“Nay. He kens I willna do that. He kens it’s too easy for him to catch up to us. But he may go there or Inveruglas rather than take too much time to search for us. Ma guess is straight to yer uncle. I doubt he thinks he’d make it as far as Edinample with only half a dozen guards.”
“Would yer people really kill him?”
“Nay,” Rab snorted. “They’d have too much fun taking them back to Edinample bound and gagged to turn them over to ma father.”
“What would he do?”
“Have the sense to send them all into the Great Hall for some hot food and ale. Then he’d order Óg to his solar, neither wanting to be there. And from there, all holy hell will break loose.”
“Sounds pretty much like how Óg will be received at Inveruglas, without the being bound and gagged. Holy hell and then some.”
“Kitty, is this really what ye want to go through with? Ye’re still a maiden, and nay one need be the wiser aboot the handfast. We can repudiate it here and now without waiting a year and a day.”
Catherine logically understood Rab’s offer, that he was trying to do what was right and best for her, but it felt wretched. Bile rose in her throat as her belly sucked back toward her spine. She shook her head as tears streamed down her cheeks.
“Dinna set me aside,” Catherine whispered.
“I’m nae. I will never. But we are doing what we want, even though we ken the dangers. Neither of us wishes to shirk our duties or leave our families, but that’s what may happen.”
“I canna think of a better duty than bringing peace to our clans, which is what our marriage will do if the men leading our clans were reasonable.” Catherine wiped away her tears. “Ye ken yer father and ma uncle will demand a midwife examine me, nae to ken if I’m still an innocent but to ken if we married because I’m with child.”
“I’d thought of that. I dinna want ye forced to be humiliated like that.”
Catherine shook her head. “It wouldnae be a bad thing if I were with child. That binds our clans even more tightly than our marriage alone. And despite how prickly Mòr can be and how ornery Caelen is most of the time, they both love bairns. I’ve seen them when they’ve thought nay one notices. And I believe they both wish for each of us to have a family of our own. If there’s a bairn, they might nae be so quick to tear us apart.”
“Ye ken it could happen the first time we make love, or it could take years.”
“I ken, but if we arenae going straight to Edinample, mayhap taking a few extra days and trying often would help.” Catherine waggled her brows.
“Are ye trying to take advantage of me, Catherine Eloise MacLaren?”
“It’s nae taking advantage when ye strip off yer own clothes like they’re on fire.”
“Is that what I’ll be doing, wife?”
“Aye.”
They came together in a kiss while they both smiled, but it was only a heartbeat later that it combusted with a blaze they thought they’d already sated. Rab rolled Catherine onto her back as he pushed her skirts up her thighs. His fingers delved into her entrance as their kisses grew desperate. Catherine sought the hem of Rab’s plaid and slipped her hand around his length. The tip of his cock brushed the dew between her thighs. The temptation to thrust had them rocking their hips, bringing the head of Rab’s cock past her netherlips. For a moment, they paused, staring at one another. With regret, they both shook their heads. They knew that if it weren’t for the need of proof that they’d consummated their marriage and Catherine had been a virgin when they wed, they would make love rather than settling for stroking one another to completion.
“Bluidy duty,” Catherine gasped as Rab rolled off to lie beside her. She shifted to press her body’s length against his side as he lazily skimmed his thumb over her back.
“Aye. At least we’re doing the right thing aboot that.”
“Did we decide aught other than we both wish we were making love right now rather than planning when we can?”
“Nay. But mayhap we should spend the night at an inn at Dunblane. Even if Michael offers us accommodations, mayhap we should have people see us together as a married couple. We can leave early the next morn and make our way north rather than going west first.”
“Shite!” Catherine sat up. “Ye still havenae seen the king. How could we forget that? Now what?”
Rab shaded his eyes, pressing his thumb and forefinger into his temples before scrubbing his hand over his face. “I canna believe neither of us thought aboot that. I’m ashamed that I’m that self-involved that I nearly forsook ma clan’s wellbeing. I must meet with him tomorrow and resolve the matter, or at least learn what the Bruce expects of us.”
“How will ye do that?”
“The mon is an early riser. He attends Prime and Lauds. I’ll try to cross his path after one of them.”
“And ye could be in the dungeon by Terce.”
“I could be in the dungeon at any time, and I’m nae convinced I willna still end up there. But I can try.”
