“You are wicked,” Seona accused.
“I’m afraid I am.” Grinning, he arose from the bed.
“Keegan, wait.”
“Aye? I wasn’t leaving just yet.” He didn’t want to leave at all.
Kneeling on the high bed, she wrapped her arms around his neck. He slipped his hands down her back, over the silken skin of her hips and derriere to her thighs. “Mmm,” he purred and kissed her. How he needed her in every way… physically, emotionally, spiritually. “I love you,” he whispered.
“And I love you.”
At her words, his heart pounded harder. Aye, he was determined to have her as his wife no matter what her father said. Keegan truly did not want to start a war, but he would if he had to.
Chapter Twenty-One
“Aunt Patience, I wish to speak to you for a moment in private,” Seona said the next morn in the great hall as everyone in their party gathered to leave. “I want to ask a favor of you.”
“Aye?” Patience looked mightily impatient at the moment. She glanced toward where Hugh MacMillan stood on the other side of the large, dim room.
Seona headed to the small alcove at the back.
Only a little limp left in her step, Patience followed. “What is it?”
When they were out of view and earshot of everyone, Seona said, “I ask that you not mention to my father that I’ve been talking to Keegan MacKay.”
Patience put her hands upon her hips. “You were doing far more than talking to him.” Her voice was low but irate. “You were kissing him in your bedchamber. You’ve been disgraceful.”
“He is going to ask Father for my hand in marriage.”
Patience snorted. “A lot of good it will do him. He is far beneath you.”
Fury burned through Seona. “He is not beneath me. As you well know, he is second in line to the MacKay chiefdom.”
“Nevertheless, your father will not allow you to marry him, and he will be most displeased about your association with MacKay. Especially the kissing.”
“That’s why I ask that you not tell him.”
“Your father is my brother and I always tell him the truth.”
Her aunt’s self-righteous tone made Seona grind her teeth. How could the woman pretend to be a perfect angel when ’twas obvious to everyone she was doing the same things with MacMillan? Probably more, if the truth was known. If Patience told Seona’s father that Keegan had been kissing her in the bedchamber, he might fly into a rage and have Keegan killed. She couldn’t risk that. She would use the only leverage she had and pray it worked.
“If you tell him about Keegan, then I shall have to tell him about your tryst with Hugh MacMillan, a man Father will see as far beneath you.”
Patience’s mouth dropped open. Her eyes grew wide. “Why, you little tattle.” Though her words were low, they were sharp. When her aunt’s hand raised and flew toward her face, Seona lifted her hand just in time to stop the strike. She then locked her aunt’s wrist in a firm grip.
“Do not ever do that again,” Seona said through clenched teeth, surprising herself. She didn’t know she could be so fierce when it came to protecting Keegan. But he was the most important person in her life now.
“How dare you?” her aunt sneered, yanking her hand back. “Your father will hear about this.”
“Very well. He will also hear about how you are sleeping with one of the guards.”
“You can’t prove that.”
“I ken the truth of it and so does Keegan. Hugh is always honest with Keegan, his direct commander.”
Her aunt’s mouth opened and closed as if she would say something, but didn’t for a long moment. “You wouldn’t,” she whispered.
So, ’twas true. Her aunt really had slept with the guard. Seona was relieved. This might be the only way to keep Keegan safe. “Say anything against me or Keegan to my father and find out. He will no longer allow you to stay at Gillenmor and he will withdraw your funds. Where will your food and fancy clothing come from then?”
“You little strumpet!” her aunt hissed.
“No more than you are.”
Her aunt stood glaring daggers at her. “You are not the sweet innocent lady I thought you were.”
“I cannot say the same about you. I always knew you had a malicious streak.” Just like Father.
Her aunt’s eyes merely narrowed further.
“Do we have a deal?”
“Aye,” her aunt said through clenched teeth, then limped away as fast as her sore ankle would take her.
Hoping she’d done the right thing, Seona released a breath and stepped away from the alcove. Her gaze scanned the great hall and locked with Keegan’s. Immediately, he headed toward her.
Her heart rate spiked as it always did when he was near. She had hardly been able to sleep last night after the amazing things he’d done to her.
“Are you well?” he asked. “You appeared upset.”
“Aye.” She briefly explained the precarious deal she had with her aunt about keeping each other’s secrets.
“’Tis brilliant.” Keegan grinned. “You are more cunning than I realized.”
Truth was she’d do anything for him, to keep him safe.
“And you’ve already proven yourself a lady warrior.”
“I thank you.” She enjoyed the look of pride in his blue eyes.
Too soon, he sobered. “We’ll be heading out in a few minutes. Once we draw nearer to Gillenmor, Haldane will become more of a threat. Do you remember our knife-fighting lessons?”
A chill passed over her. “Aye.”
“And you still carry the knife I gave you?”
“Of course.” She placed her hand upon the weapon strapped to the inside of her forearm. ’Twas her most valued possession.
Keegan nodded. “I pray you won’t need it, but just in case. We suspect Haldane may increase his efforts in capturing you the closer we get to Gillenmor. He may have hired more men. We must be ready for anything.”
***
Seona, her aunt, and their two maids rode in the center of the two dozen men in their party. She was happy that Keegan rode to her left most of the way. She often watched him out of the corner of her eye. He and the rest of the guards were ever on alert. Talking was kept to a minimum, the only sounds the horses’ hooves striking the ground. She had been through this area a few times and knew they were only a mile or two from Gillenmor. Anguish weighed heavily on her heart with each step they took forward.
Up ahead, the narrow muddy road snaked through a small dark forest. Seona dreaded riding through there.
“Halt!” Keegan lifted his hand. “’Tis likely they are hiding in that wood, waiting to ambush us.”
The other men nodded, murmuring their agreement.
“I need ten or twelve of you to scout the wood and kill the outlaws if you find them,” Keegan said.
“Aye,” several of the men said, their eyes lighting with eagerness.
Fourteen men, both MacKays and MacKenzies, rode swiftly toward the wood. Everyone else waited in silence, watching. The breeze picked up, blowing the vibrant green grasses of the gently sloping meadows where cattle and sheep grazed. Crofters tended their crops in the distance, the soil rich and dark. Stone dykes and low-growing bushes divided up the fields.
’Twas a beautiful, calm area. Seona’s home. But it did not feel like home to her anymore. Nay. Now her home was the rough and craggy northern Highlands around Durness. ’Twas a wild and untamed place, filled with rocky terrain, prickly yellow gorse bushes, deep icy lochs and turbulent skies, but its beauty reminded her of Keegan. If she could be with him, she would be at home.
She glanced aside at him. His sharp gaze was fixed on the wood, as if he could almost see what was hidden in the trees. His whole body was tense, as if he was prepared to launch into battle at any moment. She prayed there would be no battle, no ambush or attacks. Why could Haldane not get it through is daft head she would never willingly marry him?