Letting out a sigh, she pushed away and went into the house and straight to her and Stuart’s bedchamber.
Chapter Twenty-Three
The surroundings did not resemble anything he recalled. His body felt heavy and cumbersome, and when he tried to roll to his side it was impossible.
He had to relieve himself badly, but when he tried to sit, it was as if he was held down.
Stuart tried to lift his right arm. He could not, it was so heavy that a grunt escaped.
Cait slept soundly next to him, with her back to him. He hated to wake her. However, it was better to wake and ask for help than to urinate on her.
“Caith,” his tongue did not cooperate. It was as if he’d drunk too much the night before. “Caith,” he repeated louder “Wake.”
His wife jerked and sat up with a start, her eyes wide. “Stuart?”
“I n-neeth to… relieve myself. I cannot… move,” he said getting a bit impatient at his uncooperative tongue. “Am I tieth up?”
“Ye are,” Cait said slowly. “Ye were thrashing about and yer brothers were afraid ye would hurt yerself.” She began to cry.
“Ye are awake,” she whispered.
“Why… are ye… crying?” What was happening? It was as if time had passed without him and he had no idea why.
“I will fetch Darach or Ewan.”
She raced from the room calling out his brothers’ names. When had his brothers arrived?
Moments later the room became crowded, the bed surrounded by grinning loons.
“If ye… do not helth me up. I am going to lay… in my own piss,” he stuttered, with annoyance.
“Why all the crying?” he asked as Darach untied him.
Duncan appointed himself assistant to help him relieve himself. He pulled Stuart from the bed and half-carried him to the corner behind the screen. When his brother reached between his legs, Stuart swatted his hand away clumsily. “I can do ith myself.”
“No, ye cannot,” Duncan said and when Stuart tried to take a step forward, his legs would not hold him up. Luckily his larger brother easily kept him from falling and held him up while helping Stuart to manage his business.
When he was returned to the bed, Stuart frowned at those surrounding him. “What happened to me?”
“We thought ye were going to die.” His mother wrapped her arms around his shoulders and kissed his head. She began to sob and one of his other brothers pulled her away.
“I did not expect ye would,” Gideon said with a look of superiority. “I was just telling Ewan and Duncan that earlier.”
“Ye said ye wanted these lands,” Duncan said shoving the youngest aside so he could stare at Stuart. “What do ye remember?”
Stuart frowned looking around the room for Cait but did not see her. “I remember going to the village to help after the storm.”
Before he could ask, Caelan peered around Duncan’s shoulder. “They are making great headway in rebuilding. This time the houses are being built on higher ground. All that remains on the lower road are some of the shacks used by the fishermen.”
As Caelan spoke Stuart could not bring himself to ask the obvious.
Thankfully his brothers always seemed to read one another’s minds.
“Ye have been unconscious for a long time. It has been almost a month since Dougal and Cait found ye.”
“I do not remember anything.”
“Perhaps ye will soon enough,” Cait said appearing and coming to his side, her face blotchy from crying.
“Ye need rest and food,” his mother added her reddened eyes boring into him.
Maisie entered with a tray of broth and some warm tea. Though his insides felt so hollow he’d have much rather had a big bowl of hearty stew followed by a tankard of dark ale, his mother gave him no choice in the matter. And she banned everyone from his room saying he needed to rest, but he knew it was so his brothers couldn’t slip him any forbidden food.
Despite him arguing against it, his wife insisted on feeding him. And even though he felt near to starving, his stomach only allowed him to take in a bit before it began to protest. To distract him as she fed him, Cait told him all that had happened, not sparing any detail. Drained by all that he learned and by all that had occurred, he fell asleep holding her hand, asking that she not leave his side.
It’d been several weeks since Stuart woke. His mother and brothers had remained another sennight to reassure themselves that he would fully recover. With each passing day he regained his strength, but he never regained his memory of what had occurred. She sometimes wondered if it was a way of his mind protecting itself against what he had witnessed that night.
They’d learned that the man who he’d gone to help, as well as his wife, had perished the night of the storm. Miraculously, only five people in total had died. The couple Stuart had tried to help. The young boy, Tom’s parents. And the young man that washed up on the beach while Cait and Dougal searched for Stuart.
Pushing the bad memories aside, Cait reluctantly peered out the window of the carriage and was pleasantly surprised at the view that met her on the way to the village.
Some new homes had been finished. Others were still in process. But the men made sure each new roof was rainproof.
She looked to Stuart who stared intently in the direction of the sea. “Look,” she said, pointing just off the coast where a pair of small boats bobbed. “Life is going back to normal. It is the way of things in a seaside village. These are resilient people.”
He turned and met her gaze. “Ye are like them. Strong and brave. I would not be alive if it was not for yer determination. Mother told me she’d asked that ye allow me to die and ye would not accept it.”
“She feels horrible,” Cait replied. “It was painful either way. To see ye suffering was almost more horrible than the idea of ye dying.”
His hand covered hers and he leaned forward to kiss her. “Ye seem different.”
Cait cocked her head to the side. “Do I?” She gave him a warm smile, knowing he’d wonder what she left unsaid.
Since he’d woken, she’d not found the opportunity to tell him about their child. They’d yet to make love and she couldn’t help but wonder if Stuart found he could not.
That night, she vowed to reassure him that all would be well. Even if they could no longer make love, not in the traditional way, they were blessed with a child and her love for him would never diminish.
Upon their arrival at the house on the hill, Bree welcomed them with a warm smile as Tom, his younger brother, Ian, and the dog raced out of the house to find adventure. She threaded her arm through Cait’s, and they headed to the sitting room. While Stuart went in search of Artair—who’d traveled ahead—and Dougal. The men were to meet regularly to go over village concerns.
“How are ye doing?” Bree asked. “Have ye felt the babe move yet? It should be like the fluttering of butterfly wings.”
Bree had a son, who was almost twenty. The young man had remained behind at Keep Ross working.
“I think so,” Cait said automatically placing her hand over her stomach. “I have decided to tell Stuart tonight.”
Bree smiled. “Take yer time. Ye have both been through a great ordeal.” Her friend looked out through the window. “I worry about the lads. They have their sad moments and Tom is overly protective of Ian.”
“They are fortunate to have ye and Dougal as parents now,” Cait reassured her. “I am sure they will never forget their first parents, but ye will be their new mother. It was nice to see the smiles on their faces just now.”
They spent the rest of the day there. When Cait and Bree walked through the village, it was reassuring to see that the people had settled back into their daily lives.
On the ride back, Cait told Stuart what she’d learned from Bree about how the women of the village were setting up a new market. “They need a covered structure, so their goods are not exposed to the weather.”
He nodded. “I will be sure to tell Doug
al, though I am certain he will hear of it from his own wife.”
“Cait?” Stuart reached for her hand. “Why do ye sleep with yer back to me?”
Her eyes widened not sure how to respond. She’d turned away so that he would not see the look of disappointment when he didn’t attempt to make love to her. He did pull her close, but other than a quick kiss, he’d not done more.
“Ye are recovering I know ye need time to gain yer strength. I had to sleep with my back to ye while ye were… ill.”
“Is there something ye are not telling me? Did seeing me without the ability to speak or see ye change yer feelings toward me?”
“No!” Cait threw her arms around him. “I love ye more each day.”
Stuart’s body slumped with relief and he pressed his mouth to hers, kissing her with so much desperation, she could scarcely breathe.
“I want ye.” The huskiness in his voice brought tingles of awareness and Cait pressed kisses to his neck, enjoying his sounds of encouragement.
He pushed away and peered out grunting with annoyance. “I never thought the ride home to be so long.”
Upon arriving, they dashed past a startled Grace who announced last meal would be a bit late as they’d not expected them to return until the following day.
Later Cait would be mortified at the woman’s chuckle. In that moment, however, all she wanted was to be alone with her husband.
Stuart had lost weight, but he was still magnificent when unclothed. When he stalked to the bed where she lay, Cait did not hide her appreciation of what she saw.
He climbed into bed and peered down at her. It was exciting and somewhat a bit disconcerting to be so exposed to him. However, when Stuart trailed his hands from her shoulders over her breasts and down her stomach, Cait lost all inhibitions and reached for him.
There wasn’t any need for a longer preamble, Stuart drove into her and both moaned at the joining. When he began to thrust Cait urged him on, lifting her hips to meet each thrust.
Heat pooled at her very core and she didn’t fight it. More than anything, she needed to feel that Stuart was alive and that he was hers.
She’d never felt more blissful than at that moment. And when she crested, it was impossible to keep from sobbing with joy.
Hands firmly on her hips, her husband plunged just once more before a low moan erupted and his entire body shuddered with his own release.
Cradled against him as they regained their breathing, Cait sniffed loudly. “It was so emotional. So very wonderful.”
“I agree,” Stuart said pressing kisses to her face. “Does this mean, ye will not turn away tonight?”
Cait nodded. “I will sleep with my face toward ye.” She let out a long breath before continuing, “I have news.”
Studying her, Stuart frowned. “Good or bad?”
“Good,” Cait giggled nervously. “We are to become parents.”
Her strong, brave husband paled. He stared at her with round eyes but didn’t speak. For a moment she thought he’d faint.
“Stuart? Did ye hear me?”
It was then she noticed a tear sliding down his face. He nodded, still unable to speak. Instead, he pulled her against him and held her tightly.
Cait stroked his hair. “We will be very happy forever.”
Epilogue
1603, Ross Keep, South Uist Hebrides, Scotland
“Interesting that suddenly all my brothers are settling down,” Caelan told his stepmother, Lady Mariel. “I will not fall into such a trap.”
His stepmother chuckled. “I assure ye it is not a trap. I hope that when ye finally fall in love, it will not feel like one.”
They sat in the parlor at Keep Ross. He’d arrived that evening as she’d asked him to take her to visit his half brother Stuart and wife Cait who lived on the west side of the Isle in a place called Eilean Daes.
His eldest half brother, and laird, Darach would not leave the keep until his wife, Isobel, was fully recovered from childbirth.
The other half brothers also could not leave their duties. Ewan was busy preparing his lands for winter, Gideon had gone to the southern guard post and Duncan’s wife, Beatrice, was about to give birth soon. That left him to help with what needed to be done when it came to his stepmother.
He didn’t begrudge having to travel. In actuality, he looked forward to seeing his half brother and visiting the village now that it was fully rebuilt. Although, he’d never admit it to them, he missed Stuart and his cousin, Artair, who remained at Eilean Daes, and he looked forward to spending time with them.
“When do ye wish to leave?” Caelan asked, drinking the last of the tea in his cup. “Early in the morning?”
“That would be perfect,” his stepmother replied, eyes bright with excitement. “Oh did I mention we have another person traveling with us?”
Caelan let out a breath. “No, ye had not. Who?”
Just then a young woman walked in. Her clear green gaze barely hesitated on him before she looked to his stepmother and smiled widely. “I am sorry, I did not know ye had company.”
“Nonsense,” Lady Mariel said motioning to Caelan. “This is my stepson, Caelan. He is to take us to visit Stuart and his wife, Cait.”
“Oh.” The woman looked back to him. “I do not believe we have met.”
His stepmother placed a hand on his forearm. “I do not suppose ye have. When Glynis visited last, ye were gone to the lowlands.”
At the words, the woman studied him. “Ah yes, now I remember, ye are the brother who is more English than Scot.”
The words made Caelan want to glare at her. Instead, he gave her a bland smile. “Is it more Scottish than English to state things one knows nothing of upon meeting someone for the first time?”
Glynis’ eyes widened and she glanced to his stepmother. “I do not know why I said that. Father always says I have the worst habit of blurting things without thought.” She looked back to Caelan. “Please forgive me.”
When she lowered her gaze, Caelan studied her. Whoever she was she had to be the most enticing woman he’d ever laid eyes on. Her plump lips begging for a lingering kiss. Her round curves an invitation to pleasure. Her breasts—
“Caelan?” His mother gave him a curious look. “Accept Glynis’s apology.”
His lips curved. “Of course. It is forgotten”
Satisfied, his stepmother smiled. “Glynis is my niece and is visiting from Bara.”
“Ah, a MacNeil,” Caelan said as Glynis lowered to sit.
“Ye say it as if ye do not care for my clan,” Glynis replied.
Caelan did not reply because if he were to be honest, there was but one MacNeil he definitely did not care for. A young man at his school in Glasgow that he’d never gotten along with. But it was not something that mattered any longer.
“We leave early in the morning.” he stood and walked from the room, unwilling to look and see how the woman was probably assessing his choice of clothing.
He was well aware, he dressed much more English than Scottish.
I bet ye cannot wait to get yer hands on Caelan and Glynis’ story. All ye must do is click here.
A Note to Readers
Can’t get enough of Beatrice and Duncan? Check out this extra epilogue. When Beatrice ignores Duncan’s warnings and sneaks off to the village, things take a turn for the worse. If only she’d listened to her husband! Click Here!
About the Author
Enticing. Engaging. Romance.
USA Today Bestselling Author Hildie McQueen writes strong brooding alphas who meet their match in feisty brave heroines. If you like stories with a mixture of passion, drama, and humor, you will love Hildie’s storytelling where love wins every single time!
A fan of all things pink, Paris, and four-legged creatures, Hildie resides in eastern Georgia, USA, with her super-hero husband Kurt and three little yappy dogs.
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