Much Ado About Highlanders (The Scottish Relic Trilogy) (13 page)

“So you’ve done this before.”

“This is one of many places we know to use in case of trouble.”

“But what about those fishermen who attacked you at the camp?” she asked. “There are fishing boats out there. Won’t they know we’re here?”

“The fire at the mouth of the cave is not only a Macpherson signal. Others will see it, but they won’t know what it means. My brother and Diarmad know we ran into trouble, or we’d have been in Oban yesterday or the day before. That’s why that ship is anchored there. They’re waiting for our signal. Now, I’m relying on them to be the first to reach us.”

Kenna looked around the cold empty place and the passage leading into the darkness. The walls of the cave were squared-off blocks, as if they’d been hewn from black stone by an army of giants.

“What do we do now?” She rubbed her arms. “Wait here? We still need to get down that cliff somehow.”

“I told you that we’ve used this in the past. We won’t wait here.” He took her hand and led her toward the back of the cave. His torch threw wild shadows on the rugged walls. “But I’m hoping it will take them a very long time before they reach us.”

The glint in his eyes made her stomach flutter. “Why?”

“No more talking, lass. I’ll show you.”

I love you with so much of my heart that none is left to protest.

“Is this a crypt of some kind?” Kenna asked, stopping and gesturing to a low opening in the cave wall. A thick oak door with a sheet of beaten metal stood open.

The tunnels had taken them downward in a series of gradual steps, and she could feel heat emanating from the doorway.

“Nay, they say this was where the hermit lived. Let me show you.”

Alexander let go of her hand and ducked through, holding the torch up ahead of him.

She passed through into the low, square, musty chamber. The room opened up, but there were no windows, no other doors. Alexander’s head brushed the low ceiling. Kenna’s attention was immediately drawn to two things: pictures etched into one of the walls and the heat.

Some of the engraved images she could identify: whales and fish and birds and elk and trees and men with spears. Some were complex labyrinthine designs that she’d never seen before. In the center of one wall, she saw what appeared to be a cross.

The heat in the chamber was intense, and Kenna had started sweating the moment she’d entered. The tablet hanging around her neck wasn’t easing her discomfort, either. The stone was hot against her skin.

She reached out to touch the engraved cross . . . and pulled her hand back immediately.

The pain was sharp and instantaneous, like putting a hand into fire. She recoiled, stepping back against Alexander’s chest.

“What’s wrong?” he asked, steadying her.

“Nothing.” She hid her hand in the folds of her skirt. Talons of fear wrapped around her pounding heart. “Who made those drawings? What do they mean?”

He went near them, reached up and traced a spiraling design with a finger. “I don’t know. I don’t think anyone knows.”

The tablet was becoming hotter, burning her skin through the pouch. The air in the chamber was heating up, as well, suffocating her with its heavy dryness. She realized she was sweating, but Alexander didn’t seem to notice the scorching temperature of the wall or the increasing heat of the air.

There was something unsettling, something powerful, and she didn’t like it. Perhaps dark magic was at work here. On an opposite wall a generous supply of flints, candles, torches, blankets, and other things had been stored.

Kenna moved toward the door of the chamber. She had to get out, get away from whatever it was in that room that was responding to the tablet she carried.

“We don’t need to wait here, do we?”

“Nay, there’s more I want to show you.”

Kenna practically ran out of the chamber ahead of Alexander. Outside, she leaned against the cold, damp wall of the dark tunnel. The heat started to subside. She could once again breathe. Alexander was still in the chamber. She heard him rummaging through the supplies.

Kenna looked more closely at the heavy door. The metal sheet over the thick oak was covered with designs and images that were similar to the stone carvings inside.

She hesitantly reached out to touch the door. Again, her hand burned. She stepped back.

“So, finally, something that Kenna MacKay is afraid of.” Alexander came out of the chamber, carrying a few things under one arm and holding the torch high.

“Not afraid,” she grumbled, looking away. “Maybe just a bit uneasy.”

“Nay, this is a first. You’re frightened.” He laid the torch against the cave wall and lifted her chin until she was forced to look into his blue eyes. “What’s wrong, lass?”

“I don’t like places like this. Crypts, dungeons, and such. Wee, tight places. I can’t breathe in them.” It wasn’t a lie. She didn’t like enclosed spaces.

“That’s a good thing for me to remember, for all the times in the future when I have to punish you.”

She snorted and pushed his hand away.

“Just be warned, love. Benmore has many cellars and dungeons.”

“You’re a blackguard, Alexander Macpherson. I see no humor in this.” Kenna turned around to go back the way they’d come, but he took her arm.

“Not that way.”

“Another crypt?” she asked.

“Nay. You’ll like it where we are going. Trust me.”

“‘Trust me,’ he says. Right after he tells me he plans to shackle me in Benmore’s dungeons. And why shouldn’t I trust you?”

“I made no mention of shackles. But I’ve heard rumors that some like it that way when they make love, so if that’s your preference . . .”

Even as an unexpected thrill ran through her, she opened her mouth to respond. But nothing came out. Realizing she must look like a fish out of water, she closed her mouth.

His laughter brought an end to her speechlessness.

“There is something definitely wrong with you, pirate,” she snapped, punching him in the chest.

But in the next moment, Kenna was gasping for breath at the suddenness of his embrace. Tight against his body, she could feel his arousal hard against her. He kissed her and drew back.

“As I think you can tell, Kenna, there’s only one thing on my mind right now. And that is making love to my wife.” He pushed the pile of supplies into her arms and picked up the torch. “I say we waste no more time.”

He didn’t look back at her as he started down the passageway. She followed, but she thought she might collapse under her weight at any moment. Her head was in the clouds. Her mouth was dry. Her heart raced like she’d been running up Ben Nevis. Her skin tingled . . . everywhere.

Kenna knew her heart. It was time.

The tunnel seemed to be winding downward for miles into the earth. The air was growing damper, the smell of the grave infused in every breath. The sharp-edged blocks of stone that formed black walls grew so tight in places that they needed to squat and turn sideways to squeeze through. Alexander occasionally looked back to make sure she was still with him.

Suddenly, the passage widened, and a cool breeze swept through her hair. Like some starving beggar who finally sits at a table, Kenna filled her lungs with the fresh air and hurried to keep up with him.

“Is there another opening?”

“Aye, but not an easy one that anyone can find or enter through.”

As they started climbing down an odd, stair-like rock formation, Kenna saw light at the bottom. The scent of the grave disappeared, supplanted by the smell of water. Reaching a platform of rock, she stood in amazement. From two dark openings, water flowed into a broad pool. A warm, steamy mist rose from the black surface, creating an otherworldly scene. Alexander took her hand and led her along the path that hugged the shimmering black walls.

Kenna’s breath caught in her chest the moment they entered the next cave. Perfectly cut black pillars arced upward to a cathedral-high ceiling. Beneath them, the water cascaded into a small lake that dropped off again farther along. She could see daylight flooding in from the top of a cave opening. Here, the walls rang with the melody of the waterfalls. The water, no longer black, had taken on a turquoise color and weaved through mist-covered rocks.

She dropped the bundle she was carrying and walked to the edge of the pool.

“What is this place? It must be heaven.”

“An
uaimh bhinn
,
a cave of melody,” he told her. “Many springs join together here from the hills.”

Kenna smiled, breathing in the freshness of the air. She dropped to her knees beside the turquoise water lapping the smooth stone surface. She splashed her face with it. It was warm—a perfect temperature. She marveled at the crystal clarity of it.

“I’ve never seen anything like this. Thank you for bringing me here.” She glanced over her shoulder at him. The way he stood watching her made her stomach tighten in anticipation.

Kenna sat, swinging her legs around and removing the tight shoes. There were blisters on her feet. She dipped them in the water and shivered with pleasure.

Alexander moved to the edge of the water, standing above her.

“It’s lovely here.”

“Aye,” he responded, never taking his eyes off of her. “It’s lovely, indeed.”

Kenna’s eyes and Alexander’s locked. She remembered his words when they’d left the hermit’s chamber. He wanted her. This was the place he’d brought her to make love. She let her gaze sweep across the water and the walls of the cavern. And she wanted him, too. She wanted him to hold her, to run his hands over her skin, to kiss her.

“Would you like to go in? You can swim and wash.”

“With you here, watching?”

“With me, going in with you.”

Something inside her tingled at the thought of his eyes on her. She recalled his hardened manhood pressing against her so intimately. Her face warmed.

“I would like to swim.” She gestured to the underground lake. “There’s plenty of room for us to go in . . . separately. That might be best.”

“As my wife wishes.” Alexander unfastened the leather belt holding his sword and laid the weapon on the ground beside Kenna. She glanced up at him hastily, startled by the suddenness of the act.

“What are you doing?” she asked.

“What do you think I’m doing?” He grinned mischievously, undoing the brooch that held his tartan over his shoulder. It fell with a ringing sound beside the sword. “I’m going for a swim.”

“With me here?” she blurted.

“With you here,” he repeated seductively.

“I thought you just agreed to find your own place to swim.”

“I agreed to go in separately. I’m going in now and then you can join me.”

“I don’t want to swim with you.” She watched as he kicked off his boots, exposing muscular calves.

“Shall I convince you otherwise?” He reached for her but she scrambled to her feet and stepped back. “Would you prefer that I carry you in?”

She shook her head. “You go in and swim off . . . that way. I’ll find my own place to swim. Now, away with you, beast.”

“Once again, I’m going to prove to you that I can be reasonable. So I’ll do just as you say.”

He pulled up his shirt from the belted kilt, and whatever she intended to say trailed off as Alexander peeled it off and dropped it on the ground. She stared at his muscular chest. She’d seen it before, tended to it when he was injured. But this was so different.

Like a god he stood framed by the glowing light of the cave opening behind him. He was magnificent—she could not deny it. The wound at his side had already healed into a thick scar. Kenna ached to reach out to him, to run her fingers across the rippling lines of his powerful warrior’s body. As if the wind had been knocked from her, she stood motionless. Breathless.

“I’ll even swim away so you have the privacy you seek.” He slowly unhooked the thick leather belt that held his kilt in place.

Her throat was as dry as an old bone. She took another step back and watched.

“Would you like me to undress you before I go in?”

Wide-eyed, Kenna shook her head, trying to keep her gaze on his chest and not below.

Something dropped to the ground. It had to be his belt and kilt. He smiled and walked slowly into the water. She waited, waited, only a moment before letting her gaze sweep down over Alexander’s back and buttocks. Magnificent? Naked, he was glorious.

“Don’t wait too long or I’ll have to come after you.”

He dove headfirst into the water and a few seconds later Kenna saw his powerful strokes take him across the lake to the cascading falls.

Kenna recalled all the scrubbing the MacKay women had subjected her to on the day of her wedding to prepare her for the marriage bed. There would be no seductively transparent silk for a nightgown, and right now she had to smell like . . . Lord knows what. Kenna had no idea what Alexander found attractive in her.

She could no longer see him.

Kenna unlaced her blouse. Walking to the bank, she quickly stripped off the dress, pulling her arms free and pushing the garment down over her hips. Her shift was a mess for all the material she’d ripped from it. But she left it on. Imagining herself naked while Alexander might be watching was too embarrassing. She removed the pouch from around her neck and tucked it into the folds of her dress.

A moment later, Kenna broke the surface of the water and ran her fingers through her wavy mass of hair. She sighed with pleasure. She was about to make love to her husband for the first time. As she floated on her back in the warm spring water, Kenna pushed aside all thoughts of the stone and the chamber above. Soon she’ll tell him. But not now. Not this moment. He accepted her decision to wait. She loved him for it.

She turned and dove into the deeper water, swimming submerged in the cleansing spring-fed currents.

Alexander had been watching her from the moment the first lace was pulled free.

She was a vision. Like some water nymph, like some unearthly being, some goddess, she graced these waters with her beauty, with her very presence. He saw her rise out of the water for a moment, and his eyes were drawn to the shift clinging provocatively to her breasts. Alexander stopped breathing.

Kenna floated into the deep current. She looked in the direction Alexander had disappeared. There was still no sign of him. Suddenly, from beneath her she felt strong hands grip her waist and lift her out of the water.

She gasped, but even as she did, she knew it was her husband. He drew her legs around his waist.

“Do you really need to sneak up on me?”

“I couldn’t stay away any longer.”

He brushed the dark tip of her breast through the shift. She shivered involuntarily as her nipple hardened.

“What are you doing?” she asked as he started carrying her into waist-deep water. “I haven’t had a chance to swim.”

He stopped her complaint with a hard and thorough kiss.

“Unless you stop me, I plan to have you before I lose my mind. It has been too long, and I’m going to make love to you . . . right now.”

She could not calm the violent pounding of her heart. Something within her thrilled to know that she could affect him like this. Kenna looked into his intense blue eyes.

“You say it’s been too long.”

“Aye, lass.”

“How long?” she asked. “How long has it been?”

“You know how long it’s been.”

“Do I?”