Chapter 26
What a strange thing? How did I manage to arrive here?
Keegan stroked Willow’s arm as she curled onto her side, her breathing beginning to even out after the intensity of the previous moments.
While he was undoubtedly exhausted, Keegan felt like he might never sleep again for the excitement and transfixed awe that settled over him as he looked at his wife.
Me wife.
Truly, the oddness of that word, that reality, was not lost on him, and the laird sighed as the pleasant soreness in his muscles warmed him, reminding Keegan of what he’d just been doing.
His body responded to the thought, and Keegan chuckled.
Not since his youth had he been one to repeat an encounter with a lass so soon after finishing once.
It appeared that his passion for Willow was unable to run dry, however.
Even the thoughts of touching her again were enough to make him twitch, and it stirred his lady from her dozing.
“Ye cannae be serious?” She looked back over her shoulder at him with a smirk. “Again? Already?”
Laughing a bit louder, Keegan smoothed himself against Willow’s behind, relishing in the warmth and softness of her curves. As he ducked his nose into the tussled waves of hair at the crook of her neck, he kissed her gently.
“Only if ye’re of a mind to do so, lass. I am in nay rush.” Keegan gripped Willow’s hip, pressing his length to her, which served to both relieve and intensify the ache there. “Though, I willnae deny the way I still want ye.”
“I am verra aware of that meself,” Willow drawled, her little giggle sweet and still a bit tired. “I am nae sure if I am up for it. But…I willnae stop ye touching me. I will never stop that.”
Arousal worked through him, as strong as ever, but there was also this calm sense of completion that was new to Keegan. He could lie here stroking Willow for as long as she’d allow it, happily dozing in and out of consciousness so long as she remained by his side.
“I am quite grateful for that, lass.” His erection thrummed, filling and naturally slipping into the small space between Willow’s thighs. “Ugh, the feel of ye.”
Keegan groaned, and Willow let out another hushed whimper. When he craned up to look at her more, Keegan could see the lovely pink swelling behind her skin.
“How is it that ye remain such a bashful thing, Willow?” Keegan idly rolled his hips, enjoying the sensations even if this weren’t to go anywhere further. “I’ve tasted ye, lassie. There’s nae a thing I havenae see of ye, and still, yer skin is the color of a young rosebud.”
Willow ducked her face into the pillow, still rocking her hips backward so that she might steal her own pleasure from the unhurried movements.
“Keegan,” she whispered, her breath quickening again, “this is still so…och, aye, that.”
He laughed as Willow’s concentration faltered under his efforts, and the laird focused on gliding his length between her thighs, where it brushed across the outside of her seam.
“Whatever ye wish, lass.” Keegan kissed the crook of her neck, admiring the smooth lines and curves that made up his wife’s sublime figure. “I will give ye.”
The soft, slow build-up was perfection, and Keegan could sense how Willow’s body mirrored his own, swelling with pleasure that felt soothing and leisurely even as it lit his veins with fire. They would both be approaching that blissful release in a short time if they continued this.
Knock, knock, knock, knock.
Keegan’s movement stopped abruptly as Willow jolted upright in the bed. They weren’t expecting any more visitors for the evening—all traditions served—and there should be no reason to interrupt the happy couple on their wedding night.
What is this about?
Tension pooled in his gut at the thought, something within Keegan telling him that this wasn’t good.
He just knew it. Pushing the covers toward Willow so that she could conceal herself, Keegan swung his legs over the bed and searched for his plaid and even Willow’s shawl to drape over himself.
He didn’t have time to secure the fabrics properly or do much more than pull his shirt over his head before the urgent pounding hit the door again.
Knock, knock, knock.
“I’m comin'. Give me a moment at least to hide meself.”
He gathered his things and walked to the door, pulling the thing wide when another set of knocks started up. Who he saw on the other side made Keegan’s jaw drop, and he stumbled backward slightly.
“Lilith?”
A shuffling sound stirred up behind him, and he could hear Willow get out of the bed and hurry over.
“Lilith?” She stood at Keegan’s right, and he stepped back slightly, allowing Willow to speak with her sister first. “What are ye doin' here so late? This is hardly the time for visitors.”
The slightly younger twin’s brows were pinched together with worry, and Keegan could make out the fear behind Lilith’s blue eyes. She was profoundly nervous about something, and it didn’t bode well for anyone in the castle when the person so consumed by unease was the sister to Laird McCallum.
“I apologize, but I had to come to speak to ye—to ye both. I’m afraid I made a terrible mistake, and I only hope that there is enough time to keep ye from facin' the worst of it.”
Willow’s expression turned dour, matching her twin’s. Still, even with how similar the two looked, there was no mistaking who each of them was to Keegan. He gestured into the room, his brows dipping low over his eyes.
“Step in, Lilith. Let us hear what ye have to say.”
She did, following Keegan’s unspoken command to sit at the small table to the side of the bed. The woman still wore her gown from the wedding ceremony, and it was clear that she’d not slept or rested since things had calmed down.
As Lilith sat, Willow took up a spot next to her in the other chair, pulling it around to the same side as her sister so that she might lay a hand on the woman’s shoulder.
“I am so terribly sorry, Willow. I dinnae think ye actually cared for the laird.” Keegan watched as Lilith gripped Willow’s hands, her eyes tearing as she allowed the words to flow from her just as rapidly. “It’s Magnus. He intends to attack the castle.”
Keegan’s stomach clenched. “What?”
Lilith looked to the laird only briefly, but even in that flash of a moment, he could see her guilt practically screaming from her expression.
“I was supposed to give him a sign when the castle had all gone to bed. I havenae done it. I couldnae after I saw ye with Keegan in the dance.”
Willow’s eyes were wide as she looked between her sister and Keegan, then back again. “I daenae understand. Why would ye help that man? Ye sought to aid Melissa, and now ye’ve told Magnus that ye might harm her clan?”
Keegan appreciated that Willow’s questions reflected the ones in his own mind. Lilith had been acting strange the entire evening. Though he wished to attribute it to the journey and the strained relationship between their clans, he wished he’d been wrong about there being more behind it.
Lilith sucked in a shaky breath, gripping Willow’s hands like she might fall off the earth without the secure hold. After a moment, she pulled her head up to meet Willow’s eyes, and Keegan stepped closer to the table. He kept his stare pinned to Lilith for any sign of falsehoods or trickery.
“Ye have to understand, Sister. Ye were captured. How was I to ken that ye werenae being treated poorly?”
Willow shook her head. “I can understand yer confusion, but in me letter, Lilith, I wrote ye about comin' to the weddin' and bein' sure to keep Magnus well away. I begged ye to prevent Magnus from comin', and now ye’ve gone and done just the opposite.”
Sobs racked through Lilith as she sat before her sister’s judgment, and Keegan kept an ear on the conversation as he began to get dressed, choosing a set of breeks from things to avoid a failure in modesty as he might with attempting to secure his plaid with Lilith present.
“I apologize, Willow, truly!” Lilith’s voice shook. “I swear I had thought I was doing the right thing. I dinnae realize that Keegan was treatin' ye fairly. Or…or that ye had come to have an affection for him. Magnus had said…och, this is all wrong!”
Willow adjusted in her seat, leaning forward toward Lilith as Keegan finished lacing up the front of his shirt.
“I understand that ye had to assume me captor was cruel to me. With how Magnus treated Melissa and yerself, what else could ye think? But what did Magnus say? Ye make it sound as if there’s more?”
It took Lilith a moment to collect herself, and Willow was far more patient than Keegan wished to be.
He was ready to shove things into motion.
If Magnus were near enough to see Lilith’s signal, it gave the laird very little time to prepare.
As the woman spoke again, Keegan yanked on his breeks, turning away from them to keep himself hidden as he did up his ties.
“Magnus was injured when he returned.” Lilith continued, and Keegan scoffed through his nose.
“The bastard shouldnae have returned at all. I willnae be making the same mistake twice.”
He couldn’t see his sister-in-law’s face, but Keegan could hear the subtle hiss as Lilith reacted to his words.
The lass was going to have to come around to the truth soon because her brother was not long for this earth.
Brother or not, the man had beaten her, lied to both the sisters, killed Keegan’s parents, and abandoned Willow when she no longer proved useful to him.
“Go on, Lilith.” Willow’s voice hinted at the urgency she must have felt coming from Keegan, and he silently thanked her for it. “We need to understand what he plans.”
“When Magnus came back to the castle, he went on and on about the terrible things ye went through.
He described ye havin' been beaten worse than me; he said that ye were forced to give yerself to Keegan and that the only reason for the weddin'—when he learned of it, that is—was that yer honor had already been sullied.”