he felt Caelen leave the bed, but she couldn’t summon the energy to open her eyes to see what he was about. A moment later, he pulled the furs up over her and climbed in beside her, his heated flesh a shock against her still quivering body.

Having no experience in such matters, she wasn’t sure what she was supposed to do. Her mother and father never slept in the same chamber. Certainly not in the same bed. She knew Mairin and Keeley both slept with their husbands every night. Their husbands would allow nothing less, not that either woman wanted it any differently. Perhaps ’twas a McCabe thing. Maybe they were so possessive of their women that they couldn’t bear to let them out of their sight. Or maybe they were just protective.

She decided she didn’t care. What was the worst that could happen? She’d gain Caelen’s censure? It wasn’t as if she hadn’t done that many times over the past few days.

She turned into his body and snuggled up tight against him. For a moment she worried she’d done something wrong because he stiffened against her. Gradually he relaxed and then he slid an arm around her waist and hauled her even closer until her nose was pressed against the hollow of his throat.

“Caelen?”

“Aye, lass?”

“You were right.”

“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 na**d 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.”

He hated the hurt in her voice even as her gaze flickered coolly over him and Gannon. Her face had the perfect you-can’t-touch-me expression, but her voice told the truth. He had wounded her.

“You shouldn’t be outside the keep. ’Tis frigid this morn. What are you doing up at this hour?”

Her gaze was as chilled as the wind. She showed no reaction to the biting cold even though the clothing she wore was ill-suited for such weather.

“I woke when you rose and I knew you’d want an early start. ’Tis not an overlong journey but the snow will hinder us. I thought to aid you in preparing.”

“ ’Tis a thoughtful gesture, my lady,” Gannon said. “But ’tis my duty to assist your husband. I would feel better if you were inside where ’tis warm and you don’t chance taking ill.”

Caelen glared at Gannon for his well thought-out words. The sentiment should come from him, not his commander. He could see the effect it had on Rionna. Her eyes lost some of their frost, and her stance relaxed.

“I’ll want to bid my farewells to Keeley as well as Mairin and the babe.”

Caelen nodded. “I’ll summon you when ’tis time to depart.”

She gave a stiff nod of her own and then turned back into the keep. Caelen sighed and glanced over at Gannon.

“ ’Twill be a task to clear the pathways. We may as well begin now.”

Rionna waited until she was certain Alaric had risen before she went to Keeley’s chamber. Though all the McCabe warriors were notoriously early risers—they somehow functioned on but a few hours’ sleep every night—Alaric had devoted most of his time for the last weeks to Keeley’s bedside.

After she saw Alaric reenter his chamber with food for Keeley to break her fast, she waited a few moments and then knocked.

Alaric opened the door and Rionna straightened her shoulders. “I’d like to say my farewell to Keeley if she’s feeling well enough this morn.”

“Of course. Come in. She’s breaking her fast and grumbling about being held captive in her bedchamber.”

Rionna grinned at Alaric’s exasperated tone. She walked inside to see Keeley sitting up in bed, more color in her cheeks than had been there the day before.

“I’ve come to bid you farewell.”

Keeley’s lips turned down into an unhappy frown. “So soon? I had hoped to spend more time with you.”

Rionna perched on the edge of the bed, taking Keeley’s hand in hers and squeezing. “You’ll come to visit when you’re well. Perhaps I’ll come back to visit you. We’re married to brothers. We’ll see each other often. I still expect you to attend me when I bear my first child, so make sure you do nothing foolish like injuring yourself again.”

Keeley’s eyes danced with merriment. “How went it last night with Caelen?”

Rionna’s eyes narrowed. “I hate him. He has a wicked, silken tongue, but he turns into the worst sort of ass outside the bedchamber.”

Keeley sighed. “Give him time, Rionna. He’s a good man. You just have to dig below the surface to uncover that man.”

Rionna made a face. “I don’t have your faith, Keeley.”

“I want you to be happy. Promise me you’ll give him a chance.”

“I can only promise not to stick my dagger in his gut while he sleeps,” Rionna grumbled.

Keeley laughed. “ ’Tis all I can ask then. Be well, Rionna. And be happy. Send word when you’re established at McDonald keep and let me know you’ve arrived safely. I’ll be awaiting word on the news of your first child as well.”

Rionna rose then leaned down to kiss Keeley’s cheek. “ ’Tis the truth I’ll never bear a child if he doesn’t learn to close his mouth at the appropriate time.”

Keeley grinned. “ ’Tis a skill I don’t think any man has yet learned. But remember all I counseled you on. Use your skills as a woman and I guarantee he’ll shut his mouth, for a time at least.”

Rionna sat atop her horse surveying the line of McDonald men that was smaller than it had been when they’d arrived. Her chest ached for the men who’d chosen to side with her father. These were men she’d grown up around. Some of them were young and were probably swayed by her father’s talk of loyalty and distrust of the McCabes. The older warriors were likely outraged over the ousting of her father as laird and had followed him without coercion.

There was no telling what would happen when Rionna and Caelen returned to her keep and announced that Caelen was their new laird. Not that the people hadn’t been expecting Rionna to marry and for her husband to one day lead their clan, but it wasn’t supposed to happen overnight.

She shivered as the wind knifed through her. The fur she wore was threadbare and the clothes underneath weren’t suitable for traveling in such cold. When they’d made the trip to McCabe keep the weather had been unseasonably warm. That was no longer the case and she hadn’t the wardrobe to withstand being outdoors in the biting cold for any length of time.

Caelen and his commander led the way. Rionna hung several horse lengths back, surrounded by four McDonald soldiers as they trudged through the crisp snow.

He hadn’t once looked back, not that Rionna expected him to. She may as well not exist for all the mind he’d paid her since the journey began.

Apart from assisting her onto her horse, he hadn’t acknowledged her at all since she’d overheard his words to Gannon earlier that morn.

“I don’t like him, Rionna,” James muttered beside her.

She jerked her head up to make sure Caelen hadn’t overheard the disloyal remark and then she turned to the young warrior. Beside him, Simon, his father, nodded his agreement.

“I don’t like him either, lass. The king and the McCabes have given us a bad turn. ’Twasn’t right what they did to your father.”

Rionna clenched her jaw until it ached. She could hardly reveal her true feelings. She couldn’t very well say that she didn’t like her new laird either, but she wasn’t about to go as far as to defend her father.

“ ’Tis best to give him a chance,” she murmured in a low voice, all the while keeping her gaze on Caelen’s back. “He seems a good and fair man.”

“He doesn’t treat you with the respect you’re due,” Arthur said angrily from her other side.

Rionna turned in surprise and then surveyed all the men who rode back from Caelen and Gannon. None of them looked happy to have Caelen lead them back to their home. Their mouths were set in firm lines and their eyes were angry and hard.

“ ’Tis the truth neither of us wanted this marriage,” she said. ’Twill be an adjustment for the both of us. He never considered that he’d be laird of our clan. Think you how you would feel if you attended your brother’s wedding only to end up being saddled with his unwanted bride.”

The men winced and James nodded his commiseration.

“Still, he has no cause to treat you as he’s done,” Simon argued. “The McCabe warriors have a reputation for being fair. Fierce but fair. You bring him much through your marriage. He should treat you gently as he would any other gently bred lady.”