She cried out, clutching at the bed clothes, her head thrashing side to side as wave after wave of pleasure engulfed her. She was sure that she would buck him off, but Liam held tight to her waist and would not allow her to wriggle her way free from the overwhelming sensations he was causing within her.
All too soon, the thunderous wave of pleasure receded, and she sank back down onto the bed panting for air. Liam moved up and laid down beside her, wrapping his arm tight around her and pulling her in close until she was nestled snugly against his body.
“But, you didn't...” Catriona trailed off, unsure of how to ask. “I thought that you would need to...”
Liam chuckled and pressed a kiss to the top of her head. “The first time I have ye fully as my wife, I want it to be beneath the roof of Invergarry. I want it to be in our home.”
Catriona smiled into his chest and snuggled closer still. Our home. Two simple words had never sounded so sweet.
Chapter 24
Catriona sat in her father's library idly eating a slice of bread with jam and reading a book when her sisters rushed in to greet her.
“You're leaving!” Brigid accused. “How can you possibly be leaving already? You've only just arrived!”
“I know,” said Catriona, setting down her snack. “How did you find out already”
“We overheard Laird MacDonell speaking with Da about it at breakfast,” said Aileen. “A meal for which you were noticeably absent.”
Cartiona looked away and blushed, unable to meet her sister's questioning gaze. “Were you not feeling well this morning then? Or was it just that you do not want to spend more time with your new husband than you have to?”
Catriona's blush deepened and she shook her head. “No, it is not that,” she said. “I was just sleeping so soundly that I did not wake in time to come downstairs, and Liam didn't bother to wake me.”
“So he left you up there to starve did he?” asked Brigid with a snort.
“You know, he is not so bad as you think,” said Catriona, picking an invisible piece of thread from the skirt of her gown. “He can be actually quite sweet when he wants to be.”
Her sisters exchanged a skeptical look between them and crossed the room to sit with her.
“‘Sweet’ is not the term that comes to my mind when I think of Liam MacDonell,” said Aileen.
“Nor I,” Brigid agreed.
“I will not deny that we were thrown together under less than ideal circumstances. And if I had been given the opportunity to choose a husband of my own, he would not have been the one that I had picked for myself. But now that we have had some time to learn the truth of one another he is much more... pleasant.”
“Pleasant?” said Aileen.
“And... gentle,” Catriona added, her mind wandering back to the night before, and the memory of the way Liam's lips had grazed the tender skin of her throat.
“Gentle?” Brigid parroted.
Catriona pulled herself from her daydream and cleared her throat. “Yes, pleasant and gentle. And whether you believe me or not, I am telling you now that I am happy that he is my husband, and given the choice, I would not trade him for any other.”
Brigid narrowed her eyes at Catriona, unsure if she fully believed what her sister was saying, then eventually gave a small shrug. “So long as you are no longer unhappy about what Da did then I suppose it has all worked out all right. But I'm telling you now, if our father ever tries something like that with me, I will make him sorry that he ever tried.”
“Oh hush, Brigid,” Aileen scolded. “If father sees fit to see you wed, we both know that you will do your daughterly duty and marry whomever he picks.”
“I would rather kiss a frog.” Brigid folded her arms across her chest and sat back in her chair.
“Well,” said Aileen sweetly, “depending on the man you have to marry it may just feel like you are anyway.”
Brigid reached for a small cushion and hit her sister with it.
“Ow!” shouted Aileen, feigning injury.
Catriona threw back her head and erupted with laughter. She had not felt so carefree in a long time. It felt like almost another lifetime now. She would miss her sisters when she left, but it warmed her heart to know that they would at least have one another to keep each other company. Brigid did have a point though. What if their father did try to force her sisters to marry? She shook her head, ridding herself of the idea. After all that had passed, and everything that had gone wrong, she could not believe her father to do anything so foolhardy again.
As though summoned by her very thoughts, Laird Drummond's large frame suddenly filled the doorway.
“What's going on in here, then?” he asked, looking around at the commotion in the room. “I could hear the three of you clear down the hallway.”
He strode across the room and kissed each of his daughters on the top of their heads.
“Oh nothing, Da,” Catriona said with a hiccupping laugh. “We've just been in here discussing Brigid's desire to kiss frogs.”
Their father's head turned sharply, to Brigid, a look of alarm on his face, causing Catriona and Aileen to burst into renewed paroxysms of laughter.
“Oh, you're terrible, the both of you!” shouted Brigid, retaking up the cushion as a weapon and throwing it at Catriona.
“Hey now!” said Laird Drummond. “Brigid! Is that any way to act like a lady?”
“But! But... Da!” Brigid sputtered.
Catriona giggled and winked at Brigid, whose face was now almost as red as her hair.
“Oh!” Brigid fumed and jumped up from the chair. “You always were the favorite.”
“Now, now,” said their father, “Ye all know that I have no favorites among ye. I love ye all equally.”
“Just as I love my sisters equally,” said Catriona. She stood up and wrapped her arms around Brigid in a tight embrace. It had always been easy to get Brigid's anger up when they teased her, but thankfully for her and Aileen, she never stayed upset with them for long, knowing that it was all in good fun. Brigid returned Catriona's embrace with one of her own and held her sister tight.
“Are you sure that you must be leaving us so soon?” Brigid asked sadly.
“Aye. It's time for Liam and me to return to Invergarry. But I very much hope that you all will come to visit me soon. I will be missing you fiercely.”
Aileen stood and wrapped her arms around both of her sisters, not wanting to be left out of the farewell. “We will come and visit you as soon as we can. I promise. Just promise me that you will be happy.”
“I will,” Catriona told her. “I am.”
“You are?” Laird Drummond asked and the girls turned to face their father, releasing one another.
“Aye Da, I am. Do you mind if I have a moment alone with Da?” she asked her sisters. “There are some things that I feel need to be said before Liam and I are on our way.”
Her sisters nodded before giving her another quick hug and heading for the door. “We'll see you off when it's time to go,” said Aileen.
Catriona nodded and waited silently while her sisters left the room before turning to face her father.
“Cat...” her dad said.
Catriona took hold of one of her father’s hands and smiled at him. “Da, I understand why you did what you did.”
“You do?” he asked.
“Aye, Liam explained it all to me. And while I do not agree with it, I cannot hate you for it either. You have always been a wonderful father to my sisters and me. I know that you feel guilty for allowing Macnaghten to take advantage of you, but you could never have foreseen something like that. And I want you to know that I'm happy. I believe that Liam and I will have a good life together.”
Laird Drummond smiled a wide smile, the twinkle returning to his eye. “So it all worked out for the best then.”
“But before I go Da, I want you to promise me one thing. Promise me that you won't trick Brigid or Aileen into marriage like you did with me. Please don't
make them have to go through what I did.”
“Now, Cat, I promise ye that I will never do anything so foolhardy again. You have my word.”
“Thank ye, da.”
Laird Drummond opened his arms and hugged his youngest daughter.
“All worked out for the best,” he mumbled.
“What was that, da?”
“Nothing, Cat, nothing at all.”
* * *
Liam reached over to Catriona on the horse next to him and patted her on the thigh. “It won't be much longer now,” he told her. The two of them had made good time on their way back to Invergarry. The weather had held, and they had enjoyed warm spring days the entire length of their journey.
“I am looking forward to seeing your brother again, and finding out how Alex fares.” She went silent and her mouth turned down in a frown.
“What is it?”
“What is the name of the serving maid,” she asked him softly.
“Which one?”
She looked at him, and tilted her head to the side. “You know which one, Liam. The poor girl that I tied up when I made my escape. I must find her and apologize to her straight away. The poor thing was scared out of her wits. I feel so terrible about what I did to her. I just didn't feel as though I had a choice.”
Liam nodded. “Mary has already forgiven ye, Cat. She knows that ye meant her no harm, she told me so herself.”
Catriona let out a sigh, and relaxed her shoulders, some of her tension leaving her. “I'm glad to hear it, but I would still like to make amends. I owe her that much.”
“I understand your wanting to make things right with her. Ye've got a good heart, Cat. Her name is Mary.”
Catriona opened her mouth but her answer was cut off in a strangled gasp.
There on the side of the road in front of them was a grisly sight. Four men were tied to thick posts staked into the ground. As the two of them rode closer, Liam could see that the men’s throats had been cut. He could not tell how long they had been left like that but it was obvious that the birds had begun to circle the bodies, as the eyes were missing from two of the dead.
“Oh, Liam,” Catriona gasped, her hand flying to her mouth, “how awful.”
And it was at that. The closer he got he saw that having their throats slit was not all that had been done to the men. But there, carved into each of their foreheads was the letter ‘A’.
“What do you think it means?” Catriona asked him, unable to take her eyes off of the horrible scene.
“I dinna know.”
“Liam...”
“One moment, I need to get a better look,” he told her, nudging his horse closer to the bodies. “Who would do this? And to leave them displayed in such a way? It's barbaric.”
“Liam,” Catriona said again, this time more insistent.
“What is it?” Liam turned to her and stopped when he saw how pale her face was. Her eyes were fixed on the bodies as though she were seeing a ghost. “Catriona, Cat, what's wrong? Are ye going to be sick, lass?”
“Liam, I know these men! These are the men who took me.”
“Are ye sure these are the same men?” Liam looked up at each of the corpses and studied their faces intently.
“Yes, I'm sure,” Catriona whispered. “They were not faces that I am ever likely to forget.”
Liam could not draw his gaze from the ‘A’ engraved on each man’s forehead.
“This must be Macnaghten’s work.”
“Do you think that he killed them?” Catriona asked.
“Or had them killed. These men were left on MacDonell lands, so news of this was bound to make its way to me.”
“Perhaps this is his way of proving to you that the men would meet justice?”
Liam shook his head in disgust. “If it is the man is truly unhinged.”
“Gavin is not here,” Catriona said.
“Who?”
“Macnaghten's illegitimate son. He is not here.”
“It is unlikely that he would do something like this to his own son.”
“Liam, I believe this may have been the work of his son.”
He looked at her curiously, noticing the way thy her eyes were fascinated on the gaping wounds in his neck.
“What makes you say that?” he asked her.
“The night they found me. He slit the throat of one of the group members. Murdered him before my very eyes. I cannot picture Macnaghten doing something like this himself. But I have no problem believing that his son would do something this obscene.”
“Come away now, love. There is nothing more we can do for them. Once we return to the keep I'll send men to cut the bodies down and see that the bodies are properly buried.”
“It does not seem fair to leave them like this, even knowing all the horrible things they've done. It just seems wrong.”
Liam leaned across his horse and took Catriona's reins, leading her mare away from the suspended bodies.
“I will take care of it, Catriona, I promise you. Try to put it out of your mind for now. Not much longer and we will be safely home.”
Catriona nodded silently but did not respond, as they continued on down the path to Invergarry Castle.
Chapter 25
The keep was buzzing like a hive when Liam and Catriona finally made it back home. He was tired, dirty and weary, but the walls of Invergarry towering over him was one of the most beautiful sights he had ever seen.
“It's good to be home,” he said as he helped Catriona down off of her horse.
“It will be wonderful to sleep in a proper bed again tonight. I hope to not have to travel for a very long time.”
“Don't worry.” A sly smile tugged at the corner of his mouth. “Now that I have you back home where ye belong, I've no plans on letting ye go wandering off for a very long time.”
Catriona laughed and smiled up at him. “Well, ye have yourself a willing captive this time around, Laird MacDonell.”
Liam laughed and bent low, kissing Catriona on the lips. The curve of her waist was warm and soft in his hands and he pulled her closer to him.
“Well now,” came Iain's voice from behind them, “Isn't that a sight.”
Catriona pulled away from Liam, and he enjoyed the pink flush that tinged her cheeks. Just the sight of it made him look forward to that night, when he hoped to make her flush all over.
“How are ye, brother?” he asked Iain.
“Very fine, though maybe not as fine as some, by the looks of the two of ye. I see ye've got yer lovely wife back home safe and in one piece.”
“Aye, and there's much I need to tell ye, but first, how is Alex?”
“Why don't ye come see for yourself?”
“He's awake then?” Relief flooded Liam.
“Aye, and being a right terror on anyone who comes too close. At this rate it won't be long until we need to bind him to the bed. He keeps trying to get up even though the surgeon says he still needs much more bed rest.”
“Well, Alex has never been one for sitting still.”
Liam took Catriona's hand in his and the two of them followed Iain to Alex’s bedchamber.
They found Alex propped up by pillows on his large bed, looking downright miserable.
“And where have you been?” Alex demanded when he saw his brother.
“Sorry Alex, there were a few things that I needed to handle.”
Alex's eyes shifted to Catriona and his body stiffened. “What the hell is she doing here?” he asked glaring at her in disgust.
Liam felt Catriona cringe next to him as though Alex's words were a visible blow. She looked down at the floor, unable to meet Alex's accusing stare and pressed herself closer to Liam’s side.
“Enough, Alex,” Liam said. “Ye'll not be speaking to my wife that way any longer. If ye have anything to say to her ye'll say it with a civil tongue in yer head.”
“Yer wife, is it?” Alex scoffed. “Don't ye mean the enemy? One would almost think ye enjoy taking these serpent
s to yer bed, the way ye take to marrying vipers.”
“Alex!” shouted Iain.
Alex groaned and shut his mouth, realizing that he had gone too far.
“What did ye say to me?” Liam said, coolly.
“Shit, Liam, I'm sorry. I had no call to say something so cruel to ye. But what the hell are ye doing with her, man? After everything her father has done?”
“It was not my father,” Catriona said. Though her voice was low, it was steady, and she raised her head to meet Alex's accusations head on.
“I heard the cries myself? Are ye calling me a liar? That would be rich, coming from the little schemer that tricked my brother into marrying him.”
Catriona squared her shoulders and strode over to Alex's bedside.
“I am not a liar,” she said calmly. “My father is not innocent in this, I'll not make that claim. Yes, he did trick Liam into marrying me. I will admit to that as well. But I had no part in it. I was just as much a victim of my father's falsehood as Liam was. It was also not my father's men that attacked you nor burned down those homes. They were men hired by someone else entirely, set on framing my father.”
Alex looked skeptical but sent a questioning glance in Liam's direction. Liam nodded but did not intervene, proud of Catriona for standing up for herself. Her father was right, while she may be gentle, she was in no way weak.
“I know that ye do not like me Alex, and ye do not trust me. But I am hoping, in time that I will come to call you brother and you see me as a sister. Liam can explain to you all that has happened in greater detail than I, and I am sure you are wanting some time alone with each other, so I will leave you in peace. But your brother and I have found a peace between us. I hope that you and I will find a similar peace.
Catriona turned her back on Alex without waiting for an answer and swept out of the room, pausing only long enough to reach out and squeeze Liam's hand as she passed by.
Highland Promise: The Daughters of Clan Drummond Page 16