Highland Devil (Murray Family #22)(44)

Gybbon was walking to his bedchamber wondering how he could get in to be  with Mora when he was surprised to find Sigimor there waiting for him.  "Why are ye lurking around my door? Shouldnae ye be with Jolene?"

"She will wait for me. Mora's brothers are watching ye verra closely."

"I ken it."

"So mayhap ye should make up your mind about what ye want to do with the  lass." He held up his hand to stop Gybbon's reply. "Aside from that.  They catch ye at that and ye will be beaten and toted to a priest. So be  certain ye are ready to run that risk."

"Weel, nay sure what I want in the end, but I at least have some land to  build a good, solid, fortified manor on. To be honest, I dinnae ken if I  am looking to stay in one place, settle with one woman, maybe have a  bairn or twa, or if 'tis just an urge to stop for a wee while. Yet I  find myself nay concerned if those two lads drag me and Mora before a  priest."

"At least ye have thought on it. Get in your room and, if ye are a  daring fool, walk up to the hearth and push on the wall to the right of  it. See ye in the morning. Oh, and lock the doors."

Gybbon shook his head and went into the room. He shut the door and  stared at it for a moment, then took the key off the hook on the door  frame and locked the door. He was surprised Sigimor had some of the more  expensive types of locks on his inside doors, but the man did like some  things that displayed "I have money" to anyone who came round. Gybbon  bet the man had the most elaborate and costly lock on his own  bedchamber.

Next, he walked over to the hearth and stared at the wall but could see  nothing. He pushed on the wall and it slowly opened. He grinned and  stepped into Mora's bedchamber. Gybbon had the feeling that little door  was from the time of Sigimor's father, and hoped the mon had not used it  to be false to his wife.

He thought about that for a moment and doubted it. There was such a  horde of Cameron brothers he did not think the man would have the time  or the energy to bed any other woman. Then he recalled that there was a  passage that led down to the dungeons in one of the bedrooms and he bet  it was in Mora's room. The clever door in the wall had been a way to  escape if needed. It could be even older than he thought it was, and he  also decided he would have one in his manor when he had it built.

Gybbon noticed Mora had not banked the fire or even shut the heavy  drapes over the window, so both firelight and moonlight gave him more  than enough light to see by. Softly, he walked over to her bed and saw  that she was sound asleep, her strange cat curled up in one arm and  staring at him. He thought about just letting her sleep as she was most  likely worn out from being imprisoned and facing a certain hanging for  crimes she had not committed. It took but a moment for him to decide he  simply was not that generous and walked over to her door to lock it,  frowning when he found it was simply a latch and bolt, not as strong a  lock as he had. Her brothers could easily break through.

After a moment of thinking what would happen if they did, he found he  did not care. Gybbon was not sure what he felt for Mora, but the thought  of being pressed into a marriage with her did not make him shy away. In  truth, he faced the possibility very calmly, his only worry being that  he would prove a poor husband because the urge to wander might return  and he would leave her alone too often.

At some point, and soon, he was going to have to think hard on what he  felt for this woman. He started to walk back to the bed, shedding his  clothes as he went. Finally, he stood right next to the bed, naked and  frowning as his mind started puzzling over the problem now, not ready to  wait.

He had known her for only a short while, but he had wanted her from the  start, even though he had only seen her in the firelight. She was not a  buxom woman but, for once, he did not care about that but still craved  her. The passion he found in her arms was the fiercest and most  satisfying he could recall enjoying. He found her company welcome even  when there was no immediate need or opportunity for lovemaking. And, he  realized with a curse, he thought of it as lovemaking, not rutting or  sex.         

     



 

Gybbon nearly groaned aloud as he lifted the covers and slid into bed  beside her. It was clear that he had inherited what some males in his  family called the Murray curse. They were also sure it had been passed  down from the women in their family. When he tugged Mora into his arms  and it felt as if his whole body sighed in pleasure, he doubted the  "curse" was all the fault of the woman. Then he heard himself whisper an  apology to her cat as it stalked away to a bed someone had left to the  right of the fireplace for it, and he knew he was lost.



Mora woke up slowly as she became aware of the hard warmth she was  pressed against, the sound of a heartbeat she already recognized  thumping in her ears. She took a deep breath, savoring the scent of him,  and realized she now truly felt as if she was safe and had come home.  It was going to shatter her heart when he finally left her, but she  pushed the thought aside. He was here now and she would not taint the  moment with a sadness for what would come.

"Mmmmm, is that ye, William?" She felt his body jerk slightly as her  words shocked him and could not stop herself; she began to giggle and  felt a light but sharp slap on her backside.

"Wretched woman," he grumbled, but had to grin.

She opened her eyes to look at him and grinned. "Sorry, I could not resist. Ye shouldnae be here. My brothers might find ye."

"Only if they kick in Sigimor's fine door. Door is locked."

"I have a lock on the door?"

"Aye. So do I, but 'tis a better one than this."

"How did ye get here without my brothers seeing ye?"

"Seems there is a hidden door between the bedchambers. Right by the  fireplace." He frowned when he watched her stare at the fireplace, then  suddenly blush. "What has ye blushing like that?" He kissed her cheek.  "Did ye just wonder if Sigimor's da had lovers? I did, and then  apologized to the mon in my head."

"Nay, I didnae think that. I just thought that Jolene may have put us in  here apurpose, and I found that a little embarrassing for it meant she  already thought we were lovers and thinks we have been skipping back and  forth all the while we have stayed here."

He chuckled. "The door there is to escape into here where I believe the  opening to a passageway to the dungeons is. 'Tis an escape route.  Although, she may have already thought us lovers, but she didnae tell me  about the door."

"Ah. Weel, that is clever if the passageway is here." She tried to move,  thinking about going to look for the door to that passageway.

"Nay, we can look later. I want to look at it anyway for I am thinking  it would be a good thing to have in the manor house I mean to build."

"Ye have a house planned?"

"Aye, Harcourt is giving me some land and I plan to put one between his  keep and Nigel MacQueen's. He gave me the choice of the land between him  and the border or the other side. I chose the other side."

"That was verra kind of him."

"Aye, but 'tis also a custom amongst my clan. If ye end up with a lot of  land ye mark off a place for a brother or cousin to make their place.  It has worked verra weel for us. No one expects a lot of land and some  pay some money toward it, which I intend to do, but it does mean ye have  a strong ally right at hand and that is slowly making us a clan to  reckon with."

"Aye, I can see that. Where e'er one settles ye actually end up with two."

He let go of her and tugged off her night shift, then pulled her back into his arms. "There. That is much better."

"Oh, weel, aye," she muttered when she relaxed against him.

He chuckled. She was still a bit shy when naked, but he suspected she  always would be, at least when she was first disrobed. He smoothed his  hands up and down her back and felt the tension of shyness leave her.

Gybbon kissed her, letting his hunger for her show in his kiss. She slid  her arms around his neck and returned the kiss. He could almost taste  her own hunger, which pleased him and quickly heightened his need for  her. Kissing his way down to her breasts, he took the hard tip of one  deep into his mouth. The soft noises of pleasure she made stoked the  fire of his own passion.

Mora tensed a little when he began to kiss his way down her belly. She  knew what he was planning to do as he nudged the covers aside as he  went. Try as she might, she could not completely hide the tensions of  embarrassment. It drove her wild but she just felt it was too much, too  deeply personal. Then his mouth was almost there.

"'Tis nay a Saint's Day," she murmured, and felt the light touch of his breath as he laughed.

"It must be someone's," he said, and licked her.         

     



 

Mora lost all ability to speak and threaded her hands through his hair.  It allowed her to tug on him, trying to bring him back into her arms as  she felt that strange but fierce feeling building, which she knew would  soon sweep over her. She wanted him inside her when it did.