He walked past her, pulled the door open even wider and called out in his battle voice to those outside. It took little time for their journey to begin.
She did not ask and he did not say what his plan was, but she knew her husband and little that he set his mind to do was ever left undone.
The thorn was loosening a bit.
Chapter Twenty-Three
They circled each other over the next sennight, acknowledging the other with the slightest of nods or glances. But Aidan had decided not to press her at this point. He did, however, find ways to observe her when she did not know he was there.
The people in Rob’s clan had accepted this stranger into their midst and seemed to have a care for her. A small girl brought messages and bundles of food to her from the girl’s mother and other women in the village. A strong older boy helped her with the harder tasks, such as cutting and carrying peat and wood for her fires. She spent time during the day working in the new garden she’d carved into the small plot next to her cottage. He wondered if she grew betony yet.
Aidan accepted the duties he was given and let everything else ruminate while he looked for a solution. The one thing that had not changed was his love for Catriona.
And when a note passed to him from someone in the keep informed him that his parents were now travelling towards Keppoch Keep, his path became clear to him and the cost of his youthful stupidity must be paid by him and no other.
* * *
Catriona finished her tasks, put away her mending and put out some of the candles. She poured the last of her tea into her cup and sat sipping it before going to bed. Tired from staying busy and from the demands that pregnancy put on her body now, she had been finishing up and seeking her bed earlier each night.
Her cold, empty, lonely bed.
The one in which she tossed and turned every night, examining her conscience and the same question—could good come from a bad beginning? Or did the bad taint everything that came from it?
Though she would love the babe as much as she loved his father, could she accept him and be happy when a man’s death had been caused by them?
She was no closer to an answer, in spite of knowing he was there in Keppoch village and keep.
Though she’d seen Lady Matheson and now knew of the connection between her and Aidan, she could not figure out why Lord MacLerie had sent her here. If Aidan had not found her, she could have been happy here among these people.
Since that night when he’d recognised her, she waited for him to appear at her door, demanding that she listen to his side of things. Instead, he gave her a wide circle, not approaching directly or even too closely. It was almost as though he was giving her the time and distance she wanted.
The problem was that she wanted him. Now that this babe seemed firmly in place and growing well, she wanted to share the small joys with the man she loved. The last time, she had lived in fear through the whole time, never knowing what to expect and then getting worse than she could have imagined. What would it be like to go through this with Aidan at her side? With both of them wanting this babe? With both of them...
The soft scratching on the door startled her. She put her cup down and went to open it. Sometimes, one of the village women, Seonag or Isobel or one of the others, would send over their leftover food from their suppers for her. When she put her hand on the latch, he whispered through the door.
‘Catriona? I would speak with you, if you would grant me a few moments?’
Damn her traitorous heart, for it raced in reaction to his voice, his whispered words, and even just knowing he was so close to her now. She tugged the door open and forgot how to breathe once again.
He looked wonderful and terrible at the same time. She wanted to push him away and take him in her arms. She loved him and wanted to hate him in the same moment, but love won out. She knew then that she could not hate him, not even knowing that he thought he was responsible for Gowan’s death. For in the long and lonely nights filled only with time for thinking, she’d realised that Munro played just as much a part in his father’s death, maybe more so than even Aidan.
If Munro had not believed the worst, for whatever reason he chose to do so, he would have let things lie and never summoned his father home. In his attempt to punish her and humiliate Aidan, he’d sent the message that forced Gowan on to that road that night and to his death.
Up to that time, nay, up until Gowan was long dead and buried, she was a faithful wife to him. Aidan’s sins were of lust and pride and for coveting a woman who was not his to covet.
With that knowledge in her heart, she waited on his words, hoping he would ask for her forgiveness so she could do so. Instead his words shocked her.
‘I have come to say farewell to you, Cat.’ He did not try to come in, but only stood there outside her door. ‘It is unfair for me to disrupt the life you have found here on your own. I thought...I thought that if I could say the right words, you might...’ He paused then and gazed at her. ‘I have realised that I expected what every other man has expected of you—that you would do what I wanted because I wanted it so. I thought that if I came and said the words I wanted to tell you, you would accept them and forgive me.’
He looked away then and she felt the tears beginning to gather in her eyes. ‘But I was wrong. The things I did were wrong. The way I forced you into my protection and manipulated you into caring for me was wrong.’ Aidan laughed sadly. ‘I thought you were like all the others and, in that, I was truly and completely wrong.’ He cleared his throat and glanced back at her then.
‘Aidan, I...’
He shook his head. ‘I pray you let me finish first?’ She nodded.
‘On the morrow, I journey to a cousin’s lands in the north. I will tell my sister where I am so that if you have need of anything...’ His gaze fell to her belly and she instinctively placed her hand there. ‘She will know where I can be found. My father is supporting you and the bairn?’ he asked.
‘Aye,’ she forced out, the tears now tightening her throat and spilling over and down her cheeks. ‘He paid me for the house.’
‘I am sorry for devastating your life and causing Gowan’s death. It does not change anything, but I am sorry. Farewell, Catriona MacKenzie.’
With those simple words, he began to tear down her defences. But the next ones destroyed them.
‘I hope you are happy about the bairn?’ he asked. She could only nod then. ‘Good. Have a care for yourself, Cat.’
And he walked away. He did not look back. He did not stop. And Cat knew if she did nothing, she would regret it for the rest of her life. For the one thing she had always ever wanted was to be loved and Aidan did love her.
Bad beginning or good one, she was loved.
‘Aidan,’ she called out, running after him. ‘Do not leave me.’
He stopped and turned, the nearly full moon above lighting the ground where he stood.
‘I was wrong, too,’ she said. ‘You had the right to know about the babe and I kept it from you.’
‘I think you had good reason, Cat. How could you trust me not to take it from you when that is my nature?’
‘I know that you sent Gowan away, but you did not cause his death. You never intended him harm.’
He sucked in a breath at her words. ‘What are you saying?’
‘I know not how this will work out, but I would stay with you, so you can see and know your bairn.’
That was not the only reason. Cat would take his love however she could. If that meant being his leman, she would do that. She did not want to give him up.
‘How this will work? If you will have me, I would marry you.’
Now it was her turn to stand wordlessly before him. ‘Marry? Your father would never permit such a thing!’ She almost laughed, the thought of a penniless, unlearned, twice-married daughter of a whoremonger as the wife of the MacLerie’s son.
‘I should make it clear, that if you say aye, you get only the man before you. I have given
up all claim to my father’s titles, lands and wealth. He has disowned me likewise.’ He sounded light-hearted and happy, if such a thing was possible.
‘Why would he do such a thing? Why would you?’ she asked. It was simply a thing not done.
‘I wanted to marry you. He refused permission. Now, I do not need it.’ He shrugged it off as though an everyday occurrence. ‘Now, I have accepted a position with my sister’s husband and work for my living. It is not a bad thing, to have to prove myself instead of expecting it as my due.’
‘Aye,’ she said.
He realised what she’d said and still did not move.
‘Truly?’
‘Aye.’
He crossed the gap between them and pulled her to him, lifting her off the ground and swinging her around. His laugh echoed through the lanes and around the cottages and she tugged on his arms so he would put her on her feet.
‘Will you regret this? How can you give up your family? You love them and I know you will miss them.’ She did not want to come between them or have him hate her for causing this break.
‘Now, we will begin our own family,’ he said, drawing her close. He held out his hand as though to touch her belly and stopped just inches from her. ‘May I?’
Cat covered his hand with hers and placed it where he could feel the bairn within her. As if the most obedient child, the babe pushed against the weight of their hands. He laughed then, pressing gently where the babe had pushed and waiting to feel it move again.
Then, as she tilted her head back to watch the joy that covered his face, he leaned down to kiss her. Catriona closed her eyes and waited to feel the touch of his mouth on hers.
‘I love you, Catriona MacKenzie. I think I have from the first time I saw you,’ he whispered. Then his mouth took hers as she’d wanted him to do. She wrapped her arms around him, holding him close.
‘I love you, Aidan.’
How long they stood there, in the moonlit night, she did not know, but when she felt the night air’s chill, she tugged him towards the house.
‘No, lass,’ he said, not budging from the spot. ‘You know what will happen if we go inside together.’
Sinfully, she did and she hoped he would banish the memory of all those lonely nights without him.
‘If we are to be married, we should wait,’ he said.
‘Wait, my arse!’ she said, then she covered her mouth after saying such a coarse thing. ‘I have a mind to seduce you, Aidan MacLerie. To have my way with you.’ For this time it was her choice and he was the one she’d chosen.
‘I may let you,’ he promised. He bent over and lifted her in his arms.
No words were spoken nor needed through the rest of that night. Though Catriona worried over the changes in her body wrought by the pregnancy, Aidan did not seem to mind at all. His attentions drove her mad with desire and then he satisfied her. And she satisfied him from the sound of it.
Now, lying together, with him wrapped around her, she slept soundly and dreamlessly for the first time since she’d left him. For why dream of him when she had him with her now?
* * *
She woke for some reason just past dawn and found him staring at her. Cat did not move, enjoying the feel of his body next to hers, his heart beating under her hand. She could have remained like that for hours or days, but the arrival of a large, noisy group of people outside her door told her that would not happen. When she would have climbed from the bed and found a gown, the door burst open and the Earl of Douran strode in.
Chapter Twenty-Four
Aidan pushed Catriona behind him and turned to face his father. Then his mother entered, took in the situation and whispered furiously to him.
‘Connor, let us wait outside. Now.’
He watched as the petite woman commanded the most fearsome warrior chief in the Highlands like a serving woman. He almost laughed as his father did exactly what he was told to do. Once the door had closed, he stood and found his trews and shirt. Helping Catriona from the bed, he avoided touching her as he wanted to. Her lush body blossomed now, her soft curves filling out and her breasts swelling as her belly did. He’d explored every inch of her last night, kissing and caressing all the changes in her body.
‘Aidan, what does he want?’ Catriona asked, as she reached for her garments and dressed quickly.
‘I do not know. His agreement with you was that you not see me again,’ he said. She blushed at his words. ‘Aye. I know you went to him for help. It saddens me that you had to humble yourself because of me.’
‘And you came for me in spite of his orders.’
‘Aye, love, I did.’ He kissed her on the forehead. ‘And I will be with you no matter what he says or does. Fear not. You are mine now and I will protect you, even from him.’
‘Aidan!’ his father called from outside.
Aidan walked to the door and pulled it open. Not only were his father and mother there waiting, but he saw his sister and her husband, along with Duncan and a large group of MacLerie warriors. Not to be outdone, Rob had sent along his Matheson soldiers, so it looked like a war camp outside Catriona’s house.
‘Aye.’ His mother slipped past him before he could stop her, with some words about speaking to Catriona.
‘I would speak to you,’ his father said, or ordered.
‘To what end?’ he asked. ‘We said all we needed to say weeks ago. You should know that I am marrying Catriona.’
‘Walk with me.’
Aidan looked at his father, for the softer tone and request was most unexpected. He nodded and followed his father down the lane to where they could not be heard by the others. They stood in silence for a few minutes before his father spoke.
‘I asked for your opinion that day as a test of your knowledge and your abilities. One day as chieftain, you will have to make decisions like that.’ Aidan did not pretend to not know which day he spoke of or which decision. ‘But you—’
‘I failed. I know it, Father,’ he admitted. ‘I sent a man away for an unconscionable reason and he died as a result.’
‘Nay, you misunderstand. I had already chosen the men to go. Asking you for your opinion did not change my decision, it only confirmed it. I chose to send Gowan in spite of knowing why you spoke his name.’
Aidan stood in shocked silence then. So, his father had sent Gowan away? Still...
‘I still failed, for my decision was based on my own personal desires and not on what was best for the clan. Not a very good choice for a man who would have led the clan one day.’
‘Will lead the clan.’
‘Nay,’ he said. ‘You disinherited me if I chose to marry Catriona and I will not give her up for you, Father. Not for the MacLeries.’
His father looked over his head and up at the sky. Then down at the ground where he shuffled his feet with the expression of a recalcitrant lad on his face. When he spoke, his words carried both guilt and hesitation.
‘I think she has been good for you. When you thought you’d caused Gowan’s death, you took responsibility and tried to right things with her, for her. I would have preferred a different way, but you did not shirk your duties.’ From the painful grimace on his father’s face, Aidan did not mistake these words for what they actually were—an apology, or as close to one as he would ever get from him.
‘And now? Do you think that I will say you were right and allow her to be taken or leave me again? We will be married, have no doubt of it.’
‘From the way that she faced me down, even in her darkest hour, I suspect she will fit in. Even now your mother is no doubt explaining how it will be to be the wife of a MacLerie laird.’
Aidan turned as the door opened and the two women he loved walked out, arm in arm. Instead of fear or nervousness, the two shared some jest and laughed aloud.
‘You will learn to rue the day when you let your mother get her clutches into your wife. It cannot be good for either of us.’ His father held out his arm and Aidan clasped it.
* *
*
A short time later, they arrived at Lilidh and Rob’s keep and summoned a priest to perform the marriage. When the man of God raised the question about the banns being announced, the growl from his father, the severe glare from his mother and the obvious condition of the bride prevailed quickly.
By the noon meal, he had married the woman he set out to seduce. And by the evening meal, she had seduced him again.
* * *
By the time the sun rose again, Aidan MacLerie decided that he could happily live without his former womanising ways now that he’d found the woman who’d said no to him until she said yes.
* * *
It took some time to return to Lairig Dubh. They made the journey at a slow pace in consideration of Cat’s condition, so it took over a sennight to reach his, their, home.
And once they reached his bedchamber, with its large, comfortable bed, it took them more days to leave that.
* * *
Connor watched as Rurik and Duncan and their wives approached the high table. A celebration marking the wedding of Aidan and Catriona was almost at an end. The bride and groom had not been seen in some hours, and would not likely appear again for even longer. Jocelyn had not spoken a word about what he’d done to bring Aidan home, but she was happy and that mattered to him.
‘I thought he favoured the English lass,’ Rurik said.
‘Nay, ’twas the Maxwell girl who had the better chance,’ Duncan argued.
He waited for Jocelyn or one of the wives to explain how Catriona was the only correct choice for wife for his son, but none said it. Puzzling. Jocelyn slipped her hand in his and rested it on his leg under the table.
‘She meddled again,’ he said, exposing her weakness to their friends.
‘Jocelyn!’ Margriet and Marian said, laughing. Neither one looked or sounded surprised.
Terri Brisbin Highlander Bundle Page 85