“Kai?”
“Aye?”
“Are ye angry with me?”
“Should I be?”
“Of course not.”
“Then why did you ask such a silly question?”
“I-I do not know. Only…” Miran’s thoughts were all tangled together.
“How could I be angry with you? I am a bit disappointed that you did not trust me sooner. For you can tell me anything, Miran. I only wish to help you.”
Without thinking, she caressed his stubbled cheek with the back of her hand. “I know.”
The look of surprise on his handsome face told her everything she needed to know. She had left him as confused about her feelings for him as she had been about his feelings for her. Father had always taught her words weren’t necessarily the most important thing between a man and woman, but the way they treated each other. Maybe he had been wrong. Perhaps it depended on the man and woman. Obviously, regrettably, she and Kai both required words. Explanations. Truth.
“Do you believe me, Miran?”
“Aye.”
Now was not the time to confess. She needed comforting, perhaps a kiss. Aye. She stared unblinking at his full lips.
“Miran?”
She raised her eyebrows but dinna look away from his lips.
“Why are you gazing at my mouth?”
“Because it is a pleasant mouth.”
He chuckled. “Pleasant is not what comes to mind when I think of my mouth.”
“Nay?”
“Nay. My mouth has been many places.”
“I doona care about yer past, only where yer mouth is now.”
“Wicked places,” he said.
His revelation dinna upset her.
“Miran. Look at me.”
“Must I?”
“Aye.”
She glanced up. “Hmm?”
“I need to know you are all right.” She noted how quickly his eyes darkened.
“I am better now,” she assured him. “The stripes on my back and arms will heal. I will recover my pride soon enough.”
“No one deserves what she did to you. She had no right. And when I find her…”
“Shh.” She framed his face between her hands and pulled him down, letting her lips touch his. She’d never initiated a kiss before. In fact, Kai was the only man she’d ever had intimate contact with. It felt good to offer herself to him, to show him how much she wanted to kiss him again.
At first, he dinna kiss her back. But she refused to give up. She traced the seam of his bottom lip with the tip of her tongue. Teasing him. Provoking him. And as she hoped, he slipped his hand behind her head, his fingers threading through her braids. Aye. Kiss me.
He did.
Her tongue yielded to his—welcoming him inside her. She loved how he tasted. Loved how she sensed he was still restraining his passion. What would it feel like to unleash his inner beast, to be the object of his primal lust? His love?
He pulled back enough to look down at her and swallowed hard. “Miran. You are not thinking clearly. I will not take advantage of you like this.”
A soft laugh escaped her. “I am thinking more clearly now than I ever have, Kai.”
He looked bewildered. “How can it be?”
“Because it took Cadha abusing me to realize what a mistake I have made. Though, in my own defense, I had come to regret some of my actions toward ye before we left Sands Airgid.” She had said many hurtful things.
“You do not think I should have taken Leod as my Highland name?”
Miran coughed. “Nay. Ye are no’ ugly, Kai, as well ye know.”
A hint of mischievousness glinted in his eyes. “Neither are you.”
His jesting nature made her smile. It helped clear her mind of the self-destructive thoughts she’d had. Life was worth living. Even if it meant living it without her parents. She had Jamie and Helen, Alex and Keely. And now Helen was with child. A bairn to spoil and love.
“I am glad ye doona find me unattractive.”
He tipped her chin up and stared deep into her eyes. “You are beautiful, Miran. Too beautiful for your own good.”
“Thank ye,” she said breathlessly, lost in the depths of his dark eyes.
“Now.” He stood, taking her with him. “Let us go break bread with the others. For if we do not leave this tent now, I will ravish you.”
She understood how he was feeling. The longer she sat on his lap, feeling his thick manhood through his breeches, and seeing the desire in his eyes, the closer she came to doing the same to him. His nearness did strange things to her, excited her, made her wet between her thighs.
Instead of setting her on her feet, he strode out of the tent with her in his arms and walked to the firepit, where her maids and guards were eating together. As soon as they approached, the conversation ceased, and the men stood at attention.
“I am happy to report Lady Miran is feeling better. Bring her a trencher,” Kai said as he let her slip out of his arms. “After you eat, I have medicine that will help those welts heal faster,” he whispered.
Her maids jumped up and surrounded her, fussing over her like she’d returned from death’s door. Miran snuck a peek at Kai, offering him a sincere smile. He nodded, and she mouthed the words “thank ye”.
She valued his friendship—his honesty—his willingness to stand by her even though she’d lied to him and treated him so poorly in the past. It seemed their future held endless possibilities depending on what she was willing to give. And if she could, Miran swore she’d love him one day, openly and honestly—as well he deserved.
Chapter Thirteen
Eight days later, they arrived at the first seaside village—Lagrith. More populated than Miran had thought it would be, she approached the cliffs overlooking the water. How she loved the smell and taste of salt air and the way the waves crashed against the rocky coast. The tumult reminded her of how she often felt inside, her emotions churning uncontrollably. But there was also hope within the apparent chaos, for the sea sustained these people, allowing them to survive while other villages oftentimes suffered at this time of year. Women and children starving to death or fathers forced to sell their daughters into servitude for a day’s worth of bread.
The dark thought sent chills down Miran’s spine.
“Are you cold?” Kai came to stand beside her.
“Nay,” she said, wondering what kind of strange land waited on the other side of the sea.
“This is an ancient place,” he said.
“Aye?” she looked at him then.
“Did you not notice the earthen huts and cottages most of the people from this village live in?”
Indeed, she had. “There is a shortage of building materials here.”
“This village is named after a great Viking princess.”
Why hadn’t she ever heard that before? “Are ye making up a tall tale to please me, Kai?”
“Nay,” he said with sincerity. “I admire Lagertha’s story. She was a shield maiden, sworn to fight for the Viking god, Odin, and King Ragnar Lothbrok’s first wife. She assured many victories for her husband—including a bloody battle on these very shores.”
She respected his knowledge of history. “How did ye come to know all this?”
“Part of any warrior’s training should include studying the great civilizations that came before his own. And the Norse, as barbaric as my people found them, visited many distant lands, including Constantinople, fighting for our rulers, and carrying immeasurable wealth back to their homelands.”
“What happened to this shield maiden-queen, La…ger…tha?” she stumbled on the pronunciation of her name.
“L-a-g-e-r-t-h-a,” he gently corrected.
She smiled and made a second attempt at saying the name.
“Aye,” he said. “No one knows. Though some say she earned her way into Valhalla, a sort of heaven, and is now a Valkyrie.”
She gazed across the water again. “I wonder what she looked like?�
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His big hand slipped up her back and into her unbound hair. Welcoming the heat of his touch, Miran leaned into him.
“Like you,” he said quietly. “Gold-spun hair as soft as silk with violet-colored eyes and an indomitable spirit.”
She chuckled. “Yet I have never killed a man in battle.”
“Let us hope you never need to.”
They stood in silence for several moments, Miran’s thoughts divided between the legendary Lagertha, and wondering where her maid, Cadha, had gotten to. “Are we friends now?”
Kai looked at her. “Is that what you wish to be?”
“I doona think I am ready for more.” Sometimes she found it difficult to put her feelings into words. She wanted to share so many things with Kai. Their newfound lust for each other clouded her judgement, especially concerning the promise she had made to her da, to wait until she met the right man, and loved him with all her heart, mind, and soul, before she gave up her maidenhood. She snuck a peek at the captain, only to find him studying her. Did he love her?
“What are ye thinking, Miran?”
She let out a heavy sigh, her breath misting in the cold air. “Many things.”
“Tis not an adequate answer.”
“My stripes have healed nicely,” she changed the subject. “Thank ye for the salve, it lessened the pain and I have no scars.”
He nodded. “I will look forward to seeing your lovely shoulder again—unmarred this time—when you are ready for me to kiss you there and other places I have dreamed of touching and pressing my hungry lips to.”
His words had a cascading affect, sending fire shooting down her body, all the way to her toes, which curled inside her thickly-soled boots. Why did he say such things? How could he look at her so intently and keep a straight face? Like he was undressing her with his eyes and yet could read her soul at the same time. She thought lust and love were too very different things, yet Kai made her doubt it verra much. Could a man lust for a woman and want to know her heart, too?
Aye. Her father had never remarried after her mam had died. And though he sought comfort in the beds of other women, he never spoke about his affairs, but always recalled her mother with a spark in his eyes, sometimes sitting for hours and staring at the hearth.
“Why do ye want me, Kai?” She tilted her head to one side, awaiting his answer.
His face remained expressionless, but she could tell by the way he shifted on his feet that he was wrestling with what to say. “I have told you repeatedly how beautiful you are.”
She frowned. “That is no’ reason enough for me to be tempted to bed ye.”
“Nay?”
She shook her head vigorously, knowing he was teasing her. “All this talk of Lagertha, and how I remind ye of her…romantic nonsense meant to lure me into yer bed.”
He raised his hands in mock surrender. “You caught me. I am guilty of desire, coveting your flawless body—wanting those lips on my own.”
She slapped his chest playfully. “Ye canna have me until ye answer my question sincerely and without laughing. Even then, I willna promise anything.”
“Is that a challenge?” he growled.
But she dinna answer, only offered him a rueful smile and then turned and walked back down the hill and toward the village.
*
The villagers welcomed them with a feast in a common hut used for such celebrations. Unlike the rest of the structures they lived in, this one was made of wood and stone with a high ceiling, two hearths, and eight trestle tables with long benches on each side.
The women served smoked haddock and whiting, roasted eel, and shellfish. Seaweed-wrapped turnips and roasted nuts, fresh bread, and ale, and something Kai had never tasted before—honey-sweetened mead. The elders of the village sat at the high table with Kai, Miran, and Colin.
“You are fortunate to eat so well,” Kai told the leaders of the village, stuffing an oyster in his mouth, savoring the smoky flavor.
“The Lord giveth and taketh,” Fraser, the elected first-elder, offered. “We live frugally, remembering no man is above another.”
Kai appreciated that belief, thinking if more men lived by it, there’d be more peace in the world. “How many attacks have you suffered in the last year?”
“Three,” Fraser said. “One by sea, two by Sutherland outlaws. They dinna kill anyone, only made off with supplies, nets and food.”
“I find it unusual that you have Sutherland families living here.”
“We welcome anyone who will contribute to the wellbeing of our village—for in the spring and summer, we need all the capable hands we can get to fish and sell our bounty at the market in Strathnaver. The coin we earn helps improve our cottages and is invested in our small flock of sheep we use to make our clothes.”
“I visited the weaving hut earlier,” Miran added. “The quality of yer material, even the linen yer lasses were embroidering, is impressive.”
“Thank ye, Lady Miran,” the elder said.
“How many young men are amongst you?” Kai asked, sampling the haddock.
Fraser rubbed his beard. “One hundred and ten.”
“Healthy and strong?”
“Two lads are crippled, but their hands are capable. They help the women make nets.”
“I observed nearly forty boats on the beach below, some housed in three-walled shacks,” Kai continued with his assessment of the village—a very prosperous place that he’d like to bring under the protection of Laird Jamie, expanding his holdings.
“Ye have a very keen sense of observation, Captain Kai. If I may ask, why are ye so interested in our village?”
“I explained earlier about Laird Jamie, the recent resurrection of Sand Airgid, and how I have been sent to recruit able-bodied men for his army, and if possible…”
“Ye wish to enfold Lagrith within yer mantle of protection?” Fraser took a generous gulp of mead. “How do ye like our mead, Captain?”
“In all honesty,” Kai said, “I have never tasted anything like it before.” He took another sip of the thick liquid and swallowed. “I must think it over more.”
Fraser laughed. “I have wine.”
“Nay. I am intrigued by this drink and would like to take some back to Sans Airgid if some is available for purchase.”
“We are always open to trade, are we not?” the elder said aloud so all could hear him, then raised his drinking vessel. “Join me in welcoming our honored guests.”
The villagers raised their cups and cheered.
“Why would we give up our simple lives here, our freedom, to bend the knee to Laird Jamie? He would make demands of us, require a high percentage of our food and other wares.”
“I understand your concern,” Kai said. “But the politics in Scotia—in the broader world—are changing. Wars. Famine. Ambitious men seeking to expand their territories and to bring a fresh supply of slaves home. There is no honor or mercy in their hearts, they kill and take whatever they want.” He thought of his own father murdering the nomadic tribes in the desert.
“I am fully aware,” Fraser noted. “Remember, trade ships often anchor off our beach. News travels quickly on the sea.”
“Yes, it does. So, then you cannot deny how vulnerable your people are.”
The elder gazed thoughtfully at Kai. “Ye are not the first, nor the last to extend an invitation to join a clan in exchange for protection.”
“You have not heard my offer, Fraser.”
“Nay, I havena been fair. Forgive my gruff manners, Captain. Please, make yer offer.”
“I am not interested in altering the power structure of this village—tis what makes it successful, I believe. But if you would consider allowing Laird Jamie to build an outpost for a regiment of soldiers, then Clan MacKay can defend you against invaders and outlaws in exchange for feeding our soldiers and the right to first trade.”
Fraser leaned back in his chair. “No one has made such a proposal before.” He eyed the other men at the high
table, who all seemed interested. “We will require some time to discuss it.”
“I understand.”
“I am not opposed to ye recruiting a handful of lads from our village for yer laird’s army. At the very least, our village will be connected to yer laird in one way or another.”
Kai took another drink of mead and smiled behind his cup. Fraser had been surprised by his offer, and by tomorrow, Kai hoped to sign a treaty with the elders, giving Laird Jamie a strategic advantage over the Sutherlands.
Chapter Fourteen
Several more days passed in the serene setting of Lagrith. The elders had requested more time to make a decision about Kai’s offer for an alliance. It dinna trouble Miran, for every afternoon she took a long walk along the beach, collecting unusual rocks and shells or simply exploring the base of the cliffs—where several caves existed. One she was sure the children used as a place to play away from the watchful eyes of their parents and the village elders.
As she walked, she was aware that a pair of guards, or sometimes even Kai, were not far behind. Today, she found a piece of driftwood that captured her imagination. It was weathered and smooth, and would allow her to paint a memory from her time in Lagrith. Maybe she’d draw a scene from the weaving hut or even from the steam hut, a tradition left over from the days when Vikings had inhabited the area.
In fact, she wanted to visit the hut again, but this time not as a mere observer. She wanted to experience the full benefits the women had told her about. Several fires were always kept lit within the wood structure, and rocks were heated and then water poured over them to create the steam. And at this time of day, she was likely to find the hut empty.
Going back to her tent with the piece of driftwood, she placed it safely with her things, grabbed a piece of linen used to dry herself after she bathed, and then headed for the hut, which was on the northern edge of the village.
Though it was made for at least a dozen people to fit in at the same time, since no one was about, she had a choice of which fire she wanted to use. She chose the central one and placed the linen on the wood bench, then unlaced her boots. The packed earthen floor was warm on her toes as she stripped the rest of her clothes off.
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