Never Love a Highlander (McCabe Trilogy #3)(9)

She knew all of this. She wasn’t an idiot. She could hold her own with a sword, and yet from the moment she’d become aware of his presence, all sense had flown right out of her mind.

She’d become nothing more than a bumbling fool playing at being a man. Her disgust knew no bounds.

A knock sounded at her door. She frowned and sunk so low in the tub that only her nose and eyes stuck out of the water. A moment later, the door opened and Maddie stuck her head in.

“Ah, there you are, lass. Caelen thought you might be needing help. He wants you below stairs to break your fast in half an hour’s time.”

“Oh he does, does he?” Rionna muttered.

“Let me help wash your hair. ’Twill take some doing to get it all dry in such a short time. You have such long, thick hair. ’Tis as beautiful as a sunset over the loch.”

The woman’s praise bolstered Rionna’s flagging spirits. She knew she wasn’t beautiful. Keeley was beautiful. Rionna … Well, part of it was her fault. She could have practiced being more feminine when she was younger.

Now her body had lost some of her youthful softness and she had muscles that no lady should ever have. Her arms were firm. Her waist slender. Her legs were hard with muscle, and no flab gathered at her hips. In fact she was quite narrow.

The only womanly place on her was her br**sts, and she despaired of them. They simply didn’t match the rest of her.

Which is why she kept them bound. They simply got in her way and they were a great distraction.

There were occasions when her father insisted she dress as a woman, the few times the McDonalds hosted honored guests. Her mother’s gowns had been altered, but the bodice had still been too tight. Her br**sts had strained the limits of the bodice, and the result was men making twits of themselves as they stared lasciviously at her cle**age.

Men were ridiculous. Show them a breast and they became slobbering fools.

And one man was a fool above all others and ’twas him she feared the most. As long as she remained boyish in figure, she didn’t have to worry about drawing unwanted attention.

“Well, lass? Are you going to sit there all day while the water grows cold or are you going to let me wash your hair so we can get you ready to go below stairs?”

Rionna shook herself from her thoughts and then nodded. Maddie briskly fetched a wooden bucket from the window and then motioned for Rionna to sit forward in the tub. As Rionna sat up, Maddie’s eyes widened.

“Well now, where have you been hiding those?”

Rionna looked down and flushed as she became aware that Maddie was staring at her exposed br**sts. They bobbed in the water and Rionna laid her arm across her chest to push them down.

“I’m cursed,” Rionna muttered.

“Oh, Lordie, no you’re not cursed. Lasses would kill to have a shape like that. Does your husband know what he’s got?”

Rionna scowled.

Maddie let out a chuckle. “I’ll take that as a no. Oh my but is he in for a surprise.”

“He won’t be seeing them for a while if I have my way.”

Maddie hooted again and then poured a bucket of water over Rionna’s head. “Surely you aren’t going to hide them forever.”

“Nay. Not forever.”

“You think he’s not going to want a peek at your treasures when he beds you?”

Rionna frowned. “How do you know …”

Maddie made a tsking sound. “Oh come now, lass. You were as drunk as an old warrior put out to pasture and there was no stain on your bed. Unless you’re going to tell me you weren’t a maiden.”

Another flush crawled over Rionna’s face. Maddie was as forward as they came, and Rionna wasn’t used to the counsel of other women. It made her distinctly uncomfortable.

“There’ll be plenty of time to warm your husband’s bed,” Maddie advised. “Until then you need to give him a taste of what he’s missing so far. The lad’s tongue will be hanging out his mouth if you show those br**sts to their best advantage.”

Rionna shook her head. “ ’Tis not my husband’s reaction I’m concerned with.”

“Think you Caelen would allow another man to get near his wife? Come now, lass. You may have worried before about untoward advances, but if a woman can’t look her finest at her own wedding celebration, then when can she? A man would be a fool to approach you with your new husband there beside you.”

“What do you have in mind?” Rionna asked warily.

Maddie shot her a smug smile as she began rinsing away the soap. “You leave that to me. I think I have just the thing.”

Caelen was growing more irritated by the minute. The king had already sat down to break his fast and yet they still awaited Rionna’s presence. Even Mairin, who was still weak from childbirth and nursing a babe, was seated at her husband’s side, waiting for the meal and the talks to commence afterward.

He was about to go drag her down the stairs himself when a hush fell over the room. Indeed, the silence was so pronounced that unease prickled over his nape.

When he saw all attention focused on the entrance to the hall, he turned to follow the stares. His first reaction was one of aggravation, given that she’d made them wait so long. But then he took in her appearance, and he was puzzled by what was different.

He was slower to catch on than those around him, maybe because he was more focused on the fact that she was late. But realization, when it hit him, made his mouth drop open. He snapped it shut and glanced hastily around to make sure no one had caught his reaction.