“Buttercup--”
“Who’s Maggie?” Kieran knew the question was coming, but he’d hoped to begin his apology before having to answer.
“She’s a woman in the village I visited from time to time.”
“She’s your leman.” Maude’s shoulders slumped as her arms wrapped around her waist. She feared the little she ate would make an appearance across the hearth. She yelped, unprepared for the force with which Kieran spun her and pulled her against him. He softened his hold when he feared hurting her.
“No. She is not and never was my leman. I tupped her once in a while when the mood struck, but she was never aught more than that. I haven’t been with her since before I met you, so don’t even let the notion burrow into your mind that I visited her while I was back here either time. I palmed myself over and over as I pictured you.” He turned toward the window and pointed there before pointing to the bed. “I would look out the window as though I might see you all the way in Stirling, or I would lie in bed imagining you were beside me, beneath me, on top of me. I haven’t wanted another woman since the moment I saw you on the terrace. I swear to you.”
Maude nodded, but Kieran could tell doubt had wriggled its way into Maude’s mind and heart in the brief time they’d spent in his family’s company. He wanted to rage against her for doubting him, but even the most confident of women would have been only human to feel insecure after the way his mother and sister spoke in front of her. Maude still hadn’t looked up, and her arms remained wrapped around her middle. He reached to open her arms when a gentle knock sounded at the door. He stalked across the room and pulled the door open to find Agatha standing there with a dark expression that matched his own. She pushed past him and walked to Maude.
“Lass, dinna fash. I ken it’s easier said than done, but the auld biddy, pardon ma language, has always been a jealous shrew.” Agatha reached a slow hand toward Maude, who nodded but still didn’t raise her head. “I have a bath on its way. Ye’ll feel worlds better, I’d say, after a long soak and some attention from yer husband. Dinna punish the lad. He is beside himself,” Agatha whispered the last part of her message. Maude looked up at last and glanced at Kieran, who she could see was out of his depth in how to console her. She reached out her hand, and he was back across the chamber in four strides. Rather than take her hand, he encircled her with his brawny arms and guided her toward a chair. He sat and pulled her into his lap as Agatha organized the servants who brought up the tub and steaming buckets of water. She curled against him until they were the only two left. Kieran undressed, then assisted Maude with her clothes before lifting her into the tub and following. They lay in the steaming water together without speaking until Kieran could take the silence no longer.
“Buttercup, I’m so sorry. I never imagined they would behave in such an abominable manner. It will not happen again.”
“Yes, it will,” she whispered. “Mayhap not in front of you, but it will happen again. You aren’t my nursemaid. You can’t be at my side at all times, so they’ll wait until you aren’t around. They’ll drop barbs until they believe I’m beaten and defeated. Little do they know that this isn’t my first time surviving such taunts. For all they know from Madeline, they seem to have failed to realize I survived her and the other ladies at court. I’m made of sterner stuff than they assume.”
“So, you don’t want to return to Sutherland?” Kieran wished he hadn’t asked as soon as the words leaked from his lips, and the long pause before Maude shook her head made his heart stop. “You’ll stay?”
“Where would I go? Run back to my parents and say I couldn’t manage having my feelings hurt? Abandon you and our vows because of someone else? There are two of us in this marriage, and I refuse to allow either your mother or sister to join it.”
“Maude, I love you even more than I thought possible. I am so proud of you, but I’m so desperately sorry that you’re being forced to endure what I would do aught to protect you from.” Kieran considered his words. If he would swear to protect her, then he had to do it in truth. “I will find Abigail a husband, and I will send mother to her dower lands if she refuses to cease. I warned her before I left the last time, but she has either conveniently forgotten or thinks to call my bluff.”
“No,” Maude kept her tone even. “If you send them both away within moments of our arrival, people will resent me. They will think I’m the one who insisted upon it. They’ll think I arrived and chased away their clanswomen. Let the dust settle before you decide.”
“How did you get so wise, my bonnie wee bride?”
“I survived court after being raised as a laird’s daughter. My mother believes diplomacy is a lady’s greatest weapon when a dirk doesn’t suffice.”
“Your mother says that?”
“Aye, and she’s the one who trained me and Blair to wield a knife. My father taught her soon after they wed, then supported her when she wished to teach me and my sister.”
“And have you had to use your skills?”
Maude nodded and stroked Kieran’s legs beneath the water when he went rigid.
“Those are stories for another time.”
Kieran lathered soap against a linen square before sliding his hands over Maude’s shoulders until he reached her breasts. His cock hardened against her back as he kneaded her bosom. She laid her head back, but her fingers gripped his thighs as she arched and offered her heavy and aching flesh. Once her nipples puckered, he continued his ministrations as he swiped the cloth over each arm before drawing one leg, then the other, out of the water. He passed over muscle and sinew until he reached her feet. He pressed her shoulders until she leaned forward, wrapping her arms around her raised knees as he washed her back. He massaged the knots from her shoulders until she sighed.
“That feels lovely. Mmm,” she sighed.
“I will always take care of you, buttercup.”
Maude opened her mouth to respond, but he pulled her back against his chest and tilted her chin until he could fuse their lips, and their tongues dueled. He assisted Maude as she turned in the water, straddling him before he eased his rod into her. He cupped her backside as her hands roamed over his shoulders and arms, her breasts caught between their entangled bodies. She couldn’t believe the erotic sensations of making love in water, in a tub before the fire. She leaned her head away, offering access to Kieran’s questing mouth, her eyes drooping shut as pleasure mounted. Her moans and his grunts filled the chamber with the soft sloshing of water as their accompaniment. The tension built as Kieran’s hands guided Maude’s hips until they were calling out each other’s names.
Maude sank against Kieran’s torso as his fingers danced over her back. She never imagined her back could be as sensitive, as responsive, as it was to Kieran’s touch. She nuzzled his neck as their breathing slowed, and she watched the flames dance. The afterglow of making love was peaceful and lured her toward sleep, but she enjoyed the closeness with Kieran too much to succumb. They’d slipped away each night they made camp under the guise of Kieran escorting Maude to wash, but the weather, the danger of being too far from camp, and the embarrassment Maude experienced from the men knowing why they disappeared kept their interludes brief and hurried.
“I wish we could stay this way forever, turtledove. It’s peaceful and cozy, just the two of us before the hearth. And it’s dry and warm at this fireside.”
“I wish the same, but I worry you’ll grow chilled soon. As much as I don’t want to get out, we should finish bathing, so you can dry your hair before bed. I don’t want you to catch the ague.”
“That’s naught but an old wives tale, but I don’t want to soak my pillow. You might not appreciate sleeping with a wet chest all night,” Maude giggled.
“You shall use me as your pillow, will you?” Kieran tickled her ribs, eliciting another peal of laughter.
“I’ve never slept so well as I do when I’m sprawled across you. You’re warm and soft in all the right places.”
