Chapter 20
“I
really don’ ken how to thank ye, Laird.” Meria’s father was so busy bowing and rubbing his hands together in front of her husband, Laird Calvin looked as if he were doing some fancy new and complicated dance.
“I have absolutely no problem with ye livin’ here whilst ye fix up MacTavish—er, I mean, I meant to say MacNair Castle.
To think that wretch was planning on invadin’ me land when his own demesne was in such disarray.
And I fell for his threats an’ blandishments! ”
Meria shooed her father out of the room but had to resort to pushing him out by the shoulders in the end, as he showed himself so reluctant to leave her alone with her new husband.
“Aye, aye, Faither. An’ be sure to send our word to all the farmer lads, reminding them that archery an’ sword training practice is to be held next Sunday.”
Laird Calvin’s face fell when he realized his daughter was pushing him out of his own room. “But Meria…this is me own bedchamber. Where am I to sleep? This room has all the best views an’ furniture!”
“It’s the master chambers, Faither,” Meria told him calmly. “Would ye no’ agree that Callum has proved himself to be a masterful man?”
Laird Calvin could not disagree. Nor could he find the strength to naysay his daughter.
She seemed to have grown since she left her clan home, too angry to wave farewell to him as he stood at the window.
The woman he saw in front of him now was someone who knew her own mind and valued her place in the world.
Before he shut the door, Laird Calvin stuck his head around the wooden panels. “Er…no hard feelings about the past then?”
Callum and Meria turned to the face poking through the crack in the door, saying in unison, “Out!”
Laird Calvin shut the door, and they heard him scuttling down the corridor like a timid mouse.
“Hoots, Wife, but training for battle is comin’ to yer lands none too late! I swear yer faither sets such a bad example to the lads living on Calvin land, I’m amazed they dinnae swoon away at the mention of sword training.”
Their trip back to the Calvin estate had been nothing like their journey to MacTavish Castle.
After leaving Hamish MacTavish to die alone in his dirty bedchamber, Meria accompanied Callum to the clergyman and told him to tear up her marriage contract.
When the terrified cleric had asked Meria how she planned on laying claim to the castle if she was not the wife of Hamish MacTavish, she scoffed, “Who would want this pestilent land?” Then she had turned to Callum. “D’ye want it?”
He thought a while and then told her about Tam, the tanner, and his Norse wife, Oona, once a slave girl at the castle. “I would nae leave them, an’ other folks like them, without a laird to guard their borders.”
A council had been called into session down in the bailey village. The captain and five remaining soldiers had already surrendered, sensible enough to see which way the wind was blowing.
“Everyone raise yer hands who wants Callum MacNair to be our new clan chief!” Tam had shouted out into the hall.
Loud cheers and hoots of happiness were heard with not a single naysayer amongst them.
Callum had rounded up the soldiers and set them to work plastering holes in the battlements and mixing limestone to make the fortress resemble the impregnable tower keep of old.
The council of elders was put in charge, overseeing the strengthening of the fortifications before the snows set in.
There was a threat of pirates attacking in the spring.
Messengers came back from the MacNair clan and Castle Gray, sending soldiers loyal to Callum with their messages of kinship.
Meria heard from Oona how Callum had acted once he realized how his vengeance had warped his life.
“I ken it must have gone hard on yer heart when he rejected ye after yer time on the mountain pass together, but men will always be more fond of action than they are of expressin’ their hearts with words. D’ye forgive him?”
She had not thought twice before answering. “Aye. Callum’s destiny and me own fortune were intertwined without us even knowing it. Love did not complicate those matters; love made everything easier to understand in the end.”
Leaving his own men in charge of the castle, Callum and Meria made haste to travel back to Calvin lands before the snows set in.
This time, they were accompanied by a few servants and went along the main roads because they no longer had to avoid the enemies of Laird MacTavish.
The gates of her old home had hardly opened before Callum was dismounting and running into the hall.
“Laird Calvin! I ask leave to marry yer daughter, Meria.”
Meria had walked into the hall in time to hear her father saying, “Nay! Certainly no’! Y-Ye’re an errand boy! Meria must marry a powerful laird like Hamish MacTavish to protect me borders from attack. What are ye doin’ back here anyhow?”
And now, here they were, married and preparing for their beddan.
It was only a formality. The ceremony had been the briefest of declarations.
Laird Calvin had to break the bond he had signed with Hamish MacTavish first. Meria’s father burned his half of the parchment, declaring, “Me daughter is free to choose the man she wants to marry!” in front of the clergyman.
The fire burned fiercely in the grate, warming the room. When she looked outside, Meria saw the first snowflakes falling. When she looked over at her husband, she knew she had chosen him with her heart, mind, and body. There was no fear or hesitation about what was about to happen.
“Husband, stand there. I want to look at ye.” She moved to the dais, climbed onto the bed, and crawled over to his side, where he was undressing.
Callum pulled off his boots and then began loosening his belt. “What? What is it ye need to keek?” He craned his head from one side to the other, looking down at his plaid to see what she wanted to look at.
Meria giggled. “Nay, no’ in that way… I want to inspect every inch o’ that magnificent body o’ yers…”
“Och, well, in that case—” Callum threw his plaid onto the ground and joined her on the bed. “I don’ mind if ye use yer hands as well as yer eyes.”
They had not slept together since their night on the mountain. Having done things wrong the first time, Callum was desperate to do things right when he realized Meria was prepared to bless him with a second chance.
“The more I touch ye, the more I want to lick an’ kiss ye all over, Cal,” Meria whispered, her senses nearly overwhelmed by seeing his body in the daylight.
She straddled his hips and bent to kiss the side of his neck where the hair curled slightly.
“I have a confession to make, Cal.” She gave his angular jawline a wee nip and brought her mouth closer as she said the words softly into his ear.
“I am expectin’ a bairn. I have nae bled since our time on the mountain together. ”
He tried to sit up, but she pushed him back down. “Oh nay ye don’. Ye are going to lie there an’ let me enjoy meself! I remember ye telling me that the woman bein’ on top is a position that brings with it exquisite pleasure an’ control, so I’m staying right where I am.”
He groaned as she slid herself on top of him; she had not even bothered undressing herself. “What was I doin’ tellin’ ye about such sensitive subjects, dearest wife?” Callum murmured, hardly able to speak because the way she was riding him was bringing him so close to fulfillment.
“I guess we had a lot o’ time to spend up there on the mountains together, Husband.” Meria leaned forward, untying her bodice so her breasts could brush over his mouth with tantalizing softness. “An’ would ye no’ agree that we spent our time well?”
He was beyond words, swept away by the feeling of his wife rocking herself to the perfect end she desired.
Arching her back and sitting up, she screamed as the penetration deepened.
Then Meria collapsed against his chest, sighing and panting.
“Consider that me own revenge on ye, Cal,” she whispered when she was able to speak again.
“That’s to pay ye back for letting me get within one mile of that dastard MacTavish. ”
He was not having any of that. Callum gave a low growl, flipping Meria onto her back. “Och nay ye don’. Let’s get those clothes off ye too so I can feast me eyes on those pretty breasts and breathtakin’ bahookie o’ yers.”
Meria laughed wildly and pretended to try and beat him off, but he overpowered her. With her hands held above her head by his one hand and his other hand ripping her clothes off, Meria gave a half-hearted struggle.
Suddenly, he stopped ravishing her. Callum looked down at her face and said, “Promise me we’ll never fight about anything ever again, Wife. I value ye an’ cherish ye more than anything else in this world.”
“I promise, Husband. Now be quiet and ravish me.”