A healthy fear was necessary, it was a hard life in the Highlands. If she did not have a fear to exercise caution, she must be taught one, and soon, or it could mean her life.
Convinced she was attempting to escape him and their marriage, he had been prepared for her denouncement. Roderic’s pride was dealt a blow at the thought, making him angry enough to carry out her punishment. Her denial and confusion baffled him. His wife forced his logical mind into a tangle, and his problems with her were as a flock of birds he wished to catch scattered on a hillside. He didn’t know which one to capture first. Still, capture them he would, for his wife would obey him at all cost.
They stopped to water the horses, and Gavin approached him.
“I must speak to you. Alec has brought something to my attention. It may explain much. One left behind by Mackay has said that your wife is not what she appears. They say she is mad.”
Roderic frowned and then scoffed. “What nonsense. Who said this?”
“An older man who was left with the women. He implied to Alec you best not relax your guard, and beware of Mackay, who has tricked you by giving you a madwoman as wife.”
“He said this of Brianna?”
“Aye. It could be the reason why she put herself in such danger. If her mind is weak as the boy’s …”
“You don’t believe such tales. The woman is headstrong … but intelligent.”
“It would appear so. Long did I consider the wisdom of bringing this to your attention. Yet, dinnae allow her beauty to blind you to what could be the truth.”
Roderic shook his head. “She will not blind me to my duty, and will be disciplined if need be. I must make certain she cannot put herself in danger again, and I will know her reasons for leaving. I promised I would never hurt her, yet her actions today could have started a war.”
“ ’Tis verra true. What if the Maitland babe had died? What if she had been unable to help? We would have had a bloody battle, indeed. Still, she must have a way as a healer to have helped the lady with the birthing, and she did win the Laird’s loyalty.”
“She knew we were to go to the King, but did not wish it. I sought to calm her fears, and then she ran. If that was the reason, why would she dread meeting the King? Most ladies would love to go to court.”
“True,” Gavin said. He looked reluctant to speak his thoughts. “Did all go well on your first night together? Some women can be very timid,” he said, glancing away.
Roderic was immersed with the memories of that night, and had no intention of sharing them with Gavin, or anyone else. He held them too precious.
“All was well, and she was far from timid.” His tone was coolly disapproving. “She is never timid, and one could wish it! Catherine drew her sword on the Laird,” Roderic said.
Gavin’s eyes widened in shock.
“Aye,” Roderic said. “For that alone she deserves a hiding as any child would get for doing such a foolish thing. He could have killed her.” There was a tremble in Roderic’s deep voice.
Gavin understood that the anger in his friend was not unlike that of a parent pulling his child out of the way of the hearth. The pain of a beating on the backside would be much less than the horrible pain of being burned or scarred by fire.
“Aye. I don’t envy your task ahead. Your new bride will need to be watched closely. Guarded. If she is treated as a prisoner, it will hardly warm her affections, nor will the punishment you must see she receives. Ye also must ask yourself if her loyalties truly lie with you.”
Roderic looked at Gavin sharply but said nothing in return. Had his passion pushed out all other thought or reason? Had it clouded his judgment? Did he have her loyalty? He did not have an answer.
“Tell me where to find this man. I must speak to him. I will go there first. Take my wife with the men and return to the keep.”
It was late when Roderic left the stone cottage, more frustrated than when he arrived. He had gotten few answers from the man, who was vague with his replies, refusing to say more than to beware of the Mackay and his tricks. Roderic remembered his own uneasy feeling that Mackay was much too smug on the day he was driven from the holding.
The woman Mary ran to him as he was about to mount his horse.
“Sir Roderic, ye best get to the keep, there be trouble. Make haste,” she said.
He left, concerned at the urgency of her request.
Roderic could not believe his eyes when he entered the great hall. His wife had crossed swords with Gavin. The man was standing relaxed with a grin on his face until his half-hearted defense suddenly vanished.
Cat attacked with a grace and speed that stunned him. She held her skirts in one hand; the other held her sword, which she wielded with a skill that dazed him, for all at once Gavin had to defend himself in earnest. On the floor was a leather strap, and near the table stood Kenneth. The boy stared as if seeing nothing, unaware of his surroundings. Edna stood with her arms around the boy to keep him still.
“Brianna, stop!”
She ignored him, and he realized the only reason Gavin had failed to disarm her immediately was her light step and quickness. Unable to keep his weapon to hers long enough, he could not use the power of his heavier sword.
Suddenly, as if it were a game she tired of, Brianna lowered her sword. Her green eyes spit fury at Gavin when she spoke. “Try to beat Kenneth again, and I’ll do more than scratch your face! I’ll run ye through, laddie!”
Roderic’s gaze flew to Gavin’s face and at once saw the scratches that left a trail of blood on his cheek.
“You beat the boy?” Roderic said.
“The old woman bid me do so!” Gavin burst.
Cat whirled to face Edna. “What? Why would you do such a thing?”
“I always beat him when he runs away.” Edna spoke softly to the younger woman, then turned to Roderic.
“He has run off since he was a wee lad, going to the woods, and I feared he would get lost. This time he took a horse, something he has never done. I beat him in the past, but it was my hope that Gavin could beat him hard enough he would never leave again. I fear for him. Kenneth has no sense of bearing. It was just a mercy he followed Brianna, and she found him. Dinnae blame her for this. She be protective of Kenneth.”
Roderic immediately considered the rumors and accusations. Could Brianna be like the boy in her disregard of caution?
Edna turned to Cat. The girl’s eyes were angry still.
“I don’t care! You had no right to treat him so! Look what it’s done to him!”
Roderic, too, frowned at the boy’s blank expression.
“It’s just his way. Kenneth goes oft to the world inside his head,” said Edna.
Cat walked to the boy and put her arms around him, stroking his hair softly.
Roderic spoke in a low tone. “Kenneth?”
“He won’t answer or look at anyone, and I know he hears us,” Cat said. She turned to speak to Gavin.
“It appears this wasn’t your doing. I’m sorry about your face.”
She gave Kenneth a gentle pat on the shoulder and bent down to pick up the leather strap. “I went a bit mad when I saw you hitting him with this thing. If you want to hit someone, hit me. At least I can fight back!”
Gavin let out a loud, boisterous laugh. “All too well, lass.”
Roderic stepped forward and took the sword from her. He spoke to Gavin while he held her gaze. “Would you tell me how she managed to take this from you?”
“I had one arm on the boy, and the other on the strap. She let out an angry scream coming at me from behind, and pulled it from my waist before she took her nails to my face.”
“I should have told ye. ’Tis for his own good in the coming,” said Edna. She addressed Cat.
“I don’t agree,” she replied, her voice cold.
“Don’t you?” Roderic said. “ ‘If you want to hit someone, hit me.’ You say this because you know what you did was wrong! Yet, I, too, was at fault for trusting you.”
“You will need this.”
Roderic had taken her by surprise, and she squirmed because of her indelicate position, but she did not fight him. He walked up the steps to their chamber and set her down on her feet. Turning, he shut the door, then faced her.
“I am asking you to give me a reason for your leaving. Were you trying to reach Mackay?” His eyes narrowed in suspicion.
“No! It’s not what you think! I wouldn’t betray you, Roderic. You can believe I was foolish in deciding to trust Maitland, but I am not sorry I helped Helen and her baby.”
“Brianna …” He heaved a heavy sigh. “I am English by blood, but I lead five hundred of the King’s warrior’s. They began as misfits from many clans, and were outcasts so they accepted the King’s effort to join them.
“These men wear the kilt. I do not. I dress as an Englishman, for Alexander taught me not to fall into the trap of pretending to be what I am not. I risked their lives for you today; they have a right to their anger and live by a harsh code of justice. If any one of these men would have put others in danger, I would have had them flogged. You are my wife, but the daughter of an enemy. I cannot ignore what you have done without jeopardizing their loyalty. I told you I would never hurt you, but I did not foresee your putting me in this position. You have given me no choice.”
“Let me understand you. If I let you beat me with that strap, the men of your army will feel I paid my debt and hold no ill will toward me?” She was incredulous.
“Yes. It is not just that you endangered their lives, but your own. What possessed you to raise your sword to the Laird?” he demanded.
“They came out of the trees! I was protecting Kenneth!”
“They threatened the boy?”
“Well, no … not exactly.”
“Will you swear to me never again will you use a weapon in such a manner?”
She sighed and shook her head, refusing to give him the answer he longed to hear. Roderic’s eyes narrowed when he spoke.
“You give me no choice. You must be punished.” He picked her up by the waist and strode to the bed. His little wife was remarkably strong as she fought him. Bending her over one knee, he pinned her flailing legs down with one of his own.
“It will help in this ruse if you manage to scream at the proper time.” He spoke in a sly tone as if conspiring. Holding her at the waist, he raised the strap again and again to hit the side of the bed. Brianna squirmed to look up at him when she realized what he was doing.
“Ruse?” she demanded in a startled whisper.
He was not hitting her at all! At once she understood. Her green eyes were full of mirth and laughter when he continued to slap the belt with a loud pop. She cried out, but it was hard to keep from laughing when he winked at her. Turning her over as if he were really spanking her, she did her best to let out an outraged scream with each of his strokes, and he kept it up a good while. She drummed her fingers on the bed and put her face down to muffle her occasional giggles. After thirty strokes, Roderic threw down the strap.
She turned over to face him, her head propped, resting on her elbow. Extremely provocative, she looked up at him, her green eyes warm and sensual.
“Why, Sir Roderic … as a brutal husband, you fail miserably.”
He pulled her close and cupped her cheek. “Do you think I want to hurt you?”
She licked her lips and stared at his mouth. “No, you are too gentle. Kiss me, Roderic.”
“Don’t mistake me, Brianna. My wish to keep a promise to you so early in our marriage does not mean that you will dictate to me in any way. Endanger yourself or my men again …”
He brought his hand down to land a stinging slap to her backside. She gasped and rubbed her bottom.
“And you will feel enough pain to make it memorable!”
“I’m sorry I displeased you. Forgive me,” she pleaded. She put her arms around his neck, stroking his hair when his mouth came down to hers. Their passion exploded with the first touch. Her hands caressed him while he pleasured her mouth.
Roderic all but tore her clothes from her. Her hair made a glorious veil over the pink tips of her breast when she took it from the braid and shook her head. He pulled the silky chanise from her, and held her waist in the span of his hands. Shifting, he brought her up to straddle him. His gaze quickly found hers, hoping he wasn’t handling her too roughly.
Eyes glittering with excitement, she was as aroused as he. Placing her hands on his shoulders, she took a deep breath, thrusting her soft breasts to him. He sucked her nipple into his mouth and stroked the soft skin of her legs and hips.
“Roderic, it feels so … wonderful.” Cat whimpered as he gave both her breasts the attention they craved. He reached down and slipped a finger inside her, his thumb stroking the soft, red curls. Speaking in between open-mouthed kisses, he went on.
“Tell me, how does one discipline an erring wife? A very beautiful … headstrong wife?”
He kissed the soft joining of her neck and shoulder. Her body responded to his touch with abandon. She held nothing back.
Resting her forehead to his, she panted. “I know you don’t understand me. I don’t understand myself at times … the way you make me feel.”
She cupped his face and placed her cheek to his. He kissed her jaw and forced her to meet his gaze.
“Like a fire inside. Do you burn for me, little one? Do I make you hot?” His voice was warm and tender.
“Yes. You know you do … when you touch me … I …” She made a soft sound of pleasure as his thumb caressed the small nub at the head of her sex. He was impatient to undress quickly, so he removed his tunic. Cat licked and nipped his neck and shoulder. Groaning, he wrapped his arms around her, caressing her hair and skin. She looked like a temptress, a wood nymph who would be more at home out in the forest. Vowing one day he would make love to her on a bed of green grass, he held a vision of her there, white creamy skin and red hair lying on her shoulders as she reached for him and opened her pretty legs in welcome.
Cat kissed him with an abandon that enticed him. He reached out to grasp her hips when she sucked daintily on his tongue. She held him tightly, brushing her nipples across his chest, but he struggled with his desire, wanting her desperate, even to the point of begging.
He reached down and adjusted his clothing, freeing his aroused body. She made a move as if to cuddle his sex with her own, but he held her hips still when she tried to join them.
“Roderic, you’re so hot and hard … please?”
“You belong to me … say it.” He made the demand in a voice raspy and harsh with passion.
Cat, too, was vulnerable. Mouth wet from his kisses, her breasts puckered, her green eyes cloudy and pleading, she answered him. “I do belong to you … only you … please?”
Her plea ended on a sob when he lifted her. Resting her hands on his shoulders, she gripped him hard when he impaled her. Cat gasped and winced, for her body was still not accustomed to his. Roderic hated hurting her, so he coaxed her with tender words.
“There now … there. You can take me. You were such a small … tight little virgin … now. Now.”
Words were no longer possible. He lifted her again and again, and when he saw that he increased her pleasure by pulling her forward, he did so. She found her joy, and he watched her, delighted in her inner spasms when she cried out helplessly. Joining her thrust for thrust, he was then consumed by his own orgasm.
Cat collapsed on him, her breathing labored as if she had run a long distance. Cupping her face, he stroked his hand down to the rapid pulse of her heartbeat in her throat. Shifting, pulling the bedclothes up to cover them, he held her, caressing the beating pulse of her heart, and despaired. It was his own heart that concerned him. It was most assuredly in danger.
Chapter Eight
Put not you
r trust in princes, nor in the son of man, in whom there is no help.
~Psalms 146:3
Roderic called together some of his men for a counsel. They sat at the large table in the great hall. Alec spoke somberly.
“I wish to beseech your pardon for being lax in my duty.”
Roderic silently observed the distress of the younger man. Alec’s handsome face reflected a remorse that was indisputable.
“Of what do you speak?” Roderic said.
“Had I detained your wife and made verra certain she had your leave to go away from the castle, we could have stopped her before she made the grave mistake of crossing Maitland’s border,” Alec said.
“My wife is a headstrong woman. I have taken steps to correct that flaw,” Roderic said.
Gavin smirked before he broke into a wide grin. “We heard the noise of it! Yet, I trust ye gave her the comfort a mon should after the beating.”
There was a lascivious sparkle in Gavin’s eye. Roderic was not amused when the others broke into a ribald laughter. He stood at the head of the table, shaking with anger.
“Enough!”
There was an immediate silence.
“My wife was wrong to go to Maitland’s land. She will not make that mistake again. It is to be understood that despite suspicion because of her father, there is no proof of her disloyalty. Lady Montwain will have the support of every man in my command as part of his duty to me and the King. Be there any cause for complaint, so let it be spoken now against her.”
Each man in turn at the table expressed his support by brief words or gesture. At last it was only Alec and Gavin that had not spoken. Alec coughed and cleared his throat.
“I serve you, Roderic, and my King. I would do all in my power to protect Lady Montwain if need be.”
“I have but one complaint of your wife,” Gavin said.
“If you speak of her defending the boy …”
“Nay! ‘Twas wrong of me to strap the lad, for his mind is too simple to know better. But, let her raise a sword to me again, ‘twill be my own hand that beats her!”
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