Highlands Forever (Books 1–3)
Page 33
The corners of his lips hitched up. “The lad is strong and healthy.”
“What about his grandmother?”
“She wishes to stay here, to help raise him.” Jamie combed his fingers through his hair. “I admit, at first I dinna like the idea. But after seeing the way she cares for the lad, I dinna have the heart to say no. Truthfully, I doona know anything about raising a bairn.”
“Doona be so critical of yerself,” she offered, thinking of Keely and Miran’s kind words to her. “Ye’ll learn quickly. Besides, I think ye’re already a good father. Look at how considerate ye are, letting Nudar stay.”
“She’s a soothsayer—Kuresh calls her a witch.”
“There are plenty of seers in the Highlands, what harm in adding another?”
“Helen…” He touched her cheek, his adoration more real than she had ever seen.
“What troubles ye, Jamie?”
“Everything,” he began. “Not knowing where we’ll end up. Not knowing what yer father intends to do with ye.”
“I understand.” Better than he’d ever know. Females dinna have the luxury of making choices for themselves. She lived at the mercy of her sire and brothers, and now Laird Alex. That uncertainty made her feel like she was walking on eggshells every day.
“Do ye believe in fate, Helen?”
“Perhaps a little. But I believe in God’s providence more. That everyone and everything has a purpose.”
Jamie scooped up a handful of snow. “Even this?”
“Aye.”
He let the clump of snow fall to the ground. “Ye are a curious woman.”
“I believe in ye, Jamie.”
“I’d hoped for such words, Helen of the Highlands.”
What was going on inside his warrior mind? He looked so different, so out of sorts. The shock of gaining a son could be to blame. But who could look at Ramsey’s sweet face and not fall in love instantly? Nay, something else troubled him. “Why?”
“Because I have something to tell ye, to ask ye.”
Helen took a deep, steadying breath and sat down on her favorite boulder. Better to sit than fall down if he told her something that made her unsteady on her feet. She folded her hands in her lap and focused all of her attention on him. “Tell me anything.”
“I’ve spent enough time with ye to know that ye are the finest woman I have ever met. Kind and lovelier than any lass. And yer kisses … God, Helen, yer kisses light my soul on fire. I canna think about anything else. Just when the next opportunity will present itself when I can drag ye to that damned storeroom and taste yer sweet mouth again.”
If that dinna steal her breath, nothing would. She sighed, wet heat forming between her thighs. How could a man’s lust-filled words make her body respond in such a way?
“I’m nay a patient man, Helen. Not even a good one, compared to Alex or Petro. I’m a beast—have thought about bedding ye since that night in the great hall when we both stared at each other.”
“Is that why ye asked me about fate?”
“Aye.”
“And how do ye know I wasna thinking the same thing that night?”
He chuckled softly. “Ye? I wouldna believe it if ye said ye were.”
“I was,” she confessed.
Jamie’s steady stare intensified as he shifted on his feet. She gazed at his strong legs, narrow waist, and broad shoulders. He exuded raw power and strength, intelligence and danger. If she had to face him on the battlefield, she’d faint.
“Lass…”
“Jamie … speak plainly to me. I doona understand.”
He stepped in front of her, gathered both her hands in his, then dropped to his knees. “Lady Helen Sutherland, will ye marry me?”
Her heart nearly burst with joy. “Marry ye?” she repeated.
“Aye.”
What about her father? Her supposed betrothal to Laird Munroe? How could she promise to be his wife if she wasna sure where she’d be tomorrow? “Jamie. Marrying me is dangerous, I think. There is no guarantee that my father will accept ye. And what if Laird Munroe…”
“I’ll kill him before he ever lays a hand on ye, Helen. Believe me, no one will ever take ye against yer will. If ye love me…”
“I do.”
“Ye do?”
“Hopelessly,” she confessed.
“I love ye, lass. More than I have words for.”
She jumped up, nearly knocking him over. “Aye,” she said. “I will marry ye.”
He stood and scooped her up, slanting his mouth over hers.
Helen could kiss him forever, love him forever. She broke away, gazing up at him.
“When do ye wish to marry?”
“Tonight,” he said.
*
After Miran and Kuresh had made it half way around the loch, it occurred to her that there were no rabbits. Why had he lied to her? So Jamie and Helen could be alone? Or… What if Kuresh intended to seduce her? She stopped abruptly and propped a hand on her hip. “Why are we here?”
“Rabbits,” he said quietly.
“Rabbits? Ye are a bad liar.”
He frowned, his deep brown eyes growing black. “Never accuse me of being a liar again.”
“Or what?”
“This…” He tugged her into his arms and slanted his mouth across hers, kissing her firmly.
At first, Miran liked the way it felt, but then she remembered herself and who he was. She pushed him away violently and spat on the ground to rid herself of his taste. “See! Ye are a liar!”
Kuresh laughed then, something she’d never seen him do before. “Why am I a liar?”
“There are no rabbits.”
“You are the rabbit. My beautiful one.”
Beautiful? He dared to compliment her? “Ye doona know me. And ye have no right to…”
He closed the distance between them again and kissed her even harder.
She nipped his bottom lip, drawing blood.
Alarmed, he stepped back, touching his mouth, then looking at the blood on his fingers. “You bit me.”
“Ye called me a rabbit. And when rabbits are frightened, they bite.”
Kuresh chuckled so hard she wanted to smack him. Miran dinna like being the center of attention or the brunt of any man’s bad jokes. “I will report ye to Laird Alex.”
“I will go with you and tell him how you kissed me a second time.”
She gaped at him. How many lies would he tell in one day? “More untruths.”
“Bending reality to your will isn’t lying.”
“Nay?” Then what was it exactly?
“I demand ye to take me back to Lady Helen and Jamie.” She stomped her foot.
“No.”
“What?”
“No. They deserve this time alone.”
“Then I will run back to the keep without ye.”
Kuresh looked beyond her, in the direction of the keep. “Go then. But be quick about it, woman, unless you want me to catch you and kiss you again.”
Miran stared at him in amazement. She was accustomed to arrogant Highlanders, especially her cousins. But Kuresh … though ruggedly handsome and dangerous with a sword, he was a foreigner—not a kinsman, not even a trusted ally. Just a stranger with a beautiful face who had taken advantage of her. “’S e plaigh a th’ annad,” she cursed, calling him a plague.
Kuresh’s laughter echoed around her as she ran away, following the narrow path their footprints had left in the fresh snow. She despised him, and always would.
Chapter Twenty-Two
Helen deserved all the finery a wedding demanded, but time was short—they needed to marry quickly so he could protect her not only with his body but with his name. Jamie hadna shared that part with her, the lass dinna need any reasons to doubt his love. As his wife, he’d have every legal right to take her wherever he wanted, and if that meant leaving Scotland with her, he would. However, Sands Airgid would be the first step. Let her sire or Laird Munroe come there if they dared.
“Aye. The whole clan seems to approve of our marriage.” He eyed the great hall and all the love and care that had gone in to decorating it with wreaths and dried flowers, the fresh tapers on every table, the generous amount of food Alex had ordered prepared—wild boar and venison, clams and fish, vegetables and dried fruits, bread and pastries, and the best wine. “I doona know how to thank ye for all of this.”
“Love her well,” Keely said. “And the bairn—love him.”
“I already do, Keely.” He kissed John and Rebecca’s heads, then Keely’s cheek. “Makes me verra happy to see the bairns here for the wedding.”
“As ye requested, only close family and the soldiers were invited. I know ye are anxious to get her home, to start yer new lives together.”
Alex joined them. “I just left yer bride,” he said with a smile.
“Are ye satisfied that I dinna force her into marrying me?’
“Tis my obligation in the absence of her family to advise her.”
“And what did she say to ye?”
“That she canna wait to be yer wife and understands the risks. She is a brave lass, and I admire her willingness to stand up to her father. Few lasses would do so. Though I can think of one.” Alex gazed at Keely and grinned.
His wife handed Rebecca off to him. “If I hadna defied my father, we wouldna be here now and these babes wouldna be ours.”
Alex wrapped a protective arm around his wife’s shoulders and pulled her close for a kiss. “Tis yer spirit that will make our children successful in life.”
Father Michael arrived and greeted all the guests.
“Are ye ready?” Alex asked.
“Aye,” Jamie said.
Everyone took their respective places. Alex stood with Jamie, and Nudar and Ramsey were seated at a place of honor by the hearth. Tonight, Jamie would do the two most important things a man could, marry the woman he loved and claim his son before God and his clan. He waited nervously for Helen to appear. Petro and Miran entered the hall first, followed by Helen.
She wore an elegant, green satin gown edged with velvet and ermine. As he’d requested, her hair had been left down, combed to a high luster. A strand of pearls graced her neck and he recognized the Sutherland signet ring on her left hand. It must be her way of keeping her family close, even though she was angry with her father for treating her as nothing more than chattel.
In time, if Jamie could, he’d seek peace with the earl on behalf of Helen and his clan. He dinna care about her dowry, just her future happiness with him and his son.
Petro joined Jamie and Helen’s hands, then kissed her cheek before he stepped away.
Father Michael made the sign of the cross above their heads and said a prayer.
Though Jamie knew what he was expected to say, the traditional vows and the giving of the ring, all he could do was stare at his beautiful bride. So enamored was he, by the time the priest pronounced them man and wife, he nearly forgot to kiss her.
Alex slapped him on the back and whispered, “If ye doona kiss her, I will.”
Jamie did just that, taking her in his arms and showing the world how much he loved her. The passionate kiss earned the delight and approval of the crowd. And when he released her, Father Michael once again prayed and then blessed them.
“May the Lord watch over ye, protect ye, have mercy upon ye, and breathe light and love into yer marriage bed.”
Then Jamie signaled for Nudar to bring Ramsey forward.
The old woman stepped before Father Michael. The priest lifted the child from her arms.
“What child is this?” the priest asked.
“My son, Ramsey Jaleel MacKay,” Jamie answered.
“Do ye swear before God and yer clan that he is yer bairn?”
“Aye.”
“Do ye promise to raise him in the church, to fear the Almighty, and love the Highlands?”
“Aye,” Jamie said.
Father Michael looked about the crowded hall. “And does the clan accept this child as one of their own? Promise to love and protect him if anything should befall his parents?”
“We do,” the throng replied in unison.
“Then I bless ye, Ramsey Jaleel MacKay.” Father Michael made the sign of the cross upon the babe’s forehead, chin, and each cheek and said, “An t-Athair, am Mac, agus an Spiorad Naomh.”
Jamie repeated his words. “In the name of the Father, the Son, and Holy Spirit.”
Father Michael handed the child to Jamie, and he kissed his son over and over, fascinated by his big blue eyes and red hair.
“He is ever yer son,” Helen said, gripping one of Ramsey’s chubby hands.
“And ever yers, too.”
A while later, after the children were abovestairs, Jamie danced with his new wife—holding her close and desperate to take her to their bridal chamber. After the music ended, he admired the circlet of gold on her finger; the ring had belonged to his mother.
“If ye wish for another ring,” Jamie began.
“Nay.” Helen tenderly kissed his lips. “I will never take it off.”
“I’m a verra happy man, lass.”
They sat at the high table with Alex and Keely and feasted and drank, enjoying the laughter and music. And just when Jamie was about to carry Helen through the hall and up the stairs, Alex stood and called for silence.
“I thank ye all for attending this celebration. Master Jamie is my favored kinsman, once my heir, and the best captain any laird can ask for.”
The men banged their hands on the tabletops in agreement.
“I never thought I’d meet the lass who would win his heart. But…” Alex acknowledged Helen with a gracious smile. “Lady Helen is a rare woman.”
The guests clapped and raised their cups to Helen.
“As is customary,” Alex said, “the laird should present a gift to his highest-ranked captain on his wedding night. A harder task than ye might think, for my cousin doesna need silver or gold, or a house, sheep, or anything else a man might require to start a new life.”
“Did ye advise him on how to please his bride?” someone called from the lower tables.
Jamie laughed.
“With unanimous approval of the council and in the best interest of Clan MacKay, Jamie, ye have my blessing to form another branch of our clan. Ye’ve taken on a heavier burden than most men, but if the north is to be tamed and farmed, there is no better Highlander born for it.”
Sweat broke out on Jamie’s palms as he slowly stood, staring disbelievingly at his wife, then at his cousin. “Alex?”
“Aye.”
What should he say? He hadna expected this so soon.
“Are ye truly speechless?” Alex teased. “The lad who’s had something to say about everything since we were children?”
Sometimes words weren’t necessary. Jamie pulled his cousin into a hug, forever grateful for Alex making his da’s dream, and now his own dream, come true.
Alex pulled back so he could see Jamie. “There’s a contract to sign in the morn. Important decisions to be made. We must work together, protect our people while expanding our power wisely.”
Jamie gripped his cousin’s forearm. “We are family, nothing will ever change that.”
“Stay with us for a couple of weeks, then take yer bonny bride home.”
*
As soon as Jamie carried Helen over the bedchamber threshold, he set her down and bolted the door. How long had he waited for this moment, to be truly alone with her? Only now, she belonged to him. Lady Helen was his wife … his wife. It hadna quite sunk in. He rested his forehead against the door.
“Jamie? What are ye doing?”
“Thinking about all the blessings I received tonight.”
“Ye are an honorable man, deserving of everything God has given ye.”
He turned a
round. Her crown of golden hair, intent blue eyes, the neck he found himself always wanting to kiss, her perfect lips… “Have I told ye how beautiful ye are?”
“Aye,” she said. “And I could say the same about ye.”
“Ye think me beautiful?” He moved deeper inside the bedchamber, the room he’d occupied since he was a lad.
A pleasant fire burned in the hearth, and someone had been kind enough to set a tray of food and a pitcher of ale on the bedside table. Miran had moved Helen’s things over from her bedchamber earlier. They would share this space whenever they visited the MacKay keep.
“I think I am the luckiest woman in the world,” Helen said.
Jamie went to her and pulled her into his arms. He rested his chin atop her head, breathing in her honeyed scent. Irresistible desire told him to undress her now, to ravish her with kisses and heated caresses, to lick her from head to toe, to make her moan his name and quiver in his arms until the morn.
“Helen…”
She gazed up at him.
“Ye know what is expected of ye—what yer wifely duties are?”
“Aye,” she said, holding his gaze. “Keely and Miran spoke with me. Even Nudar, bless her, gave me much-appreciated advice.”
Being told and doing were two different things. “Are ye afraid of me?”
“Afraid?” She laughed. “I’ve been in yer arms many times, Jamie MacKay. If anyone has prepared my mind and body for this night, ye have.”
The sheer honesty of her words and the determined look on her face made him want her more. He leaned in and kissed her full lips. “I will take ye home soon. But tonight…”
Helen turned about and lifted her hair so Jamie had access to the laces on the back of her gown. With unsteady hands, he slowly loosened the laces, savoring every moment. He pulled the delicate material down her shoulders, exposing her pale flesh. He kissed her left shoulder, then the right, and she shivered.
Then Helen faced him again, and finished taking her gown off, hanging it on the back of the closest chair. She stood in her shift and silk slippers.
“Now ye,” she said.
Jamie unpinned his clan brooch at the shoulder, loosening his tartan, then removing it completely. Now he stood before her in his tunic and leather boots. His beautiful wife wrapped her arms around him, pressing her soft body against his. He cupped her breasts and groaned. No woman had ever felt so right in his arms. Twas time to take her to bed and show her how much he loved and wanted her.