Kaiden chuckled as he turned to face his father. “Tell me, does it ever get easier knowing that some wilnae ever return?”
“Nay,” his father sighed, removing his hand. “It doesnae, but ’tis the oath that yer warriors take, tae defend their clan with their lives. There isnae one Scot tonight that wouldnae do it.”
Aye, there wasn’t, mainly because Kaiden wouldn’t have picked them to be a warrior.
“But,” his father continued, a frown marring his brow, “ye have tae come back, Kaiden. I know ye think ye are a warrior first, but ye are a laird tae, with a doddling old man who wants his son tae come home.”
The emotion in his father’s voice caught Kaiden off guard, and he wondered if his father’s worries had something to do with his previous near-death experience.
“I’m planning on it,” he said instead, his chest tightening. What if he didn’t, though? What if he faltered on the battlefield like before, and it got him killed this time?
His father cleared his throat. “Go on. Yer lass is waiting for ye.”
Kaiden swallowed hard, knowing that he needed to have this talk before he departed. “Ye will take care of her?”
“Like she was mah own,” his father replied, giving Kaiden a nod. “That lass, she’s something special—something that is worth coming home tae, lad.”
Right now, he only wanted to see her. “Good night, Da.”
His father smirked. “Get some sleep, will ye?”
Kaiden’s lips remained in a smile as he climbed the stairs to the second landing, acutely aware of everything he passed, like the way the candle flickered against the stone wall as he passed, or the rapid beat of his heart with each breath. Something always changed inside him the night before he went into battle, as if his mind wanted to absorb everything around him.
As if he wasn’t going to return.
Kaiden reached his chambers and pushed open the door, stepping inside the haven that had been his for years. Yet now, it was vastly different, but in a good sort of way. Ferra was already in bed, with a pile of furs on top of her body despite the warmth of the chamber. Her eyes followed his movement as he shut the door behind him, unstrapping his sword and placing it on the table.
“Lass,” he stated, his voice soft, “are ye cold?”
“’Tis how one feels when one neglects tae dress after one’s bath.”
His cock tightened at the thought of her naked under the furs. “Och, ye know how tae make a Scot hard,” he told her, his movements a bit hurried now that he knew what waited for him.
She propped up on one elbow, and a creamy shoulder came into view, the fur sliding dangerously low over her breasts. “Did yer ritual go fine?”
Kaiden stripped off his tunic, throwing it onto the floor. “Aye, it did.” Ferra hadn’t batted an eye when he told her what he would be doing tonight, and how it was no place for any lass, much less the lady of the keep. The ritual in the great hall was the last of it.
The other parts included sparring against each other to feel the burn of their muscles and dipping naked in the cold water of the creek that ran behind the keep, washing one’s body with the sand that covered the bottom. The sand was meant to remind them of the land they fought for, the very land that their ancestors had defended without complaint. Then, naked as the day they were born, the warriors had tracked back to the warrior’s barracks to dress for the ale and sword ritual. As like their generations before them, no lass was welcome to watch the ritual.
It wasn’t a display of strength or a reason to ogle, but meant to bring the warriors together in solidarity for the task ahead.
Kaiden removed the rest of his clothing before he knelt beside the bed, his injured leg groaning in protest. All in all, he felt like himself, the injury not hindering him as it had before. He was sore, sure, but Kaiden imagined that would be a feeling for the rest of his days, almost like an old man whose joints started to ache with the threat of rain.
“Wot are ye doing, Kaiden?” Ferra asked as he reached for the fur covering her chest, pulling it down to bare the pale globes of her breasts. Her nipples puckered immediately as the cold air caressed them, and Kaiden felt the tug in his own groin, wanting nothing more than to touch her all over. “I’m looking at mah wife,” he said huskily, reaching out with one trembling finger to encircle her nipple.
She gasped at the contact, so Kaiden covered one breast with his hand, squeezing it lightly. “I could touch ye all night,” he told her, pushing the furs aside to get the full view of Ferra. Her body flushed pink, and he smiled as his eyes trailed from her breasts to the thick thatch of red hair at the apex of her thighs.
She was lovely; far too lovely to be his.
But she was his, and the pride he felt for this woman was far beyond any pride that the battlefield could bring. Kaiden pushed off the floor and moved to cover her body with his. “I’m going tae love ye all night,” he whispered, framing her face with his hands. “And it will be mah name on yer lips.”
“Kaiden,” she said, reaching up to brush his hair back. “It will always be yer name on mah lips.”
Her words humbled him, and Kaiden groaned as he kissed her deeply, cutting off any other discussion for now.
It wasn’t until later that Kaiden held Ferra tightly in his arms, his body cooling from their fervent lovemaking, that Kaiden realized something important about his wife.
He didn’t want to leave her. He didn’t want to leave this bed in the morning, to watch her fade in the distance as he led the warriors out of the keep and away from the village.
