Page 10 of Tempting the Highland Captive

“Oh, Ron,” she breathed, her hands on his head pressing him closer to her. She did not know what it was she needed from him, but her entire body was screaming for it, was demanding some form of release from the marvelous torture. “Dinnae cease,” she demanded with such fervent ardor that she shocked herself.

“Aye,” he growled, and the vibration of it nearly caused her to plummet over the edge. Stars burst behind her eyelids as she arched her back and screamed.

Amelia had barely had time to enjoy the full thrill of the explosion her body was experiencing before the cell door flew open banging against the stone wall. Lucas McAlpine came charging through the door, his eyes a blazing fury. He picked up Ron by his hair, before either of the newlyweds had time to react, and threw him across the length of the cell. Wrapping Amelia in the blanket from the pallet, her dress wadded up in the fabric with her, he picked her up and carried her from the room.

“Ye made a vow!” she could hear Ron yelling after them. “I will haunt ye for this!” His voice cut short with a grunt. Amelia’s last sight of her husband was of two guards beating him into bloody submission as he fought to go after her. His words echoing down the hall. “Even dead, ye will ne’er be rid o’ me!”

Amelia, too shocked for words and still vibrating from her encounter with Ron, barely managed to hang on to the blanket so that her nakedness would not be exposed to the other prisoners and the guards. Lucas carried her to the chapel where she had gotten married, shoved her inside, barked an order for Maggie to help her dress, then slammed the door shut. Amelia blushed crimson in embarrassment for having been caught in such a compromising position but allowed Maggie to aid her in dressing. “Are ye well, lass? Did the scoundrel harm ye?” Maggie asked, her brows wrinkled in concern.

“I am unharmed,” Amelia reassured her, despite her trembling limbs.

“Did ye…” Maggie paused, meeting Amelia’s eye in question.

Amelia shook her head. “Nae, we did nae. Lucas came in before we could.” Amelia did not know much about the ways between a man and a woman, but she had seen the animals. She knew that the man had to enter the woman and Ron had not done that, at least not with the body part that mattered. She blushed again but set her jaw firmly. “We did nae.”

Maggie sighed in relief. “’Tis for the best.”

“Perhaps,” Amelia mused, “but if the marriage’s legitimacy is questioned…”

Maggie nodded, understanding what she was getting at. “Perhaps we keep that wee bit o’ it tae ourselves. Aye?”

“Aye.” Amelia nodded in agreement. “Nae one need ken what happened.”

Resolved to move forward with confidence, Amelia dressed herself and stepped back out into the corridor where Lucas and the warden awaited her. Stepping up to the warden, she met his eyes, and handed him a small coin purse. “The prisoner Ron Kyall will be treated with care befitting his station as my husband. That means nae more beatings.”

“As ye wish, my lady.”

“Nae one outside o’ this prison can ken the truth o’ what transpired here this day. Do I have yer word?”

“Aye, my lady.” The warden nodded solemnly.

“When it comes time for Kyall’s execution, ye will make it as swift and painless as possible.”

“Aye, my lady. Shall I send word when he is dead?”

Amelia thought about it for a moment, then shook her head. She did not need such a letter falling into the wrong hands. “Nae, a simple assurance of his execution is enough.”

“He will be dead before summer’s end.”

“It should be now,” Lucas grumbled from behind them.

Amelia ignored him and continued speaking with the warden. “Do we have an accord?”

“Aye.” The warden nodded and shoved the coin purse into a hidden fold of his coat. “Nae one will ken the truth o’ it.”

She held his eyes for one more moment to ensure that he meant to keep her secret, then turned and walked away, forcing herself not to look back, but towards home and the future that lay ahead.