His Bonnie Bride (37 page)

"Is that how you feel, princess?" he asked softly.

For a long time Storm did not reply, then said softly, "Aye, and I could kill him for that." She drew a deep, shaky breath. "Tell me, Papa, does the pain e'er fade?"

"Aye, it will fade, though you might still get a pang if you think on what might have been."

Storm thought that a mere pang would seem heaven next to the agony she now felt. Leaning against the strength of her father, she closed her eyes. She was so tired and she felt all torn up inside. The edge of her memories, which had begun to dull, would now be razor sharp again. She did not savor the bleeding that would cause.

Later, as Eldon lay in his bed, Elaine snuggled up in his arms, Storm's words echoed in his mind, stirring his curiosity as to the depth of their truth. "Elaine?"

"Mmmm?" She lifted her head from his chest to look at him. "I thought you were asleep."

"Nay." He brushed the hair from her face. "Answer me true, Elaine. Do not fear that I seek to judge. Storm said something on our return from Caraidland, and her words prey upon me. I need to know if 'tis really true."

"Then ask what you will, Roden. You will have naught but the truth from me."

"When I am not with you do you want me in the night? Do you feel a need for my loving and ache because 'tis not there? Do you hunger, and does it grow until you could bed another man, any man, just to ease the hunger if only your heart and mind would let you? Do you think on the loving and ache for it?"

"Aye," she replied quietly. "Did you think I would cease to want simply because you were gone from me? Aye, Roden, I ache, I burn and I hunger until I fear to go mad." She smiled a little when he enfolded her in his arms, holding her tightly. "I can judge how bad I have grown by where my eyes rest whene'er I see a man." She laughed with him, relieved that he saw the humor of her remark.

Eldon grew serious again. "When I return do you wonder whom my lips have tasted or my hands have touched? Do you think that I have found greater pleasure mayhaps with some other woman? E'en if you know 'tis but a whore and my use of her callous, does it hurt to think another has held me if only briefly? Do you think upon me easing a base need but see it as me giving another pleasure, the pleasure you crave but cannot have because you lie alone?"

"Aye, and I could kill you for it at times," she said softly. "Then when you return I fear to show you the full strength of my hunger, thinking 'twould repulse you just as I fear you will not be able to meet it, for you have eased your own while you were away." Her hand idly caressed his broad chest as she spoke.

"Since the time I almost lost you there has been no other woman, none, not even when we have been long apart. I have feared that I would frighten you with the strength of my hunger so have held back," he said in quiet wonder, and then tossed her onto her back. "Just how hungry are you now? 'Tis my first night home for days and ere that you had your woman's time."

"Ah, well, if you think of it as a meal, I have barely finished the first course." She laughed as, with a growl, he kissed her, and her last clear thought was " 'God bless you, Storm. I hope Tavis MacLagan is wise enough to know what a treasure he could have in you.' "

Tavis MacLagan sat drinking and cursing Storm Eldon in as many colorful ways as his ale-soddened mind could come up with. He was prone to cursing a vast number of other people as well, including his kinsmen who sat at the table, wondering if they would have to carry him to his bed. Under all his anger lay a gnawing hurt and a deep concern for the tiny woman who would soon bear his child. In truth, he was afraid of her.

"God's beard," he muttered, glaring into his ale. "The first time I didnae speak and the second time no one would let me. It seems I am fated to e'er see her ride away with that cursed Eldon."

Colin smothered a laugh. "The man does seem to e'er be about. Aye, an I had a daughter like Storm, I would be quick to horse too. The lass does seem to have a way o' getting into the thick o' it."

"Matters might have gone more smoothly had ye not had your hands all o'er that bitch, Katerine."

Slamming his tankard down on the table, Tavis snarled, "Was I to become a monk, Sholto? There was no reason to think Storm would return or e'en send word. Should I sit and pine like some untried boy?" He slouched in his chair, looking very much like a sulky little boy. "She isnae pining for me."

" 'Tis certain that I have no great opinion of the Sassanach gentlemen, but I cannae see them hovering o'er a woman whose belly is swollen with child, another man's child," Iain said dryly, and laughed at the expressions crossing his brother's face. "Aye, and a Scotsman's bairn as well."

Confusion had changed to realization and then rage inside of Tavis. "Blood and thunder, she did it to me again."

"Nay, ye do it to yourself, lad," Colin said. " 'Tis easy to see the lass isnae wanton, that she wouldnae hop from man to man, but ye always think the worst. She but plays on that. If ye mean to get her back, ye are going to have to curb your temper, not let her goad ye so."

Finishing his drink, Tavis stood up. "Ye're right. An I stay calm, she will have to listen to me in the end and then she will see that here is where she belongs." He strode out of the hall with a gait that was amazingly steady considering the amount of drink he had consumed, adding as he went out the door, "If that doesnae work I will simply drag the wench back here by the hair."

Three weeks passed, winter settling in with an intermittent vengeance. Storm awakened on a stormy morning, instinct telling her that she was going to continue to follow in her mother's footsteps. She had not felt comfortable for many a morning, but somehow this discomfort was different. Nevertheless, with her maid's assistance, Storm rose, dressed and made her way down to the hall. She had seen, even aided in the birth of enough babies to know that there were many hours yet before her work really began.

By the time the evening meal was laid out, she knew she could no longer hide the fact that she was in labor. Elaine and a number of the women serving in the keep had been watching her so closely that Storm felt sure they would not be surprised. She found it slightly amusing that, due to the celebration of Andrew's birthday, the Fosters were now caught at Hagaleah by the storm. The Fosters and the Eldons always seemed to be together when something momentous happened in either family.

It was not simply maternal pride that made Storm think of her child's birth as momentous. In but hours, the blood of two warring factions would burst forth united in one living entity. The future heir to the MacLagan stronghold would call the lord of Hagaleah grandfather or, in the far future, uncle. She realized she had continued to be certain that she would have a boy, and smiled crookedly. It would hardly surprise her, what with Colin having three sons and her father having six. Daughters were the rarity in both families.

"Papa," she said, and then had to clench her teeth as a strong contraction gripped her, revealing that her child's patience had finally run out.

Silence fell, and every eye was turned toward Storm. Roden Eldon needed no more than one all-encompassing glance to tell him the baby was on its way. He soon had his servants working with the precision of his troops. As Storm tried to stand with Elaine's help, he strode over and picked her up.

"I have grown a bit large of late, Papa," Storm protested as he carried her along.

"Left it a bit late to tell us 'twas time," he growled as he mounted the stairs to her rooms.

Gasping slightly from the pain of another contraction, she said, "I thought I had hours yet."

"So did your mother and, an I had not taken the stairs two at a time with her in my arms, you could well have been born upon the very table we were seated at tonight."

As soon as he had lain Storm down upon her bed, Elaine tried to get him to leave, saying, "There is naught for you to do, Roden. 'Tis woman's work from here on.

Lord Eldon looked scornfully at the young girls bustling around. "Bah! I have brought more babes into the world with these two hands than they have. Begone, the lot of you. I want none here but Lady Elaine, Hilda and myself." He smiled with grim amusement as the maids fled the room.

Though it was hard to speak with Hilda vigorously removing her clothes and her contractions gaining in strength, Storm said, "Someday they will realize that you are all snarl and no bite, Papa."

"If they discover it, I will send them packing," he said as he sat on the bed beside her.

When her next contraction came she was glad of her father's large hand holding hers, and clung to its strength. For a moment she wished he was Tavis, but she forced that thought away. It was no time for sadness or weakening longings. Bringing her child safely into the world would require all her strength and concentration. She could not waste it upon a man who was not there nor wanted to be.

Seeking to help her keep alert and, with luck, distracted from the pain, Eldon began to tell her tales of his time in France. A number of the tales were not the sort to tell a gently bred lady, but even Hilda refrained from protesting when she saw how well they kept Storm from being caught up in her own pain. Eldon knew that it was more than her pain he had to keep his daughter's thoughts from, that one Tavis MacLagan could not be allowed to haunt her. It was not easy, for he was on the minds of them all.

"Bearing a child lacks a certain dignity," Storm drawled as Hilda and Elaine peered between her legs yet again.

Roden laughed. "Most definitely. It will not be long now, Storm. Follow the pain, sweeting. Do not fight against it, for that only makes it harder to bear." He gently bathed her face with a cool, damp cloth.

" 'Tis torture upon my back," she ground out. "Must I lie so? Can it not be done another way?"

"Well, a horse stands, but you could kill the babe when he slid out." Lord Roden grinned when Storm gave a weak laugh. "Mayhaps if you got up upon your knees. 'Twould ease your back."

Hilda and Elaine protested but were ignored. It was awkward, but Storm was soon upon her knees, her father sitting before her to give her both support and something to cling to. Elaine complained that it was not easy to see what was happening, but she admitted that they could manage well enough. Storm was far too pleased to have the pressure off her back to really care if she inconvenienced anyone.

"Papa, an anything should go wrong ..." she said weakly as the pains began to blend together.

"Do not speak so, child," Roden scolded softly, hiding his own very real concern, for she was so tiny and the labor was taking so long. " 'Tis bad luck, I am certain."

"Nay, I must say it. 'Twill ease my mind.

Ye must take the child to Tavis. He may be a rogue inclined to toss up near every skirt he spies, but he will be a very good father. E'en for a girl. Swear it?"

"Aye, sweeting, though there is no need. 'Tis merely that you grow weary." The sound of the wind pounding against the walls came to his ears, and he smiled faintly. " 'Twill be as it was with your mother. It was storming thus when you came into the world. Hilda and I were there to hear your first cry. 'Tis fitting we will do the same for your babe. A grandchild. I begin to feel my years."

"Never that, Papa. Ye will e'er be young. Ye will no doubt be spry and sour for your grandchildren's children."

"God forbid. Push now, Storm," he urged even as he felt her whole body begin to work.

Faintly, Storm realized that she no longer had control. Nature and her body's instincts held the reins. The pain was there, yet she was not fully aware of it. All she did know was the need to push, to strain with every ounce of strength she had and more. Every inch of her was concentrated on birthing her child. She knew when the baby was free of her body and held her breath with the others until a lusty wail filled the room.

"A sturdy boy, Storm," Eldon announced in a slightly unsteady voice.

Too tired to speak, Storm nodded and smiled, but even as she did, she knew something was wrong. The contractions should have ceased, yet they were still as strong as ever. Her belly worked as if it still meant to expel a child. She looked at her father's weary face, confusion easy to read upon her own.

"Something is wrong," she gasped, and watched all the color fade from her father's face. "I do not feel finished."

Eldon's hands went to her stomach, finding it still hard and large, contractions rippling through it. For a moment he was stunned into speechlessness. Elaine and Hilda sprang to life, and he laughed shakily.

"You are not finished. There is yet another to be born. I should have realized, you carried so heavy. Be strong, little one, this must surely be the last. Then you can rest and enjoy your accomplishment."

After her daughter was born Storm thought collapse was what she did, not rest. She stayed limp, her gaze fixed upon her babies as she was washed, the linen changed upon her bed and a clean nightdress put on her. When they were put to her breast one at a time tears filled her eyes. Her heart was filled with a loving wonder even as it was tattered by the pain loving their father had brought her.

The boy had a thick crop of reddish hair, and she knew she would be impatient to see what color eyes he would have. Her daughter had a mass of black hair and, again, she was anxious to know what color the eyes would be. Although smaller than her brother, the girl looked no less healthy.

" 'Tis like Tavis and I reversed," she said softly as the twins were laid in the cradle, and then she met her father's worried eyes. "Do not worry. I will survive." She closed her eyes with a sigh, feeling sleep come up on her like some unstoppable tidal wave. "God, I could have loved him so."

Lord Eldon brushed the hair from her sleeping face. "You will yet, sweeting. You will yet."

"Do you really think that, Roden?" Elaine asked softly as she moved to his side.

"Aye, and if Storm had not been so blinded by past hurts she would think it too." He shook his head. "He had no chance in hell of softening her the day they wed, for she caught him in an embrace with the woman who had shared his bed before her." He put an arm around Elaine's shoulders.