“The battle with the Northumbrians,” he answered.
“In vivid detail,” Elizabeth informed her.
Jamie’s irritation vanished in the face of her husband’s obvious confusion over her reaction. “Alec, you’ll give this baby nightmares with such talk.”
“She liked the story,” Alec argued. “Give her back to me, Jamie. I’ve still to tell the ending.”
“Aye, he has to finish the tale,” Gavin interjected.
“She’s going to bed.” Jamie laughed then, in spite of her better intentions. “I cannot believe you’d tell a sweet child a battle story.”
It soon became apparent to her that Alec and his soldiers couldn’t believe she’d take exception to the tale.
“Give Mary a good night kiss,” Jamie instructed. She handed the child back to her father and watched him place a gentle kiss on her brow.
“Go to your bed now, Mary,” Alec told the child in a soft whisper. “I’ll finish your story tomorrow.”
When he put the little girl down, she hurried over to the hearth and stretched out on the rushes. “Does she think that’s where she’s supposed to sleep?” Alec asked.
Jamie chased after Mary and picked her up before answering. “I suppose she does,” she said. “Her grandmother must have been very good to her, though. Mary has such a sweet disposition. ’Tis proof she hasn’t been mistreated long.”
“Why is that proof?” Alec asked.
“When a child is treated cruelly, sometimes the mind becomes twisted, Alec, or so I’ve been told. Why are you looking at me like that?” she added in a worried tone. “You look . . . stunned. We needn’t worry about our Mary, Alec.”
Alec forced a grin. “I never worry,” he said. “You do enough for the both of us.”
She decided to ignore that ridiculous statement. “May we sleep upstairs tonight, Alec? I want to be near Mary. She might need me during the night.”
He was the one who needed her during the night. That thought popped into his mind all at once, causing a fierce frown. Hell, she was supposed to need him.
He looked at little Mary. The child’s face rested against Jamie’s shoulder. Her eyes were closed, her expression bordering on blissful. It was very apparent she liked being held by Jamie.
The bruises would fade away from the child’s back and legs, and Alec knew that Jamie would soon be able to soothe away any hurt lingering inside the child’s mind. Aye, his wife would make Mary Kathleen content . . . as content as her magical love had made him.
She did love him. The way she looked at him told him so. She might not have reckoned with the truth yet, but Alec was certain that, in time, and with enough prodding, she’d settle in to accepting her fate. He had. God must have had a hand in sending Jamie to him, he decided, because if anyone had told him a year ago that he’d love an opinionated, bad-tempered, contrary English woman, he would have laughed first and then flattened the man for suggesting such a notion.
He guessed he’d have to tell her he loved her. Alec quit his scowl. He’d tell her tonight, he decided. In Gaelic. Just to be contrary.
“Alec? Will you be needing to speak to me again tonight?” Angus asked, interrupting his laird’s thoughts.
“No, Angus. Take Elizabeth home. We’ll discuss our plans again tomorrow.”
Gavin waited until Angus had taken Elizabeth outside before questioning Alec. Though he was sure Elizabeth wouldn’t repeat anything she overheard, he didn’t want to upset her. “What plan are you thinking of, Alec? Do you know who tried to kill Jamie?”
“You’re not including us in your discussion?” Marcus asked.
“Quit your frown, Marcus,” Alec ordered. “I haven’t had time to include the two of you yet. You did check the bedrooms, didn’t you, Gavin?”
The soldier nodded. “And I’ve been watching the doors ever since. Edith is waiting in Mary’s room. She wants permission from Jamie to sleep with Mary tonight in case the child awakens.”
“The soldiers are still stationed below your window, milord,” Marcus added.
“Put two more at the bottom of the steps, Marcus. No one goes up those stairs.”
“Do you know who it is?” Gavin asked again.
“I’m almost certain,” Alec returned. His expression turned grim. “Tomorrow we set the trap. I’ve been looking in the wrong direction. And if I’m right, once this is over, Father Murdock will have to bless Helena’s grave.”
“I don’t understand,” Marcus whispered.
“If I’m right,” Alec repeated, “Helena didn’t kill herself. She was murdered.”
He guards her like a precious treasure. The fool! Does he actually think he can stop me?
I’m too cunning for the Kincaid. The time has come to challenge him once again. I’ll kill the bitch tomorrow.
The child will have to wait. . .. It can only be one pleasure at a time.
God give me the strength to hide my joy.
Chapter Sixteen
Jamie was sound asleep when Alec finally came to bed. She looked beautiful to him, peaceful, too. He really shouldn’t wake her up, he thought, even as he moved the blanket away and pulled her into his arms.
She grumbled in her sleep, then threw one slender leg over his thigh. The woman was giving him hell even in her sleep, for when he trailed his fingers down her back, she mumbled something he didn’t understand but guessed was shameful, then slapped his hand away when she rolled over on her back.
He wasn’t at all deterred. Her nightgown was bunched up around her thighs, and in the soft candlelight, her skin was dappled gold. Her legs were tangled in the covers. Alec kicked the covers out of the way before trapping her with one thigh. He made short work of removing her gown, smiling over the muttering that action caused. She could even look disgruntled when she was sleeping.
He moved her hair out of his way, trailing the silky rose-scented strands through his fingers as he nuzzled the side of her neck.
She sighed with pleasure. Alec raised his head to look at her. He smiled when he saw that she didn’t look at all irritated now. He kissed her softly parted lips, the center of her chin, her neck again, then moved lower to kiss the gooseflesh on her chest.
Her shivers woke her up. She wasn’t at all cold, though. No, she was getting warmer with each moment . . . with each kiss. Alec was caressing her breasts with his hands, his mouth, his tongue.
He was such a gentle lover with her, she thought in wonder. He could make her melt in his arms. His hand moved down to circle her navel, then lower still, until his fingers were stroking the soft curls between her thighs.
Her body was ready for him. She was hot, wet, and as her sweet moans told him, almost as wild with need as he was. He teased her stomach with his tongue. She clung to him and finally pulled on his hair when she’d had enough of that torment.
“You make me ache to have you, Jamie,” he whispered.
“Have me now, Alec,” she whispered. “Don’t make me wait any longer. I want . . .”
Her moan of pleasure when his fingers stretched inside her ended her plea. She arched against him even as she tried to pull his hand away. “Stop this torment, husband. Come to me now.”
Her hands moved down to capture him. “Two can play this game,” she whispered, her voice a husky promise.
Alec groaned deep in his throat, then pulled her hand away. “Not tonight, she can’t,” he whispered. “I can’t hold back much longer, Jamie.”
He moved between her legs, cupped her thighs, and thrust inside her with one powerful surge.
She cried out in ecstasy.
Alec immediately stilled inside her. “Did I hurt you, love?” he asked, his worry evident in his gaze.
“No,” she told him with a low moan. “You didn’t hurt me.”
“I’m being too rough,” he whispered, still unconvinced he hadn’t harmed her. He tried to pull back, to ease himself away from her, but her legs held him in a grip that wouldn’t allow retreat.
“Don’t
you dare stop now,” she whispered. “I’ll die if you do.”
“So will I, Jamie,” he admitted on a ragged breath. “So will I.” He might have managed a smile, but he couldn’t be certain. His body was demanding release, yet he was determined to give her fulfillment first.
He captured her mouth in a searing kiss as he thrust deep, deeper still. Her body accommodated him so completely, so tightly, so wonderfully. He wanted her fire to consume him, amazed she would so easily make him burn for more, more, always more.
Jamie felt as though he was taking her to the stars. She gave herself over to the wonder then, clinging to the man she loved to share the splendor only he could give her.
As soon as he felt the first tremors of her release, he gave a final thrust and spilled his hot seed inside her.
He didn’t know how long they stayed together. He thought he never wanted to leave her, though, and it wasn’t until his heart and his breathing had calmed that he remembered he wanted to tell her he loved her.
“You get better each time, wife,” he whispered as he rolled to his side.
Jamie rolled with him, tucked the top of her head under his chin, smiling over the teasing lilt in his soft burr. “You said practice would make me better,” she reminded him. “I had no idea we’d practice so often,” she admitted.
He could tell she was arrogantly pleased with herself. Alec smiled against the top of her head, then whispered in Gaelic, “I know you don’t understand what I’m saying to you, Jamie, but I’ve need to tell you in my own language. I love you, lass, with all my being.”
He felt her stiffen against him during his recitation, but when she tried to pull away from him, he held her secure. “I love you because you’re so gentle and loving, caring, too. Ye have a heart of gold, lass.”
She all but melted against him then. “But most of all, Jamie, I love you because you’re such a truthful woman. Aye,” he added when she stiffened against him again, “I could never love a woman who’d try to deceive me, but I have complete faith in you.”
He thought she might have turned into stone. It took all Alec’s determination not to laugh. “Good night, Jamie,” he whispered, in her language.
“What did you just say to me?” Jamie asked.
She was trying to sound blase. “I said good night,” Alec drawled.
“Before that,” Jamie whispered, a tremor in her voice.
“’Tis not important,” he countered.
She pushed away from him so he’d be able to see her frustration. “Did you mean whatever it was you said?”
He shrugged. Jamie almost lost her temper then and there, but she’d already determined to give Alec quite a surprise tomorrow: she was going to kneel before Edgar and recite her pledge in Gaelic.
She wasn’t going to let Alec ruin her surprise. There was that, yes, but there was also the fact he’d just told her he loved her because she was so truthful.
She was good and trapped by her own hand. And why did she suddenly sense that Alec knew it?
It was the sparkle that came into his eyes, she decided. “Why are you looking at me like that?” she asked.
“Because you look as though you’re trying to solve all of England’s considerable problems,” he answered.
“I have thought of a small problem that needs solving,” Jamie admitted.
“Tell me what it is.”
She shook her head. “I will solve it tomorrow, Alec. It’s my problem, after all. I will take care of it. Trust me on this.”
“Oh, I do trust you, wife.”
“You do?” she asked, looking very pleased with him.
“Of course. Honesty and trust are like the right and left hands. They’re both important. . .. Now what’s the matter?” he asked, trying not to laugh. “You’re frowning again.”
He decided he’d baited her enough for one evening. “It’s late, Jamie,” he said as he pulled her back into his arms. “You must be exhausted after your long day. You shouldn’t be trying to solve your problems now. You should be—”
“Sleeping,” she interjected with a sigh.
“No,” he countered. “You should be pleasing your husband.”
“I just did please you, didn’t I?”
“You’ve still to get it right, lass.” He rolled her onto her back. “But you’re most fortunate to have a patient husband.”
“I have an insatiable husband, Kincaid. Do you know how many times we’ve—”
“Am I to keep count of our lovemaking, too?”
Jamie only had enough time to wrap her arms around her husband before he captured her laughter with a long kiss.
They made slow, sweet love. And all the while, Jamie kept hearing his pledge of love. Tomorrow, she promised, tomorrow I will give him my pledge in Gaelic.
She fell asleep before he’d rolled away. Alec covered both of them with his plaid and was sound asleep moments later.
He only awakened once during the short night, when the door was opened. He was reaching for his sword when Mary Kathleen came running toward the bed.
She ran to Jamie’s side of the bed first. “Don’t bother your mother,” Alec whispered. “Tell me what’s the matter, Mary.”
When he added to his order by motioning to her, Mary finally obeyed. Her expression was solemn, and when she’d reached his side, he could see the fear in her eyes.
“What is it?” he asked her.
Mary held out the bottom of her nightgown. “I’m wet,” she whispered. Tears welled in her eyes, then spilled down her cheeks.
Alec pulled her gown over her head and tossed the garment on the floor. “Now you’re not wet,” he announced.
Jamie had awakened to Mary’s voice. She pretended to be asleep, though, for she knew her husband disliked women who wept. No, she didn’t want him to see how misty her eyes were. He wouldn’t understand the overwhelming love she felt for him when he picked up his daughter and rocked her in his arms.
She closed her eyes when he stood up and carried the sleeping child to the door and handed her to one of the soldiers.
She almost called out that it should be the father putting his daughter back in her bed and not one of his soldiers, then remembered that her husband was stark naked, after all, and Edith would certainly die of embarrassment if she woke up and found him in her room.
That picture was so amusing she had to roll over on her stomach to stifle her giggles.
Alec came back to bed, hauled her up against his side, and was snoring before she’d even gotten herself properly settled.
Her soft sigh of contentment filled the air. She could barely wait for morning. Tomorrow was going to be a glorious day.
It was the worst day of her life.
Oh, it started out well enough. Jamie and Edith had the great hall looking as grand as a palace in less than two hours’ time. Fresh flowers decorated the tables, new rushes covered the floor, and the tall box-shaped chair King Edgar would sit upon was scrubbed spotless.
Gavin and Marcus did try Jamie’s patience, however. Every time she turned around, one of the big men was blocking her path. “Isn’t there something you need to be doing?” she asked.
The soldiers didn’t take her subtle hint. “It’s our day away from our duties,” Gavin explained.
She didn’t look as if she believed him. Neither did Marcus, for that matter.
“But why are you following me around?” Jamie persisted.
The soldiers were saved from having to come up with a lie to that question when Mary Kathleen grabbed hold of Jamie’s skirt. The little girl was dressed in a Kincaid gown. The garment had come from the blacksmith’s family and fit Mary well. Jamie lifted her daughter into her arms, gave her a quick kiss, and whispered a few words of praise in Gaelic.
“May I take Mary with me to Frances’s cottage?” Edith called out.
“Frances?”
“The blacksmith’s wife,” Edith explained. “She has several pairs of shoes we can try on Mary.”
“B
e sure to tell Frances how much I appreciate her help,” Jamie said.
Edith shook her head. “She’d be insulted. It’s her duty to help.”
Jamie didn’t know what to make of that statement. She handed Mary to Edith, a difficult task, that, since Mary wanted to stay right where she was. Edith explained to her niece what their errand was and finally gained her cooperation.
“I’ll tell Frances you’re pleased with her,” Edith called over her shoulder.
She bumped into Marcus when she turned around. “I cannot help but wonder why you’re following me around,” she said. She let him see her exasperation. “And why are those soldiers lounging above the stairs? Don’t they have some duties to see to?”
Marcus shook his head. “It’s their day off from other duties,” he explained.
Alec walked into the hall in time to hear Marcus’s outrageous explanation. He noticed his wife’s incredulous expression, too. “Jamie? The clan is coming up the last hills. They’ll be here in a few minutes. Some of Harold’s clan is with them. I want you—”
“We’re receiving guests now?” she cried out.
“We are,” Alec stated.
He didn’t realize his wife could move so quickly. Alec reached out to grab her when she tried to fly past him. He pulled her into his arms and forced her to look up at him.
She looked terribly worried. Alec couldn’t resist. He leaned down and kissed her wrinkled brow. This spontaneous show of affection was still new to him, but he found he liked it well enough. He kissed her again.
“I don’t like to see you frown,” he whispered. “Are you worrying again?”
She shook her head. “I need to change my gown,” she announced.
“Why? Whether your English garb be clean or not, it still won’t matter. They’re bound to hate it as much as I do.”
She didn’t give him an answer to that remark. He could tell, though, that she was more amused than irritated. Her reaction puzzled him. He kissed her again, a long, wet kiss on her sweet mouth, and when she wrapped her arms around his waist, his tongue moved inside and began to stroke the roof of her mouth.