Page 70 of Hunted By the Hard Highlander

“I’m—” she began, whimpering as her body squeezed around his member, a reaction that she could not control.

“I ken,” he said, his mouth moving away from her lips and down her neck. “Let go for me, Aurora. Let me ken that ye are mine.”

The proclamation, the possessive edge to his voice, it was all that Aurora needed. Her head fell back against the pillow, giving him better access to her neck as her climax stole her voice. No sound came out as she practically convulsed around him.

As she held onto him, pressing herself as close to him as she could, a ragged sound came from Hendry’s lips. His thrusts stuttered, then a low and animalistic sound radiated from his chest directly into her bones. Inside her, his cock pulsed, and he spilled his seed with a groan of her name.

For several minutes, neither of them moved. Aurora felt as though she might fall asleep here, Hendry’s warmth acting like a blanket against the cool air that licked at the sweat on her skin. When he finally did lift himself up, pulling out of her, she made a noise of protest.

“Aye, I ken,” he said, leaning over her to press a kiss to her forehead.

The contact was such a stark difference to their actions a few moments prior, but it somehow felt even more intimate. She blinked up at him, and he held her gaze for another beat before he got to his feet. Slowly, he sauntered over to the hearth, adding a few logs before poking at the coals. He stayed there until they caught and the fire roared to life.

“It will get cold overnight,” he replied, crossing the room once more. He pulled the blanket down, encouraging her to lift herself just enough to free the fabric. Then, he joined her, pulling her against her chest. “But I will keep ye warm.”

“Aye,” Aurora said, the events of the day finally catching up with her and making her eyelids heavy. “I ken ye will.”

“Always.”

Epilogue

One Month Later

“Aye, those two work well together,” Hendry told Adair, nodding at the patch of earth that the boy was working on. “We call it companion plantin’.”

The boy nodded, absorbing the words as he continued to pull weeds from the earth. Hendry had promised to prepare him for taking over Clan MacGonagal, and he was sticking to it. Adair did not seem interested in learning how to fight, though he was incredibly adept at it. Instead, he had stuck by Hendry as he had tended his herbs, prepared tinctures, and repaired broken structures.

“I hope that the herb garden at Castle MacGonagal hasnae fallen into disrepair,” Adair said after a few minutes. “I daenae think me uncle saw how important herbs were.”

“Even if it has,” Hendry said solemnly, “I will help ye restore it. I told ye that I would help ye retake yer rightful title when ye are old enough. That includes repairin’ the things that suffered in yer absence.” He met Adair’s eyes, letting the connection stretch between the two of them. “That will be yer first act as Laird. It is an unforgiving one, unfair to ye as ye dinnae make the mess.”

“But it is me duty to clean it up,” Adair said, more serious than a boy his age had any right to be. In the moments that they spent together, Hendry almost forgot that he was not yet a man. “And I will. If ye are helpin’ me, I ken that I can do it.”

“Ye could do it on yer own,” Hendry said, leaving the boy no room to doubt his own abilities. “But ye daenae have to. I amnae yer only ally. If there is ever somethin’ that ye need, there will be someone to assist ye. Ye daenae have to work alone.”

“Does that mean that ye will stop workin’ alone?” Adair asked, the question one that belonged to a child.

It gave Hendry pause, the way it was asked so earnestly. He looked away from the patch of earth he was tending, visibly weighing the question. Finally, each word carefully chosen, he said, “I cannae say that I will be a sociable man. It isnae in me nature. But I willnae resist askin’ me allies for help. It takes a real warrior to ken when a battle is too much for him to handle on his own. He thinks about his people, not himself.”

Adair absorbed that, his brow furrowed as he assimilated it into his ever-expanding rulebook that he was keeping in his mind. Without saying anything else, he returned to his weeding. It seemed as though he was working with a new conviction and focus.

Hendry watched him, completely distracted from his own task. Though the boy was not related to him by blood, he had quickly come to view him as a little brother of his own. He celebrated each of Adair’s successes, the correct labeling of a map, a parry executed perfectly, and he helped shoulder each of his failures.

He had no intention of stopping after the boy took over his own clan.

“What are the two of ye doin’ out here?”

Hendry turned at the sound of Aurora’s voice, a smile spreading across his face before he could stop it. He had long since decided that he would not hide his affection from her. She looked radiant, a grin on her face that was even brighter than usual.

“I am helpin’ Laird Anderson with his herb garden,” Adair said, watching as Aurora walked over to Hendry and knelt beside him. The boy made a sound that was half amusement and half exasperation before he stood up, wiping his hands on his pants. “But it seems as if the time for serious business is over.”

As he walked away, not bothering to bid farewell to the two of them, Aurora laughed, bringing a hand up to cover her mouth and stifle her giggles. Hendry watched her, his eyes softening. Carefully, he reached out, threading his fingers with hers.

“Did ye need to speak to me?”

She nodded, looking a bit bashful, almost as if she was hiding something. “Aye,” she said, squeezing his hand. “I did.”

* * *