Kennan (McClains Book 4) Read online

  He quickly climbed the stairs, praying that she would still be awake and waiting for him. He knew her day had been busy as well, so he fully understood that it could go either way. He wanted her to be awake, but he knew there was a good chance she would not be.

  When he opened the door of his bedchamber, he stared into it dumbfounded for a moment. Not only was his wife not there, none of his belongings were either. And then it hit him. She was in the chamber his parents had always shared. Their chamber. No longer his. She had even told him that earlier in the day, but in his hurry to get to her side, he had forgotten.

  He walked down the hall and opened the door, seeing her sound asleep in the light of the full moon streaming through the window. He sighed. His clan had again kept him from making love with his bride. Perchance by the time they had been married for a month or two, they would have had time to kiss a few times.

  He wanted the luck of his ancestors to pool within him, and he willed her to open her eyes and look at him. Instead, she turned to her side away from him, and he resigned himself to another night with nothing but sleep occurring between them. He hoped things would not continue on as they had started because there was no way they would ever have seven children if they did.

  He undressed in the dark and pulled her back against him, burying his face in her hair. If he could not make love with her, at least he could hold her through the night. The long night.

  Chapter Five

  Kennan woke the following morning to an empty bed once again. When he made his way down to the great hall, he found his father standing with some of his most trusted advisors. Their faces were grim.

  “What has happened?” Kennan asked, embarrassed he had slept so late and missed whatever catastrophe had befallen the clan.

  “The MacDonalds struck during the night. It must have gotten out that we have a new young laird,” his father responded. His emphasis on the word young did not pass Kennan’s notice.

  “What did they take?” Kennan asked. The MacDonalds had always been the fiercest adversaries of the McClains clan, even before they were called the McClains.

  “The McClain sword.”

  At the words, Kennan glanced at the wall where his family’s ancestral sword usually held a place of honor in the middle of the wall. Sure enough, the sword was no longer there. He knew the sword held no real value for the MacDonalds. Taking it had been an attempt to break the morale of the new leader of the McClains. He could not let it bother him.

  Kennan wanted to groan aloud. He had yet to make love to his new wife, and already he was having to face his first battle as the leader of Clan McClain. “How many men should I take?” Kennan asked his father.

  “That answer is within you, son. I think you need to do whatever you feel is the right thing to do.”

  Kennan frowned for a moment. The smaller the party to steal something back, the less chance they would be caught. “I will go alone.”

  “Nay, you will not go alone.” The voice came from behind him, and he turned automatically, watching his wife walk up behind him. “I will go with you to guard your back.”

  “A woman does not belong on a raid,” he responded automatically.

  “This woman does.” Gilly stuck her chest out, ready to do battle with the man she had married.

  Kennan did groan aloud then. How could he help it? His Gilly was not going to back down. The evidence of that fact was on her face. “Gillian, I need to do this alone. To prove that I have the ability to lead me clan.”

  “Nay, you dinna need to do it alone. I will accompany you. You married a woman, not a little girl. This woman will not allow her husband to put himself in danger all alone.”

  “I will not put me wife in danger! What kind of man would I be if I allowed you to come with me?”

  “A strong man who was not worried about his masculinity. Is your manhood so fragile that you canna tolerate your wife guarding your back?”

  Kennan resisted the urge to glance over his shoulder to see if anyone was listening. He could feel the heat rising up his neck and into his face. He wanted to yell at her, but she was his Gilly. How could he yell? “Dinna speak to me that way, wife.”

  Gilly swallowed hard, trying to tamp down her anger. She did not want to infuriate her husband, but she did not understand why he did not want her to go with him. “I apologize for me words, but I would like to go with you. May I?”

  He thought through the situation briefly, realizing that her apology would help him to save face with his men, but he did not want her to go. Would she say even worse things if he did not agree with her? What had he gotten himself into by marrying Gilly Campbell? He knew he should tell her no, but how could he? “Yes, you may go with me. You will do everything I say without a single hesitation.”

  Gillian started to argue with him, but she had won her battle. Now she must bide her time before she could win the entire war. “I will gather some things for each of us.”

  Kennan watched as she hurried up the stairs to do as she had said she would before turning back to his father. “I think we will camp outside the MacDonald keep, and in the dead of night, I will use me power to sneak into the building and get me sword back.”

  “Do you trust your wife will be safe alone while you do that? She is going to want to go with you!” The old laird seemed very concerned by his plan.

  “I dinna want to take a group of men because they would be more easily found than a couple camping on their way. I will wear our clan tartan, but I am not yet known as the laird of Clan McClain. We will go as a couple traveling somewhere. No one will be on the lookout for a couple. They will be watching for an army.”

  His father nodded briefly, still looking as if he was uncertain about the plan Kennan was proposing. “Be sure to take weapons with you, and teach her to use a bow and arrow.”

  Kennan started to tell his father that his wife was already proficient with a bow and arrow, but he decided against it. If it became known before they left, it might hurt their plan. He trusted his father, but he was not quite as certain if he trusted all of the men beside him.

  Gillian came rushing down the stairs, a bundle of clothing wrapped in a tartan in her hands. “I am ready!” She hoped that she and Kennan could use the time not only to get to know one another better, but she also wanted him to teach her to use a dagger. Her father and brother had always refused, but surely she had enough feminine skills to talk her husband into doing something he did not necessarily want to do.

  Two horses were saddled. He said she would be more conspicuous riding without a saddle because only the McClain women were known for such a feat. As they rode away from the keep, she had a smile on her face. Finally, she would have enough time alone with her new husband that they could consummate their marriage. She was tired of falling asleep alone every night.

  The journey to the MacDonalds’ keep would take two days’ time, and he would get the sword back during the second night. For most lairds, it would be easier to take a group of men, but because he could sneak in during the night, he would prefer to handle things himself. There was no need for violence when raiding could do the same job faster with no bloodshed.

  It was not that he was afraid of bloodshed, but he saw no need to lose any of his clansmen when he did not have to. He could handle things easily on his own.

  They had traveled a little more than an hour when he reined in his horse to stop for water. His true mission was to talk to his bride about the way she had spoken to him in front of his father’s men. He needed to be sure she did not undermine him in such a way again.

  “I did not like the way you spoke to me in front of others. If it had been just the two of us, I would not have been pleased, but you angered me. I dinna think you should show defiance to what I say in front of me father’s men.”

  Gillian sighed. “I have learned to think for meself in the years since we first became friends, Kennan. It is hard for me not to say what comes into me mind.”

  “I realize that, but I would request that you not speak that way again.”

  “I will endeavor to hold me tongue in situations I dinna like. Does that satisfy you, Laird?” Gillian deliberately said the word laird in a way that made Kennan know she was agreeing to please her husband, not because she felt any sort of need to obey him or anyone else.

  “Thank you.” He caught her waist as the horses drank from a small stream beside them. “It would take a lot more than your agreement to satisfy me, wife. I would much prefer to be satisfied in another way.” With those words, he lowered his head and kissed his wife, his arms enveloping her, and his tongue needy as his lips met hers.

  It did not take Gilly more than a moment to respond to the need in Kennan’s touch. She circled his shoulders with her hands, moving even closer against him. “I have a need for you, Kennan McClain.”

  Kennan lifted his head, his eyelids lowered with passion. “We are out in the open, lass. I canna take you here the first time.”

  She pulled his head back down to hers, kissing him with everything he had taught her in the past few days. “I dinna care at the moment.”

  The sound of a horse’s hooves pounding quickly on the ground came from behind him. Turning, he looked to see one of his brothers—Joseph—riding toward them at breakneck speed. “What is it?”

  Joseph jumped off the horse, landing on his feet in front of his brother and his bride. “Kennan—Father bid me to catch you. He found that not only had the sword been stolen . . . there was also a note.”

  Kennan was annoyed with his brother’s habit of needing to be prodded to finish his thought. Joseph was considered a master storyteller, and he was always telling tales, but he would stop at just the wrong places in Kennan’s mind. “And what did the note say?”

  “‘I dare the new laird of Clan McClain to try to retrieve the sword. He is too young and too impulsive to be a true leader.’” Joseph grinned at his younger brother. “It seems the MacDonalds have reached the same conclusion many of our clansmen have.”

  Kennan ignored his brother’s smirk. As the sixth son, even if their family had not always done things differently, Joseph would never have been the laird of Clan McClain. “I will deal with the insult to our family and our clan,” he said, his voice even. “Tell Father I will handle things.” He wanted to make a claim that he would take over all the highlands and smite anyone who spoke against him, but he was not the type of man who would say something hotheadedly. Everyone knew that if he said he would do something, it would be done. Quickly.

  Joseph nodded as he mounted his horse and rode off toward the McClain keep.

  Kennan watched his brother ride off before turning to his wife. “I for one am glad that we were not rolling around on the ground with no clothing on when me brother found us. Tonight, you will be me wife in every sense of the word.”

  Gillian grumbled something that Kennan could not quite understand. “What did you say?” Kennan asked.

  “I said I have heard that before.” Gillian walked to her horse and stood beside it for a moment before mounting.

  Kennan put his hands on her shoulders and pressed up against her back, his lips going to her ear. “I promise ya, lass. Tonight, you will be me wife.” He lifted her by the waist and helped her mount the horse, backing away once she had her seat.

  Gillian watched her husband mount his own horse with deliberate movements. She was happy to see that he seemed to want her every bit as much as she wanted him. She could not believe how many delays there had been concerning their wedding night, but tonight was it. She did not care if they were attacked by an entire pack of ravenous wolves. She would be his wife in every sense of the word. It was past time.

  Kennan stopped in the middle of a small copse of trees that night. There was a stream running through, and he felt it would be a safe place with everything they would need. After seeing to the horses, he and Gillian hunted together, and they roasted the rabbit she shot over a small campfire.

  She found herself growing more and more nervous throughout the evening as they ate together and then they took turns cleaning themselves in the stream. After her bath, Gillian sat on her plaid on the ground close to the fire, slowing brushing out her long red hair. She had begged her mother repeatedly over the years to let her cut it to her shoulders or even the middle of her back, but the answer had always been no. She must grow her hair for her future husband.

  When Kennan joined her after her bath, he took the brush from her hands and knelt behind her, slowly working on section after section of her hair. Gillian had always hated having people fuss with her hair, but it felt so different when it was Kennan. His slow, even strokes made her tingle from the inside out. When he finally laid the brush on the ground beside them, she immediately turned in his arms, willing to make love with him, her earlier nervousness forgotten.

  “You have such beautiful hair, Gilly. I have imagined you letting me brush it as I just did many times.”

  Gillian smiled at him, thankful her mother had always refused to let her cut it. Mayhap the older women did know a little more than she did about men. “I have always found it difficult to manage. The time it takes to sit and let a maid fuss with it or to braid it all meself, when I could just cut it short has always baffled me.”

  “Baffled you?”

  “I suppose it made me wonder why women feel the need to have long, glorious hair for their future husbands. I would have been much happier if I could have just cut it short and gone about me day. I like to hunt and fish, not sit about on me bottom while someone wound me hair up atop me head so it would be out of the way. Men are allowed to have shorter hair, but not women. It is unfair to me way of thinking.”

  Kennan laughed softly. “Lass, if you had any idea the feelings your hair invokes within me, I think you would understand the need for it to grow long.”

  She sighed. “I suppose if it pleases you, I must keep it long then.”

  He frowned. “If you wish to please me with long hair, you may do so. If you would prefer that I not find you quite as attractive, you may cut it.”

  “You would not mind?”

  “I did not say that, but I dinna think a man should dictate his wife’s hairstyles. If you feel the need to have it short, do so.”

  “But you would not be happy with it?”

  Kennan thought carefully about his words, knowing her need for independence. “I would still care for you and want to spend all me nights making love with you. I may not be quite as distracted as I currently am with your beauty.”

  “I will keep it long.” She understood that he was kindly giving her a choice even though she wished he would not. If he bade her keep it long, she would feel as if it was all right to cut it short. If he bade her cut it short, she would feel as though she could keep it long. By giving her the choice, he was taking the choice away from her.

  “That would please me greatly.” Kennan brushed a strand of hair from her face, the backs of his fingers stroking her cheek. “I did not think we would ever come to this point. It was beginning to feel as if we would be married for ten years before we had a chance to have a wedding night.”

  She smiled softly. “I was thinking the same. Are you glad I refused to be left behind?”

  “I will never be happy that you refuse to obey me orders, Gilly, but I canna be unhappy we will have a wedding night.” He lowered his head and kissed her insistently, his hands pulling at the tartan that was pinned over one shoulder.

  She returned his kisses, her arms wrapping around him as she did. There was a small moment of fear as he pushed her onto her back, but she could not dwell on that. She was too busy enjoying every last one of his touches.

  As they slowly divested one another of their clothes, and he got to his knees beside her, stroking every inch of her pale white skin, she watched his face and the pleasure she saw there. She knew she was making him happy, and nothing more mattered to her.

  When their bodies joined together as one, she felt a flash of pain, but more than that, she felt a sense of completeness. Their bodies had been made for this moment where they were together for the first time. They would do this many times over the years, she knew, and she rejoiced knowing that fact. For the act made her feel much closer to her husband than anything else had. Soon she would hold their first son in her arms. Soon, they would be a family as she had always dreamed.

  When she woke the following morning, Gillian found Kennan on his side, his arm around her waist. “I enjoy watching you sleep. Not quite as much as I enjoy making love with you, but it is still very pleasurable.”

  She blushed, wishing she could remove the need to do so. “Is that so?”

  He laughed, seeing her fight her blush and knowing what had caused it. “You make me very happy, Gilly. Thank you for becoming me wife.”

  She grinned at that, stroking his cheek. “You make me happy as well. Mayhap you should start getting up before me to shave so you dinna scratch me skin in the mornings.”

  “Oh? Does it hurt?” He rubbed his chin against her neck, and she squealed.

  “Stop, Kennan!”

  He laughed. “A strong lass like you canna handle some whiskers? I am surprised you would admit to such a thing.”

  She loved that his voice would so often slip into the highland brogue when they were alone and feeling playful. Too often his voice sounded as formal as his place within his clan. “I am but a woman in the presence of a mighty warrior.” It was all she could do not to laugh at herself for saying such a thing, but she knew the words, no matter how simpering, would please him greatly.

  He laughed aloud. “I know better, me little warrior lass. You can outshoot me with a bow and arrow any time. I know this well.”

  “Why does that seem to make you proud?”

  “How could I not be proud that the lass I once saved from a wolf now can save herself?”