The Warrior Read online

  Wanting the salvation only she could give him, he scooped her up in his arms and carried her to bed.

  Cat closed her eyes at the sensation of him holding her. Nothing felt better than being in Lochlan’s arms. Nothing. The way he carried her, protective yet gentle, reminded her of how much he loved her. And she loved him with every part of her being. She wanted to kiss away every ounce of pain he’d ever endured. To satisfy him in a way no woman ever had.

  He’d done everything he could for Kieren, she knew that. Deep down, Lochlan did, too. Sooner or later, he would forgive himself.

  She hoped.

  Gently, he placed her on the bed. Lochlan’s gaze met hers, intense and vulnerable in a way she’d never seen before. She could tell this was more to him than just coupling. He needed her and that touched her in a way nothing ever had before.

  Lochlan wanted to forget all he’d just learned and she wanted to make him forget. He deserved so much more than the burdens he’d shouldered all these years. He deserved happiness, laughter, and love beyond his imagination. And she planned on giving that to him starting right now. Wearing an inviting smile, Catarina lifted his tunic over his head and allowed it to drop to the floor.

  Her fingers itched to touch that hard, corded chest. He was a powerful man and a gentle, caring person all rolled into one. God, how she loved him.

  “Kiss me.” His tone was ragged with need.

  She complied as his lips teased hers open. The way his lips moved over hers, it was as if they were the only two people in the world and she felt more love than she knew existed.

  He stroked her cheek with the pad of his thumb. Without his uttering a single word, she knew. The pain was gone for a moment and she’d done that for him. Right now, he wasn’t thinking of his brother.

  He was only thinking of them.

  Cat lifted a finger to his cheek so that she could scratch the stubble playfully with her nails. How she loved that sensation. His skin was so different from hers. So rugged and masculine.

  Her mouth watered for a taste of it.

  “You know, my lord, what with all that has happened, it seems you’ve forgotten to shave. ’Tis getting a little long for my priggish lord.”

  He leaned in and nuzzled her neck so that his stubble teased her skin, making chills run the length of her. “Is it? I thought you preferred me as wild and untamed as you are.”

  She couldn’t help but laugh. “It isn’t without its charms, but there is so much more I find charming about you, Lochlan MacAllister.”

  He nuzzled again and leaned in, pausing just shy of her ear. “And I find many, many more things about you irresistible.”

  “Such as?”

  His eyes twinkled as he stared down at her. “Your earlobes.”

  She frowned at his response. What could he possibly find endearing about that? “My earlobes?”

  “Aye, they’re so tiny and delicate.” He kissed her earlobe, the warmth of his breath sending a shudder down her spine.

  “So you love me for my earlobes?”

  He smiled. “Among other things.”

  “Other things?”

  He traced the curve of her neck with his forefinger just before his lips followed. “Here.” He sprinkled kisses down her neck, tender and loving. “I adore the way your neck curves. ’Tis most inviting.”

  “Mmm,” she breathed. “And is there anything else you find inviting?”

  Lochlan savored her playfulness now more than ever. She was trying to distract him and God love her, it was working. He was lost to her charm. Lost to the feel of her softness. “Aye, love, I do have a favorite.”

  Cat arched a brow at him. “Is that so?” She had an idea where his hand would travel next.

  At least that was what she thought until it went somewhere else.

  “Here.” He placed his hand over her heart as his gaze captured hers. “This is the most beautiful part of you, Catarina. It is what holds me as your most willing captive.”

  That unexpected gesture stole her breath and brought a tear to her eyes. Overwhelmed by his tenderness, she cupped his face in her hands and pulled him into a deep kiss.

  Lochlan trembled at the taste of her unbridled passion. Something about his Catarina caused the agony he’d felt for Kieran to subside.

  In this moment, he wasn’t the MacAllister, a man who served his family and with no reservations and no future of his own. He was only the lucky bastard Catarina loved and that was enough for him.

  Their kiss deepened and he slid his tongue into her mouth, teasing her, begging for compliance and solace. Forgiveness and hope. A comfort he found only here in her arms. In her bed. It was where the entire world melted away and there were only the two of them.

  They kissed and explored one another for what seemed like forever. He ached to possess her, to sink himself so deep within her flesh that he’d lose all sense of reality. But he wanted to prolong this time with her. To savor it.

  Then she broke the kiss.

  “What’s wrong?”

  She looked at him with a hunger so raw it took his breath. “I want you inside me, Lochlan. I fear I’m going to burn to cinders if I don’t have you there.”

  Her words brought a smile to his face. This wasn’t a woman seducing the MacAllister in hopes of landing him as her husband. This was a woman who wanted him as a man.

  And it was the most sensuous thing he’d ever known. His heart pounding, he quickly unlaced her gown and pulled it from her body. He sucked his breath in at the sight of her lying on the bed, fully exposed to him.

  He jerked his boots and breeches off while she kicked her shoes away. His body on fire, he cupped her right breast in his hand, toying with the tip until she was groaning in pleasure. And then he did it all over again just to watch her writhing from his touch.

  She closed her eyes and laid her head back onto the pillow. Unable to stand not tasting her, he bent down to take her soft nipple into his mouth.

  Catarina cried out in pleasure as he flicked his tongue over the sensitive area. Desire pooled between her thighs and if she didn’t have him soon, she feared she might very well die.

  Yet there was no mercy in his eyes as he moved his hand to her ankle, tracing a path along her inner thigh to stop at the sensitive flesh where she desired him most. He slid a finger inside her with ease. She opened her legs wide, giving him more access as he toyed with her.

  But that wasn’t really what she wanted. It was merely a temporary relief of what she hungered for.

  Unable to stand it, she reached down between their bodies to touch him. He growled as she stroked his cock. Laughing in triumph, she bucked his hand away and guided him into her body.

  Lochlan wanted to curse from the biting ecstasy that tore through him. Being inside Catarina was heaven, pure and simple. The way she fit perfectly around him, her body so receiving. He thrust his hips against hers, moving in and out, savoring every movement of their joined bodies.

  “Have you any idea what you do to me, lass?” he breathed in her ear.

  She nibbled at his jaw. “I have a pretty good idea.”

  “Aye?”

  “Aye,” she said with a mischievous glint in her eye. “The very same thing you do to me.” She cupped his face in her hands and pulled him into a kiss.

  Something swelled inside Lochlan as he tasted the depth of her mouth and of her affection for him.

  It was hope, he realized. She gave him hope in the most desolate of situations. Without her these last few days, he wasn’t sure if he’d have even been able to make it.

  He pressed himself deeper inside her. Losing himself with each thrust as she held tight to him, whispering declarations of love into his ear as he grew harder and harder, but he would not have pleasure until he knew she was fully satisfied.

  Holding back as much as possible, Lochlan lifted her thighs so he could slid farther inside her. She gasped as he filled her completely. It gave him great satisfaction to hear the little moans escape her mouth whe
n he moved inside her. She belonged to him. He made her feel like this. Pride welled inside his chest at the thought.

  And then she exploded around him, pulling and tugging at his back as she almost screamed his name. It was more than he could stand. Hearing his name from her lips sent him over the precipice. His release came so swiftly and deeply that it shook him all the way to his soul.

  Sweaty and exhausted, he collapsed into the safety of her arms.

  Cat bit her lip to keep from protesting his sudden weight. Aye he was heavy against her, but honestly, she’d have it no other way. More than that, she could still feel him inside her. She didn’t know why that made her so possessive of him, but it did. This was the only man she’d ever love. She knew it.

  And she didn’t want to share him with anyone else.

  “I’m crushing you, aren’t I?”

  She pouted up at him. “A little.”

  He nipped at her lips before he slid from her and rolled to his side. He tucked one arm behind his head before he stretched like a powerful lion. Cat savored the sight of his bared chest and the beauty that was him. Biting her lip to keep from moaning, she snuggled in beside him and closed her eyes.

  Before she realized it, she was sound asleep.

  Lochlan lay in the silence of the late-night hour, listening to Catarina’s soft snore. It was so strange and surreal to have his quest settled after all this time. A part of him couldn’t believe this was it.

  It was really over.

  When he’d started out, he’d expected to find his brother. What he’d never thought to find was the treasure that slept beside him now.

  Would you trade this to have Kieran back?

  It was a choice he was grateful he didn’t have to make. But in the end, he knew the truth.

  Catarina was his life. He would sacrifice anything for her.

  Anyone.

  And that honestly terrified him. No single person had ever held so much power over him. No one. The sad thing was, she hadn’t even meant to take his heart. Somehow over the last few days, she’d worn her way past his resistance and given a gift that he’d never expected to receive.

  Smiling at the first real happiness he’d ever known, he closed his eyes to sleep.

  But the instant he did, he heard a sudden cry from outside.

  “Open the damn door now or so help me, I’ll pull this castle down stone by stone!”

  “And who are you to make such a demand?”

  “Philip Capet. King of France and father of the woman you harbor without my permission within your walls.”

  Chapter 16

  There were some things that no man wanted to hear under any circumstance. One, that he’d lost his testicles in battle. Two, that he’d lost his testicles to a fluke injury. Three, that he’d caught some disease that interfered with his ability to perform as a man.

  And most of all four, that the father of the woman, who was one of the most powerful men in all of Christendom, was at the gate of the home where he’d just violated the man’s daughter without the sanctity of marriage. Four was guaranteed to cost him not just his testicles, but the rest of his internal organs as the king ordered them scraped from inside him while he was still alive enough to feel it.

  I am dead. Disemboweled. Hanged. And, most unfortunately, not in that order.

  He heard the men outside scrambling to obey the king’s orders to open the gate to him. There was no easy way to start this day or to notify Catarina that the noose had suddenly fallen around their necks.

  “Catarina?” he whispered, jostling her awake. “Lass, wake yourself.”

  She blinked open her eyes before she yawned. “Is it morning already?”

  “Nay, lass,” he said, wishing that was why he was waking her. “Your father is at the gate and will be here at any moment.”

  She shrieked indignantly as she jerked up so quickly that she almost pulled her hair out since a portion of it was trapped beneath his body. Lochlan grimaced in sympathetic pain before he lifted himself from her hair to free her.

  There was a loud commotion outside as more shouts were exchanged. She gathered the sheet around her before she scrambled to the window to peer outside.

  Lochlan hurriedly dressed. If he was going to have to be gelded, he wasn’t about to make it easy on them.

  Her eyes panicked, Catarina turned back to face him. “How did he find us?”

  He wasn’t sure, but he had his theories. “Either he tortured Stryder until he broke under the stress or his informant was smarter than we gave him credit for.”

  Catarina tossed her hair over her shoulder as she looked about the room as if seeking an escape. “What am I going to do?”

  He had no answer for that.

  She looked about expectantly. “I’ll bet there’s an escape route from here. Someplace. The Scot is too paranoid for there not to be.”

  But even as that same thought went through him, he squelched it as reality sank in. “Is this really what we want?”

  “What do you mean?”

  He gestured toward the window. “Running constantly from your father for the rest of our lives?”

  By her face, he could tell she was more than willing to continue this game. “Is this not what we agreed to?”

  It was and yet now that they were virtually face-to-face with Philip, Lochlan didn’t have it in him to run like a coward in the night.

  Nay, he wasn’t a thief or a criminal who had to slink away in fear of what he’d done. He was a grown man who’d been with the woman he loved. There was no crime in that. No harm.

  He looked at Catarina. Aye, he’d taken something that didn’t belong to him. But it didn’t belong to Philip either. Catarina was her own person.

  And it was time her father was made to see that.

  “I’m going to speak with him.”

  She scowled. “Are you insane?”

  Most likely. Only a fool would even contemplate this. And yet it seemed like the only decent thing to do. In spite of his own father’s faults, he hadn’t raised him to run from his problems. Lochlan had been trained from birth to stand his ground and defend what was important to him.

  Nothing was more important to him than Catarina.

  And he would go down fighting for her.

  “Get dressed and be ready to run in the event my plan fails.”

  Suspicion clouded her dark eyes. “Are you coming with me?”

  God willing. But he didn’t want her to know exactly how uncertain he was over the outcome. “Aye. But I owe it to us to at least attempt to speak to your father before we run off.”

  Cat wanted to scream at him for his blind stupidity. Her father wouldn’t listen. He never listened. All that mattered to him was what he wanted. The rest of the world could be damned.

  But she loved Lochlan and she knew this was what he needed to do. He wouldn’t be able to live with himself unless he tried to negotiate a settlement with her father.

  “If you get yourself killed, Lochlan MacAllister, so help me, I will never forgive you.”

  “Have no fear. I assure you, I shall have issues with myself over it.”

  She made a disgusted sound in the back of her throat. “Don’t make light of this.”

  “I’m not, lass. Believe me, I more than understand the consequences of facing that man.”

  She pulled him against her and kissed him. “God keep you and make sure you can run fast if He doesn’t.”

  Lochlan nuzzled her neck before he forced himself to break away from her. He glanced to his sword, then thought better of it. There was no need to provoke the king any further. This was a time of peace.

  It’s a time to run, you cursed moron.

  Nay! It was the time to face her father like a man and make him understand that Catarina deserved something more than the milksop awaiting her.

  “What kind of godforsaken hell have we come to?”

  Lochlan paused on the landing to look down and see Philip there with two of his dukes and a numbe
r of French guards. The regal bearing alone was enough to betray the king, but so did his bald head and extreme height. He literally towered over the men around him.

  And while scanning the group, Lochlan’s gaze was held transfixed by the executioner who accompanied the group. Dressed all in black, he even wore a black hood that obscured his face.

  Obviously the king wasn’t here to negotiate.

  “Who is the lord of this place?” the king demanded.

  Raziel entered the hall on the king’s left and bowed before the king. “My lord is abed, Your Majesty. He regrets that he is unable to join you.”

  The king arched a disdainful brow. “Unable?”

  “He is a war hero, sire,” Lochlan said aloud from his place on the landing.

  The king’s dark gaze swung up to him and it narrowed dangerously.

  Lochlan forced himself to bow down to Philip.

  “And who are you?”

  “Laird Lochlan MacAllister, Your Majesty.”

  “You!” he snarled, as if Lochlan were the vilest of creatures. “You dare to show yourself to us?”

  Lochlan knew it was dangerous to taunt the king, but still he couldn’t resist playing ignorant. “Your Majesty has issue with me?”

  “Of course we do. You took our daughter—”

  “He protected me, Father. Those men you sent had beaten me and threatened me. Lord Lochlan should be commended for keeping me safe while the very ones you sent were out to do me harm.”

  Lochlan cut a sharp glare at Catarina, who had silently joined him. She was dressed in her pale gown with her hair left to tumble in curls around her shoulders.

  “What are you doing?” he asked her in a low tone.

  “What you’ve taught me to do, Lochlan. Stand my ground.”

  “Catarina…” he said from between clenched teeth.

  She touched him gently on the face. “You were right. For better or worse, he is my father. I can’t run from him for the rest of my life. ’Tis time I faced him as his daughter.”

  She left him to descend the stairs to where her father waited. “I’m not a fox to be run to ground by your hounds, Father. And I tire of this game we play with one another.”

  “Then you’ve come to your senses?”