CHAPTER 15
Their steps echoed against the stone walls of the spiral stairwell. None of them spoke as they climbed round and round the wheeled stairs until they reached the top floor, where there was a narrow landing with a door on either side.
When Finn’s aunt opened the door on the left, an old woman inside looked up from her stitching.
“Your daughter will sleep in here with Una,” Finn’s aunt said. “Una can serve as her nursemaid while you’re here.”
“That’s kind of ye, but I cannot leave my daughter with a stranger,” Margaret said in a low voice so as not to offend the elderly woman.
“Una Murray was my son’s nursemaid,” his aunt bristled. “Ye couldn’t ask for better.”
“Una weaves magic with children.” Finn lifted Ella out of Margaret’s arms and carried her into the chamber before Margaret could object, then he leaned down and kissed the elderly woman’s cheek. “You’re as beautiful as ever.”
“Let me show you your chamber,” his aunt said, and gently but firmly pulled Margaret toward the opposite door.
Margaret barely had time to duck her head under the low doorway before she found herself in a tidy chamber with a vase of flowers on a small ledge above the bed and a view of the sea from a window in the thick castle wall.
“What a cozy chamber!” Margaret’s immediate delight with the room faded as she realized she would be sharing it with Finn. Now the small chamber seemed cramped rather than cozy—and it had only one bed. “’Tis lovely. Thank you, Countess.”
“You can call me Helen,” his aunt said, giving her a friendly smile. “I’m glad the chamber pleases ye, Maggie.”
“This is all very kind of you,” Margaret said.
“You’re a lucky lass to catch Finn,” Helen said with a conspiratorial wink as Finn joined them. “Many a lass has tried. I worried this one would never settle down.”
“I never thought I would,” Finn said, and pulled Margaret against his side. “Maggie certainly surprised me.”
She had indeed, and his cheerful countenance did not fool her that he was pleased about it.
“Make the most of these early days of your marriage,” Helen said, then added with a glint in her eyes, “and the nights.”
Margaret avoided looking at Finn.
“Oh, I intend to enjoy my bride quite thoroughly,” Finn said, and nuzzled Margaret’s neck.
“I’ll be off, then,” Helen said, then she looked at Finn and nodded toward the door, indicating she wanted a private word.
Finn followed his aunt into the stairwell, but he did not quite close the door. Margaret could not help that, if she stood close to it, she could hear every word.
“If ye were ready to wed,” Helen said, “ye should have asked me to find ye a bride.”
“Ye think I needed help?” Finn asked in an amused tone.
“She’s a charming lass, and I wish ye well,” Helen said. “But after your foolishness with the Sinclairs, a wife from a solid Gordon—or even a Sutherland—family of unquestioned loyalty would have gone a long way to smooth your path.”
“There wasn’t a Gordon or Sutherland lass I wanted to wed,” Finn said. “And what’s done is done.”
“Ye know I’m verra fond of ye,” his aunt said, “but it will be no easy task to win your place here. The men are suspicious.”
“I know they are,” Finn said. “I’m grateful my uncle seems willing to give me a chance to prove myself.”
“He won’t give ye a second one,” she said. “So there can be no running off again!”
When Margaret heard Helen going down the stairs, she braced herself to face Finn. Before he had a chance to confront her about her tale of being handfasted, however, servants came up the stairs carrying wine, bowls of savory soup, and a platter with cheese, sliced pork, oatcakes, and honeyed nuts.
Finn instructed them to set the food and drink out in Una’s chamber, which was no bigger but had a small table between the two cots. Margaret could barely eat, but Finn and Ella ate as if it was their last meal. When they were finished, Una turned to Ella.
“I’d wager this wee lassie would like to hear a story about trouble Finn got into when he was a bairn,” Una said. “Ach, he got into so much mischief ’tis hard to know which tale to start with.”
Ella crawled into Una’s lap, the deserter.
“There’s no need for ye to keep Ella,” Margaret said. “She can sleep in our chamber.”
“Nay, we need our privacy, being newlyweds and all, mo leannain,” Finn said as he pulled Margaret to her feet. “Fair warning, Una. Ye may need to hold the pillow over your head tonight to sleep through my wife’s screams of pleasure.”
The elderly nursemaid slapped Finn’s arm. “I’ve known this charming devil since he was a lad, and he’s not half as bad as he seems,” she told Margaret. “Don’t fret over Ella. I’ll take good care of this sweet bairn.”
Before Margaret could argue, Finn pulled her into their chamber, closed the door, and stood in front of it with his arms folded. The time for reckoning had come.
“What made ye say we’re handfasted?” he asked, raising one black eyebrow.
“What made you attempt to paint me as a woman who was willing to sell myself?”
“I said it because no one would believe I hadn’t bedded ye when we’d traveled together,” he said.
“Women find ye that irresistible, do they?”
“Anyone would think a lass who was willing to travel alone with a man would also be willing to share his bed,” he said. “By saying ye were a desperate widow, I put the best face on it I could.”
“Nay, I put the best face on it,” she said. “I couldn’t have your mother, of all people, thinking ye brought a prostitute home to the family. Don’t ye care what she thinks of ye?”
“My mother wants to believe the worst in me.” He blew out his breath and spread his arms. “I don’t know why I feel compelled to find out if she actually will, as she always does.”
“So ye make sure she does,” Margaret said.
“Don’t be angry with me about that.” He gave her that smile that probably got him extra sweets when he was a bairn—and sexual favors later on. “I’m sorry I insulted ye, but it would never have occurred to me to say we were wed.”
Would never have occurred to him. As apologies went, that was not a very good one.
Finn lifted her to sit on the bed and took her hands between his. “Ye do know what handfasting is?”
“’Tis a Highland custom whereby a couple enters a trial marriage by making vows to each other,” she said. “They have a year and a day to change their minds and dissolve the marriage if they wish.”
“So ye did know what ye were doing.” He heaved a sigh. “I suppose it could be worse. Ye could have said our marriage was blessed by the church. Then we’d be bound forever.”
“Being blessed by the church did not ensure my marriage was forever,” she said, folding her arms.
“Well, I’m no rich Lowland nobleman, so there would be no getting out of it.”
Finn obviously thought being bound to her for life would be the worst possible fate that could befall him. That should not irritate her, as marriage would be the worst possible thing for her as well. All the same, it did.
“’Tis all a lie anyway, so what does it matter?” she said.
“What matters is that ye convinced everyone else of your lie. So here we are, m' eudail,” my treasure, he said with a slow smile and a devilish twinkle in his eye, “forced to share a bed.”
Margaret’s skin felt hot under his gaze.
She never should have kissed him this morning.
Never should have let him touch her like he did.
Never should have run her hands over his chest or clutched his hair in her fingers.
Because now, when he was looking at her like this, all she could think about was how wonderful it felt to have his mouth on hers and his hard, muscular body pressing her against the tree.
It had been a grave mistake to initiate that kiss. Yet, try as she might, she could not persuade herself to regret it. The memory drew her body toward his, as if pulled by a rope.
Rap, rap, rap.
The knock at the door saved her from herself. This time the servants arrived with a tub and buckets of steaming water, breaking the spell Finn cast over her and giving her a chance to come to her senses. She shook her head, determined not to let it happen again
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Finn never thought he’d like being married—but playing at it definitely had its advantages.
Now that he and Margaret were sharing a chamber—and a bed—he was certain they would make love tonight.
After the way passion exploded between them with their first kiss outside of Huntly Castle, there was no denying the attraction between them.
Ach, Margaret had been on fire in his arms. Sharing such close quarters, it was inevitable they would be lovers.
He was more than ready to get naked, but he understood now he must go slowly and give her time. Margaret was a cautious woman who liked to keep a tight rein on her emotions, and that explosion of passion between them had frightened her. It sure as hell had surprised him.
“You can bathe first,” he said after the servants left them alone. “I’ll wash your back for ye.”
“I can manage on my own, thank you,” she said, giving him an amused smile.
Finn stretched out on his side on the bed, propped his head on his elbow, and watched her through the steam rising from the tub between them. This bath would be his undoing. And he was looking forward to it.
“You’re not staying in this room while I bathe,” Margaret said. “You can wait in Una’s chamber.”
“If the household is to believe we’re newlyweds, I’m afraid I must stay.” He gave her a wide smile. “Una is a wonderful nursemaid, but a dreadful gossip.”
She rolled her eyes. “Turn around then and promise not to look.”
“Ye can’t mean it,” he groaned. When she did not relent, he reluctantly rolled onto his other side and faced the wall.
“Wait,” she said, causing his hope to rise—along with his cock. “Could ye unhook my gown first?”