Page 21 of Highland Sky

“He’s right, Sister,” said Caitlin. “Ye need to honor the agreement and do what is expected. If no’, we will all pay for it when the MacKeefes find out ye went back on yer word.”

“But it wasna my word!” cried Kellina. “I didna ken anythin’ about this, and neither did I agree to it.”

“Neither did I,” interrupted Nash, stepping forward and holding out his hand. “We dinna have a choice, lass. Yer clan needs ye, and I need to honor the agreement as well, or I will always be an outcast. Let’s do what we need to do and stop frettin’ about it.”

Kellina’s heart beat wildly as she looked out at the rest of the clan watching her with hope in their eyes. She couldn’t let them down. Not after everything they’d been through. Then she looked at Nash’s hand. Here was the hand of a MacKeefe – a man from the clan who was responsible for the deaths of her parents. She didn’t want him for a husband, and she really didn’t want to get intimate with him either. Mayhap she should have killed him today on the roof when she’d had the chance. She didn’t know what to do.

“Please, lass,” said Nash, smiling at her. “I’m no’ so bad once ye get to ken me.”

“He is a pushover with the lassies,” called out North, taking a swig of ale. “Plus, he’s nothin’ like a goat in bed. Or at least, I dinna think so. He does snore like a beastie though, just to warn ye.”

North’s jesting broke the tension. Kellina realized that she had to do this in order to help her clan. She didn’t want to couple with a MacKeefe, but neither did she want the clan to lose hope and blame her for anything bad that might happen in the future.

“All right,” she said with a sigh, pushing away his hand. “But I can walk on my own.” She turned and headed to the infirmary, not wanting to touch him on the way to their wedding bed.

The clan talked happily amongst themselves. In a way, she felt like this sacrifice on her part would be worth it. She had to help rebuild the hope as well as the physical parts of her clan. She hated this, and was sure she’d hate every minute of the MacKeefe touching her, but hopefully it would end quickly. She’d seen his erection poking out from under his plaid earlier. If he was like every other man, he’d be sated before she even knew it began. Mayhap she could endure this . . . but only for one night and not more.

She walked into the infirmary, followed by Nash.

“Shall I light a lantern?” he asked, but she decided doing this in the dark would be better.

“Dinna bother,” she told him, seeing the light of the moon shining in the open roof right above the bed. They’d managed to put part of the roof up, but it was still open to the sky since it wasn’t finished yet.

“All right,” she heard him say as he closed the door behind them. Kellina’s arms closed around her in a protective manner as she took a few steps toward the bed.

“I suppose I could fix this quickly.” Nash bent down to inspect the ropes that had held up the mattress, but had snapped when he fell on the bed through the roof earlier.

“Nay. Dinna bother. We can use it the way it is.” Her body trembled, thinking of what she had to do next. She didn’t want him to fuss with the bed ropes because she just wanted this over with as quickly as possible. Every minute she had to wait made her more and more nervous.

“All right then,” said Nash, clearing his throat. “I suppose we should . . . get undressed?”

Kellina let out a deep sigh, closing her eyes and whimpering slightly.

“Let me help ye, lassie.” His gentle hands were on her arms and he pulled them apart so he could untie her tunic at the neck. She kept her eyes closed as he pulled it up and over her head. Then his hands went to her waist, but she pushed them away and opened her eyes.

“I’ll get the breeches. Just get undressed so we can get this over with as fast as possible.”

“Now, that’s no’ somethin’ a lassie has ever said to me before.” He frowned and turned around to undress as she pulled off the rest of her clothes and stood there naked in the light of the moon. She heard the rustle of his clothes as they hit the floor. When he turned around and headed toward her, she crossed her arms over her chest again and squeezed her eyes shut.

“Just make it quick.” She heard the quaver of her voice, and wondered if he could hear the rapid drumming of her racing heart.

“Lass. Kellina,” he said softly. “Please, open yer eyes.”

She slowly opened one eye and then the other, almost gasping when she saw his manly beauty bathed in the soft bluish-white light of the moon that spilled inside the building from the open roof.

Nash’s long, brown hair was loose and fell over his broad shoulders. It led to a very sturdy chest with just a smattering of dark curly hairs. Curiosity overcame her, and she let her gaze drop lower. She drank in his tight abs, feeling her resistance lowering with her eyes as she saw the curly hair lower, below his waist. Then she noticed his manhood straight and hard, lit up by the luminous moon.

“Oh!” she cried, wondering if it would hurt when he penetrated her with that large object of lust.

“It’s all right, lass. Dinna be afraid. I promise I willna hurt ye. Now give me yer hand.”

Slowly, she uncrossed her arms, giving him her hand, allowing him to see her nakedness as well.

He wasn’t shy about looking. “God’s eyes, ye are bonnie,” he whispered as he perused her nakedness from head to foot. Then his eyes traveled back up to her face again.

“Can I kiss ye, lass?” He asked her permission, which she thought odd since they were married now.

“If it’s necessary,” she said, keeping her jaw firm. She still didn’t want to do this.