by Maya Banks
Seeing Rionna’s complete befuddlement, Mairin took pity on her and laid a hand on Gretchen’s shoulder to staunch the flood of chatter.
“Gretchen wants to be a warrior,” Mairin explained. “It was explained to her that women couldn’t be warriors, and now she’s decided that ’tis obviously an untruth since you defeated Diormid in swordplay.”
Rionna smiled, this time a genuine smile, and knelt in front of Gretchen. “I must share a secret with you, Gretchen. ’Tis not a popular opinion, but I firmly believe that a woman can be whatever she wants to be if she sets her mind to it.”
Gretchen was aglow with delight. Then she became somber as she looked beyond Rionna to the courtyard. “Your papa wasn’t happy that you fought Diormid.”
Rionna’s eyes darkened from the light gold to an amber hue. “My father despairs of ever making a lady of me. He’s not impressed with my skills as a warrior.”
“I’m impressed,” Gretchen said shyly.
Rionna smiled again and took Gretchen by the hand. “Would you like to touch the hilt of my sword?”
Gretchen’s eyes rounded and her mouth dropped open. “Could I?”
Rionna guided her hand down until it hovered over the jewel-encrusted hilt of the sword. “ ’Tis smaller than a normal sword. ’Tis lighter, too. Makes it easier for me to wield it.”
“That’s amazing,” Gretchen breathed.
“I want to see!” Robbie said belligerently.
He and Crispen both shoved forward, their eyes bright with wonder.
“Can we touch?” Crispen whispered.
As reticent as Rionna had been over the meal, she was open and friendly with the children. Mairin decided she must just be extremely shy.
As the children gathered around Rionna, chattering and exclaiming over her sword, Mairin chanced a glance back at the courtyard to see Ewan standing in the distance, hands knotted at his waist as he stared at her.
She offered a small wave and turned away before he got any ideas about summoning her.
When the children drifted away from Rionna, Mairin eyed the other woman. “Would you like to have a bath drawn before the evening meal?”
Rionna shrugged. “I usually swim in the loch, but I suppose it would horrify my father if I were to do so here.”
Mairin’s eyes widened. “Are you mad? The water is frigid!”
Rionna smiled. “ ’Tis good training for the mind.”
Mairin shook her head. “I have no understanding for someone who would forego the joys of a tub full of hot water for a hellish swim in an icy loch.”
“Since swimming in the loch isn’t a possibility, I’ll gladly take you up on your kind offer of a hot bath,” Rionna said with a grin. Then she cocked her head to the side and looked at Mairin with an odd expression on her face. “I like you, Lady McCabe. I don’t appall you as I do others. And the way you waded through the men to rescue me was very well done.”
Mairin flushed. “Oh, do call me Mairin. If we’re to be friends, ’tis only appropriate that you should address me thusly.”
Maddie cleared her throat behind Mairin, and Mairin turned, horrified that she’d forgotten her manners.
“Rionna, I want you to meet the women of my clan.”
Each woman stepped forward in turn and Mairin went down the line, introducing those whose names she remembered. Maddie supplied the names that Mairin hadn’t learned as of yet.
When they were done, Maddie directed the women back to the keep so they could heat water for Rionna’s bath.
After showing Rionna to the chamber she would occupy, Mairin went below stairs to check on the plans for the evening meal.
She was nearly to the kitchens when Ewan entered the hall. Laird McDonald accompanied him and Mairin quickened her step.
“Where is my daughter?” Laird McDonald demanded.
Mairin paused and turned to face the surly laird. “She’s above stairs seeing to her bath and dressing for the evening meal.”
Apparently mollified by the idea that his daughter wasn’t out battling more warriors, the laird nodded before turning back to Ewan. Mairin waited a moment, fully expecting Ewan to reprimand her for her interference, but he looked past Laird McDonald and winked.
It was done so fast that she was sure she’d seen wrong. The idea of the laird doing something like winking was too much to contemplate. Sure she’d imagined it, she headed for the kitchens once more.
CHAPTER 26
Mairin was long asleep when Ewan came to their chamber that night. He stood by the bed and watched as she slept, so burrowed under the furs that only her nose peeked out.
Talks with McDonald had rapidly deteriorated as more ale had been consumed. Instead of talking marriage and alliances, the men had sat around the table in the hall drinking and engaging in bawdy tellings of tavern wenches and old battle scars.
Ewan had excused himself, more interested in slipping into a warm bed with his wife than engaging in ribald boasting. It should bother him that even asleep the lass had such a hold over him that all he had to do was imagine her above stairs in his bed and he grew restless and ready to depart the men. But he found that it didn’t bother him at all.
While the rest were in the hall fondly recounting nights spent in the arms of a woman, he’d be above stairs holding his in his arms.
He undressed and carefully pulled back the bed covers. She immediately stirred, frowned, and then yanked the furs to bring them back up. He chuckled and slid into bed beside her.
The shock of her warm body against his brought him instantly and fully to awareness. She stirred again, murmured something in her sleep, and proceeded to burrow underneath him.
Her nightdress fell down one arm, baring the curve of her neck and the smooth skin of her shoulder. Unable to resist, he pressed his mouth to her flesh and nibbled a path to the column of her neck.
He loved her taste, loved the way her scent filled his nose as his tongue laved over her softness. She emitted a sigh that tickled over his ear.
“Ewan?” she asked sleepily.
“Who else were you expecting, lass?”
“Oh, I don’t know. It seems every time I wake, there are people in our chamber.”
He chuckled and nipped at her earlobe.
“You aren’t angry with me?”
He drew back and stared down at her. “What have you done now?”
She huffed, and her lips twisted into a disgruntled line. “I’ve done nothing. I was referring to earlier today. When I took Rionna off with me. I know I shouldn’t have interfered but—”
He put a finger over her lips. “Nay, you shouldn’t have. But I’m fast discovering that you do many things you shouldn’t. It was a good thing that you removed Rionna when you did. Her father was angry, and you diffused the situation. My only complaint is that you placed yourself in a potentially explosive situation, not to mention you waded through a bunch of men who were caught up in the excitement of a battle.”
She slid her hands down his middle, lower, until she found his hardness. Her fingers circled his shaft and he groaned as he swelled within her grip.
“But you aren’t angry,” she said in a whisper-soft voice.
His eyes narrowed even as he pushed farther into her hand. “Don’t think I don’t know what you’re about, lass.”
Her eyes widened innocently as she stroked him from his cods to the very tip of his cock. He leaned down to kiss her, breathing in her very essence. He inhaled, holding and savoring the air that had been hers and then he returned it and it danced around their lips and tongues.
“This won’t get you out of trouble every time,” he warned.
She smiled. “I’ll settle for most of the time.”
He was about to lose himself in her hand. Her soft exploration was driving him to the brink of insanity. He had to have her. Now.
He reached down and clutched the hem of her night dress.
“Don’t tear—”
The sound of material ripping muffled h
er warning. He shoved the material up over her hips and rolled until he was positioned between her splayed thighs.
He found her heat, felt her silky warmth spread over the head of his shaft and with one push he was inside her. She gasped and arched into him, her belly trembling beneath his.
She was so tight around him, a fist gripping and squeezing, holding him so intimately that he began to unravel.
“Ah, lass, I’m sorry.”
“For what?”
Her hands trailed over his shoulders, her nails scraping at his flesh. He closed his eyes, knowing this wouldn’t last long at all.
“I seem to lose all control when I’m with you. This will be fast. I cannot hold back.”
“ ’Tis all right,” she whispered. “For I find I cannot hold back either.”
She lifted her hips and wrapped her legs around his waist. It was too much for him to bear.
He thrust hard and already he felt himself letting go. Again he thrust, plunging mindlessly into her willing body. His seed spurted forth and he kept driving, over and over, until her passage, so slick with his passion, released him.
Unwilling to deprive himself of her sweetness just yet, he tucked his shaft back to her opening and eased inward, riding the aftershocks as she trembled and spasmed around him.
He leaned forward, resting his weight on her while he remained inside her warm sheath. She was breathing hard, her puffs of air blowing over his neck and chest. Her body was tangled around his, arms and legs clutching him and holding him close as if she’d never let go.
He liked that. Aye, he liked it a lot.
Finally he rolled to the side but kept her limbs entwined with his. He wanted her a part of him. He liked the sight of her much smaller body secured by his. She was his.
She gave a lusty yawn and nuzzled into his chest. He knew she was asleep in a matter of moments, but he remained awake, liking the feel of so much feminine sweetness in his arms.
When he finally slept, he was careful to keep her as closely linked to him as possible.
The next day, Mairin busied herself with the women to prepare the noon meal while Ewan was occupied with Laird McDonald. The two men had gone hunting that morning, and much to Rionna’s displeasure, she’d been left out of the hunting party.
She sat in the hall dressed in man’s garb, a loose-fitting tunic swallowing the upper half of her body, looking bored and faintly terrified by all the bustling going on around her.
Rionna was a bit of a mystery to Mairin. She wanted to ask the lass about her apparent fascination with the duties of a man, but she was afraid of insulting the woman. Mairin had heard from Maddie that Laird McDonald sought to marry his daughter to Alaric to seal the alliance with the McCabe clan, and that in fact, the lairds were in talks of just such an arrangement.
Mairin pitied Rionna because she gained the distinct impression that Rionna had no desire to marry, and Mairin could only imagine Alaric’s reaction to the proposed arrangement.
What did the lass hope to accomplish by engaging in such shocking activities that obviously brought her father’s ire down on her?
And Alaric, surely he wouldn’t be accepting of his wife’s wish to engage in swordplay. Ewan would be appalled, and Alaric was no different in his thinking. All the McCabe brothers had firm ideas of a woman’s role, and it was definitely not the path that Rionna had chosen.
Rionna needed someone more … understanding, though Mairin couldn’t imagine any warrior allowing his wife the freedoms that Rionna apparently enjoyed.
Mairin shook her head and allowed Rionna to remain sprawled in one of the chairs to watch the goings-on around her.
“Is everything prepared?” Mairin asked Gertie as she entered the sweltering heat of the small cooking area.
“Aye, I’ve just taken the bread from the fire and the stew is simmering. As soon as the men return, I’ll begin putting out the food.”
Mairin thanked Gertie and then retraced her steps into the hall. A noise at the entrance told her that her husband had returned and she went to greet him.
She stood back, waiting for him to enter fully. He came in, Laird McDonald just behind him, with Caelen and Alaric bringing up the rear.
“Welcome home, husband. If you and the laird would take your seats at the table, the meal will be served.”
Ewan nodded his acknowledgment and she retreated to tell Gertie to begin the serving.
More of Ewan’s men filtered in, mixing with Laird McDonald’s soldiers. The three tables in the hall quickly filled up while the men who hadn’t gained seats waited at the entrance to the kitchen for their portion.
Unsure of any marriage arrangement since Ewan hadn’t seen fit to share Laird McDonald’s proposal with Mairin, she opted to seat Rionna beside her, with Laird McDonald across the table on Ewan’s other side. Alaric and Caelen would occupy the two seats next to Laird McDonald.
The meal was a loud, boisterous event as the morning’s hunt was recounted for all to hear. Food and serving dishes went everywhere and Mairin found herself confused at one point as to which goblet was hers. She reached for the goblet between Ewan and herself and took a sip to chase down her food.
She wrinkled her nose at the bitter taste and hoped that the entire batch of ale hadn’t gone bad. She set it aside so Ewan wouldn’t drink it and motioned for Gertie to bring the laird another cup in case it was indeed his.
Laird McDonald kept Ewan engaged in talks of border protection, increased patrols, and the plan to strengthen their alliances by talking with Douglas.
Mairin paid only partial attention to the chatter as she watched Rionna pick idly at her portion. She was wondering what topic she could engage the other woman in when a cramp rippled across her belly.
She frowned and put a hand to her abdomen. Had the food been bad? But surely it was too soon to feel the effects, and the meat was fresh, brought in just two days ago. She watched the others but saw no sign of discomfort. In fact, everyone dug into their food with seeming satisfaction for the taste.
She reached for the goblet that had replaced the bitter ale when another cramp viciously seized her stomach. She gasped for breath but the pain was so intense that she doubled over.
Another pain knifed through her, gripping her middle in an unrelenting knot. Her vision blurred and she felt a sudden urge to vomit.
She shot to her feet and in her haste, knocked over Ewan’s goblet. The liquid spilled over the table and into Ewan’s lap.
Ewan jerked his head from his conversation with McDonald, a frown marring his lips. She swayed and then doubled over, a cry escaping as fire twisted her innards.
Rionna jumped up and bent anxiously over Mairin, her face creased with concern. Around her, murmurs arose as everyone focused on their mistress and her obvious distress.
“Mairin!”
Ewan was on his feet, his hands reaching to steady her. She would have fallen had he not hauled her up against him. She went limp, her legs no longer able to sustain her weight.
“Mairin, what’s wrong?” Ewan demanded.
“Sick,” she gasped. “Oh God, Ewan, I think I’m dying. The pain.”
She sagged again and Ewan went down with her, easing her weight to the floor. Above her, Alaric’s worried face appeared.
“What the hell is going on, Ewan?” Alaric demanded. He shoved Rionna back and maintained a protective perimeter around Mairin.
And then she turned her head and retched all over the floor. The sound was awful even to her own ears, but it felt ten times worse.
It was as if she’d swallowed a million pieces of glass and they were shredding her insides.
She curled into a ball on the floor in so much pain that in a moment of weakness, she prayed for death.
“Nay!” Ewan roared. “You won’t die. I won’t allow it. Do you hear me, Mairin? I won’t allow it. You will obey me, goddamn it! For once you will obey!”
She whimpered as Ewan hauled her from the floor. She winced as his shouts rung in her
ears. He yelled orders and the hall was alive with the sound of scrambling feet and answering exclamations.
She was jostled about in Ewan’s arms as he charged up the stairs. He burst into their chamber, all the while shouting demands to the rest of his clan.
He wasn’t gentle as he laid her on the bed. Her stomach heaved again as the smell of her own vomit seared her nostrils. Her dress. It was ruined. Now she couldn’t even be buried in it.
Ewan clasped her face in his hands and leaned down until their noses were nearly touching.
“No one is burying you, lass. Do you hear? You will live or, so help me, I’ll follow you to hell and drag you back kicking and screaming the entire way.”
“I hurt,” she whimpered.
His touch gentled as he smoothed the hair from her face. “I know, lass. I know you hurt. I’d bear it for you if I could. Promise me you’ll fight. Promise me!”
She wasn’t sure what she was supposed to fight, and the pain screaming through her insides made her want to curl into a ball and close her eyes, but when she tried, Ewan shook her until her teeth rattled in her head.
“Ewan, what’s wrong with me?” she whispered, as another wave of pain overwhelmed her.
His face was grim and going more blurry by the minute. “You’ve been poisoned.”
CHAPTER 27
It had been many years since Ewan had prayed. Not since the birth of his son, when he’d prayed over his wife’s bedside as she struggled to bring forth the life within her.
But he found himself offering fervent prayer now as he stood over Mairin’s bedside. Maddie flew in behind him with Bertha on her heels.
“You must make her vomit, Laird,” Bertha said. “There’s no time to waste. We don’t know how much of the poison she took in and she must rid her stomach of all its contents.”
Ewan bent and grasped Mairin by the shoulders, rolling her to the edge of the bed so her head hung over the side. He took her face gently between his hands and pried her mouth with his thumb.