Catriona’s gaze moved from her to where Keithen stood. “He is a good and honorable man who will stand by ye. Believe me when I tell ye that it was not easy for him to send ye away.”
A familiar tightness in her chest formed at the reminder of one of the most humiliating days of her life.
“Lady Fraser has invited us to picnic in the garden tomorrow,” her aunt announced, having neared. “I am afraid this day has proven too much and I must retire.”
Ava stood and kissed her aunt’s cheek. “Thank ye for coming, Aunt Theresa. Yer presence means so much to me.”
Her aunt nodded in understanding. “I worry for ye, sweet dear. It will be hard to leave ye here. However, I will have to trust that yer husband will keep ye safe.”
Both looked to where Keithen and the two men remained. All three were in deep conversation with gesturing and such. It looked as if they were close friends.
When she sat, Catriona too looked to where the men were. “The man on the left is Ewan Ross, cousin to Laird Malcolm Ross. He, along with fifty men, came to live here after our alliance with his clan. The other is Broden McRainey, a guard and childhood friend of Keithen’s.”
“Yer clan and Clan Ross have become very close,” Ava stated matter-of-factly. “Tis nice when those things happen on friendly terms.”
“Aye,” Catriona agreed. “I plan to visit, once I am able to travel…I miss Esme greatly.”
Esme Ross had married a cousin to Laird Ross, Ruari, a man Ava had met once. She had been struck by the man’s large physique.
It was not much later that Keithen came to fetch her. Obviously, he’d noticed her yawning. Catriona and Flora stood and also claimed to be retiring.
Altogether, by the end of the evening, Ava had not had a totally unpleasant day. Ending the evening in the company of women had not been something she was used it and she had struggled to maintain a conversation. Thankfully, Catriona seemed to not mind long moments of silence.
The bedchamber had been prepared for them. Obviously, someone had ordered fresh bedding and for the fire to be lit. There was a pitcher of flowers on a table and neatly folded cloths on the wash basin.
Unsure how to proceed, Ava moved to stand in front of the fire and held out her hands although, if she were to be honest, it wasn’t necessary.
“I will give ye privacy to prepare for bed,” Keithen said and walked out of the room.
It wasn’t going to be that way between them for long, she was aware. However, it was very kind of him to allow it then. Ava hurriedly undressed and with the water and a fragrant poultice that were on the washstand, cleansed away the dirt of the day. Once done, she slipped a night rail on over her head and climbed into the bed.
Not much later, Keithen entered. He didn’t look toward the bed, but instead went to the wardrobe and removed his boots and trews. She noted he left his tunic on and then, like her, washed up at the washstand.
Then he climbed into bed and lay on his back looking up at the ceiling.
“I am not used to sharing my bedchamber…or my bed actually,” he said, still looking straight up. “If I do something while I’m asleep that annoys ye, do not hesitate to jab me with yer elbow.”
Ava turned to gape at him. “Jab ye?”
“Ye know,” he demonstrated by gently pushing his elbow into her side. “To wake me.”
She considered it for a long moment. The conversation was not what she’d expected. “Do ye keep a dirk under yer pillow? What if ye think I am an intruder?”
“Good point.” He slid from the bed, reached under his pillow and pulled out not one, but two blades. Then he walked to the fireplace and put them on the mantel.
Ava lay on her back and met his gaze. If they were to have relations, she prepared herself mentally and was as ready as one could be for the cumbersome activity. “Can ye douse the light please?”
“Aye, of course.” The room was instantly darker. However, there was a bright moon and so she could still make him out.
He climbed into the bed and let out a loud yawn. “Sleep well.”
Her husband turned on his side, the wideness of his back blocking her view of the doorway.
“Good…night,” Ava finally replied, unsure what was transpiring. She was about to poke him in the back with a finger and ask if she should do something, but the sound of a soft snore stopped her.
When morning came, Ava sighed, not wanting to wake. It was so very warm in the cocoon she’d made for herself. The softness of the bedding as well as the firm structure she was pressed against made for a perfect restful morning. And then her eyes flew wide.
Not only was she in a strange place, but she was firmly pressed against her husband’s side.
She wiggled away from him and pressed her face into the pillow to keep quiet as she gasped for air. Thankfully, he seemed to continue to sleep.
When her breathing regulated, she looked toward Keithen through slitted eyes. He was on his back, one arm over his head, the other across his midsection. The blankets had slipped just past his chest and his tunic had ridden halfway up his chest. There was a sprinkling of hair that trickled down the center of it.
Several bumpy scars, one recent, reddened his otherwise smooth skin.
Soft breathing from his parted lips and the rising and falling of his chest took her attention for a long time. He slept rather late for a warrior, Ava considered. By light from the window, it was still early. However, at her keep, warriors had to be up and on duty by dawn.
It was rather silly, now that she considered it. Another of her father’s strange rules that made little sense as the sleepy men rarely looked fit to defend anyone.
After slipping from the bed, Ava dressed and then went to the window. She wasn’t brave enough to leave the room alone and even if she did, it was a house she was not familiar with.
Today, she’d ask Keithen to take her to the kitchen. Hopefully, if she offered to help, she could find an ally in the cook. The only people she felt comfortable with and spent time talking to back at her keep had been the kitchen maids, who’d grown used to her mingling there when having nothing else to do.
Keithen woke with a yawn and stretched. He looked around the room with a scowl, but upon seeing her, his expression relaxed.
Moments later, there was a knock on the door. Keithen called out for whoever it was to enter.
A young maid walked in with a tray and greeted them. “Lady Fraser asked that I bring warm cider for ye,” she said, looking to Ava. “Mister Keithen, yer father requests yer presence before first meal.”
“Yer mother is very kind,” Ava said as she lifted the cup to her lips.
Keithen nodded and slid from the bed. “Aye, she is. Ye will find an ally in her. Upon her marriage to my father, her clan and ours were not on the best of terms. Not as much so as with yers, but it was not a friendly union.”
“Should I come down with ye?”
As he wrapped a belt around his waist and then proceeded to pull his boots on, Keithen pondered her question.
“I will ask a servant to fetch ye for first meal. Or perhaps my mother already plans to come for ye herself.”
When he left the room, Ava paced. This was the most surreal experience of her life. What was to happen next?’
Was it possible that for the first time in her life, she was to have a somewhat normal life? “Goodness,” she said out loud, returning to the window to study what was happening in the courtyard.
Outside, people mingled and, once again, she was struck by the serenity of it. Hopefully one day, she’d be able to walk about the courtyard without being seen as an outsider.
Chapter Eleven
For four long nights, Keithen had been in the bed next to Ava and, each night, he’d fought every instinct to take her. She was his wife, after all. However, he couldn’t bring himself to see past what she represented, who she was.
A Mackenzie lay in his bed, next to him nightly now.
Her people had destroyed Catriona, a wom
an he’d cherished, spent time with as a child. The one person he’d shared every one of his childhood secrets with. Then, as adults, they’d remained confidantes and friends.
How could he now take the woman he craved with every inch of his being without feeling as if he betrayed the other.
The light from the lantern illuminated her façade as she stood just outside the window on the balcony. Every night, she spent long moments looking up at the sky. Every so often, she’d remark on seeing a shooting star or on certain patterns in the skies.
Her serenity brought him calm after long days. At the same time, he was aware she was suffering. His mother had kept him informed of what was happening while he was gone out on patrol.
How Ava’s offers to help in the kitchen had been refused and when she’d tried to hand out duties to the chambermaids, they’d pretended not to hear her.
As much as he wanted to step in, what happened with the servants and household was firmly his mother’s jurisdiction. Lady Fraser had told him that under no circumstances must he interfere. If Ava were to be accepted, it would have to be between Ava and the staff.
A cold breeze blew in and he picked up her shawl and walked out to the balcony. Below, there was a bonfire and musicians played a lively tune that traveled up to where they stood.
“What do they celebrate?” Ava asked, accepting the shawl. “There seems to be a lot of joviality here.”
Keithen looked down and smiled. Broden was attempting to tempt a young lass away from the group. “Travelers from the south, returning home. They asked to camp here so they would be protected.”
“Does it happen often?”
He studied her for a long moment. “At times, it seems we have lived very different lives. Does it not?”
When she blinked, he wasn’t sure if it was tears or just the breeze causing it. “We have. I do not remember any travelers ever asking for our hospitality.”
Of course not. The Mackenzie wasn’t known for being kind. Keithen refrained from saying what he was thinking. “It happens about every fortnight or so. Not as much during the winter when it is a bother because we have to host them indoors, and it can get quite crowded.”
There was a soft expression on her face when she looked at him. When she looked back to the people, there was a soft lift to the corners of her lips. “It is nice.”
“It is.” Keithen came up to her and pulled her into an embrace. “I wish ye would have had a better life.”
At first, she stiffened. But then she relaxed against him. For a long moment, they stood with her back against his chest, listening to the playful melodies from below.
The woman was his to take and, yet, Keithen wouldn’t do so without her being willing. He pressed a kiss to the side of her neck and wrapped his arms tighter around her waist.
When she sighed and slid a hand down his arm, permission was granted, and his body instantly reacted. Blood surged through him, sending tendrils of awareness to every part of his being.
For the first time in his life, Keithen wasn’t entirely sure how to proceed. This woman was to be his for the rest of their existence.
This night could be the first of many making love.
Ava turned in his arms and peered up at him. “We’ve never kissed.”
“Aye, we did,” Keithen replied. “Once.” Although the marriage kiss had been more of a peck.
He took her mouth then, testing and savoring the plump pillowy offerings. Her breaths intermingled with his as she began to respond.
Emboldened, he cupped her face and slid his tongue along the crease of her mouth and then nibbled at each corner. She tasted sweet, her usual late evening cider lingering. When he repeated the gesture, Keithen whispered, “Open yer lips for me.”
She did as he instructed, her lips parting, and he slid his tongue into her mouth. The beauty trembled in his arms and pushed her own tongue against his.
Through the thin fabric of her night rail, he could feel the warmth of Ava’s skin as his palms roved down the mounds of her bottom.
Once again, she shook, and he wondered how it had been possible to keep away from her for so long.
Needing to see her, he pushed away and tugged at the string tied at her neck. The flimsy fabric gave way as he pushed it off her shoulders. It slid down every tantalizing inch of her body and finally pooled around her feet.
She didn’t shy away, nor did she try to cover up. Instead, she studied him intently in return. Ava was exquisite, her plush body made to drive a man mad with passion.
“Ye are beautiful,” he finally said, feeling like a tongue-tied lad. “Perfect.”
Ava seemed at a loss for what to do, so he closed the distance between them and lifted her up and then placed her on the bed.
She lay awkwardly without moving, her gaze up at the ceiling.
Keithen undressed and climbed onto the bed. “Tis not a duty that ye allow me to take ye. I wish it to be pleasurable for the both of us.”
“I do not understand.”
“Did ye not enjoy our kissing?”
“Aye, I did.” A soft pink appeared on her cheeks. “Very much.”
“How about when I touched ye?” He placed a hand on her hip and caressed the soft skin.
This time, she nodded as a reply.
“I have been bedded before by my late husband. And yet, it wasn’t very enjoyable,” Ava admitted. “What I felt when we kiss, it was never like with ye, just now.”
“Because he was only interested in his own pleasure. Allow me will show ye what it is to make love, so that we both derive pleasure from it.”
He took her hand. “Come. Slide up here.”
They moved together to lay side by side on the bed.
If he were to be honest, teaching her to make love was proving to be quite enjoyable. He was already hard, but Keithen took a breath, reminding himself he would have to take things slow.
He pulled her into his arms and began to kiss her again. While they kissed, he pulled her against him and caressed her arms, side and hips.
Then he began trailing his lips down her neck and shoulders. A soft moan escaped her lips when his mouth took in a pink tip of her breast while he strummed the other with the pad of his thumb.
Satisfaction roared when her fingers interlaced in his hair. Keithen didn’t stop suckling her breasts, moving from one to the other until she began to shift her hips.
Then he slid a hand down from her stomach to between her legs.
At first, she stiffened. But when he found the center and circled it with his fingers, she soon became lost.
“That’s it. Enjoy it,” Keithen said and then took her mouth with his once again.
Ava orgasmed into his hand, the walls of her sex quivering and she cried out as she dug her fingernails into his shoulders.
His cock throbbed, demanding that he take her fully. But first he waited for her to settle.
Lithe and limber, she opened her eyes and looked at him with a shocked expression. “What was that?”
“Pleasure,” he replied, his mouth on hers again. She reciprocated with enthusiasm, this time, giving as much as he did. Her mouth accepting every inch of his tongue which she suckled.
When he settled between her legs and slid up and down, allowing his member to glide between her folds, Ava arched her back. The friction of their bodies was almost the end for him, but Keithen blew out breaths and concentrated on how amazing it would feel to finally enter her.
Taking himself in hand, he guided himself to her entrance. She was hot, wet and ready to accept him.
He pushed into her, inch-by-inch until fully sheathed. Ava tightened around him. He stilled to allow her sex to accommodate his girth.
“Relax,” he whispered into Ava’s ear. “Allow yerself to enjoy this, as well.”
Although there was doubt in her expression, she finally began to relax.
Keeping still, he studied the beauty beneath him. Her hair was splayed across the bedding, her full breasts moved up
and down with each breath.
Finally, he inched out just a bit and pushed back in. He repeated it and then again.
Ava began to keep up with the rhythm of his movements. Encouraged by her desire, he was driving in and out of her with vigor.
Fiery trails blazed from his extremities until pooling in his center and exploding out with so much force that Keithen thought he’d certainly pass out. He shuddered in release, his body quaking as his eyes rolled and he could no longer keep from collapsing over Ava.
She’d cried out perhaps, he wasn’t sure. But like him, she trembled and moaned, her sex constricting around his cock and then she seemed to melt into the bedding.
“I cannot move. I do apologize,” Keithen mumbled.
“Mmmm,” Ava replied.
Keithen woke with a start and turned to find that he was alone in bed. The sun’s rays coming through the window made the room brighter than usual. That told him that he’d overslept. Thoughts of the night before made him fall back onto the bed. What transpired between him and Ava the night before had been so different than any other sexual experience. It was as if they’d become joined more than just physically.
“I’m going mad,” he mumbled as he got up from the bed. It had to be that he’d gone too long without bedding a woman. Or. He stopped and looked to the bed. Mayhap, it was that the marriage bond made intimacy something more than just their bodies.
His wife emerged from behind the screen in the corner, fully dressed. Upon seeing him, her cheeks turned pick. “Good morning, Husband.”
Their gazes held while he slid from the bed. “Good morning, Ava.”
*
“There is smoke in the distance.” Ewan Ross pointed north as they patrolled the area of the land near their border with Mackenzie lands. So far, since the laird’s passing, Clan Mackenzie had been quiet.
The sense among the lairds was that Alastair Mackenzie was learning his way but would eventually be as untrustworthy as his father. Except for perhaps the Sutherland, the lairds kept their distance while keeping watchful eyes on the volatile clan.
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