Chapter Eleven
Alec lifted Mairi’s hands as she sat in a foot of surf water. With the slope of the shore, the water reached up her back to the ends of her long hair. Gently, so as not to wrench her shoulders, he dragged her up, catching her against the water gushing back, as if Poseidon sought to snatch her into the ocean. “Stand up,” Alec said, unable to completely hide his grin. She looked caught between mirth and fury.
“Ugh,” she cried. “Ye try to stand with sand beneath ye and skirts weighted with the sea.”
“Ye kept your crown,” Cinnia called out from higher on the shore.
Mairi finally found her feet and stood. She pulled her one fisted hand from his to hold up the sea glass. “And my heart.”
“’Tis my heart,” Weylyn called. But with a glance from Alec, he produced a dark pout. “But ye can have it, Mairi.”
Alec held her arm as they walked up the sand. He didn’t dare drop it, or she might flop back into the surf like a beached mermaid. Mairi stopped to bend at Weylyn’s side. “Ah, but ’tis yours to give to some lucky lass when ye grow older,” she said and placed it back in his palm. “She will be lucky to get it.”
His eyes lit up, and he glanced at Alec. Alec gave a silent nod, and Weylyn smiled broadly, tucking it in his pocket. “Thank ye,” he said with a bob before running off.
Bessy hurried over. “Ye’re drenched,” she said, offering Mairi her shawl. “Ye’ll catch your death.” Genuine concern muted her smile.
Angus followed with George Macrae. “Ye aren’t even wed yet, and death is already trying to take her.” Angus laughed, oblivious to the pallor growing in his sister’s face.
“No worries,” Mairi said, her voice strong. “I am hale and hearty.” But she did accept the shawl, and Alec felt her shiver as he held her arm, marching up the sandy slope.
Ian strode over with Kenneth. “The sun is starting to go down, and the temperature will drop. Best to get Mairi back to Kisimul.”
“Escort the Camerons back so they can prepare to depart,” Alec said. “I will see Mairi dry before bringing her across the open water.”
“I wanted to talk with ye before departing,” Angus said. “Your lady said Bessy could stay on at Kisimul.”
Alec felt Mairi’s fingers clench into his arm. “I haven’t had a chance to discuss it with him yet.”
Angus waved her off. “I will wait for your return to Kisimul before we leave Barra.” Angus was using any excuse to prolong his stay.
“Very well,” Alec said. “Ian, make sure to pick up some bread from Ruth and fish from the docks before maneuvering the ferry over.”
“I can cook,” Bessy said, a flush coming to her cheeks as if she’d talked out of place.
“Thank ye,” Mairi said to her. “The children need to eat after spending all day in the wind and sun.”
“Aye,” Angus boomed. “As do the men.” He patted his round gut that hung a bit over the top of his kilt.
Alec led Mairi through the wildflowers, passing Kenneth on the way to his horse, whom they’d brought over. “I’ll leave Sköll on Barra for the night,” he said to him. “Stay close to the Camerons and Macrae.”
Kenneth called to the children as Alec continued to lead Mairi toward his horse. “Where are we going?” she asked, a slight chatter to her speech. The wind had turned cold with the slanting of late day shadows.
“Somewhere warm.” He interlaced his fingers for her foot to step into. It was bare, small, and cold. Her wee toes curled against his palm. He wanted to cup the tiny foot in his hand until it warmed, but she pulled herself into the saddle. He climbed on behind her and brought Sköll around to face inland.
“Ye’re cold,” he said to justify pulling her completely into the shelter of his arms and chest. Unlike the ride from Kilchoan, she didn’t fight it. They rode in silence, her eyes straight ahead, her glorious hair free and dancing in the breeze. “What are ye thinking?” he asked, close to her ear.
“That ye shouldn’t marry Bessy Cameron,” she said.
He frowned at the back of her head. “I have no intention of wedding her.”
“Good. Ye scare her, I think, and she believes in the curse of Kisimul. Her brother’s an inconsiderate oaf who thinks only to unload her or use her. Bloody cod.”
Alec kept his chuckle back. “Tell me what ye really think of Angus.”
She twisted in the seat and saw his grin. She snorted softly through her nose. “I don’t like to see women used or parceled off.”
Alec’s mouth tightened. “Like being married to another clan to form an alliance?”
She turned to face front, her shoulders stiff. “That was my choice.”
“Perhaps coming to Kisimul was Bessy’s choice,” he said. “I’ve been told I attract my fair share of gazes from lasses.”
Mairi tsked. “Handsome and exceedingly humble.” She shook her head but continued to stare forward.
Handsome? It was the first kind word she’d given him. Alec clicked his tongue, feeling lighter, and Sköll broke into a smooth gallop. Together as one, they flew across the rolling meadow toward the cottage near the forest, with smoke curling up from the crooked chimney. Mairi laughed, leaning into the wind, her hair streaming out on either side of him. It was a beautiful sound.
Alec slowed Sköll as he neared. Millie, having felt the vibrations of the horse, peeked out the doorway, her face breaking into a curious grin.
“Where are we?” Mairi asked as he reined in, scattering chickens in the yard.
“Millie’s cottage.”
“Millie?” Her eyes opened wide as her hands went to her muddy, wet skirts. “The woman who raised ye when your mother left?”
“Aye.”
“Ballocks, Alec,” she whispered, making Alec grin. “I won’t be making any grand impression on her.”
“Just so ye know, she deciphers lip movements.”
Millie stepped out, drying hands on her apron. She nodded to him and looked at Mairi, one gray eyebrow raised.
“Mairi Maclean,” he said, moving his lips slowly. She nodded.
“Ye told her my name?” Mairi asked. “I thought I was a secret.”
“I trust Millie with my life, and she’d figure it out within five minutes, anyway.”
Millie beckoned them into her cottage. It smelled of herbs and fresh bread, the warm fire heating the small space. She made signs asking what happened to Mairi.
“A wave snuck up on her at the beach. Do ye have anything dry and warm for her?”
She beckoned Mairi behind a screen. “I think she wants me to bathe,” Mairi called out.
“There’s time,” he answered, rolling up his sleeves. He wouldn’t be able to stay in such warmth for long. “I’ll see to her animals.” He walked out into the early evening. Millie had a cow that would have already been milked, but he made certain the stables were clean and secure. He corralled the chickens to keep them safe from eagles searching for an easy meal. He was the only wolf on Barra, but some of the puppies born to the dogs on the isle had grown feral, despite his efforts to train and find them good homes. The dogs he placed worked to herd livestock and protect their families. Some even helped the elderly who lost sight, and hopefully Millie would like the two male dogs he was training to be her ears.
Twenty minutes later, Alec carried in a stack of peat squares for the fire.
“’Tis a bit tight but quite lovely,” Mairi said behind the screen. She laughed then. “Aye, I am not lacking there.”
Alec stomped his feet hard on the floorboards. Millie stuck her head around the screen. “The livestock are in for the night,” he said. She gave a brief bow, her hand touching her heart in thanks. “Did she find ye dry clothes?” he called.
“Aye,” Mairi said, coming out from the screen. Her hair was wet and gathered to the side in a small drying sheet to lay over one shoulder. The muddy sand was scrubbed away from her face. She wore a yellow dress with flowers embroidered into the skirt. Its waist was quite tight and pushed the swell of her breasts high. “I think it was hers when she was younger.”
Millie nodded, her eyes bright as she held out a hand to Mairi.
“Aye, it is a lovely dress,” Alec said.
Millie shook her head, frowning, and flipped her hand from the top of Mairi’s head to the tips of her toes, which peeked out the bottom. “And aye, Mairi cleans up nicely,” he corrected. Millie plopped her hands on her hips and tapped her foot. “And,” Alec continued, his gaze meeting Mairi’s, “ye look lovely.”
Millie nodded and strode to the hearth where she had a small pot hanging over the hot embers. She stirred it while motioning for them to sit.
“I don’t want to take her food,” Mairi said, a hand before her lips.
“She won’t let us leave without eating.”
“Don’t eat very much,” she told him.
“Then she’ll think I’m ill and not let me leave,” he said, taking the bowl Millie set before him. “Thank ye. Smells wonderful.”
Millie nodded at Mairi as she set down her bowl. “Thank ye. Do I smell rosemary?” Mairi asked. Millie nodded again and smiled.
“She has a robust herb garden,” Alec said.
Millie motioned to Alec and then mimicked shoveling. “Ye planted it for her?” Mairi asked.
“Under her knowledgeable direction,” he answered, eating heartily of the good stew. Millie turned to the small oven she had in the corner with a wooden bread paddle.
“She won’t come back to Kisimul?” Mairi asked.
“Only at Christmastide or when one of the children is sick.”
“Does she fear the curse?”
He exhaled long. “She thinks curses are brought on by the people who believe them, therefore she refuses to do so.”
“Wise.”
“Aye. She says she wants her freedom and doesn’t feel like she can leave when she’s there.”
“Hmmm… I know the feeling,” Mairi said casually and spooned more stew in between her lips as she held his gaze.
The bread was as light and flavorful as usual, and the butter fresh and sweet. “’Tis delicious,” Mairi said and chewed slowly. He watched the way her lips and delicate jaw moved. Unguarded, she smiled, thanking Millie again and praising her cooking talents.
Millie wrapped up the other loaf to send back with them. She always baked two, knowing Alec would be along nearly every day to check on her.
“We need to return to Kisimul before Angus Cameron takes it over,” Alec said, and Millie made a face.
Mairi pulled Bessy’s shawl around her. “She knows him?”
“From my youth, and he came last year to visit Barra with a request to settle some of his warriors here,” Alec said.
“Oh? That’s odd, isn’t it?”
“The English are encroaching into Cameron territory. I suspect Angus is searching for ways to expand. He’s rather fond of the beaches and brings up our fertile soil whenever I see him. I think trying to marry off Bessy to me is just another way he’s attempting to put a foothold on Barra.”
“I think Bessy should stay. We could use a cook, and she seems willing,” Mairi said.
Alec froze, watching Mairi. Did she realize how her statement sounded? “Aye,” he said slowly. “We could use a cook on Kisimul.”
She turned to Millie, who hugged her. Was Mairi starting to warm to the idea of Kisimul being her home? With him? The thought made his pulse pick up.
Millie looked past Mairi to him and began signing. Love her?
His brows lowered, and his face pinched. Love her? She’d only recently stopped shouting at him.
Millie waved her hands, erasing her question. She signed again. Have you bedded her?
“What was that signal?” Mairi asked, her eyes wide. “With her finger and hand?”
Millie ignored her and raised her eyebrows at Alec. He shook his head.
She tipped her head to Mairi with clear orders to bed her as soon as he could. If he wanted to keep her.
“Do I want to know what ye two are discussing?” Mairi asked.
“I would say naught,” Alec answered, kissing Millie on the cheek. “I will be by in a day or so,” he told her.
She stood in the lit doorway as Alec helped Mairi up on Sköll’s back.
“Goodness,” Mairi said low. “I’m nearly falling out of this bodice.”
“I hadn’t noticed,” Alec said, climbing atop before her, and pulled her arms to wrap around his chest as they rode.
“Liar.” Even though he couldn’t see her, he could hear the teasing glare in her voice. She waved at Millie as he clicked his tongue to get Sköll trotting away into the dark meadow.
…
Mairi leaned forward, relaxing against Alec. With her arms wrapped around him, she felt secure and warm. She laid her cheek against his back where his heart beat through. Lord, Alec MacNeil was…complex. His strength was evident, yet he held it in check, never flaunting it or using it to frighten people or animals. He’d taken her without permission, yet he seemed to respect all breathing creatures, even Angus Cameron. He cared for Millie, never forcing her to come to Kisimul.
Everyone leaves Kisimul. The phrase, and the pain edging the brittle words, squeezed her heart, just a bit. After all, he was still the man who had stolen her from…wedding Geoff, who was possibly the man who’d beaten Daisy.
Hell. Her thoughts and feelings were jumbled. She couldn’t deny the pull she felt toward Alec. Physically, since their first kiss, but there was more to him than muscle, brilliant eyes, and an irresistible mouth. Her cheeks warmed as she thought about the hand signal Millie had given before they’d departed. The woman was brazen and direct. Mairi liked her.
She pressed one hand to the swell of her breasts above the lace-edged neckline and breathed deeply of the summer night air. The moon was only the thinnest of slivers in the star-speckled sky, making the shadows impenetrable. She turned her head to the side. “We aren’t headed to the docks?”
“I have something else to show ye before we row back to Kisimul,” he said.
She chuckled. “Ye really don’t want to deal with Angus.”
“Aye, ’tis the only reason I’d wish to ride through a summer night with a beautiful lass wrapped around me.”
Mairi’s heart felt light within her, but she pushed his flirtatious words down. Perhaps he’d decided to woo her, trick her with flattery to wed him. “Are ye sure the children are well without us?”
“Ian and Kenneth would light a signal if there were a problem.” He pointed out to the bay on his right, where the dark bulk of Kisimul sat on its rock. “Bessy has probably fed everyone and has the children up in their bedroom. No doubt her brother will wait until morning to leave.”
He stopped on a knoll and dismounted, lifting her to the dewy grass. Her toes curled into the dampness as she looked about at the dark. “What am I to see?”
“Look up. It’s the best view in the world,” he answered as he grabbed a wool blanket from the back of his horse and shook it open, laying it out.
“The stars?” Mairi asked.
“There’s no moon to hide them, and the sky is clear. Come,” he said, patting the blanket next to him.
She pulled Bessy’s shawl around her shoulders and sat, but he had a second blanket and draped it over her legs. “Lie back,” he said, lowering slowly. She looked around at the darkness shrouding them, her breaths turning shallow at his nearness. His horse had wandered off, its neck bent to the summer grass, leaving them completely alone. With slow control, she leaned back to lie beside him, their shoulders touching. “That is Cepheus and Cassiopeia,” he said, pointing toward the north.
“Aye.” She easily picked out the constellations she’d learned from her father and raised her own finger to point toward the southeast. “And there is the flying Pegasus. They are bright and clear tonight.”
“Ye know star patterns?” he asked.
“My father used to take my brother and me out in a boat when we were little, when the moon was new and the clouds were gone. It was peaceful, and he’d point out the constellations.”
“He was important to ye,” Alec said, his voice low, intimate.
“Aye.” She turned her head to the side to meet his gaze in the darkness. “Fathers are very important to children. They teach them many things. Did your da teach ye about the stars?”
“Nay,” he said, turning again to stare up. “Millie did. My da died in battle when I was young.”
She reached across her chest to lay her hand on his upper arm. “I am sorry for that.”
He turned his face to hers. “Your da, he is dead?”
“Last year, just after I wed Fergus.”
The shape of his face stood out from the darkness. “Ye’d wed Fergus MacInnes for your father, and then he died.”
She inhaled and exhaled long. “There was no other possible reason but duty.”
“And Geoff MacInnes?” he asked. “Ye said your brother didn’t ask ye to wed him?”
Even without the moon glowing down, Mairi could see the hardness of Alec’s mouth. She shook her head, rubbing her hair on the blanket. “Tor said I didn’t have to, that he’d never make me wed where I didn’t love.”
“Ye said that ye don’t love Geoff MacInnes,” he said, bringing up their argument from before. “That your brother didn’t ask ye to wed and your father had died. Ye could have waited to meet another chief, seal an alliance with another clan. Something must have drawn ye to MacInnes.”
Mairi twisted a lock of her hair. “Nay, I don’t love him.” She sighed. “But…he asked.” She straightened again to follow the star patterns, picking out the swan constellation, Cygnus.
“I asked, and ye said nay.”
She gave a wry laugh. “Ye told me, and then ye asked me as a prisoner. I was free when Geoff proposed.” She huffed. “And well…’tis foolish, I know, but the man I’d set my heart on since I was a lass had just married someone else. Cullen was completely enraptured by his new wife, and when Geoff asked, I thought that at least I could help my family with an alliance to our north.”
“Cullen Duffie?” Alec asked, his voice gruff, making her turn to him in the darkness.
“Aye, do ye know him?”
“I’ve met the man.”
From his tone, she could tell Alec loathed Cullen. It sent a flame of anger through her, and she pushed up onto one elbow. “What have ye against the MacDonalds of Islay? Or is it just Cullen Duffie ye want to slaughter?”
He pushed up onto his own elbow. “So ye love Cullen Duffie?” he asked, though it sounded like an accusation.
“Nay, he’s married to someone else,” she said, her brows lowering.
“But if he weren’t, ye would want to marry him.”
Mairi stared at Alec, her eyes opening wider. Was he jealous of Cullen? Why would he be jealous of someone she had loved?
A meek woman, trying to attract the ruggedly handsome man lying next to her under the stars, would have assured him that she’d never really loved Cullen. But Mairi was not, nor ever would be, that woman. She lay flat once more and crossed her one arm below the hoisted mounds of her breasts in Millie’s snug dress.
“Well,” she said slowly and flipped her other hand about. “I don’t know. I mean…Cullen Duffie…” She made her voice almost purr over his name and left it hanging there as if his name alone answered what every sane woman would desire.
“That’s not an answer,” Alec said tightly.
She turned toward him, still raised up on his elbow. He looked tortured as he waited. She even saw the white glimmer of his teeth between his lips as if they were clenched. Aye, Alec MacNeil was jealous. Why?
“Ye would marry him if something happened to his wife and he asked ye,” he said, his voice flattening out, the emotion gone. Without moving, she could feel him pulling away, and she didn’t like it. In fact, she hated it.
“Alec,” she said slowly. “I am an honest woman. I grew up thinking I would marry Cullen. If he’d asked, I would likely have said aye. But he’s left broken hearts all over the Highlands, and I guard my heart well. I doubt he ever knew of my interest.”
Alec’s teeth came down for a second on his bottom lip. Did he even know the vulnerability that small movement showed? The disciplined man who never gave away his emotions? How could he have slipped so?
Before she could remind herself again of her prisoner status, she reached forward to place her hand on the side of his face, her fingers brushing down his cropped beard. He didn’t move, just stared down at her. The day together had been wonderful and relaxing, and the pull she felt toward him was undeniably fierce. His jealousy over Cullen confirmed that he was feeling the same.
Mairi stroked a finger down his cheek again. “Why don’t ye kiss me, Alec. Make me certain I would say no if he asked.”
He stared at her, the darkness like a veil around them. Alec’s face filled the space above her, and he lowered down, his kiss simple. He was still angry or jealous. The realization spurred Mairi to reach her hands behind his head, pulling him over her for a real kiss. Their mouths met fully, warm and perfectly matched. She turned to him, her body scooting to snug up against his hard, hot frame.
Fingers raked through her hair to cup her head as Alec took over. He slanted her face against his, and she opened her mouth, letting him in to taste her. Her hands roamed across his broad shoulders and back as she released the constraints she’d kept on her passion all day.
His arms framing her face, Alec kissed her like he wanted to brand her, and she kissed him back the same way. Heat coursed through Mairi until the only thing that existed on that dark knoll, under the stars, was just the two of them. She hugged him to her, rubbing her pelvis against the hardness she felt through his kilt.
“The bodice is tight,” she said, breathing against his mouth. He rolled her halfway on top of him, until his fingers could reach the ties in the back, yanking them loose. When Mairi lay flat again, he looked down on her.
Reaching up, he raked her hair out around her head. “Ye are an angel,” he said.
“Hmmm… Would an angel do this?” Mairi lifted her shoulders, one at a time, as she slid a hand down her neckline and under one breast. She pulled upward, spilling the breast up and out of the bodice. She did the same for the other, so they sat atop her in perfect, pale display.
“Och, lass,” Alec breathed and reached to kiss her again, his palm cupping one breast, lifting its weight, his fingers coming up to gently pinch her nipple. The sensation tugged muscles deep within Mairi. She moaned softly against his mouth and shifted with restless energy.
Alec kissed a path down her neck, his lips like flames licking along her skin, making her pant. His mouth closed around one jutting nipple, and Mairi gasped, arching her back to press into his laving tongue. His hand sought the other breast, plumping it and pinching until she pressed the V of her legs into him, asking without words.
She was a widow, after all. Had been married for nearly a year. No matter that Fergus, despite his frustrated stroking, had never been able to mount an erection to enter her. An embarrassment she wasn’t willing to disclose to anyone. She’d fought off Normond MacInnes and managed to keep her maidenhead, but she didn’t want to keep it anymore. As a widow, no one expected her to be a virgin, so why continue the farce. She wanted to know the pleasure that other women knew, and she had no doubt that Alec MacNeil could deliver it.
“Alec,” she whispered, her hands trailing down the planes of his stomach, tugging the shirt from his kilt, which sat low on his waist. She slid her hands underneath to the smooth, hot skin of his torso, running her fingers along the gentle ridges of muscle there. In a quick motion, Alec untied the shirt at his neck and pulled it off over his head, leaving his beautifully chiseled chest bare.
“God’s teeth,” Mairi said. “Ye make me pant.” He sat up over her and slowly cupped her bare breasts, teasing her nipples. His hands were incredibly warm against the chill of the night air.
“And ye make me harder than the walls of Kisimul,” he growled, lowering his mouth again to catch a nipple between his lips.
Mairi arched in to him and closed her eyes as she gave in to the pleasure his skillful tongue ignited within her body. When he traveled back up her neck to kiss her mouth, Mairi’s fingers edged up his kilt until her hand reached his jutting cod. Thick and long, hot and hard. She stroked up and down in a rhythm to match her own, and Alec groaned deeply. In the darkness, it sounded like a growl, sending a thrill of chill bumps all over Mairi.
“Take me, Alec,” she whispered against his mouth. “Take me here under the stars.”
He leaned back to look down into her face. Would he deny her? Make her promise to wed him first? What would she say?
He released a breath, bending close. “I will make ye fly apart, Mairi Maclean.” He touched a knuckle to the hollow of her throat, and skimmed it slowly down between the tight valley of her breasts. He kissed under her ear. “I will make ye burn,” he whispered.
She pressed against him, a ticklish chill along her skin warring with the hot passion flaring up through her body. “Aye, make me fly apart, Alec MacNeil.” She tugged at the waist of his wrapped kilt. When she loosened it, he stood, sliding it down his legs to fall somewhere at the end of the blanket. There was just enough starlight to see his form. Muscles, narrow waist and hips, and a tall, proud erection. Want throbbed through her, making Mairi weak and strung tight with anticipation at the same time. She pushed up, feeling caught in the grips of the dress, and wiggled until the bodice parted more in the back. She pulled the front away from her, including the tied sleeves. He helped her stand, the dress pooling at her feet. The two of them faced each other in the darkness, exposed but hidden in shadow, viewed only by the distant stars.
Alec’s arms encircled her, pulling her in, covering her quickly cooling flesh with his heat. “Ye’re warm,” she said, her cheek against his chest, aware of the heavy thickness against her stomach.
“And ye’re freezing.” He rubbed her back, stroking down over her backside, cupping and lifting.
She tipped her face up to his. “Set me on fire, Alec. Give me your heat.”
His gaze was intense, as if a battle raged within him. “Ye are sure?”
Was she? Mairi had dreaded giving her virginity to a man older than her father, and when he couldn’t take it, the reprieve had been welcome, yet burdensome. Now she could choose to whom to give it. And she chose Alec MacNeil.
“Aye,” she said. “Make me burn.”