Highland Grace (10 page)

“Enter!”

She was more than surprised when Daniel
sauntered in. “I thought you two had moved back to the keep for
good.”

“We have, but your grandmother said ‘twas
fine for me to use the cottage to make my ale.”

“Ah.” He took a seat next to the fire where
she had the iron caldron of water hanging, heating water. He
studied his fingernails, which put her immediately on guard. There
was something much too relaxed in his behavior, yet she could see
the tension in his jaw and around his eyes. “I suppose you are
aware that your husband is in the courtyard about to take his leave
back to Perth. Shouldn’t you at least say farewell to him?”

Alarm tensed her muscles. “Why is he leaving?
What about his babe?” 

“He's leaving because you will not forgive
him for how he reacted to the letter, how he blamed you
falsely.” 

“Of what letter do you speak?” 

“He told you not?” 

“Nay! What letter?” 

“Bao discovered that your brother was a slave
trader in the Holy Lands. He—”

“
Wh—!”

“—was the man who sold Bao's mother to our
father, Jamison Maclean.” 

“Oh God. Nay. This cannot be.” Jesslyn sank
onto the stool and leaned heavily against the table. 

“’Tis true. And what is more, he acquired a
letter from your brother that was never delivered to your sister in
which it is made plain that she was well aware of how he made the
coin he sent to fill your family coffers all those years.”

Light-headed, she rested her forehead in her
hand. “And he thought 'twas me to whom my brother wrote.”

“Aye.”

“He wouldn’t tell me. He said ‘twould only
hurt me and he couldn’t bear to hurt me more than he already had
with his false beliefs.” Her eyes shot to Daniel's. “We cannot let
him leave. Take me to him!”

* * *

Branwenn met Jesslyn as she rushed through
the entrance to the courtyard. “Whatever he’s done, forgive him!
See this! He’s given me his mother’s coin to keep safe for his
bairn. I think he plans not to return. Go speak to him, I beg
you!”

Jesslyn nodded and hurried over to where Bao
stood speaking to his grandmother. “My pardon, Lady Maclean, but I
must have a moment in privy with my husband.”

Lady Maclean gave her a look that said she
understood more than she’d let them believe and stepped away.

“You were going to leave without telling
me?”

“Nay, I sent Daniel to give you the
tidings.”

“What about Alleck? Does he know?”

Bao’s lips thinned and he shook his head.
“I—I needed to leave in haste, and that farewell may have made it
impossible. I intended to send him a letter along with the first of
the purchases and coin I will be proffering for your support.” He
finally met her gaze. “I take care of my own, so have no worry. You
shall want for naught. I’ll see to it.”

“I want the father of my babe here with
us.”

“You know what I am, what I’ve done. The babe
will not suffer with my absence.”

“A bairn needs it’s father.”

“Even if that father was unforgivably cruel
to its mother?”

Jesslyn placed her hand on his arm. “I know
about the letter. How can I not now feel understanding for your
actions?”
Even your finding comfort with another woman.
How
could he possibly feel truly wed to her when he saw her as his
enemy?

He growled. “I told Daniel not to give you
those tidings!” His jaw clenched as he shot a venomous look in his
brother’s direction. “I shall enjoy trouncing him in a match the
next we meet.”

“Do not leave. There is hope for this union,
I trow.”

“Hope? Even tho’ you still pine for another?
Detest my touch?”

She smiled, stood on her tiptoes, and gave
him a soft kiss on his cheek. “I pine more for a strong,
living,
husband. And I do not detest your touch.”

He looked at her a long moment. Finally, he
grinned, and with a wave of his arm, he called the stableman over.
After taking his satchel from the horse, he told the man to take
his steed back to its stall.

* * *

After supper later that night, Bao watched
Jesslyn nervously twisting her fingers as she stood staring into
the hearthfire.

His hopes for the evening plummeted. He
walked to the bed and sat down. Clearly, she was not yet ready to
give him her body. But at least the icy reserve she’d held in his
presence prior to this afternoon had thawed. If he was mindful and
cunning, he might be able to build a bridge between them through
seduction. He looked at her again. Eventually.

He unlaced and took off first one boot and
then the other before dropping each to the floor. It didn’t escape
his notice that she started at the sound. Aye, slow and steady
would be his strategy.

He bent down and lined his boots up like
soldiers next to the bed and then lay down, propping his head on
his hands and crossing one leg over the other. “Do you mind
bringing that stool to the side of the bed?”

She started again but nodded and walked
toward the stool.

She stumbled on her way and Bao bolted
upright. He settled back when she didn’t fall and continued to
regard her.

Her hands trembled as she picked up the
wooden seat and brought it to the bedside. “Where would you like me
to place it?” she murmured.

“You can put it down right where you are.” He
saw the dew on her brow and asked, “Are you warm? Mayhap the fire’s
too high.” He swung his leg over the side of the bed in a motion to
rise, but she stopped him with a shake of her head. “Nay, I’m
fine,” she told him.

“Will you sit down upon this, Jesslyn?” he
said, indicating the seat.

“I-I’d prefer to stand, if you don’t
mind.”

“Oh, I do mind. Please?”

“A…All right,” she replied. She sat down
facing him.

“Turn around, sweet, that’s not how I want
you,” he said.

Her eyes dipped then widened momentarily on
his erection. He knew it pushed against the cloth of his tunic, but
he was helpless to control his body’s reaction to her.

“Jesslyn, please turn around,” he stated
again. “I’ve no presumption that we shall couple this eve.”

Her gaze jumped to his and her cheeks flushed
crimson, but she did as he requested.

He sat up and placed his knees on either side
of her before reaching for the brush and placing it next to him on
the bed.

When he tilted her head back, she jolted.
Aye, nervous as a rabbit.
First, he pulled the filet and the
veil from their positions, and then he leaned down and took in a
deep breath of lavender scented air.

As he gently unwound the golden tresses that
she’d had arranged under her veil, Bao was reminded once more of
their time at the fall, of his first reaction to the texture and
sheen of her magnificent golden locks, glorying in the fact that
they were still as soft and bright as he’d remembered. And the
scent of it! God, he could drown in her scent. Remembering that
he’d become intoxicated on this very fragrance while he moved
inside of her made him grind his teeth in agony. But release would
not come this night. Nor, mayhap, many nights ahead. For now, he
must simply enjoy the pleasure of touching her where e’re she
allowed it. He lifted the brush and gently pulled it through the
long mane he had clasped in his hand. “‘Tis a bit tangled,” he
said, “let me know if I tug too hard.”

She sighed. He felt her relax, her breathing
slow, saw her eyes drift shut. “Aye, I will,” she finally replied.
“How did you learn to brush a woman’s hair so well?” she said, her
voice dreamy, but with a tinge of surprise.

Bao chuckled. “Remember you, I have a
sister?”

He saw her mouth turn up in a smile and his
heart answered.

“But her hair is so short, ‘tis not the same
thing at all,” she said.

“Ah, but until just before I made myself
known to Daniel last summer, she’d had hair longer than yours. It
was down past her knees and in a constant tangle, it seemed. No
doubt because she has always been so active, and so opposed to
covering her head!”

Bao tipped Jesslyn’s head forward a bit and
lifted the hair he held in his hand, then brought the brush up from
the back of her neck and down through the long strands.

“You may do this every eve, if you wish,” she
said.

“You would like that, then?” Bao asked.

“Aye, very much.”

“Then, aye, I wish.”
Good
. And with
any luck at all, that would be her reaction to every liberty she
allowed him.

* * *

“You are not truly going to do my sewing for
me today?” Jesslyn asked the next morning.

Bao grinned at her and gave her a light peck
on the nose. “Aye, I am.” He turned and looked around the chamber.
“Now, where is your kit?”

She swallowed a sigh of pure lust and blinked
away what she knew must be stardust twinkling in her eyes and
walked over to her chest. She took out the small basket and held it
out to him.

He took it and saluted her, then walked
toward the door, saying, “This should be fodder for Daniel’s black
sense of humor for many annals!”

After he exited the chamber, she giggled and
whirled around to gaze out the window. She’d had one of the best
night’s sleep she’d had in many moons last eve, after her husband’s
sensual hair brushing, followed by the heavy weight of his arm over
her, the warm heat of his body at her back while she slept. ‘Twas
heaven.

And this morn, after she’d mentioned how
little she liked sewing, how she’d prick her fingers and bleed all
over the linen, Bao had actually offered to do it for her!

If he continued in this manner, she had
little doubt that her niggling doubts about his character would
flee to the four corners of the earth. And then they could take
this marriage up in truth.

Lord knew, her body was more than ready for
that to happen. She’d nearly climbed on top of him last eve when
she saw his reaction to her.

Nearly.

* * *

“I’ve spoken to the clan elders and they’ve
agreed to consider my suggestion that you be named chieftain of
clan Maclean in my stead,” Daniel told Bao several days later as
they sat by the hearth in the great hall having a tankard of some
of Jesslyn’s ale.

Bao gave his brother a sharp look. “I have no
desire for that title, so you may as well go back to them and
withdraw the proposition.”

“Ah, but you see, neither do I,” Daniel
replied. “I only accepted the lairdship as a two-year contract
while they searched for a replacement for Callum.”

Bao cocked his head in confusion. “Callum was
laird here?”

“Aye, but he was much too immature for such
responsibility at the time and the elders lost confidence in
him.”

“What happened?” Bao asked.

Daniel sighed. “He was lax in his government
of the keep and the people who support it. The elders were becoming
more and more dismayed with him as time went by, but the final blow
came when Maryn stole the Maclean horses out of the keep.”

“Which she did because the horse marshal
wasn’t taking care of the poor beasts,” Bao said. “Aye, I remember
hearing the tale last summer after the man attempted to kill
Maryn.”

“Thank God we were able to find her in time,”
Daniel said grimly.

Bao nodded. After a moment, he asked, “So how
did they come to ask you to be chieftain?”

Daniel shrugged. “I was the most likely
choice.” He gave his brother an uncompromising look. “At the
time.”

“But, if you don’t desire the title, as you
just told me, why did you agree to accept it—even for a short
time?”

Daniel’s right brow lifted and lowered.
“Firstly, because I—and my clan—were guaranteed a significant
percentage of the Maclean shipping interests.” A sheepish grin
spread over his countenance as he continued, “But, most
enticingly,
because Maryn was offered as part of the
package. She was an irresistible lure, which I found I couldn’t
possibly refuse.”

“Maryn was part of the contract?”

“Aye,” Daniel replied, “You see, Callum
wanted to wed Maryn but her father had refused to consider it. Our
cousin used the horse theft as an excuse to blackmail Laird Donald
into agreeing to the match. He threatened a clan war
otherwise.”

“I’m confused. I thought you said he was
ousted after the horse theft.”

Daniel shook his head. “Nay, not directly
after. It wasn’t until he began the blackmail scheme and got both
clans in a froth that the elders began to seriously discuss
replacing him,” Daniel said. “And Laird Donald, being the great
mediator, ultimately came up with the plan to offer the lairdship
for a short time, along with his daughter, for a lifetime—as a
blood tie between the two clans. A combination I found extremely
appealing.”

Bao looked at him shrewdly. “And now, you
believe you’ve found the perfect replacement. Are you that anxious
to return to the MacLaurin holding, then?”

Daniel’s gaze turned wistful as he looked
into the distance. “Aye, I am. I miss my people, my land, my
fortress. I built it up from the rubble our father left behind into
a stronghold that, I hope, is impossible to breach.” He turned and
faced Bao. “I want to go home.”

“How can I refuse you, then? I will need to
buy out my contract with the king and find lodgers for my cottage
in Perth, but if the elders agree to it, I shall become the new
laird and chieftain to the Macleans.”

* * *

A sennight later, Jesslyn sat with the rest
of the family in the great hall enjoying a traveling band of
players. Holly decorated the hall, and mistletoe hung above every
doorway. The Yule log lay next to the hearth, waiting to be placed
on the fire later. For this day they celebrated the Yule, and the
air was filled with all kinds of scents. There were scents of sweet
confections, scents of meat roasting on the spit, woodsy scents
from the pine log, mistletoe and holly. Jesslyn could even smell
the snow. It combined with the sweet lad-smell of her son’s hair
and she pressed her nose to his warm flaxen pate to breathe in more
of it.