The Highlander's Secret(47)

Jain shrugged. “I’m not sure, but if they were on that boat that escaped it’s possible – I never saw their bodies.”

Alan exhaled heavily through his nose and cast his eyes towards the fire. “Fer yer sake, I hope they managed to survive.”

“I as well, but if Ragnar has reason to believe that he can find me, they’ll keep sending ships until they do. He’s a hunter, Alan. He doesn’t give up easily. They’ll kill ye if ye try to hide me from them.”

“I won’t let them,” he told her calmly. “Why dinnae ye tell me sooner?”

“How could I? Ye ken how the village feels about the Norsemen. Just look at what happened to us at the mere suggestion I could be one of them. I ken they’d never accept me once they found out, so I lied.”

“Ye could have told me,” he whispered.

Jain sighed. “I wasn’t sure if ye would turn on me as well. Oh, Alan! What are we going to do? I cannae go back to Elign, but if my brothers come looking fer me and I’m not there it could be a disaster. My brothers can be vicious killers when it suits them.”

“What do ye ken they’d do if they actually found ye?”

“First, they would destroy the village fer keeping me from them in the first place. Then they’d take me with them across the sea. I’d never see ye again. I cannae leave…this is my home now. With ye.”

Alan took her in his arms and wiped the tear from her cheek before kissing her softly on the mouth. As she tasted the salt clinging to his lips, Jain melted into him. Her lips danced against his, drinking in every moment of his touch and begging for more. All this time she’d been denying herself the taste of him and now that she’d experienced it Jain didn’t know if she could ever stop.

Just when she thought she’d had enough, Alan slid his hand down the length of her body and she moaned against his lips.

Her heart fluttered when Alan knotted his fingers in her hair, deepening their kiss with wanton yearning. With his body against her she could feel his arousal, bringing her ever closer to losing self-control.

She couldn’t think clearly; every sense was engulfed with Alan’s ragged breathing and the feel of his lips against her skin.

When he pulled away, it was only to shift slightly to the left and trail a line of kisses down her neck. Jain gasped, throwing her head back at the delicious new feeling. Warmth flooded deep into her stomach and she knew if they didn’t stop they would lose control completely.

Jain pulled away, running her fingers through his hair and tried to regain control of her beating heart.

Alan hung his head and placed a delicate kiss against her collar bone. “Now is not the time,” he whispered.

She nodded breathlessly.

“Soon,” he promised. “I want ye more than anything.”

Jain grinned. “Almost as much as I want ye.”

Alan took her face and cradled it gently in his hands before kissing her on the lips, sweeter this time and more innocent. Alan pulled away and rested his chin against her forehead. “When all this is over, Jain, I’ll come back fer ye. I would take ye as my wife.”

Jain smiled, letting out a haggard laugh. “And I would give myself to ye, but we have to deal with Leif and Ragnar first.”

“Whatever happens, we’ll deal with it together,” he promised. “Even if we have to run away.”

She nodded, taking him by the hand. “My parents are still back in Elign. I cannae abandon them.”

“We won’t,” he assured her. “But we need to come up with a plan first. Conrad is trying to position himself in a seat of authority, and some of them might fall fer it. Yer da is a good man though and I’m sure in the end he will prevail.”

“What if he doesn’t?” she asked him quietly. “What if Conrad wins?”

“Then we will fight him. I cannae accept that a man like Conrad will ever be chieftain. We’ll give it a few days fer the chaos to calm down, then we’ll go back and deal with him once and fer all.”

The sun was starting to set beyond the hills and the evening chill fell upon them. Alan rolled over on the grass, so he was looking at her properly. Jain quirked an eyebrow at him. “Why are ye looking at me like that?”

“I was just thinking how lucky I am to have such a strong, beautiful woman agree to be my wife.”

“Funny. I was just thinking how lucky I am to have a lad as loyal and good as ye to want me in the first place. Who else would have stood by me after they found out the truth about my past?”

Alan reached out and took her by the hand and said, “I guess we're both pretty lucky then.”

“I guess we are.”

He gave her hand a gentle squeeze and she pulled it up beneath her chin, kissing the tips of his fingers one by one. He watched her do this with clear intent, looking up at him. She took the last one in her mouth and sucked it lightly on the pad on his finger. Alan cursed aloud at she released it with an impish smile and looked up at him in wanting. “Ye’re a right vixen, ye ken that?” he teased playfully.

“Mmmm,” she hummed in agreement. “Are ye going to do anything about it?”

Alan growled, climbing over to the bed of hay that she had made and kissed her roughly on the mouth. She met him eagerly, wrapping her arms around his back when he climbed on top of her and dragging her nails down the back of his shirt.