by K. E. Saxon
Bao rose and dampened a cloth to cool Jesslyn’s fiery cheeks and rinse off her tears. He settled back on the edge of the bed and leaned forward, softly stroking the cool material over her face and eyes.
“My thanks,” she murmured.
She’d stopped crying, thank the heavens.
“Will you hold me, Bao? Just for a while?”
“Aye.” Bao looked around, trying to figure out how he could hold her without lying down. Definitely not a good idea. There wasn’t a suitable chair in the chamber, and the stools weren’t large enough. Aye, a chair would be a much better option, if only there was one. He determined in that moment to have one brought up on the morrow. His gaze lighted once again on Jesslyn. He bit back a sigh. The bed it would have to be, then. “I’ll need you to move forward a minute, so I can climb in behind you.”
“All right,” Jesslyn replied, and did as he instructed.
Bao took off his boots and settled in behind Jesslyn, placing his legs on either side of her hips. He put his arms around her and pulled her back to lean against his chest, resting his arms under her bosom, just above her swollen belly. “Would you like me to brush your hair later—or bathe your feet again, mayhap?” Bao said after a time.
“Aye, both would be nice. Do you mind?”
“Nay, I don’t mind. I enjoy the effort. Quite a lot, actually,” he replied. Unable to resist the temptation any longer, he brought his hand down over her tummy and softly caressed it. “How fares our babe?”
Jesslyn smiled and looked down. “Well. In fact, the babe’s been quite active this day.” She put her hand on top of his and shifted it. “There! Do you feel it? Tap...tap.”
Bao grinned and nodded. “Aye, she’s a restless wee thing, is she not?”
“Aye,” Jesslyn replied. “You think the babe’s a lass?” she asked, surprise tingeing her voice.
Bao shrugged. “I know not, it just seems my likely fate. But a son would be welcome as well.” He kissed the top of her head and said, “I ordered a meal be sent up here in about an hour; I’m sure ‘twill include quite a bit of what was offered at table earlier.”
Her smile broadened. “Good, I’m famished.” She tilted her head back and to the side, looking up at him, “I am so sorry for how I behaved earlier. I honestly don’t understand what’s wrong with me. I’m usually much more reserved.”
Bao lifted his hand to her cheek and held her chin in the palm of his hand. “‘Tis the babe. I understand. And, I beg you, don’t fret over it a moment longer.”
Her eyes darkened and then she surprised the hell out of him when she looped her arm around the back of his head and brought him down to meet her open mouth. She kissed him ravenously, tugging on his bottom lip with her teeth and then soothing it with her tongue. God, how he wanted to take this to its natural conclusion. But ‘twas too soon, and she needed her rest.
By an act of pure will, he managed to draw his lips from hers. Breathing hard, he pressed his cheek to her forehead. “That was incredible,” he said gruffly. “But mayhap I should brush your hair now.”
She nodded and he turned her back around. After he grabbed the brush off of the table next to the bed, he said, “Move forward a bit so I have room to work.”
She nodded again and did as he requested.
Bao leaned forward and kissed the back of her head, running his hand down her arm. “You are so…”—he breathed her in—“lovely.” Setting the brush to the side a moment he wrapped his arms around her and pulled her back to rest against his chest once more, pressing his cheek to her crown. “I will never hurt you again, Jesslyn.”
“I’m beginning to believe that.” She sighed. “Just a bit more time...all right?”
Bao nodded, rubbing his cheek against the soft hair on top of her head. “Aye, whatever you need.”
* * *
CHAPTER 8
Callum and his bride, Lara, arrived the day before the Hogmanay feast. Jesslyn was the only one in the great hall at the time of their arrival, having awakened later than usual. She had just finished breaking her fast when the guests were announced. Rising to her feet she stepped off the dais and moved to the center of the room facing the entrance as she watched her auburn-haired ex-betrothed escort his bride into the hall.
“‘Tis good to see you again, Jesslyn,” Callum said, a twinkle in his emerald-green eyes. Taking both her hands in his, he gave her a quick peck on the cheek.
Smiling with pleasure, Jesslyn replied, “Aye, ‘tis good seeing you as well.” She stood back a bit and looked from one end of his shoulders to the other. “Lord, but you’re broader now than you were the last we saw each other. Why, your shoulders are the size of Daniel’s now, I trow!—have the MacGregors been working you hard, then?”
Callum’s grin turned sheepish. He shrugged. “I enjoy the exercise.”
“Ahhh,” she replied with a nod and a wink, “that’s good.” Turning then to his bride, she said, “And you are Lara. You’re as beautiful as Daniel and Bao told us you were.” The lady was of medium height and several years older than Jesslyn, mayhap twenty-five summers. But her skin was clear and white, with just the right amount of color to her cheeks. She’d forgone wearing a veil, simply placing a gold filet over the crown of her chestnut-colored curls. A vanity of hers, it seemed. Her eyes were almond-shaped and a darker hue of blue than Jesslyn’s, her features delicate. Tho’ she was older than her husband by several years, her beauty matched his own fine looks quite well. They made a pretty pair, Jesslyn decided.
“My thanks, you are kind to say so,” Lara replied stiltedly, removing her mantle and handing it to a servant.
Jesslyn’s gaze dipped momentarily to Lara’s quite-rounded stomach and her eyes widened in shock. She quickly composed her features before lifting her gaze once more to the lady’s countenance. She shouldn’t be further along than Jesslyn was herself, Callum having only met and wed her around the same time as Jesslyn and Bao had had their tryst, yet she looked to be a good seven moons into her childing state.
* * *
Lara smirked at the flaxen-haired beauty Callum had been waxing lyrical about for many days now. Evidently, she had no knowledge of who Lara was to her.
And as far as the babe in her belly, well, ‘twas no secret that Callum hadn’t fathered it. Not any longer. And ‘twas no secret that she’d been forced to wed him because of it. Of course, Callum hadn’t been told of the babe prior to their wedding; after all, their union had been arranged merely as a means of negotiating peace between her clan, the Gordons, and his clan, the MacGregors. Her father, Laird Gordon, had thought it a nice trick to hand over his strumpet of a daughter and her bastard babe to the clan that had been a thorn in his side since they’d been allotted the holding by the king. The holding, that according to their royal survey said they owned the rights to a particular tract of land, and according to the MacGregor’s older royal survey said the MacGregor’s owned rights to it.
Lara smirked even more when she saw Jesslyn’s cheeks flame with embarrassment before she asked, “Would you care for something to drink? Eat?”
Callum, clearly oblivious to the exchange between her and Jesslyn, looked around the hall, saying, “Nay, we broke our fast earlier. Is Daniel still on the training field?”
Jesslyn nodded. “Aye, he and Bao both are.”
Grinning, Callum said, “Bao? He’s here as well, then?”
Lara’s eyebrow rose in interest. Bao? Bao Xiong? The most popular and exclusive male whore at court? The one who’d given her her first set of orgasms? The man whom she’d paid to do so again every year since? How amusing. This visit, which she’d believed would be dull, might just turn out to be quite interesting after all. This past summer, when she’d discovered that he was a member of the Maclean clan and an integral part of the peace negotiations between the Gordons and the MacGregors, her interest had been piqued. She’d tried her best to gain a moment in privy with him before her wedding, but he and that brother of his had never left Callum’s s
ide. But this time, she’d surely have more opportunity. And she intended to take full advantage of it. She’d not told Callum of his cousin’s secret occupation, of course. She’d found in her life that juicy tidbits should be hoarded, not recklessly shared. They often turned into easy means of obtaining her own ends.
An old woman, whom she assumed to be Callum’s grandmother came into the hall just then with an impishly lovely dark-haired lass trailing a bit behind. Her face beaming with pleasure, the old woman cried, “Callum, my dear!” With arms outstretched, she propelled herself into his embrace.
Callum hugged her and gave her a kiss on the cheek before pulling back and giving her a long perusal. “How fare you? Are you well? I trow, you’ve more gray than black to your hair, even since the summer,” he teased.
“My hair is precisely the same color as the last time you saw me,” the old woman said, tweaking his nose. But then, with a grin, she said, “Aye, I’m well. Tho’ better still, now that you’ve arrived.” She turned her gaze to Lara. “So this is your bride, then.” Once again, Lara saw instant shock quickly hidden behind a mask of civility. “What a pretty lass you are! Come, give me a kiss on the cheek.”
“Good morn, Grandmother Maclean,” she said. She moved forward and did as the old woman asked, nearly gagging when she caught the pungent scent of oil of juniper on the woman’s skin.
Then Callum took Lara by the elbow and said, “And this fine lass is my cousin Branwenn. She’s sister to Daniel and Bao.”
Lara’s eyebrow quirked. “Good morn,” she said. This must be the lass for whom that blasted stepbrother of mine pines! Would he not drool to know I’ve found her at last!
The lass dipped her head in a brief courtesy. “Good morn,” she replied. She turned to Callum then, the wide grin on her countenance making the dimples in her cheeks more pronounced, and thrust out her hand, palm-side down. “You may kiss it, if you wish. I promise not to wipe it off this time.”
* * *
Callum saw Jesslyn’s hand fly to her mouth as she silently laughed into it and his jaw tensed.
Forcing a good-natured chuckle, he took Branwenn’s outstretched hand, raised it to his lips and placed a courtly kiss on the appendage. Lifting his eyes to her face, he said, hoping to goad her, “Was it better this time, or shall I try another?”
She jerked her hand from his grasp. “Nay, no need. You’ve improved greatly.”
Callum nodded, trying hard to hide his irritation. Her sharp tongue hadn’t dulled over the past moons, as he’d hoped when he’d seen her ladylike manner as she’d entered with his Grandmother. For some unknown reason, she pricked his pride in a way that no one else had ever done. Callum turned back to his grandmother and said, “Will Maryn be joining us soon?”
“Nay, lad, she will not. She’s been abed the past two days. Her feet and ankles have become so swollen that Daniel thought it best for her to keep them raised and not exert herself other than walking around her chamber. She’s due any day now, you know.”
“Aye, I remember. And knowing Maryn, she’s as chafed as an old bear. Will we be allowed to visit her in her chamber? I’d like to introduce her to Lara.”
His grandmother nodded. “Aye. Maryn would never forgive us if we kept you from it.”
“Do you mind if we do so now? Then, if it please you, I’d like to leave my fair Lara with you and go out on the training field to meet with Daniel and Bao.”
His grandmother took Lara’s hand. “Aye, that’s a sound plan.”
Callum bowed to his three hosts and took his wife’s hand, leading her from the hall.
* * *
After the two were well away, Lady Maclean said, “The size of the lass’s belly doesn’t fit the length of time she’s known my grandson. Something is amiss, and I intend to find it out.”
“Aye, I thought the same thing,” Jesslyn said. “And she’s a bit churlish as well.”
“But very beautiful,” Branwenn said softly. “Did you see the gemstones lining the neckline and sleeves of her saffron gown? They looked to be sapphires and rubies.”
“Aye, and ‘twas woven of the finest silk. She’s evidently used to a much more luxurious lifestyle than ours,” Lady Maclean said.
“Or, mayhap, she simply wanted to look her best upon meeting you for the first time, Grandmother,” Jesslyn said, feeling a bit guilty for speaking poorly of Callum’s new wife. Deciding it best to give the lady the benefit of the doubt for the time being, she continued, “Mayhap what I perceived as bitterness of nature was only nervousness.”
“Nay, there is arrogance there, and treachery as well,” Lady Maclean said. “I don’t believe that Callum was made aware of her condition prior to the union, else the rest of us would have known before now as well.”
“‘Tis curious that Callum didn’t send us a missive telling us of his wife’s childing state,” Branwenn said. “And did you notice that neither one of them brought up the subject?”
Jesslyn nodded. ”Aye, which is why I thought it best not to mention my own condition. And I was proved right when, even after Grandmother Maclean spoke of the pending birth of Daniel and Maryn’s babe, they still said naught.”
“Aye, but your condition is not as obvious yet. It could easily be taken as the result of too many berry tarts,” Branwenn said.
“My thanks,” Jesslyn replied sarcastically.
“Not at all,” Branwenn rejoined.
Lady Maclean clearly too caught up in her worry over Callum, ignored the interaction, saying once again, “Something is amiss.”
* * *
“I never thought I’d say this but, cousin, I’m glad now that Laird Donald foiled my scheme to wed Maryn. She’s much too difficult for my disposition,” Callum jested later as he stood next to Daniel and Bao in the courtyard outside the lower bailey where the training field lay.
Daniel grinned. “Aye, she’s beautiful, but she’s deadly,” he said.
“Aye, hugely so.”
Daniel narrowed his eyes at his cousin. “Pardon?”
“But in a good way,” Callum added, raising his hands to shield his face.
Daniel nodded. “Exactly. And you deceive yourself if you think your own wife will not be just as hard to deal with in her last days before the babe arrives.”
“That’s what servants are for,” Callum said, his tongue firmly tucked in his cheek.
“Aye, that ought to go over well with your wife,” Daniel replied.
Bao laughed at the exchange between the two. Daniel had told him there had been tension between them when they first met last spring, but whatever had caused it had evidently passed. Now they seemed content to bait each other with their sharp wit.
Callum sobered and said, “In truth, Maryn was very sweet to Lara, which pleased me greatly. I worried how my wife would be received by the ladies of the household once they realized how far into her childing state she is.”
“You should have given us some warning, cousin.” Daniel chided. “‘Twas a bit much to ask that we not have any negative reaction to the shock of seeing her thus.”
“Aye, you’re right. But Lara was insistent that I not explain things in a missive. She’d promised her father that the details would never be written out nor given to anyone outside the family.”
“When were you told of her condition?” Bao asked.
“The morn after we consummated our union.”
“Convenient,” Daniel said.
Callum shook his head. “Nay, do not think ill of her. She did as she was told to do by her father. And she had no idea that I would have stayed with her, regardless of the timing of the confession, to keep the peace between the clans.”
“Know you who fathered the babe?” Bao asked.
Callum sighed and combed his fingers through his hair. “Nay, she will not tell me.” Looking from one to the other of them, he said, “But I care not. I claim the babe as my own, and he’ll be raised a MacGregor.”
Daniel exchanged a quick look with Bao. “J
esslyn’s with child also. She’s a bit over four moons along.”
Callum’s brows slammed together. He shook his head, clearly shocked. “Who on earth fathered the babe?”
“I did.”
Callum gave Bao an intent look. “Is that why you two wed then? Because of the babe?”
“Nay, I can admit that now. But the babe did help me to gain my purpose more quickly.”
“Come, I’ve a thirst for some ale,” Daniel said. “Let us continue this discussion in the great hall.”
Bao and Callum nodded and the three left the courtyard behind. With long strides they moved in the direction of the keep.
“I still cannot believe it. You and Jesslyn,” Callum said in wonder, shaking his head.
“Believe it,” Bao said.
* * *
“Ahh, ‘tis glad I am I found you.”
Jesslyn’s hand stilled on the handle to her bedchamber door and she turned toward the voice. “G’day to you Lara. Are you in need of something? I could find a servant for you.”
“Nay, ‘tis you with whom I crave a word.”
“All right. Would you like to come inside?”
“Nay, here will do. You have no notion of who I am, do you?”
For reasons Jesslyn had no understanding of, her heart started to pound. “Aye. You are Callum’s new wife.”
“There is that, aye. But you and I, we have a much older relationship. Can you not guess?”
Thoroughly confused and growing more wary by the moment, as Lara’s smile held venom and smug conceit, she said, “Nay. Who are you?”
“Why, I’m your dear departed husband’s favorite lover—you do remember Graeme kept a lover, do you not? I suppose you just weren’t enough for him.”
Jesslyn felt dizzy. She swayed and placed her palm on the door for balance. “That was only the one time.”
“Is that what he told you?” Lara’s head went back when she laughed. “Nay, ‘twas many more times than just the one. Our dalliance started while he was still wed to Janet, in fact, and carried on into your own marriage for quite a time.”