Hamish’s eyes widened before looking over Kieran’s shoulder at Maude, whose white hands covered her mouth in fear. He looked back at Kieran and nodded.
“Ye’ll do as her guard, I suppose.” Hamish turned away.
“Were you testing me?” Kieran demanded.
“Nay, but ye passed. Be sure ye wake where ye fall asleep, or I’ll skewer ye by the bollocks.”
As Hamish walked away, Maude fell against Kieran’s chest. He held her as she trembled. He feared she’d be angry that he threatened her father and prepared to explain himself when her slim arms wrapped around his waist.
“I could throttle him,” she muttered.
“Buttercup, I’m sorry.”
“For what? Defending me the way you thought best? I may not agree with you fighting my father, but I trust you to know when to stop, to know when I’m safe. Besides, I suspect he started it.” She attempted to frown, but her smile poked through.
The camp settled to eat the evening meal and then to sleep. Kieran took the first watch as Maude adjusted her bedroll, spreading out a Sutherland plaid across her bedroll and Kieran’s before adding his plaid as a second layer. He might not awake alive, but he would fall asleep a happy man if he could slip beneath the blankets next to Maude.
* * *
Maude awoke warm and comfortable as the sun peeked through the leaves overhead. She snuggled into the source of heat, thinking her plaid had never been adequate warmth in the past when she traveled. A hand cupped her backside, and she realized the source of her comfort was a very large, very hot, very well-muscled man beneath her. She froze as Kieran stroked her bottom.
“No one else is awake yet, mo leannan. Be still and we can enjoy our time a little longer,” Kieran murmured against her ear. Maude relaxed and nuzzled against his broad chest. Her eyes drifted closed as she breathed in Kieran’s sandalwood and pine scent. He’d washed while she and Blair hunted, and his fresh scent had greeted her when he slipped under the blankets at the end of his watch. She remembered him pulling her back against his chest as he settled next to her. It was the best night of sleep she could remember.
Alas, her comfort was abruptly ruined when the heavens opened to a downpour. The camp scrambled to pack and saddle the horses. The rain doused the fires, leaving smoldering piles that the men covered with dirt. They were on their horses and back on the road within a quarter of an hour from when the rain started. Maude pushed her sopping hair out of her eyes as she guided Trioblaid into the line of horses.
The rain refused to lighten as the day progressed. Maude’s thick hair was soaked, the weight of her bun pulling on her neck. She reached back and pulled the pins from her hair. She covered her hair when she traveled to keep the road dirt from making it filthy, but the rain seeped through the shawl, making the cover useless. Once her hair was down and the strain eased, she twisted her head from side to side before pulling her plaid over her head. They ate the noon meal comprised of bannocks and dried beef in the saddle. Maude looked at Blair, who fared little better than she did. They both looked like drowned kittens huddled under their plaids. They grinned at one another before Maude launched into a bawdy tune that made Kieran choke. Blair picked up the ditty as Hamish whirled around to look at his daughters. The ladies dissolved into laughter, pointing at their father, who looked like a bear woken early from hibernation. He roared at them to cease, which only made the sisters laugh even harder. Kieran’s eyes swept back and forth between the Sutherland sisters and their spluttering father. Neither woman feared the man, rather seeming to enjoy nettling him. Maude’s smile chased away the chill that made Kieran’s bones ache. He looked around and saw all the other men were smiling too, and Kieran leaned forward, certain Hamish settled into humming along in a deep bass. Kieran deduced that Hamish’s opposition stemmed from a sense of duty, not an aversion to the song. Maude glanced back and winked, making Kieran realize she’d orchestrated the duet to improve morale for everyone. His estimation of her grew once more. He marveled at the woman who would be his wife, the woman he loved.
As the day dragged on, and the rain persisted, Maude was exhausted and miserable. She huddled into her plaid and tucked her chin against the wind and driving rain. Her weariness made her fear she’d slip from Trioblaid’s back, but she refused to complain. She’d seen the pride in Kieran’s eyes as she and Blair led rounds of songs until they grew hoarse. She wasn’t about to change Kieran’s view of her by whining because of a little shower. She looked ahead to where her father arranged Blair behind him as she rode pillory. Her sister fussed, but her horse stumbled one too many times in the mud for Hamish to trust it not to throw Blair. Maude adjusted her plaid once more as it attempted to slip from her head. She rolled her shoulders and hunched into herself, praying the rain would cease or that her father called a halt to the day’s ride. She wasn’t counting on either; the clouds remained thick and black, and she knew they still had several more hours before they would make camp.
Kieran noticed Maude’s attempt to make herself comfortable despite the worsening conditions. She impressed him once again by how she took each challenge in stride without becoming disagreeable. He considered how his sisters and mother would behave in such a situation, and he counted himself lucky they weren’t there. Kieran nudged Peat alongside Trioblaid now that they’d tied Blair’s horse to a rear guardsman’s mount. He leaned forward to catch a peek at Maude’s face, but all he could see was the tip of her red nose and her chattering blue lips. He didn’t think twice before plucking her from her saddle and settling her before him. He’d pulled the extra length of his plaid over his head and wrapped the loose material over his shoulders. He unwound it now and pulled her shivering body against his before wrapping the wool around them both. She huddled against his larger frame, seeming tiny and fragile to him. He rubbed his hand over her back and arms, trying to get the blood flowing again.
“That’s good yet horrible all at the same time,” she murmured. “It’s good because it’s you and because I might be warm again, but the pins and needles burn as the blood starts pumping.”
Kieran looked ahead at Hamish, who was looking back at him. A silent communication passed between them as they each looked at the bedraggled women sharing a horse with them. Within the hour, the party rode into the courtyard of a tavern. It wasn’t somewhere Hamish or Kieran would have brought the women if there was another choice, but there were no other options before it grew too dark to continue. Kieran eased Maude from his lap before dismounting beside her. She handed Trioblaid’s reins–which she’d held onto while she rode with Kieran–to a stable boy before joining her sister. Hamish led the group into the main room, the women huddled in the center of the group. Each man prepared to draw his sword to defend the Sutherland sisters. Kieran scanned the men assembled in various states of inebriation. He slipped his arm around Maude’s waist and pulled her close.
“Keep your head down until your father and I can arrange for a chamber for you and Blair.” Kieran’s gaze followed Hamish as the older man walked to the bar and spoke with the tavern owner. He gestured over his shoulder before nodding and dropping a small sack of coin on the counter. Blair and Maude whispered as they waited for someone to show them to their chamber. Kieran shifted to let a tavern maid past, but she stopped in front of him.
“I ken what ye need, ma laird, to warm a large mon like ye on a chilly spring night like we‘ve tonight,” the woman purred. She reached out to touch Kieran’s chest, but Maude slid between them and bared her teeth.
“Touch ma mon, and ye will come away less yer fingers.” Maude’s quiet threat had its intended effect. The woman skittered away as Maude growled. Kieran’s chuckle earned him an elbow to the ribs.
“I rather like ye protective of yer mon, lass,” he teased, allowing his burr to slip back into his voice, too. He was about to kiss her temple when a drunken voice carried to them.
“Look at the tits on that one. Nay, nae the lady. Her buxom maid. Nay lady is built like a tavern wench. I’d stick ma c--” Kieran’s fist plowed into the man’s face before the drunkard could finish his vulgar thought. The man flew backward and landed on a table, upturning bowls of pottage and mugs of ale. A serving wench screamed, and several men reached for their swords. The MacLeod and Sutherland men surrounded Maude and Blair with their hands on the hilts of their swords and dirks.
“Dinna! Can ye nay see who it is?” A man near the bar yelled over the crowd. “Tis Laird SutherlandandLaird MacLeod. Unless ye wish to die today, dinna pull yer blade.”
Maude held her breath as the entire tavern froze in place as men surveyed one another, evaluating their chance for success and survival. None of the tavern goers pursued a fight, but several glared at Kieran, who looked unapologetic.
“Dinna speak of ma bride, and I willna cut out yer tongue,” he growled between clenched teeth.
“So much for keeping yer head down, lad,” Hamish clapped Kieran on his back before turning to Maude. “Are ye well, lass?”
Maude nodded at her father before looking up at Kieran, whose eyes continued to sweep the crowd while his hand hadn’t moved from the hilt of his sword, his other arm anchored around Maude’s waist. It wasn’t often that Kieran allowed his burr to overcome his control, so it spoke to his anger as he defended Maude.
“I’m sleeping by their door,” Kieran muttered to no one and everyone. Maude’s insides warmed as she pictured Kieran situated as a roadblock in their doorframe that night. Her father had slept that way more than once when she traveled with Blair and her mother. When she and her sister were younger, Hamish and Lachlan slept on the floor of their chamber when they stayed at an inn. More recently, Lachlan slept at the table closest to the foot of the stairs, if he accompanied them, while their father remained propped in the doorframe. But as tánaiste, he most often remained at Dunrobin when their father ventured away. Kieran leaned close to Maude’s ear once again. “I look forward to sharing a chamber with you, lass. And for once, it isn’t so I can share your bed. I dislike you being alone in there.”
“Alone? Blair will be with me.”
