Chapter Fourteen
Another knock sounded at the storeroom door.
Keegan froze, his body pressed close to Seona’s.
“Shh,” he hissed in her ear, then lowered her smock.
He was unable to see her in the absolute darkness of the storeroom, but he knew she had to be horrified that someone was pounding at the door not five seconds after he’d brought her to climax.
How could someone interrupt one of the most amazing experiences of his life?
“’Twill be all right,” he whispered, then directed her behind the door. He felt her struggling to adjust her smock and arisaid into place. He’d love to help her, if only he could see, but everything had to be done by touch in this windowless room.
He felt to make sure his own clothes were still straight and in place, then he cracked the door open.
Fraser stood outside. His frown shifted to a mischievous lopsided grin. “What in blazes are you doing in there, Keegan?” he asked, keeping his voice quiet.
“Drinking ale.” Or maybe mulled wine would’ve been a better lie.
“In the dark?” Fraser snorted. “I don’t think ’tis ale you’re drinking.”
Heat washed over Keegan. Aye, he’d been caught, and he’d never been able to lie his way out of anything. “How did you know I was in here?”
“One of the kitchen servants came down to start baking bread and heard a noise. I was talking to the guard when she reported it.” He grinned. “Which maid do you have in there with you?”
“Damnation,” Keegan muttered. “You must not tell anyone. Promise me.” He hoped his worried gaze communicated the seriousness of the matter.
Fraser sobered. “Of course I won’t. I ken well how awkward it is to be caught with a lass.”
Keegan gave a brief nod. His stomach clenched for he knew not whether he could trust Fraser. He had only known him a short time. He seemed like an honest and trustworthy man, about a year younger than himself. But Fraser was a rogue who thought of little beyond finding another lass to bed.
“No one can know she is down here with me.”
“Very well. I’ll help you slip her out. Just a minute.” Fraser turned and moved toward the stairs again. “’Tis two huge rats,” he called up to someone waiting at the top.
“Oh heavens!” the female said. “I shan’t go down there until they’re gone.”
“I’ll get them, Mary. You go back to your chamber for about a half hour.
” He then told the guard to return to his post. “I’ll be right back,” Fraser whispered to Keegan, then disappeared up the steps.
He returned a couple of minutes later. “All clear up to the second floor.” His eyes narrowed as he looked over Keegan’s shoulder.
But of course, he could see naught. “Why do I get the feeling ’tis not one of the servants you’ve seduced? ”
“I didn’t seduce anyone.” Keegan frowned, hating that Fraser would think the worst of Seona once he learned she was behind the door.
“Not enough time, aye? That can be damned frustrating.”
Keegan’s face heated, though he knew not why.
He was not one easily embarrassed. Although he didn’t have a reputation as a gallant or a rogue, he had bedded a few lasses over the past few years.
Even then, he would not say he’d seduced anyone.
Usually it was the lasses who’d seduced him, in a manner of speaking.
Aside from that, he had not planned to take Seona, anyway. Indeed, he would like to but… he could not endanger her uncertain future.
Fraser chuckled. “Come on, man. Bring her out so she can return to her sleeping quarters. She must be exhausted since you’ve kept her up half the night.”
“Can you hand me that candle?” Keegan motioned to the one sitting on the cook’s table.
“Aye.” Fraser retrieved it for him.
“I thank you.” Keegan closed the door, set the candle on the floor, and turned back to Seona.
Finding her wide-eyed and pale, he took her hands.
“I’m sure you heard, ’tis only Fraser,” he whispered.
“He’s promised he won’t tell anyone and that he’ll help get you back to your room.
I never meant to endanger your reputation. I simply wanted—”
She rose onto her tiptoes and kissed his lips briefly. Arousal riveted him along with a generous helping of affection.
“Och, Seona, lass.” How he wanted her in every way.
But this might be their last private moment together.
He leaned down, claiming her lips again.
Though the kiss started out soft and slow, it quickly grew to burning and volatile.
Arousal demanded that he press her against the wall and have his way with her… but he couldn’t do that.
Forcing himself to pull back, he cursed and clenched his teeth. How passionate she was. She had to be his, always.
After taking her hand, he led her to the doorway. As soon as he opened it, Fraser turned toward them.
“I thought you were—” His words stalled when his gaze landed on Seona. He smiled and shook his head. “I should’ve guessed.” He shoved Keegan’s shoulder as he emerged from the tiny room. “You dog. Defiling ladies?”
“Well, I wasn’t… exactly.” He couldn’t tell Fraser how much Seona meant to him.
“Aye, indeed. Not to worry. I’ve defiled a few myself.” He chuckled.
“Fraser,” Keegan chided between his teeth and sent him a meaningful frown, trying to convince him not to embarrass Seona any more than she already was. Her face was dark red, even in the dimness of the kitchen.
“Very well. I’ll behave myself.” At the base of the stairs, Fraser said, “Wait here.” He ran up the steps, then returned seconds later and motioned. “All clear.”
Keegan climbed the steps first, holding Seona’s hand and pulling her up behind. That way, if they ran into someone, he could conceal her.
“Are you well?” he whispered back to her as they moved along a corridor.
“Aye.” Her response was barely above a breath.
Fortunately, they reached the upper corridor where her bedchamber was without meeting anyone. Of course, Dirk’s guard was still on duty, but once he recognized them, he again pretended not to see Seona.
“Have a good night’s sleep, m’lady,” Keegan whispered.
Seona gave a brief curtsy and hastened down the corridor and into her room. If Fraser and the guard hadn’t been there, she might have allowed him another kiss. But that was impossible now. With regret, he turned to leave. He doubted he could sleep much after that, even though ’twas past midnight.
“Come, let’s go have a wee dram,” Fraser said. “I’m thinking you need it. Or another lass.”
“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.”