Page 94 of A Touch So Wicked

Damian rose and gathered up his clothing. “Don’t coddle me, sweeting, I’m fine. In fact, I intend to join the search for Gordon this morning. Help me with my weapons.”

“Is there nothing I can say to keep you in bed another day?”

“Nay. I want Gordon badly.”

Elissa found Damian’s sword and pistol and handed them to him. He buckled the sword around his waist, shoved the pistol into his belt, and placed primer, balls, and powder in his pouch.

“Kiss me good-bye, love.”

Dutifully, Elissa lifted her face. “A real kiss,” Damian said as he grasped her waist and lifted her into his crushing embrace. The kiss he gave her, and her heated response to it, nearly led them back to bed, but Damian steeled his resolve and reluctantly set her aside.

“Remember where we left off and we’ll finish it tonight,” he promised. Then he was gone.

Elissa helped the servants clean up the mess left by their wedding guests, then spent time with Lora, and later walked with her mother in the courtyard. Though she tried not to dwell on Nan’s warning, her mind kept returning to her aged nurse’s words.

Admittedly some of Nan’s predictions in the past had come to pass, but Elissa had always assumed they were simply coincidences. Was her marriage to Damian really doomed? Elissa hadn’t originally wanted this marriage, but now that she had finally accepted the fact that she loved an Englishman, she wanted their union to be a happy one. Damian had more honor in his little finger than Tavis Gordon had in his whole body.

Wedding Damian had finally put an end to all the years of hating Englishmen, of keeping the defeat at Culloden alive in her mind and heart years after the battle had been lost. It was time she laid the past to rest, admitted her love for Damian, and accepted her future as his wife.

Elissa wanted to believe Damian loved her but feared it was not true. She knew he cared for her on some level, for there was no other explanation for his stubborn insistence that she marry him. He had turned away Kimbra and the wealth she would bring to the marriage, and that had to mean something.

For whatever the reason, Damian had married her; they were now man and wife and she didn’t care what Nan said; she wasn’t going to be parted from him.

Damian returned to the keep exhausted and grim faced. Elissa had a bath prepared for him and helped him undress. His bandage was bloody and she removed it while the tub was being filled.

“You dinna find him, did you?”

“Not a trace,” Damian replied. “We found only women, children, and graybeards at his stronghold. I don’t make war on helpless people. We searched far afield but it was as if he had disappeared from the face of the earth. My gut tells me we haven’t seen the last of the Gordons.”

Sighing wearily, Damian sank down into the tub. Elissa knelt behind him and sponged his back. “Will you continue the search?”

“’Tis pointless. Gordon can disappear at will in the mountains, or he might even leave the area. I’ve instructed the guards to be extra vigilant. Thank God Gordon doesn’t know about the tunnel.”

“The tunnel is a well-guarded secret,” Elissa assured him. “One day we may have need of it.” She poured water over Damian’s head and rubbed soap into his scalp. “Would you like to eat in our chamber tonight? I can have a tray prepared.”

Damian gave her a wicked grin. “I was just going to suggest that. In days past a bride and groom closeted themselves and didn’t come out for a week.”

Elissa laughed. “Were they able to walk at the end of that week?”

“I don’t know, but I’m willing to find out if you are.”

Elissa fell back on her rump as Damian rose from the tub, splashing water on the floor. Before she had time to protest, he picked her up and carried her to the bed, tearing away her clothes in a fit of lustful fury.

She welcomed him with open arms and passionate kisses. Their loving became almost frantic as they both sought that high pinnacle where lovers dwelled. They loved, ate, and loved again. As Elissa fell asleep, she finally admitted to herself that she was happier than she had ever been in her life.

During the following weeks Damian gave Elissa no reason to alter her feelings for him. He pleased her in every way. Tavis Gordon remained at large but caused them no further trouble. Though Nan went about with a worried expression, Elissa chose to ignore her.

Elissa was so content that she gave scant heed to the arrival of a company of soldiers several weeks after her marriage. Her complacency was shattered, however, when she joined Damian at the front entrance to greet the new visitors.

“Welcome to Misterly,” Damian said. “What brings you to the Highlands?”

Elissa heard the tension in his voice and noted his grim expression, and a frisson of fear snaked down her spine. Intuition warned her that this was not a friendly visit.

The captain of the guard dismounted, his gaze moving past Damian to Elissa.

“Are you Elissa Fraser?”

Warning bells went off in her head. “Aye.”