The Highlander's Temptation (24 page)

“Are ye all right, brother?”

Ceana’s footsteps were soft as she made her way over to him.

“Aye, perfect.” But still the dizziness wouldn’t pass.

He was to be a father… Lorna was with child. And she had so far to travel, and the roads were full of heathens.

He sat heavily on the stairs and looked up at Ceana, as beautiful as their mother had been.

“What’s happened?” she asked.

“Magnus consented.”

“Lorna is coming? Ye are to wed?” Ceana clapped her hands together a happy smile curling her lips. “Oh, how wonderful! We’ve a wedding to plan!”

“Aye, we do at that.”

Ceana sat down beside him. “Why do ye not seem happy? I thought this was what ye wanted.”

Jamie shook his head. “Aye, ’tis what I want. But I worry about her traveling so far with the bairn and the Sassenachs upon the road, and all the outlaws. Sutherland didn’t mention how many guards he’d have sent with her.”

“Wait,” Ceana said. “Bairn? She already has a child? How long were ye dallying with her, brother?”

Jamie shook his head, a loony sort of laugh escaping his lips. “N
ay, not a bairn yet out of the womb. She carries my child.”

“Oh, I see.” Ceana smiled all the more and
tucked her arm around his at the elbow. “All will be well. Send your men out to clear the roads. Do ye know when she is coming?”

“The missive said a week.”

“Plenty of time. We shall have your room redecorated, and a wedding prepared for her. Your Lorna shall not want for anything.”

Jamie planted a kiss on his sister’s head. “What would I do without ye?”

“Och, ye got along well enough without me, didna ye? I mean, look at the particulars—ye stole another man’s bride, and got her with child, an act of which her brother witnessed, and ye came home still alive after the fact. A success, nay?”

Jamie laughed. “Ye tease me mercilessly.”

“Aye, and I will until we are old and wrinkled, brother. Besides, the way I look at it is this—if ye hadna dallied with the Sutherland lass, I’d not have found my own love.”

“MacKinnon.”

“Aye, he is a dream to me.”

“I’m sorry your first marriage was not so pleasing. If I’d known the man was a bastard I could have tried to put a stop to it.”

Ceana shrugged and waved her hand in dismissal. “’Tis nay matter. If I’d not been married to him, I would have been married to someone else, who may still be alive, and then I never would have met Gabriel.”

“Then I suppose in the end all of us do win.”

“Aye. I canna wait to meet her.”

“Ye will love her.”

“I’m certain of it.”

Jamie stood, his dizziness gone, and once again triumph and joy filled his blood. Damn, but he couldn’t wait to hold his woman in his arms again.

Chapter Twenty-Three

The ride to Dunrobin was treacherous and laboriously long. It seemed every five minutes Lorna had to stop to relieve herself, or vomit, or scarf down whatever food her brother stuffed into her waiting hands. She felt like an invalid, completely out of her own control. And yet, through it all, she was ecstatic. She’d go through any amount of discomfort in order to be with Jamie again.

Before they’d left
, Aunt Fiona had promised that in a month’s time, the vomiting would at least cease, but given her huge appetite before, that increase was unlikely to fade, and well, with a bairn sitting on her bladder, even if it was pint sized she didn’t think her runs for relief would ebb either.

She’d hugged Ronan and Heather good bye, promising to visit come the spring after she’d recovered from giving birth, and begged them to tell Blane she loved him.

Magnus was ornery the entire ride, especially when they’d encountered a band of English knights. She’d stayed hidden in the woods while they dispatched of the men, quite easily. She smiled with pride, knowing that part of their success was due to the training Jamie had given them. But the encounter utterly troubled Magnus.

After that, they’d traveled through the night and slept during the day, a change that messed harshly with Lorna’s countenance the first two days, after which she seemed to grow used to it.

But now they were nearly there, Magnus had let her stop at a trickling burn in order to wash up and change into a gown of light blue and a matching cloak. Within the hour, she would be in Jamie’s arms again. Her heart leapt at the thought, and she turned grateful eyes on her brother.

“Thank ye, Magnus.”

Magnus looked sternly at her, though for all his bluster, she knew that beneath, he was still her loving brother.

“Dinna thank me,” he said through clenched teeth. “Ye already compromised yourself.”

Lorna worked hard not to laugh at his attempts to scold her. He’d never condone aloud what had happened, but she knew he’d forgiven her some days before, maybe even weeks. She smiled and batted her lashes. “Ye will see one day, brother, that even though ye’re Laird Sutherland, love will come up to catch ye in its grasp.”

“I dinna think so.”

Lorna prayed that one day Magnus would open his heart, for she couldn’t imagine him living the rest of his life as hard as he’d lived the first twenty-nine. He had a lot of heart, a lot to give, if only he’d allow himself. More likely than not, a lass would have to steal away her brother’s heart before he was aware he’d given it.

“We shall see,” Lorna said. Bu
t when she noticed her brother was no longer beside her, panic welled in her chest.

She
wrenched around in her saddle to see what kept him, the move alerting her that once more she needed to make use of a private bush. He’d stilled his horse and looked ready to bolt. Oh, nay, not on his life!

“Magnus…” Her tone held a warning note. One he
’d better know meant she was about to completely explode.

He nudged his warhorse forward.
Thank the saints, because it was too late to turn back now. She’d rather complete the journey on her own—and she would. Angel had a good amount of energy left in her to bolt forward from the wretched lot of them if it came down to it.

Besides, t
hey were nearly upon Glasgow Castle. No doubt a scout had already returned word to Jamie of their approach. Her heart seized once more. She’d hold her bladder. It had been a lifetime since she’d seen Jamie. Zounds, but couldn’t they ride any faster? Though she supposed riding faster would dirty her gown—and would probably not be good for the bairn. As it was, her muscles ached from their journey, and she was so exhausted she could sleep for a week if they’d let her. In a soft bed. With Jamie’s arms wrapped around her.

Far in the distance, she could see the towers of Glasgow Castle rising above the forest.

“Magnus! There ’tis! That’s the castle, is it not?”

“I believe so,” he grumbled.

She frowned at him. While she’d found his foul mood to be quite comedic the majority of their journey, she could no longer abide it. Sometimes, it was necessary for a big grumpy grouch to be nice, no matter his sour feelings.

“Ye’d best quite your frowning. This is a happy day for me, no matter how ye feel about it. Show me some support, brother. I’d hate to remember one of the happiest days of my life as one of the worst for ye.”

Magnus glanced over at her, apology in his eyes. “I’ll try.”

That was good enough for her. She smiled, then turned her gaze back to the crenellations she could barely make out above the trees and watched as they grew closer and closer. Butterflies flew and wiggled in her belly, and her breath came quick.

About an hour or so later—and a reluctant stop on her part to squat behind a bush—their horses’ footsteps echoed joyously over the wooden bridge covering the moat at the castle. Each clop shouted their arrival and the triumph that Lorna felt at finally being given her wish. It was just after noon and the sun blazed in the sky, glinting off the shields of the men standing atop the main gate tower. She searched their faces, recognizing Toby who nodded in her direction.

Magnus raised his hand. “Laird Sutherland to see Montgomery.”

The gate doors opened allowing them entrance. Lorna beamed at her new home and then spotted Jamie standing tall and proud in the center of the courtyard. Her breath lodged in her throat, stomach plummeted. His smile was glorious as he locked his gaze on hers. Then he turned to her brother and nodded.

“I didna think ye’d keep your word,”
Jamie said to Magnus as they entered the bailey.

He was just as handsome as Lorna remembered, if slightly altered, a reminder of how much time they’d spent apart. The summer sun had put streaks of auburn in his dark hair, and he’d grown a short beard. Jamie ga
ve Magnus a wide, arrogant, grin before he turned to wink at Lorna, making her heart skip a beat.

Lorna
couldn’t help the squeal of delight at seeing him. Not waiting for anyone to help her dismount, she swung her leg over the side and jumped down from Angel. As soon as her feet hit the ground she was running. Meeting Jamie halfway, she leapt into his arms.

She kissed all over his face, ran her hands through his hair, and finally, at long last, their lips crashed together in a fiery kiss she might have been embarrassed to display in front of everyone, except for the fact that she was too overjoyed and filled with need to ca
re. She was home! She was with Jamie!

Love flowed from every pore in her body, entangling with Jamie’s own outpouring. They whispered words of love, of how much they’d missed each other, of how their prayers had been answered, of how they’d never leave each other’s sides.

Behind her, Magnus growled, but she ignored him. She’d not let anything ruin her joyous reunion.

“We’ll be on our way now,” Magnus
said gruffly, having not bothered to dismount.

Lorna turned around, a scowl on her face. “Ye would not stay to see me married?”

“Come, Sutherland. The priest is ready and a feast prepared. I would have ye here to give us your blessing, then ye can be on your way. But I warn ye, word is that the English are marching on Stirling. Wallace and his men have already deployed,” Jamie said, and she squeezed his hand tighter for having offered his support.

“Och, I dinn
a care a fig about the English,” Magnus said. But then his eyes caught hers and that look he’d given her so many times, the one that said he was sorry and cherished her crossed his countenance. “We will stay for the wedding, but not the feast. We must return to the Highlands.”

Lorna wished he’d stay longer, but she was happy he would at least remain to see her wed.

“I’ll have my cook pack your men a feast to go then,” Jamie said.

Magnus grunted his approval.

A few grooms appeared at their sides. Magnus and his retainers dismounted allowing the grooms to take the horses to the stables to be brushed down, fed and watered.

Jamie whispered into her ear, “I have missed ye more than ye know. I thought I’d live forever mourning the loss of ye. I can hardly believe ye’re here. I love ye so much.”

“Oh, Jamie,” she said. “I love ye more than life itself.”

“Let’s get married, love.”

“Aye, let’s do it now afore Magnus changes his mind,” she giggled.

“Och, let him brood, he’ll never be able to tear ye from my arms now.”

Lorna giggled and squeezed Jamie tight around the waist, feeling the muscles ripple beneath her fingertips.

“Ye can divest yourselves of your weapons before entering the chapel,”
Jamie said, eyeing Magnus with suspicion. It wasn’t a suggestion.

Magnus slowly grinned. “Ye think we came prepared to battle ye?”

“The thought did cross my mind. After all, I did—”

Lorna gasped, and whipped a
warning gaze at Jamie. He was baiting her brother, the devil.

Magnus held up his hand. “Dinna say it. I already know what ye did to my sister. I was there if ye recall, and I gave
ye more than a bloody lip, too. All that matters is ye intend to marry her and honor her. That ye’ll take care of the babe ye created.” He fingered the dirk at his side and his small targe shield, making Lorna wonder if her brother would try another challenge like he’d done at Dunrobin. “We are always prepared for an ambush, especially with the Sassenachs crawling all over the land.”

Lorna breathed a sigh of relief.
Magnus signaled his men and they divested themselves of their weapons, tossing them in a pile on the courtyard ground. Swords, axes, maces, dirks, and battered targes.

“Impressive,”
Jamie quipped.

“We are always thorough,” Magnus said with an arrogant chuckle.

Lorna rolled her eyes at their immature displays of manly pride.

“Indeed. I will keep that in mind.”
Jamie stepped forward and offered Magnus his arm.

Magnus stared at
Jamie’s outstretched arm for the span of several agonizing heartbeats. She so wanted them to get along. She flicked her gaze up at Jamie and couldn’t help the utter joy at finally being in Glasgow, and the smile that filled her face was full and genuine.

When Jamie moved forward she saw that Magnus had reached out his hand and
grasped Jamie’s forearm, shaking it in a show of respect and allegiance.

Lorna beamed at him, and
for the first time in weeks, Magnus smiled. Without a second thought, she left Jamie’s side for a second, to hug her brother tight.

“Thank ye, Magnus,” she whispered.

“Och, dinna thank me, sister, I but wanted to see ye happy. ’Tis all I’ve ever really wanted.” And then he was pushing her back toward Jamie, where she belonged.

She gripped her intended’s hands, filled with excitement, and a little nausea.

“Let us go to the chapel,” Magnus said gruffly.

“Aye, let us go,” Jamie said, looking down at Lorna and kissing her once more with a fi
re that heated her blood and made her go weak in the knees.

In just a few moments time
, she would be Lady Montgomery.

At last.