‘Why would he do such a thing? Why would you?’ she asked. It was simply a thing not done.
‘I wanted to marry you. He refused permission. Now, I do not need it.’ He shrugged it off as though an everyday occurrence. ‘Now, I have accepted a position with my sister’s husband and work for my living. It is not a bad thing, to have to prove myself instead of expecting it as my due.’
‘Aye,’ she said.
He realised what she’d said and still did not move.
‘Truly?’
‘Aye.’
He crossed the gap between them and pulled her to him, lifting her off the ground and swinging her around. His laugh echoed through the lanes and around the cottages and she tugged on his arms so he would put her on her feet.
‘Will you regret this? How can you give up your family? You love them and I know you will miss them.’ She did not want to come between them or have him hate her for causing this break.
‘Now, we will begin our own family,’ he said, drawing her close. He held out his hand as though to touch her belly and stopped just inches from her. ‘May I?’
Cat covered his hand with hers and placed it where he could feel the bairn within her. As if the most obedient child, the babe pushed against the weight of their hands. He laughed then, pressing gently where the babe had pushed and waiting to feel it move again.
Then, as she tilted her head back to watch the joy that covered his face, he leaned down to kiss her. Catriona closed her eyes and waited to feel the touch of his mouth on hers.
‘I love you, Catriona MacKenzie. I think I have from the first time I saw you,’ he whispered. Then his mouth took hers as she’d wanted him to do. She wrapped her arms around him, holding him close.
‘I love you, Aidan.’
How long they stood there, in the moonlit night, she did not know, but when she felt the night air’s chill, she tugged him towards the house.
‘No, lass,’ he said, not budging from the spot. ‘You know what will happen if we go inside together.’
Sinfully, she did and she hoped he would banish the memory of all those lonely nights without him.
‘If we are to be married, we should wait,’ he said.
‘Wait, my arse!’ she said, then she covered her mouth after saying such a coarse thing. ‘I have a mind to seduce you, Aidan MacLerie. To have my way with you.’ For this time it was her choice and he was the one she’d chosen.
‘I may let you,’ he promised. He bent over and lifted her in his arms.
No words were spoken nor needed through the rest of that night. Though Catriona worried over the changes in her body wrought by the pregnancy, Aidan did not seem to mind at all. His attentions drove her mad with desire and then he satisfied her. And she satisfied him from the sound of it.
Now, lying together, with him wrapped around her, she slept soundly and dreamlessly for the first time since she’d left him. For why dream of him when she had him with her now?
* * *
She woke for some reason just past dawn and found him staring at her. Cat did not move, enjoying the feel of his body next to hers, his heart beating under her hand. She could have remained like that for hours or days, but the arrival of a large, noisy group of people outside her door told her that would not happen. When she would have climbed from the bed and found a gown, the door burst open and the Earl of Douran strode in.
Chapter Twenty-Four
Aidan pushed Catriona behind him and turned to face his father. Then his mother entered, took in the situation and whispered furiously to him.
‘Connor, let us wait outside. Now.’
He watched as the petite woman commanded the most fearsome warrior chief in the Highlands like a serving woman. He almost laughed as his father did exactly what he was told to do. Once the door had closed, he stood and found his trews and shirt. Helping Catriona from the bed, he avoided touching her as he wanted to. Her lush body blossomed now, her soft curves filling out and her breasts swelling as her belly did. He’d explored every inch of her last night, kissing and caressing all the changes in her body.
‘Aidan, what does he want?’ Catriona asked, as she reached for her garments and dressed quickly.
‘I do not know. His agreement with you was that you not see me again,’ he said. She blushed at his words. ‘Aye. I know you went to him for help. It saddens me that you had to humble yourself because of me.’
‘And you came for me in spite of his orders.’
‘Aye, love, I did.’ He kissed her on the forehead. ‘And I will be with you no matter what he says or does. Fear not. You are mine now and I will protect you, even from him.’
‘Aidan!’ his father called from outside.
Aidan walked to the door and pulled it open. Not only were his father and mother there waiting, but he saw his sister and her husband, along with Duncan and a large group of MacLerie warriors. Not to be outdone, Rob had sent along his Matheson soldiers, so it looked like a war camp outside Catriona’s house.
‘Aye.’ His mother slipped past him before he could stop her, with some words about speaking to Catriona.
‘I would speak to you,’ his father said, or ordered.
‘To what end?’ he asked. ‘We said all we needed to say weeks ago. You should know that I am marrying Catriona.’
‘Walk with me.’
Aidan looked at his father, for the softer tone and request was most unexpected. He nodded and followed his father down the lane to where they could not be heard by the others. They stood in silence for a few minutes before his father spoke.
‘I asked for your opinion that day as a test of your knowledge and your abilities. One day as chieftain, you will have to make decisions like that.’ Aidan did not pretend to not know which day he spoke of or which decision. ‘But you—’
‘I failed. I know it, Father,’ he admitted. ‘I sent a man away for an unconscionable reason and he died as a result.’
‘Nay, you misunderstand. I had already chosen the men to go. Asking you for your opinion did not change my decision, it only confirmed it. I chose to send Gowan in spite of knowing why you spoke his name.’
Aidan stood in shocked silence then. So, his father had sent Gowan away? Still...
‘I still failed, for my decision was based on my own personal desires and not on what was best for the clan. Not a very good choice for a man who would have led the clan one day.’
‘Will lead the clan.’
‘Nay,’ he said. ‘You disinherited me if I chose to marry Catriona and I will not give her up for you, Father. Not for the MacLeries.’
His father looked over his head and up at the sky. Then down at the ground where he shuffled his feet with the expression of a recalcitrant lad on his face. When he spoke, his words carried both guilt and hesitation.
‘I think she has been good for you. When you thought you’d caused Gowan’s death, you took responsibility and tried to right things with her, for her. I would have preferred a different way, but you did not shirk your duties.’ From the painful grimace on his father’s face, Aidan did not mistake these words for what they actually were—an apology, or as close to one as he would ever get from him.
‘And now? Do you think that I will say you were right and allow her to be taken or leave me again? We will be married, have no doubt of it.’
‘From the way that she faced me down, even in her darkest hour, I suspect she will fit in. Even now your mother is no doubt explaining how it will be to be the wife of a MacLerie laird.’
Aidan turned as the door opened and the two women he loved walked out, arm in arm. Instead of fear or nervousness, the two shared some jest and laughed aloud.
‘You will learn to rue the day when you let your mother get her clutches into your wife. It cannot be good for either of us.’ His father held
out his arm and Aidan clasped it.
* * *
A short time later, they arrived at Lilidh and Rob’s keep and summoned a priest to perform the marriage. When the man of God raised the question about the banns being announced, the growl from his father, the severe glare from his mother and the obvious condition of the bride prevailed quickly.
By the noon meal, he had married the woman he set out to seduce. And by the evening meal, she had seduced him again.
* * *
By the time the sun rose again, Aidan MacLerie decided that he could happily live without his former womanising ways now that he’d found the woman who’d said no to him until she said yes.
* * *
It took some time to return to Lairig Dubh. They made the journey at a slow pace in consideration of Cat’s condition, so it took over a sennight to reach his, their, home.
And once they reached his bedchamber, with its large, comfortable bed, it took them more days to leave that.
* * *
Connor watched as Rurik and Duncan and their wives approached the high table. A celebration marking the wedding of Aidan and Catriona was almost at an end. The bride and groom had not been seen in some hours, and would not likely appear again for even longer. Jocelyn had not spoken a word about what he’d done to bring Aidan home, but she was happy and that mattered to him.
‘I thought he favoured the English lass,’ Rurik said.
‘Nay, ’twas the Maxwell girl who had the better chance,’ Duncan argued.
He waited for Jocelyn or one of the wives to explain how Catriona was the only correct choice for wife for his son, but none said it. Puzzling. Jocelyn slipped her hand in his and rested it on his leg under the table.
‘She meddled again,’ he said, exposing her weakness to their friends.
‘Jocelyn!’ Margriet and Marian said, laughing. Neither one looked or sounded surprised.
‘So, if we had wagered on this match as we did on the others, I would say you forfeited by meddling,’ he said. Duncan and Rurik quickly agreed, claiming a victory for the men.
‘I think I am glad that we have some time before the younger ones will be ready to wed,’ Margriet said. ‘I cannot believe that our Isobel is married.’
‘And our Ciara,’ Marian said. ‘I think they will be announcing another bairn soon.’ Duncan looked very pleased by that news.
‘Now that Lilidh and Aidan are both happily married,’ Jocelyn said, ‘I think I could even admit defeat in this match.’
Connor looked at his closest friends and their wives and then at the woman he loved more than life itself. Raising his cup, he smiled. ‘To the happy couple!’ They all called out the words in reply and drank from their cups.
As he watched his friends leave the table to seek their beds and the forfeits due them from this last marriage wager, he turned to Jocelyn and kissed her. When they were the only ones remaining in the hall, as was their custom, he lifted her in his arms and carried her to their bedchamber.
After he showed his mate the depth and breadth of his love for her and she slept in his arms, he offered up a prayer that his son would find in Catriona what he had found in Jocelyn.
If he did, Connor knew that all would be well and good in the Clan MacLerie.
* * * * *
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ISBN-13: 9781460331651
YIELD TO THE HIGHLANDER
Copyright © 2014 by Theresa S. Brisbin
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