Ian (24 page)

“Ye must be so happy, Kyla.” Coira walked
up to the dais with Onyx’s young son, Creighton in her arms. The boy was fussing and started to cry.

“I am the happiest woman in the world
,” she admitted, reaching over and kissing Ian on the mouth. Then when he started to pull away, she grabbed his head, giving him another kiss. “I’ll ne’er get tired o’ kissin’ ye,” she said, and Ian just smiled.

“Ye keep th
et up and we’re no’ goin’ te be able te wait te get te the bedchamber afore I really make ye me wife.”

“I heard thet,” said Aidan looking over toward them. “And although I ag
ree te the marriage, I dinna like te hear thet kind o’ talk aboot me wee sister.”

“I’m no’ yer wee sister, anymore,” Kyla scolded him. “I am a woman now, brathair. And a wife.”

The child in Coira’s arms kept crying, and Odara came up and held out her hands. “May I?” she asked. “I think I ken how te soothe him.”

“O’ course,”
said Coira, handing her the boy.

Ian couldn’t believe his ears when Odara started humming a tune – his tune – to calm the baby. It worked instantly, and Ian just sat there with his mouth open.

“How do ye ken thet tune?” he asked her, feeling his heart beating faster,
having a feeling he knew what she was going to say.

“It was jest a tune me best friend used te hum te her bairn, thet’s all. It always seemed te soothe him, so I started singin’
it te Dunmor when he was wee as well.”

“Yer friend,” said Ian. “Is this the witch ye spoke o
’ and the wife o’ the chieftain named Ross ye tol’ me aboot?”

“It
was,” she said, rocking the boy and looking up to Ian. “Why do ye ask?”

“Becooz thet tune ye just hummed is a tune thet’s been
stuck in me mind e’er since I was a bairn,” he told her.

She stopped rocking and stared at him. “Ian,
I need te tell ye somethin’. Me friend, before she left the castle thet day told me she had a feelin’ somethin’ was wrong. She went te collect herbs with her newborn. She told me thet if she didna come back I should go te the ruins. If she felt she was in danger, she was goin’ te leave her baby hidden there, and I was to go get it. When I heard me brathair had killed her becooz he thought she was a witch, I ran te the ruins but the bairn wasna there, nor could I find it anywhere.”

“I was found in those ruins
as a bairn by the MacKeefes twenty-six years ago, Odara.”

“By the rood, Ian, I ken
t there was somethin’ aboot ye I was drawn te. Ye see, ye must be me friend’s bairn.”

“
Me mathair,” he said softly. “What was her name?” Ian asked her.

“Her name was Raven.”

Ian wasn’t surprised to hear that, and neither was he surprised that after the battle, all the crows as well as the raven had seemed to have left the ruins. He knew now who that mysterious woman humming that tune was that had come to give him comfort in his time of need. It was his mother watching over him from the other side.

“Too bad ye willna e’er have a chance te meet her
,” said Odara. “She was a wonderful woman.”

“Och, I think I did meet her, Odara. And I ken what ye say is true.”

“I think I met her too,” said Kyla. “She showed up and helped me in the ruins.”

“
Her spirit must o’ been released at Samhain,” said Odara. “But spirits canna stay here long, so I’d guess by now she has moved on.”

“Thet means thet ye’re a true MacTavish then,” said Dunmor coming up to t
he dais as well. “And since yer faither, Ross, was our chieftain at one time, then ye should be our chieftain now.” Dunmor reached out and unpinned the clan badge from his shoulder and handed it to Ian.

“Nay, I couldna,” he said with a shake of his head. “Though I jest found out I’m a MacTavish, I have been a MacKeefe me whole life.”

“Mayhap the clan should vote,” Odara suggested.

“I agree,” said Dunmor, holding his hand in the air. “All ye MacTavishes who want Ian as our chieftain, let me ken.”

Shouts went up from the crowd and then grew louder. Ian knew there were not many MacTavishes left and that the rest of the clans were voting too. The MacKeefes as well as the MacDuffs and the MacDougalls were at this wedding also.

“It sounds te me like they want ye,” said Kyla.

“I dinna ken,” he said with a shake of his head. “There are too many bad memories there fer me.”

“Ian, this is an honor te be asked,” said Storm, looking ove
r to him. “Me own clan chose me years ago, in much the same situation as ye. Ye shouldna turn it down.”

“But I’m a MacKeefe,” he said.

“And a MacTavish,” Dunmor reminded him.

“Ian, yer mathair
would have wanted ye te take it,” Odara broke in. “And yer faither died fightin’ fer his country. They both wanted their son te uphold the clan name some day. This would be a true honor.”

“Why dinna ye take it, Ian?” asked Kyla.
“I think they are right. And it would help ye te sort out who ye are.”

He knew what she said was true. He had been wondering
his entire life about his parents, hoping to find his true roots some day. But he didn’t want to lose his other family – the MacKeefes in the process.

“I dinna ken, Kyla,”
he told her. “If we live at MacTavish Castle, then we’ll be away from the MacKeefes, and ye’ll miss yer brathair as well as Coira and Effie I’m sure.”

“Then share t
he badge with Dunmor,” said Storm. “Thet’s what me faither and I do, and it works out fine.”

“Aye,” agreed Odara. “Why no’?”

“And then ye can stay with the MacKeefes sometimes as well as with the MacTavishes. Jest like the way I keep takin’ turns stayin’ with me sisters,” said Onyx.

Ian thought about the motto on the clan badg
e.
Do not forget me after death
. Then he thought of the parents he’d really never known, as well as the words his mother had told him recently. He didn’t want them forgotten, and he knew he longed to be with both clans.

“All right, I will do it,
” he said. “And Dunmor, together we will bring back honor to the MacTavish name and rebuild the clan. But I want ye te hold on te the badge fer now, as I’ll need at least a fortnight at the MacKeefes with me new bride afore I return.”

“Welcome te Clan MacTavish, Chieftain,” said Dunmor clasping hands with him and giving him a half embrace
as he took back the badge.

Ian’s wolfhound jumped up ju
st then and put its paws on Ian’s shoulders and licked his face.

“Down boy,” he said, laughing. “I ken ye
’re happy, but ye need te find some friends.”

The hound spotted Aidan’s squirrel atop the trestle table and jumped up toward it. The squirrel chattered, and took off across the table and Onyx’s wildcat darted out of the shadows and jumped up to the table and chased it back the other way.

Everyone started shouting and reaching out for the animals and platters of food went crashing to the floor.

“It’s guid te b
e back,” Ian said, taking Kyla into his arms. “And I think we’ll take advantage o’ this normal chaos te slip away now, me wife, and be alone.”

“Let’s go,” said Kyla, not able to wait a minute longer. They made their way across the hall dodging the animals and the people rushing around trying to catch them. They didn’t stop until they were in front of the chamber door that they were using that night.

“Wait,” said Ian, when she started to open the door.

“What’s the matter?” she asked. “I hope ye’re no’ changin’ yer mind.”

“Ne’er,” he said with a smile and a seductive look in his eyes. “I wanted te tell ye thet since I ne’er got the chance te woo ye properly, I’ve prepared a few surprises fer ye.”

“Really?” Her curiosity was peaked and so were her emotions. “I canna wait, Ian, let me go inside.”

“No’ like thet,” he said, sweeping her off her feet and into his embrace. “Like this.”

She squealed in delight and threw her arms around his neck. “What’s this all aboot, husband?”

“Well, ye said ye were tired o’ waitin’ fer someone te sweep ye off yer feet. So now ye have it.”

“Aye, and I like it too.”

He opened the door and carried her into t
he room and then kicked it shut with his foot. He kissed her gently on the lips, then carried her over to the bed.

Kyla looked dow
n to see heather as well as lavender and rosemary scattered in the rushes on the floor, the sweet scent rising up to fill the air around them. In the far corner was a tub filled with water with rose petals floating atop. And on the hearth a fire blazed, the crackling and popping of the flames the only sound in the room. That is, until the sound of bagpipes floated through the walls from the great hall, bringing music into their lives and to this wonderful night.

There were many beeswax candles lit, encompassing the room in a soft hue. And next to the bed on the small table was a platter of cheese and a decanter
of wine and two goblets.

“This is so
. . . alluring and seductive, Ian,” she said as he placed her gently on the bed. There were sprigs of heather on the pillows and a shift make of lace and ribbons folded up next to it for her to wear.

“I want ye te h
ave the best o’ e’erythin’, me Lady Kyla.”

“Ye dinna have te really
call me thet,” she said, now feeling bad she’d told him to call her that while she was at MacTavish Castle.

“Kyla, ye are no longer the wee sister o’ me guid friend. Ye are a woman who has proved her love fer me and was very courageous, helping save the lives o’ others.”

“Anyone would o’ done it,” she said.

“Nay, only ye. And I am goin’ te give ye what ye’ve been waitin’ fer yer entire life.”

“Ye already have, ye married me.”

“Och, we are no’ really married until we consummate it, Kyla.”

He kissed her gently and his hands removed her clothing before she’d even known what he’d done. Then he removed his as well, now standing next to the bed.

Her eyes traveled down
ward over his wide shoulders and to his sturdy chest and taut stomach. And then further until her gaze settled on what she’d glimpsed that day in the stables. He stood there looking like a dream, his perfect body just begging to be touched. And his proof of manhood was hot, hard and ready and she couldn’t stop herself from reaching out to touch him.

“Och, lassie, thet feels guid
,” he said.

“I agree,” she said with a giggle.

He leaned forward, straddling himself over her and laying her back on the bed.

“I want yer first time te be special,” he told her, reaching out and fondling her breasts
, then using the tip of his fingers to circle her nipples slowly, exciting her so much she could hardly wait.

“It will be special becooz it’s with ye, Ian. She arched back when he brought her to peaks with his mouth
next and his very experienced tongue.

“I want ye so bad thet I dinna ken how slow I can go.”

“I want ye too, Ian, and we can go slow later, as well as make love in the tub and in front o’ the fire.”

“Ye
think ye’ll be able te do it thet much in one night?” he said with a laugh.

“I dinna ken, but I’m willin’ te find out if ye are.
”

“Then what are we waitin’ fer?” H
e slowly entered her then, and she felt his glorious length inside her. She threw back her head, letting loose with a cry of delight. Their bodies joined as one, and what started out slowly became faster and faster as Ian MacKeefe finally claimed her as his wife.

She shouted out with elation, because her dream had come true. And it was even better than she’d ever imagined.
She was married to a man she loved and she knew they would someday soon start a large family of their own. And when Ian found his release and she knew that the seed of a bairn might have been planted within her that night, she became excited once more.

“Slow down,” said Ian, kissing her and smoo
thing back her hair as he snuggled up next to her. “We have all night,” he told her.

“We have a lifetime,” she told him. “And though I waited almost a lifetime fer ye,
husband, I must say ye were well worth it becooz yer are mine - me
MadMan MacKeefe – Ian.

From the author:

I hope you enjoyed Ian and Kyla’s story. Ian turned out to be one of my most mentally tortured heroes, as h
e dealt with his demons from his past. And Kyla may have started out as being an infatuated young girl, but with the trials they were put through, she grew up very quickly, all the while knowing that with love one can conquer any of life’s challenges.

I always like to put
a holiday into my novels, and show the traditions of the era. I found All Hallow’s Eve, or Samhain very interesting, as it was the time when supposedly the veil was lifted between the worlds and the dead could come back to visit the living. And the church, being as powerful as they were back then, didn’t want the pagans’ celebration, so they turned it into a Christian holiday, calling it All Saint’s Day and All Soul’s Day instead. Now we also know where the tradition of trick-or-treating, or jack-o-lanterns, or dressing up in costumes on this day originated.