Betrothal Betrayal

Looking in the mirror I noticed my eyes were bright and almost glassy in their shininess. My skin was flushed and my nipples hard and erect. I looked like a different woman.

I dressed and stalled for a bit before going down to the kitchen. Liam had moved the tub out of the way and was already frying some meat in a skillet. He had eggs and bread on the table ready to prepare. He smiled easily as I scooted into a chair. I blushed as usual.

Liam continued to make breakfast without speaking, but he began to whistle as he worked. It was fascinating to watch him concentrate on each action, yet seem to enjoy himself completely. Finally I had to ask, "Do you enjoy cooking?'

He looked directly at me for the first time since I had returned to the kitchen. "No, cooking is just something that has to be done. I enjoy having you with me as I cook."

He went back to the eggs, flipping them, then removed the bread from the fire before it burned. He flipped the slices onto plates, shaking his fingers when he touched the hot wires accidentally. He smiled at me again as he lifted eggs onto our plates and set the skillet aside.

"I could get used to this life," he commented before hoisting a forkful of eggs and ham into his mouth, smiling as he chewed.

**********

Liam went to the market with a list I had prepared for him. He returned before lunch and we ate cold meat and cheese again, as well as some fresh fruit he brought back.

We spent the afternoon reading and talking, laughing and occasionally kissing. I felt completely at ease with Liam, and I began to believe that the feelings he stirred in me really were love. How could I have ever thought I loved Gerald?

We fixed dinner together again. I had Liam cut vegetables that I put with a small roast into a Dutch oven that I tucked under the glowing coals in the kitchen fire. Later we made biscuits to go with our roast.

We ate by candle light and sipped our wine long after the food was gone. It was so comfortable to relax with Liam, and even the silences weren't strained.

Eventually I cleared the dishes and took them into the kitchen where I poured out the kettle into the sink and added some soap chips before beginning to wash them. I hadn't heard Liam enter, and jumped a little as his hands slid down my arms to join my hands in the soapy water. The feel of our skin so slick against one another reminded me of the bath and I shivered at the thought. Liam nibbled my neck as he caressed my hands in the sink.

I grabbed a towel and turned in Liam's arms, wrapping my arms around him. I tiptoed and pressed my lips to his, then ran my tongue across his lower lip. It was the first time I had initiated a kiss, and that fact was not lost on Liam.

He growled softly, nipping my lip before slanting his lips over mine. His still damp hand tangled in the hair at the base of my neck, tilting my head back so he could run kisses down my neck. When I moaned , Liam groaned and pulled away slightly. When I opened my eyes questioningly, he admitted, "If you continue to make such provocative sounds, I will be forced to take you to my bed a thoroughly ravish you."

He seemed to regret his choice of words as soon as they were said, but I was only intrigued. Again it crossed my mind that it was my reactions that egged Liam on, not simply his desires. I smiled coyly and nipped his chin.

"Maybe that is what I am aiming for."

Liam looked at me a moment before deciding I was serious. He swept me up in his arms and carried me out of the kitchen and up the stairs. He hesitated at the top of the steps.

"You need to tell me now, Cam, if you don't want this. Once I have you in my bed, I don't know if I would be able to stop."

He looked into my eyes as if he could read my soul. I never thought I would ever consider joining a man in his bed if he was not my husband, but it just seemed like the right thing to do. I smiled again, kissing him lightly, and he continued down the hall.

We entered a room with a huge four poster bed against one wall. Liam walked toward it, but stopped a few feet short and gently lowered my legs to the floor.

"If I do anything, anything at all that hurts or you don't like, stop me. Promise me, Cam, that you won't let me treat you in any way like he did."

His tone breached no discussion and so I simply nodded my agreement. The hunger in his eyes was overwhelming, and for a moment I wondered if I had made a mistake, but as soon as he touched me I knew I hadn't. He was as gentle and careful with me as an artisan would be with a Faberge egg.

Liam leaned in and kissed me lightly, softly tracing my lips with his tongue. I went to place my arms around him and he stopped me, holding my hands in his at my side. He dropped my hands and began to circle around behind me, lifting my hair from my neck and dropping soft kisses along the edge of my dress. I shivered with the feel of it.

When he reached my ear after kissing all the way around my neck, he ran his tongue along the edge of it, then followed the curves inward. When he took the upper edge between his lips and sucked on it gently, I felt my knees get weak.

Liam held me securely around the waist with one hand as he used the other to follow the line of my bodice with his finger. When he got to the center, he began to open the buttons down the front, simultaneously nibbling along my jaw.

I shrugged out of the dress the moment he popped the last button, and stood in my chemise and petticoats. Using the hand around my waist, he quickly untied the petticoats, letting them drop to the floor.

Liam lifted me from my clothing mounded about my feet and set me down right beside the bed. Gathering my chemise in his fists he lifted it over my head and tossed it alongside the other clothing.

Swiftly he removed his shirt and loosed the laces on his breeches while he stared unabashedly at my body. His large, warm hands splayed across my upper chest, then his fingertips dragged softly down the valley between my breasts and across my stomach. They circled and travelled upward grazing the curve beneath my breasts before continuing around the outer swell and over, ending with each hand wrapped around a breast, holding them and weighing them.

Liam gazed at my breasts cupped in his hands, moving forward slowly to tentatively taste the skin over my breastbone. His thumbs grazed my nipples and my back arched, pushing my breasts up toward him. With a groan he ran his tongue across to my left nipple, encasing it in the warm moisture of his mouth, pulling at it ever so gently with his lips.

A sound somewhere between a hum and a quiet shriek flew from my mouth and my hands were tangled in his hair, holding him to my breast, before a single thought was able to cross my mind. He nibbled and sucked at the nipple as I moaned and hummed with pleasure. The molten warmth of his mouth sent waves of shuddering pleasure straight to my womanhood, and I hesitated to let him move when he attempted to stand straight after several minutes. He smiled at me wickedly as he skimmed my legs out from under me, cradling me briefly before setting my on the bed.

He stripped his breeches off and crawled over me, licking his way up my thigh, across my belly and to the right nipple that felt quite neglected after the left had been treated so well. He settled his body along my right side, his erection pressed firmly into my thigh.

I writhed as he suckled my breast and his hand caressing my side, my hip, my thigh. When he ran his fingers up my inner thigh, my body responded eagerly by opening my legs to his wandering fingers.

He dipped into my lower lips and found me slick with desire.

Now was a strange time for such thoughts to cross my mind, but as he settled between my thighs, I wondered what he meant when he said he'd take care of me forever. I must have tensed because he pulled back to look in my eyes.

"Do you want me to stop, Cam? Are you afraid?"

I shook my head and started to turn so I wouldn't be looking into his eyes, so dark and intense, but he placed a finger on my jaw and turned my head back.

"Do you not trust my intentions? I would never lie to you."

I started to close my eyes, unable to look into those deep orbs that demanded an answer from me.

"Open your eyes. Cam, do you doubt me?"

"I don't doubt you," I whispered, "I'm just not sure what you mean by taking care of me." There! The words were out as a tear descended from my eye.

Liam caught the tear and held it on his fingertip where it sparkled in the moonlight streaming in the window.

"I love you, Cam. There will never be another woman I feel as strongly for as I do you. I want to be with you for the rest of my life, and if tomorrow is not too soon, I will take you to the magistrate and make you my wife."

Another tear slipped from my eye as I smiled into the most wonderful face in the world. This time he kissed the tear away and I turned slightly to catch his lips with my own. We kissed a long time, his hips cradled between my thighs but motionless.

I could still feel his arousal pressed against my mound, but he continued to kiss and pet me, undemanding. When he gently rolled a nipple between his finger and thumb, my pelvis arched and his cock slid down my sex. My sudden intake of breath had him still his movements again.

"Is it too soon? I'll stop if you are still sore," he asked, eyes holding mine, full of concern.

I moved in such a way as to press his hardness deeper between my folds and our collective moan filled the room. Slowly Liam flexed, pushing forward in increments, filling me.

The feeling was indescribable. There was pressure and stretching, yet those sensations were overshadowed by the tingle and swell in my abdomen. When his pelvis met mine, and he was fully seated within me, I felt a need to push him even deeper, grinding my sex into him.

"Aaahh!" he gasped, pulling back slowly then gliding into my warm confines again. "Tell me you aren't uncomfortable, Cam, because this is pure heaven for me."

"Pure heaven, Liam," I responded before he captured my mouth again, stroking my tongue as he stroked my sex, unhurried and with iron restraint.

I quickly found that flexing and lifting my hips increased the feeling coiling in my belly, and Liam's thrusts accelerated as I met them actively.

I was unsure what this sensation building in me was, but Liam seemed to recognize it and licked my neck before saying, "Cum for me, beautiful one! Revel in our bodies joined as one!"

He sucked a nipple into his mouth and thrust his hips into mine rapidly as waves of pleasure crashed over me. My cry was a long and semi-strangled sigh as I crested wave after wave of bliss. I felt myself spasm around Liam's cock, and he seemed to swell before his movements turned uncontrolled and he cried out his own release.

My body twitched, and it made me giggle. Liam was supporting himself on his elbows with his forehead pressed into the side of my neck. His body twitched in response to mine, and he raised his head to gaze into my eyes, a silly grin on his face as he watched my spasms continue to hit me without warning.

"Are you making fun of me?" I asked as another twitch sent electricity through my body.

"Not at all, dear one. I am just pleased that I could bring you pleasure, especially so soon after..." he couldn't finish.

"Let's both vow to never mention, nor think about, that night again," I suggested, the twitching finally subsiding. "I would prefer to remember this as my first experience of a man's body."

Liam smiled and pulled us onto our sides, still buried within me. "Agreed," he said, kissing me softly as he stroked my back. "You are an amazing woman, Cam! I will never tire of your lovely body pressed up to mine, nor of the little sounds you make as I pleasure you."

Liam's desire for my pleasure would ensure I never tired of him, either, I was sure. What an incredible man! All I could manage to say, though, was, "I love you Liam MacGregor. And I love that you call me Cam."

"You didn't always love it," he said, appraisingly, "but it seems to fit you so much better than the stuffy 'Camilla' does. You are an earthy woman, and Cam seems so much more appropriate somehow."

We cuddled and talked about nothing until we fell asleep, and it was spectacular!

**************************

I awoke with Liam curled around my back, his hand splayed out across my belly. I guess I should have felt ashamed for what I had done the night before, but I could only find it in myself to feel happy, loved and protected.

I felt Liam's breathing change, so I wasn't surprised when he tightened his arm and pulled me even closer against himself. I felt his erection pressed firmly along the cleft of my bottom as he stretched and I smiled.

"Good morning, love," he said, his voice gravelly with sleep, "should we get up and find the magistrate, or should we just stay here and play?" His hand caressed up to cup a breast, but stilled, not trying to stimulate, but just hold.

Liam's stomach growled and I laughed softly. "I think you need breakfast, sir, and then we should speak to the magistrate before you take me home to tell my parents of my new status."

"So you will see your parents once I've made you a respectable married lady?" he asked, turning me on my back to peer into my eyes.

I smiled up at him. "Well of course! They need to meet their new son-in-law before he takes me home. What of your family? Will they accept me?"

"My mother will be thrilled," Liam laughed, "and my sisters right along with her. They have been trying incessantly to set me up with 'suitable' women, and you will fit the bill perfectly."

"And your father? Will he also be happy?"

"Hmmm. My father doesn't pay much mind to the family. He will be glad I am settling down and hopefully taking more interest in the business," Liam murmured, taking interest in a different kind of business as he nuzzled my neck and traced circles around my breast.

His stomach growled again and we both laughed. "I guess this will have to wait until after we've eaten," he said, then seeing the look on my face, he added, "and done those other things as well."

"Yes, those other things, like getting married. Come, I'll make you pancakes this morning since you've been making me breakfast since I arrived."

"Thank God! I really am no kind of cook," he laughed as we rolled out of bed and I gathered my clothes, heading for the door. Liam grabbed my hand and pulled me back against his hard body, hugging me and my bundle close. "I love you, Cam," he said and kissed me gently before releasing me with a grin, "and we will revisit this later." He gestured at his body, but it was his cock standing stiffly in front of him that I knew he meant. I couldn't hide my smile or my blush as I hurried from the room.

*******************

"Camilla, my darling! We're so happy to see you! We were so worried about you, and your letter was so vague and, well, frankly, hard to believe," my mother cried as Liam and I entered the foyer.

She hurried over to hug me, looking confused and wary about Liam's presence. I smiled and hugged her, and my father as well as he stood stiffly at her side.

"I'm sorry I worried you. Part of my note was the truth; I really did find Gerald with another woman and broke the engagement. The part about Sadie was fabricated in hopes it would keep you from worrying. I couldn't face anyone right then, so Liam kindly let me stay at his aunt's home not far from here."

"And was this aunt home with you and Liam as well?" my mother asked with unusual sharpness.

Liam tried to hide a smile and cleared his throat before speaking, "I hope that you will accept my apologies, Mr. and Mrs. Corbett, for not seeking your permission first, but I have not only asked your daughter to marry me, but have actually taken her to the magistrate and performed the deed already. May I present Mrs. Camilla MacGregor?" He swept an arm around me and bowed slightly.

My mother gasped and my father muttered, but eventually both stiffly congratulated us and urged us to come into the study and have a seat. Mother ordered lunch for us all, and Liam went to the desk to discuss things with my father.

When my mother returned, she sat beside me and spoke low, "Are you happy, Camilla? Is this what you want? He didn't force you into this marriage did he?"

"No, mother. I assure you I am very happy to be Liam's wife. It was Gerald who attempted to force my hand; to marry him even though I found him to be something quite different than what we had all believed him to be. No," I said thoughtfully, looking over at my husband leaning over the desk with my father, "Liam is a good and honorable man, and I'm proud to be his wife."

Mother smiled tentatively, "All right then. As long as this is what you want. Oh, Camilla, we have been so worried and confused. Gerald came here the morning you disappeared, just after we received your note in fact. He tried to pretend nothing was wrong but we sent him away without even telling him you weren't here. We hoped that was the right thing to do."

"That was probably for the best," I answered, knowing I would never be able to truly explain what had transpired.

A banging at the front door brought us all to our feet. Gerald threw open the door before anyone was able to reach it and stormed into the hall. He must have had someone watching the house for my return. Seeing us in the study he barreled on into the room.

"There you are, my darling," he called out, striding to my side, "I've been searching for you for days. I heard your parents cancelled our wedding, but now that we are here together, I'm sure we can clear up any confusion and get things set back to right."

I cringed away as he tried to wrap an arm around me and my mother pulled me behind her, about to say something when Liam spoke calmly from where he stood beside my father, "I don't believe there will be any changes made to the announcement of your cancelled wedding."

Gerald's face went crimson, and his hands fisted. "You don't have anything to say about this."

Liam walked casually up behind me and wrapped his arms around my waist, "I believe I have a say in all things concerning my wife, especially if another man is attempting to make a claim upon her."

Gerald sputtered, "You're wife! You married her? After she ..." he looked stricken, eyes darting to my parents then back to us.

"Fitz," Liam continued as if speaking to a child, "Cam is as pure as the day she was born. Your actions have served only to further defile yourself. Now please leave before these good people are forced to have you removed."

I had to smile at Liam's words. It was beyond stretching the truth to call me pure at this point, but no one needed to know that except for Liam and myself. Gerald turned three shades darker before spinning on his heal and leaving without another word. I never thought I would feel triumphant over Gerald, but that is exactly how I felt as he slammed the door while my husband dropped a soft kiss on my neck before returning to the discussion he was having with my father.

My mother smiled at me a bit unsteadily, but when I smiled widely at the man who had saved me in so many ways, she pulled me into a true hug and sat me down, eager to hear our plans.

Before we left, my parents had talked us into going ahead with the reception planned for my old wedding day, to present Liam and myself to all of my parent's friends and associates. I wasn't really pleased with the concession, but it seemed to make my mother happy, so we went along with it.

As soon as we dropped my bags inside Liam's aunt's house, he swept me up in his arms and began to carry me up the stairs. I laughed and playfully slapped his chest, but his face was resolute as he claimed, "I have waited patiently for hours to have you to myself, and it is time we consummate this marriage."