“A wee dram, aye. Another lass, nay.” Keegan followed him down the stairs. Another lass was the last thing he would ever want.
At the bottom, Fraser gave him a questioning look, then shook his head. “You have the sickness, man.”
Aye, he knew Fraser was right, but he remained silent until they entered the small room off to the side of the great hall. Fraser took a decanter of whisky from the shelf and poured a bit into two small, expensive crystal glasses, then offered him one.
Fraser clicked his glass to Keegan’s, then downed the shot.
Keegan took a large sip and savored the burn. He only drank whisky on rare or special occasions, and he supposed this was one. Or maybe not.
“Do you not have the sickness?” Fraser persisted. “You are smitten with the lady.”
“Aye. ’Tis true,” Keegan admitted. He didn’t regret it, nor was he ashamed. “I’ve never met anyone like her before.” Every time he saw her, his mood lifted. When she smiled, it was like a hundred suns were shining inside him.
Fraser dropped into his brother’s huge chair behind the desk. “What will you do?”
Keegan shrugged and sat across from him. What could he do? “I want to marry her, but I suspect her father will not allow it.”
“Marry? Saints! You are mad.” Fraser’s blue eyes gleamed with humor.
“I am mad for her,” Keegan said in a matter-of-fact tone. “But I thought you agreed with me, that any man would be fortunate to marry her.”
“Aye, she is beautiful, but marriage seems like…” Fraser cringed. “Being trapped in a dungeon.”
“Nay, my friend. One day you will understand how I feel when you meet that one special woman.”
“I don’t see it happening, unless a witch casts a spell on me or something equally horrible.” Fraser rose, retrieved the whisky and poured more for both of them.
“I have to take her home to her father in a few days.” Keegan’s stomach knotted and ached with the very thought. ’Twas the last thing he wished to do. He wanted to take her north to his home, not east.
“So… why not ask her father for her hand?”
Keegan nodded. “I will. ’Tis what Dirk suggested. But I ken my chances are slim.”
“Well, maybe her father will force you to marry her since you’ve…”
“I’ve not done what you’re imagining,” Keegan said. “She is still an innocent lady.”
“Only because I interrupted.” Fraser gave a broad grin. “And maybe you should. Ruin her and her father will have no choice but to force you to marry her.”
Nay, the thought did not set well with Keegan. It felt underhanded and dishonorable. “I’m thinking that would not work. He insists on her marrying a chief or titled laird. ’Tis my suspicion that if he thought she was no longer a virgin, he would marry her off to the first eligible laird that came along, no matter his age or disposition.”
Fraser’s dark brows lowered into a frown. “He sounds like a right ogre.”
“Aye. And if I don’t take her back to him, ’twould be inviting an attack from the powerful Murray Clan.”
Fraser nodded. “’Tis a bad position to be in.”
Keegan swallowed another generous sip of whisky, the burn reminding him of how much he yearned for Seona. “Dirk has named me his tanist.”
Fraser sat forward. “Well, there you are! ’Tis a title. Second in line to be chief is an important position.”
“Aye, and I am honored. ’Tis more than I’d ever imagined, but ’tis doubtful her father will consider it a high enough position. I own no property.”
“’Tis better than naught. I want to come with you.”
“Where?”
“To see the lass’s father. I’ll ask Dermott to come along, too. He has met Chief Murray. Dermott is tanist for our clan.”
“Very well. Dirk is not well enough to go as he’d planned.” His injury deeply concerned Keegan.
“We know most of the clans between here and Murray’s holdings. We can easily secure lodgings each night of our travels.”
“’Twould be a great help to us.” Keegan had never before traveled this far south on the mainland and had met none of the chiefs or their men. If he was to be Dirk’s tanist and right hand man, he had to make good connections.
Plus, he would need all the help he could get to convince Seona’s father to allow them to wed.
***
Seona threw off her arisaid and climbed into the high, four-poster bed. She snuggled down and drew the covers over her head, her face still burning. Heavens! What had just happened to her? Isobel had been right—Seona could’ve never imagined such intensity of sensation and carnal pleasure was possible. ’Twas almost like magic when Keegan had touched her. And he hadn’t even made love to her. He had simply used his hands and his mouth. Surely, the full bedding experience would leave her passed out on the floor.
But to have Fraser catch them… how humiliating. He must think her a harlot. She hoped he would tell no one, else she would be in deep water.
Seona wished she could talk to Keegan now and ask him about what she’d experienced. She was certain he would be patient in explaining the sensations and teach her how lovemaking worked. He’d already taught her shocking things about her own body. She had not known she was capable of feeling such things. Her physical body had been dormant and asleep until he’d awakened it with a simple touch.
Feeling calm and satiated for the first time ever, she floated off to sleep, only to be awakened what seemed a moment later by loud knocking on the door. But it couldn’t have been a moment, for bright sunlight beamed through the small window.
Saints! Had she slept half the day?
***
Haldane MacKay and his remaining ten men had spent all night traveling from Kyle of Loch Alsh, where they’d disembarked from a galleon. He’d had a devil of a time securing passage in Ullapool. Linden MacKenzie certainly wasn’t going to allow it. In fact, he’d sent the constable after Haldane and his men. They’d escaped and hidden out for several hours.
Then, the night before, Haldane had paid a captain employed by a different shipping company a handsome sum for passage. That bag of gold and silver McMurdo had lifted from Dirk’s tent was proving useful. Haldane had hired several men with it, though he hadn’t paid them in full yet. They’d have to complete the job first. But he was well aware he had to watch his back closely or any of the new men might murder him for the pouch of money.
Haldane doubted McMurdo would kill him, because he knew if Haldane was dead, his chances of securing the burial spot he coveted within Balnakeil Church would be nonexistent. In fact, McMurdo seemed like his own personal bodyguard.
Haldane grinned as he climbed the bush-covered hill near the edge of Loch Long, McMurdo scrambling up behind him. Once they’d ascended far enough to see over the trees, the top of a gray stone castle came into view over the hilltop. Once they climbed higher, Haldane could see that the castle stood on a tiny island at the point where three lochs met.
“Is that it?” Haldane asked.
“Aye. ’Tis Teasairg Castle.” McMurdo breathed hard from the exertion.
“It appears they have strong defenses,” Haldane muttered, watching the guards stationed on the wall-walk and the battlements.
“Without doubt. MacKenzie is a powerful chief.”
So… that’s where Seona and Dirk were. Since Dirk was injured, he was unlikely to show his face for a good long while… if he survived the wound.
Soon, several of the MacKay men would take Seona and her aunt home, toward the east. Haldane would grab her then and head back to Durness, by ship or birlinn if possible, to make it quick. Once he reached Dunnakeil, he and his men would take the castle. The only task left at that point would be killing Dirk. He was still counting on McMurdo to figure out a way to take care of that problem, if an infection hadn’t already.
After descending the hill and rejoining the other men, they hid in the bushes and watched the crofter’s cottages along the edge of the loch. Several of them showed no signs of activity this morn. Likely, the inhabitants had taken their sheep to the high pastures on the mountains. Some wouldn’t be back until autumn.
He and his men slipped to one of the cottages near the edge of the wood, and he forced the door open. He was right. No one inside the fully furnished home. No food either, unfortunately. He and his men would sleep a few hours, then head out later. He didn’t look forward to hiring a boat or ferry to take them across the loch. ’Twas money he’d rather spend for something else, but the loch was named Long for a reason, McMurdo had told him, and going around it was out of the question.
Haldane wasn’t daft enough to storm Teasairg Castle. They’d merely wait until the party escorting Seona emerged, then follow and find the best opportunity to snatch her.