and wife without—” Then, Analise’s voice became a whispered purr “—without fucking?”

  “Och.” Donan tugged on Analise’s hand making her to fall over his chest, while she squealed in surprise mixed with happiness. “So tis’ fucking you want, sugar lass?” His voice rumbled in a chuckle, while he turned Analise onto her back beside him, and then he leaned the top part of his body over her. “Aye, but, sweet Analise, I have fucked you pretty in my dreams.”

  “You have?” She smiled, bringing her finger to his bottom lip, rubbing it softly as she gazed up at him.

  “Aye, it was sweaty and rambunctious. What type of pretty fucking did you have in mind, sweet wife?”

  “I want you to take my maidenhead and make me yours forever, beloved.” She sighed. “Master.” She sighed again. “Mine.”

  Donan breathed deeply as his lips feathered over Analise’s lips. He had heard those words in a dream. “Husband,” he murmured against the dampness of Analise’s lips lifted up to kiss him softly. “And you’ll have to freely give your maidenhead to me, lass.”

  “Anything, Donan. You know that anything I have is yours.”

  Donan smiled into Analise’s eager mouth as he deepened his kisses and she wound her arms about his neck, lifting her barely covered breasts to sway against his chest. God had not forsaken him as he’d oft times thought in the past. God had not forsaken him at all.

  Analise knew that Donan had declared them husband and wife in what he'd called a handfasting. She wasn’t certain that she understood handfasting. Of course she trusted Donan. But she knew for certain marriage included the marriage bed, and a vow-sealing marriage thrust. She would simply have to be creative to receive her marriage thrust.

  Donan inspired her imagination, she thought, as he touched his tongue to hers. It was as if he licked her tongue with long lingering strokes. Embers of arousal ignited instantly in her nipples, then crept like warm strokes into her loins. Her beloved could kiss and kiss. She wound her fingers into his thick hair, while her body responded with anxious undulations against his muscular frame.

  She appreciated Donan's warm strength, because he was gloriously naked beneath the furs that had fallen to his waist. She could feel the crisp body hair on his chest, belly, and lower, grazing against her gauzy shift and bare flesh underneath. Donan stirred such hunger inside her. She wanted to roll against every inch of him, taste his hot skin, smell his masculine flavor, and fill herself with him.

  “Sweet wife.”

  Donan nibbled her earlobe, then down her jaw to the column of her throat. Her head fell back over his supporting forearm, while her fingers stroked his chest, feeling the strength and brawny power of him.

  She began teasing his nipples with her fingertips as he suckled the hollow of her throat and they moaned as one in deep pleasure. Donan used his teeth to pull the loose collar of her shift down, until one of her breasts sprang free. The feel of slowly being stripped and the act of Donan doing it with his teeth was sensual and thrilling. Analise’s body hummed with small uncontrollable sways of rising desire, while her fingertips explored his lean waist, then his belly, and her back arched as she thrust her breasts up to him for more of his attention.

  But he didn’t hastily put his mouth and tongue to her flesh; instead he bathed her cleavage with his hot breath, skimming the inner mounds with his lightly whiskered chin. He nuzzled her deeply as if he inhaled her scent with relish, while one of her hands caught his head, pressing him to her, and she moaned. Her nipples felt like two small bites on the tips, while her hips undulated with the motions of mating and she pressed her mound into Donan’s thigh.

  “You smell of woman and heat, sugar lass. You feel of warm soft love.” Donan’s voice rumbled between her cleavage sending vibrations to the tips of her nipples, adding pulsating aches.

  “I want you.” She had no poetry of words, only the rising hunger of her need.

  “Tell me where, wife. Tell me where you want me.”

  “Everywhere,” she pleaded. “Husband, you make me ache so.”

  Analise felt Donan’s pleased chuckle against her flushed skin as he rubbed his whiskered cheek against the roundness of her breast, following the curve up to her nipple. Once there, he rasped the tip, making her gasp in pleasure, while his hands settled warmly over her buttocks, and he pulled her mound tightly into his thigh.

  “Oh, Donan-Donan,” she moaned.

  The pressure of his thigh against her sex made it glisten with pleasure and the grinding motions made the exquisite aching she was feeling twist deeper.

  “Och, sweet one, you are warming my thigh. I want you on my mouth. Over my face, Analise.”

  “Donan,” she whimpered, as Donan’s carnal desires stroke through her mind and body.

  “Up with you, lass. Give me your honeyed pussy to lick.”

  Donan lifted her so strongly by his arms, urging her to crawl up his body, while his hands lifted the wispy shift she wore up over her buttocks. The action of crawling over Donan’s heated masculine body, and the thoughts about where she was going to pose her body freely over him, made burning lust tremble through her.

  It was so naughty and so exciting to straddle Donan’s face as he gazed up at her with torrid desires searing his
darkening gray eyes.

  This was the loyalty of a wife, she thought, gazing down at Donan, feeling the heat of him warming her inner thighs as his hands clasped her naked buttocks and he pulled her down, while still fiercely gazing up at her. Her knees slid and the hair on his upper chest brushed the back of her thighs, while his head lifted, and he murmured deeply, “I feel the wetness of your desire for me, wife. I feel your need.”

  “Oh,” Analise sighed, and then Donan’s tongue was on her pussy, making her gasp and clutch his head.

  He licked her as if he were tasting her and savoring her intimate flesh. The feeling of it was so wonderful, and so thrilling, she couldn’t keep her hips still. She wanted more. She wanted to feel more—and faster.

  Then it was as if she rode Donan’s tongue, while he encouraged her wanton undulations with his hands on her bare buttocks. He pushed and pulled her body, using her bottom cheeks as his leverage, while his tongue played wickedly and fast between the lips of her pussy.

  “Oh,” she moaned, grinding over his mouth, and then he licked the entrance to her sheath, making her pant with exquisite pleasure. He sounded as if he was ravenous as he growled and licked her even more demandingly. “Yes!” she cried.

  “Mate my tongue,” he rasped, with his mouth full of her heat.

  “Donan!” Analise cried, gazing down at him, trying to see through the blurring of her arousal.

  Then suddenly, his tongue fully entered her, and she gasped with raw pleasure rushing through her. Without one breath between his tongue's thrust, and then next, they gyrated against each other. Once again, he plunged his tongue inside her, and she rode it with jerking hips as if she were astride a stallion. Her cries of ecstasy became stronger and deliriously high-pitched.

  The pleasure inside her turned into demand, as she bounced up and down on Donan’s thrusting tongue. Suddenly at the peaking moment, Donan growled, and the heat and sound of it rumbled through her loins. But at that same moment, he lifted her up and away from his tongue and mouth.