“That’s assuming we can ride south. What if we canna get that far?”
“We head to Uncle Tristan and Auntie Mairghread.”
“Will they welcome me?” Greer already worried that the Sinclairs wouldn’t welcome her as warmly as a new family member as they did when she sought refuge.
“Of course. Kenning ma aunt, she probably already figured out everything aboot us just from when she was here for Rose and Blaine’s wedding. She’ll scold me for taking so long to get ma head out of ma arse when I should have proposed a moon ago.”
“She’s really that perceptive?”
“Lass, if she wasna a woman, she’d have kicked Andrew Murray out of his position and already led our men to victory against the English. And every mon would follow her without a doubt. Uncle Tristan has never feared being away from Varrich. He kens people are more afraid of her than him if their weans are there. Auntie Mairghread grew up with four aulder brothers who all became warriors. She’s a wee more bloodthirsty than Mama and ma other aunts.”
“I wouldnae have kenned from the woman I met here.”
“Havenae ye ever seen her compete at the Gatherings? She’s even better at knife throwing than Da—which he hates admitting every year.”
“I thought that was just for sport.”
“It is. And Mama is just as skilled with a blade. But Auntie Mairghread was meant to be a warrior. Uncle Tristan says that it was destiny they should marry because there was once a clanswoman, Lorna Mackay, who married a Norseman, Rangvald Thorsson, who fell in love with her. Lorna trained with her aulder brothers at Varrich before the Norse killed her family. Despite being from the Highlands, she became one of the most feared and famous shieldmaidens. Uncle Tristan says Auntie Mairghread has the same spirit as Lorna Mackay and the Lord always intended her to become a Mackay.”
“I dinna ken that I’m brave enough to be a shieldmaiden, but I want to be brave enough to make ye proud.”
“I’ll always be proud of ye. I dinna need a warrior for a wife, but ye have the heart of one. Ye havenae given up any fight, and ye survive by yer wits. That’s why I ken ye’ll be the perfect partner for me and an excellent lady of our clan.”
“Thor, do ye give me all these compliments because ye believe I need them? Do ye really think me fragile?”
“There are some parts of ye that are fragile. But the Lord forged most of ye from iron. I give ye the compliments because I believe each one, but I also ken nay one has been kind to ye in a long time. Ye deserve to hear the good in ye now. I dinna do it because I think ye’re weak and need me to bolster ye. I do it because I’m proud.”
“Thank ye. That means everything to me, Thor. Far more than I can express with words or actions. I will survive, but ye’re right. There are parts of me that are fragile. I dinna like it, but it’s a fact. Despite revealing so much that I’ve kept hidden, I feel better today and yesterday than I have since we parted ways.” Greer bit the corner of her bottom lip as she considered what she wanted to ask. “Can ye teach me more aboot how to defend maself? It’s nae that I think ye would ever leave me unprotected. I would feel better kenning nay one can easily force me to do aught ever again.”
“Of course. We can do it in here if ye prefer the privacy.”
“For now. Besides, I wouldnae want to give away how well ye teach me to fight. That secret may be ma best weapon.”
Thor didn’t want to consider how right Greer might be one day. The visits from the Gunns and King Edward’s men, along with the distant threat from the horseback riders and the women in the Great Hall, made Thor worry she might need these skills. He would never let his wife be a victim again, but he dreaded the looming sense they would both soon be tested.
CHAPTER13
For the next three days, Thor spent his mornings with Greer, encouraging her to sleep late. When she woke, they laid in bed and talked more about their time apart. They skirted the one topic that neither wished to discuss. Thor learned more about why Greer spied on Edgar and how she accomplished it. She told him about the code she and Rose developed when they needed to get information to one another. She also reminded him about how she’d known Albert was her birth father since her childhood. She’d insisted that he be her guard whenever she rode out. She wanted the time with him, and she knew he was more dedicated to her safety than anyone else.
Thor wondered how she’d slipped away to the loch if Albert guarded her. She’d always told him she came alone. She explained she had. She learned how to sneak out of the keep with no one knowing, not even Albert. She and Thor formed their relationship before her abuse began, so she hadn’t believed she needed a guard as much then. It was the closest they came to Thor asking questions or Greer admitting anything. She told him she would answer any he had, but he insisted he only wanted to know what she was ready to volunteer.
Their intimacy didn’t progress beyond what they’d shared the first day. Neither realized how the other hid their physical frustration. Greer wished to explore more, but she recognized how fearful Thor was that he’d hurt her. In turn, Thor didn’t want Greer to feel pressured into giving more of herself than she was ready to. So, they settled for exploring one another with their hands and Thor’s mouth.
In the afternoons, they ventured away from their chamber. The first day, Greer was too apprehensive to leave the keep’s walls. They went to the garden instead. They spent more time talking about their roles during a typical day among their clan. Thor deduced Greer ran the clan almost entirely on her own. The clan council was only interested in discussing clan politics and scheming with Edgar. She maintained all the ledgers, both the ones the lady and the laird would keep. She oversaw the kitchens, often helping there. She managed all the maids and laundresses who were often at odds with one another. She adjudicated all disputes between women, and most often heard the complaints between men.
Edgar ceded that role to her because he claimed it drove him barmy to listen to people whine. She met with the farmers to plan their crops every spring. She ordered repairs to crofts and controlled the budgets for those. She knew every project on which the blacksmith worked and how many sacks a day the miller filled. She’d started taking over these responsibilities when she was three-and-ten. By the time she was six-and-ten, she led the clan in all things apart from battle.
Thor described how he’d earned his position as the captain of the guard, inheriting the position from his uncle Alex, and how it had been the proudest moment of his life since he and Greer parted ways. While his father was still the clan’s tánaiste, he’d taken over many of Liam’s duties since the laird was well into his sixth decade. Until Liam and Callum decided Thor was mature enough to take over leading the clan’s warriors, Alex had served as Callum’s second-in-command.
He spoke of his long hours in clan council meetings with his grandfather, father, and uncles along with the other members. He’d been a silent observer for many years, absorbing the lessons his family taught. But over the past three years, they’d begun asking his opinion as though he were a true member of the council. The men who made up the rest of the council weren’t family, so he’d feared they wouldn’t take him seriously. But they’d all seen him grow into the role.
Greer asked about his training as a warrior and the specifics of what happened in the lists. She wanted to know more than that they fought. He’d explained much of what the men did when they sparred and how he now directed groups just like his father and uncles. He shared how people still stopped to watch when the four brothers sparred together and Liam joined as a pretend foe or to call out scenarios and corrections. He told Greer how he prayed one day he and his cousins would be as respected and renowned as their fathers.
The second afternoon, they met with Father Bennett and discussed their choices for marrying within the church. The priest agreed he saw no reason to post the banns since they were already married in the eyes of the Keiths, and he knew the Sinclairs wouldn’t contest it. The Gunns had tried, but it didn’t change the fact that they were living as man and wife.
They rode out with Blaine and Greer on the third afternoon and enjoyed a picnic with the other couple. The air between Greer and Thor couldn’t have been more different from their first excursion. Rather than being more frigid than the blusteriest day during a Highland winter, the heat between threatened to send them up in flames. Their desire mounted with each moment spent together, and they couldn’t be close enough. If they weren’t lying in bed together, Greer spent most of her time seated on Thor’s lap. That day, Greer sat astride before Thor on his horse. He’d hesitated to share the mount because he knew it would be harder to swing his sword if someone attacked. It also meant he couldn’t order Greer to ride to safety. But he convinced himself that riding together would keep them from getting separated. The truth was neither wanted to go without touching the other even for an hour’s ride.
“Do ye wish to go for another swim,leannan?” Thor whispered in Greer’s ear as they cantered back toward the keep. His arm rested beneath her breasts, his thumb daring to sweep over her nipple from time to time. She’d pressed her hips back each time, but his sporran kept her from feeling what she was certain was an erect cock. Now she shifted restlessly. His hand slid up her ribs until it rested beneath her breast, the weight of the mound pressing against it.
