by Maya Banks
She turned into his body and snuggled up tight against him. For a moment she worried she’d done something wrong because he stiffened against her. Gradually he relaxed and then he slid an arm around her waist and hauled her even closer until her nose was pressed against the hollow of his throat.
“Caelen?”
“Aye, lass?”
“You were right.”
“What was I right about?”
“Kissing. ’Tis a most wondrous thing.”
She could sense his smile.
“And you were right about another thing. There are so many other … places … where kissing brings much pleasure to.”
This time he chuckled softly over her head. “Go to sleep, Rionna. We must rise early in the morn. We have a hard journey ahead of us.”
She sighed and closed her eyes and just before she drifted off, she had the thought that this whole consummation thing wasn’t so bad after all.
CHAPTER 7
Caelen was in a black mood. He hadn’t slept a wink the entire night. He’d finally given up when he couldn’t take the torture of Rionna’s naked body wrapped around his a minute longer.
He had a raging erection, and even after prying himself from the bed and seeking privacy to take care of the matter, he was still hard and aching.
Her taste was still on his tongue. Her scent still filled his nostrils. Her lean body with her lush curves still haunted him. Whether he shut or opened his eyes, he couldn’t rid himself of the images of her writhing beneath his mouth.
“Sweet Jesu,” he muttered.
Panting after a woman had already caused him—and his clan—a lifetime of trouble.
He would bed her as soon as they arrived at McDonald keep and then he’d distance himself from her. A good tupping was what he needed. He’d been a long time without a woman. Aye, that was the issue. He needed relief and then he would regain his senses and he could function without being led about by his cods.
Knowing the others wouldn’t be up for some time yet, he went below stairs and into the courtyard. Snow had blown into drifts, barring the usual walkways. He cursed as he stared around at the heavy blanket of freshly fallen snow.
At least it had stopped and the sky was clear above. The moon and countless stars shone and reflected off the snow until it appeared nearly daytime.
“Good morn, Caelen.”
Caelen turned to see Gannon standing a short distance away.
“ ’Tis cold, Gannon. Where are your furs?”
Gannon grinned. “I don’t want them wet before our journey. ’Twill be freezing on the ride to McDonald land.”
Caelen studied the warrior who’d long served Caelen’s brother. A more loyal man Caelen had never known. He was glad to get him, but he worried.
“What think you of Ewan sending you with me?”
Gannon stared around at the keep, the courtyard where they’d trained for so many years. At the still-crumbling walls that were even now being repaired, thanks to Mairin’s dowry.
“ ’Twill be hard to leave the home I’ve known for so long. But things are changing. Ewan is newly married and he leaves for Neamh Álainn as soon as Isabel is strong enough for the journey. Alaric will become laird. Aye, things are changing, and ’tis the truth I’m looking forward to a new challenge. Going with you to McDonald keep will give me that.”
“I’m glad to have you,” Caelen said. “ ’Twill be a hard task to train the McDonalds to be warriors on par with the McCabes. We’ve not much time to whip them into shape. Ewan is impatient to be rid of Duncan Cameron once and for all.”
“As is our king.”
“Aye, for different reasons, but aye, David is eager to be rid of Cameron as well.”
“Since we are both awake, perhaps we should ready the horses for the journey. I had some of the men bring down the trunks last night to load into the carts. Will you wait for your lady wife to awaken before we depart?”
Caelen scowled. His lady wife had slept like a babe while he’d lain awake in pain. “I’ll wake her once we’ve readied the carts and the men. I’ll want to say my goodbyes to my brothers and their wives.”
“ ’Tis a new page in your life you’re embarking on,” Gannon said in a sage voice. “A fortnight ago, did you imagine that you’d be laird of your own clan, newly married to a beautiful lass and on your way to a life away from the McCabes?”
For a moment Caelen didn’t acknowledge Gannon’s question. It caused him too much discomfort. The truth was an ugly, unforgiving thing. Always there. Never changing.
“ ’Tis my fault we’ve struggled for as many years as we have,” Caelen said quietly. “I owe my brothers more than I can ever repay. My agreeing to this marriage gives Alaric what he most wants in the world, and it aids Ewan in keeping his wife and child safe. It wouldn’t matter if Rionna McDonald were a pox-riddled whore. I’d marry her for those reasons and never feel regret.”
“How fortunate for you that I’m nay pox-riddled nor a whore.”
Caelen swung around to see Rionna standing a short distance away, her face drawn into an impassive mask as she stared at him and Gannon. He cursed under his breath just as Gannon muttered “Uh-oh.” Caelen was forever making a muck of things around Rionna.
“Rionna …”
She held up her hand to silence him and he did so before it sunk in that she was giving him a command and he’d meekly followed it.
“Don’t apologize for speaking the truth, husband. ’Tis the truth I had no more desire to marry you than you did me, but as you said last eve, neither of us had a choice. Perhaps it would be better to move forward rather than to keep rehashing the reasons why over and over.”
He hated the hurt in her voice even as her gaze flickered coolly over him and Gannon. Her face had the perfect you-can’t-touch-me expression, but her voice told the truth. He had wounded her.
“You shouldn’t be outside the keep. ’Tis frigid this morn. What are you doing up at this hour?”
Her gaze was as chilled as the wind. She showed no reaction to the biting cold even though the clothing she wore was ill-suited for such weather.
“I woke when you rose and I knew you’d want an early start. ’Tis not an overlong journey but the snow will hinder us. I thought to aid you in preparing.”
“ ’Tis a thoughtful gesture, my lady,” Gannon said. “But ’tis my duty to assist your husband. I would feel better if you were inside where ’tis warm and you don’t chance taking ill.”
Caelen glared at Gannon for his well thought-out words. The sentiment should come from him, not his commander. He could see the effect it had on Rionna. Her eyes lost some of their frost, and her stance relaxed.
“I’ll want to bid my farewells to Keeley as well as Mairin and the babe.”
Caelen nodded. “I’ll summon you when ’tis time to depart.”
She gave a stiff nod of her own and then turned back into the keep. Caelen sighed and glanced over at Gannon.
“ ’Twill be a task to clear the pathways. We may as well begin now.”
Rionna waited until she was certain Alaric had risen before she went to Keeley’s chamber. Though all the McCabe warriors were notoriously early risers—they somehow functioned on but a few hours’ sleep every night—Alaric had devoted most of his time for the last weeks to Keeley’s bedside.
After she saw Alaric reenter his chamber with food for Keeley to break her fast, she waited a few moments and then knocked.
Alaric opened the door and Rionna straightened her shoulders. “I’d like to say my farewell to Keeley if she’s feeling well enough this morn.”
“Of course. Come in. She’s breaking her fast and grumbling about being held captive in her bedchamber.”
Rionna grinned at Alaric’s exasperated tone. She walked inside to see Keeley sitting up in bed, more color in her cheeks than had been there the day before.
“I’ve come to bid you farewell.”
Keeley’s lips turned down into an unhappy frown. “So soon
? I had hoped to spend more time with you.”
Rionna perched on the edge of the bed, taking Keeley’s hand in hers and squeezing. “You’ll come to visit when you’re well. Perhaps I’ll come back to visit you. We’re married to brothers. We’ll see each other often. I still expect you to attend me when I bear my first child, so make sure you do nothing foolish like injuring yourself again.”
Keeley’s eyes danced with merriment. “How went it last night with Caelen?”
Rionna’s eyes narrowed. “I hate him. He has a wicked, silken tongue, but he turns into the worst sort of ass outside the bedchamber.”
Keeley sighed. “Give him time, Rionna. He’s a good man. You just have to dig below the surface to uncover that man.”
Rionna made a face. “I don’t have your faith, Keeley.”
“I want you to be happy. Promise me you’ll give him a chance.”
“I can only promise not to stick my dagger in his gut while he sleeps,” Rionna grumbled.
Keeley laughed. “ ’Tis all I can ask then. Be well, Rionna. And be happy. Send word when you’re established at McDonald keep and let me know you’ve arrived safely. I’ll be awaiting word on the news of your first child as well.”
Rionna rose then leaned down to kiss Keeley’s cheek. “ ’Tis the truth I’ll never bear a child if he doesn’t learn to close his mouth at the appropriate time.”
Keeley grinned. “ ’Tis a skill I don’t think any man has yet learned. But remember all I counseled you on. Use your skills as a woman and I guarantee he’ll shut his mouth, for a time at least.”
Rionna sat atop her horse surveying the line of McDonald men that was smaller than it had been when they’d arrived. Her chest ached for the men who’d chosen to side with her father. These were men she’d grown up around. Some of them were young and were probably swayed by her father’s talk of loyalty and distrust of the McCabes. The older warriors were likely outraged over the ousting of her father as laird and had followed him without coercion.
There was no telling what would happen when Rionna and Caelen returned to her keep and announced that Caelen was their new laird. Not that the people hadn’t been expecting Rionna to marry and for her husband to one day lead their clan, but it wasn’t supposed to happen overnight.
She shivered as the wind knifed through her. The fur she wore was threadbare and the clothes underneath weren’t suitable for traveling in such cold. When they’d made the trip to McCabe keep the weather had been unseasonably warm. That was no longer the case and she hadn’t the wardrobe to withstand being outdoors in the biting cold for any length of time.
Caelen and his commander led the way. Rionna hung several horse lengths back, surrounded by four McDonald soldiers as they trudged through the crisp snow.
He hadn’t once looked back, not that Rionna expected him to. She may as well not exist for all the mind he’d paid her since the journey began.
Apart from assisting her onto her horse, he hadn’t acknowledged her at all since she’d overheard his words to Gannon earlier that morn.
“I don’t like him, Rionna,” James muttered beside her.
She jerked her head up to make sure Caelen hadn’t overheard the disloyal remark and then she turned to the young warrior. Beside him, Simon, his father, nodded his agreement.
“I don’t like him either, lass. The king and the McCabes have given us a bad turn. ’Twasn’t right what they did to your father.”
Rionna clenched her jaw until it ached. She could hardly reveal her true feelings. She couldn’t very well say that she didn’t like her new laird either, but she wasn’t about to go as far as to defend her father.
“ ’Tis best to give him a chance,” she murmured in a low voice, all the while keeping her gaze on Caelen’s back. “He seems a good and fair man.”
“He doesn’t treat you with the respect you’re due,” Arthur said angrily from her other side.
Rionna turned in surprise and then surveyed all the men who rode back from Caelen and Gannon. None of them looked happy to have Caelen lead them back to their home. Their mouths were set in firm lines and their eyes were angry and hard.
“ ’Tis the truth neither of us wanted this marriage,” she said. ’Twill be an adjustment for the both of us. He never considered that he’d be laird of our clan. Think you how you would feel if you attended your brother’s wedding only to end up being saddled with his unwanted bride.”
The men winced and James nodded his commiseration.
“Still, he has no cause to treat you as he’s done,” Simon argued. “The McCabe warriors have a reputation for being fair. Fierce but fair. You bring him much through your marriage. He should treat you gently as he would any other gently bred lady.”
Rionna snorted. “Well, now, there’s the rub. I’m no gently bred lady, remember?”
The men laughed around her and Caelen turned to look over his shoulder at the sudden noise. For a moment his gaze connected with Rionna’s and she stared back, unwilling to let him cow her.
After a time, he let his gaze slide away and he turned away from her once more.
“He has to prove himself to us,” Simon said. “I care naught what the king has decreed. If he is to be laird of our clan, he’ll have to prove he’s worthy of the mantle of leadership.”
“May he prove more worthy than my father,” Rionna whispered.
The others went silent, perhaps out of loyalty to the man they’d called laird for so many years. Rionna was through acting the dutiful daughter. She had plans for when she returned to her keep.
Whether her husband liked it or not, she intended to be a major force in the reshaping of her clan. For too long her people had suffered under the poor leadership of a greedy, belligerent fool.
Perhaps they’d traded one for another. She knew not yet. She hoped Caelen proved a good man and an even better warrior.
War was imminent. Ewan McCabe was preparing to fight Duncan Cameron and he was taking the whole of the highlands with him to battle.
Her clan wouldn’t be the sacrificial lamb on the battlefield, if she could help it.
CHAPTER 8
It was nearing dark when Caelen called a halt to the procession. Rionna was so cold that she’d long since lost feeling in her hands and feet. Her cheeks were numb and she felt cold on the inside.
She was sure she’d never be warm again. The fires of hell would be welcome at the moment.
She pried her hands from the reins and tucked them under the fur, hoping to rub some feeling back into them. She dreaded dismounting. She had no wish to set her feet into the snow. She had no wish to do anything that required movement.
With a fortifying breath, she gripped the saddle and started to dismount. Caelen appeared by her horse and reached up to assist her.
She was so pathetically grateful that she nearly tumbled into his arms.
Somehow she managed to put her hands on his shoulders and allow him to lift her down. But when her feet made contact with the ground, her legs buckled and she went down into the snow.
Caelen immediately reached for her, but when his hands came into contact with her icy skin, he swore a string of blasphemies that singed her ears.
As he swung her into his arms, he barked out orders for fires to be built and for shelter to be constructed.
“Caelen, I’m quite well. Just c—cold.”
She slapped her lips together as the last stammered out. ’Twas the truth she was so cold she burned.
“You’re not well,” he said in a grim voice. “God’s teeth, woman, are you just trying to kill yourself? Why aren’t you dressed for the cold? And why the hell didn’t you tell me you were so miserable?”
She would have bitten her tongue off before complaining to him of anything.
As soon as the fires were laid and began to burn, Caelen carried her and perched on a log as close to the flames as he could without singeing their clothing.
He opened his fur and put her directly against his chest, where only hi
s tunic and hers separated them. Then he wrapped her firmly into his embrace and allowed some of his warmth to seep into her body.
Oh ’twas wondrous. For a moment.
As soon as some of the numbing chill began to wear off, her skin began to prickle like a thousand ants were eating her flesh. She whimpered and struggled against him but he only held her tighter and wrapped his arms around her so that she was trapped.
“Hurts.”
“Aye, I know it does, and I’m sorry for it, but ’tis the feeling coming back into your body. Be grateful you can feel anything at all.”
“Don’t lecture me. Not now. At least wait until I’m not feeling as though my flesh is being torn from my bones.”
Caelen chuckled softly. “It must not be too bad if you still have your sharp tongue. I wouldn’t lecture you if you weren’t such a stubborn lass. If you didn’t have adequate clothing for the journey, you should have said something before we left. I wouldn’t have allowed you to travel in such bitter conditions without proper protection.”
“You’re lecturing again,” she grumbled even as she snuggled closer to his body so she could absorb more of his warmth.
As more heat seeped into her body, she began to shake. Her teeth clattered so violently that she was sure they’d fall right out of her head.
She burrowed her face into Caelen’s neck as she tried to still the shivers that quaked over her body. “C-cold. I c-can’t get w-warm.”
“Shh, lass. ’Twill be all right. Just sit still for a bit until I’ve warmed you.”
She all but crawled inside him. Her hands clutched at his tunic and she kept her face tucked beneath his chin as she breathed the warmer air at the hollow of his throat.
Eventually her shaking diminished to occasional muscle spasms and she lay limp and exhausted in Caelen’s arms.
“Are you warm enough to eat?” Caelen asked.
She nodded but the truth was she didn’t want to move.
Carefully he got up and left her sitting on the fallen log. He tugged his fur tighter around her, sealing the opening against the wind. After he was satisfied she wouldn’t teeter off her perch, he strode away, directing the men to finish erecting the shelters.