Chapter 6

They were both kneeling in the straw, his legs on either side of hers, she realized, and then his hands found and closed over

her breasts, even as his mouth claimed hers. Annella moaned as his tongue thrust in to explore and his fingers and palms worked

over her breasts. The man had such talented hands, but honestly, she was sure his kisses were what had her writhing, gasping

and reaching desperately for him.

Annella slid one hand up and back to caress his head, while her other dropped to cover his hands and press them tighter to

her, urging him on. In the meantime, her bottom began to press back against the hardness poking at her through their clothes.

When Graeme groaned in response, his fingers tightening around her breasts as he palmed them, she rotated her hips, rubbing

eagerly against him, excited to feel him growing larger and harder under her efforts.

When he gave off caressing her and suddenly started tugging her gown off her shoulders, Annella helped, shrugging out of it and pushing it over her hips. She then twisted away from him to drop to sit on the straw and kicked and pushed the gown off her legs as well. She'd barely finished the task when Graeme was crawling up her body. He'd shed his plaid and shirt while she was undressing and was now completely naked.

It was the first time Annella had seen him without a shirt and plaid and she mourned the fact that it was by the weak lamplight

that was barely making its way up to the loft from the stables below. Still, it was enough to see that he was beautiful to

behold, all rippling muscle, wide shoulders, and narrow hips with arms and legs that were large and strong from years of wielding

a sword and riding into battle on horseback. Sadly, she couldn't properly see his pillicock in this light and from this angle,

but she didn't get long to fret over that. She'd barely reached out to run one hand over his chest before he was lowering

himself and claiming her mouth.

Annella did love his kisses. The pandemonium they stirred in her was positively delicious and she immediately started to wrap

her arms around him in response, but before she could, he broke the kiss and began to trail his lips down her throat, shifting

his body down her body as he did, so that his shoulders were out of her reach. Annella plunged her fingers into his hair instead,

running them across his scalp as he kissed his way to one breast and began to draw on the hardening nipple there.

Moaning, Annella twisted her head in the straw, her back arching to offer herself to him more fully as his clever fingers began to toy with her other breast. As if that was a cue, however, Graeme let her nipple slip from his mouth and continued to trail his mouth downward, tickling over her stomach.

Gasping back a laugh, Annella tightened her fingers in his hair and tried to urge him back up, but he wouldn't be dissuaded

from the path he'd taken. His lips continued to tease their way downward, gliding over one hip as his hands urged her legs

apart. Confused now, Annella reluctantly let her legs open for him and then half sat up on a shocked cry when his head suddenly

ducked between her thighs and he began to lick and suck at the folds guarding her center.

Her thighs immediately tried to close and she began to tug almost violently at his hair in protest, but then his tongue slid

between her folds and lashed across her already excited flesh. The shock of pleasure that shot through her then had Annella

falling to lie on the loft floor with a grunt and her hips now shifting and rising to meet his mouth as he worked. She thought

she heard Graeme chuckle then, but it wasn't the sound so much as the vibration of his mouth against her suddenly frenzied

skin that affected her. Hips bucking, she released his hair for fear of hurting him and reached out for something, anything

to hold on to as his tongue then continued to flick over her.

Unfortunately, there was nothing around her but straw and she ended up just clutching handfuls of it and closing her eyes

as her hips writhed under his attention. She was vaguely aware of Graeme holding her thighs open as his mouth worked over

her flesh, only because it frustrated her need to move. He was in complete control, and driving her mad.

Her whole body was strung tight and trembling. One minute she wanted to plead with him to put an end to the chaos he was creating in her body, and the next she wanted to beg him never to stop. But she couldn't get either request out, Annella simply didn't have the capacity. Her heart was pounding, her breath coming in harsh gasps.

Just when she thought she couldn't bear it for another moment, the tension in Annella's body snapped and an overwhelming wave

of pleasure washed through her. She began to convulse helplessly, her mouth opening on a scream that came out as little more

than a choked cry.

Graeme immediately stopped what he was doing and shifted over her to thrust into her. Groaning, Annella wrapped her arms and

legs around him, clinging to him as if he were the only thing that could keep her head above water in rough seas. When Graeme

caught her hands and removed them from around his neck, she opened her eyes in confusion. Before she could protest, he had

straightened, grabbed one of her ankles and pulled it over his shoulder while leaving the other on the floor. The move left

her wide-open to him, and he took advantage, caressing her with his free hand as he continued to thrust.

Annella shattered with the second thrust, her body tightening and shuddering around his as he continued to touch and pump

into her. That second wave of pleasure wasn't done before a third started, which was followed quickly by another and another.

Annella didn't know where one orgasm ended and the next began.

She was nearly sobbing and delirious from the overwhelming pleasure battering her mind and body before Graeme finally left off touching her. He immediately grasped her by both hips and thrust deep one last time. Stiffening then, he gave a short shout and gripped Annella's hips tightly as he poured himself into her.

Graeme woke up with a start and was at first confused as to where he was and what had roused him, but then he heard a soft

nicker and the clop of hooves on hard-packed dirt as a horse or horses shifted and his memory returned in full. Sitting up

abruptly, he glanced around the dark loft in search of Annella, but she wasn't there. Nor were her clothes. The damned woman

had left him there asleep in the straw.

And that after ruining his plot to have her brother catch them at houghmagandie and demand a wedding.

Muttering under his breath, he quickly dressed, donning shirt and plaid, and then crawled to the edge of the loft to peer

down. The stables seemed empty, so he swiftly descended the ladder and slipped from the building.

Graeme had no idea how long he'd slept, or even how long they'd been in the stables ere that, but was sure it had been a good

hour or more all told. Positive that was long enough that Payton, Teague and Symon would have given up on catching them this

night and left the gardens, he didn't bother going there, but instead headed into the keep.

The fact that the trestle tables were being broken down and set out of the way against the walls in preparation for people to sleep told him that he had indeed been long in the stables, so he wasn't surprised to see Payton, Teague and Symon at the still-standing head table. He went there at once, ignoring the odd looks he was getting from everyone he passed. Graeme supposed they were worried that he and the men would be up carousing well into the night, keeping everyone who slept in the great hall awake, but he had no intention of doing that.

"Ye did no' come to the gardens" was Teague's greeting.

"Nay," Graeme agreed grimly, snatching up his friend's ale and gulping down half of it before slamming it down. "I invited

her to walk in the gardens but she had other ideas and instead dragged me to the—"

"Stables?" Symon finished for him.

Graeme glanced to him with surprise. "Aye. How did ye ken?"

"Because straw and hay are all o'er yer plaid," Payton said dryly.

Glancing down sharply, Graeme saw that he was right. It looked like he'd taken away more straw with him than had been left

behind in the loft, dammit. No wonder everyone had been giving him odd looks.

"Ye tupped her again, didna ye?"

Graeme raised his head at Payton's resigned question and grimaced for answer. It really hadn't been well done of him, and

he had intended on dragging her to the gardens. At least he had right up until she'd leaned out of the loft to peer down at him with her bosoms hanging out and taunting him. A man could only take so much. Waving away Payton's question, he asked, "Did ye see her? She was gone when I woke up and—"

"My sister came in some time ago and went straight above stairs," Payton told him grimly.

"Aye," Teague agreed and then grinned and said, "And she too looked like she'd been rollin' in the hay."

"Did anyone notice?" Graeme asked with concern.

"O' course," Symon said with amusement. "Although they probably did no' ken why she was covered with straw and such."

"At least, no' until ye entered in the same state," Teague said with a grin.

Cursing, Payton stood abruptly.

"Where are ye goin'?" Graeme asked, grabbing his arm as he started to move away from the table.

"To tell me sister she must marry ye," Payton said, as if that should be obvious. "Her state and yours on returnin' makes

it obvious what ye've been up to. The whole castle kens. She'll ha'e to agree to marry ye now."

Graeme shook his head at once. "Yer sister's no' a fool, MacKay. She ran Gunn fer six years, and ran it well. She no doubt

noticed the state o' her gown once in her room and has already come up with an explanation."

"What explanation could she possibly give to explain it?" Payton asked with disbelief.

Graeme felt his eyebrows rise at that. He could think of half a dozen possible explanations just off the top of his head,

but before he could speak, Teague hissed, "Watch yer tongues, she's comin'."

Graeme glanced around to see her rushing toward them from the stairs, still in the same gown, but it had been denuded of the straw and hay that he'd been told had covered it earlier.

"Oh, good, you are back, m'laird," she said from far enough away that she had to speak loudly. A strategic action, Graeme

realized, as most of the people in the great hall went silent and turned to hear what would follow.

"I realized when I got to me room that I had no' thanked ye fer what ye did ere rushin' off back to the keep," she continued

apologetically, still speaking loudly.

"Thank him?" Payton asked with disbelief.

"Aye." Annella peered to her brother with surprise and explained, "The man saved me life."

Not even Graeme had expected that. None of the half a dozen possible explanations on the top of his head included lifesaving.

So, he was listening with as much interest as everyone else when she continued.

"I noticed while we were out touring Gunn land this morning that me mare was favorin' a leg."

"Ye did, did ye?" Payton asked grimly.

"Aye. I meant to have a look, but the rain started and we had to race back to the keep. The wild ride back pushed it from

my mind and I did no' recall it again until we were finishing the sup tonight." She clucked her tongue at her own lapse of

memory, and then said, "Well, of course I thought I'd best have a look straightaway ere I forgot again."

"O' course ye did," Teague said with understanding when she paused.

Graeme glanced toward the other man, and almost could have believed he was taken in by this tale if it weren't for the twinkle in his eye. Shaking his head, he glanced back to Annella, thinking to himself that while her Scots came out when she was angry or excited, she sounded almost pure English when she was giving voice to bold-faced, obviously well-thought-out and preplanned lies. Good to know , he thought as Annella smiled at Teague and nodded.

"Aye," she said. "However, just as I was about to leave, Grae—Laird Gunn asked where I was headed and when I explained, he

decided to accompany me." She turned to grace Graeme with a grateful smile now, and added, "He said 'twas not safe fer a lass

to be stumbling about in the dark on her own. I thought that was silly. I'm perfectly safe here at Gunn."

Annella glanced around at the people in the hall who had drawn closer as she spoke. It was as if she was inviting opinion,

and everyone down to a child now nodded in agreement. Aye. Their lady was safe in Gunn night and day. Beaming at them for

the support, she turned back to face Graeme and Payton as she went on.

"But I was ever so grateful he did accompany me in the end. Not only did he help me examine my mare, he's actually the one

who saw the small, sharp stone stuck in her hoof. I might have missed it otherwise," she added with amazingly believable self-recrimination.

Sighing, Annella shook her head in regret and continued, "But he did see it, and tried to hold the hoof still while I removed

it. I did manage to get it out, but it must have been sore, because even as I did my mare jerked away and reared wildly."

Eyes widening dramatically, she told Payton, "Why, if Laird Gunn had not grabbed me and rolled us both across the straw floor out the way of my mare's slashin' hooves... well, I could have been killed."

Closing the few feet that separated them, she clasped Graeme's hands and looked up at him earnestly as she said, "Thank you,

m'laird. I should have taken the time to say so ere rushing off. I was just so overset by all that had happened. But thank

you for what you did in the stables."

Graeme felt a grin tugging at his lips and had to suppress it. No one would understand that response, because no one but he

could see that her eyes were sparkling with wicked humor as she thanked him for what he "did in the stables." They also could

not see the way she was brushing her fingers over the meat of his palm in a caressing motion that actually affected him.

"Oh dear, and you're covered with straw from it," Annella said now and began brushing him down. Her running her hand quickly

down the front of his plaid had a definite effect on Graeme. His cock had already been yawning and stretching as her words

brought the memory of what he'd really done in the stables to the forefront of his mind, but now it was jumping around under

his great kilt like a child after too many sweet treats.

"I had a lot of straw on myself too when I got back but cleaned up when I saw it," Annella said as she shifted closer, her

shoulder now brushing the front of his plaid as her hands moved to his side and then around to his arse, still brushing busily

away.

Graeme almost groaned and closed his eyes when her shoulder nudged and then pressed against his growing erection, rubbing it as her body moved in concert with her hands. Catching back the sound and forcing his eyes to remain open, Graeme caught her hands.

"'Tis fine, do no' trouble yersel', Lady Annella. Wid ye care fer a drink?" he asked, urging her toward the table, but ensuring

she was positioned to hide his body's response from everyone in the room except for Payton, Teague and Symon. There was nothing

he could do about their seeing the state he was in, except hope none of them looked down.

"Oh, thank you, nay," Annella said, patting his shoulder once he was seated and the table could hide his erection. "Between

the tour this morning and the stables this evening, I fear all the excitement today has quite worn me out."

"Minx," Graeme whispered under his breath as her gaze slid from his tenting plaid to his face and back.

Annella smiled widely and then swung away. "I'm to bed, m'lairds. Sleep well."

Graeme watched her go, his gaze on her skirts and the way her hips moved as she walked. He wished he could envision what they

looked like under all that cloth, but he hadn't really seen her naked. Not in daylight. Well, he'd seen her breasts that morning

but—

"Is that really how ye both got straw all o'er ye?"

Graeme blinked at that question from Payton MacKay and then turned to peer at him with disbelief. He was just thinking that the sister was smarter than the brother when he noted the half hopeful, half pleading expression on the man's face and understood that Payton wanted to believe Annella's story was true. Even if it wasn't true. Graeme considered that briefly. He'd never had a sister, but he supposed he wouldn't want to know she'd had her skirts tossed up in the stables like a—

"Damn," Graeme breathed as he realized he'd done it again, taking Annella in the basest way in a place where a lady of gentle

breeding should not be exposed to such behavior.

"Well?" Payton asked.

"Aye," Graeme lied almost absently as he stood up. "The mare, the hoof, the rearing, the rolling... 'Tis all true." He

didn't stay to hear Payton's response, but headed for the stairs and his bedchamber. He had some plotting to do. Not only

on how to have Annella's brother catch them so that he could force his sister to marry him, but also some ways to handle and

redirect Annella from the woods, the stables and anywhere else that wasn't the gardens where they would be interrupted before

he forgot himself and had at her again. The next time he actually bedded the woman, it was going to be in a bed... as her

husband.