Catriona wrapped her arms around herself and watched Alex storm off.
“Whatever did ye say to him?” she asked Liam.
“I told him that I would not have him speaking to my wife with disrespect, and that if he could not keep a civil tongue in his head around ye, then I would not have him around ye. We've been having some troubles with reaving on our lands the past few months and it's been getting worse. That's why I was visiting with yer father in the first place, ye ken. I've sent Alex off to join the search to find the thieves. He was meant to be leaving soon at any rate. I've simply hurried him on his way.”
Catriona was stunned. Had Liam actually sent his brother away for her? She could hardly believe what she was hearing.
“Ye sent him away... for me?”
Liam glanced at her and then looked away, clearing his throat. “Aye, well. I am yer husband, no?”
She nodded, staring at him silently, still not sure she fully believed what had just happened.
“Thank you,” she said at last.
Liam took her hand in his and, without another word, led her back into the great hall.
Chapter 11
Early morning light spilled across the small sitting room. The soft beams struck Catriona, played with the colors of her hair, and illuminated her in a gentle halo. Liam marveled at the way the pale strands glowed in the sunlight as they tumbled carelessly down her back in a riotous waterfall of waves.
Her hand moved swiftly across the large page in sweeping arcs, her attention focused solely on the image unfolding before her. She had yet to notice his presence, and Liam held himself as still as possible, watching her from the doorway, not wanting to break her concentration.
He had not shown her this room, but he was not surprised to find that she had been drawn to it once she found it. On the fifth floor of the keep, the windows in this sitting room were overlarge and granted a sweeping view of the loch below. It had been his mother’s favorite place in the entire keep. Two chairs flanked the hearth, which was now cold, but in winter would warm the entire room, and in his mother’s time would fill it with a delicious scent, as she would set a pot filled with her secret blend of spices over the flame. Even now, he could still see his mother stirring the pot to fragrance the air while he watched her, munching on sweet bread.
Shifting his weight, he accidentally bumped into the door frame, shattering the peaceful tableau. Catriona's hand froze, her head snapping in his direction.
“Liam!”
“I'm sorry, I did not mean to disturb ye.” The relaxed air that she had about her was gone. No longer filled with sharp concentration, her eyes were guarded and unsure as she looked at him, filling him with regret for intruding upon what small sanctuary she had created for herself.
“Did ye have need of me?”
He shook his head and took a tentative step into the room. He had lived in the keep his entire life and knew every last stone and beam, but stepping into that room, he could not help but feel as though he were stepping out of his home and into her domain. A sacred space in which he had no right to be.
“Nay, I was merely passing when I saw ye, and I...” What? How could he possibly explain to her that he was so captivated by the sight of her that he could merely stop and stare. He felt foolish just thinking about it.
“What are ye drawing?” he asked, hoping to change the direction of the conversation.
Catriona tilted the page away from him so that he was unable to make out the image she was creating there.
“It is nothing, really.”
A sharp bolt of rejection ran through him. She obviously did not want to share her art with him. It felt as though she was locking him out of her world.
“I want to apologize for not spending much time with you over the past few days. I have not meant to ignore ye. There have just been so many things that have been needing my attention.”
Her eyes shifted away from him to gaze out the window, but he could still see the disappointment in her eyes.
“I understand, Liam. I am sure that as Laird, there is much that needs yer constant attention. Ye need not worry about me. I am more than capable of finding ways to pass the time on my own.”
How many hours had she sat alone in this room over the past week? He mentally kicked himself. The lass must have been going out of her mind with boredom and loneliness.
“Catriona....” He knelt next to her and tried to take her hand, but she grasped her papers more tightly. He grasped her wrist awkwardly, unsteadily. “I'm so sorry, lass. I constantly seem to be failing ye.”
She looked at him then, but far from the anger he expected, her eyes were filled with kindness and warmth.
“Yer not failing me, Liam. I just thought...” She blushed, her gaze flickering down to his lips for a moment before they met his gaze once more. “I just thought that we would be spending more time together.”
Her blush deepened and Liam stared into her eyes, conjuring a memory of the way her soft body felt when he held her on the banks of the loch.
“Aye.” His throat was tight as he admired the soft plump bow of her lip. “We should be spending more time together.” Unbidden, his hand floated up to her face, and his thumb brushed across her bottom lip as if of its own accord. Her eyes fluttered closed at his touch, and she leaned forward into his caress.
It amazed him that he ever thought her to be the same as his first wife. The difference between them was clear to anyone with eyes. No wonder Iain thought him so foolish. Catriona was warm and understanding, and welcomed his touch.
He caressed her cheek and she tilted her head slightly, pressing it into his cupped palm. His heart pounded as he leaned forward and closed the distance between them. He kissed her roughly, forcing her mouth open and plumbing the sweet depths of it with his tongue. Through the haze of his lust, he heard her gasp, caught off guard by his assault, but he did not stop. He could not. He ached to lose himself in the sweet innocence of her touch. To cast aside the doubt and guilt that he felt whenever he looked at her. Because kissing her now, he could finally admit, that it was not duty alone that had kept him from her side. It was this. It was the spark of hope he felt when she was near. A hope that he was not yet ready to embrace, for fear that she could still turn on him.
He gathered her hair in his hands and continued his assault on her mouth, urged on by her soft moans. He ached to lose himself in her. To drown in the scent of her and be freed from the weight and pain of his past that he carried on his back like scars.
With his free hand, he reached up under her skirts and caressed her calf and stroked up the outer side of her thigh. He grasped it tightly, his fingers digging into her creamy flesh, and he felt a shudder go through her. His fingers slid towards her inner thigh, when suddenly, he felt her entire body go rigid. Her lips stopped moving, and it pulled him from his need-driven haze.
Panting heavily, he rested his head against her shoulder and squeezed his eyes shut, struggling to regain control of himself. Slowly, he released Catriona's thigh and slid his hand from beneath her gown.
“Liam?” Her voice was tentative, unsure, and Liam winced at the slight quiver he heard there.
He slowly raised his head, and braced himself for her fear and disgust. What had he been thinking, assaulting his wife in broad daylight, with the door wide open where anyone could have passed and seen them?
Catriona's face was flushed, and her chest rose and fell in quick succession. Her soft, smooth hair was a tangled mess where his hand was in it moments ago, and her swollen red lips looked tender and sore.
“I'm sorry,” she said. “I just...”
Liam wrapped his arms around her and hugged her close, careful not to crush the drawing paper that she still had a tight grip on. He was amazed that she had not dropped it.
“Nay, lass, I should be the one to apologize. I should not have done that. Not here, like this.”
“It was, ah,” she cleared her throat, “very nice.”
; The flush in her cheeks deepened, and he marveled at the fact that she was blushing.
“Ye liked it?”
“Aye,” she whispered. “Very much.”
Relief flooded through him, and he kissed her once more, a gentle graze of his lips across hers. “I promise to pay ye more mind in the future. Ye're my wife, and ye have my word that I'll make more time for ye... if that's what ye truly wish.”
She smiled, and bent to place her sketches on the floor near her chair. Catriona pressed her hands against his chest and he could feel the heat of her through the front of his shirt. It was almost as warm as the wide smile she gave him.
“I would like that very much.”
Liam took hold of her hands, keeping them pressed to his chest, and smiled. He could not remember the last time he felt so at peace.
“Ye should do that more often,” Catriona told him.
“Do what?”
“Smile.”
Liam chuckled, and nodded. “Aye. I suppose ye have not seen a great many of them from me, have ye?”
“No. But I'm looking forward to seeing more of them in the future.” She sighed and looked around. “I love this room. I found it a few days ago, and have come here to draw every day since.”
She bent down and picked up the sketches she had placed on the floor, offering them to him.
He studied her drawings, awed by how well she had captured the view from the window. The trees and lochs had such depth to them, it was a wonder that his hand did not sink into the page.
“These are wonderful.”
“Ye’re being kind.”
“No. Ye’re very talented. I’m glad that ye found a place in the keep where ye can draw.” He paused and looked around the room, his mind flooded with the countless happy memories he had of it. “This was my mother’s favorite place as well.”
“Oh, Liam.” She took his hand and squeezed it. “I am so sorry. I did not mean to intrude.”
“Ye’re not. I watched ye in here. Just for a moment, before ye noticed me. But even I could tell that ye belonged in here. My mother used to sit where ye are now, and stare out that window while she stitched. She loved to stitch…”
His eyes began to sting, and he turned his head away so that Catriona would not see the pain in his eyes.
“I am so sorry, Liam. Ye must miss her terribly. I was so young when I lost my mother that I barely remember her, and I still miss her terribly. I cannot imagine how much more painful it must be for you.”
“Aye, it’s painful. But I’m grateful for the time I had with her. With both my parents.”
He stood up and looked out the window while continuing to hold Catriona’s hand. The words tumbled out of him, and he was unable to hold them back now that he had begun. “When I was very young, she would sit there and hold me on her lap. She would tell me stories and sing to me. Some of my happiest memories are in this room.”
He looked down to see Catriona staring up at him with tears in her eyes. He reached over and brushed them away, touched that she would be so moved.
“I want ye to have this place now.”
“Oh, Liam— ” She began to protest but he cut her off.
“No. My mother would have wanted ye to have it and so do I. This room belongs to ye as it did to her. Make it yer own. Set up yer paints in here. It gets good light all year round. Ye need a place. Someplace that’s just for you. I’d like for ye to have this one.”
“I don’t know what to say,” she sniffed, wiping the tears from her eyes. “I would love to. Thank you so much.”
Liam bent down and kissed her once more before releasing her hand.
“I have some things that need attending to, but I will see ye in the great hall for lunch.”
“Are ye sure ye’ll have time?”
He gazed down at her beautiful face, cursing himself for all the time he had wasted over the past week.
“Aye, wife. I’ll have time.”
Chapter 12
“Someone find The MacDonell!” Frantic cries rang out across the courtyard.
The feeling of peace that had finally begun to settle in Liam for the first time since the wedding blew away like smoke at the urgent shouts that rang out for him.
Catriona hurried through the hallway behind him, trying to keep pace as he rushed to the entryway. The courtyard in front of the keep was a flurry of activity, and voices called out for the castle surgeon. He skidded to a stop at the sight of Alex being carried on a cot between four of his men. His blood ran cold.
“What happened?” Liam demanded as he rushed to his brother’s side. The acid taste of fear rose in his throat as he gazed down upon his brother’s pale face. Alex’s eyes had been closed, but they fluttered open for a moment at the sound of his voice.
“Liam.” Alex struggled to sit up but Liam restraint him.
“Hush now, Alex. Save yer strength.”
Alex clutched his sleeve and tried to pull Liam closer with what little strength he still possessed. His pale blue eyes were glassy and wild as they bore into Liam before slipping away to look past him.
“’Tis the Drummonds,” Alex hissed. “We heard their cry. We were outnumbered. They burned the houses to the ground, Liam. It was the Drummonds.”
Alex collapsed. Liam turned slowly around to face where Alex had been staring. Catriona stood off to the side behind him, a mixture of fear and disbelief on her face.
The warmth they had begun to share turned to stone within him as he strode across the entry way toward her. He did not hesitate when the fear flashed across her face and she took a hasty step backward, but continued on until they were almost toe-to-toe.
Catriona had to tilt her head back in order to meet his gaze, but she stood her ground.
“Come with me.” He barely recognized his own voice, it was so choked with fury. He grabbed Catriona roughly by the upper arm and dragged her out of the entryway and up to her bedchamber where he shoved her roughly inside and slammed the door behind them. He needed to speak with her, but wanted to do it away from the prying eyes of the keep. By now everyone downstairs would have heard Alex’s accusations against Catriona’s father. Keeping her locked upstairs was just as much for her own protection as it was necessary to hold her until he could find out what she knew about her father’s deviousness.
Distrust and confusion raged within Liam as he paced back and forth in the chamber. He was unable to look at her, for fear that he would lose what precious little control he had on his temper. If Alex died, he would gather every man he had and raze Laird Drummond’s lands to the ground. He would salt the earth so that the barren land would stand as a reminder to all others what would happen to those that would dare harm his family.
Liam’s hands trembled with rage. He inhaled a ragged breath before coming to a halt and facing his wife. Her face looked almost as pale as his brother’s had. She stood perfectly still, her eyes wide with fear as she took stock of him.
“Liam?” she whispered. “What has happened?”
He closed his eyes and turned his face away, searching for any whisper of trust that they had begun to build between them. He wanted to cling to it, unwilling to believe that he could have been so foolish as to allow himself to be taken in by a beautiful cunning viper for a second time. Was there no limit to a woman's deception?
“Your father…” He took a steadying breath and met her gaze once more. “Your father’s men have been behind the reavings all along. Now they have burned my people’s homes to the ground, attacked my brother’s men, and have injured my brother. I do not know yet how badly.”
Catriona’s hands flew to her mouth, and she collapsed onto a nearby chair.
“No!” she shook her head in disbelieve. “No, that cannot be right. He would never… he could never! There must be some mistake. Some horrible, horrible mistake.” Catriona refused to believe that her father was capable of ordering such brutality. He may have been a stubborn man, but he had never been cruel. An image flashed in her mind
of how he had treated her the night he had caught her in Liam’s chamber, but she quickly forced the thought away. That was completely different. He had only wanted what was best for her, and there was no sense in this.
“My brother saw them with his own eyes!” Liam shouted. “Heard their war cry! There was no mistake. Your father did this. I came to him for help, and he denied all of it. It was the perfect opportunity for him to wed me to one of his daughters. I knew he was behind it all. It was too convenient. And while he burns my clansmen’s home to the ground I am wed to his daughter. I am twice the fool!”
“Ye cannot believe I had anything to do with this. Liam, please. I do not know why this is happening, but I promise ye it cannot be what it seems. My father would never do this!”
“And what do ye know of men and war, aye? What do ye know of how far a man is willing to go in order to get what it is he wants? Ye dinna think yer father is capable of such a thing? I’ll tell ye now, lass, that yer father is capable of this and more. Of that I’ve nae doubt.” He stalked towards her and clasped her chin gently in his trembling fingers. “But what about ye then? That is what I really want to know. What are ye capable of? Could ye have deceived me so completely over these past few days? Did ye know about yer father’s plans all along?”
Catriona shoved his hand away from her face and glared up at him with fury in her eyes.
“The devil take ye, Liam MacDonell. I have had no part in the troubles that have plagued yer lands. I have not lied, or schemed, or done any of the other things ye are so keen to accuse me of. I dinna know what more I can do to prove to ye that ye can trust me. And no matter what ye think of my father, I can tell ye that he would never do such a thing. It makes no sense! I am his daughter and this is to be my home now. Why would he give the order to destroy it? Why would he do something that could put me in harm’s way? Do ye really think that he would leave me here all alone and at yer mercy? Especially when it is so clear to see that ye have none!”
“I dinna ken. But rest assured that I will make him pay for what he has done.”
Highland Promise: The Daughters of Clan Drummond Page 8