Highland Devil

by Hannah Howell

  “Oh. Good. I have no wish to see my brothers tonight.” She smiled when he laughed. “I think they are no longer so angry.”

  “Nay, I married ye without complaint or force. I think they would still like to punch me in the face though.”

  “I dinnae understand that, as they are my brothers, nay my father.”

  He shrugged. “Ye have no father, so they have stepped in as your guardians.”

  “Weel, I am sorry they forced ye before a priest.”

  “I told ye. There was nary a complaint and it wasnae force. Aye, I kenned it was the only choice if I didnae wish to get in a long fight with your kinsmen, but no one forced me before the priest. In truth,” he admitted reluctantly, “I was pleased I didnae have to think of a proper way to ask ye.”

  “What is so hard about asking a lass to marry ye?”

  “I dinnae ken. Simple words, aye, but a difficult thing for men to do especially if they ken they have no skill with pretty flatteries and love words.”

  “I dinnae require any.”

  “Good, although I imagine I may come up with some now and then.” He kissed her and held her close, loving the feel of her smooth skin against his.

  Mora gave herself over to his slow lovemaking. He murmured things to her as he kissed and caressed her, and she decided he did not realize he had skill enough at pretty words when needed. Obviously, he needed some inspiration, she thought as she returned his caresses.

  Wondering if it was because she was now legally married to the man, Mora felt daring and was soon kissing her way down his taut stomach. She made love to him with her mouth, savoring every groan of pleasure that escaped him. Then he turned her around so that he could do the same with her. As she felt her insides tauten and sensed what he had called her release rushing up on her, she pulled away and settled herself over him. He entered her a little roughly and she was proud that she had driven him to such desperation. This time she needed no direction and rode him until they both cried out softly from the strength and joy of their mutual release. She slumped down on top of him and felt him soften within her.

  “Not a Saint’s day,” she said, not surprised by the breathless tone of her voice and smiling when he laughed.

  “Nay, but we will add this day to the list.”

  “Aye. Probably the only respectable day.” She pulled free and flopped down beside him.

  For a while they lay quietly side by side, their breathing growing slower. He then turned on his side and began lazily stroking her. Mora liked it but was not sure she was ready to do anything all over again as she realized she was tired after a broken night’s sleep and a long day.

  “So, ye plan to get started on your grand manor house?”

  “Aye. I think I will etch out what I have in mind on the morrow.”

  “So where do we stay while we wait?”

  “Harcourt said we can stay with him and Annys, and Sigimor has offered us this place to stay in. I told him it could be a few years before what I want is built, and he just shrugged.”

  “That is kind of him.”

  “It is, aye, but ne’er forget what I told ye. Sigimor collects allies and favors. He especially likes it when they are close at hand. I build the manor house and he has an easy reach to two allies near at hand and all my family. But, ’tis a good offer and I told Harcourt I might take it. He agreed it was what he would choose if only to be alone with his wife.”

  “Oh. Aye, it wouldnae be so private at Harcourt’s keep.”

  “Nay, not at all. So tomorrow we can plot out our manor house. I will even let ye decide on a few things,” he said, and kissed her cheek.

  “So verra kind of ye. Ye said it has some land?” She felt him nod as he kissed her shoulder. “So one might have a kitchen garden?”

  “Oh, aye. It has a few acres just as your parents’ had.”

  “That is verra generous of your brother.” She frowned as she suddenly thought of something she had not considered before. “Did he think I trapped ye? That ye were forced into this?”

  “Nay, not at all. Ye dinnae have to fret on that. Now, ’tis our wedding night.”

  “Aye, I believe I was there at the wedding.”

  “I ken ye are probably a bit tired, but I mean to celebrate properly.”

  “Oh, dear.”

  He just laughed and proceeded to celebrate three more times with an appropriate respite between each one. On the last round, he slumped at her side and was soon sound asleep. Mora grinned even as she felt her eyes closing. She had worn the man out. Something to be proud of, she decided, as she curled up next to him and went to sleep.

  Epilogue

  Four years later

  Mora climbed down from the cart and Gybbon handed her their daughter, Caitlin. After only a few steps, the child demanded to be let down. Holding Caitlin’s small hand, Mora made her slow way to the two stones that marked her parents’ graves. She was just kneeling down before them when Gybbon came up with the boys, Logan and Reid.

  Morag and Maggie had paid for the headstones and refused any attempt to pay them back. Tears stung Mora’s eyes as she traced her parents’ names etched neatly into the stone. It was something she did every time. She had brought her children here, quietly introducing them, as soon as it was safe to bring them outside. It hurt her heart to know her parents would never know their grandchildren.

  The flowers on her mother’s grave told her that her brothers had been there, and she carefully set hers between their bouquets. It was comforting to know she was not alone in stopping by on her mother’s birthday. She said a little prayer, then accepted Gybbon’s hand to help her stand up.

  “The town picked a lovely spot to have consecrated ground,” she said as she looked around, noting with approval the trees left to shade the graves.

  Gybbon took her hand and walked her back to the cart. “Your brothers stopped by, aye?”

  “Aye. They seem to do weel in raising Andrew. I was a wee bit concerned at first,” she confessed, and was not surprised when he laughed.

  “Och, aye. Just a wee bit. If ye hadnae been carrying the laddies, ye would have been o’er at the manor every single day.”

  She did not even attempt to argue with that statement but set Caitlin up on the cart seat, constantly telling the child to sit down as Gybbon lifted her up and sat her on the seat. As he climbed up, she turned to give the wrestling boys what Gybbon fondly called The Look, and they immediately sat down. She tugged Caitlin back down so the child again sat on the seat.

  “And now we go to see what will soon be our home,” said Gybbon, as he set the cart in motion.

  “It has taken longer than ye thought it would, hasnae it?”

  “Aye, but these things rarely go as planned. Too many things can go wrong, from the weather to supplies nay coming in when they were supposed to, and on and on.”

  “And we seem to have discovered every single thing that could go wrong.”

  “That we did, but I also had some things I wanted that caused a wee problem or twa. Still, ’tis nearly done and it will be perfect.” Gybbon reached over his daughter to pat Mora on the shoulder.

  “It certainly looked to be fine the last time I saw it, before the roof was to go on.” She sighed. “I suspect Sigimor will be pleased to have his manor house back.”

  “He will, but he hasnae complained. Said ours is going much more smoothly than his did and he only wants his for one of his brothers. The mon is about to be wed, so that nudge could grow stronger, but he would ne’er suggest we leave just for that. He is too happy about having so many Murrays close to hand, plus thrilled that their arrival rid him of a few troublemakers he figured he would soon have to confront.”

  She nodded and studied the land they were traveling through. It was going to take most of the day to get to the place where their manor was being built. Mora had assumed they would stay at Harcourt’s keep, but she wished Gybbon would have let her pack what was needed. Glancing in the back, she frowned at the two chest
s and several bags he had put in the cart and could not help but wonder what was in them. Deciding not to worry about it, she went back to watching the countryside and judged it as a pleasant place to live. Yawning, she tried to think of everything she wanted to do in her new home when it was finished, hoping it would be enough to keep her awake.

  * * *

  Something landed on her lap and Mora started in surprise. She stared down at Freya for a few moments before she realized she had fallen asleep. Frantically, she looked around for Caitlin and found her child in the back of the cart sleeping in a pile with her brothers. When she attempted to lean over and pick the child up, she realized she was tied to the seat. Mora glared at Gybbon.

  “Ye tied me up again!”

  “Aye, I did. Ye fell asleep. Again. Cannae have ye tumbling out of the cart.”

  “Untie me.”

  “Ye can untie yourself this time.”

  Muttering to herself, she found the knot and untied it. When she unwound it she found that it crossed over her chest and that the ropes were secured to the back of the seat. A closer study found cloth ties set up in the middle of the seat. The man had made harnesses for both her and Caitlin. It annoyed her that she found that touching and frowned at him.

  “Ye have made harnesses for both me and Caitlin,” she said, pleased by the hint of anger she had kept in her voice.

  “I have. The two of ye keep falling asleep and ’tis a long way to the ground. Happens every time ye are in the cart. It gets rolling along and first one, then the other of ye go out like snuffed candles that snore.”

  “I dinnae snore.”

  “Weel, nay, not truly. ’Tis more like ye breathe loudly because your head is tipped back. Caitlin snores.”

  Mora leaned over the back of the seat and studied her little girl. Her wild mass of blond curls covered her face as she sprawled between her brothers, her legs and arms flung out over them. Then she heard it. She supposed that strange whistling sound could be called a snore, especially since she made the sound as she breathed in and made a louder similar one as she breathed out.

  Sighing, Mora turned around and idly smoothed down her skirts. “She will outgrow that.” She ignored his soft laughter. “She is going to be a fine lady one day.”

  “Och, aye, as soon as she grows out of snoring, playing in the mud until she fair drips with it, bellowing out commands like some war lord, and trying to pummel Reid.” He laughed harder when she swatted him.

  She looked around and realized they were now on the road that would go by their new house. “We are almost there.”

  “Aye. Ye had a nice nap.”

  She was going to have to figure out some way to stay awake, she decided. It would serve him right if she just kept talking for the whole ride. As they turned down a very rough trail toward the manor, she stared. It looked like there were a lot of people at the manor house, which, she noticed with pleasure, now had a fine slate roof on it.

  Gybbon brought the cart to a halt, got down, then walked around to lift her out. A quick look into the back told Mora all the children were still sleeping, so she turned her attention to the people gathered. She gasped with delight when she saw all three of her brothers and ran over to hug Andrew.

  “See, Mora? He is still alive,” said David, and laughed when she stuck her tongue out at him.

  After greeting Harcourt and Brett, Gybbon walked over to greet his brothers-in-law. They had been a great help to him in finishing the manor this last year. He now had to hope Mora appreciated all their efforts.

  “We brought the cart of things we promised,” said Niall.

  “What things?” asked Mora as she glanced toward the cart to be sure the children still slept.

  “Some things we thought ye would like from the house. Passed ye on the road, but Gybbon was busy tying ye into place when ye fell asleep.” He glanced over at the cart. “And I will go rescue my niece before she starts bellowing.”

  Mora looked at the cart and sighed as she saw Caitlin hanging on to the cart seat with her little legs kicking. Niall grabbed her and then the two boys popped up, rubbing their eyes. She took a deep breath and let it out slowly as she promised herself she would not worry about any of them right now.

  “Thank ye,” she said to David, and he gave her a quick kiss on the cheek, but not quick enough, because when he straightened up it was to find a grinning Niall standing in front of him with Caitlin in his arms and leaning toward him, pointing to her cheek.

  “Seeing as your brithers have an eye on the bairns, let me show ye the inside,” said Gybbon as both brothers muttered mild complaints.

  Mora let him lead her away. She went through the thick oaken doors and gazed at the wide hallway. The dining hall was nice and large, and she had to suppress a sigh of pleasure when he led her into the kitchen. There would be few complaints from whomever they got in to work in such a space. As he led her from room to room she got a little uneasy. It was very luxurious. Then he took her to the master bedroom, which was obviously his pride and joy if she judged the expression on his face right.

  He showed her the small bedchamber next to it, which had a door to theirs, and was intended for the youngest, and then the ledger room on the other side. But she could almost feel his excitement as he led her into that through a nearly hidden door by the hearth. Then he practically ran across the room to show her the other hidden door by that hearth.

  “It leads down into the cellars,” he said. “And they have already begun the tunnel that will lead to the other side of the wall that is being built.”

  She tried not to but she had to laugh. “So ye got your escape route.”

  “I did. And kenning our children, it can be locked way up at the top of the door.”

  “Oh, good.” She did not mention her belief that they would somehow figure out how to undo it. “Sigimor has appreciated the one ye put on his door.”

  “Cannae have the little devils racing around inside the walls like rats.”

  “Nay, that would ne’er do. So, when do we move in?”

  “Today.”

  “What? But, there are things we need to get,” she stuttered. “Beds and chests, and something for the floors.”

  “And we will get them, but it appears we already have a lot. Given freely by all the others. Oh, aye, there are other things, but they can be gotten as ye decide what ye want or need. But, right now, we have more than enough to settle in.”

  “Mora!” called Annys from the door. “They are bringing in some beds. Ye might want to tell them where to put them.”

  Mora hurried off with Annys and fell into many hours of telling people where she wanted something put. Then she was caught up in the feast prepared and brought in. She was stunned when her uncle and his sons arrived bringing a few things, as well.

  To her astonishment, the old man looked as hale as he had in the earlier days, before Robert had gotten so bad. It pleased her even more when he told her that Murdoch would be the laird when he was gone, and it was obvious Lachlan and Duncan approved. Sigimor, Harcourt, and Brett all took the young man aside and she resisted the urge to go closer and eavesdrop.

  Then Jolene walked up to her and gave her a hug. “Ye will make it all yours soon.”

  “I ken it. And, I have a gift for ye.”

  “Really? Why?”

  “Because it seemed that ye really wanted one,” said Mora as she hurried over to a chair in the corner of the hall and grabbed her bag. “Do ye recall I told ye that Freya would ne’er have kittens?” she asked as she returned to Jolene’s side.

  “Aye, because she didnae go outside so she wouldnae be caught.” Jolene’s eyes widened. “She got caught?”

  “She did, and by a male who didnae look much bigger than she was. I tried to catch him when it was over, but he was smart, because he ran from an extremely angry Freya as fast as he could.” Grinning when Jolene laughed and smiled up at Sigimor, Mora reached into the bag and dragged out a very small black and white kitten. “I think
I have a real runt cat for your wife. He is five months old and should be a lot bigger than this. I could wait a little longer to be certain if ye wish.”

  Jolene took it and held it, the kitten rubbing her face against Jolene’s. “Nay. Oh, he is so cute.”

  Sigimor took it and checked between its legs before handing it back to his wife. “He is so cute. Useless, but cute.”

  “I cannae promise it will be a runt,” said Mora. “They can fool ye and suddenly grow big, but the chances are, this one will be small like my Freya.”

  “Just so long as it doesn’t become another George.”

  “George was a fine cat,” said Sigimor.

  Mora left them to argue about how fine George the rat killer had been and went to find Gybbon.

  * * *

  It was very late before there was only her family left in the manor. She tucked the children into their beds and then went to the master bedroom and flopped down onto the bed. Gybbon came in and flopped down beside her. Mora smiled when he tugged her into his arms.

  “Pleased?”

  “Verra much so, but are ye sure we can afford this?”

  “Aye. I made a fair amount of coin when I was wandering all over the country. A lot of the things, like the furniture and even some of the windows, were gifts or extra things someone had on hand. We only had to mend a few things. My family was always set on that. Ne’er threw anything away if it was still good or could be mended, and if something they had made wasnae exactly right, they would pay for the materials used and keep it anyway, then get what they really wanted. That is why some of the windows may strike ye as a bit odd when ye finally get a chance to have a good look. We made them to fit what we were given.”

  “Everyone was verra generous.”

  “Aye, and grateful. This land was an empty hole, nothing here. Now there is and there will soon be men to work and guard. All the keeps near us are allies and they are having trouble placing their men as the children grow. Now there is one more choice for them. And some of their lassies, too. This land will either be grazed or planted so more food is available. We serve a good purpose, lass, and they welcome it. And Jolene even brought a nice bed for Freya,” he said, and pointed to the blanket-lined basket near the hearth where her cat was curled up.