Page 46 of Married to her Kilted Enemy

“I wish the council looked at it that way. They say they’ll only sanction an army tae attack him if I can prove he’s behind all this.”

“Then I’ll help ye tae convince them,” she assured him. “That soldier who attacked me, he said something strange. He said, ‘“I was told nae tae harm ye.’ D’ye think he could have meant Rollo? Did he intend tae kidnap me? But how would he ken who I was?”

Chilled to his marrow, Odhrán sat up straighter. “Jesus! Was that what this attack was all about? A distraction so he could try tae snatch ye? The swine! I should have guessed.” He looked her in the eyes, deadly serious now. “From now on, dinnae go anywhere without a guard if I’m nae with ye, Maddy, I beg ye. Rollo is as despicable as me faither. There’s naethin’ he willnae dae tae hurt me. And takin’ ye from me would be the worst he could dae. Promise me!”

“I promise, Odhrán. I’ve nae wish tae be abducted by another Lennox, present company excepted, of course,” she assured him.

“Never forget. If he gets his hands on ye, there’s nae tellin’ what he’ll dae.” He was scared and furious at the same time. “What if I hadnae come lookin’ fer ye today? Ye could be his prisoner by now.”

“But ye did come lookin’, and ye saved me. Now I understand the threat, I’ll be more careful, I swear.”

“Ye dinnae ken what ye mean tae me, Maddy. I never had much of a family. I had nae siblings like ye. I was lonely a lot of the time, until Liam and Tadgh came. Me faither made me life a constant misery, along with Rollo. Between them, they all but convinced me I was a worthless brute, who couldnae find a wife.

“But now I have ye. I have a wife I love, and who I think cares for too. I have me own family. That is so precious tae me, more precious than all the gold in the world. More precious even than bein’ laird. I cannae loose ye, Maddy. If that happened, I’d have nae reason tae live.”

She gazed at him, her gray eyes shining. She took his hand and held it in her own, pressing small kisses to his knuckles. The sweet gesture made his heart clench.

“Ye’ll never loose me, Odhrán, not if I can help it. And I trust ye tae keep me safe from harm.”

He breathed a small sigh of relief at the earnestness in her expression. Her soothing words made him feel a hundred times better about the dangerous situation they found themselves in. And she made him feel better about himself too. She made him want to be a better man. “Thank ye, Maddy.”

“I like it when ye call me that. Ye can dae it again later,” she whispered, kissing his knuckles again before letting him go. A thrill shot through him, and something stirred beneath his kilt. But his head was throbbing, and his belly was full, so he tamped down his desire for the moment, content to wait for the ‘later’ she proposed.

“Now, how are ye feelin’?” she asked, getting to her feet and removing the dinner plates.

“Me head aches a bit,” he confessed, “but I’m all right. I’m nae dizzy anymore.”

“Good. Thank the Wee Man for that thick skull of yers, eh?” she teased him. “Maybe ye should have yer bath now, wash off some of that battle grime. We could have some puddin’ afterwards if ye feel like it. I ordered yer favorite, strawberry tart.”

“Ye ken me favorite? But how? I’ve never told ye.”

“I asked the cook of course,” she told him with a smile. “Now, come on, in the tub before the water’s too cold.”

Before too long, he was reclining naked in the tub, steam rising all about him as he sipped his wine.

“I feel like a king,” he repeated, watching as Maddison got out of her dress and petticoats, peeled off her stockings, and came to kneel by the tub clad only in her shift. It was an arousing sight.

“Lean forward, and I’ll wash yer back,” she told him, taking the glass from his hand and setting it on a nearby table before picking up a washcloth.

“Where’s the soap,” she asked, looking around. Odhrán held up his hand, the bar of soap clearly visible between his fingers. He deliberately dropped it into the water with a loud plop.

“I think it fell in the tub. Ye may have tae search fer it,” he said, straight-faced. She giggled, exciting him even further. He quite forgot about his headache when she reached into the water and began groping around for the soap.

“I thought ye were supposed tae be lookin’ fer the soap,” he pointed out as her hands brushed his belly and thighs and skimmed teasingly close to his already hard member.

“I am, but I found this instead,” she said with a mischievous twinkle in her eyes as she took hold of his shaft and began caressing it.

“Ye cannae wash me back with that,” he said, groaning at her touch.

“Oh? What can I dae with it then?” she asked coquettishly, working her hand up and down slowly, the way she knew excited him.

“C’mere, and I’ll show ye,” he said and pulled her bodily into the tub with an enormous splash and a lot more giggling. Her soaking shift soon landed on the floor, making a puddle.

Her slippery, naked body in his hands stoked his ardor, making him forget about all their troubles. He simply let himself get lost in her, savoring the taste and feel of her glistening breasts against him, his hands everywhere as she knelt before him in the water, insisting on washing him now that she had found the soap.

The feeling of her small, soapy hands moving over his back and shoulders, washing under his arms, his neck, and even his ears, while her breasts swung temptingly like ripe fruit before his eyes was an exquisite pleasure, he had never imagined would happen to him. That made it all the sweeter.

Can anything be better that this? Nay, nothing in the world!