Chapter 17
Brighit awoke to the tantalizing smell of sweet cream and honey. The scent reminded her of her favorite childhood treat—oats dripping with both. Her insides rumbled, and she stretched her arms overhead.
Beside her, Darragh slept soundlessly, his arm still wrapped around her waist as if he were afraid to lose her even in sleep. She turned toward him, tracing the beard that grew along his strong jaw. A handsome man indeed, her husband.
Despite his concerns, she remembered everything about the night before. It had been wonderful—everything she’d hoped for.
“Yer belly is loud enough to wake the dead.” Darragh spoke with his eyes closed.
Her stomach growled again. “I cannot help it. I smell food and I’m hungry.”
“As am I.” Darragh yanked her close, his breath heavy in her ear, and said, “Ye are most satisfying, a ghráidh.”
“As are ye.”
“Ah, ye remember?”
She blushed, and he nuzzled into her neck. “My hope is that ye enjoyed it enough that we may try it again,” he continued.
“D'ye think they’ll hear us?”
He put her hand to his hardened length, covering it with his own hand. “They left a while ago. I’ve been waiting patiently.”
The idea excited her as did the feel of his heat beneath her hand. The slamming of the door jerked them apart.
“They’re satisfied, Mama. Do not worry so.” William’s words were followed by something heavy dropping onto the table.
“William,” Gwen hissed the word. “Our guests are still sleeping.”
“A moment,” Darragh kept hold of her hand, though he moved it to his heart, when she would have stood.
“Ye cannot know what ye mean to me.” Her breath caught, and he glanced at the closed curtain as if he could see through it to the elderly couple probably working over the fire. “How pleased I am with ye.”
Her eyes widened, and she glanced away, embarrassed. “Are ye speaking of our love making?”
He turned her to face him before pulling her closer, surrounding her with his arms. “I am. And so much more.”
“Sit yerself down.” Gwen’s loud hissing carried through the curtain, her annoyance with her husband obvious.
Darragh snorted. “I should have picked a better time to speak my mind, mayhap when we were completely alone, but I wanted ye to hear the truth.” He cupped her cheek, stroking her bottom lip with his thumb, “I’d have taken ye to wife even if we’d not been promised to each other at birth.”
Almost afraid that she hadn’t heard him correctly, she placed a kiss on his palm before pulling back with a very slow movement to search his face.
His brown eyes were rounded, his expression soft with emotion.
His sincerity tugged at her heart and she didn’t immediately know what to say, how to put her feelings into words.
He’d always held her interest, from the first moment her mother had said he was to be her husband.
Her attitude toward him had only changed when she started to believe he didn’t feel the same.
When he ignored her after she had sought him out.
She only wanted his attention like the other lasses received from the lads.
Darragh shrugged, smiling sheepishly as if he may have shared too much.
“Ye are very pleasurable in my arms, but yer stomach is still growling. Ye sound near to starving.” He slapped her bottom.
She hesitated a moment, wanting to give him some indication of her own feelings. Awkwardness threatened to overtake her, so she quickly kissed him before pushing open the curtain to join the couple.
“Good morn to ye,” Brighit said, her smile feeling wide enough to light up a room.
“Ah, did ye sleep well?” Gwen was wiping her hands on a cloth, while her husband sat quietly at the table.
Brighit’s mind flashed back to the intimate night of loving she’d shared with her husband. She wondered at the woman’s knowing smile and her face heated. “Most certainly.”
“I’ve a few vegetables from the garden for soup, if ye’d like to start there?” Gwen indicated the sack on the trestle, her smile broadening when Brighit nodded.
Unlike the women at home, Gwen definitely seemed to take pleasure in teaching Brighit. There’d be no ridicule from her for what Brighit didn’t know. That was a great relief. Brighit opened the bag, surprised by her own sudden interest in its contents. “These will be fine. And the herbs?”
“Plenty have not gone to seed. After we break our fast, we’ll decide which to use. Ye wanted to make bread as well?”
“The bread. Let us make a filling, dark loaf.”
“Ye sound as if ye’ve a full day planned.” Darragh joined them, nodding a greeting to their hosts.
Brighit’s eyes followed him as he came to a stop opposite William, and that knowing smile returned to Gwen’s face. “A fine man ye have there.”
“Fine indeed.”
Darragh had not heard them as he settled at the trestle. “But yer insides are calling for something a bit sooner, wife.”
Gwen rubbed Brighit’s shoulder as she passed her to reach the iron pot beside the fire. “I’ve taken care of the breakfast. We cannot have yer bride cooking on an empty stomach.”
The porridge was hot and filling, its sweetness increased by the always present honey.
“Yer cock is having trouble knowing when to crow, William. I heard him all night.” Darragh helped himself to more hot cereal before settling back down beside Brighit. “How are the eggs? Are they plentiful even through winter?”
William wiped his mouth before answering. “We have more than enough. Our nephews take turns coming by every week or so. ’Tis only the meat that has been scarce of late, but we’re fine.”
“I would not mind seeing what I can get for ye, in appreciation of ye giving us a dry place to sleep.”
Collecting the bowls, Brighit followed Gwen to the small work bench behind the hearth. There, Gwen emptied the bag of a large assortment of root vegetables, scattering the colorful array across the top of the wooden surface.
“Are ye up for a little hunting then?” William’s voice sounded pleased, as if he’d come up with the idea himself.
“A fine idea,” Darragh said.
Brighit glanced up to find Darragh’s eyes on her, just as she’d suspected, and his look of interest made her blush. She smiled at him before she took up a knife and started chopping.
While the men discussed a plan, Gwen shared her concerns about her husband with Brighit, careful not to be overheard.
William seemed healthy, but his tracking and hunting was taking longer and longer.
Although he’d never said as much, Gwen was worried that he’d had trouble finding his way home again.
“And what about ye, Brighit?” Darragh asked.
Brighit’s blade slipped and she bit her lip to keep from making a sound.
“Does yer wife hunt?” William asked, surprise evident in his tone.
She glanced up again, but Darragh was regarding William with an expression of surprise. “Why would she not? She is very accomplished.”
“Almost like having a man with ye but for the pleasure of her body at night to keep ye warm.”
Despite her heated cheeks, Brighit managed a smile of appreciation for her husband. It would be wonderful to be alone with him, the two of them working alongside each other. She wondered if he would enjoy it as well.
“Would that please ye, wife? Be off in the woods with me hunting down small animals to kill for our meal?”
“I prefer the larger animals. It makes it so much more worthwhile.” She straightened her shoulders then shrugged. “But small ones are fine if that’s all ye can find.”
“Ha, now does that sound like a challenge to ye, William?” Darragh asked, his eyes steady on her.
“A bit like she’s saying she could fell a deer while ye’d only catch a rabbit.”
Brighit feigned outrage, but her eyes twinkled with mischief. “I said no such thing.”
Gwen laughed beside her. “I believe I heard the same thing.”
“Ye did not.” Brighit laughed. “I did not say I was a better hunter than my husband.”
Darragh’s smile widened and he crossed his arms about his chest. “Ah, but ’tis a challenge simple enough for me to take up and prove.”
Her brows raised, Brighit replied “It is that.”
“A fine idea,” He nodded to William. “and we’ll leave anon.”
Brighit’s excitement was uncontainable, dimmed only by the thought of trying to do the job hampered by her long léine. If she could learn how to cook soup, she could learn how to move with her long, covering rustling about her, announcing her presence to her prey.
The fresh, crusty bread was baked to perfection according to Gwen.
She was quite outgoing in her praise of Brighit’s ability, making her feel her abilities were acceptable.
Quite different from her experience at home.
The loaves were packed up for them to take on their hunt.
Among the vegetables Gwen had procured for the soup were the dreaded leeks, which Brighit quickly learned was one of Darragh’s favorite vegetables.
She’d have to acquire a new appreciation for the filthy things.
Shortly after adding them to the pot, she’d realized how thick and fragrant they made the broth.
Packing this as well, Darragh and Brighit were soon ready to head out. She settled on Darragh’s horse, their supplies packed in the bags hanging behind his legs.
“Do not worry for us if we are not back anon.” Darragh held a rein on either side of her while she sat sideways in front of him. He glanced at her and said, “We do not plan to hurry back.”
“There’s a path along the ridge where ye can see the herds as they’re moving. My favorite place to settle down to watch for the deer.”
“Then we will head there first.” Darragh nodded to Gwen and they were off.
The ground across the glen was saturated and that made their travel slow, but the rains had brightened their color, making the meadow they crossed seem almost dreamlike while they moved toward the mountains in the distance.
Brighit sat surrounded by Darragh’s warmth, and they took their time crossing the open field.
The birds in the trees announced their arrival and the smell of the damp earth filled their senses.
She sighed, content with the world, and rested her head on his chest for only a moment before drifting off with dreams of a hearth and family of her own.