Gifts of Desire (47 page)

             
Ethan walked in before he could even answer.  Behind him was Iona, looking
pale and a little
uncertain.  Ceann really looked at her for the first time.  She was beautiful, in a timeless, ageless sort of way.  And she looked younger than her years, even now. 
But now, he searched her face for signs of himself. 
He remembered all the days he and Ethan had spent playing in the woods near her cottage, and how she would bring them fresh biscuits and ginger tea
…
 

             
He
shook himself and
came back to the present with a start
, gesturing to a chair
.  “Please, sit down.”  She did, and he sat next to her.  Ethan dragged a chair over from near the window and joined them. 

             
She
folded her hands in her lap and
raised her eyes to his.  “Are you angry?”

             
He shook his head.  “No.
Not angry.
A little stunned, is all.  I… I don’t even know where to begin.
  I never even suspected…”

             
She nodded.  “We kept it from you, from everyone.  No one was ever to know that you weren’t born to Aisleen.  She loved you… more than her own life.  As did your father.”

             
“But why then?  Why the curse?”

             
Iona took a deep breath, her eyes far away as she stared at the window across the room.  “Because
they had to be certain… there had to be a guarantee of sorts, that you
and Ella would come together.”

             
Ceann stared at her.  “
Who?  Who had to be certain?  Do you mean to say that
I was a pawn in some game?  That all this time, I’ve had no real choice in my own life?”  He ran his hands through his hair, his temper beginning to flare.
  “Jesus!  What is this all about?
  How could I not have known?”

             
Iona leaned closer and put a hand on his arm.  He snatched it away irritably. 
“No,
it’s not like that.  Listen to me Ceann.
”

             
“No.
I need to be alone.  I need to think.”
  He left the room, closing the door behind him.

Chapter 20

             
Ceann
woke and reached for his wife, pulling her close, inhaling her soft scent.  He still couldn’t believe his good fortune
.  He had a wife of his own, no
not just a wife, a
soul mate
.  She could be no other.  And she carried his child.  A child he
had
wanted desperately but
had
never hoped to have.  Images drifted through his mind of
Ella
with his child at her breast, smiling warmly at him when he came into the room.  His son.  Joy flooded through his veins at the thought.  He would teach him everything he knew.  He drew his palm over
Ella
’s softly rounded belly. 
Mine, and mine
.  She shifted, snuggling closer.  His thoughts instantly
changed direction
, and he pressed against her, his desire rising swift and hot. 
“M
adainn mhath
.” 
Good morning
.  

             
“Mmmm… aye, it is.” 
She laughed softly.
 
“Are you never sated?”

             
“No, never.”  He nuzzled her ear.  “I’m afraid you will have to spend the rest of your life
satisfying
my
never-ending
desire, morning, noon and night.”  He grasped her
bottom and sank into her, his breath catching a little at the rush of pleasure
.
  “Oh God, I will never tire of this, I will never have enough of you.”

             
“Then I fear we
may
end up with more than just one child.”

             
He laughed
, his voice deep and husky near her ear
. 
“I want dozens.  As many as you will give me, and I will love them all.”

             
“Dozens?  You will perhaps need to add more rooms onto the castle, then.”

             
“I’
ll start tomorrow.  Today I don’t think I am able to leave this bed.”

             
“You said the same yesterday.”

             
The next
weeks
flew by in a
haze
of bliss.
  Her sickness in the mornings
had since
passed, and Ella blossomed with the love of her new husband. 
Husband
.  She still could not believe
Cean
n was really hers.
  He had changed, with all that had happened.
  He was still the fierce warrior he had always been, but now he smiled more, laughed more.  And most importantly, he did not push her away anymore, but embraced her, every chance he got.  She had never felt so happy, so complete.
  She even had good friends in Mairi and Elizabeth, and was growing closer to the other women of the clan every day.  She slowly began taking over some of the duties of the lady of the house, though Ceann would not let her do too much.  She needed to stay out of his sight if she wanted to get any real work done. 

             
She was in the kitchens going over what food stores would be needed for winter, when one of the younger squires bounded in.  “Milady?  There’s a man at the gate to see
you
, by the name of Malcolm.”

             
“Malcolm!” she almost shrieked.  Dropping her list on the table, she ran for the door. 
Could it be?
  She saw him before she reached the gate.  “Malcolm!”  Running now, she launched herself into his arms, leaving the guardsmen with identically startled looks on their faces.

             
Laughing, he caught her easily.  “I missed you too, love.”

             
She started to ask him all of the questions spinning in her head, but he was lo
oking over her shoulder with a wary
expression.  She turned slightly, to see Ceann stalking towards them, looking none too happy.  Looking rather furious, in fact. 
“Take
you
r
hands off my wife!” he growled.

             
She smiled as he reached them, stepping
prudently
out of Malcolm’s arms.  “My husband, Laird
Ceann
MacKenzie.”

             
Malcolm inclined his head slightly.  “Laird.”  H
e turned back to Ella.  “I can’t
leave you alone for a moment, and you go and get married?”  His lips quirked at the corners.

             
“Who the hell are you?” demanded Ceann impatiently.

             
Ella turned to her husband. 
“This is
my dear friend
Malcolm, one of the me
n who abandoned me in the woods, just before you found me.”

             
Ceann narrowed his eyes.  “Aye, well, I owe
you
thanks for that, at least.  Come inside.  We’ll talk.”

             
They walked to the keep, Ceann’s arm wrapped possessively around Ella’s waist, Malcolm with a bemused smile on his face. 
Once in
the study, Ella and Malcolm found seats before the
window
.  Ceann stood before them, his arms crossed over his chest
, his legs braced slightly apart
.
  His warrior’s stance.
  Ella glanced at him,
raising an eyebrow at his fierce look,
then turned to Malcolm.  “
How is
Esme
?”

             
“She is well, she wanted to come with me, of course, but she can’t get away just now.  She has promised to come see you before too long.  I know she misses you terribly, love.”

             
Ella felt a tear well up and blinked it away.  “I miss her too… I miss all of you.  Thank you for coming Malcolm.”

             
He smiled.  “Nothing could keep me away. 
And I brought you something, well someone.”

             
Her face lit up.  “You brought me my horse?”

             
“Aye, I had them put him in the stables.  The poor beast missed you something awful.  Drove us all crazy with it. 
You are happy, Ella?”

             
“I am.”

             
“Good.  Everything has worked out even better than we planned.”

             
Ella sighed.  “I thought as much.”

             
Malcolm raised his eyebrows in question.  “You thought what?”

             
“That you had all plotted something without me knowing.  A quest!  Really Malcolm.
  Are you finally going to tell me what this has all been about?”

             
“As much as I can, because there’s always more than we know or can even hope to discover…”

             
Ella rolled her eyes and sighed.  “Just tell me.  In plain words.”

             
“Say what you have come here to say
,
” Ceann
grumbled
.”
  He did not enjoy sharing his wife with this stranger who had appeared out of nowhere, and for whom she obviously held great affection.

             
Malcolm looked
at
him, and then back to Ella.  “You, love, have been hidden all your life from those who would harm you, as was your mother before you.”  He paused, as if unsure what to say next.  “You are
of the ancient
Brude
line, a princess, as was your mother, and hers before, back a thousand years or more.
”

             
“What in God’s name are you talking about?
  I can’t be a princess, that’s
just
mad
.
”

             
“Aye, you are, Ella
.  Look at me, would I lie to you?”

             
“No.” 
He wouldn’t.
  

             
“My c
lan is as ancient as the Brude k
ings, and we have been charged with prote
cting them for just as long.  It has been our purpose to preserve the auld ways and to safeguard the knowledge that must not be lost.
  And one day, it will be a Brude prince that prevents the fall of Scotland to the English.  If we are careful to make things just so.  It is an intricate dance we perform.”

             
Ceann could have sworn his heart stopped beating in his chest.  A princess. 
He had married a bloody princess. 
A
Brude
princess,
no less,
of the ancient kings of Scotland.  Surely they would
try to
take her back.  They would not honor the marriage of royalty to a mere Scottish laird.  And perhaps, now that she knew the truth, she would not want him either. 
His hands fisted at his sides.
H
ad
it
all been a dream, after
all
?

             
Unable to control the emotions raging through him, Ceann
turned on his heel and left the room, slamming the door shut behind him.  Ella gasped in surprise and rose to go after him, but Malcolm took her arm, pushing her gently back down into the chair.  “Wait, there’s more to say.  Then you can go after your temperamental husband.”  He gave her a wry smile.  “
Ceann is your destiny, aye.  Your soul mate, love.  His father, Artair, was also of a line of guardians of the Brude, and he needed a son to carry on his legacy.  The pact he made with us that day sealed both your fates, promising you to each other, and each other alone. 
Esme
had already
foreseen
his birth, and yours
, and that you were
soul mates
.
  You
have been together before, somewhere, sometime…
you are meant to always find each other. 
You were to be given in marriage to Ceann in your twentieth year, but Artair died before he had told his son of the legacy.  We had to bring you together in a different way, else risk it going terribly wrong.
  Do you understand?
”