Page 29 of Trapped By the Exiled Bastard

Keir shook his head.

“Then tell me. Let me understand.”

“All right,” he said, voice hoarse. “I was just a lad, back then. I woke tae the sound of me father snarlin’ at me tae hide. It was the last word he ever said to me.”

He told it all then. How the Camerons and their other so-called allies had betrayed them. How his clan had been destroyed. How the world had ended.

“I hid under the bed. Me father was brave but desperate. He begged that me mother be spared. Said she wasnae even his wife, just a commoner he had taken as a lover. Said there was no sense in killin’ her.” Keir closed his eyes. “The assassin laughed. The next thing I heard was me mother screamin’ in pain. Then silence. Then me father’s roar, cut short as it turned intae a gurgle when the assassin cut his throat.”

Elin’s eyes were wide. “Keir…”

He shook his head. He had to finish. “I crawled out from under the bed when I was sure he was gone. The castle was aflame and I was coughin’ in the smoke, but I had tae see. They lay side by side, hand in hand, their eyes still open. I dinnae ken how long I stood there, starin’, before Theon found me. I dinnae even remember how he convinced me tae flee. Perhaps he carried me. Perhaps he dragged me. I dinnae ken. All I do remember is that he’s been both brother and parent tae me since. Noah joined us, and we found Graeme later on, half-dead. And dinnae ever tell Graeme this, but I think that’s what truly saved me from goin’ mad. Even when he was at his weakest while recoverin’, he saw a boy in shock and mournin’ and did everythin’ tae cheer me. He’s me friend, me brother, me rock. He’s Theon’s best friend for a reason, even though they’re so opposite.” He smiled, though the pain still echoed through him in waves. “He may be daft, but he’s far from stupid, ye ken. I dinnae think any of us would have survived without him. And then they called us traitors, said we attacked when they slits our throats in our beds… “ He shook his head.

When he finally looked up at Elin again, there were tears running down her cheeks. “I called ye a bastard. A traitor. A monster,” she whispered.

He cupped her cheek, wiping the tears away with his thumb. “I’m at least one of those things, Elin. Perhaps more.”

She shook her head, then turned to press her lips against his palm. Warmth flooded him where the cold of his memories had set in. “Nay,” she murmured. “Ye’re none of them. Nae even the first. Yer mother and father may nae have been wed, but they seem to have loved each other deeply. Who could call the child of such a union a bastard?”

“Many,” he replied, trying to turn it into a joke so that her words didn’t make him crumble. How was it that this woman was able to shake him to his very core with just the slightest of phrases? “I’ll never be Theon.”

“Nay. Ye’ll always be Keir,” she whispered. “Strong, brave, kind, wonderful Keir MacKenzie. Son of the MacKenzie clan. Master of stealth. Survivor of the worst and protector of the weak. Aye, ye’ve made mistakes, but havenae we all? Ye’re Keir, and I couldnae be happier for it.”

She’d turned to face him again as she spoke, and now she moved closer, her lips only a breath from his. Keir was helpless under her gaze, as willing a servant as any man had ever been to the most powerful queen.

“And,” she murmured, “Ye’re all I want right now. Ye’re all I need. Perhaps all I’ve ever needed.”

Thunder ricocheted across the sky, and Keir closed the gap between them, kissing Elin with such ferocity as to challenge the storm. She threw her arms around his neck, pulling him in, responding with just as much strength. Her teeth grazed his lip and he growled, pulling back to claim her jaw, her neck, the curve of her collarbone. Her fingers dug into his back, encouraging and guiding him, urgent with need.

Keir’s hands found her waist and he lifted her as though she weighed nothing at all, laying her back against the pillow, positioning her exactly where he needed her to be. He leaned down to kiss her again, his lower half straining with need, but before he could, she slid out from underneath him. Surprised, he didn’t expect it when she disarmed him, twisting so that now he was the one who lay with his back on the pillow and she now straddled over him. Her long golden hair brushed his face as she stared down, a devilish smile on her lips.

“Who taught ye that?” he breathed, half laughing even as his body screamed for more.

“Someone brave,” she replied. She bent and kissed him, deep and long, and when she was done he felt she’d taken half his soul with her. “Someone handsome.” She kissed his cheek, then slid down to his chest. “Someone loyal.” She trailed kisses down his chest and to his belly, and he hissed as she reached the sensitive skin just above his waistline.

“Elin,” he gasped.

“Keir,” she replied. “Let me show ye how sorry I am for all the things I called ye. Let me show ye how grateful I am for the life ye’ve given me now and how ready I am for everythin’ that comes next.”

His breath caught and his cock twitched almost painfully below his trousers. Sweat beaded on his skin and his heart seemed to pulse through his whole body. “Ye… ye dinnae need tae…”

“I dinnae need tae, nay. But I want tae.” Her eyes were hooded as she looked at him, not looking away as her deft fingers loosened the ties on his trousers and then pulled them away. He lifted his hips to help her, spellbound by her command. “I’ve learned much from me time. Let me at last put some of the lessons those bad men taught me tae good use.”

“Elin,” he gasped.

She moved back and knelt between his legs, then lowered her head. The first touch of her mouth caused a deep groan to erupt from his chest, and when she gripped his hardness and found her rhythm, Keir barely knew who he was anymore. Her head and hand moved in sync, her hair brushing his oversensitive skin, tickling and teasing and causing him to gasp.

He murmured her name again and again, reaching down to tangle his fingers in her hair with one hand while the other gripped into a fist, barely in control of himself. She did not stop, taking her time, kissing and licking and exploring, making sure he felt every part of the pleasure as she took all of him in.

She moaned around him, sending vibrations down his length and deep inside him, and he groaned in return, his hips thrusting in time with her hand movements. She did not relent, and when he felt himself getting close to a climax and he gasped out a warning, he felt the curve of her smile as she only redoubled her efforts.

Keir’s hand tightened in her hair as she moved faster, tighter, with more surety, and when the peak arrived, he roared in time with the storm. Dazed, spent, he fell back onto the pillow. He was dimly aware of Elin standing up from the bed and the delicate clinking of the clay water jug as she washed, but his head was so clouded with pleasure he couldn’t even turn to look at her.

At last, she returned to the bed and settled down beside him. He shifted slightly, making room so that she could lie in his arms. They faced each other, and he saw a look of playful victory combined with something warm and everlasting in her eyes.

“Ye’re amazin’,” he whispered. “Do ye want…”

“Aye,” she replied. “But nae now. Now, I just want ye tae hold me.”