I said, “So again, I draw a knife on her?” I was only half joking.
“Nae. Now see my husband over there?” She pointed over at a big, ruddy, curly-haired, smiling lug of a man. The kind of man who looked like he would need things explained to him more than once. And wouldn’t care. “You might think tis hard tae be keepin’ a man like that tae myself.” She giggled because right then he dug a finger in his ear and quizzically looked at the tip. “But even though nae other woman wants him, I have learned a thing about other women who are playing fast with a husband. Because I used tae be like Middy. Ye should let her go, let her get comfortable. Allow her tae think she has command of his attention. Then ye walk over and verra low say his name.”
“Just say his name?”
“Och aye, he will about break his leg jumpin’ from his seat, and he will break her heart for ye.”
“What if he doesn’t? She is awfully cute.” Middy across the room giggled and flipped her hair over her shoulder. A flirtatious move that must have been used in every century.
Lizbeth looked at me incredulously. “Have ye seen thyself? Middy inna half the woman ye are. I can see it. Magnus must see it else he wouldna have married ye.”
For a half-second Middy rested her head on Magnus’s shoulder. Lizbeth said, “Ye must go now.”
I stood. Nervous. About to walk down the whole room.
Lizbeth handed me my wineglass to carry and rose to follow me with a bit of a smile on her lips. I wove through the men and women standing around the edges of the room and alongside the table. The conversations stopped. People turned to watch where I was going. I supposed it was a little like Real Housewives of Jersey Shore or something. What I was about to do was probably the most entertaining thing that would happen here this evening.
Watching Magnus’s back as I approached was nerve-wracking. He wasn’t noticing me at all. He hadn’t checked on me. And didn’t turn as I traversed the room. I wanted him to be the kind of guy who could feel me coming. Who actually gave a shit. Crap, maybe he was a fast and loose player in 1702 — what if he was a playboy? What if — I mean, he was really hot. He must have had a lot of women. Suddenly I was questioning everything.
I glanced over my shoulder. Lizbeth was grinning. Was she a friend or a foe? Was she setting me up to fail? What if Magnus ignored me or worse — I was four feet away, two, one, very close I said, “Magnus.”
And he about broke a leg jumping up from his seat.
His focus completely on me.
He took my hands in his and said, “Mo reul-iuil, I could feel ye crossin’ the room, but John was tellin’ a tale and—”
I looked up into his eyes. “It’s okay, it’s just—” My eyes glanced down at Middy behind him sitting furiously.
“Tis why I sent Lizbeth tae get ye.” He kissed me and turned to his group, “I would like tae present my wife, Kaitlyn Campbell.” He tucked my arm under his and we sat together as the group raised a glass in our honor. A second later Middy left her seat with a sour look and a huff.
Lizbeth smiling sat beside me. “Told you twould work.”
Magnus asked me, “What dost ye think of your sister?”
“She’s great, excellent advice.”
Magnus asked his sister, “Where are my niece and nephew?”
“The bairn be in the upper rooms. I dinna ken twould be good tae hear of Ewan’s passing and Uncle Sean be missing. Ye will bring him home brother?”
“I will, I winna rest til he is home.”
“Good, Kaitlyn tells me she will attend ye to the castle. I think tis a mistake. Ye can leave her here and I will watch on her—”
Magnus pulled me closer. “We have promised nae tae leave each other. I will watch on her. Tis decided.”
Lizbeth nodded as if knowingly, “Aye, and are ye with bairn yet, Kaitlyn?”
“Oh um, no, not yet.”
“And how long have ye been sharing a bed? Young Magnus dost ye need some advice on the matter?” She giggled merrily.
Magnus looked unable to answer, so I said for him, “He doesn’t need any advice, he’s got it all perfect.”
Lizbeth laughed, “Ah, a well-bed wife, nicely done brother. I dinna think ye would be capable of it!”
Magnus asked “What — why not?”
“You are too braw with your big manly shoulders. I would imagine ye would be all about the business of it and nae the consideration tis necessary for your lady.”
“Och,” Magnus laughed, “I am too braw tae be a good husband, then? What do ye think, Kaitlyn?”
“I think Magnus knows how to be considerate. And he knows exactly where to put his business.”
Lizbeth about fell off the bench laughing. Magnus literally guffawed. We all ordered another round of drinks and continued talking together for quite a while. I really liked her. She was friendly and sisterly though she had a touch of the no-nonsense, controlling superiority of Lady Mairead. Probably more than she wanted to believe.
Lizbeth wiped her eyes on her wool shawl. “Feels good tae laugh a wee bit. I have been worried sick over Sean.”
Magnus held and patted her hand. “Me too, Lizbeth, I will bring him home.”
“What of the men? Is uncle Baldie attending ye? Is the Earl sending an army? Will there be a battle at the walls?”
“Nae, Uncle Baldie canna ride with us this time, but he helped me tae gather the men. And when I have Sean, I will draw out their guards and our cousins will attack. I would like tae see Lord Delapointe killed for what he has done to Ewan.”
“And you. I heard ye have been whipped? Can I see?”
Magnus pulled down the neck of his shirt exposing one shoulder and a jagged scar.
Lizbeth scowled and shook her head. “Well, you are uglier now. Tis why ye have turned out a good husband, I think.” She put his shirt back and patted it gently. “If you were uglier in the face ye might be as great a husband as my dear Rory.” She gestured toward her husband at the far end of the table with a group of very drunk men. He was red in the face and yelling with spittle flying from his lips.
Lizbeth laughed and sighed. Then turned back to Magnus. “You will be careful. You will be starting a war and our men be fightin’ already. Did ye know there is a call for them tae head out tae fight with the clans? I tell ye brother, Drummond will be the trouble of it all. You mark my words, the next years shall be verra hard. Tis why Rory and I are here. I am worried we will lose more than we care to in the next weeks. It daena sit well tis our mother on the other side of this one.”
“Aye,” said Magnus and squeezed her hand.
Chapter 18
Because of the lateness of the hour there was only one torch outside of the Great Hall. The passageway was dark, shadowy, and ice cold. Magnus led me by the hand through rooms, down dark halls, and into a stairwell that was pitch black as if it had never seen light before.
“Careful—”
“Crap!” I stumbled on a stone step that wasn’t the right height compared to the others.
“The steps arna the right size.” Magnus giggled.
“You’re giggling, are you drunk?” I giggled too.
“Verra.”
I stumbled on another step. “I probably can’t even find my flashlight. I can’t see anything, why the hell is it so — someone should turn on a light.”
“We like it dark so we can—” He pressed against me on the stone wall, his lips on mine, his hands pulling up my skirt.
My arms went around his head, wrapping my shawl around us both, kissing back, enjoying his warmth on my face in the bitter cold.
His hands fumbled with my skirts, and fumbled more, then fumbled with his kilt. He laughed through our kiss. “Tis confusin’ me.” He tugged again then gave up and slouched against me, his breath in my ear. “Too many layers. I canna get through them. I miss your wee little dresses.”
“I was wondering how you would manage my long underwear and you didn’t even get there.”
He chuckled. “We
should go tae our room so I can properly concentrate.”
He led me by both hands up the stairs and down another hall to our room. It was familiar from the last time I was there. A fire burned in the hearth but it barely heated two feet in front of it.
It took a while to get me undressed enough for bed. Magnus was getting better at the laces but we kept laughing at our plight — two Florida kids in this freezing cold and then laughing at the idea that Magnus was a Florida kid. And laughing about how he wished he was wearing long underwear now too. And the lack of light to see by. And generally laughing while we struggled with my thick clothes. Then once my skirts dropped to the ground, I leapt in under the covers, still wearing my long underwear because I would never take them off, ever. Magnus scrambled in behind me.
He tucked onto my arm, his head on my shoulder, pretending to be the coldest of us both. “I brought ye a present, mo reul-iuil.”
“A present? For me?”
He reached over the edge of the bed for his sporran exposing me briefly to the cold and dragged the bag to his stomach. Under the covers he rifled through it. “What is it, what is it, what is it?”
He pushed up my underwear top and placed something on my stomach. I pulled up the covers, but it was too dark to see. I pushed them down in the middle, keeping the ends of the furry hide and the wool blanket up over my arms. There on my stomach stood a Hershey’s Kiss.
“You brought that for me?”
“I did, I brought a handful for ye.”
“We should just look at it. In the history of the world there has never been a moment where a Hershey’s Kiss stood on a woman’s stomach in a castle in 1702 in the middle of winter.”
“Tis a marvel and tis nae winter, tis a Scotland summer.” We both laughed and when the Hershey’s Kiss bounced on my wiggling stomach, we laughed even more. Finally I opened it and ate half and made Magnus eat the other half though he had meant for it to be mine alone.
Sweet chocolate melted in my mouth as Magnus’s hand caressed around my hip and pulled it closer to his waist. He snuggled into my breast. I pulled the blankets around our heads and wrapped around him.
“I am glad ye are here.”
“I am too.” I shivered and he pushed the covers even higher over my head.
He kissed me on my neck and wriggled up to kiss me on my lips long and sweet and then sexy and deep. He rolled on me, his solid mass adding to my coverings, and our breaths and rubbing hands added to our warmth. He dragged a palm up my side, under my shirt, meeting the raised, chilled bumps of my skin with his delicious friction. He was pulling my long underwear down and accidentally dislodged the covers. I gasped, “Cold Magnus.”
He paused and looked down at my nipple pushing against the silk of my shirt — he smiled then gently, slowly, pulled my shirt up in the front exposing my chest to the frigid air. “Ah see, ye are very cold here.” He took my nipple in his fingertips and traced a line up and down the skin of my breasts. “God Magnus, that is…” Bumps raised all along the path of his fingers. I shivered.
“Ye are dancin’ — tis me or the cold?”
I forced out the word, “You,” as he leaned just above my breast and exhaled a sigh of warm breath. I arched toward his mouth. “More.”
His mouth went over my nipple and he sucked and licked and — “Are ye warm yet?” as he nibbled just a bit.
I gasped, “What — I mean yes, I mean…”
He laughed with his lips over my breast, his breath tickling me, causing me to arch even more. “You arena speaking well, mo reul-iuil.” His mouth closed over my breast again and his hand went deep between my legs. “I was asking if ye are warm enough?” His chest vibrated against mine with his chuckle as his tongue caused me to squirm even more.
His lips trailed up to my throat and I recovered enough to say, “I might be a little cold still, actually.”
“Och aye, the lady requires more warmin’.” He went back to the business of fondling and licking and suckling my breasts and playing between my legs and drove me to the edge of a moan when he finally climbed on me, pulling the blankets with him to cover our bodies. And within the tent on our bed his steaming breath and my moans heated the space near our faces and with a bead of sweat on his temple he shoved into me — god oh god — his body pushing against me, my name on his breath — Kaitlyn — oh so warm.
I pressed the side of my face to his lips to receive the heat. His hand ran over my skin, friction and chill, pulling me closer, his name whispered to his ear — Magnus — rising on the crest of my moan. He was everywhere — his fingers in my folds, his lips on my skin, his strong calloused hands firm around me, moving me where he wanted, where he needed me to go, to do, to feel, and even with the uncomfortable bed and the thick blankets and the icy cold it was awesome. I couldn’t imagine wanting to be anywhere else in the world or time than here with him.
When we finished he gave me an arm for my head. I would definitely need to sprawl on him tonight because this bed was really no more than a wood plank, the feather mattress little more than an insult. Like I was dumb enough to be tricked. I was not.
I ran my hand up and down his chest and down and around his bicep, thinking about how magnificent he was, how handsome, how powerful. In my time and his and then without planning to I asked, “What’s up with that girl Middy?”
He rose his head up to look down at my face. “That little flitting midge around my shoulder?”
“You know who I mean. The girl flirting with you. You’re not dumb.”
He chuckled. “I am nae dumb. Middy has been after me for many years.”
“So what, you don’t like her or something? She’s really cute.”
“She is just a lass.”
I humphed. “What does that make me?”
“You are my motherfucking matriarch.” He chuckled.
I groaned.
“You daena like that? Tis what ye said.”
“I know, but it makes me sound old. She’s so young, and I’m like three hundred years older than her.”
He raised his head to see my face again. “You are jealous of Middy? How can this be? You are Kaitlyn Campbell. It daena make sense!”
I pouted petulantly. “I just didn’t like how she touched you. It made me nervous. Like what if you want her? What if she can tell?”
“Tell I want her?”
“Men like the pursuit, the chase, and you never had to chase me. Before you even liked me your mom forced you to marry me. Maybe you’ll get bored and like someone else, someone who you need to work at winning.”
He chuckled low and deep in the air over my head. “You are being unreasonable. If I want tae pursue a woman, why would I pursue Middy; she has been chasin’ me for years?”
“Yeah, but you know what I mean. You married me because you were forced to, by your mom. And she is not a nice person. Maybe you’d rather be with someone that doesn’t remind you of your mother’s contract—”
“First, tis an arguable point, I have married ye in front of God. This conversation goes against the vows I made tae ye, Kaitlyn. Why would I break my vows tae pursue a girl, who I will mention has the brains of a stone wall, and lose my family and my home, tae be a sinner? I have never heard ye say such a silly thing.”
I sat quietly for a second. “I know. I just got worried. I never thought about what you gave up to marry me. That you might have a girl you like here in Scotland. You might have given up falling for someone you got to pursue, instead of someone like me that you were forced to marry.”
He shook my head off his arm shocking me but then wriggled down in the covers so we were face to face. In the dark gloom of the room, barely able to see each other except for a soft faint glow from the fire behind me.
“You think I was forced tae marry ye?”
“I have the contract — wait,” My eyes went wide. “I don’t even have the contract anymore. Is Lady Mairead a witch? I never thought any of this before, and now I’m worried you love someone else. Is
our marriage over because the contract was burned?”
“What is goin’ on with ye? First, I am forced tae marry ye, then I am breaking my vows in love with someone else and now our marriage is over? Is the blood pudding disagreeing with ye?”
“Ugh, that was blood pudding?”
He shook his head slowly. “Kaitlyn, I have pursued ye. You had men between your legs before me. Ye werena mine for the takin’, I had tae win ye.”
“Really, you thought so?”
“When I met ye, I couldna stop thinking about ye, wanting tae see ye, dreaming of ye.”
“You did?”
“You were surrounded by men though. Master Cook had his hand on your thigh.” His arm went around me and pulled me to his chest. His voice was low, his cadence slowing, and growing sleepy sounding. “I had tae figure out what that meant and how tae win ye from him. There were some desperate moments, mo reul-iuil, where I feared I would never have ye, and that I couldna have ye. That ye dinna notice my agony daena mean I felt it less.”
“But what about the contract?”
“I would have preferred tae win ye myself but Lady Mairead forced ye tae sign the contract. Tis nae me that was forced, ye ken.” He added, “I was furious. But I think I would have won ye in the end. I am glad of the result however it happened.”
“Me too. I don’t know why I got so jealous.”
“Tis funny ye are more worried about losing me to a girl in the Great Hall than the guards of the castle we plan tae storm on the morrow.”
“I have a lot of experience with losing out to other girls.”
“Tis another life, different men, better nae think on it.” He pulled the cover up to my ears and wrapped us both up under it. “You are warm enough?”
I nodded, snuggled into his arms. And soon enough we were both asleep.
Chapter 19
The following morning was freezing. I waited in the ice cold bed while Magnus stoked the fire and wrapped in his kilt. Then he helped me dress right beside our fire, discussing our day, the plan, our list.
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