Never Love a Highlander (McCabe Trilogy 3)

“You can’t go about swinging a sword in a gown,” Caelen muttered. “You’d trip over the hem.”

For the first time she smiled, her eyes lighting up with more life than he’d seen in quite some time. “Then I have your permission to wear these garments?”

He sighed in disgust. “When have you ever sought my permission for anything, lass?”

“I can be accommodating,” she defended.

He rolled his eyes. “When it suits your purposes, aye.” Then he narrowed his gaze to stare intently at her. “There are conditions, Rionna. Henceforth, my commander will accompany you everywhere. And I mean everywhere. You’ll go nowhere unescorted. I’ll not have happen again what happened in my absence. If I have need of Gannon to accompany me, then Hugh will take over as your escort.”

She nodded her acceptance.

“Second, you’ll train with me and only with me. You are to spar with no other man. If you want to learn, you’ll be trained by the best, and I won’t be easy on you because you’re my wife.”

She grinned cheekily. “I would expect no less, husband.”

“You’ll not take to binding your br**sts.”

At that she raised an eyebrow and looked suspiciously at him.

He grinned lazily up at her. “ ’Tis not just for my pleasure. ’Tis nonsense. I may let you dress as a man, but you’ll not try to look like one.”

“Anything else, husband?” she asked as she tapped her foot in the snow.

“Aye, help me up.”

With a roll of her eyes, she reached down to give him her hand. The lass would never learn. He grasped her wrist and with a quick yank, tossed her into the snow beside him.

She rose up, snow covering her face, blinking at him as if she had no idea why he’d done such. He merely smiled back. “Revenge, lass. Revenge.”

With a disgusted look she launched herself at him, rolling them both into the snow. He gave a laugh and then came astride her. With a free hand, he balled some of the snow and held it menacingly over his shoulder.

“You wouldn’t dare,” she said.

He let fly and laughed again as she blinked away the snow from her face. It slid over her cheeks, revealing her look of shock. Then her eyes flashed with the light of battle.

Worried that her mistress and the laird had been out in the cold for so long, Sarah hurried to the doorway. When she opened the door, she was shocked to see the laird atop Rionna in the snow.

How could he have so little care when she was so fragile from her attack? The man had gone mad. It was on the tip of her tongue to issue a sharp reprimand to her laird when she heard Rionna’s laughter ring out through the cold air.

Rionna rolled atop the laird and began stuffing snow in his face. The laird fought back and snow flew fast and furious.

A wide smile formed on Sarah’s face and she quietly retreated back indoors, closing the door behind her to give them privacy.

CHAPTER 18

For the first time since the attack, Rionna came down to the hall for the evening meal. She could feel the stares of the men and women alike and it was all she could do not to cover the bruises and hie herself back up to her chamber.

But she’d spent enough time hiding. She wouldn’t do so any longer.

Caelen looked up in surprise and then stood as she neared the table. The other warriors did the same and then Caelen motioned for Simon to vacate the seat so that Rionna could sit next to Caelen.

“I would have made sure you had your meal in our chamber,” Caelen said in a low voice when he retook his seat.

She smiled. “ ’Tis sweet of you to attend me so, but ’tis time I came out of hiding. The bruises make me look hideous, but ’tis nothing wrong with the rest of me.”

He tipped her chin upward and turned her face this way and that in the light, a pensive expression on his face. He didn’t offer false compliments or tell her she really didn’t look hideous. Strangely she found that comforting.

“The bruising is fading. In a few days’ time, ’twill be completely gone.”

His fingers rubbed over the faint fingerprints at her neck, and his nostrils flared before he pulled his hand away and resumed eating his meal.

At the meal’s end, Rionna stood to excuse herself. The meal had been quiet, as if the men feared upsetting her in some way. It would take time to convince them she wasn’t going to fall apart at the least provocation. ’Twas her fault they’d gained that impression with the way she’d acted, but how could she explain in words how helpless and angry she’d felt at the hands of her attackers?

’Twas not something the men would understand. She much preferred to move ahead and not dwell on past events. In time they’d forget as well.

Caelen stayed her with his hand and then nodded toward Gannon. “I’ll go up with you,” he said to Rionna, surprising her.

Caelen made a point of relaxing with the men after the evening meal. ’Twas his way of building camaraderie after a long day’s training. He listened to their ideas, indulged in ribald jests, most of which made Rionna’s eyes roll, and talked about the day’s events. He and Gannon both made attempts to reach out to the McDonald warriors, a fact Rionna appreciated even if the men still hadn’t fully accepted or embraced Caelen as laird.

But tonight he excused himself, his fingers still wrapped gently around Rionna’s wrist. Then he guided her toward the stairs and they went up to their chamber.

“ ’Twasn’t necessary for you to come up with me,” Rionna said when he shut the door behind him.