“I was. I’m a Mackay.” Elene kept her tone light but resolute, and her expression serene as she looked past Liam to see Mawnus. As Liam listened to Mawnus and Elene talk, he realized he needed to do something more to prove her pretend role. He knew she wore no ring, which was unusual for a married noblewoman. He considered what he could do.
“God graced me when I visited here and met Elene all those years ago. We had time to grow fond of one another before my family and I returned to Varrich. My father arranged the marriage with Elene’s. We wedded before we sailed home.” It surprised Liam how easily the lies fell from his lips. “Speaking of sailing. We can only stay briefly. They expect us in Kirkwall. We cannot miss the tide, or it will be a battle to get the curraghs along the coast.”
“Such a short visit, my friend!” Mawnus frowned.
“The poor weather delayed us. We must make up for the lost time, so we are keeping each stop brief. I hate to appear rude, but you know how quickly summer passes into autumn in the north Atlantic. I don’t wish to make the crossing once the winds pick up.” Liam believed his excuses were reasonable. When Mawnus nodded, Liam hoped that was the end of the discussion. He moved it to what he hoped was safer: how the village elected Mawnus as chieftain.
Once the meal finished, Liam and the men loaded the horses back onto the barge, while Elene took her seat in the curragh. It surprised her when Liam sat beside her. She wondered if it was merely for appearances, since Mawnus watched them. But when he drew her against his side, adjusted her hood, and rubbed her arm, she realized that he’d done it to help keep her warm against the headwind. The spray wasn’t as bad as when they pushed off from the Rousay coast, but it was still like icicles pricking the skin. Huddled in Liam’s cloak, she worried he would freeze. When she peered out from beneath the hood, she realized he and the other Highlanders had all pulled the extra lengths of wool from theirbreacan feilesover their heads and shoulders. It buffered the wind and water.
As they approached Kirkwall an hour later, Liam pulled asgian dubhfrom his boot. The short but wickedly sharp knife cut through the end of the sash over his shoulder to where it met his belt. The sound of rending fabric made Elene twist to watch. Her eyes widened in surprise, but she remained quiet as she watched Liam put away his knife and adjust the extra length back into place.
“Put this across your left shoulder and tuck it into your belt on your right hip. I don’t have a pin to give you,” Liam instructed. Elene fumbled under the massive sealskin-lined cloak, but she arranged the sash as Liam said. “I realized when we sat with Mawnus that you neither wear my ring nor my clan colors. I don’t have a ring I can give you, but you can wear my colors.”
“But you ruined yourbreacan feile.”
“No. It still sits at the right length, and there’s still plenty of material to cross my shoulder.” Liam skimmed his eyes over Elene’s lap, up her torso, to her shoulder. He lowered his voice. “I enjoy seeing you in my colors.”
Liam knew his men could see them, so he settled for feathering a kiss on Elene’s temple. He would have much preferred one of their explosive kisses, or even one of their tender brushes of their lips. But he settled for what wouldn’t embarrass her. When they reached Kirkwall, the men hurried to unload the barrels of whisky and all but two horses. As the group moved along the shore and climbed the hill to reach the village, Henry and Dillon rowed away to find a place to hide the curraghs. The two warriors would supervise filling the barrels with ale before they left the next morning.
Their visit in Kirkwall was much like their stop in Tingwall. But rather than share a meal, they settled for bread and cheese with mugs of ale. Liam claimed they were newlyweds of eighteen months. He figured that gave him the excuse to keep his arm around Elene as they sat together in the chieftain’s home. She rested her head against the crook of his shoulder, grateful that he was so tall that she didn’t have to tilt her head to reach.
As the men talked, Elene found the croft’s warmth and her full belly were lulling her to sleep. She’d taken the blanket to Liam a couple of hours after everyone settled for the night. She’d done so, not just because she felt guilty that he sat in the brisk night air to guard her, but she wanted to learn how lightly he slept. She discovered he woke easily. Frustration filled her as she crept back to the croft’s door. She was certain he heard it close, but she never stepped inside.
Instead, she crept past the front of two crofts before ducking into the shadows. She froze when she thought she heard a night guard approach. When the man merely looked in her direction and carried on, it relieved her to know no one spotted her. She wasted no time making her way to the stables, where she slid under the tarp of the waiting wagon. She curled up and hid behind the sacks of seeds and barrels as best she could. She prayed no one checked too far back before they set off. She hadn’t slept at all, too frightened someone would discover her and sound the alarm. Then the road had been far too bumpy to rest.
Elene didn’t realize how much time passed until Liam squeezed her waist and kissed the top of her head. He whispered, “It’s time to speak to the villagers,leannan. If you’re too tired, you can rest here before the fire. I will fetch you when it’s time to leave.”
“No. I don’t want to appear weak or lazy. You brought me along as your wife. I represent your clan, so I should stand beside you.” Elene rose and was unprepared for Liam to tunnel his fingers into her hair and pull her against his body. His kiss was fierce and consuming. She opened her mouth to him, welcoming the flash of his tongue before they pulled apart. She looked at him questioningly.
“You make me so proud.” He pressed another brief kiss to her lips before they joined the chieftain and Dermot outside.
Liam repeated his announcement almost verbatim to what he’d said in Tingwall, including his response to the same complaint. He and his family spent the most time in Kirkwall since there was a bevy of Sinclairs in the village. His pronouncement that his grandfather now governed the islands on behalf of King David elicited the warmest reaction he had yet to receive. He counted it a minor victory. He would face the most scrutiny the next day when they arrived in Dingieshowe, and he met with chieftains at thething. As a public assembly, villagers from across the islands could attend along with their leaders. He wondered if they would encounter any Norse traders there. He’d counted themselves fortunate that they didn’t run into any in Tingwall or Kirkwall.
“You ride with me, Elene,” Liam explained as they approached the horses. There wasn’t one for Elene, and even if there were, Liam felt better keeping her close. At least until she mounted in front of him. He gritted his teeth as her backside pressed against his hardening manhood. His arms rested beneath her breasts as he held the reins. She shifted and released an annoyed sound. She reached behind her and shifted his sporran.
“That can’t be comfy for you, and I can’t ride several hours with the buckle pressing into my back.”
“Elene—”
“Do you think it’s any easier for me with your arms around me?” Elene shifted again, her lower back rubbing the tip of Liam’s cock while the swollen length rested in the division between her buttocks. Liam groaned. He gathered the reins in one hand and slipped his other beneath her cloak. He cupped her breast and brushed his thumb over her puckered nipple. Then he slid his hand along her ribs and drew it across her mons. His fingers pressed beneath her mound, the heel of his hand resting against her pleasure button. He spurred Urram and allowed the horse’s rocking gait, coupled with the pressure from his hand, to arouse Elene further.
“I shall give you relief,leannan.”
Elene’s hands gripped Liam’s forearm as she struggled not to moan. It was a unique feeling, but the sensation made her core ache. No man had ever stirred the reaction that Liam did when he looked at her, let alone when he touched her. It was mere minutes before her fingers bit into his forearms and her belly tightened while her core pulsated.
“St. Columba’s bones,” Elene hissed. “There is naught more I want than to kiss you right now.” Her body craved more, frustrated that what it believed should have been a prelude to more was the main event. Liam urged her to turn, so both her legs hung over Urram’s right flank. He knew he could draw his sword from his back and swing wide without decapitating Elene.
“Lean against me,leannan. You can sleep the entire way. I can only imagine what time you rose to be in the wagon before any of us stirred. It surprises me I didn’t hear or see you since I barely slept either.”
Elene tried and failed to stifle her yawn. “I never went back into my home after I brought you the blanket. I feared you might not sleep much or are a light sleeper, so I made you think I went back inside. I hid in the wagon all night.”
“Without a blanket or a cloak? You could have frozen.” It horrified Liam that she’d left herself so vulnerable. The stables shut out the night’s wind, but it had been the coldest since he arrived. The stables trapped that frigid air, and she had nothing to protect her but the tarp.
“It truly wasn’t that bad. I hid behind and beneath the sacks. Their weight helped keep me warm.” Elene kissed Liam’s neck, touched that he worried so much. “You keep calling meleannan. What does it mean?”
Liam knew she would eventually ask since he didn’t think she knew the Gaelic endearment, but he was still embarrassed to say it aloud. He felt a fool for using it since their relationship was a fraud, and they would part ways once he was certain she was safe. But it felt right to the very marrow in his bones.
“It means sweetheart,” Liam answered. Elene nestled closer, burrowing against his chest. Liam looked down and found her eyes closed and her hand resting on his sternum. He murmured, “Sleep.”
