by Ria Cantrell
Appraising him further, Morag said, “Aye, but ye’ are fine. My Bronwyn has done well with ye’. Ye’ will teach her the joys of being a woman, to be certain.”
Drew actually felt himself flush. The old woman embarrassed him with her bold assessment. Now dressed in the clan colors, Drew stood before the MacCollums and waited to be teased. Instead they cheered and slapped him on the back again. It would seem that perhaps, they were going to accept him after all. He breathed a sigh of relief. Now he knew all was going to be alright.
Chapter Forty-Two
Drew stayed in Scotland for nearly two months, learning as much as he could about Bronwyn’s clan. He spent hours in lessons learning her native language. Never again did he wish to not understand words spoken by his beloved. He vowed to use it constantly so he could be fluent with the proper inflections.
Morag was pleased with her student’s progress. Drew practiced perfecting the warm burr of her people. Drew spent time getting to know the family his cherished Bronwyn loved so much and in the time he stayed with them, they started to grow a deeper fondness and respect for him as well. He was nearly ready to return to England to make good his promise of marriage but there was just one more thing Drew needed to do.
All the men of the clan bore a Celtic band tattooed around the left bicep muscle. While he did not relish the thought of having it applied, Drew wanted to show his alliance to the clan. Shawn came in to Drew’s quarters carrying the implements to perform the branding.
“Are ye’ ready, man? This is not for the faint of heart. Yer’ sure ye’ want this, aye?”
“Aye. Then I can return home and marry that sister of yours.”
Shawn almost felt sorry for Drew, but he admired his desire to be fully part of the clan.
“Alright then, we will begin. Get as comfortable as ye’ can.”
Drew took a deep breath and focused away from the unpleasantness of Shawn’s work. It took longer than Drew thought and it was an effort to concentrate away from the burning in his arm, as the pain seemed to increase with each application. Still, Drew stared ahead and did not give in to pain, nor did he utter a sound. He was determined to bear it stoically, lest he risk ridicule and rejection again. He had suffered much worse in his life.
Several hours later, Drew sported the mark of the clan around his left arm. Despite the painful application, Drew rather liked the look of it. Shawn had a steady hand and he was accomplished in the artwork. Shawn grinned at Drew and despite the slight pallor to his skin; Shawn saw that Drew was admiring his artwork.
“Ye’ did pretty well, for an Englishman. I’ve seen Scots faint dead away from the first prick of the brandin’.”
“Well, it was most unpleasant, but I really like the finished work. Do you think Bronwyn will like it?”
Shawn’s grin widened and he said, “I think she is going to think ye’ are a crazy fool, but she will love ye’ for honoring her clan, fool or no.”
“Our clan,” Drew corrected. If he was to bear the mark of the clan, he wanted to be considered a part of it. He added, “Then it was all worth it. Now I just have to hide it from your sister until the wedding.”
Shawn raised an eyebrow and said, “Indeed. Well ye’ won’t have too much trouble, my brothers and I will see to it ye’ keep yer’ hands off of her till the vows be spoken.”
“I have no doubt your brothers would love nothing more than to show me just how much they don’t want me to touch her. Since I have no wish to make her a widow this early on, I will not try to provoke the brothers MacCollum. Thank you for the brand.”
Shawn nodded and smiled. This “English” was a strange one of his race, to be sure, but Shawn respected him greatly.
~~~~~~
The traveling party was making good time back to England. They had ridden fast, quickly eating up the miles. The weather had been perfect for travelling. Drew could not wait to get back to his beautiful woman. In fact he grew more excited with each passing mile that brought him closer to his destiny.
The MacCollum brothers would not allow Drew to speak English to them during the entire trip. They only spoke to him in Gaelic so he would continue practicing what he had learned. Drew looked over at the brothers. Knowing how happy Bronwyn would be to see her kin filled Drew’s heart with joy.
After travelling the many miles from Scotland to England, Drew finally raised his standard. Ragnorsen keep was in sight. Pulling their hoods over their heads, all of the MacCollum men tried to hide their faces for as long as possible. They did not want to chance being spotted by Bronwyn before they could greet her.
The watch saw the riding party approaching and the bridge was lowered. The horses were stabled and all men followed Drew into the main hall. A welcome party was there to greet them. Erik and Rhianna stood side by side with Drew’s parents next to them. Bronwyn stood next to Drew’s mother. He greeted them all, but went directly to his lady, pulling her into his arms and kissing her deeply. He murmured that she was even more beautiful than when he left and it took her a moment for it to register that he had actually spoken those words in her native tongue. She looked at him and realized his hair was pulled back with a leather thong. She had never seen him wear it like that. There seemed to be other changes in him that she could not place. She said, “Ye’ spoke to me in Gaelic.”
“Aye, Beauty. These brutes here would not let me speak English the entire way home.”
One by one, her brothers pushed their hoods back. Bronwyn squealed in disbelief as she threw herself into each of her brother’s arms. Happy tears filled her eyes as she hugged and kissed each one.
“Oh my God, Shawn, Jamie--Liam….”
“Hello, Sweeting. Did ye’ miss us?”
“Ah Ruiri, oh aye. Did ye’?”
Kissing the side of her face, he said, “More than ye’ could know, Lass.”
Rory swung her around. When Rory put her down, Caleb stepped out from the rest of the men at arms. With a grin and misty eyes, Caleb said, “Have ye’ a hug for yer’ da’?”
“Oh, Daddy,” Bronwyn said, overcome with emotion of seeing her family again. Caleb took her into his arms and held her. She looked happy and beautiful. Upon seeing her kiss Drew when they arrived, Caleb knew that Drew had told the truth about everything. Bronwyn was a woman in love. Caleb said gruffly, “Can ye’ forgive me, Angel?”
“Whatever for?”
“For letting ye’ be taken to England.”
“Da’, you met my Drew. I have ye’ to be forever grateful, for if I had no’ come to England, I would have never met him.”
“Ye’ love him.” It was not a question.
“Aye, Daddy. With everything that I am.”
Caleb kissed her, squeezing her a little tighter in his arms and he said, “He is a fine man, Angel. I couldna’ have asked fer’ a better mate fer’ ye’.”
With a final hug and a kiss, Caleb released her because he could see Drew was anxious to hold her again. Drew slipped his arm around her and Bronwyn kissed him again. She said, “Thank you for bringing my family to me.”
“I am sorry I could not tell you. I wanted to surprise you.”
Looking into her eyes, Drew felt the heat rise between them. Forgetting himself briefly, he lifted her up off her feet and he kissed her with all the passion and heat he felt for her. Her arms snaked around him his neck and her mouth hungrily took his. This kiss let him know how much she had missed him as well.
After a few, all too brief moments in Drew’s arms, Bronwyn found herself being plucked away. Disappointment registered on her face as Rory set her down on her feet.
“That’s enough, man. I am still itching to pummel ye’. That kiss was far from chaste.”
Bronwyn elbowed her brother not all that gently and said, “Leave him alone. I miss him and need to kiss him.”
Bronwyn flung herself back into Drew’s arms and kissed him with all the pent up love she had felt. She felt desire rise between both of them and this time it was Drew who set her aside.
Muttering a curse under his breath he then said, “Patience, my love. These brutes would like nothing more than to beat me to a pulp. I’ve no wish to make you a widow before the vows are even spoken.”
Bronwyn turned to face her grinning brothers. With her hands planted on her hips she said, “Ye’ are not to beat him. Ye’ are not to lay one finger on him. He is marryin’ me and I love him and I’ll not have him bruised at the wedding.”
Drew, having never seen this side of Bronwyn was more than a little amused that she stood up to those fierce looking brutes. They actually looked abashed.
“But he kissed ye’ rather inappropriately.”
“Ruiri, he kissed me completely properly as a man who will be marryin’ me. He is already the husband of my heart. Now cease this nonsense and stop trying to defend my honor.”
“Love, I can defend myself, as well. They have yet to pound me, though I am certain they have wanted to many times. I have been with them near two moons, and I have escaped their wrath thus far.”
Chapter Forty-Three
At the festive meal prepared in honor of the arrival of the MacCollum Clan, Drew thanked his hosts for such an elaborate welcome. He lifted Rhianna’s hand to his lips and said, “Motherhood seems to be agreeing with you, my lady. You look well.”
Rhianna smiled and said, “Yes, the danger has passed and we are both growing.”
She patted her growing middle but ever the gentleman, Drew said, “Aye and I have never seen you look more beautiful.”
Rhianna blushed and then she teased, “Well look at you. You look like a true Scot.”
Drew grinned and winked. He said, “Wait till the wedding.”
He shook hands with Erik and stole behind Bronwyn. He leaned down and whispered, “I canna’ wait to be alone with ye’.”
She giggled both at the tickle of his breath on her neck and the Scottish inflection that seemed to come so easy to him.
While Drew did not want to rush Bronwyn from the hall because he wanted her to enjoy her reunion with her family, he desperately wanted to talk to her and kiss her and just be alone with her for a little while. They had been apart what seemed like an eternity to Drew. Even just seeing Bronwyn again made his heart burn with love.
After the meal was done and the families were settling in for conversation and drinks, Drew took Bronwyn’s hand and said, “I wonder if I could have a word with you.”
She looked concerned and she said, “Aye, is something wrong?”
With a smile that set her fears to rest, Drew said, “Nay, my Love. I just want a few minutes to talk to you.”
Rory piped up and offered his services as a chaperone. Bronwyn stuck her tongue out at him and took Drew’s hand and assured her brother that she would be back in a few minutes.
The couple walked down a shadowed corridor and when they were out of eye and ear-shot, Drew turned and gently pressed her to the wall. He put his hands on both sides of her face and kissed her deeply. Her arms eased around his neck, naturally. Brushing his knuckles down her cheek, he said, “I have been wanting to do that all night.” She smiled up at him.
“Have ye’?”
“Aye, that and more, but we can’t. That is why I wanted to talk to you. I just don’t think it would be a good idea with all your kin here. Your father knows, but those brothers of yours….”
Drew rolled his eyes thinking of his trial with those short tempered giants.
“I know. They can be a little much at times.”
“A little?”
“Well, alright they are too much most times.”
She laughed, thinking that they probably did not make Drew’s visit easy. Drew looked into her beautiful eyes and said, “Do you think we can wait for the two days till we wed to share our bed?”
She nodded but said, “Aye, but I have missed ye’ very much. I have been fairly aching for ye’.”
That profession made Drew’s smile broaden. “What a wonderful thing for a man to hear. I know. I have, too, but at least I was kept quite busy. Morag was a harsh task mistress and much of my time was spent with her learning some of your language. I wanted her to join us, as well, but she is so very frail. I promised her we would take a trip in the summer to visit. She missed you very much.”
“As I her. She was like a grandmother to me after my ma’ passed on.”
Touching her cheek again, Drew said, “Bronnie, she knew I was The One…I saw the recognition in her eyes the moment she saw me. And thank God for her, too, because your father wanted to deny you to me. She convinced him and those brothers of yours that we were meant for each other.”
Giggling, Bronwyn said, “They do take their lot seriously.”
Drew gave a snort like laugh. “There were more times that night that I feared an incident would erupt. Especially from that big wall of a man, Rory…well and from Shawn or Liam…Oh bloody hell from any one of them at any given moment.”
“I dunna’ pay them much mind. If I flex my will, they actually heed me.”
Drew grinned lovingly down at her. “Aye, I saw that. I was quite impressed with that. Morag also seemed to be able to quell their urge to pummel me with just a look, or a pinch a time or two. That seemed to work well on Big Bad Rory.”
Bronwyn smiled, picturing that dear old woman pinching her brother, one of the most feared men in the Highlands. Tipping her head back to look up at her own big warrior, she said, “Ah, ye’ think Highland women are meek but we are no’ what we always appear, Andrew. Clan men are all bluster and male force, but a word from the woman of the house, and they are like whipped puppies, or pouting like little chastised boys.”
“I dunna’ think ye’ are meek, Lassie. I find ye’ rather fiery.”
Bronwyn laughed at his delicious affected burr.
“I like ye’ fire, Lass. In fact, I shall be happy to have it consume me.”
With him pressed against her, she pulled his head close to her mouth and she bit his sensitive earlobe and then whispered, “I shall like more than my fire to consume ye’.”
Drew groaned slightly and said, “Now you are just teasing me.”
With big sexy eyes that feigned innocence she said, “If I were to tease ye’, I would have done this….” She leaned close and whispered, “Ye’ canna’ tell, but I am so wet. Every night alone was torture.”
Drew swallowed visibly. He trailed a finger down her neckline of her gown and it dipped daringly into her tempting cleavage. He was not going to be undone by her attempt to seduce him so he said, “Well, you should have sought pleasure for yourself, the way I showed you.”
Bronwyn rose to the challenge and said, “I did…most every night.”
This time Drew moaned out load.
“You, vixen, would tempt the resolve of a saint.”
Batting her eyelashes in mock surprise, Bronwyn said, “Have I done something wrong?”
“You are trying to break my resolve to not touch you before the wedding.”
“Am I?”
“As if you don’t know it.”
He heard her laugh and he grabbed her and kissed her soundly. Two could play the torture game. His kiss left her breathless. She ran her hands down his arms, squeezing just above his elbows. Bronwyn felt him jerk back as if she had burned him with a hot ember.
“What is it? Why did you flinch like that?”
Drew tried to mask his expression and he said, “T’is nothing.”
“Nothing? Ye’ jumped away from me as if I had scalded ye’. Did one of my brothers do something to ye’?”
“Well yes, as a matter of fact, one did, but it is not what you think.”
“Which one?”
“Shawn, actually.”
“Shawn? He is the least one provoked by temper. Let me see!”
“I’d rather you did not.”
With concern growing on her face, Bronwyn insisted, “For you to jump that way, it must be quite bad. Let me see where my brother injured ye’.”
Drew knew he
could not hide it any longer, so he stepped back and rolled up the sleeve on his left arm to show Bronwyn what actually had been hidden beneath it. When Bronwyn saw what Drew had kept secret, Bronwyn gasped. Her mouth fell agape as she stared at the newly inked tattoo on Drew’s arm.
“Drew, what on earth have ye’ done? Are ye’ daft?”
Before Drew could answer, she moved closer and with the softest of feather light kisses, her lips trailed over the Celtic pattern she had grown up knowing. She said, “Drew why…why would ye’ do this?”
“I did it for you. Don’t you like it?”
Like it? All the men she had ever known bore this mark. It was more the norm than not, but Drew was not part of that clan and therefore did not need to participate in that rite and suffer it needlessly.
“I dunna’ know what to say. All the men of my clan bear this mark….”
“And now I do, too. I did it to show you I am part of your family. I did it to honor you and your clan and in doing it, they have accepted me in it now. They have added their Clan to my lineage and status. I did this for you. You are the daughter of the High Chief and Laird MacCollum. As your husband, I am part of that clan, too.”
Tears welled in her eyes and she said, “Ye’ crazy, silly man. Ye’ dinna’ have to do this.”
“I know. I wanted to. I did it to show you I belonged to you. Completely.”
“Ye’ are the most wonderful man. Completely daft, aye, but wonderful just the same. Thank you for honoring me and for honoring my clan.”
“I love you so much, Bronwyn. I wanted you to know how devoted I am to you…how devoted I am to us.”
Bronwyn kissed him. She said, “Ye’ are Clan now.”
He nodded. It was unheard of! Bronwyn still was in disbelief that this man; this English man, had embraced her Clan to this extent. Why had she ever doubted that vision so long ago? He had not come to cause harm to her family. Nay, he had come to be part of it; to be part of her.