by Reece Butler
That was why the laird insisted he and Fiona marry by a priest. Lovat had connections to the king and enough gold to buy an annulment. Even if Fiona wished to stay with them her uncle could “convince” her otherwise. He and Gillis could complain all they liked. The wealthiest, most powerful usually won the battle. Not that they would go down without a fight!
Gillis jumped to his feet. “Ye knew this afore ye had Fiona wed Angus!” he bellowed. “Why’d ye keep it to yerself?”
Cameron sat back, eyes half-closed like a cat pretending to be sleepy yet ready to pounce. “You ken what Angus thinks of wellborn women. Would he have treated Lady Fiona of Fraser and Menzies as he did the wee fiery cat you both bedded so loudly last night?”
Gillis flexed his hands, then clenched them into fists. He said nothing, though his fury and harsh breathing filled the room.
“Aye, laird,” said Angus. He exhaled heavily. “Ye have the right of it. If I’d known Fiona was a lady when we met I may not have touched her.”
“She is the same woman this morn that you married last eve,” said Cameron. “‘Tis up to both of you to help your wife keep her joy of living. That is rare in a woman, especially a highborn one. She has not been taught to be meek and mild, to dutifully smile at her husband as if he is everything to her whilst she is thinking of ways to avoid his very presence.” He leaned forward, voice low and intense. “You have a prize, lads. Fiona knows how men work and think, yet has the pleasing body of a woman. You have the best of both. How you treat her will either give you a true friend and intelligent companion you can trust, or just a womb to grow bairns.”
“MacDougals have nay need for bairns,” said Angus softly. He wanted all of Fiona. She had the knowledge and determination of a warrior, the laughter and caring of a friend, and the softness of a woman. He would not let Lovat take her from them, by any means.
“Now you ken why I had you marry the lass, and not Gillis,” said Cameron. “You must win Fiona over Lovat’s objections, and perhaps her own as well. That requires cunning, strength, and a cool head on your shoulders.” He turned to Gillis, who was sitting again, still grinding his teeth. “Your brute strength, and aye, your berserker rage, will balance your brother’s cooler head. There’s a time and place for both. If a fight be necessary, you can do it. Fraser will not touch Fiona though he may injure the man he sees as her husband.”
“Ye tricked us!” said Gillis, furious. “I was Fiona’s husband, and now ‘tis Angus.”
“‘Twas strategy, and for your own good.” Cameron held Gillis’s eyes, stopping his mouth from cursing. “Do you deny that you’d take your claymore and run it through any man who said your wife was a whore for handfasting with you one day, then speaking to a priest with your brother the next?”
Gillis rose to his feet with a roar. Angus grabbed him before he could leap over the table.
“You’d best get used to false words and sly looks about your lady wife,” said Cameron. He hadn’t moved at Gillis’s outburst, trusting Angus to calm his brother. “And though she has not been trained to be a lady she is one, in every meaning of the word.”
Gillis threw off Angus’s hands. He shook himself like a dog, then sat. His chest heaved with effort and outrage, but he kept his mouth shut.
“Rabbie was not at your feast,” said Cameron. “I sent my heir to ride hard with a message to Lovat. I wrote of Fiona and of her life afore she was captured by the Campbells. I said how you saved her. He’ll ken you didna marry her for her dowry or to gain favor with her family.”
Lovat would have every reason to be suspicious of a grown niece turning up out of nowhere along with two hulking husbands from a near-penniless warrior clan. Angus would rather not walk into the den of the lion knowing he could lose not only his wife, but his life and that of his brother. He would take Fiona to her uncle, yet plan to leave Fraser land the same way he arrived, with a healthy brother and wife.
“Do ye ken if Fiona looks like her mother?” asked Gillis.
“Ah, the big red hairy one can think if you give him enough time,” said Cameron, breaking the tension with sarcasm. “Aye, Fraser will see his sister in Fiona. Lady Morag Fraser was a good friend of my wife. Fiona resembles her. ‘Tis how we kenned who she was.” He raised an eyebrow, warning of his seriousness. “My lady wife will tell this to Fiona, as she kenned her mother.”
Angus nodded. It would be best for the women to speak of such things. Afterward, he and Gillis would hold her. They had few answers at this point. It all came down to what Lord Lovat wished.
“Our heads may end up on pikes outside his castle,” said Gillis, “but we’ll take Fiona to Lord Lovat. Aye, and his Campbell wife.”
Cameron gave Gillis a pointed look. “You must show how much you want her by keeping yourself under control.”
Gillis grimaced even harder.
“How many days of riding?” asked Angus. “Fiona is newly married, and, ah…”
“A wee bit sore?” asked Cameron, lip twitching. “You are in luck. Lovat rides his land each summer. He is camped at the north end of Loch Lochy where we share a strip of land. It is in his best interests, and mine, to keep Clan Ranald from taking it. You’ll be there tomorrow.” He tapped his fingertips together. “You’ll be far from his dungeon.”
“Thank God fer that,” said Gillis. He shuddered. “I’ll nay go down a pit again.”
Angus set his elbows on his knees. He dropped his head. Gillis could say what he chose, but bad things still happened. They lived in the Highlands where fighting was a proud way of life. So was capturing enemies and keeping them for ransom. MacDougals had done the same over the years, though such prisoners were usually well treated as long as they gave their word not to escape.
He scrubbed his head with his fingers. It didn’t relieve his frustration. He sat up with a sigh. They’d expected an interesting trip from Duncladach to Inverlochy Castle but nothing like this. Lovat could use his power as Fiona’s uncle to have their marriage annulled. She was a beautiful, educated woman, a pawn he could use for his own benefit. The previous Laird Lovat had enjoyed destroying lives. Angus didn’t know what this one was like.
Last night he’d thought the three of them would have a simple life together. If Lovat denied the marriage or lured Fiona away everything he’d dreamed of would be gone. If Fiona refused his plans, Lovat could send her to his castle, lock her in one of his towers, and have her beaten and starved until she agreed. It had happened to many a young woman. Some had jumped out a high window to escape their fate, preferring death.
“Fiona is a good woman, and suits you well,” said Cameron. The corner of his mouth drew up. “The wedding, and bedding, were easy. Now comes the hard part, keeping Fiona as your wife.”
Chapter Two
When Fiona entered Laird Cameron’s study both Angus and Gillis turned as if they’d been waiting for her. Their heated looks made her wish even more they hadn’t been rousted from their soft, warm nest. Last night was the first time they’d lain in a bed. Darach’s mattress had been soft and her husbands hard. Her pussy tingled, reminding her of all they had done. She reminded herself they could do the same without the bed. She was not used to much. That was good as the MacDougals had little. She would not complain.
“I wish you to report on what you observed after being spotted by the Campbells,” said the laird.
It was not what she’d expected, but she did her best. She’d been dressed as a lad, a decoy for her half-brother, the heir. The Campbells, thinking she was Patrick, tossed her in the dungeon pit on top of Gillis, who’d been there a few days. He’d refused to say his name as he knew he was worthless to ransom. They would both have been killed in the morning, after being tortured. Being female, her terror would have lasted longer than that of Gillis. Between the long, silk binding that had hidden her breasts and Gillis’ strength to boost her out and then climb the silk rope, they’d escaped.
“Well done.” Cameron nodded his appreciation when she’d finished. “Yo
u have a keen eye to have seen all that. I have not sent word to your father that you survived capture, or of your wedding. Do you wish Menzies to know?” He leaned forward, expression intense. “I expect him at Darach’s wedding.”
“My father? Here?” She flinched, trembling in memory of the vicious beating he’d ordered the last time he’d caught sight of her. “Dinna tell him a word of me!” She shook her head violently. “I wish to be dead to him, as he is to me.”
Angus wrapped his arm around her, pulling her to rest against his warm chest. She immediately relaxed, leaning into his strength, absorbing his scent as that of safety. It was wondrous to have husbands standing beside her, protecting and supporting her. It did not mean she was weak, however.
“Shh, ye’re safe now,” he murmured. “We’ll protect ye. He’ll not beat ye again.”
Gillis moved to her side.
“We’d die for ye, lassie. Ye ken it, aye?”
Gillis frowned so hard his bushy red eyebrows almost met above his clear blue eyes. This man could be fierce but not against her. She needed them and craved the comfort they gave her. They needed to know she cared, and believed she was safe with them.
“Aye. And it eases my heart that ye do so,” she replied.
The tension from both husbands eased. So did hers, but for a different reason. Of course her father would attend Darach Cameron’s wedding. She realized it must be why he’d brought Patrick so close to danger. Menzies knew of Patrick’s habit of getting free of his guards so brought her along. Her disappearance, and expected death, meant she was no longer a loose end her father had to be concerned with. It should not hurt so much. She’d known she meant little to him and that he’d sacrificed her as easily as a pawn in a chess game.
Cameron pushed a sheaf of papers toward her. “This is your marriage contract. You must put your X on each page, beside that of Angus.”
She stepped forward to take it. Angus held on for a second before releasing her. Did her touch give him comfort, as he gave her? She picked up the top page and began reading.
“Ye can read?”
She should have expected Gillis’s astonishment. “I told ye Master Tybalt was tutor to both Patrick and myself.” He still looked grumpy. “Ye accepted me learning about building walls and defending a keep. Why is reading, and writing, so different?”
“I can do the fighting far better than ye,” replied Gillis. He tilted his head, scratching his chin with a blunt thumb as he stared at the ground. “I can read print but canna write well,” he admitted. “To have a wee lassie do it…” He scuffed his boot on the stone floor. “The man should ken more than the woman,” he muttered.
“Both should learn what they can to help their family, and their clan,” she replied. “All should know how to protect themselves with a dirk, to sew a wound, and do sums. Even better if they can read a letter, be they lads or lassies. If we are blessed with daughters I wish to teach them the same as their brothers, even to learning to defend themselves.”
“Nay, wife,” said Angus. He spoke lightly but a warning thread of steel anchored his words. “Men need to ken what to do when attacked by sharp, pointy things. Ye can hire a scribe to read and write for ye. Ye canna trust another to protect yer family.”
She’d spoken bluntly and perhaps too strongly. Though she believed it with all her heart she knew when to back away and soften her words. She playfully nudged Gillis with her shoulder.
“Not all men are like my braw, handsome husbands,” she said in a tone better suited to the bedchamber. Gillis’s lip twitched. His eyes flicked at her, sending heat. It lit the fire within that had not gone out since she’d begged him to relieve her of her virginity while in the Campbell pit. She inhaled as best she could with her heart pounding. “Some men dinna have strong bodies or sword arms so become scholars, bards, or priests.”
“I’m no scholar, and I canna sing,” replied Gillis gruffly. A warm hand slipped over her bottom. She gasped when he then squeezed. “Ye ken why I’d not take a vow of chastity.”
Cameron cleared his throat. Fiona startled. She’d forgotten he was there. Gillis patted her back cheek as a last reminder before crossing his hands in front of him.
“Nor would I,” said Angus. He lifted her hand to his lips and gently kissed her fingers. She trembled. Desperate to hide her arousal from the keen-eyed laird, she kept her eyes down.
“Ye are a wife now, Fiona,” said Angus. “Our wife. God willing, ye will be a mother. Ye are not a lad and canna act the same as before. ‘Tis our duty, and honor, to protect ye. As we will protect our bairns.”
She still believed that all children should learn to read and to defend themselves. She’d had to use her wits, and even her knife, to defend herself from men who wanted to stick their cocks in someone and didn’t care who. But that discussion was not for now. She had many years to change their minds before any children were old enough for it to matter. So she nodded, letting him believe she agreed to everything he said. It took an effort, but she turned to Angus with a calm she did not feel.
“I am sorry ye must miss Darach’s wedding because of me.”
“‘Tis no matter,” he replied. “We shall be together. I’d just as soon not meet any Grants. They’re allies of the Campbells, those—” He stopped abruptly and pressed his lips together. “I’ll say no more. ‘Tis not for a lady’s ears.”
She snorted a laugh. They couldn’t say anything worse than the men she’d spent her life beside.
“I’m no lady. I’ve heard, and said the same, many times.”
“Ye are my lady, and Gillis’s.” Angus squeezed the hand he still held. “And ye’ll curb yer words now that ye are my wife.”
* * * *
Gillis grinned to himself at Fiona’s we’ll see about that! glare at his brother. She finished reading, signing rather than making an X. She’d bent over Cameron’s table to do so. Her well-curved arse fair begged for a spanking. Her glares meant it was likely to happen. Often. His smile faded at the thought of her reaction to the news of where they were going, why, and who they’d be meeting. Would she choose to leave them when she knew her parentage?
“Are ye sad to miss Darach’s feast?” he asked.
“Nay, ‘tis just as well. I have no clothes for a wedding. A dirk is no weapon against the words women use on those who dinna fit in.”
“My lady wife kens such things.” Cameron grimaced. “I’d sooner go up against a man with a sword than a vengeful woman. They are like adders, coiled and waiting to attack.”
Gillis felt his brother stiffen. Fiona knew naught of the woman Angus had thought to marry. Would she change when she discovered she was a lady rather than a bastard?
“We’ll be gone as soon as I saddle the horses,” said Angus abruptly.
“I shall lend you two more,” said Cameron. “I need the space for guests. Send them back after the wedding, or bring them when you return.”
Gillis grunted, pleased at the offer. They could travel far faster if each of them had a horse. His brother was not so happy though Gillis wasn’t sure why. Angus looked beyond words to the meaning behind them and saw things he didn’t.
“‘Tis most kind,” drawled Angus. “I would hear the truth of it.”
“I’d rather my finest stallion and mare were not seen by Grant. He has a love of good horseflesh and sticky fingers.” Cameron raised his eyes to the ceiling. “I will bring his daughter into my home for my son to wife but I’ll not trust him with my horses.”
“Ye’d trust us?” asked Gillis.
“Aye. You were good lads, most of the time.” Cameron raised an eyebrow.
Gillis squirmed, remembering some of what he got punished for and other things he hoped no one had discovered.
“I would like to learn more about my husbands’ time with ye, Laird Cameron,” said Fiona. “Did Gillis get in a wee spot of trouble now and then?” She gave a wide-eyed, innocent look that fooled no one.
“Laird—”
Cameron chu
ckled at Gillis’s unease. “I told you at the time you’d regret some of your foolishness.” He switched his gaze to Fiona. “My man Ambrose will be leading you. He kens well what these lads got up to. He’ll fill your ear for hours with tales.”
“Thank ye,” she said with far too much satisfaction. “I shall have a wee chat with him as we ride.”
“Do that, and I’ll put ye over my knee,” said Gillis in warning.
Fiona tilted her head up at him, brows furrowed. After a moment she gave a sharp nod and smiled. “‘Twould be worth it.”
Gillis went hard at the thought of her lying her over his lap, bare arse to the sky as he spanked her. When it was red he’d ram his cock deep in her tight pussy until she screamed her release.
“Aye, it would,” said Angus. He held out his right hand and tapped his palm with his left. “One word and my hand will be on yer arse before ye can get in another.”
“Ye’d not do it in front of the guards!”
“If my wife needs a reminder of how to behave she will get it,” replied Angus calmly. “No matter where we are or who is watching.”
“Mayhaps I’ll think that over,” she muttered.
“Ye do that, wife.”
Gillis got the strong impression the threat was more likely to challenge her than frighten her off. Fiona had been raised to be tough, to make quick decisions, and to follow through with them. Her actions to protect her brother proved it. She would do what she wanted unless she was stopped. It was up to him, and to Angus, to guide her gently but firmly. He looked forward to the challenge and the punishments that would no doubt follow.
“Angus has a way with beasts,” said Cameron, “my stallion being one of them.” His lips twitched as he looked at Fiona.
“Are ye suggesting I’m a beast for Angus to manage?” asked Fiona, again too sweetly.
Cameron’s eyes twinkled. “Lass, I’ve been married too long to get caught in that question.” He shook his head, though did it smiling. “You’ve not been raised to be an obedient wife, silently stitching in your solar with your ladies.”
