Highland Grace (12 page)

Jesslyn smiled and looked down. “Well. In
fact, the babe’s been quite active this day.” She put her hand on
top of his and shifted it. “There! Do you feel it? Tap...tap.”

Bao grinned and nodded. “Aye, she’s a
restless wee thing, is she not?”

“Aye,” Jesslyn replied. “You think the babe’s
a lass?” she asked, surprise tingeing her voice.

Bao shrugged. “I know not, it just seems my
likely fate. But a son would be welcome as well.” He kissed the top
of her head and said, “I ordered a meal be sent up here in about an
hour; I’m sure ‘twill include quite a bit of what was offered at
table earlier.”

Her smile broadened. “Good, I’m famished.”
She tilted her head back and to the side, looking up at him, “I am
so sorry for how I behaved earlier. I honestly don’t understand
what’s wrong with me. I’m usually much more reserved.”

Bao lifted his hand to her cheek and held her
chin in the palm of his hand. “‘Tis the babe. I understand. And, I
beg you, don’t fret over it a moment longer.”

Her eyes darkened and then she surprised the
hell out of him when she looped her arm around the back of his head
and brought him down to meet her open mouth. She kissed him
ravenously, tugging on his bottom lip with her teeth and then
soothing it with her tongue. God, how he wanted to take this to its
natural conclusion. But ‘twas too soon, and she needed her
rest.

By an act of pure will, he managed to draw
his lips from hers. Breathing hard, he pressed his cheek to her
forehead. “That was incredible,” he said gruffly. “But mayhap I
should brush your hair now.”

She nodded and he turned her back around.
After he grabbed the brush off of the table next to the bed, he
said, “Move forward a bit so I have room to work.”

She nodded again and did as he requested.

Bao leaned forward and kissed the back of her
head, running his hand down her arm. “You are so…”—he breathed her
in—“lovely.” Setting the brush to the side a moment he wrapped his
arms around her and pulled her back to rest against his chest once
more, pressing his cheek to her crown. “I will never hurt you
again, Jesslyn.”

“I’m beginning to believe that.” She sighed.
“Just a bit more time...all right?”

Bao nodded, rubbing his cheek against the
soft hair on top of her head. “Aye, whatever you need.”

* * *

Callum and his bride, Lara, arrived the day
before the
Hogmanay
feast. Jesslyn was the only one in the
great hall at the time of their arrival, having awakened later than
usual. She had just finished breaking her fast when the guests were
announced. Rising to her feet she stepped off the dais and moved to
the center of the room facing the entrance as she watched her
auburn-haired ex-betrothed escort his bride into the hall.

“‘Tis good to see you again, Jesslyn,” Callum
said, a twinkle in his emerald-green eyes. Taking both her hands in
his, he gave her a quick peck on the cheek.

Smiling with pleasure, Jesslyn replied, “Aye,
‘tis good seeing you as well.” She stood back a bit and looked from
one end of his shoulders to the other. “Lord, but you’re broader
now than you were the last we saw each other. Why, your shoulders
are the size of Daniel’s now, I trow!—have the MacGregors been
working you hard, then?”

Callum’s grin turned sheepish. He shrugged.
“I enjoy the exercise.”

“Ahhh,” she replied with a nod and a wink,
“that’s good.” Turning then to his bride, she said, “And you are
Lara. You’re as beautiful as Daniel and Bao told us you were.” The
lady was of medium height and several years older than Jesslyn,
mayhap twenty-five summers. But her skin was clear and white, with
just the right amount of color to her cheeks. She’d forgone wearing
a veil, simply placing a gold filet over the crown of her
chestnut-colored curls. A vanity of hers, it seemed. Her eyes were
almond-shaped and a darker hue of blue than Jesslyn’s, her features
delicate. Tho’ she was older than her husband by several years, her
beauty matched his own fine looks quite well. They made a pretty
pair, Jesslyn decided.

“My thanks, you are kind to say so,” Lara
replied stiltedly, removing her mantle and handing it to a
servant.

Jesslyn’s gaze dipped momentarily to Lara’s
quite-rounded stomach and her eyes widened in shock. She quickly
composed her features before lifting her gaze once more to the
lady’s countenance. She shouldn’t be further along than Jesslyn was
herself, Callum having only met and wed her around the same time as
Jesslyn and Bao had had their tryst, yet she looked to be a good
seven moons into her childing state.

* * *

Lara smirked at the flaxen-haired beauty
Callum had been waxing lyrical about for many days now. Evidently,
she had no knowledge of who Lara was to her.

And as far as the babe in her belly, well,
‘twas no secret that Callum hadn’t fathered it. Not any longer. And
‘twas no secret that she’d been forced to wed him because of it. Of
course, Callum hadn’t been told of the babe prior to their wedding;
after all, their union had been arranged merely as a means of
negotiating peace between her clan, the Gordons, and his clan, the
MacGregors. Her father, Laird Gordon, had thought it a nice trick
to hand over his strumpet of a daughter and her bastard babe to the
clan that had been a thorn in his side since they’d been allotted
the holding by the king. The holding, that according to their royal
survey said they owned the rights to a particular tract of land,
and according to the MacGregor’s older royal survey said the
MacGregor’s owned rights to it.

Lara smirked even more when she saw Jesslyn’s
cheeks flame with embarrassment before she asked, “Would you care
for something to drink? Eat?”

Callum, clearly oblivious to the exchange
between her and Jesslyn, looked around the hall, saying, “Nay, we
broke our fast earlier. Is Daniel still on the training field?”

Jesslyn nodded. “Aye, he and Bao both
are.”

Grinning, Callum said, “Bao? He’s here as
well, then?”

Lara’s eyebrow rose in interest. Bao? Bao
Xiong? The most popular and exclusive male whore at court? The one
who’d given her her first set of orgasms? The man whom she’d paid
to do so again every year since? How amusing. This visit, which
she’d believed would be dull, might just turn out to be quite
interesting after all. This past summer, when she’d discovered that
he was a member of the Maclean clan and an integral part of the
peace negotiations between the Gordons and the MacGregors, her
interest had been piqued. She’d tried her best to gain a moment in
privy with him before her wedding, but he and that brother of his
had never left Callum’s side. But this time, she’d surely have more
opportunity. And she intended to take full advantage of it. She’d
not told Callum of his cousin’s secret occupation, of course. She’d
found in her life that juicy tidbits should be hoarded, not
recklessly shared. They often turned into easy means of obtaining
her own ends.

An old woman, whom she assumed to be Callum’s
grandmother came into the hall just then with an impishly lovely
dark-haired lass trailing a bit behind. Her face beaming with
pleasure, the old woman cried, “Callum, my dear!” With arms
outstretched, she propelled herself into his embrace.

Callum hugged her and gave her a kiss on the
cheek before pulling back and giving her a long perusal. “How fare
you? Are you well? I trow, you’ve more gray than black to your
hair, even since the summer,” he teased.

“My hair is precisely the same color as the
last time you saw me,” the old woman said, tweaking his nose. But
then, with a grin, she said, “Aye, I’m well. Tho’ better still, now
that you’ve arrived.” She turned her gaze to Lara. “So this is your
bride, then.” Once again, Lara saw instant shock quickly hidden
behind a mask of civility. “What a pretty lass you are! Come, give
me a kiss on the cheek.”

“Good morn, Grandmother Maclean,” she said.
She moved forward and did as the old woman asked, nearly gagging
when she caught the pungent scent of oil of juniper on the woman’s
skin.

Then Callum took Lara by the elbow and said,
“And this fine lass is my cousin Branwenn. She’s sister to Daniel
and Bao.”

Lara’s eyebrow quirked. “Good morn,” she
said.
This must be the lass for whom that blasted stepbrother of
mine pines! Would he not drool to know I’ve found her at
last!

The lass dipped her head in a brief courtesy.
“Good morn,” she replied. She turned to Callum then, the wide grin
on her countenance making the dimples in her cheeks more
pronounced, and thrust out her hand, palm-side down. “You may kiss
it, if you wish. I promise not to wipe it off this time.”

* * *

Callum saw Jesslyn’s hand fly to her mouth as
she silently laughed into it and his jaw tensed.

Forcing a good-natured chuckle, he took
Branwenn’s outstretched hand, raised it to his lips and placed a
courtly kiss on the appendage. Lifting his eyes to her face, he
said, hoping to goad her, “Was it better this time, or shall I try
another?”

She jerked her hand from his grasp. “Nay, no
need. You’ve improved greatly.”

Callum nodded, trying hard to hide his
irritation. Her sharp tongue hadn’t dulled over the past moons, as
he’d hoped when he’d seen her ladylike manner as she’d entered with
his Grandmother. For some unknown reason, she pricked his pride in
a way that no one else had ever done. Callum turned back to his
grandmother and said, “Will Maryn be joining us soon?”

“Nay, lad, she will not. She’s been abed the
past two days. Her feet and ankles have become so swollen that
Daniel thought it best for her to keep them raised and not exert
herself other than walking around her chamber. She’s due any day
now, you know.”

“Aye, I remember. And knowing Maryn, she’s as
chafed as an old bear. Will we be allowed to visit her in her
chamber? I’d like to introduce her to Lara.”

His grandmother nodded. “Aye. Maryn would
never forgive us if we kept you from it.”

“Do you mind if we do so now? Then, if it
please you, I’d like to leave my fair Lara with you and go out on
the training field to meet with Daniel and Bao.”

His grandmother took Lara’s hand. “Aye,
that’s a sound plan.”

Callum bowed to his three hosts and took his
wife’s hand, leading her from the hall.

* * *

After the two were well away, Lady Maclean
said, “The size of the lass’s belly doesn’t fit the length of time
she’s known my grandson. Something is amiss, and I intend to find
it out.”

“Aye, I thought the same thing,” Jesslyn
said. “And she’s a bit churlish as well.”

“But very beautiful,” Branwenn said softly.
“Did you see the gemstones lining the neckline and sleeves of her
saffron gown? They looked to be sapphires and rubies.”

“Aye, and ‘twas woven of the finest silk.
She’s evidently used to a much more luxurious lifestyle than ours,”
Lady Maclean said.

“Or, mayhap, she simply wanted to look her
best upon meeting you for the first time, Grandmother,” Jesslyn
said, feeling a bit guilty for speaking poorly of Callum’s new
wife. Deciding it best to give the lady the benefit of the doubt
for the time being, she continued, “Mayhap what I perceived as
bitterness of nature was only nervousness.”

“Nay, there is arrogance there, and treachery
as well,” Lady Maclean said. “I don’t believe that Callum was made
aware of her condition prior to the union, else the rest of us
would have known before now as well.”

“‘Tis curious that Callum didn’t send us a
missive telling us of his wife’s childing state,” Branwenn said.
“And did you notice that neither one of them brought up the
subject?”

Jesslyn nodded. ”Aye, which is why I thought
it best not to mention my own condition. And I was proved right
when, even after Grandmother Maclean spoke of the pending birth of
Daniel and Maryn’s babe, they still said naught.”

“Aye, but your condition is not as obvious
yet. It could easily be taken as the result of too many berry
tarts,” Branwenn said.

“My thanks,” Jesslyn replied
sarcastically.

“Not at all,” Branwenn rejoined.

Lady Maclean clearly too caught up in her
worry over Callum, ignored the interaction, saying once again,
“
Something
is amiss.”

* * *

“I never thought I’d say this but, cousin,
I’m glad now that Laird Donald foiled my scheme to wed Maryn. She’s
much too difficult for my disposition,” Callum jested later as he
stood next to Daniel and Bao in the courtyard outside the lower
bailey where the training field lay.

Daniel grinned. “Aye, she’s beautiful, but
she’s deadly,” he said.

“Aye,
hugely
so.”

Daniel narrowed his eyes at his cousin.
“Pardon?”

“But in a good way,” Callum added, raising
his hands to shield his face.

Daniel nodded. “Exactly. And you deceive
yourself if you think your own wife will not be just as hard to
deal with in her last days before the babe arrives.”

“That’s what servants are for,” Callum said,
his tongue firmly tucked in his cheek.

“Aye, that ought to go over well with your
wife,” Daniel replied.

Bao laughed at the exchange between the two.
Daniel had told him there had been tension between them when they
first met last spring, but whatever had caused it had evidently
passed. Now they seemed content to bait each other with their sharp
wit.

Callum sobered and said, “In truth, Maryn was
very sweet to Lara, which pleased me greatly. I worried how my wife
would be received by the ladies of the household once they realized
how far into her childing state she is.”

“You should have given us some warning,
cousin.” Daniel chided. “‘Twas a bit much to ask that we not have
any negative reaction to the shock of seeing her thus.”