“Aye, I’m fine.”
After Ethan left, he remained sitting in the chair, staring at the cold hearth. A few short months ago, he would have been furious right now. To think that his parents had kept this from him… he would be breaking the furniture and then riding out on Fallon to be alone, wallowing in the pain of their deception. But not now, not since Ella became his. His love for her made most everything else feel almost inconsequential.Nothing, not even this sudden revelation about his birth, could ruin the happiness he had so recently found with her. But it certainly did send his world into a tilt. Iona… his birth mother. And his father had lain with her. Ethan… Ethan is mybrother.An hour passed in an instant as he tried to sort through all of the thoughts crashing through his head, and then there was a knock on the door.
Ethan walked in before he could even answer. Behind him was Iona, looking pale and a little uncertain. Ceann really looked at her for the first time. She was beautiful, in a timeless, ageless sort of way. And she looked younger than her years, even now. But now, he searched her face for signs of himself. He remembered all the days he and Ethan had spent playing in the woods near her cottage, and how she would bring them fresh biscuits and ginger tea…
He shook himself and came back to the present with a start, gesturing to a chair. “Please, sit down.” She did, and he sat next to her. Ethan dragged a chair over from near the window and joined them.
She folded her hands in her lap and raised her eyes to his. “Are you angry?”
He shook his head. “No. Not angry. A little stunned, is all. I… I don’t even know where to begin. I never even suspected…”
She nodded. “We kept it from you, from everyone. No one was ever to know that you weren’t born to Aisleen. She loved you… more than her own life. As did your father.”
“But why then? Why the curse?”
Iona took a deep breath, her eyes far away as she stared at the window across the room. “Because they had to be certain… there had to be a guarantee of sorts, that you and Ella would come together.”
Ceann stared at her. “Who? Who had to be certain? Do you mean to say that I was a pawn in some game? That all this time, I’ve had no real choice in my own life?” He ran his hands through his hair, his temper beginning to flare. “Jesus! What is this all about? How could I not have known?”
Iona leaned closer and put a hand on his arm. He snatched it away irritably. “No, it’s not like that. Listen to me Ceann.”
“No. I need to be alone. I need to think.” He left the room, closing the door behind him.
Chapter 20
Ceann woke and reached for his wife, pulling her close, inhaling her soft scent. He still couldn’t believe his good fortune. He had a wife of his own, no not just a wife, a soul mate. She could be no other. And she carried his child. A child he had wanted desperately but had never hoped to have. Images drifted through his mind of Ella with his child at her breast, smiling warmly at him when he came into the room. His son. Joy flooded through his veins at the thought. He would teach him everything he knew. He drew his palm over Ella’s softly rounded belly.Mine, and mine. She shifted, snuggling closer. His thoughts instantly changed direction, and he pressed against her, his desire rising swift and hot. “Madainn mhath.”Good morning.
“Mmmm… aye, it is.” She laughed softly.“Are you never sated?”
“No, never.” He nuzzled her ear. “I’m afraid you will have to spend the rest of your life satisfying my never-ending desire, morning, noon and night.” He grasped her bottom and sank into her, his breath catching a little at the rush of pleasure. “Oh God, I will never tire of this, I will never have enough of you.”
“Then I fear we may end up with more than just one child.”
He laughed, his voice deep and husky near her ear.“I want dozens. As many as you will give me, and I will love them all.”
“Dozens? You will perhaps need to add more rooms onto the castle, then.”
“I’ll start tomorrow. Today I don’t think I am able to leave this bed.”
“You said the same yesterday.”
The next weeks flew by in a haze of bliss. Her sickness in the mornings had since passed, and Ella blossomed with the love of her newhusband.Husband. She still could not believe Ceann was really hers. He had changed, with all that had happened. He was still the fierce warrior he had always been, but now he smiled more, laughed more. And most importantly, he did not push her away anymore, but embraced her, every chance he got. She had never felt so happy, so complete. She even had good friends in Mairi and Elizabeth, and was growing closer to the other women of the clan every day. She slowly began taking over some of the duties of the lady of the house, though Ceann would not let her do too much. She needed to stay out of his sight if she wanted to get any real work done.
She was in the kitchens going over what food stores would be needed for winter, when one of the younger squires bounded in. “Milady? There’s a man at the gate to see you, by the name of Malcolm.”
“Malcolm!” she almost shrieked. Dropping her list on the table, she ran for the door.Could it be? She saw him before she reached the gate. “Malcolm!” Running now, she launched herself into his arms, leaving the guardsmen with identically startled looks on their faces.
Laughing, he caught her easily. “I missed you too, love.”
She started to ask him all of the questions spinning in her head, but he was looking over her shoulder with a wary expression. She turned slightly, to see Ceann stalking towards them, looking none too happy. Looking rather furious, in fact. “Take your hands off my wife!” he growled.
She smiled as he reached them, stepping prudently out of Malcolm’s arms. “My husband, Laird Ceann MacKenzie.”
Malcolm inclined his head slightly. “Laird.” He turned back to Ella. “I can’t leave you alone for a moment, and you go and get married?” His lips quirked at the corners.
“Who the hell are you?” demanded Ceann impatiently.
Ella turned to her husband. “This is my dear friend Malcolm, one of the men who abandoned me in the woods, just before you found me.”
