To Wed A Highlander (4 page)

“Not everything, McTiernay. But I admit to a wee amount of pleasure when I can rid myself of the two overseers you charged to ruin my life.”

“I did not realize that keeping you safe and well was contrary to your future plans.”

She took a step forward and replied through stiff lips, “My safety was never an issue before you arrived.”

Colin took a step even closer. “The Dunstans were never a threat to anyone till I arrived.”

“I’ve seen your army, Colin. We’re still no threat.”

Colin felt a muscle in his jaw flicker angrily. “If you knew me before I…” He paused and took three deep breaths. The woman was baiting him, and he was reacting to her gibes. “You should realize the folly of such assumptions. If you did, you would have made damn sure Gorten and Brodie were with you tonight.”

He had stopped himself, but Makenna knew exactly what Colin had been about to say.
“Before I married your sister.”
It only proved once again that she was right to refuse her father and remain unwed. A marriage was between two people, not three. And Deirdre would always be there. She was Colin’s first wife, her best friend, and their only commonality.

“I doubt your men wanted to go swimming with me.”

Makenna Dunstan could try a saint. Before Colin realized it, he was shouting at her. “If you want to swim, tell me, and I’ll take you.”

“Never,
McTiernay,” she hissed. “I’ll not have you or your men hanging about while I’m unclothed. I’ll ride with your men, I’ll even hunt with them, but I’ll be damned if I
swim with them!”

“
Mo Chreach!
My commands are not requests that you can choose to follow or disregard. Gorten and Brodie are to be with you each and every time you venture outside the town wall, and if I hear of you leaving again without them as escorts,
amaid,
you won’t be leaving at all.”

Makenna’s eyes flashed with fury. She could not choose which angered her the most, his command that she be followed about, his threat to confine her if she disobeyed, or that he had just called her a foolish woman. But, foolish or not, she recognized the seriousness of Colin’s threats. He meant them. He truly thought her to be unsafe alone in the lands and waters she had known her entire life. Even worse, if he believed her to be unsafe, so would her father. There would be no reprieve.

“Fine. They will be aware of whenever I leave, but they will have to keep up. I refuse to slow for your men.”

Colin closed the distance between them with one last stride and clutched her arm before she could retreat. “I want your word, Makenna. You will tell Gorten
and
Brodie each and every time you leave the town walls.”

His grip was strong, but not painful. It was meant to secure, not harm. Only by struggling would she hurt herself. The concept that he could both render her helpless and be in control of her fate was maddening. Makenna was tempted to stand silent and wait him out, but one look into his deep blue depths, she knew that despite her stubbornness, he would win the battle. “You have it,” she whispered.

Colin immediately let go, knowing her pride would bind her to the promise more than any threat he could make. With Alexander’s failing health, there was great debate over the fate of Lochlen and its people. Many neighboring lairds were here to witness a marriage and decide if the Highlander was to be called friend or enemy. They came with small armies, poised not only to protect but also to attack.

If Makenna Dunstan were captured, a battle for her release would follow, and Colin would lose a critical advantage. He needed to keep the size of his army a secret until he knew whom he would call ally and foe as the new Dunstan laird. As such, he would protect anything, or anyone, who could be used as leverage against him. And if that meant caging the exotic wild creature, he would.

Colin had chosen Gorten and Brodie to be Makenna’s escorts with extreme care. Both were masters in all of her fields of comfort. Expert horsemen, they could ride, hunt, and if necessary disarm her if she decided to draw her sword against them. He doubted she would. Makenna was foolish, but not unintelligent.

“I assume by making me swear this oath it means you’ve decided to stay,” Makenna said, her voice fading into hushed stillness.

Colin answered with a single nod.

“It’s a mistake, McTiernay. You and I will never work. Hasn’t the last few minutes proven that? I know you don’t like the Lowlands. How could you? My people treat you horribly. They don’t deserve you or what you could bring them. I don’t understand why you don’t leave. No one would think less of you.”

Colin was taken aback by her statement. Not one person, including Alexander and Deirdre, had ever acknowledged the poor behavior of the Dunstans. “I would think less of me, Makenna. Honor demands that I stay.”

“Nay, it is your pride that makes you resist what you know you should do. You hate it here. You have to,” she said softly, pleading for him to agree. Instead, he shook his head.

“Actually, I love Scotland—all of it. And these Lowlands protect my Highland mountains. I stay because I want to, Makenna,” he gently countered, watching her wring her hands in frustration…or maybe it was panic.

Stripped as she was of her haughty demeanor, Colin could see that Dunlop had been correct. Makenna was indeed afraid. Until now, Colin had not realized how much the idea of marriage frightened her. Gone was the snippy female who verbally attacked him whenever possible. In her place was a panic-filled woman who kept looking at him with large liquid-green eyes that begged him to change his mind.

Colin was about to pull her into his arms and whisper it would be all right, that she had nothing to fear, when Makenna tried one last plea for a reprieve. “If you marry me, you will grow to hate this land you now claim to love. I tell you the truth,” she said, stepping backward until she bumped into a tree. “I would be a horrible wife for any man. I have no knowledge about running a home, let alone a keep the size of Lochlen. My knowledge of men is limited to what they can do with an axe and a broadsword, and no matter how hard I would try, I could never be the kind, gentle beauty Deirdre was.” Makenna had barely spoken the last words when she found herself pinned between his two hands and the tree.

Hearing Makenna say that she would try and fail to be Deirdre caused a reaction in Colin he couldn’t explain. It was incredibly important that she
not
be like his late wife. “Listen to me now, Makenna. I don’t expect you to be, nor do I want you to
try
to be, Deirdre. She was my wife, and she is now dead.”

Makenna gulped. His face was mere inches away from hers. His blue eyes blazed with an intensity that reinforced his every word. Suddenly, her eyes popped open and became large with hope. “Are you saying you want a marriage in name only?”

Colin could feel the quick rise and fall of her hand-sized breasts. Just one more inch closer and he would feel her slim hips against his. She licked her full lips and Colin knew that he wanted to taste them, pull at them, devour them. No, this would not be a marriage in name only. “I am not a monk, Makenna, nor do I intend to live like one. I am a man who wants sons, and this will be a marriage in every sense of the word,” he vowed before claiming her mouth for his own.

The second his lips touched hers Makenna felt herself responding. His mouth was warm and soft, silently urging her to comply. Half her mind waited for the feeling of wrongness to take over and end this insanity. But it didn’t feel wrong. It didn’t feel like she was kissing the man who made her curse more in the past twelve months than in all her painful years of training. Colin was teaching her what it was like to be a woman, to kiss like a woman, to feel like a woman. It was incredible, unexpected, and powerful. And Makenna wanted more.

As if they had a will of their own, her arms stole around his neck as her lips parted in a silent plea for him to deepen the kiss. Colin needed no further encouragement. He moved to cradle her head between his hands and urged her to her tiptoes. She complied, and he kissed her long and soft and deep, capturing her tongue and drawing it into his own mouth. Never had a kiss been so satisfying.

Makenna’s untutored passion was unmatched by any woman he had ever touched. Her fiery nature made him desire her more than he dreamed possible. Was it because she was so different from Deirdre? His late wife had been too fragile for the passion and heat of desire. Whatever the reason, he no longer cared.

Makenna had been kissed, but never like this. Oh, Leon MacCuaig had tried often enough and every once in a while landed a lucky peck, but he had no idea how to touch a woman and cause her to burn up in flames. Colin was creating sensations and reactions she couldn’t explain. Her body was quivering, and at any moment, her legs would give beneath her. She clutched his shoulders, afraid that if she fell, the spell would be gone.

Deep inside her, something had recognized and then responded to the masculine need in him. It wasn’t just a physical need, but a connection. A commonality beyond that of her sister. It was two lonely souls finding one another in a storm of passion and need.

Colin nipped at her lips before plunging again into the warmth of her mouth, seeking her tongue. She welcomed every stroke, every caress with equally surprising passion. Makenna clung to him in confusion and desire. He could feel her tremble and pulled her close to keep her from falling. He was not ready to end this unexpected gift she was giving him.

Makenna was sharing a piece of herself she had shared with no man. Colin felt both satisfaction and fulfillment, knowing he was the first to discover the passions that lay beneath her prickly demeanor. It would be worth enduring a hundred verbal wars with her to experience this again.

Makenna moved closer, clinging to him as if her body knew there was more. Colin’s heart was pounding so fast he thought it would explode. Every caress, every response she gave him was genuine, unrehearsed,
unforced.
She wanted him; he wanted her. Badly. So much that if he did not stop now, he wouldn’t be able to.

When he finally forced his lips to release hers, his chest was heaving with the effort it took to breathe. He gathered her close against him and thrust his fingers through her thick damp hair.

A deep sigh escaped her slightly swollen lips. She could feel his dark body hair beneath her cheek in the opening of his leine and decided she never wanted to move. He smelled so good, and it felt strangely right to be this close to him. Tomorrow she would wonder why she had been drawn to his embrace, and if she had only imagined the powerful emotions hidden beneath Colin’s cool exterior. But for right now, she just wanted to relish his strength and control and the intoxicating effect of his kisses.

Colin held her for several minutes waiting for his body to calm. Instead, every muscle remained alive with need. She had to leave and quickly, before he lost the control he took such pride in having. “Be at the chapel an hour before the sun sets. Tomorrow we will be wed,” he ordered gruffly, moving her away from him.

Colin quickly turned around lest she see his burgeoning manhood. Cold water was his only hope in dampening the fires she had ignited with her honest response to his embrace. Even with his back to her, he could still see the memory of her naked flesh as she emerged dripping with lucky droplets of water that touched every morsel of her body.

He dove into the cold waters thankful for their magical cure, but he knew it was only temporary. Later, as he sought sleep, he would remember her taste on his tongue—hot, wet, and sweet. Thank God, he only had to wait one night. Makenna would be his wife on the morrow and as soon as possible afterward, he was going to make love to her until all the needs pulsing through him were satisfied.

Makenna stood puzzled and hurt, staring at his retreating back for several minutes. After all his talk about running around unescorted, the man was actually going to leave her to ride back to Lochlen alone while he took a
swim
. The kiss was just a way for him to manipulate her into abiding his will.

She found her brown chestnut tied beside his large black mount and jumped on its back. She looked at the vacant spot from which Colin disappeared and uttered aloud, “You may be able to kiss, Colin McTiernay, but you’re still an overgrown giant. And you may be getting a wife tomorrow, but that doesn’t mean I will suddenly submit to you or your archaic rules. I
will
ride, and I
will
hunt, and I
will
keep training with a sword. And you can find someone else to run your keep and warm your bed.”

Makenna turned her horse and began riding hard back to the noise and firelight of Lochlen. Tears flowed down her cheeks. “What were you thinking, Deirdre?”

Makenna felt like her mind had temporarily dislodged from her body. From the moment she had woken up, the noise in her chambers had only grown in volume. Her sisters, Rona and Ula, had ordered everyone to report to them, and they had claimed the bride’s room as their base of operations. Nonstop orders were issued to a constant stream of people shuffling in and out of her room. After years of watching her sisters orchestrate every clan event whether large or small, Makenna knew the role she was expected to play—silent and unseen. It seemed her wedding day was to be no different.

“There,” Rona announced with a dramatic sigh, rising to close the door. “I believe everyone is ready but you, Makenna. I am not sure how you would have managed if Ula and I had not been so willing to sacrifice our time away from our own homes.”

With her tall, elegant frame and enviable blond hair, Rona epitomized the Dunstan daughters and she had never let Makenna forget how incredibly different she was from the rest of them.

Makenna glanced at her sister before turning away to roll her eyes. “It’s the least you could do after barging into my room,” Makenna mumbled to herself. “The sun had barely risen before I had to deal with you and Ula’s never-ending chatter about every little thing from my hair to my dress.”

Makenna knew she should have expected her sisters’ early morning greeting. In an effort to gain their father’s favor—and some of his riches—Ula and Rona had arrived at Lochlen over a month ago to ensure that the wedding went off as planned. Brimming with never-ending criticism about the feast, the ceremony, her dress, and even the priest presiding over the nuptials, they had been nearly intolerable. Throughout it all, Makenna had remained firm. There was going to be no wedding, so it was not necessary for anyone to make plans.

Until last night.

As usual during warm summer days, Makenna had opened the window’s shutters and let in the cool night breeze. Normally, such conditions lulled her quickly to sleep, but after Colin’s unexpected kiss and her bewildering response, rest had eluded her. Every sound, every whisper seemed to float up and into her room. She had not realized she had been waiting for Colin until she heard the fateful signs of his return.

The soldiers were just beginning to leave the lower hall for their beds when she heard the fleeing of clansmen feet outside her window. She sat up and listened intently for Colin’s footsteps to follow. She could hear nothing. The man walked with a purpose and with complete control. He probably hadn’t even shuffled his feet as a child.

Snuggling back under the covers, Makenna heard a jubilant roar coming from the lower hall. Colin had announced his decision.

“Those
tolla-thons
think it’s all him. Well, somebody should thank me as well. It’s not just their commander sacrificing himself for them. I believe I, too, will be at that altar pledging my life away,” she muttered out loud, ripping the light woolen throw off her legs.

Makenna grabbed the Dunstan plaid off the bed and wrapped it around her. The bold red material with bright stripes of yellow, green, and blue clashed terribly with her dark red hair, but it represented all that she loved.

She tiptoed to the heavy wooden door and lifted the latch quietly in case a servant was sleeping outside her door. It was unlikely. She hadn’t had help for months. One day the girl had simply vanished. Left to fend for herself, Makenna soon discovered how much the chambermaids had assisted her with everyday things. Pride kept her from asking the old steward why they had suddenly left. No doubt he would just point a long, crooked finger directly back at her. The man was an expert at assigning responsibility, accountability, and then blame, but he never managed a word of encouragement.

Makenna crept down the hallway to the tower stairwell illuminated with torches at each floor. Her sisters were just below, but she did not intend to sneak past their chambers. She was going up.

Since Forfar Tower’s erection, the laird’s sons and daughters resided in its walls. Its counterpart, Canmore, housed the laird’s solar and his connecting dayroom. Standing on either end of the fortified gatehouse, the towers secured the interior castle ward. Makenna’s great-grandfather decided Lochlen’s inner yard was not large enough to handle the clan’s growing numbers and had ordered a second curtain wall to be built. The resulting enormous outer gatehouse towers provided the sleeping accommodations for most of the soldiers when assigned to Lochlen. This left the upper floors of the inner gatehouse for visitors and other people of importance, and the lower floors for storage, guards, and machinery to operate the portcullis.

Makenna entered the spiraling stairwell just as another euphoric burst erupted. Loud indiscernible shouts were now coming from both halls. Makenna wondered if there was anyone still protecting Lochlen. It sounded as if every soldier had joined the merriment below.

Holding on to the rope suspended down the center of the stairwell, she climbed the two stories from her third-floor chambers to the tower battlements. Lochlen’s spacious fighting platforms provided good vantage points to launch arrows at attackers, but they were also superb spots for watching people undetected.

As soon as Makenna took a step out into the night air, she saw the hulking figure of her guard. Through the crenels, she could see the shadows of other soldiers still at their posts. The number of men on duty might be slightly lower than normal, but every tower and section of the inner and outer curtain walls was manned.

Brodie had heard someone coming up the stairwell and moved to intercept. Never did he dream it would be Makenna. Just minutes ago, Colin had cornered him and Gorten, ordering them to the towers. He was furious with them. Brodie didn’t want to discover what levels his commander’s anger would grow to if he found him with Makenna wrapped in a blanket and dressed only in her chemise. “Milady,” he acknowledged hesitantly.

Makenna arched her eyebrows. Brodie had bright yellow hair many women considered quite attractive. He was of medium height, and so thick with muscles he appeared to be chubby from a distance. Normally, the good-natured guard was full of so much self-confidence it was nauseating. Right now he seemed perplexed…even nervous. “What bothers you, Brodie? My state of dress?”

Brodie’s brown eyes widened in alarm. “If the commander knew you were here…with me…like that, milady, he would be very unhappy. And I would appreciate avoiding any more circumstances that might result in my being the target of his ire.”

“More
circumstances? Did Colin lecture you about my abandoning you for a brief swim?”

Brodie rolled his eyes and swallowed a snort. He looked over the wall at the drinking comrades he would have been with and snapped, “Why do you think I have night duty, milady? And will have it for the next fortnight.”

“Good Lord, I assure you I had no intention of getting you or Gorten in trouble. Where is Gorten? Or did he escape the wrath of the almighty Colin?”

Brodie pointed to the top of Canmore Tower in the distance. The large shadow pacing the top was her second victim. Makenna felt instantly ashamed. “I’m so sorry. I will talk to Colin and end this ridiculous punishment.”

Brodie shuddered. “Please do not do that, milady. You do not know our commander as we do. I’d like to keep what little pride I have left, and I’m sure Gorten feels the same.”

Makenna yielded with a slight nod. It would only shame the large guard, and it would put Colin in an awkward position. Ego would keep him from rescinding the order, and possibly even increase the length of Brodie’s and Gorten’s sentences. A fate caused by her own self-interest. “I really had no idea Colin was so intent upon this…this protection. I don’t want it, nor do I need it.” She could see Brodie about to protest and put her hand up to stop him. “But I swore an oath to His High-handedness this evening that I will let you know when I am leaving the keep from now on.”

“Gorten and I thank you enormously, milady.”

Makenna pulled the blanket tighter around her. Brodie was not such a bad fellow. He still needed to gain the control and posture that made a man truly attractive, but he was kind, sweet, and in many ways very handsome. “Hmmm, well, it is not your fault to have such an awful duty. I know I can be quite a chore, and it must be miserable following someone about all day. I know I could never endure such an assignment.”

Brodie laughed. “I must admit Gorten and I dreaded it when the order came. And while nights like these are not enjoyable, we have grown to take pleasure in joining you when you leave. You are truly unlike any woman we have ever known. Gorten says you are quite good with the sword.”

Makenna’s head whipped around. “He told you? That was supposed to be our secret. If Colin ever discovered that I have continued sparring with
anyone
…well, I have no idea what he would do, but I am sure Gorten and I would be the two most miserable creatures in all of Scotland when he was through.”

“Truer words were never said, milady. However, you must be very good for Gorten to give you a compliment and continue risking potential misery for you. Still, having never seen you fight, I find it hard to believe
you
can wield a claymore with as much accuracy as Gorten professes.”

Makenna leaned against one of the large stone crenations and looked out at the Dunstan village spreading outside the second curtain wall. “It’s my Secret.”

Brodie’s eyebrows rose inquiringly. “Your secret, milady?”

“Aye, my Secret. A special blade Camus fashioned specifically for me. He’s the one who convinced Father I could and even should learn the art of combat…that is, until someone unconvinced him,” she bristled.

“You refer to the commander now.”

“Indeed I do,” she whispered, watching the late night activity of her clansmen and women. Body language alone told her that the euphoric voices she heard inside the walls did not match those of the shadows moving in the village. The few faces she could make out were mostly grim, and none were smiling. No, the soldiers might be overjoyed their commander was to remain with them and eventually become their laird, but her clan was not of the same mind.

“I should leave you before Colin wonders why there are two bodies up here and decides to abandon the party to investigate.”

Brodie moved out of the way to give her access back down the stairwell. “Thank you, milady; however, the commander has already retired for the evening.”

Makenna paused after descending one step. “He did? I thought Colin would be celebrating his grand decision with his men.”

“No, milady. The commander announced you and he had decided it would be best for the clan and the men if you were to wed. I realize it was not of your choosing, milady, but I…all of us…appreciate the decision. We hope you both will find happiness and peace despite the reasons behind your union.”

Makenna blinked a few times and stared up into the dark, clear sky. Colin had publicly declared that she, too, had made the decision and the sacrifice to wed. She could not recall anyone—especially a man—giving a woman credit in such a way. Not even her father whom she loved with all her heart. Her sisters’ husbands exerted their control whenever possible, always seeking praise for efforts, decisions, and possessions that were not theirs.

Colin’s generosity did not make sense. He had been so adamant against marrying her, implying she was inept and unsatisfactory as a woman. And without warning, he had changed his mind.

Then he had kissed her.

True, it had been her first serious kiss with any man, but she had not been prepared to experience such a rare, passionate connection. Even now she feared only Colin could create the powerful whirlwind of emotion it had awakened within her.

For a moment during their embrace, she believed Colin was experiencing the same tumult of desire, but she had been wrong. He could not have shared the same yearning, craving for her as she had for him and then turn cold and aloof so quickly. Within a blink of an eye, he acted as if the kiss had never happened. With the next blink, Colin made the decision to marry, and she was supposed to go back to the keep and abide by it. But if Brodie’s revelation about Colin’s announcement was true, she might have misinterpreted his reaction to their kiss. How was she going to live with a man who was such a mixture of contradictions and mystery?

“Mystery, Makenna?” Ula inquired, breaking Makenna’s memories of the previous night.

“Did I say that out loud?” Makenna asked weakly.

“Aye, you did,” answered Rona. “But you make no sense. What’s a mixture of contradictions and mystery?”

Ula laughed condescendingly. “What else? Men! It’s about time little Makenna finally figured out why we women find them so fascinating.”

Rona came up and draped a gold cross around Makenna’s neck and clasped it. “Speak for yourself, Ula. My husband stopped being fascinating long ago. I tolerate him because he pampers me and stays out of my way. Though do not get me wrong. I am glad to be married to him. If I weren’t, Father would be forcing
me
into marrying that hulking Highlander and not poor Makenna.”

Ula faked a shiver. “You can say that again. Even our sister Edna escaped; though I think choosing the church is a little extreme.”

Rona adjusted the gold strand and smiled in smug satisfaction. “Oooh, there. That’s it. I must say, little sister, I never thought you could look this beautiful. Then again, you never would sit still long enough for any of us to see what was under that mass of red hair.”

Ula nodded so enthusiastically Makenna thought her sister’s head would snap off. “Aye, look for yourself, Makenna,” Ula instructed, handing her a flat rectangular reflecting dish of highly polished silver.

Makenna was not fooled by her sisters’ gaiety, nor did she believe their cheery disposition was indicative of her clan’s feelings toward her pending nuptials. Still, they were telling the truth. She did look beautiful. For the first time in her life, she was glad not to possess the straight gold-blond tresses of her four sisters and her mother. She alone had received the Dunstan dark red hair and green eyes. And today, they did not appear to be wild or untidy, but captivating.