From what Ailis knew of her future husband, that seemed unlikely, even if Gregor arrived with ten thousand men at his command. She was about to comment as such when the door flew open and her younger brother, Ruaridh, ran into the room. Catching him in her arms, Ailis swung the boy up in the air, causing her sister-in-law to tut in disapproval.
“He’s coming,” Ruaridh said as Ailis set him down on his feet.
“Who’s coming?” Ailis asked.
“Alexander de Moray, of course.” The little boy could barely contain his excitement. “He will be here within the hour.”
Edane gasped and made a sign of the cross and Margaret looked as though she might faint. Ailis rolled her eyes. He was just a man, for heaven’s sake.
“Quickly!” Edane said, waving her hands as though trying to shoo Ailis from the room. “Go and make yourself presentable if you can. Perhaps if you please him, he will spare us all.”
Ailis shook her head. She would primp and preen for no man. Alexander de Moray could take her as he found her or, preferably, not at all. She was certainly not going to do anything to encourage his attentions.
“And how do you know he’s coming, Ru?” she asked.
“Niall told me.”
Ailis’ heart leapt. “He’s back?”
“Aye,” the little boy replied solemnly.
Ignoring her sister-in-law’s entreaties for her to go and change her clothing, Ailis ran from the room. She didn’t stop until she’d gone down the spiral staircase and across the courtyard to the great hall where she found Niall and the other MacDonnell warriors by the fire. Their heads were bowed as though in conference.
“Niall!” Abandoning all propriety, she charged across the room and flung herself into his arms. Seeming to understand that the moment was a private one, the other MacDonnell men made a discreet exit, leaving Ailis in the warm embrace of her trusted captain of the guard. “You are here. You are really here.”
“Aye, lass.” He disentangled himself from her arms and took a step back. “I am here.”
Ailis looked up at him and frowned as she took in the faded bruises on his face, the swelling around his eye, clear evidence that he’d been badly beaten.
“They hurt you?” she demanded. “Alexander de Moray hurt you?”
“Nay, lass, not him. Two of his men ambushed me, but they were well punished for it.” Ailis could not conceal her surprise that de Moray should seek retribution on behalf of an enemy.
“He made them pay for doing this to you?”
Niall nodded. “Aye, he did, lass. They paid for this and then some.”
“Oh.” Ailis wondered whether that made the man who was to be her husband any more appealing and then decided that it did not. “So, tell me, Niall, what have you learned about our enemy?”
“Well, he left me alone to recover much of the time, so I didn’t learn a great deal.”
Ailis’ face fell. She needed to know something about the man she was to marry, something that might put her mind at ease.
“But,” Niall continued, “from what I saw, he’s a more honorable man than I thought he would be.”
Ailis nodded, encouraging Niall to go on. Honorable was surely a good start.
“But he’s not a man to be trifled with.” Niall reached out and took her hand, clasping it tightly within his. “Ailis.” He paused, seeming to carefully weigh his next words. “My lady, he will not tolerate a disobedient wife. You must learn to moderate your behavior.”
“Moderate my behavior?” Ailis broke free of Niall’s grasp and got to her feet. She glowered down at him. “Does he expect me to be meek and silent? Does he expect me to grovel to him?”
“I have no idea what he expects from you, Ailis, but I know you will learn what it is he desires of you and do all you can to give it to him. And,” Niall pinned her with a stern look, “for all our sakes, lassie, you must learn to hold your tongue.”
Before she could respond, the door opened and Edane swept into the room. She was now resplendent in her finest blue gown and surcote. A glistening chain of gold hung about her waist. Margaret, as usual, was by her side and Ruaridh stood behind, scowling deeply, presumably, Ailis thought, because he’d been made to put on clean clothes.
“Edane, you look very fine,” Ailis said, barely able to disguise her amusement at the other woman’s extravagant attire. She looked as though she was about to preside over some great event, not give herself into the hands of the enemy.
“One of us needs to make the right impression.” Edane’s eyes raked contemptuously over Ailis’ threadbare woolen gown, a drab and shapeless garment. “We don’t want your new husband to mistake us all for peasants.”
Edane seemed to glide across the room toward her. She possessed an elegance that Ailis could never hope to emulate and, for the first time, the younger woman felt a twinge of doubt. What if Alexander de Moray took one look at her and decided to take the castle but cast her aside and find himself a more suitable bride? Would the king allow him to do such a thing if he was unhappy with his prize? Suddenly, she began to feel as though she had made an enormous error in choosing not to change into a more pleasing gown.
The clatter of hooves and shouts from outside told her that there was no time to do anything about it now. They were here. Clasping her hands tightly in front of her, Ailis shivered as she waited. Heavy footsteps pounded in the corridor. Her heart seemed to stop as the door was thrown open and then it began to beat once more, hammering with a ferocity she thought would surely cause her to pass out.
Moments later, three impossibly large men strode into the room, looking for all the world like a band of the Viking raiders who’d once terrorized these shores. Each of them was tall and broad-shouldered with fair hair and unusually pale blue eyes, their shared coloring marking them out as siblings. It was the man at the center whose physical presence struck her the hardest. He was simply beautiful. There was no other word for it.
Ailis fixed her eyes on him and tried not to let her mouth fall open in blatant appreciation of his magnificent form. She noted as he approached that he’d left his sword outside as a symbol of his peaceful intent. There was nothing calming in those brooding eyes, though, nor in the fists clenched at his sides. He was the most intimidating creature she had ever seen, even if he was disheveled after riding through the rain. Beneath his waterlogged plaid, a white shirt clung so tightly to his chest, she could make out a light dusting of hair beneath, and his hose were practically a second skin on his long, muscular legs. He was the most magnificent specimen of masculinity she’d ever laid eyes upon.
As the man came to a halt just feet away, Ailis was vaguely aware of Edane reaching out to grab Margaret’s arm for support. It seemed typical that neither of the women thought to offer her, the sacrificial bride, any comfort. Then again, she was not exactly known for possessing the qualities of a wallflower, so they’d no doubt assumed that she could take care of herself.
“Which of you is Ailis MacDonnell?” The giant warrior’s voice boomed through the startled silence that had fallen as his eyes raked appraisingly over each of the women standing before him.
Breathing deeply to steady her crumbling nerves, Ailis took a step forward and tried not to flinch at the look of surprise on his face. Clearly, she did not meet his expectations.
“I am Alexander de Moray.” He bowed low and then looked up through strands of dripping wet hair as though waiting for Ailis to do something. At the back of her mind, she knew that she should curtsy to him, but her knees had locked tightly beneath her. She was sure if she tried to bend, her legs would snap.
Aware that everyone was watching her intently, that her betrothed was regarding her with a look of curiosity as droplets of water ran down the side of his face, Ailis struggled to cope with the weight of the moment pressing down on her. As the pressure built, she did the only thing that felt right to her under such tense circumstances. Throwing back her head, she started to laugh.
Chapter Four
Alexander straightened himself and stared in disbelief at the impudent young woman before him. She was laughing, actually laughing, at him and it was no simpering giggle like the ladies at court employed as a means of seduction either. It was a full, throaty laugh that emanated from somewhere deep inside to take hold of her entire body. His lips twitching in irritation, he looked first to one of his brothers and then the other for guidance. Both men simply shrugged their shoulders, apparently as bemused by this strange female as he was.
“Is she a bit simple?” Iain leaned in close to Alexander as though he was about to ask the question quietly and then just barked it out for everyone to hear.
“She is anything but simple, I suspect,” Alexander replied, still studying the young woman who was to be his bride with great care.
“Then why does she laugh like that?”
As his brother had done a moment ago, Alexander simply lifted his shoulders in a shrug. He couldn’t account for her unexpected behavior. If she’d fainted upon seeing him, he might have been able to cope with that, but this was a response unlike any he’d elicited from a woman before. Frankly, he was annoyed by it. Nobody mocked him and got away with it. His palm itched to take the humiliation he felt out on her cheeky little rump.
“Ailis!” the woman whose mouth was pinched at the corners hissed.
She must be Gregor’s wife, Edane, Alexander decided. As Niall MacDonnell had recovered from injuries inflicted by two overzealous mercenaries who travelled with Alexander’s men, they had conversed briefly about the women who dwelled within these walls. If it was, indeed, Edane who spoke, then Niall had been correct when he described her expression as sour. Those pursed lips and narrow, disapproving eyes were enough to curdle milk.
The MacDonnell’s description of Ailis, however, could not have been wider of the mark. Yes, her hair was dark as Niall had told him, but it had a luster to it like Alexander had never seen before. Her eyes were green, but they were the most unique, bewitching shade, like the finest emeralds. Where Niall had described a lass of slight build, Alexander saw a woman of taller than average stature for a female. She had subtle curves and a bottom ripe for the spanking she was fast earning herself. She was much more alluring than Niall had led him to believe but he’d been correct about her abundance of spirit. If he allowed it, she would lead him a merry dance. It was clear she would need a firm hand to guide her.
“I am sorry,” Ailis said unconvincingly as she finally brought her laughter under control. “That was rude of me. It’s just that we’ve been waiting a long time for the devil to arrive at our door and I had not imagined that he would be so…” She waved her hand up and down at him as she seemed to struggle for the right word. “So… moist.”
Alexander tensed as his brother, Adam, barked out a laugh beside him. Clearly, he was not as offended as Alexander was by the sneering tone Ailis had adopted.
“We are rather bedraggled, I confess,” Alexander replied without a trace of humor, “but we have just come in from the rain and were so eager to meet our gracious hostess that we did not pause to dry ourselves off.” There was no mistaking the rebuke in his tone. “What is your excuse for your slovenly appearance, my lady?”
He hadn’t really meant for his words to wound so deeply, but their effect on the young woman before him was plain to see. Her shoulders stiffened, and she smoothed down the front of her dress. For a moment, he thought he saw the sheen of tears in her eyes, but she blinked, and they were gone. She shifted from one foot to the other, clearly embarrassed. An awkward silence fell, and nobody seemed to know quite how to break it. Then his older brother, ever the diplomat, stepped forward.
“I am Adam de Moray, Lady Ailis, and I am very pleased to meet you. I had no idea my brother had won himself such a beauty.”
Her brow furrowed, seemingly in response to his reference to her as a prize. Then, clearly realizing he had intended to pay her a compliment, she smoothed over her frown. Giving a small curtsy in response to Adam’s chivalrous bow, she held his gaze. If his brother had not been the most nauseatingly attentive husband to his wife, Mary, Alexander might have castrated him for the warm smile that settled on Ailis’ lips as they studied one another.
As Adam stepped back, he cleared his throat and gestured to Iain. Without moving from the spot where he’d firmly planted his feet, he introduced himself.
“Iain de Moray,” he said curtly.
Alexander shot a glance at his brother who was glowering fiercely and wondered why it was he and not Iain who’d attracted the dark reputation. Sure, Alexander had maimed and killed countless men when necessary but, ever since his beautiful young wife had been slain in a raid on their home in the north, Iain had become increasingly savage. All the charm of his youth was gone, and Alexander wondered if it had been a mistake to bring him here if he was not prepared to play nicely with the MacDonnell lass. Her family might be traitors, but she was to be his bride and Iain was going to have to try to get along with her.
“Hmm,” Ailis grunted rudely in response to Iain’s less than friendly greeting and Alexander knew her impudence was not something he could let her get away with. Not on top of laughing at him. He frowned as she turned to her companions.
“That’s my brother’s wife, Lady Edane MacDonnell and her companion, Margaret Baillie.” She waved her hand in their general direction and then looked around until her eyes settled on a little boy. The child’s facial expression told Alexander that the tension radiating from the adults was puzzling him. “That little urchin is my brother, Ruaridh, and you know Niall MacDonnell. I hope we are able to provide you with as warm a welcome as he received when he arrived at your camp.”
Alexander sucked in a breath. Now, she was really pushing it. One more word from her and he would pull her over his knee and bare her bottom for a sound thrashing, even if they did have an audience.
“It is good to meet you all,” Alexander wasn’t surprised that Adam was the one to speak once more, “but I suspect that my brother would like a moment alone with his bride-to-be.” How well Adam knew him, Alexander thought as he continued, “And I am in need of a little refreshment. Perhaps we might withdraw for a mug of ale and leave my brother and his betrothed to become better acquainted before they exchange their vows.”
“Is that decent?” Edane shrieked.
So, she was the moral guardian around here, was she? Alexander made a mental note to stay well out of her way for fear of being nagged to death over his shortcomings.
“I am happy to vouch for my brother’s good conduct,” Adam said. “You will behave with honor, won’t you, Sandy?”
Alexander’s lips twitched in annoyance at his brother’s use of the familiar name their late mother had always called him by. It made him feel smaller, somehow, and he suspected that Adam knew it. He was trying to remind his younger brother who the head of the family was. All three brothers were close, but there was still a great deal of rivalry between them. They taunted each other mercilessly at times.
“Aye,” he responded curtly.
“There, it is settled, madam. No attendants required,” Adam said, already herding everyone out of the room with the air of authority that only the head of a great family could project. As they walked from the room, Edane looked as though she might have a fit and Iain wore a forbidding expression. It was the same glower that had clouded his face from the moment they’d set out from their encampment. Alexander had no idea what was wrong with him. He suspected it was something to do with his upcoming marriage and the fact that he planned to settle here at Castle Donnell. They’d fought alongside one another on behalf of King Robert for many years now and Alexander knew that Iain would miss charging into battle at his side.
As the room emptied of people, Alexander saw a look of trepidation pass across Ailis’ face. So, she was anxious about being left alone with him? Well, good. She should be worried because he was about to teach her a lesson. He was not a man who would stand for being made to look a fool. He watched as,
once again, she quickly brought the mask down and her face settled into a blank expression. She seemed keen to hide her emotions from him, so that was something he would have to watch for. It was important to him that he was able to gauge her moods and know whether she was concealing anything from him. After all, she was the daughter of one of the king’s enemies. It would take some time before he knew if he could trust her. If she was accomplished at masking her feelings, it would make the task all the harder.
“Right,” he said in a pleasant tone that belied his intentions, “let’s get it over with.”
“Get what over with?” Her eyes narrowed in suspicion.
“Your spanking, of course. You really didn’t think you could greet me and my brothers with that shocking display of childishness and get away with it, did you?”
As her mouth fell open in shock, he couldn’t help but feel a certain satisfaction. His little bride was about to get her first demonstration of where the power lay in their relationship. He only hoped she would learn from it because, otherwise, she was going to spend much of their marriage with a red-hot bottom.
* * *
Alexander took a seat on the stool by the fireplace and pinned Ailis with an expectant look as he patted his knee. Although she could see exactly what he wanted from her, she didn’t move. Did he really think that she would meekly submit to his punishment, that she would simply drape herself over his lap and let him spank her like some errant child? Such a thing would be outrageous enough if he was her husband, but they hadn’t exchanged vows yet. Until they were man and wife, as far as Ailis was concerned, her body was her own to command.
Wiping her palms, which had become distinctly clammy, on the skirt of her woolen dress, she returned his stare.
“Is this some sort of jest, my lord?” Ailis asked, her eyes narrowing. “You are teasing me, perhaps? Because, if that is the case, I do not find it amusing.”
His Conquered Bride Page 3
