An Innocent

When Liana opened her eyes she could see the early morning light streaming into the room. For a moment she was disoriented, but when the memories came rushing back she almost couldn't breathe. She remembered everything, her father was dead, her mother left her with a stranger, and oh God, Dylan wasn't a stranger anymore. What had she done?

She tried to sit up and realized that she was being weighted down. Her gaze traveled lower until she saw the thick arm thrown over her waist. She groaned inside her head, she couldn't believe that he was still here. She tried to ease his arm up so that she could get off the bed. She was just sitting up when his arm snaked back around her and pulled her down. She fell back with a very unladylike grunt and found herself pressed up against him. Her back flush against his chest, her thighs next to his and her rear pressed up against that male part of him.

"Where do you think you're running off too?" His breath was warm as he whispered into her ear.

Liana could feel her face turning red. She stammered a little but in the end nothing came out. Dylan took advantage of the moment and began pressing warm kisses along her neck. Within seconds, she was arching her neck to give him better access. She moaned his name when his hand moved up to cup her breast. He circled her nipple with the pad of his thumb until it was hard and firm. He pinched it lightly between his thumb and forefinger and rolled it gently until she was squirming around and pressing back against him. He trailed his fingertips down her stomach, pausing to circle her belly button. His hand moved down until it cupped her mound and he groaned when he felt the wetness pooling there.

Liana had stopped thinking about the time his mouth had started working its magic and now she was trying desperately to not lose control again like she had last night. She wasn't going to lie to herself and say that she didn't have pleasure, but it had frightened her and she wasn't ready to do it again. She would just let him go on a little more and then she'd make him stop. In the meantime, his fingers were doing something amazing to her body.

Dylan was running one finger up and down her slit, stopping to tease the little nub at the top of her sex on each pass. He started to slip one finger in her tight warmth. He could remember how it had squeezed him last night and how great it had felt. He stretched out his middle finger until it was fully inside her and slid it out.

Liana gave a little cry and pushed at his hand. "Don't Dylan, I'm sore." Her body was fighting against pleasure and pain.

Dylan shushed her, "Its okay, baby, I'll make it better." He pushed her onto her back and leaned over her. His expression was serious and intense and it made Liana's heart flutter. He leaned in and gave her a deep kiss, rubbing his tongue on hers and swirling it around her mouth. When he pulled his head up she was panting and her eyes were once again cloudy with passion.

She tried to concentrate but it was nearly impossible. He was kissing a trail down her body, stopping to kiss each nipple, then her hips, her inner thigh, then oh Jesus, "What are you doing, you can't do that!!" Liana shrieked, tugging at his hair.

Dylan lifted his head enough to wink at her, the entire time keeping his tongue licking against her outer lips. He slid his arms under her hips and brought his hands around to hold her open to his mouth. Liana still had a tight grip on his head but when his mouth found the spot of pleasure at the top of her sex and started sucking gently, she stopped trying to pull him away and instead was intent on keeping him there. Dylan was mentally smiling, he felt her surrender. He moved one hand down and slowly slid two fingers into her, mimicking the act he wanted so badly to perform. When she was finally gasping his name and he felt her muscles tightening around him, he quickly removed his fingers and slid up her body, thrusting into her in one smooth motion.

It was all she needed to send her over the edge. All of the pleasure that had been centered on what his mouth and fingers were doing to her exploded, spreading through out her body. She could feel his hand caressing her face as he kissed her, but she didn't have the nerve to look at him. After several hard thrusts, she felt his body stiffen and felt him swell inside her. It was too close to her last one and her eyes flew open in surprise as her second climax joined his. For a few precious seconds their eyes met and held.

Several minutes later Dylan roused himself enough to move off of Liana. He rolled to her side and went to pull her close to him. She pushed his hand away. He ignored it and pulled her close anyway. "What's wrong sweetheart?" She looked ready to cry.

The tenderness of his question nearly undid her. She already felt like she would burst into tears at any moment and was trying desperately not to cry in front of him. She pushed away from him and sat up, this was all his fault so she might as well let him know. When she turned toward him, she no longer looked ready to cry, instead she looked ready to kill. "What's wrong? WHAT'S WRONG?" Her voice was quickly rising in volume. "How can you think to ask me that when you just ruined me? You took me, TWICE! Now I'll never find a good marriage and its all your fault." By the end, she was punctuating her words with her fists. He made an attempt to catch her hands and she flew off the bed, out of his reach. "Don't touch me again. It was all a mistake. One that's never going to be repeated."

Dylan was silent through her tirade. He'd already made his decision last night, and he still had every intention of marrying her himself, but he figured she needed to get this anger out of her system. Besides, her breasts were heaving as she ranted at him, and it was a great view. Liana finally realized what he was staring at and stomped over to get her dressing gown and put it on. Dylan stepped out of bed smiling sensuously, he walked towards her and reached out to grab her arm. She yanked back out of his reach again. "I told you not touch me!"

He stopped and crossed his arms over his chest, maybe she wasn't done after all. When she didn't say anything else, he started after her only to be shocked to a halt again when the first book came flying at his head. "What in the hell do you think you are doing?" He knew he sounded harsh but he had just been grazed by a ceramic inkwell.

Liana barely recognized herself, she was screaming at him calling him every bad name she'd ever heard and throwing everything in reach. She had terrible aim, but she got lucky a few times and he was quickly backing up to the door.

He stopped to put on his pants and got hit in the shoulder with a hairbrush for his efforts. Angry now, he yanked open the door and stormed out. Before slamming it closed he turned towards her, "You aren't ruined, lass. Don't come downstairs until you've calmed down." With that he slammed the door shut and stomped back to his room.

Liana rushed to lock the door as soon as it had been pulled shut. He really must be isolated from society, out here in the highlands. Even in Scotland a woman was ruined if she did what they had just spent the night doing. She realized that she was trembling and sat down heavily on the bed. Her head dropped to her hands, oh what was she going to do? It only took a few minutes for her to make her decision to leave. She walked around the room getting ready as she planned. She walked to the water basin to wash and was shocked for a minute when she saw the red on the washcloth she used to clean up last night. She was working herself into a panic until she remembered what her mother had said about her wedding night. She calmed down until another thought crossed her mind, now she'd never have a wedding to go with that wedding night. Frowning, she dropped the cloth into the fireplace. It was down to embers so she added more wood and watched until the cloth was unrecognizable.

In less than an hour she was dressed and ready, waiting for an opportunity. It didn't take long. From her bedroom window she could just see the stables and she would recognize the man riding away from them anywhere. After all, she did know him intimately. Quickly, she picked up her valise, and hurried down the stairs. She stashed the bag behind a door and walked into the kitchen. The cook was a pleasant woman and pleased to meet the new addition to the household. And of course she was willing to pack up a picnic so the young girl could tour the grounds.

She took the long way to the stables, stopping to drop her bag behind a tree. The stable hands were just as helpful as the cook and hurried to get a horse ready. She stopped them when they brought out a side saddle, that wouldn't do. They were hesitant to give her a regular saddle, until she convinced them that she knew what she was doing and she even had to show them that she was wearing the special split legged skirt her father had given her. "I'm just going around the grounds, to have a picnic. I wouldn't be able to remount with a side saddle." She smiled at the youngest and most impressionable of the hands. The agreed and brought out a side saddle, they even agreed that she didn't need a groom, not if she just went up to the hill. The watched her leave, so she had to double back to get the valise. She smiled. Now, how far was it to her father's holding?

Dylan made it back from his errand by late afternoon. His secretary, Maxwell, met him as he walked inside. "Was your trip successful, Sir?" The man asked. Dylan nodded at him, "It was." His hand went to his pocket feeling the square jeweler's box. Maxwell smiled, "The lady will be most pleased."

Dylan retrieved a decanter of brandy from the side board and poured a hefty glass. "Has she come down yet?" Dylan assumed that her anger was a show for him, and figured she'd be down to meet the staff after he left. He'd already told them about his intentions so they could prepare for their new mistress. He also assumed that she'd want to spend the day touring the house and meeting the staff.

Maxwell cleared his throat, "Well, she came down shortly after you left and spoke to, um Cook."

Dylan looked up, "She only spoke to Cook? Well it is only her first day here." He strode out to the stairs, "Is she in her room, then?"

Maxwell cleared his throat, again. "Sir?, she, uh, asked Cook for a picnic basket."

Dylan stopped on the third stair, his hand tightening on the rail. "And?"

"Sir, she, um, hasn't returned as of yet." Maxwell was slowly backing away from his employer.

Dylan turned rigidly and strode down the stairs. "Who went with her?" His voice was clipped and angry. He stared down at the secretary who had slowly backed himself into the study. "She left on a horse, Sir."

Maxwell gave a sigh of relief when the laird turned and walked away. It wasn't that he intended to lie to the man, but he was glad that he wasn't required to explain all of it. The Laird was not going to be happy.

Dylan wasn't happy. When Dylan galloped out of the stable, he was alternating between anger and fear. It was quickly approaching dark and there were any number of places that Liana could be. While they were saddling his mount, a footman had coming running in. "Sir, the housekeeper checked her room and all of her things are gone, Sir." The footman delivered the message and stepped back a few paces, the McGregor's temper was famous in these parts. Dylan quickly left instructions for the staff to begin the search. He didn't turn around as he reached the door, but the stable hands had no trouble hearing him. "If even one hair on her head is injured, you'd better hide." As motivation it worked wonders, sending everyone scurrying to search.

Several miles away in a small village, Liana was starting to question the wisdom of her departure. She'd pushed every piece of furniture that she could move in front of the door after locking it, but she was afraid it wouldn't be enough. Too many of the men in the taproom had seen her arrive, alone. She pulled out the knife that had been included in the picnic basket. It was her only weapon. She left all her clothes on as extra protection and climbed into bed. A loud noise from downstairs made her jump. It was going to be a long night.