It was stupid of her to allow Maddie to interfere. Playing dress up was for beautiful women who knew all the social niceties. How to talk. How to walk. How to be quiet and deferential. All the things Rachael wasn’t.All she had accomplished was making an even bigger fool of herself. And she’d given Caleb yet another opportunity to humiliate her.She hated him.It was bad enough he thought himself some noble self-sacrificer for taking on his brother’s discarded bride, but he had to be a smug, overbearing jackass to boot.If only she’d had a sister to marry off. Then she could have dressed the way she wanted, acted as she wanted, and she could damn well pick up a sword when she wanted.Realizing she was standing in the nude and it was quite cold, she pulled on the scruffy trews and then pulled her favorite tunic over her head. Her boots were old. There was a hole in the heel, but they fit her like a glove and they’d never let her down.Taking only a few extra moments to plait and secure
Caleb hated the insecurity that plagued him and he’d never admit it to anyone save himself. He may not be convinced that he was the best man to lead the McDonalds, but they’d never know that. Any show of weakness would be a clear sign to them that he was not worthy of the mantle of leadership, and he’d die before he’d allow that to happen.Nay, he must be strong. And show no mercy right from the start. It was imperative that Caleb have their respect, for he had much work ahead of him in order to shape them into as formidable a force as the Woods warriors.To his surprise, when he opened the door to his chamber, Rachael was inside, still awake. She was sitting by the fire, her hair unbound and streaming to her waist. The tresses reflected the glow of the flames and shone like spun gold.He’d fully expected her to retreat to her chamber and avoid him at all costs.She didn’t hear him at first, and he took the opportunity to study her slender shape. It amused him that she’d re-bound her
He acted like a man starved. And yet he was exceedingly gentle and in turns rough. It confused her.She wanted more. She needed more. But she wasn’t at all sure what it was she wanted or needed.He slid his tongue around and then up the underside of her breast until the bud balanced precariously on the edge of his lip. Then he sucked it inside, sweeping it past his teeth, pulling and tugging at it until she cried out and dug her nails into his broad shoulders.“Caleb, please! Have mercy.”He raised his head, his eyes reflecting the dancing flames in the hearth. “Mercy? Lass, I have none. Furthermore, you won’t want it. But you’ll beg for more. Aye, you will.”He kissed the hollow between her breasts and murmured softly against her skin. “You’re beautiful, Rachael. Never hide what God has given you. You are a woman blessed.”His words soaked into her heart, giving comfort she hadn’t realized she needed. How could a man who was so harsh and unyielding speak with a poet’s soul? He was a
Rachael waited until she was certain Alan had risen before she went to Keeley’s chamber. Though all the Woods warriors were notoriously early risers—they somehow functioned on but a few hours’ sleep every night—Alan had devoted most of his time for the last weeks to Keeley’s bedside.After she saw him reenter his chamber with food for Keeley to break her fast, she waited a few moments and then knocked.Alan opened the door and Rachael straightened her shoulders. “I’d like to say my farewell to Keeley if she’s feeling well enough this morn.”“Of course. Come in. She’s breaking her fast and grumbling about being held captive in her bedchamber.”Rachael grinned at Alan’s exasperated tone. She walked inside to see Keeley sitting up in bed, more color in her cheeks than had been there the day before.“I’ve come to bid you farewell.”Keeley’s lips turned down into an unhappy frown. “So soon? I had hoped to spend more time with you.”Rachael perched on the edge of the bed, taking Keeley’s ha
She snuggled into his arms and pressed her face into his chest, sighing at how deliciously warm he felt. He smelled good, too. A mixture of wood, smoke, and his own natural scent. It was an intoxicating blend.A groan of raw pleasure escaped her lips. He stiffened and then cursed softly under his breath. She frowned, unsure of what she’d done to gain his displeasure.“Caleb? Is something amiss?”“Nay, Rachael. Go to sleep. We’ll make McDonald keep by afternoon if we leave early.”“My hands are still cold,” she said softly.He reached between them, gathered her hands and then guided them underneath his tunic over his belly to the warm, hair-roughened wall of muscle.She knew her hands to be like ice, but he didn’t so much as flinch as she pressed her palms into his flesh. The sensation was so … intimate. Cozy.She sighed and rubbed her cheeks along his shoulder, her eyelids growing heavy the warmer she became.The slight rasp of hair tickled her fingers and she tentatively moved one ha
Her cowardice made her choke. The food she’d tried to consume stuck in her throat and she couldn’t force it down no matter how hard she tried.She alternated between wanting Caleb to put in an appearance so she could dress him down for humiliating her in front of her kinsmen and wanting him to stay as far away as possible so she didn’t have to face him. Not until she regained her courage and decided her next course.Disgusted with her sudden timidity, she pushed aside her food and backed from the table. She wasn’t going to sit around arguing with herself about whether she wanted to see her husband. He could rot. She was tired. Beyond exhausted. It was past time she sought her bed.She braced herself for the cold when she swung her door open. Her room lacked a hearth for a fire, but there were no windows so no wind blew through the chamber. She collected two candles and returned to the hall to light them from one of the torches lining the walls.The meager light brightened the tiny cha
Her eyes widened at the image his words provoked. She went still beneath his fingers and stared down at him. He tilted his head back so he met her gaze, and the intensity in his eyes made her mouth go dry.His hand left her and slid up her belly to cup her breast and he leaned down to kiss the tip, forming it into a tight peak. Then he shifted his body and moved up so their lips were just a breath apart.He touched her cheek with the back of one finger and trailed over her cheekbone to her jaw. “I won’t hurt you, lass. You were afraid our wedding night. ’Tis why I didn’t bed you. I’ll be as gentle as a man can be when he’s shaking with want for his bride.”She opened her mouth to refute his assertion that she was afraid of anything but the protest died as she blew her breath out and closed her lips once more.Then he kissed her, his mouth moving with infinite tenderness over her lips. All the while his hands slid over her body, stroking, caressing. Soothing.Somehow he managed to shif
“Instructions? What instructions?”Rachael swung her feet over the edge, still clutching the furs to her naked body.Sarah smiled. “The laird wants me and the other women to instruct you on the duties of the lady of the keep. He said ’tis obvious you have no knowledge of such, and now that you are wife to the laird ’tis time for you to take your place.”Rachael sat in the tub, water up to her ears, silently fuming. After a night of pure heaven, a night when she was sure that she and Caleb would start anew, that he would actually act as though he cared something for her, he’d gotten up from their bed and ordered her to start acting like his meek little wife.To make matters worse, Sarah was sitting by the tub, ticking off the list of instructions from Caleb.She was not to dress as a man. She was not to indulge in activities unbecoming a lady, and he went on to specify swordplay, fighting, or any other activity assigned to a warrior. She wasn’t to bind her breasts.That directive had R