A Highlander's Home (9 page)

             
He held up his hand when she started to protest.  “That is the end of it. 
I have been more than obliging since yer arrival but my patience is at an end with it all. 
Ye
will behave as a woman of the keep should
,
and that is the end of it.”

             
The door shut with a dull thud
,
and she stood there staring at it stupidly.  She chewed her lip, still tasting him.  She thought better of chasing him and giving him what for then decided against it.  There was no telling if he might turn things around and reverse the consequences for that action.
  She had wantonly abandoned herself to this stranger.  She should be thanking him for stopping his seduction of her when he did.  She might not have had the willpower to stop. She harrumphed and slapped her pillow.  She wouldn’t thank him for anything until she was standing in front of the rough hewn rocks that had the power to transport her back to her own time.

             
One week.  He had said one week.  She licked her lips, thinking again of the feel of his lips on hers as he lay half on top of her.  Angrily, she wiped the back of her hand across her mouth. 
Damn him.  She was her own woman, independent, free.  She sighed.  And desperately wanting him to continue what he had started.

             
As she lay in the large bed, she stared at the ceiling.  One week.  How was she to escape her impending marriage and convince her would-be husband to take her to the stones she so badly needed to go to? 

             
Rolling onto her side, her thoughts fixed on the laird of the keep.  In her minds eye, she saw his long black hair, his clear blue gaze fixed on her.  She clenched her fist and thought she felt his callused hands against her palms.  She sighed again.

             
He was right.  This was torture.  She would never sleep with visions of that burly Scotsmen in her head all night.  She punched the pillow and kicked the blanket and called him every vile name she could think of.

Chapter 8

             
Leith
leaned against the door inside his chamber.  He sighed and looked heavenward.  He had not wanted to stop. 
The tightness of his trews attested to how much he had not wanted to stip. 
God knows he had wanted to continue and take his release and watch her sweet face as she reached her own pleasure.  He threw his tunic on the bed and went to the wash basin.  His squire had drank too much at the evening meal and been dismissed for the night. 
Leith
would see himself to bed.  Alone.  Just as he had told that golden vixen.

             
One week.  His mother would arrive on the morrow and continue with the preparations that were already taking place.  He would soon be overrun and outnumbered by women.  Thrust from his own castle.  Not that he minded giving the women their head once in awhile for occasions such as this.  He just hoped that his soon-to-be wife did not think that she wore the pants in this house.  Literally.  He did not know if he could “discipline” her again as he had tonight.  He had indeed left her wanting him, but on the other end of the spectrum, she had left him wanting as well.  With more need than he cared to admit. 

             
He sprawled on the massive wood bed with its intricate carvings and silk bedspread.  He had not liked the idea of
a
wedding
,
but as his mother and brother had so avidly and often pointed out, he needed and heir and his castle needed a woman to run it. 

             
Lady Brighton had been a solution to the problem simply because she was fair of face and seem
e
d biddable enough to give him children yet offer him the space he craved. 

             
He rubbed his hand over his face.  The only space he craved right now was the one next to a blonde haired lass with fiery green eyes.

             
It seemed that the entire castle was in an uproar.  Lady
MacGregor had arrived an hour earlier and had wasted no time in setting things upside down.  The castle had enough servants to accommodate those at the castle on an everyday basis, but in Lady MacGregor’s opinion, it would not do
to be short staffed during what she thought was the event of the season.  Her so
n, her heir
, had finally found a wife.  It was now her job to dictate all events leadin
g to getting her son to the alta
r so he could do his job in the marriage bed and deliver some grandchildren to her.

             
Leith
leaned against the wall in the shadow of the day and folded his arms across his chest.  He sighed.  How dear his mother was to his heart, but how she drove him crazy.  After his father had died, she had mourned for years,
and used matchmaking for her sons as her newest occupation.

             
“
Leith
!” his mother exclaimed, smiling. 

She had been so intent on instructing the servants into some kind of organized chaos that she had failed to notice her son.

             
Returning her brilliant smile, he sauntered over and
warmly kissed
her cheek. 
Frowning and tsking
, she grabbed his cheeks as she had done when he was a child, and pulled him down to her as she planted a loud kiss on his lips.
 

             
With a slight blush, he returned her ferocious hug.
  “Mother, it is good to see ye
.”

             
“Well, it is
absolutely
wonderful to see you, my son,” she said, beaming. 

             
She squeezed his arms,
and then
moved to his chest and face.  He sighed, “Mother, I know what you are doing. 
I eat well enough.”

             
Lady MacGregor’s laugh rang through the hall.  “Och, lad, you will never eat as well as when I was raising you.” 

She gave another
squeeze
.  “You feel fit enough.”

             
Leith
slipped an arm around her waist and walked with her, heading away from the busyness of the castle. 
“I trust your journey was pleasant.”

             
Outside the keep, the sun was breaking through the clouds to reveal a bright blue sky promising a warm and clear day.  The breeze carried the scent of lavender and heather while the trees rustled softly.

             
Lady MacGregor smiled up at her son.  “So.”

             
“So?”

             
“So…how is she?
  Do you get along?”

             
Leith
kissed her hand and sighed.  “That is a complicated question.”

             
She waved him away.  “No, it is not.  Either she likes you or she doesn’t.  And if she does
not, then
you are doing something wrong.  And if that is the case, then we shall have to remedy whatever it is.”

             
Frowning, he threw her a heated glance.  “What makes you think I am the one doing something wrong?”

             
“Darling, it is your job to woo her. No matter that you are handsome or have wealth.  She needs you to capture her heart
,
and you must put your utmost efforts forth.”

             
He remembered his last efforts he put forth as he held Raine against the wall and felt her warm breath coming in quick gasps as he held her creamy thighs.  He smiled.

             
“So, you have already practiced your charms on her?  How has she responded?”

             
His footing suddenly slipped.  He cleared his throat and replied, “Perhaps we should not discuss this, Mother.”

             
“Oh, posh.  We will discuss this
,
and we will discuss this now.  I need grandchildren,
Leith
.  I will not be here forever
a
nd
Hell’s Gate needs an heir.”

             
“Yes, Mother, I know.  I know,
”
he replied dispassionately.  He had heard this argument before.  Many times.

             
“I know that we have had this discussion before, but
Leith
,” she took his hands and forced him to meet her gaze, “you must marry and have children. 
And
I should hate for you to marry for anything but love.  I was fortunate with your father, but that is a rare occurrence.”

             
“
I have kissed her.”

             
Her face brightened. 
She giggled like a schoolgirl and gave a little jump.
Clasping her hands under her chin, she pressed
“And?”

             
He decided
to humor
her.  “And…well…I do believe she liked it.”

             
“And?”

             
“And what?”

             
“And did she kiss you back?” she asked, exasperated.

             
He scanned the fields and shuffled his feet, drawing out the moment.  She swatted his arm.  “
Do
not be a buffoon!  Did she like it?”

             
“Yes, Mother, I do believe she did,” he answered, somewhat smugly, as he remembered Raine’s response.

             
“Is she
as beautiful as I hope?”  Then added mischievously, “For the children’s sake.”

             
Leith
laughed and replied, “Ah, yes, the children that have yet to be borne to the woman I have yet to marry.  Those children?”

             
“Well,” she said,
pouting
, “I just like to think ahead.  So, is she?”

             
“Yes, Mother, she is beautiful.  Unbelievably so.” 

He pictured her face in his mind.  “She has hair the color of golden wheat and eyes the color of the greenest sea.  Her cheeks have the deepest dimples that begged to be kissed.” 

He smiled as he became lost in thoughts of her.  “She is not tall, only reaching here,” he placed his hand midche
st.  “Her temper is as hot as
her beauty.  When she is angry with me, her eyes fairly flash daggers at me.  Her hands are smooth but strong enough to
wield
a sword.”

             
At his mother’s sharp gaze, he briefly recounted the mini battle
in the courtyard.  Lady MacGregor’s hand fluttered to her thr
oat as she said breathlessly, “D
id she really?  Oh
,
my.” 

As a second thought, “She didn’t hurt you, did she?”

             
A dark brow arched over a clear blue eye as he said drily, “Have no fear, Mother, the wee lass did naught but dent my pride.”

             
She laughed at his remark and leaned her head against his shoulder.  “She seems like a fine match.  I look forward to meeting her.”

             
As they headed back to the castle, she inquired, “And how have the arrangements been progressing with Lady Brighton and her father?  No problems, I hope.”

             
At that he took a deep breath.  “I sent word with the best explanation I could fathom and a heavy purse as recompense.  Perhaps that will be all that is needed.  Now, shall we return for supper?  I can hear Cook giving orders all the way over here.”

             
As they entered the great hall, Lady MacGregor glanced at the stairwell.  And fainted.

             
Leith
patted a damp cloth to his mother’s brow and lightly patted her cheek, hoping to force her to regain consciousness.  She moaned, her eyelids fluttering, as she slowly focused her eyes. 

             
“Mother?  How are you feeling?” he asked, frowning with concern.

             
She inhaled sharply.  “That girl!” she exclaimed. 

             
Leith
and Raine exchanged glances.  When his mother had suddenly gone limp in his arms, Raine had dashed to his side and insisted on remaining
there
.  She did not know
the woman, but the family resemblance was unmistakable.

             
Raine came forward slightly until she was in Lady MacGregor’s line of sight. 

             
Lady MacGregor sat up
quickly
and then slumped while holding her hand to her head.  “You!  I know you!  I have seen you before, I know it.”