Aidan (10 page)

“This’ll be the best present I e’er got in me life,” she said with a slight smile.

“Then let me help ye.” He reached out and pulled her clothes from her body so quickly that she knew in the back of her mind that he was very experienced with women.

“I . . . I’m scared,” she blurted out, and he just stopped and looked at her with an odd expression on his face.

“I am no’ goin’ te hurt ye,” he assured her.

“I did
na mean it thet way.”

“Then what did ye mean?” He settled himself atop her, and she almost cried out in passion when she felt his warm, naked
body pressed up against hers. The proof of his desire prodded her, and she suddenly realized he was so big and she so small, that she didn’t know if she could actually take him into her body. She clamped her legs together quickly.

“Effie, what is the matter?” he asked. “Ye are shakin’ like a virgin.”

“I am.”

“Ye are . . . shakin’ . . . or a virgin?” he asked slowly.

“Both.”

“Och!” He sat up suddenly and ran a weary hand through his lon
g, blond hair. “I’m sorry, I didna ken.” He started to scoot off of her, but she reached out and clasped her hands around his arms.

“Nay! I dinna want ye
te leave.”

“Effie, I dinna think I am the man ye want
te take from ye somethin’ thet ye’ll ne’er be able te get back.”

She thought about that, and knew that she would be taking something from him which he’d never get back either, once the stone was gone. She also knew that if she only made love once in her entire life, she wanted it to be with Aidan.

“Ye’re exactly who I want te take me virginity. Now, please, give me the present ye promised me fer me birthday.”

“Are ye sure, lassie? Becooz it is no’ too late
te change yer mind.”

“I am sure. I want ye, Aidan. I want ye more than I’ve e’er wanted anyone in me life. Now please. Just be gentle, but show me how it feels
te make love. Please.”

“Gladly.” He smiled just then
, and for one glorious moment she felt like everything was going to be all right. Even if it wasn’t, she didn’t want to believe it right now. Instead, she decided to embrace the moment and make this so special that she’d never forget it for as long as she lived.

“I’m no
’ really sure how te do this,” she admitted.

“By the rood, are ye telli
n’ me a stoater like ye ne’er even had a man touch ye?”

“I am glad ye think I am
stunnin’, but I assure ye while many laddies have tried, I warded them all off.”

“Why would ye?”

“Becooz, I was busy bein’ a mathair to me wee sister.”

“Well, ye no longer need
te do thet, so now ye need te think o’ yerself. Just lay back and close yer eyes.”

“Cl
ose me eyes?” She didn’t want to do that. “I dinna want te miss a second o’ this, after I’ve waited so long fer this day.”

“All right. Mayhap thet is a better ide
a. Instead, I want ye te take a look at e’ery wee bit o’ me.” He stood then, spreading his legs on each side of her, and shaking his pelvis slightly, letting her see all of him. Then he turned slowly and showed her his backside too, shaking his doup as well.

“I like what I see,” she admitted. “
And believe me, no bit o’ ye is wee anywhere. Now tell me. Do ye like what ye see as well?”

“I dinna ken. Stand up here and join me and shake what ye have, and I will tell ye.”

“All right,” she said, laughing, standing atop the pallet and holding on to him so she wouldn’t fall. She moved slightly, and he just smiled and shook his head.

“Blethers
, thet is no’ a shake, but a shimmy. Now shake it like a wench who is tryin’ te lure me to her bed.”

“Like a
hoor, ye mean?”

“Och
,” he said and smiled. “I suppose I’m no’ goin’ aboot this right.” He reached out and filled his hands with her breasts, and she liked the way it felt. “I was jest tryin’ to make ye ready.”

“L
et me try te do this.” She pushed his hands away slightly, then shook her shoulders, which caused her breasts to bounce back and forth. She smiled when she noticed his eyes widen in delight. “Is this excitin’ ye?”

“
Dinna ye see me mansword o’ love?” he asked, which caused her to giggle more. “If ye keep shakin’ yer diddies like thet, I’ll no’ be able te wait much longer.”

“Then dinna wait,” she said, reaching up and wrapping her arms around his shoulders. “Make love
te me now, Aidan.”

She didn’t have to ask again. He reached down and took her face in his hands and kissed her dee
ply. Then he let his hands slip slowly down her back and he gently lowered her to the pallet.

“I feel somethin’ happenin’,” she said
, throwing back her head as he straddled her, letting his hand slide up between her legs.

“Yer b
ody is gettin’ ready te take me,” he explained.

“Is thet – ye?” she asked
, her heart racing in her chest, as she felt herself being entered.

He laughed then, and
pulled back his hand. “Nay, lassie, thet was only me finger. Then he replaced his finger with a part that she didn’t even question was him. He entered her and stopped, reaching down to fondle her breast, and kissed her atop the head at the same time.

“
Thet is ye now, I can tell,” she said in a breathy voice.

“No’ all o’ me.” He pushed slowly into her, stret
ching her small form to take all of him into her body. She knew the emptiness within her had been filled in more ways than one. Then he started moving his hips slowly in a thrusting action. His breathing deepened and she looked up to see passion on his face. He entered her and retreated, the motions starting slowly, and then becoming faster as he pushed into her over and over again.

Then, she felt a new feeling encompassing her being,
as her body cried out for him, and she felt as if she couldn’t get enough of this wonderful, glorious man.

“
Aidan, I like this,” she admitted. Her body was vibrating and she felt so reckless. Every bit of her tingled, and she had never felt so alive in her entire life.

“I told
ye, ye would,” he said through heavy breathing. And before she knew what was happening, her head was spinning and she was trying to take him into her more than he would go.

“O
ch, Aidan, this feels so guid.” She wrapped her arms around his neck and pulled herself toward him.

“Now let yerself release any fears, lassie and ye will feel the closest thing
te heaven thet ye’ve e’er felt.” He picked her up while on his knees and settled her legs around his waist as they continued.

She did as he said and together they found release, and she felt for the first time in her life that she’d found the man she wanted to spend the rest of her life with. Her heart rac
ed and her chest heaved as she struggled to regain her breath from her wonderful experience. He pulled away then, and lay her back down on the pallet, and when he did, her head fell back on something hard.

“Ow!” she said, pushing up and looking behind her. “What was thet?”

“It was nothin’, angel,” he told her. “Jest me pillow.”

“Pillow?” she said and laughed. “Thet’s no pillow, as it felt like a rock.” She moved the pallet aside and looked underneath, and there embedded halfway into the
ground was a thick, black stone. She knew exactly why it felt like a rock now. Because it was a rock. She’d just found the very thing that would free her sister, and it was right there in Aidan’s bed as they made love. It was the exact thing she’d been searching for and also the last thing she wanted to see at this intimate moment. It was the object that could save her sister yet make her lose Aidan forever. “Thet’s no pillow,” she said. “Thet is the Stone o’ Destiny.”

Chapter 9

“Aye, thet is the Stone o’ Scone, or the Stone o’ Destiny as most people call it.” Aidan lay next to Effie, feeling sated and happy. He knew now it was no mistake bringing her here, as he felt like they were meant for each other. And if he had anything to say about it, sh
e was never going to leave.

“Ye really sleep on it,” she said with a smile, rubbing her head.

“Ye get used te it after six months,” he told her, and pulled away the pallet so she could view the coronation stone better.

“’Tis beautiful.” She reached out cautiously and ran
her fingers over it. “And there’s some sort o’ etchings on it.”

“They say they are hie
roglyphs, or some sort of auld writin’ from ancient Egypt,” Aidan explained.

“Egypt?” she asked. “Ye dinna really believe thet?”

“Why no’? After all, Jacob from the Bible used the stone as a pillow and had dreams o’ angels, and thet’s exactly what happened te me.”

“Ye dream
t o’ me, no’ an angel,” she reminded him.

“Thet’s why ye are me angel, Effie.” He ran his fingers softly o
ver her cheek, and she closed her eyes and shuddered slightly. “And isna it hard te believe thet stone is so auld thet it was used in the coronation o’ e’ery king o’ Scotland, fer the last five hundred years?”

“So this must be
the stone me grandmathair used te coronate Robert the Bruce, after King Edward stole the fake stone,” said Effie in admiration.

“Yer
grandmathair?” asked Aidan, pushing up to a sitting position on the pallet. “Effie, are ye sayin’ ye are related by bluid te Isabel MacDuff?”

“Aye,” she answered with a nod of her head. “
So ye’ve heard o’ her?”

“Me ang
el, e’eryone kens aboot Isabel. If it wasna fer her, Scotland would most likely be ruled by those English bastards right now. Ye should be honored te be her kin. And I heard the poor lassie was kept in a cage fer four years out in all kinds o’ weather, and in view of all fer what she’d done. I canna even imagine a lassie put in a cage. Thet is horrible. But I didna ken she had bairns after thet. I thought once the English released her, she died.”

“Thet is what she wanted e’eryone
te think, Aidan. She went inte hidin’ and lived with the gypsies, birthin’ me mathair before she truly passed away.”

“Did ye e’er have a chance
te meet her?” asked Aidan with wide eyes.

“Nay. But I wish I had. She was a strong woman who stood up fer what she believe
d. She even went against her own husband, John Comyn. When he sided with the English, she came back te Scotland te crown Robert the Bruce king, since it was her birthright, being a MacDuff and all.”

“I ken
t there was somethin’ special aboot ye, Effie. And now thet yer sister is deid, ye are the only one te carry on the honors o’ yer grandmathair. I am proud te say I ken ye.” He reached over and kissed her, but she seemed suddenly tense. “What’s the matter, angel?”

“Nothin’,” she said and her head dropped down, almost as if sh
e were ashamed of something, though at this moment she should be very proud. “I . . . guess I’m jest missin’ me sister, thet’s all.”

“I am sorry fer yer loss,” he said. “It’s no’ easy
te lose a loved one. But at least ye didna have te watch her hang in a cage, like what the English did te yer grandmathair.”

Effie tried her hardest to keep her emotions hidden, but it wasn’t easy with the way Aidan was praising her as if she were a hero when she was about to be one of the biggest traitors Scotland ever had.

She wanted more than anything to carry on her grandmother’s
legacy, and be the savior of Scotland so to speak. But because of her actions, instead the MacDuff name would go down in history as being blackhearted, traitorous and an ally of the bloody English.

“Is thet a tear I see?” Aidan reached out and brushed away the tear from her cheek with his thumb. “Lassie, what’s the matter?”

“Aidan – I was jest thinkin’ aboot what ye said, and how horrible it must o’ been fer me grandmathair te be in thet cage and all.” She couldn’t stop thinking of Coira, and hoped she was all right. “If ye had someone ye loved hangin’ in a cage – a lassie – what would ye do?”

“I’d free her and kill those English bastards in a heartbeat.”

“But . . . what if there were too many o’ them, and ye would possibly lose yer life in the process?”

“If it was someone I loved, and
she were a helpless lassie who had risked her own life te help her country, the way Isabel did, I would gladly give me life te save her.”

“Thet’s what I thought ye’d say.” She knew now she couldn’t tell Aidan about her sister
, or that she, herself, had been imprisoned in a cage. If so, he’d be a madman enough to try to go after the bastards, and would surely lose his life in the process.

“I dinna want ye so sad on yer birthday, me angel.” He got up and walked
to the table to get the bowl of food. “Reid, get away from the birthday meal I’ve prepared fer Effie. Ye dinna eat cabbie claw, now shoo.” He brushed the squirrel away from the food, and the animal scolded him in return, flicking his tail. “Well, I’m glad te see ye are back te yer ornery auld self.”