Never Love a Highlander (McCabe Trilogy #3)(19)

“What was I right about?”

“Kissing. ’Tis a most wondrous thing.”

She could sense his smile.

“And you were right about another thing. There are so many other … places … where kissing brings much pleasure to.”

This time he chuckled softly over her head. “Go to sleep, Rionna. We must rise early in the morn. We have a hard journey ahead of us.”

She sighed and closed her eyes and just before she drifted off, she had the thought that this whole consummation thing wasn’t so bad after all.

CHAPTER 7

Caelen was in a black mood. He hadn’t slept a wink the entire night. He’d finally given up when he couldn’t take the torture of Rionna’s naked body wrapped around his a minute longer.

He had a raging erection, and even after prying himself from the bed and seeking privacy to take care of the matter, he was still hard and aching.

Her taste was still on his tongue. Her scent still filled his nostrils. Her lean body with her lush curves still haunted him. Whether he shut or opened his eyes, he couldn’t rid himself of the images of her writhing beneath his mouth.

“Sweet Jesu,” he muttered.

Panting after a woman had already caused him—and his clan—a lifetime of trouble.

He would bed her as soon as they arrived at McDonald keep and then he’d distance himself from her. A good tupping was what he needed. He’d been a long time without a woman. Aye, that was the issue. He needed relief and then he would regain his senses and he could function without being led about by his cods.

Knowing the others wouldn’t be up for some time yet, he went below stairs and into the courtyard. Snow had blown into drifts, barring the usual walkways. He cursed as he stared around at the heavy blanket of freshly fallen snow.

At least it had stopped and the sky was clear above. The moon and countless stars shone and reflected off the snow until it appeared nearly daytime.

“Good morn, Caelen.”

Caelen turned to see Gannon standing a short distance away.

“ ’Tis cold, Gannon. Where are your furs?”

Gannon grinned. “I don’t want them wet before our journey. ’Twill be freezing on the ride to McDonald land.”

Caelen studied the warrior who’d long served Caelen’s brother. A more loyal man Caelen had never known. He was glad to get him, but he worried.

“What think you of Ewan sending you with me?”

Gannon stared around at the keep, the courtyard where they’d trained for so many years. At the still-crumbling walls that were even now being repaired, thanks to Mairin’s dowry.

“ ’Twill be hard to leave the home I’ve known for so long. But things are changing. Ewan is newly married and he leaves for Neamh Álainn as soon as Isabel is strong enough for the journey. Alaric will become laird. Aye, things are changing, and ’tis the truth I’m looking forward to a new challenge. Going with you to McDonald keep will give me that.”

“I’m glad to have you,” Caelen said. “ ’Twill be a hard task to train the McDonalds to be warriors on par with the McCabes. We’ve not much time to whip them into shape. Ewan is impatient to be rid of Duncan Cameron once and for all.”

“As is our king.”

“Aye, for different reasons, but aye, David is eager to be rid of Cameron as well.”

“Since we are both awake, perhaps we should ready the horses for the journey. I had some of the men bring down the trunks last night to load into the carts. Will you wait for your lady wife to awaken before we depart?”

Caelen scowled. His lady wife had slept like a babe while he’d lain awake in pain. “I’ll wake her once we’ve readied the carts and the men. I’ll want to say my goodbyes to my brothers and their wives.”

“ ’Tis a new page in your life you’re embarking on,” Gannon said in a sage voice. “A fortnight ago, did you imagine that you’d be laird of your own clan, newly married to a beautiful lass and on your way to a life away from the McCabes?”

For a moment Caelen didn’t acknowledge Gannon’s question. It caused him too much discomfort. The truth was an ugly, unforgiving thing. Always there. Never changing.

“ ’Tis my fault we’ve struggled for as many years as we have,” Caelen said quietly. “I owe my brothers more than I can ever repay. My agreeing to this marriage gives Alaric what he most wants in the world, and it aids Ewan in keeping his wife and child safe. It wouldn’t matter if Rionna McDonald were a pox-riddled whore. I’d marry her for those reasons and never feel regret.”

“How fortunate for you that I’m nay pox-riddled nor a whore.”

Caelen swung around to see Rionna standing a short distance away, her face drawn into an impassive mask as she stared at him and Gannon. He cursed under his breath just as Gannon muttered “Uh-oh.” Caelen was forever making a muck of things around Rionna.

“Rionna …”

She held up her hand to silence him and he did so before it sunk in that she was giving him a command and he’d meekly followed it.

“Don’t apologize for speaking the truth, husband. ’Tis the truth I had no more desire to marry you than you did me, but as you said last eve, neither of us had a choice. Perhaps it would be better to move forward rather than to keep rehashing the reasons why over and over.”