My Daring Highlander (11 page)

Seona waited, anxious to hear what
Isobel would reveal next.

“You will crave having his hard shaft
inside you,” Isobel whispered. “Once you are past the pain and used
to his size, he will start moving and… thrusting. That is when you
will lose your mind with the pleasure and not be aware of whether
you are crying out or not.”

“Lose your mind?”
Heavens!
Seona didn’t
want to lose control of her responses. Crying out without restraint
must be mortifying.

“In a manner of speaking. You won’t
care what you say or how loud you scream.” Isobel grinned and Seona
knew she must look horrified. “’Tis naught to worry over. He will
keep you quiet.”

“How?” Seona was having a difficult
time picturing it.

“With his mouth, his
kisses.”

“Heavens,” Seona whispered. Surely
kisses combined with thrusting would be overwhelming.

“Aye, ’tis heavenly.” Isobel appeared
dreamy. “Saints, I wish I could share my husband’s bedroll this
night. But he wishes me to sleep in the cottage with the rest of
the women.”

A little laugh escaped Seona before
she could quell it. Isobel did indeed appear to enjoy her husband’s
company. Seona thought of another question. “What does a man expect
of a woman? I would have no inkling what to do.”

Isobel waved a hand. “He will show you
soon enough. Anyway, it will come to you as if ’twas something
you’d always known. Accepting his kisses and kissing him back.
Touching him. Men love to be touched.”

“Where?”

“Anywhere.” Isobel snickered. “I
remember one thing that surprised me the first time. Although I
should have known, considering how men are always staring down at
my breasts.”

Seona felt her eyes fly wide again,
then tried to hide her shock.

“Men love to kiss and suckle nipples,”
Isobel whispered.

“Heavens, you cannot be serious.”
Seona felt like the most naïve person on earth at the
moment.

“Indeed, I am. That is why they’re
always gawking at women’s breasts, even when they’re covered by
layers of clothing. They also like to fondle, squeeze, kiss, and
stroke them.”

Seona cleared her throat. She had
never imagined such a thing, but she had noticed men, at times,
would stare at her chest when they thought she wasn’t looking. But
even more interesting, she remembered her nipples had tingled when
they’d been pressed to Keegan’s hard chest. They had seemed to
yearn for something. His touch?

“’
Tis enjoyable for the
woman, too,” Isobel said. “It makes her more ready for his…
invasion, so to speak.”

“I see.” Surely, ’twas sinful to speak
of such things, but she had been wondering about them. “I thank you
for telling me. I’ve been curious for some time. And I don’t want
to be too shocked on my wedding night.”

“Well, you won’t be… now that you’ve
seen Keegan naked.” Isobel beamed a wide, mischievous
grin.

“Shh,” Seona hissed, wondering if
Isobel was mad. She could not marry Keegan, even though ’twas what
she wished for most in the world.

“A good eve to you, ladies,” said a
deep male voice behind her.

Seona spun to find Keegan approaching,
his hair still wet from the dip in the loch. Thank the saints he’d
been too far away to hear Isobel’s whispered, shocking words of a
few seconds before… hadn’t he?

“Good eve,” she mumbled, feeling a bit
tongue-tied.

Keegan was fully dressed in his belted
plaid, but Seona was very aware of what lay hidden beneath his
clothes. A heated blush covered her skin and she was thankful for
the dim light of dusk.

“A good eve to you, Keegan,” Isobel
said. “I need to discuss something with Dirk.” She bypassed him and
strode away.

Don’t leave me alone with
him
, was Seona’s first thought. Though she
knew not why. ’Haps because she still felt mortified, having been
caught spying on Keegan naked. Or maybe ’twas because she now knew
far more about what happened between a man and woman in
bed.

“Do you have time for another knife
fighting lesson now?” Keegan asked.

She inhaled a deep breath and tried to
forget all the newfound sexual knowledge and conflicting feelings
swirling within her mind. The sight of Keegan’s naked body had been
disturbing yet intriguing to her, but he was the same generous and
kind man who was teaching her how to defend herself. He was the
same man who had saved her life twice and who kissed her
gently.

She loved spending time with him, but
she had been outside for a while, long enough for her aunt to have
finished her sponge bath.

Seona glanced toward the nearby
cottage. “I’m not certain. My aunt may send for me in a
moment.”

“Is something wrong?” he
asked.

“What? Nay.” Surely he
couldn’t detect she had been recently thrown off-kilter. “’Tis only
that my aunt…”
Has been bathing and ’twill
be my turn next.
Could she say that to him?
Nay, ’twould not be acceptable. Besides, it made her recall how he
had bathed in the loch.

“Aye?” he asked, his brows
quirked.

She couldn’t believe how she was
bungling this simple conversation. “Will be looking for me,” she
finished, though she knew she was repeating herself and making no
sense.

“How is her ankle?” Keegan
asked.

“It pains her.”

He nodded. “’Twill take time to
heal.”

“Aye.” There was so much she wanted to
say to him, and share with him, but her tongue felt stuck to the
roof of her mouth. She needed time to absorb everything she had
experienced and learned today.

“Did she say anything to you about
riding with me?” he asked.

“Nay.”
Not yet, anyway.
But Seona suspected
her aunt would complain at the first opportunity.

When the cottage door opened, Seona
held her breath. Two of the maids emerged. When they spotted her,
they headed in her direction. Aye, just as she’d expected. A few
feet away, they paused and curtsied. “Lady Patience asked us to
send you inside.”

“I’ll be there in a
moment.”

When the two didn’t move, Seona glared
at them.

“Aye, m’lady.” They hastened
away.

“Och. I hope you never send such a
fearsome look my way,” Keegan said with a half grin. “I do believe
the heart of a warrior beats inside you, Lady Seona.”

She snorted before she could stop
herself. “I doubt that.” She glanced toward the cottage again,
seeing that the two annoying maids were standing by the door,
watching her. “Well, I had best go before Lady Patience herself
comes to retrieve me on her injured ankle. I bid you goodnight,
Master Keegan.”

“A good night to you, m’lady.” He
bowed.

Before Seona reached the cottage, her
aunt, now making use of a crooked cane, joined the two maids at the
entrance. Her gaze flew past Seona to Keegan, then her eyes
narrowed.

“I’ll have a word with you inside,
Seona.” Her aunt motioned toward the doorway.

Seona proceeded into the
cottage.

“If you wouldn’t mind, I need to have
a private word with my niece,” Patience told the owner of the
cottage and the other two maids who’d remained inside. They all
exited silently. Lady Patience could easily intimidate servants,
but she didn’t scare Seona. Her only leverage was that she would
tell Seona’s father everything.

Once the door closed behind them,
Patience said, “I’ve been wanting to talk to you about Keegan. I
don’t like that you have been riding behind him all day. ’Tis
indecent.”

Chapter Nine

Seona knew Aunt Patience would
complain about her riding with Keegan earlier that day.

“My mare is unsafe,” Seona said. “I
was afraid to ride her. She went mad during the storm and bolted,
in case you don’t remember.”

“I remember!” Her aunt paused in her
limping trek to the chair by the fireplace to glare at Seona.
“Don’t be impertinent with me, young lady.”

Ignoring her, Seona continued with
calm reasoning. “Chief Dirk said I should ride with Master Keegan.
Do you wish to nay-say a chief?”

“Nay.” Patience slumped into the chair
by the fire and propped her crooked cane next to her. “But you
didn’t even protest. I ken what you’re thinking, lassie,” she
snapped, pinning Seona with a perceptive stare. “I see how you
blush when he looks at you.”

Seona felt her face heat.

“Aye, just like that.” Her aunt
pointed at her.

How on earth could Aunt Patience see
Seona’s face in the dim candlelight? She was too blasted observant.
Seona sat down in the chair opposite her and didn’t
comment.

“I’m not daft,” Patience said. “I was
once a pretty young lass like you are. And I know how men are,
especially charming rogues like that commoner.”

Immediately bristling, Seona
stiffened. “He is no commoner,” she said firmly. “His grandfather
was a baron and a chief, just like my own father. Keegan is a
gentleman of the clan.”

“He is a scoundrel,” her aunt
insisted. “Good for naught but to lure a good lady into sin and
ruin her reputation. If you give him half a chance, he will steal
your virtue and forget your name the next day. He is not fit to
marry, so don’t even be thinking of it.”

“I’m not.” ’Twas a lie, but what else
could she say? Her father would never allow it, and besides, Keegan
had never mentioned marriage. ’Twas but her own outlandish
fantasy.

Her aunt’s eyes narrowed. “What
happened when you were alone with him during the storm? And last
night, when he snatched you from the tent, wearing naught more than
your smock? He returned wearing only a shirt. ’Twas
shocking.”

“As you already know, he let me borrow
his plaid because I was cold. Naught more. He saved my life twice.
Do you care so little for me that you cannot appreciate
that?”

Seona knew she was challenging her
aunt, but she needed it. Patience’s glare intensified, but Seona
held her gaze, waiting for an answer.

“Nay,” she finally confessed. “I am
thankful he saved your life.”

“Did you tell him that?”

“Not yet. But I will,” Patience
grumbled. “My concern is what happened after the
rescue.”

“Do you honestly think I’d bed down
with a man outside while someone is trying to kidnap me or during a
horrendous storm?”

“Well…nay, I suppose not.” Her aunt
shrugged. “But I don’t trust him. He could take advantage of you or
force you.”

Seona shook her head. “Keegan is not
that type of man.”

“What type of man is he… since you
know so much about him?”

“Kind and protective. He risked his
life to save mine.”

Her aunt lifted a brow. “Aye, well…
he’d best not get it into his head he has a chance with you. Your
father would never approve of him.”

“I ken it.” But her father was daft,
valuing wealth and prestige over strength of character.

“Get the maids in here to help me over
to the bed. I’m tired,” her aunt said.

“Very well.” Seona strode to the door,
opened it and summoned the maids. After they helped Patience into
the bed, Seona took a sponge bath and changed into a clean
smock.

While she was getting into one of the
four beds, Isobel arrived to spend the night inside the cottage
with them.

Seona couldn’t sleep, nor
could she talk to Isobel about anything of importance with her aunt
and the maids so close. She felt safe enough within the stone walls
of the cottage, but she missed Keegan… maybe because she’d ridden
so close to him all day. The feel of his hard, strong body had
become familiar.
Addictive.
Would she be allowed to ride with him
again?

***

Two days later, Keegan and the MacKay
party were finally drawing closer to Ullapool. He was still annoyed
that Seona’s aunt had insisted she ride a separate horse both days.
He had argued that Seona couldn’t ride her own untrustworthy one.
They’d compromised and Seona had temporarily switched horses with
one of the guards. Keegan didn’t like it but he had to live with
it. They’d been riding daylight to dark most every day, and
everyone was exhausted and short-tempered, especially Lady
Patience. ’Haps her injury added to her bad mood.

He put her from his mind and thought
of someone more pleasant. He grinned, remembering how he had
enjoyed Seona riding with him for those few hours two days before.
Now, he simply rode close to her in the event something threatened
her safety. He relished the secret smiles she sent his way. But
they’d had no more opportunities for a moment alone or for
knife-fighting practice.

It had to be around midday but the sky
was thickly overcast. The terrain turned from moorland to rough and
rocky as they approached the pass through the mountains. Most
everywhere he looked now, he saw gray granite and scrubby gorse
bushes.