Highlander's Caress: Medieval Romance (The Fae Book 2) by Joanne Wadsworth Page B

where he’d secured it with a silver pin at his chest. She snuggled against him, rested her cheek against his broad chest and snuck her nose into the deep V of his billowy white tunic. “Mated pairs belong together.”
    “I brought my belongings, have no intention of leaving now I’ve arrived.” He slung his satchel from his shoulder, set it beside the bed then with his hands on her shoulders, turned her around and unlaced her stays.
    Eyes closed, she allowed the sensation of his dreamy touch to wash through her, the intimate moment one she only wished to embrace. Aye, he was her mate and there was no other for her, other than him. With the last lacing plucked free, her bodice loosened and the soft fabric slithered down to her feet. In her shift, she stepped out of the pool of velvet, swept it up and tossed it over top of the dressing screen propped in the corner. “I cannae wait to hear how you’ve come to hold fae blood.”
    “Unfortunately, ’tis a sad tale.” He folded back the bedcovers and gestured for her to slide between the sheets.
    “Tell me everything.” She eased into bed and tucked the covers back around her while he wandered around to the other side of the bed.
    Boots toed off, he laid his wrist and ankle daggers on the nightstand, propped his sword against the headboard then unfastened his kilt and folded it on the corner chair. In naught but his tunic reaching him to mid-thigh, he slid into bed beside her. This moment seemed so incredibly intimate and she smiled as they faced each other on their sides, the light from the fire’s flames dancing across his high cheeks. “Are you ready, Ella?”
    “More than ready. I’m listening.”
    “At the age of eight, my brother and I made a pact, to never speak the truth about our birth to another, no’ unless we could be assured that the person we told would keep our secret and never use the knowledge against us.”
    “Your secrets will always be safe with me.” The golden strands of their mated bond continued to strengthen and the delicious pull of it drew them ever closer together.
    “We’re one and the same, my brother and I. Coll has always been right by my side, just as Ethan has always been right by yours.”
    “I’m glad you have a brother you can trust, just as I trust mine. We need our loved ones to be there for us, exactly as we wish to be there for them in return.” She played with the dangling ties of his tunic, loosened the deep V neckline a little more until the smattering of his dark chest hair showed. His skin gleamed in the firelight, his chest so heavily muscled and rippling with strength. “Is it your mother or father who holds fae blood?”
    “The only mother I’ve ever known was Cait MacLennan. She passed away when I was seven. Coll and I loved her deeply. My birth mother, unfortunately, I never knew.” He cleared his throat. “To explain I must start at the beginning, to the time afore I was even born.”
    “Go right ahead.” She longed to hear everything, to learn all about him.
    “During a time of peace between our clans, a lass by the name of Beth Matheson sailed from the fae village to my father’s keep to visit a relative. My father saw Beth and witnessed her fae skill of death-warning arise. Beth received a vision right there in his great hall, sensed death looming for one of his men and immediately hastened to pass the warning along. The man survived, although in allowing my father to see all she could do, she also aroused his greedy desire to hold fae blood within his direct line.”
    “Colin MacKenzie will take advantage of anyone he possibly can.” That she’d learnt well over the years during their warring.
    “Aye, and at the time my father was betrothed to the Chief of MacLennan’s daughter and upon their marriage was due to receive a large dowry of land, along with the all-important allied relationship he coveted.” He spread one palm over her hip and drew gentle circles with his thumb, the pressure