“Aye,” Maude admitted.
“And do ye feel prepared?” Amelia stroked her daughter’s hair down the length of her back. Maude and Blair both unbound and released their hair to dry the moment they reached Maude’s chamber. “Do ye have questions?”
“Nay, Mama. I understand it may hurt at first, but I trust Kieran. He’s always been gentle and patient with me. He’s, um, generous with his attention.” Maude couldn’t believe she admitted to her mother that she’d shared intimacies with him, but Blair had left little to doubt with her knowing smile and still waggling eyebrows.
“Ye ken ye’re well suited in that area?” Amelia asked with the patience only a mother could offer.
“I suspect as much. So far we are,” Maude wanted to sink into the floorboards. She realized she had one question. “Mama, will there be a bedding ceremony?”
The color drained from her mother’s face, and she regretted asking. Despite her father’s objections and coming to blows with the Earl of Ross for a second time, Maude’s mother had suffered through the indignity of the ritual. Amelia’s father had his retainers restrain Hamish while women inspected her and shuttled her into bed. Hamish had wrapped his meaty hands around one man’s neck until they pulled the covers over Amelia, and the man hadn’t been able to speak for a sennight. He’d threatened to murder the Rosses in their sleep if anyone watched the actual deed, and Amelia’s father relented when he realized he was on the verge of causing a clan feud as the Sutherlands present in the chamber refused to look at the bed and paired up with Rosses, ready to come to the defense of their new lady. Even the women were prepared to take up arms led by Hamish’s younger sister, Kyla Sinclair.
“Yer da would never allow it for any of ye. And I suspect Kieran might murder every mon with eyes if we tried to insist. I dinna get the impression he’ll allow any mon to look upon ye.”
Maude breathed a sigh of relief, neither wanting anyone else to see her naked nor watch something so intimate. She felt exhaustion wash over her and couldn’t stifle her yawn. They were contagious, and soon Blair was yawning too, both women rubbing their eyes. Blair and Amelia left Maude to lie down while Blair did the same in her chamber, and Amelia saw to preparations for the evening meal. Maude didn’t realize how deeply she slept until a pounding on her door woke her. She pulled on her robe and trod to the door, which she opened a crack, recognizing only a man would knock so hard.
“I was worrying that you’d fallen unconscious,” Kieran teased.
“I think I may very well have. Did you rest?” Maude noticed the shadows under Kieran’s eyes were not as dark as they had been when they arrived.
“Aye, but not for as long as you did. It’s time for the evening meal. Will you join us, or should I have a tray sent up?”
“I’m coming!” Maude turned away and ran to her armoire. “I’m not missing our betrothal announcement.” She assumed Kieran would pull the door closed and either wait in the passageway or belowstairs, so she was unprepared for the muscular arms to slip around her waist. “You can’t be in here! My father will butcher you and serve you to the hogs!”
Kieran’s laugh vibrated against her back as he nipped at her neck.
“A fine way to go, if ever they was one, buttercup. I shall take my chances for a few moments alone with you.” Kieran continued his assault on her senses as his hands roamed over her breasts and belly until his hand cupped her mons. “Your father has moved the wedding forward to the morning. He saw how I chomped on the bit while we completed the documents, and he suspects I might carry you off to the priest before sunset.”
“Mmmm,” Maude moaned as Kieran’s mouth found the sensitive spot beneath her ear. “Even if we wed that early, it’s not like we can retire that early.”
“I have every intention of doing that very thing. Your mother agreed to a midday feast that can last throughout the night, but I will bring you up here after the first course.”
“You told my parents that?” Maude gasped, both from shock from his words and the butterflies that fluttered in her core as his fingers pressed against her entrance through the layers of clothes.
“Mayhap not the last bit, but I doubt it would surprise them. I’m sure that’s why they suggested we move the ceremony earlier.”
“Do we truly have only one more night until we---” Maude couldn’t finish her thought, embarrassment overwhelmed her.
“Until we can make love? Until I can slip inside you and lose myself to the feel of your body and the pleasure we’ll share? Until I make you scream my name as I bellow yours? Until I am yours and you are mine forever? Aye, one more night. If I can survive this one.”
Lust and need tempted Maude to suggest she would visit Kieran that night, but fear of being caught forced her good sense to return. She turned in Kieran’s arms and wrapped hers around his neck. She stood on her toes and kissed him, her tongue flicking across the seam of his lips until he allowed her entry. His hands slid to her backside, pulling her tighter against his cockstand. He enjoyed Maude’s control over their kiss as she pressed for more. She was insatiable after days of restraint. Her mewling sounds of impatience spurred him on until he lifted her, and her legs came around his waist.
“I would skip the evening meal and feast upon you,” Maude murmured as it was her turn to graze her teeth along his neck before flicking her tongue at the exposed dip between his collarbones.
“Tomorrow, buttercup.”
“Now, turtledove.”
“Not if you want me to have my cock and cods tomorrow. If we don’t appear, your father will skewer me, and it’ll be your mother who hands him the sword.”
Maude sighed as she eased away from the tempting skin along his jaw. She unfastened her legs and slid down his body before pulling her robe closed over her chemise. Kieran released her but made no move to leave despite Maude’s obvious need to dress.
“You have no maid here. Someone must lace you into your gown.”
“Ever practical, turtledove?”
“Aught to assist you. Now be quick.” He gave her a playful tap on the backside before she pulled a gown from a hook and disappeared behind the screen.
They entered the Great Hall together to cheers from the Sutherlands gathered for the evening meal. Even though the official announcement was yet to be made, many had already heard or deduced that Lady Maude had returned home to marry. By the end of the night, Maude’s feet pained her, and she worried she wouldn’t be able to walk to her own wedding after spending much of the evening dancing. Kieran had monopolized her time, and it filled her heart to overflowing. She reveled in every moment she spent in his arms, and she enjoyed the opportunity to dance where she wasn’t self-conscious. She’d spied a few of the young men who had taunted her when she was younger, but many had already married or turned away when their eyes met. She refused to allow them to ruin her night. She bid Kieran goodnight at the bottom of the stairs as her family observed, and the temptation to promise to sneak to his chamber once more coursed through her, but she tamped it down. They had waited months for their wedding; she could wait another twelve hours.
* * *
The morning of Maude’s wedding dawned with the first clear sky in over a week. The sun poured into her chamber as she bathed in peace. Maude accepted that her mother and Blair would arrive with maids to help prepare her for the ceremony, but for the moment, she was blessedly alone and able to soak in the steaming water. She’d passed a restless night often running her hand over the space across from her that Kieran would occupy that night. She scrubbed her hair and body before patting herself dry. She rubbed lemon verbena oil into her skin as she imagined Kieran’s hands one day completing the task for her. Her body warmed more from her musings than her hands. She’d finished pulling her chemise into place when a knock sounded at her door. She eased her robe on before opening the door to find Lachlan on the other side.
“I wasn’t expecting you,” she smiled.
“Can’t I visit ma wee sister?” Lachlan k
issed her on the cheek. “You won’t be coming back here often now that you’re to be a married woman. I would sneak in a few more minutes with you before you leave us behind once more.”
“This will always be my home. I pray Stornoway will come to mean as much to me, but Dunrobin will always hold a piece of my heart since this is where you and Mama and Da will always be. Even Blair’s forever connected to Sutherland, even when she returns to court or marries. I’m glad you came.”
“I wanted to speak to you for a moment.” Lachlan pulled the chair to rest across from the foot of the bed and gestured for Maude to take a seat. “I watched you last night with Kieran. I’ve never seen you so at ease with anyone, especially not with a mon. Your entire everything shone with beauty and happiness, and it gladdens my heart. I think Kieran has been a gift to us because you seem once again to be the Maude that you’ve hidden for so long. I have tried to forgive myself for my role in how you changed, but I haven’t been able to. It’s my greatest regret, and my greatest failure. I will forever be indebted to Kieran for helping you to come out of your shell,” Lachlan took Maude’s hands. “But if he should ever fail you, should he ever hurt you in any way, you need only tell me, and I will come for you. No questions asked, no hesitation. You’ll always have a home here. I ken Da has settled dower lands for you but come here. Come home if you need to. I love you, Maddie.” Lachlan reverted to his childhood pet name for her. He hadn’t been able to say the “au” in her name when they were young.
“Thank you. You have no idea how much that means to me. It will be strange to move into a new keep and know that it will be my home for the rest of my life. At court, I knew it was temporary. For most of the time I was there, I assumed I would return here one day. At least until you wed and Mama and Da were gone.”
“Until? Why would any of those things change whether you remained here?”
“You’ll marry, and I doubt your wife would want a spinster sister lurking aboot when she is to be lady of this clan.”
“I wouldn’t marry the chit if she wouldn’t welcome either of my sisters in their home.”
Maude smiled and hugged Lachlan rather than argue with him. “I love you, Lach. I always have and always will. You’ve been a good big brother to me. No, don’t disagree with me. All siblings have their differences, but you have always been there for me, and I love you for it.”
They pulled apart, and Lachlan reached into his sporran. Maude watched as he pulled out a beautiful brooch with a large amethyst stone in the center. It was a brooch intended for a laird or his wife.
“Kieran asked that I bring this to you. Mama will bring you a length of the MacLeod laird’s plaid, but Kieran requested I give this to you. He wanted you to look at it with no one snatching it from you to ‘ooh’ and ‘ahh’. He said it was his father’s, and it would honor him if you’d wear it to the ceremony and accept it as a wedding gift.”
Maude looked at the jewel that rested in her palm, running a finger over the filigree and craftsmanship. She nodded and blinked several times before whispering, “Please pass along my thanks. I shall wear it with pride. I love it.”
Amelia, Blair, and several maids interrupted them when they entered after a perfunctory knock. Maude closed the brooch in her hand and tucked it into the pocket of her robe. Her finger ran over the stone as Lachlan left, and she took his place in the chair once they moved it before the looking glass. They spent the next two hours braiding her hair and weaving ribbons through the thick plaits before she slipped into her mother’s wedding gown. It fit as though someone had stitched it for her. She twisted to look at herself from various angles and felt beautiful without reservation for the first time in her life. She hoped Kieran liked her appearance. She would know soon enough.
Chapter Twenty
Kieran stood impatiently on the steps of the Sutherland kirk as he shifted, trying to glimpse Maude when she exited the keep. He stood taller than most Lowlanders, but his height wasn’t exceptional in the sea of Highlanders. He caught sight of a dark head with a crown of early spring flowers, but it wasn’t until Maude was nearly to him that the crowd parted wide enough for him to see her face. His breath caught in his chest as he took in his bonnie bride. Her whisky hued eyes sparkled, and the right corner of her lips curled in her shy smile. He took in the brooch on her shoulder and the length of MacLeod plaid that swathed her shoulder. Her trim body looked as though someone had poured her into her gown, and once again, he appreciated his breacan feile and sporran that hid the immediate reaction his body had to her approach. He stepped down to meet her amid gasps and chuckles. He took her hand and wove his fingers through hers, ignoring propriety that dictated he await her on the steps and place her hand on his forearm.
“I have never seen a sight more breathtaking than you, buttercup. I shall remember this moment as I lay in our bed, an auld mon awaiting my chance to enter the Lord’s kingdom.” Kieran kissed her cheek, once more throwing decorum to the wind. “The sight of you in my plaid makes my world perfect.”
Maude’s smile widened as her eyes locked on his, and he marveled that the smile was for him alone. His heart thudded to receive a gem rarer than the one in the brooch he’d given her. They stood facing one another as the priest wrapped a ribbon around their wrists and then placed a length of Sutherland plaid over their hands.
“I realize a woman cleaves to her husband, but there is also something so right seeing our hands joined with a Sutherland plaid making us one,” Maude whispered. “I would welcome you to my family and clan, just as you welcome me to yours.”
The priest cleared his throat as a reminder that it was supposed to be his turn to speak. They exchanged their vows before her family and clan, then entered the kirk for the wedding Mass. Kieran spared little thought for his family, but he understood Maude worried about them as she glanced at her mother and sister. The service progressed at a snail’s pace as they awaited the priest’s announcement that he’d officially married them. When the time came, Kieran refused to be rushed. He eased Maude to her feet and slid his arm around her waist, stepping close to her. He lifted her chin and peered into her eyes. She searched his steely gray ones, the depth of her feelings for him clear. He recognized it was time to declare himself and regretted not having done so sooner.
“Maude MacLeod, I love you with all that I am and all that I have. I have since the day I met you and will until the day of my passing.” Before Maude responded, he swooped in for a kiss that began as a feathering of his lips and breath against hers but soon enveloped her in tenderness and affection before bursting with passion. She returned the emotions without reservation until they were both breathless. “I love you, buttercup.”
Maude nodded as she swallowed before finding her voice. She blinked back tears as she spoke in the strongest voice she could muster. “I love you, turtledove. Now and forever.”
They kissed again before Kieran swept her into his arms. Maude rested her head against his shoulder until they emerged from the kirk to more cheers and applause. Kieran scowled at his horse but failed to keep from laughing when Peat knickered at him and nodded his head as if he understood his owner’s annoyance that they would have to ride through the bailey and surrounding village before they made their way to the Great Hall. He’d argued vehemently with Hamish and Lachlan when they arrived at the stables and found Trioblaid was also being saddled. He insisted they saddle either one or the other horse, but it would be pointless to ready both since he refused to relinquish Maude to ride apart from him. Father and son acquiesced when Kieran threatened to ride off with Maude if they were each given their own mount.
Kieran lifted Maude into the saddle, and she adjusted her skirts as she sat sideways. He swung up behind her and arranged his plaid and sporran to continue to hide the erection he had sported throughout his wedding. He sighed with relief that God hadn’t smote him for such lustiness in His house. Kieran spurred Peat into a cantor and squeezed the horse’s flanks once they were through the gate, urging the st
eed into a gallop.
“I like this detour aboot as much as you do, but we canna gallop through the village. You’re bound to run someone over!” Maude chuckled. Kieran slowed Peat but followed Maude’s directions for the most expeditious route before they returned to the bailey. Maude’s relatives had guided her through the keep at such a brisk pace before the ceremony that she hadn’t a moment to appreciate the decorations, but as they entered, she paused to take in the bows of flowers that hung from the second-floor railing and were draped across the dais. A garland encircled the top of her chair, and she wondered how someone collected so many buds and blooms after the weather had been foul for days.
“I gathered them as soon as the weather looked as though it might turn. Your father alerted me that a wedding would take place soon after you arrived, and I wanted you to have fresh flowers for your special day.” Amelia explained as she dropped a kiss on her daughter’s cheek. Kieran eased her chair back once they reached their places, and once they were settled, his hand found her thigh beneath the table.
“Eat your fill, my wee one, because I don’t intend to let you out of that chamber before we pass a sennight. This shall be your last meal that doesn’t come on a tray, and I’d have you fortify yourself with some sustenance. You shall need it.”
Maude nodded but was too self-conscious to serve herself much with so many eyes upon them. Kieran had no such qualms and heaped food into their trencher. He ceased pushing food onto her side when he caught her look of horror and how Maude’s eyes flew from table to table to determine who watched the food accumulate before her. Kieran chided himself for being so short sighted.
“I fear you may need your own trencher, lass. I have left little room for your share,” he teased and breathed easier when Maude relaxed.
A Wallflower at the Highland Court: A Slow Burn Highlander Romance Page 19