“Today marks a new beginning for Clan MacKay. I wish my father and brother were here to celebrate with us.” Alex turned to Keely. “And now, if ye doona mind, I will take my bride abovestairs.”
Before she could protest, Alex scooped her up and made his way through the happy throng.
“God’s blessings,” some called.
“Bolt the door from the inside and out,” a man warned. “The lass might run away.”
“Be at peace, Laird Alexander, and get Lady Keely with child, that will keep her a MacKay.”
Though he appreciated the well wishes, the words stung his pride. The only thing that would keep his young wife in their bed was him. She had been left a maiden too long and dinna know her rightful place, dinna understand what being a wife meant.
Keely wrapped her arms around his neck.
“Are ye afraid, lass?”
“Nay.” She peeked up at him. “Are ye?”
He stopped mid-stair and laughed. “Ye’ll never give me peace, Keely. For almost every word out of yer pretty mouth surprises me.”
“Blame my father, he taught me everything I know.”
Alex dinna want her to lose the fire in her belly. Even though he complained about her being stubborn and disobedient, he’d have grown bored with a submissive wife. And that fighting spirit would eventually win the hearts of Clan MacKay back. Keely dinna face an easy future, but he knew she would rise above the challenges.
“After tonight, lass, there will be no more confusion left between us, I promise.” He pushed the bedchamber door open with the toe of his boot.
*
Once she andAlex were inside, he barred the door, then turned to her. “Later, men will be posted outside the door and below, in case ye’d be foolish enough to jump out of the window.”
She lifted her chin. “Ye still have no faith in me?” She couldna blame him for being overly cautious. The past still weighed heavily on them both. In time she’d prove herself trustworthy again.
Alex walked to the hearth. He stoked the fire with a metal poker. “I know ye well, Keely. That alone gives me every right to be suspicious. But I am willing to set our differences aside and start our lives together. There are many things I like about ye.”
She sighed, taking in the surroundings, including the enormous bed she was sure generations of MacKay lairds and their ladies had slept in. Surely it was large enough to accommodate Alex and three or four women at one time. She frowned at the thought.
“Just then,” Alex pointed out, “a shadow crossed yer face. Why?”
“Tis nothing.”
“Tell me at once,” he demanded.
“A foolish notion, nothing more.”
“I will decide what’s foolish, lass.”
“The bed…”
Alex gazed at it. “Is it not to yer liking?”
“It will serve,” she said.
“Keely…”
“Perhaps ye, me,andthe rest of yer women.”
Alex hung the poker on its hook, then crossed the room to where she stood.
“I havesixconcubines, Keely.”
