Page 13 of Highland Sky

“I think everythin’ frightens ye, especially me,” she had the nerve to say. Who did she think she was talking to? Nash was one of the best warriors the MacKeefe Clan had. He wasn’t afraid of anything. Especially not her!

“Believe me, the only thing that scares me about ye, is how ye look right now,” he said, continuing his game of cat and mouse with the wench.

She turned and smiled at him – or was it a sneer? “Ye can call me Witch all ye like and it willna rattle me, because I’m a warrior, just like ye. The only difference is, I am much braver.”

He shouldn’t have let that bother him, but he did. Nash didn’t like her saying such things to him, because none of them were true.

“Ye’re no’ a warrior, and ye are nothin’ like me,” he ground out. “And I wouldna call ye brave. I’d call ye stupid, walkin’ around like that.” His eyes ran down her body. “Unless, ye’re tryin’ to get ravished by every man here, ye shouldna be wanderin’ around in yer nightshift.”

“If I want to walk around naked, I dinna see what concern it is to ye.” In an obvious act of defiance, she dropped the blanket from around her, leaving her standing there barefoot and only in a thin, nearly transparent shift. The sun’s rays became stronger, and Nash realized he could see her naked body right through her shift. Perky little breasts poked out with her nubs of hardened nipples trying to burst through the fabric. She wore no braies. He could even see a blond thatch of hair at the juncture of her thighs every time the wind blew her shift tightly against her.

Nash swallowed hard, not able to look away. Her body enticed him, already making him hard. How he wished she had not done that. Then he realized if he could see this, so could everyone else.

“Kellina!” shouted her uncle, hurrying over to her. He leaned on his crutch to pick up the blanket, trying his best to secure the cloth around her shoulders and hide her nearly naked form. “Go back to the hut and find yer clothes and put them on immediately. Caitlin, take her to my cottage and help her don one of my late wife’s gowns.”

“I have my own clothes, thank ye,” she told her uncle, feeling odd about wearing the clothes of the dead.

“Nay!” the chieftain shouted. “Ye’ll no’ get married wearin’ breeches. Ye’ll put on a skirt and tunic and don the colors of Clan MacKenzie with a shawl. I’ll no’ hear another word about it. Now hurry and dress. The priest canna stay long, and the weddin’ needs to proceed as planned.”

As soon as they walked away, North came over to Nash, grinning from ear to ear. “Well, Brathair, it looks like ye decided ye like the lass after all.”

“Nay, I dinna. Why would ye even say such a thing about such a horrible wench as her?”

“Ooooh, I dinna ken.” His eyes shot downward and he chuckled before turning and walking away.

Nash looked down to see his randiness showing as his hardened manhood tented out his plaid. Damn, this was the last thing he wanted right now. How could his body be reacting this way to a woman he truly despised? What the hell was the matter with him? He hoped Kellina hadn’t noticed, because he was trying his best not to like her. Then again, his body was giving out another message completely, and it was one that he wanted more than anything to avoid.

*

“What are yegigglin’ about, Sister?” asked Kellina as she entered the stone hut where their uncle lived, closing the door behind them. The roof of this house was only partially damaged, but rays of sun shone in from the ceiling.

“Didna ye see the way Nash’s plaid poked out at his waist?” asked Caitlin. “I am sure he canna wait to bed ye, Sister.”

“Nay. That’s no’ true. He doesna even like me.” If this was true, she wondered how she had missed it. Perhaps dropping the blanket hadn’t been a good idea after all. And if it made Nash randy, how many other men out there were lusting after her right now as well?

“Mayhap it’s all an act, Sister, but I dinna see how. After all, ye did tempt him, standin’ there like . . . that.”

Kellina looked down to see the sun shining on her shift, showing her naked body clearly though the material. She only meant to defy him by dropping the blanket, but now she realized that her little trick might have only made things worse. She had no idea how transparent this nightdress really was in the bright sun.

“Losh me!” she exclaimed. “Caitlin, I didna ken he could see through my shift.”

“Everyone could, Sister. Here, put this on.” She held up a long-sleeved tunic, pulling it over Kellina’s head. Then she took a blue and green plaid skirt, and helped Kellina don that as well. “I am sure mathair wouldna mind if ye wore this. I only wish she could be here to see ye on yer weddin’ day.” Caitlin brushed away a tear.

“Lorna was no’ our mathair,” she told her sister, walking over to the trunk to look for the shawl. “She was our aunt, and ye ken it. Dinna call her that, please.”’

“Lorna is the only mathair that Jamie and I remember.” Caitlin picked up a boar-bristle hairbrush and ran it over Kellina’s head. “We would call Ciaran, Faither, but we ken it would make ye so upset, therefore we dinna do it.”

“I remember mathair as well as faither,” said Kellina. “And they were nothin’ at all like Ciaran and Lorna.” Her heart felt suddenly heavy. “I miss Mathair and Da, Caitlin. I was young, but still have the vision of them lying dead in a puddle of blood on the back of a wagon. It is stuck in my head, and I canna forget it.” Anger as well as sadness flashed through her. “I saw what the MacKeefes did to them. If ye had seen it, too, ye would be offerin’ to help me kill the MacKeefes in retaliation.”

“Nay.” Caitlin didn’t agree with her. “I’m no’ sayin’ it was right of them to do it, but it was a long time ago, Kellina. It’s no’ right to want to kill anyone, unless it is in self-defense. I’m sure Nash and his brathair and even his friend were no’ responsible for the deaths of our parents. They were young at the time, too. Ye need to forgive the MacKeefes, Sister. Ye are about to be married to one of them.”

“Caitlin! What is the matter with ye?” asked Kellina. “Sometimes I canna believe ye are my sister. We think in such different ways.”

The door opened and Jamie stuck his head inside the room. “Everyone is waitin’ and the priest has to leave soon. Hurry up, Sister. Ye are holdin’ up the weddin’.”

“Fine!” Kellina threw her hands in the air, marching out to marry a man she didn’t know or love. It seemed silly to her to try to make an alliance with the MacKeefes. She didn’t want to do it. However, she had no choice, so she would hold her head high and bravely go through with this horrible, life-changing plan.

*