Chapter 32
CHAPTER THIRTY-TWO
The celebrations lingered long after the musicians lowered their instruments.
Voices followed Donaldina through the passages of Dun Ard, softened by stone and distance into a warm, indistinct murmur.
The scent of peat smoke, spilled ale and winter greenery clung to her gown.
Somewhere below, Hamish began another song with more enthusiasm than skill, and several men answered him badly.
Mairi walked beside Donaldina carrying the ceremonial veil over one arm.
“The green gown has been pressed,” she said. “Yer mother’s clasp is laid beside it, and Lachlan’s plaid has been brought from the cedar chest.”
“The heather?”
“Gathered before sunset.”
“And the honey?”
“From the oldest hive, as ordered.”
Donaldina nodded, though her thoughts had ceased following the list several corridors earlier.
Tomorrow.
At dawn, she would walk into the great hall beneath MacNicol green and MacIver red. She would speak vows before God, clan and every witness who had come to judge whether the accord could become something more enduring than a King’s command.
Her chamber waited ahead, warm with fire and occupied by women prepared to brush her hair, arrange her clothing and debate every ceremonial detail until the candles burned low.
Yet, when Donaldina reached the turn near the western stair, she stopped. She found Roy standing at the far end of the passage.
He had removed his formal coat, carrying it across one arm. The collar of his linen shirt stood open at his throat, and the faint disorder of his dark hair suggested Hamish had detained him longer than intended. A folded patrol report rested in his hand.
For one quiet moment, neither moved.
Mairi looked between them.
“I shall ensure the heather hasnae escaped,” she smiled.
Donaldina did not turn. “Heather is rarely known for flight.”
“One cannae be too cautious on the night before a wedding.”
Mairi continued toward the chamber, leaving Donaldina alone in the passage. Roy approached, and the sounds from the hall faded behind him. Candlelight shifted over the scar at his jaw and caught upon the silver fastening at his wrist.
“All posts are doubled,” he said when he reached her. “Malcolm holds the eastern wall. Hamish has the northern gate, provided he recovers from the singing.”
“The side passage?”
“Barred from within and watched from the yard.”
Donaldina inclined her head. “The banners are prepared. Both clans will enter together rather than from opposite doors. Father Maol has the ceremonial cord.”
“Any further difficulties?”
“Three elders objected tae their seating.”
“A serious threat.”
“I defeated them.”
“I expected nae less.”
Silence returned. Tomorrow remained between them, enormous despite how quietly it approached.
Donaldina looked at Roy’s face. He appeared composed, as he always did when danger or responsibility demanded it. Yet, she saw the tension beneath the calm, the slight stiffness of his shoulders, the way his fingers tightened once around the report.
“Are ye uncertain?” she asked.
“About the guards?” he answered with a question.
“About tomorrow.”
His gaze settled upon hers. “Nae.”
The answer came without hesitation.
“Neither am I,” she quickly answered.
Roy lifted one hand, brushing his knuckles lightly across her cheek. The touch was almost careful enough to hurt. Donaldina caught his wrist. He became still.
They had kissed before. They had touched one another with growing confidence, discovering how rapidly restraint could become hunger when they ceased pretending distance remained between them.
But tonight felt different. There was no council waiting beyond the moment, no argument to conceal what they wanted, no uncertainty about whether either would remain when morning came.
Donaldina stepped nearer. Roy’s breath altered.
“Ye should return tae yer chamber,” he murmured.
“I am aware.”
“Yer attendants are waiting.”
“They have waited for less important reasons.”
His thumb moved against her palm. “Donaldina.”
She knew the warning within her name. She also knew how little conviction it contained.
Tomorrow she would stand before the clans and choose him publicly.
Tonight, she wanted him without witnesses, without ritual and without a King’s agreement explaining why they belonged together.
Donaldina took the patrol report from his hand and placed it upon the narrow ledge beside them. Then she caught the front of his shirt and pulled him down. Roy’s mouth met hers.
The first kiss held the restraint of the corridor, the awareness of servants beyond doors and of guards passing on distant stairs.
It was over almost as soon as it began, lasting no more than a single breath.
Then Roy’s hand closed around her waist. He drew her against him with sudden force, and every careful thought Donaldina had scattered.
His mouth moved over hers with the hunger he had hidden throughout the evening. She felt it in the hard line of his body, in the hand spreading across her back, and in the rough breath he let out when her fingers slipped into his hair.
Donaldina kissed him more deeply. Roy turned them, placing himself between her and the open passage as though some part of him remained capable of strategy. His forehead rested briefly against hers.
“We should stop.”
“Aye,” she whispered.
Neither moved. His gaze dropped to her mouth.
Donaldina’s fingers tightened at his collar. “Dae ye wish tae?”
“Nae.”
“Then why are we discussing it?”
Roy kissed her again. He guided her through the nearest door, which was a small chamber used by visiting councilmen, empty now except for a narrow bed, a dying hearth and moonlight falling through the unshuttered window.
The latch settled behind them. Donaldina felt the sound throughout her body. Roy stood with one hand still upon the door, watching her.
The sudden stillness was more intimate than the kiss had been. There would be no pretending they had been overcome by a careless moment in a corridor. They were alone. They understood what closing the door meant.
Roy crossed the chamber slowly.
“Tell me tae leave,” he whispered.
Donaldina reached for him. “Stay.”
His control broke with visible force. Roy caught her face between his hands and kissed her until she could no longer distinguish the heat of the hearth from the heat moving beneath her skin.
Her back met the wall. His mouth traveled to her throat, and Donaldina closed her eyes as his breath warmed the place beneath her ear.
She tugged his shirt free from his belt.
Roy lifted his head. “Tomorrow—”
“Tomorrow I shall marry ye.”
His eyes searched hers.
Donaldina touched the scar along his jaw. “Tonight, I choose ye without an altar.”
His mouth returned to hers as he lifted her into his arms. His lips remained locked to hers as he caught her beneath the thighs and lifted her from the floor.
Donaldina wrapped herself around him without hesitation. Her back met the cold stone wall, but the sharp breath that escaped her vanished beneath his kiss. Roy held her there with the whole strength of his body, one hand gripping her waist while the other braced beside her head.
Wet heat and frantic movement consumed what remained of their restraint.
Her fingers tangled in his hair, pulling him closer as his mouth moved over hers with bruising hunger.
She arched against him, meeting every urgent movement, her body trusting his strength completely.
The contrast of cold stone behind her and Roy’s burning weight before her made her shudder in his arms.
He kissed down her throat, tasting her skin, then returned to her mouth when she dragged him back. Her legs tightened around him. His control shattered entirely.
Their clothing became little more than an obstruction, hurriedly pushed aside. The sound of his belt being unbuckled only seemed to heighten their desire. She swallowed heavily as she felt his manhood press against her yearning flesh.
“Ye like this, dinnae ye?” he murmured against her neck, and all she could do was moan in response.
She loved it. She loved everything about it. And she wanted more.
When he slid inside of her, he did it with gentleness, but she could sense the beast that was dying to come out.
“Take me, Roy,” she moaned against his lips. “I willnae break…”
He seemed to understand exactly what she wanted him to do. He thrust his hips into her, nailing her against the wall. She felt so full of him, as he claimed her. There was no caution in him any longer. With each push and pull, she felt full and satisfied, as their bodies followed their own rhythm.
His lips found hers, and they were kissing feverishly, as if this were the last time they would ever hold each other, and this communion of souls would make them belong to each other forever more.
He was holding her firmly against the wall as pleasure swept through them both with such force that the corridor, the castle and every duty beyond it ceased to exist.
There was only him, holding her in his arms. Her nails bit into his shoulders.
Her mouth opened beneath his, each broken breath drawing them both deeper into the wild rhythm between them.
He buried his face against her throat, breathing her in as he drove them both toward the edge, unable to slow, unwilling to stop.
When release finally overtook them, she tightened around him and hid her cry against his shoulder. Roy held her there long afterward, both of them trembling, their foreheads pressed together while their breathing slowly filled the silence.
What followed was fierce, unguarded, and entirely theirs. Donaldina met him without fear, holding him when his restraint failed and surrendering nothing she had not freely chosen to give.
Somewhere beyond the door, footsteps passed and faded toward the lower stair. Dun Ard continued preparing itself for morning.
“We will be missed,” he managed to say, though neither of them was yet breathing properly.
“Aye.”
“Yer attendants may come looking.”
“Mairi has more sense.”
“Hamish doesnae.”
Donaldina smiled against his skin. “Then ye had best remain very quiet.”
Roy looked down at her. Despite his warning, neither made any effort to move. Donaldina listened to the steady beat beneath her ear.
Tomorrow they would be separated for the ceremony, dressed beneath different banners and brought together before the clans.
For now, she stayed where she was. There was no distance left between them worth restoring.