Enchanted Lover (27 page)

Asilinn was desperate for him. Wave after wave of
desire swept over her and the only thing that would satisfy the raw need he had
created was to feel him burst inside her. The huge four-poster bed rocked. She
clawed his shoulders—his back—clung to him, gasping his name each time he drove
into her. “Now, Jared, please—please,” she begged, frantic for his release.
Finally, a scream tore from her throat, “Jared!” Her body convulsed around him
in hard, quick spasms. He did what she asked, burst inside her with a shot of
hot seed that made her quiver. He let out a ragged moan and collapsed on her.
It should have crushed her, but now it felt wonderful. She told herself it was
just the joy of knowing he would protect her and her child.

He lay there for a few minutes, deadly still, and
then saw she was having trouble breathing with his weight pressed upon her and
rose. Climbing back onto the bed, he pulled her up beside him as he laid spread
eagle on the soft bedding.

Asilinn had always found pleasure in their joining
but this was something beyond anything before. She lay beside him gasping for
air. Neither of them seemed inclined to move, but truth be told, she felt like
she wanted to snuggle against him and go to sleep. Asilinn breathed in the
musky scent of their union, struggling to bring things into perspective. She
was his brood mare and he was her stallion. Hadn’t he just made it perfectly
clear with his total mastery of her body? If that was what it took to save her
child, she was willing.

His hand moved over to rest on her belly, rubbing it
gently. “I am glad you are with child, Asilinn,” he said. “But I warn you,
dinna use this physical attraction that sparks between us to try to mold my
will. You have only to be truthful.”

Jared pulled the covers over them and turned his back
to her. Asilinn Innes was as deceitful as his first wife was. Why was he drawn
to her? He must surely be cursed.

Recovery was a long and arduous process for Jared,
but he worked at it relentlessly. Every morning he did physical and combat training
with his troops. In the afternoons, he rode out on Ailleagian trying to regain
the strength and endurance that had made him a legend among his people.

Asilinn watched his persistence in wonder. He pushed
himself beyond the limits of a normal man. The one thing he seemed
disinterested in was physical contact with her. This reinforced her belief he
had only married her to create the life that now grew within her. Despite his
apparent lack of interest in her, he slept beside her each night and pledged he
would protect her and the child. He told her he would try to make peace before
the child was born. For the first time she found she did not doubt his word.

She should be content but she found night after night
when he lay within her reach and failed to touch her, her desire for him grew.
It was some foul trick of his, she was sure, or else now she had fulfilled her
purpose, her body held no interest for him. Asilinn didn’t know why that
thought disturbed her the most.

Finally, after a month-long regimen of fighting to
get his strength back Jared seemed satisfied with his condition. There was
still unrest among the people. Some accused Asilinn of bringing their laird
back to life and bewitching him, but no one dared accuse her in his presence.
She had continued to minister to the sick and injured and had developed her own
following of grateful admirers.

The one thing confounding Jared was his inability to
discover the leader of the masked riders. In spite of this setback, he seemed
relatively content.

Asilinn was in the kitchen with Flanna when she felt
a presence behind her. She whirled around and found herself face to face with
Jared.

“Milord, do you wish me to leave you alone with Lady
Asilinn?” Flanna queried.

“No, Flanna, I wish to speak with both of you. I need
a banquet prepared tomorrow evening for all my clansmen. If the notice is too
short, we can make it a few days from now. I need to meet with them and would
see them entertained royally.”

“It can be done by tomorrow, Milord,” Flanna assured
him. “The larders are full.”

“I want you to carry it out with your usual flare.
Lady Asilinn will help you choose the menu, but first I must speak with her
briefly. Come, Asilinn.” He pulled her with him into the small chamber on the
main floor that served as his office.

As soon as they got inside the room, he laid his hand
on her still-flat stomach. It was the first time he had touched her in a long
time. She stood still like a stone, hoping he would not take his hand away.
Slowly she laid her hand over his and held it in place.

“What is the purpose of your banquet, Milord?”

He smiled at her and brushed a wayward curl from her
face with his free hand. “I will hold the feast to announce you are with child.
After the matter is common knowledge here, I will ride to Cairngorm Castle to tell your father and urge him to accept the peace agreement.”

Asilinn drew a deep breath. “He will be very angry I
have allowed this to happen.”

He lifted her chin so she looked into his eyes. “I
will make him see the beauty of our child. After all, it will be his
grandchild.”

“Jared, let me come with you. I havena been home
since the night you stole me from my father.”

“I canna risk our son or daughter with an arduous
ride.” His hand caressed her belly. “You are not far along and I would not risk
a miscarriage by taking you with me. But I promise when you have recovered from
childbirth, I'll take you and the child to see your father.”

“Is that why you no longer take your husband’s
rights? Do you fear I will lose the babe if you have me?”

He arched an ebony brow and stared hard into her
eyes. “Do you miss it, Asilinn… the feel of me inside you? Mayhaps I need to
fit you with a chastity belt while I am gone to assure you dinna find another
to fulfill your desires.”

Asilinn stepped back and slapped him hard across the
face. His jaw tightened but he didn’t move. “You know I have never been with
anyone but you! How dare you insinuate I am like some bitch in heat—that I
would take any man to fill my needs?” She could feel the color rising in her face—tears
burning in her eyes, but she refused to run from him. She would have this out
now.

“Mayhaps my sordid past makes me a skeptic.” He
reached over and ran a finger over her forehead. “If only I knew what really
goes on inside your head.”

“Allow me to enlighten you, Milord. Ever since I have
been your wife, you have used your body like a weapon against me. You drive
your sword into me until you make me desire our mating but when you are done
with me, you grow cold. You dinna let me come close to you, yet this is what
you claim to desire.” Asilinn brushed away her tears with the back of her hand.
Now she had started she was going to finish despite his angry scowl. “And now I
am with child, you dinna touch me at all because you accuse me of using my body
to win your protection. Is what I did different from what you have done,
Milord? I dinna think so.”

“You should have asked me, not tried to seduce me
into it. I cannot abide devious women who use their bodies to gain favor.” He
stroked the side of her face. “And you, sweet Asilinn, with your veil of
innocence that has been like an aphrodisiac to me, when you did something like
what my foul first wife did….”

“You judge me by another’s sins.” She grabbed his
hand and led back to her stomach. “It is your child that rests here. I didna
come to you with another man’s child in my belly. Do you doubt it?”

“No, Asilinn.”

“I tell you this. I am a religious woman and I will
not break my wedding vows, no matter how they were made. No other man will go
where only you have been unless I become a widow.”

“If only I could trust you, Asilinn.”

“Zounds! I will wear a chastity belt, if that is your
desire.” She pulled up her skirt and exposed herself to him. “Would milord like
to take some measurements for it now?”

He grabbed her skirt and yanked it back over her.
“That will not be necessary,” he said tightly.

“Does that mean you dinna need to measure or you
wilna subject me to such degradation?”

“Do you really think I use my body as a weapon
against you?”

She stepped closer and met his luminous gaze. “How
many times did you give me the sweet torture of moving in and out of me during
your inquisition? ‘Who feels pleasure Asilinn?’ ‘Tell me you want it,
Asilinn.’” She poked his chest with her fist and felt some sense of satisfaction
when she saw him swallow hard.

He let out a heavy sigh and moved away from her, his
cheek still red from her earlier slap. “Please help direct Flanna in the
preparations. After the banquet, I shall be gone for about ten days.” He looked
at her rather sheepishly. “I am sorry I canna risk taking you to see your
father.”

This was as much of an apology as she was going to
get. She knew he was right about the trip. “Mayhaps you could take Skye, she
needs a diversion.”

He smiled. “I'll give it some thought, but I dinna
want to kindle the fires of war. The girl has no talent for diplomacy.”

“Consider it.”

“Aye, so,” he agreed.

***

The banquet was a full dress affair with each
attendant proudly wearing his colors. Several allies from neighboring clans
were present for the festivities.

Asilinn was determined to dazzle her husband. She had
chosen a magnificent black velvet gown and Wynne attached the Innes plaid to
one shoulder in a rosette and the MacLean plaid in a similar fashion on the
other. Wynne intertwined the two lengths of plaid which fell back over her
shoulders. In the back, they formed a train of interlaced fabric. Asilinn was
disappointed when she did not see Jared as she first entered the hall, but
there was enough of a murmur at her arrival to assure her, her gesture had not
been missed.

Jared was outside greeting their guests and had not
seen her complete outfit until he walked back into the hall in their company.
When he first caught sight of Asilinn, she stood on the raised platform talking
with some of his warriors and their wives. Her imitation of what he had done
symbolically on their wedding day moved him immeasurably, especially after he
had treated her so shabbily earlier.

Her hair looked like spun gold as it cascaded in
gleaming ringlets across the black velvet. The two plaids decorated her
shoulders. Seeing him, she smiled and walked down towards him stopping in the
center of the floor to spin around and show him her creation. Jared forgot what
he was saying to Laird Glendon and stopped mid-sentence. The older man followed
his gaze and chuckled.

“I see tales of her beauty were not exaggerated,”
Glendon commented with an amused smile.

“Forgive me, John, I must greet my wife,” he mumbled.
Laird Glendon cackled with unabashed mirth when Jared hurried to Asilinn's
side.

“Asilinn, you look lovely.”

She smiled. “Mayhaps it is the glow of motherhood,”
she replied. Taking her arm, he led her around the room introducing her to
those she had not met.

Jared presided over a bountiful feast with his wife at
his side. This would be the final blow to the discontents. His announcement
would cut them to the core. He stood and addressed the gathering.

“I have news I would share with all gathered here
tonight,” he said. He took Asilinn's hand and pulled her up beside him,
wrapping one arm around her shoulders, and placing his other hand on her
still-flat stomach. “Lady Asilinn and I are expecting our first child.”

A cheer rose from the assembly but Jared did not miss
Osred's dark scowl at the news. “Tomorrow I ride to Cairngorm Castle to begin peace talks with Laird Innes.” Another cheer rocked the hall and merriment
started as the sound of bagpipes filled the huge room.

***

He motioned his conspirators over to a quiet corner.
The candlelight flickered in the shadowy space as their faces grew grim.

“We can wait no longer,” he told them. “We must
dispose of Lady Asilinn as soon as possible.”

“He will guard her closer than ever now she is with
child,” one of his companions warned.

“Aye, but I am ever in his confidence and he does not
suspect I am his enemy.”

“Are you sure? Laird Jared may be keeping his own
counsel these days.”

“Glenna has inflamed the people against her with
charges of sorcery and witchcraft. Lady Asilinn has played right into our hands
with her cures and mysterious dreams that later come to pass. And that
disgusting display—she dares to intertwine her plaid with ours and he rewards
her for it. Mark my words. He makes more enemies than friends with this
behavior.”

They twitched nervously under his perusal but he
could see he had made his point. Even in the dim light, he saw the fear in
their faces—they would do his biding. They knew too well the consequences of
refusing.

“In case you cannot find a way to kill her, I’ll
petition the church to charge her with witchcraft,” one offered.

“And if she dies mysteriously? Will there not be an
inquiry?” their companion asked.

“Aye, but her status as a witch and devil worshiper
will overshadow any serious investigation. It must be now.”

The other two nodded their agreement. They separated
and went off to join the merrymaking.

***

The feast went so late Asilinn actually fell asleep
at the table. She vaguely remembered her husband carrying her up to bed and
holding her close while she snuggled against his shoulder and drifted into a
deeper sleep.

The next morning Jared paced their bedchamber while
Asilinn watched him from the bed. He worried over whom to leave in charge in
his absence. “What can I do to protect you while I am away?”