“Alittle mad,” he murmured and briefly grinned. “As are all of your kinsmen andwomen.” He traced the fine lines of her small face with his fingertips. “Thereare a great many reasons why I love ye and why I was a fool to try so hard notto love ye. Ye have strength, spirit, and beauty. Aye, ye have the finest browneyes in all of Scotland.” He kissed her cheek when she blushed.
“Yeremind me of the heather that can dress even the most barren of our hills insoft color,” he continued. “Ye are wild and beautiful, delicate in appearancebut as hardy as that flower. Ye have no dowry, no lands and ye talk to spirits.Aye, and even though Ivor has left us, I suspect ye will find a few more ghostsin the years ahead of us. It doesnae matter. Ye are what I want. Aye, ye arewhat I need.”
“Ineed ye as weel, Ruari Kerr,” she said quietly, curling her arms around hisneck and gently kissing him.
“Andwhen did ye ken that I was the mon ye needed? When were ye sure that ye lovedme?”
“Isuspected it for a long while, but I was so certain we could never be wed thatI fought it. I fought the love growing inside of me as hard and as fruitlesslyas I fought the passion ye stirred within me. I could no longer deny either thefirst night I came to your bed. The moment our bodies became one, I was certainthat I loved ye.”
Ruaribrushed his lips over her forehead. “I wish it had been as easy for me.”
“Yeare a trained warrior. Ye were a better fighter.” Sorcha echoed his chuckle.
“Therewas also the matter of my precise plan for a wife. I was loath to give that upno matter how often Rosse advised me to do so.” He smoothed a few wisps of hairfrom her face. “There was also the anger I felt, an anger born of my bruisedpride.”
“Itdoesnae matter. Aye, some of the obstacles in our way were ones of our ownmaking, but we have overcome them. Now we only need to tend our love carefullyso that it will still be strong when we are weak with age.”
Ruariclaimed her body with his and began to cover her face with small, warm kisses. “Sayit loud and clear, loving. I find I have a deep hunger for the words.”
“Ilove ye, Ruari Kerr.”
“AsI love ye, Sorcha, my wife. And although, as a mon of battle, I ken little ornothing of nurturing, I believe I will find no difficulty in coveting andcaring for this bounty we share.”
“AndI shall be right there at your side to help as, along with whatever children weare blessed with, this love is our greatest treasure.” She heartily welcomedand returned his tender kisses. “I wish Crayton and Ivor were still about sothat I could tell them of this. They were both verra concerned about what thefuture held for us.”
“Iam certain that they know. Now, I have plans in mind that dinnae include a lotof talking, especially about your spirits. In truth, I have rather enjoyed theabsence of them and pray that it continues for a long while.”
Sorchawrapped her body around his when he kissed her again and decided that now wasnot the time to tell him about the sad-eyed young woman who had flickered intoview at the priest’s side to watch the wedding with a mournful face. This timehis passion was the force behind his kiss, and his hunger was easy to sense.She could think of no better way to enhance the sweet words of love they hadspoken to each other than to make love. With both of their hearts and mindsfreed of fear and doubt, she knew it would be one of those moments of intimacyand passion they would both cherish and remember for the long years ahead.
Epilogue
Sorchasmiled at the young maid who had helped her wash and dress in a cleannightrail. As she eased her aching body beneath the now-clean linen on the bed,she looked at the two women bedded down in the room with her. Neil calmlyreclined in a bed on her right, looking as if she would regain her strengthbefore an hour had passed. To her left was Margaret who was fine, but lookedexhausted and still a little shocked by the mess and the lack of privacy shehad just endured. Shifting a little in her bed, Sorcha looked at the threetightly swaddled babies sleeping peacefully in their cradles.
Ruarihad thought that they were all mad or suffering from some strange whim thatoften afflicts a woman with child. Nevertheless, he had done everything she hadasked, insuring that a room was prepared where the three of them could givebirth together just as Euphemia had instructed but weeks after the weddings.What neither she nor her aunt nor her cousin had yet told their husbands wasthe rest of Euphemia’s prediction—that they would each give their husbandsseven strong sons. That promise of ending the Hays’ apparent inability toproduce male children was enough to make her, Neil, and Margaret adamant aboutfollowing every small detail of Euphemia’s sparingly worded, but very welcomeprophecy.
Shesmiled when she heard the voices of their men. They were impatient to see theirwives and their newborn children. Sorcha knew that that impatience had beenstrengthened by the lack of information they had gleaned from the womenslipping in and out of the birthing room. They could not know that every womantending the birth had been threatened with some very alarming retributions ifthey told the men anything, especially that they had had sons.
“Yehad best let the fools in,” Neil said, draping her thick bright braid over hershoulder, and waving the last of the maids toward the door. “Smile, lass,” sheordered Margaret. “Ye shall put a bad fright into poor Beatham if he sees yelooking so wan.”
“Ifeel wan. Why shouldnae I look it?” grumbled Margaret, but she sat up againstthe pillows and tried to look cheerful. “I dinnae think I am quite so happyabout Euphemia’s prophecy now. I dinnae think I can abide going through thissix more times.”
“Weel,that would only give ye the seven sons Effie predicted,” Sorcha said. “Ye mayhave a daughter or two as weel.”
Sorchaand Neil were laughing heartily over the horrified look that had crossedMargaret’s face when Ruari, Beatham, and Malcolm cautiously entered the room.Sorcha’s full attention became centered upon Ruari as he walked to her bedside,studied her intently for a moment, then kissed her. She ruefully admitted toherself that she liked the way he had come to her first, assuring himself thatshe had survived the ordeal unscathed, before he even asked after the child hehad been so eager for.
“Yourbairn lies in the middle cradle,” she said, smiling and watching him closely ashe picked up the child and sat down on the edge of her bed.
“Shehas black hair,” he murmured, smiling proudly as he set the child on the bedand carefully unwrapped the swaddling.
Outof the corner of her eye, Sorcha could see Beatham and Malcolm doing the same,but her own husband held her attention tightly. She did not want to miss theexpression on his face. She grinned as he pulled aside the last of thewrappings and saw that the child was a boy. He gaped, and she heard his whisperof surprise echoed by the others.
“Ihave a son,” he said, his voice hoarse as he finally looked at her.
“Aye.I hope ye are pleased.” She laughed at his disgusted look then frowned when hebegan to look uncertain.
“Sorcha,ye ken that I would have welcomed any child—“ he began.
Sheplaced her fingers over his lips to stop his words. “Ye need not beg my pardonfor your delight in having a son. I have no doubt in my heart and mind that yewould have loved a daughter as weel. Enjoy the happiness ye feel over beinggiven the son every mon wants and dinnae fear that I shall see something wrongor hurtful in it.”
