Angel of Skye (42 page)

Looking up into her smiling face, he lay back again in the water and, raising the hem of her wet chemise, he pulled her knees up till she was straddling his hips.

Fiona lowered her face and kissed him. Drawing back, she gently nestled herself against the crown of his arousal and gasped as he lowered her onto him. Deep within her he slid, and sheathing him tightly, Fiona felt again the perfect fit of true love.

Stretching her legs alongside his, Fiona moved her hips and felt him move against her in harmony. An aching desire again began to grow within her as Alec’s hands pressed her bottom, burying himself even deeper.

Alec pushed the strap of the chemise off one of Fiona’s shoulders. Raising his mouth again, he suckled her exposed breast as she began to emit small cries, increasing the tempo of her pulsing body.

As Fiona’s cries grew stronger and Alec felt her body go rigid, he knew he could no longer wait. Rolling her onto her back in the shallow water, Alec drove into her. Fiona raised her knees, wrapping her leg around him as he thrust himself deeper within, touching the very core of her. Finally, with a thunderous roar blocking out all other sounds, a sun exploded within him.

As Alec arched his body above her, Fiona looked up at the god-like face of her beloved. And as he pumped his life-seed into her, it seemed as though a new universe was created.

Yesterday fair up sprang the flowers,

This day they are all slain with showers...

—William Dunbar “
This World Unstable
”

“I’m with child, Alec!”

He laughed heartily before lifting her into his arms. Smiling into Fiona’s tear-filled eyes, Alec held her close. “So does that explain the retching? The light-headedness? The falling asleep at dinner?”

“Aye, my love. Are you ready for eight more months of such delightful companionship? Not to mention my ever-expanding presence?”

“Absolutely. I’ll cherish every moment of it, even the retching.” Alec looked at her playfully. “In fact, I’ve been feeling a bit queasy myself. I wonder if I—”

“If you’re looking for sympathy from me—”

Alec whirled her around in his arms as his lips devoured her smiling mouth.

“But to tell the truth, I knew it.”

“And how might that be?”

“Nanna told me.”

“Before she told me?” Fiona took him by the chin. “Is she another woman whom you’ve charmed into swooning at your feet?”

“No one else matters but you.” Alec took her hand from his chin and tenderly kissed her palm. “But when are you going to swoon at my feet.”

Fiona stood on her tiptoes and put her arms around his neck. “Considering what I’m carrying, I’d say I already have,” she cooed, kissing his chin.

“Willingly?” he asked, brushing his lips across hers.

“Wholeheartedly!”

It had never mattered to him before about having a bairn, an heir for the Macpherson holdings. In fact, a lot of things had never mattered before. But now, with Fiona, life was not the same. She had captured his heart and his soul. He wanted to have children with her. He wanted bairns conceived in her womb. Offspring that would bloom and grow. A part of them both that could carry their love forward toward eternity.

As Fiona snuggled comfortably against his chest, she could hear his heart beating strongly. She thought of how much her life had changed since she left Skye. She thought of her friends whom she’d left behind. Of the prioress, whose advice had been so valuable, so true, in keeping her from becoming a nun. She knew now that she belonged beside Alec, wherever he was. But there was still the matter of Drummond Castle.

Fiona’s fingers caressed the muscles of his encircling arm.

“Alec?” she questioned, pulling her head back and looking up into his deep blue eyes. “You’ll still take me there, won’t you?”

Fiona had thrilled with the realization that she was carrying a child. Both Nanna and Elizabeth had been so positive and so affirming that morning in their agreement and their advice. But as Fiona considered the prospect of having a bairn, that thrill was tempered by a tinge of anxiety about what she had yet to face.

After all, their trip to Drummond Castle had been delayed until the details of the queen’s agreement with Lord Gray could be worked out. In truth, Fiona didn’t care if her uncle kept the place. She certainly didn’t want a feud on her hands. Her interest only lay in going back to search for the truth. But based on all she was hearing about court politics, things were becoming quite involved. It had become apparent that Fiona needed to accept her rightful inheritance formally, for if she didn’t, the question of how much more she wanted would still be left unanswered. As the king’s daughter, now married to one of the most powerful warriors in all Scotland, Fiona simply had to put an end to such speculation. The Crown was not what she was after.

Alec had been busy conferring with his father when the messenger had arrived from court. After reading the letter, he’d gone directly to Fiona with the message folded and tucked into his belt.

Now, standing in their chamber with the late summer breeze wafting lazily through the open windows, he was both relieved and excited about their news, and about the future. All that was left was to get through the affair at Drummond Castle, so they could get on with their lives.

“Are you certain you’ll be fit to travel, love?” he teased.

“I’m as healthy as a horse. Alec, it’s important that I—”

“We’re leaving for Drummond Castle in two days.”

Fiona stopped and looked up into his handsome face. As she did, the apprehension she’d been feeling about whether the pregnancy would interfere with her desire to go there simply melted away. His blues eyes were warm and reassuring.

“This message arrived a few moments ago,” Alec said, pulling the folded missive from his belt.

Fiona took the letter that he held out to her, and looked at the wax seal. A two-headed eagle, surrounded by a circle of raised dots. She looked up questioningly at Alec as she unfolded the document.

“Lord Gray,” he said, responding to her unanswered question. Fiona scanned the contents as Alec continued to speak. “It appears he is putting on a banquet to celebrate your return. He is going to turn Drummond Castle and its lands over to you officially. And apparently the queen will be present for the event.”

“And we’re going,” she said soberly. Finally, she would have the opportunity she had been waiting for. Perhaps finally justice would be done. Fiona turned her gaze to Alec. “Do you think my uncle hates me? After what happened with Kathryn? And now taking his home away from him?”

“Drummond was never his, Fiona. That place has always belonged to you. Your grandfather made that very clear before his death. And as far as your uncle is concerned, he has wealth of his own. And in my opinion, I think he and his daughter both are getting better than they deserve. Kathryn Gray should be wasting away in some dungeon for what she tried to do.”

“Please, Alec, let’s forget about her,” she pleaded. “She is out of our lives for good.” Kathryn was not the one who worried her. There was still that someone else, the person paying Neil to kidnap her. But she didn’t want to think of that now. Fiona knew that all those questions would be answered once she had her mother’s hidden packet.

“Alec…” Fiona paused, looking for the right words. “Can you get along with him? My uncle?”

“Nay, my love. Not in this life.”

“Could you try? For my sake? He is the only family connection I have with my past.”

Alec cringed at the thought of having to be civil to the man. Their last meeting had almost ended with the drawing of swords. It had been Huntly who’d saved the man’s neck, barely stopping certain bloodshed.

“Alec?”

“I’ll try. Only for you.”

As the light of the dying moon washed over them, Alec stirred from the depths of his slumber only long enough to gather his beloved tightly to him.

Again he felt them around him. Pushing at him. And then they stopped. Standing back, they peered vacantly. Faces. The same, familiar, nameless faces. Alec pushed past and then the path opened through them.

He was walking with the king. Alec turned to speak to King James, but no words came. He looked behind them. There was nothing left of where he’d been. All had disappeared. The faces. The past. Gone. Thick mist, like the spray of an ocean surge, had washed away every trace.

The king smiled at the warrior and nodded ahead. A door.

Alec heard the voice. It was the old porter’s voice.

“Your angel awaits.”

Alec turned and looked at the king. The old man stood with him. He followed their gaze to where the door was opening, beckoning. The light beyond was spilling through.

“The evil is nigh, Alec Macpherson. Deliver her from the foe. The fiend is lurking.

Alec looked at the two men, unsure of who spoke the words. But he ran. He ran.

Drummond Castle loomed on the first and taller of two ridges, and the Macpherson entourage circled east from the little stone and thatch village, around the high gray walls to the imposing arched entrance. Craning her neck from her study of the warlike edifice, Fiona looked out at broad, rolling valley stretching out to the south, and at the blanket of gray mist that lay so heavily upon it.

Here, on the ridge, the brilliant rays had burned through the fog, and the sky showed pale blue around a warm and hazy sun, but Fiona’s hands were clammy and cold. After all that had occurred, after all the waiting, she felt no thrill at returning to her childhood home, only the distress of facing the vague unknown, and a sharp burning sensation just below her heart that would not go away. Fiona gnawed at her lip as the horses labored up the hill toward the castle.

For the past hour, she’d been hoping for some glimmer of recognition of the place of her early childhood, but nothing had struck her until this moment. There was a sense of familiarity in this view that swept through her, but Fiona still could not really say that she remembered any of it. She shifted in her saddle, restless and disconcerted, but she told herself things would be different once they were inside the keep’s gates.

Coming up to the large, flat space between the castle and the heavily wooded ridge just beyond it, the travelers were met with the sight of tents and soldiers and the smoke of cooking fires. The area was alive with the activities of warriors at leisure, of men passing the time in friendly sport and competition, and the sounds of bagpipes and laughter mingled with the ringing sound of steel.

Fiona looked at the loud and widespread festivities. All this just for turning over a place that only carried one memory. One very sad memory for a very young child.

Turning away from the amiable shouts of greeting and challenge, the Macpherson retinue climbed the hill toward the gates. Gazing over at Fiona, Alec reached over and squeezed her damp and ice-cold hand. She looked up at him, a tinge of uncertainty flickering across her face.

“Everything will be fine,” he said reassuringly, noting her discomfort.

Together they rode across the dry moat over the heavy wooden drawbridge and into the castle close, their horses’ hooves clattering loudly as they entered the large open yard paved with cobblestones. The select number of Macpherson warriors who had been chosen to accompany them filled the space around them, and they all dismounted as a small group of men came out into the close to greet them.

Fiona recognized no one but Lord Huntly. And then she spotted a tall well-built man with a shock of white hair who was crossing quickly to them. He smiled broadly and opened his arms to the newcomers. His tartan was clasped with a broach of gold: A double-headed eagle, surrounded by a circle of red rubies.

Her uncle. This was her uncle.

“Well, little Fiona with the fiery hair has returned home at last,” Lord Gray called out in a warm voice as he came directly to her and clasped her in his arms. “Well done. Watching you make your way up the ridge, I knew I would have recognized my beautiful niece—anywhere, anyplace, anytime. Do you remember me, little one?”

Fiona stepped back and looked into the man’s rugged face. His eyes mirrored the light summer sky and sparkled as he looked on her.

“I’m afraid...just too many years have passed.”

“Don’t fear. We’ll have plenty of time to catch up on those long-lost years. Welcome again, my dear. Welcome to your new home.”

“Thank you uncle,” she said, feeling Alec’s hands alight on her shoulders.

“Like her mother, a truly beautiful woman,” Gray said softly, almost to himself. Looking up at Alec, he nodded, and his voice became cooler. “Well, Macpherson, like it or not, I guess this means you and I are kin after all. Welcome to Drummond Castle.”

Alec nodded in response.

From the side, Fiona felt the heat of Lord Huntly’s gaze upon her, and she turned to acknowledge him.

“Hello, Fiona,” Huntly said, bowing stiffly with one hand on the long sword that hung at his side. “Well, Alec. I see marriage agrees with you. But we need to discuss some business, if Fiona wouldn’t mind sparing you for short time.”

She looked at her husband reassuringly. She had to be cool and collected. They were here, at last. She could not afford to raise Huntly’s suspicions. Not yet. “Please go, Alec. I’ll wait for you inside.”

“Are you—”

“I’m certain.” Fiona spotted Nanna few steps behind them. “Nanna will look after me until you get back.”

“She’s among family now, Macpherson,” Lord Gray said in a firm tone. “She’ll be safe. Rest assured.”

Alec restrained himself from growling at the man. But knowing Huntly, Alec was sure he would not request such a meeting now unless it pertained to something of extreme importance, so he leaned down and kissed his wife’s cheek softly before following Huntly. But not before signaling his men to stay beside her in his absence.

The remainder of the group moved toward the stone steps leading to the open door of the castle’s main building. Fiona gazed up at the building, but still nothing was coming back to her.

Gray’s voice broke into her thoughts. “Things must look a bit different to you.”