Highland Master

chapter 15



Catriona’s first thought as she watched Donald and Alex enter with their attendants was that the friar looked too shabby to be performing a wedding.

She wore a gown of soft tawny velvet, and Fin looked particularly fine in a green velvet doublet and darker green hose that she had not seen him wear before. All the talk of their consummation and the thought of coupling with him had stirred her curiosity again. When he looked at her, she felt suddenly shy.

She had no time to think after that, because the friar said to Fin, “We’ll begin at once if ye please, sir. The ceremony be short, and the Mackintosh said that nae one wants to sit through a nuptial mass. We’ll eat when we’re done here, he said.”

Rothesay, having moved near enough to overhear him, chuckled and said in his usual, carrying voice, “Everyone, gather round. Our priest would begin, and I smell roasting beef, so do not dawdle.”

Catriona saw Fin’s lips press together, but Rothesay’s behavior no longer disturbed her. Her gaze rested on Fin, and her thoughts lingered there, as well.

His lips relaxed, and a twinkle lit his eyes.

Without thinking, she reached out a hand to him.

“Nay, not yet, m’lady,” the friar said. “Ye’ll be letting me say the words over ye first. Now, Sir Finlagh, d’ye take this woman to be your wife…?”

Catriona listened and enjoyed the sound of Fin’s voice as he plighted his troth to her in all manner of ways, “for this time forward, till death us depart.”

The friar said then, “Ha’ ye a ring for your lady, sir?”

Catriona, watching Fin, saw consternation in his expression. But before he could speak, aid came to him unexpectedly.

“Aye, he does,” the Mackintosh said, stepping forward. “I have the ring right here, lad.” As he handed something to Fin, Mackintosh looked at Catriona and said, “ ’Twas me mother’s ring, lassie. I promised her that I would keep it for my favorite granddaughter, and so I have if ye’ll accept it from us now.”

Her eyes awash with sudden tears, Catriona caught hold of his arm and stood on tiptoe to kiss his wrinkled cheek. “I do accept it, sir, and proudly. I thank you, too, for I will think of you both, as well as of my husband, whenever I look at it.”

Slipping it onto her finger, and at the friar’s prompting, Fin said, “With this ring I thee wed, and with its gold and silver I thee endow. With my body I thee worship, and with all my worldly cattle I thee honor.”

Obediently repeating vows similar to his first ones, Catriona also promised to be “meek and obedient in bed and at board,” as she plighted her troth to Fin.

And that was apparently that, because the friar turned to face the audience and said, “My lords, my ladies, and all here watching, I pray you, take heed now of this married couple, Sir Finlagh and Lady…” Pausing, he looked ruefully at Fin. “Bless me, sir, I did forget to ask ye what her ladyship’s proper styling be.”

“Lady Finlagh will do for now,” Fin said.

“… Sir Finlagh and Lady Finlagh,” the priest repeated.

“Have ye whisky nearby, Mackintosh?” Davy Stewart demanded. “I’ve a thirst on me now that nowt save whisky will slake.”

“I do have some, aye, as any good Highlander does,” Mackintosh replied. “Fetch the jug from my chamber, James, and send one of the lads to fetch more. Everyone should drink to this wedding, especially Fin and Catriona.”

Catriona wrinkled her nose at the thought of drinking the fiery stuff. But when she did, Fin leaned close and murmured, “You’ll drink with me, lass. It will warm you for what is to come after we have broken our fast.”

“I’d liefer drink it after I eat something,” she whispered back. “I don’t mind whisky with honey when I’ve an ague on me. But, other times, nay.”

“Then we’ll drink our toast from one goblet,” he said. “You need only touch your lips to the whisky to avoid bad luck in our marriage. But if you will heed some good advice, you’ll take some claret with your food. You did hear that your grandfather expects us to consummate our union afterward, did you not? And that James and Morag will be waiting for us to get on with it?”

“Aye, sure,” she said. Feeling suddenly shy, she looked away, adding, “I ken what we’ll do then, because my grandame told me. She said it will be pleasurable.”

Lady Annis had said more than that, for she had been as blunt about sex as she was about most things. But that had been nearly two years ago. And Catriona remembered the physical description and promise of pleasure, but little else.

Fin put two fingers under her chin, making her look at him. Smiling warmly, he said, “We’ll see that it does become pleasurable, lass. I mean us to practice as often as possible. For now, though, I’ll just treat myself to one wee kiss.”

With that, right there in front of everyone who cared to watch, he put his free arm around her and slowly, tantalizingly, bent nearer until his warm lips touched hers. Then, as if they were alone instead of in the midst of a large company, he drew her close enough to feel his length against hers and shifted the hand at her chin to the small of her back, pressing her closer.

His lips ravished hers, and his body stirred against her own. When the tip of his tongue sought entrance to her mouth, she resisted briefly and then submitted to its penetration. Closing her eyes, she moaned when his tongue began to joust with hers. The sensations he stirred stimulated others, a whole host of others.

He ended the kiss at last but did not release her. And her eyes stayed shut, because her mind had filled with images of what lay ahead of them.

When applause broke out, and cheers, her eyes flew open. Dazed, she felt as if some strange spell that had overcome her had ended abruptly with the noise.

“You’re blushing, sweetheart, but you need not,” Fin said. “A man has a right to kiss his bride after the ceremony.”

She smiled then. “I didn’t mind at all.”

As they turned toward the high table, the Mackintosh approached them and said, “Ye’ll take time to meet with me in the inner chamber after we break our fast, lad, and ye’ll bring your lass with ye.”

“Granddad, you cannot mean for us to consummate our marriage in there!”

“Nay, lass, although I’ll admit that I did think it would be a grand honor to let ye. But your grandame called me a dafty and said ye’d prefer your own bed to any other. Ailvie and the women be preparing it for the two of ye now.”

Relieved beyond measure, because she could not imagine consummating her marriage in the bed that her parents shared and that her grandparents had slept in for a month, Catriona went contentedly with her husband to the high table.

Rothesay awaited them there. “The Mackintosh said that you should take the central chairs, Fin. So I’ll sit beside you. Having given my blessing to this marriage, it is right and proper that I do. I do have a question, though.”

“Aye, sir?”

“Why Lady Finlagh? Why not Lady Cameron?”



Wondering what mischief Rothesay was up to now, Fin said, “So you know my clan, do you, sir? I thought that you must.” Noting a flash of disappointment on the prince’s expressive face, he felt a twinge of unease.

“Aye, sure,” Rothesay said. “I’ve known all about you from the start. Bishop Traill told me that you had cause to keep your identity to yourself. And knowing how fractious our Highland clans can be, I decided that that cause was likely a matter of self-preservation. Is that how it was?”

“ ’Tis close enough,” Fin said.

“I see. But the great feud was between your confederation and Clan Chattan,” Rothesay said. “So, I did wonder if the Mackintosh knew. But your lady showed no surprise just now when I asked, and one does assume that if she knows, he does.”

“Aye, sure, he does,” Fin said.

“Then, I repeat, why ‘Lady Finlagh’?”

“Because I am a younger son, of course,” Fin said with a shrug. “ ’Tis how folks will style her at home, where my brother’s wife is Lady Cameron.”

“Aye, sure, ’tis the usual way. That reminds me, though, of why I wondered if the Mackintosh knew about you. It was not just that Camerons and Mackintoshes were foes in that battle at Perth. It was also that you belong to the same Camerons who began that feud, over who owns Tor Castle and the Loch Arkaig estates.”

For the second time in less than an hour, Fin indulged in murderous thoughts about Rothesay. And one look at Catriona told him that she had indeed recalled his equivocal reply when she’d asked him about Tor Castle the day after they had met.



Catriona had heard Rothesay’s comments plainly. But it took a moment to realize that the heat she felt rising in her was no longer sensual but emotional.

By the time she recognized her feeling of betrayal for what it was, she likewise realized that she could not vent her reaction to it then and there. But when she shot Fin an oblique, speaking glance, she saw that he was already facing her and had been expecting such a look, if not more.

“Lass,” he said quietly. “I should have told you. We’ll talk about it later.”

Nodding, she dared not speak lest she say exactly what she was thinking.

She was still thinking about what he had said about Tor Castle that day, when she heard Lady Annis, just to her left, say, “That friar of Donald’s did better than one hoped of such a ragged creature. Ye be well and truly wedded now, dearling. And your granddad thinks ye’ve done gey well for yourself withal.”

“Does he, Grandame?” Grateful for an excuse to look anywhere other than at her husband, Catriona added, “I expect Granddad also told you that we mean to stay at Castle Moigh for the next few days.”

“Aye, sure. When he sent the messenger to warn them of your coming, I made sure that all will be in readiness for you. I expect James told you that he and Morag will ride on to Daviot, so ye’ll have the place nearly all to yourselves.”

“I overheard him telling Fin,” Catriona admitted.

“Your Fin is a fine man,” Lady Annis said. “Mind, though, that ye do not let him see that temper of yours until ye’ve taken measure of his. I have seen signs in the man much like those that ought to have warned me to tread warier than I did with your grandsire at the outset of our marriage. We lived here, then, of course.”

“What happened?”

Lady Annis smiled reminiscently. “He scolded me for doing what I thought had been a natural thing for me to do. So I pitched a basinful of cold water at him.”

“You didn’t!” When she nodded, Catriona said, “What had you done?”

Her ladyship shrugged. “I climbed a tree to get a wider view of the loch.”

“Well, I think that does sound perfectly natural. Why did it anger him?”

“Perhaps I ought to have explained that I was wearing only my shift at the time. We had been… um… getting better acquainted, as one might say.”

A gurgle of laughter rose in Catriona’s throat. “Where were you?”

“On the west shore yonder, near the landing. By my troth, though, he lectured me in the coble, all the way back to the castle, and all the way upstairs to our chamber. So, when I’d heard enough, I pitched the water at him… all over him.”

Catriona grinned. “And then?”

“That is all I am going to tell ye, Mistress Impertinence. Ye ken your granddad fine, so doubtless ye can use that fertile imagination of yours for the rest. But I am telling ye—I, who know men—that I see similar signs in your Sir Finlagh. His eyes narrow in the same way, and his jaw tightens so much that wee muscles jump in his cheeks. If ye would be happy, tread softly when ye see those signs.”

Catriona smiled and nodded but decided that in the next hour or so, it would be Fin, rather than she, who ought to be watching for signs of temper.

Tadhg interrupted them by extending a platter of thinly sliced beef to Catriona. She nearly reminded him that he should serve her grandmother first before she remembered that, as the bride, she was the ranking lady of the day.

Applying herself to her breakfast, she hoped that Fin would talk to her and not just try to assuage her displeasure so she would couple with him. She soon realized, with some indignation, that he was not paying her any heed.

A brief glance, however, provided an explanation for his neglect.

Rothesay, on his other side, was holding forth about something. After his recent behavior, she suspected that he was trying to make more mischief.

Someone, she decided, should have thoroughly acquainted Davy Stewart with a good stiff leather tawse during his childhood, to teach him better manners.

No sooner had she nodded to a gillie that he could clear her place than her grandfather stood and raised a goblet. “We’ll be drinking to the bride and groom now, if ye please. They’ll want to be getting on with the grandest duty of marriage.”

Delighted laughter greeted his announcement. Goblets were filled and raised and the toasting soon over—too soon to suit Catriona. Worse, she had drunk some wine with each toast and could tell that she had had more than she should.

“Come now, into the inner chamber with ye,” the Mackintosh said, putting one hand on Fin’s shoulder and the other on Catriona’s. “Ye can take the service stair up to your bedchamber from there, so ye’ll have nae need to pass this way again. Our lads be already taking your things across the loch and loading the ponies. So everyone can go straight outside to see ye off after ye’ve dressed.”

As Catriona followed him into the inner chamber, she could feel Fin’s presence beside her as if he were touching her. Still irritated, she wondered what he was thinking and decided that he’d better be kicking himself for not being more forthcoming about his close connection to Tor Castle.



Wondering what the Mackintosh wanted with them, Fin followed Catriona, enjoying the enticing sway of her hips as she passed her grandfather into the chamber but trying to measure, too, just how upset she was.

Inside, Mackintosh shut the door and crossed to his table, from which he took a foolscap document. An inkpot and a sharpened quill lay nearby.

Turning to Fin, he said, “I’ll not take long with this, lad, for I ken fine that ye’re impatient to claim your bride. Also, we both know that James and Morag be champing at their bits to be off the island and away.”

“James promised to wait, sir,” Fin said.

“Aye, sure. Now this be the charter for Raitt Castle. I have signed it over to ye for your lifetime as a wedding gift. I’d be fain to see it go next to your heir, but I ken fine that ye’ll never change your name to Mackintosh, nor should ye. Not after nearly giving your life for Clan Cameron.”

“You are right, sir,” Fin said.

“Mayhap, though, if ye’ll choose to live much of each year at Raitt and one of your sons would agree to take the name, Shaw can arrange for it to pass to him. Sithee, he agrees to the notion. If aught happens to ye afore ye have a son, Raitt will revert to Catriona unless she remarries to an outlander. Agreed?”

Fin did not hesitate. “You do me great honor, my lord. I will agree, aye.”

“Good, then. Sign right there at the bottom,” the Mackintosh said, dipping the quill and handing it to him. “Nae one has lived there for a time, but ’tis a sturdy place and can soon be made comfortable for a family.”

Fin signed, received yet another goblet of whisky, and drank with his new kinsman to their agreement. Catriona stood nearby, and other than hugging her grandfather and thanking him, she remained silent.

“The door’s yonder, lad,” Mackintosh said. “Ye’ve nae reason now to tarry.”

Putting a hand to Catriona’s elbow, Fin urged her toward the door and ahead of him up the narrow stairway. He was thankful that they would have privacy.

Many weddings, as he knew, ended in a raucous bedding ceremony that was highly entertaining for the company but rarely so for the couple. He was sure that, under the circumstances, having to endure such a ceremony would not be helpful.

When they were safely in her bedchamber, she turned to face him. “Do you still think we must bed at once, sir, after what Rothesay said below?”

“I do, aye,” he said. “We have a duty to consummate our marriage, and you are as aware as I am that James and Morag are waiting for us. We can fratch later.”

“But I don’t understand why you never told me.”

Taking a step toward her, looking right into her eyes as he did, he said, “I should have told you, but we can discuss the matter as we travel, lass. We will not discuss it now. Not with everyone waiting downstairs to bid us farewell.”

She stepped back.

Annoyance stirred, but he knew that she had cause to feel as she did. However, such discussions took time, and he did not believe that the people waiting below in the hall and in the yard would be patient. He glanced at the door to the main stairway. “Does that door have a bolt?”

“Nay,” she said. “I have never needed one.”

“Aye, well, beddings often become public affairs, lass. The reason your grandfather sent us up the service stair was to give us privacy. But if we do not go down soon, they will come up. I don’t think you will like that.”

Her face paled. “Then perhaps you should go down and tell them…”

“Tell them what?” he asked when she paused uncertainly.

When she did not answer, he took another step, saying gently, “We are the same two people we were earlier. The only difference is that now we are married. We can still talk to each other, and we will. Now, come here to me, sweetheart.”

She turned away.

“Catriona…” His patience was ebbing.



Catriona recognized the warning tone. Turning, she saw that his lips had formed a straight line hard enough to make a tiny muscle twitch in one cheek. Recalling Lady Annis’s warning, she felt an odd little thrill dance up her spine.

“We have made vows to each other, Catriona,” he said evenly. “I will keep mine, and I expect you to keep yours.”

“What will you do if I don’t? Ravish me or beat me?” But her heart was pounding, and the way he looked at her now made her want to touch him.

“You know that I would not hurt you or force you,” he said, clearly keeping his temper in check.

The tension in the room had increased tenfold, much of it within her own body. Her anger had ebbed with that tension, too, as if she could not contain two strong emotions at once.

He was determined, and that determination stirred indescribable feelings inside her. From her tingling skin to the core of her body, every nerve had come alive. When he took yet another step toward her, they vibrated as if someone had plucked a harp with strings attached to every part of her.

He reached for her.

She licked her lips, eyeing him warily but without fear. Anticipation of what he might do warred with her own desire to touch him, to let him know how she felt deep inside. Then he touched her cheek, the palm of his hand warm against it but making it ache a little, too, reminding her of her father’s fury the night before and how Fin had responded to it.

“We can deal better than this, lass,” he said, his voice low-pitched and husky. “I promise you, we will discuss whatever you like for as long as you like whilst we travel. James said that Morag seeks privacy with him, too, so they will leave us to ourselves. Now, unless you want me to have to tell them that we have failed to consummate our marriage…” He paused.

She certainly did not want that. “Would you really tell them?” she asked, although she knew what he would say.

“I will not lie to them,” he said. “Nor, I think, would you. Forbye, they will examine the sheets.”

Experiencing a sense of relief just to know that she had judged him aright, she felt the warmer sensations increase.

The hand on her cheek shifted to her left shoulder, and when she did not object, both of his hands moved to her laces. When one of them chanced to brush across the tip of a breast, the feeling it caused made her gasp.

Lingering warmth from the wine she had drunk enhanced the feeling. She felt as if it spread its heat all through her.

He opened her bodice, stroking the tawny velvet as he did. The cool air in the room made her tremble as he untied her shift ribbons and bared her breasts.

“Ah, lassie,” he murmured, “how beautiful you are. I wish we could take our time, so that I might show you how pleasant this can be. But I fear…”

“… that someone will come, I know,” she said. “I do know something of what must be done, because Grandame did tell me. But can it be done so swiftly?”



The question alone was answer enough for Fin’s willing body, which leaped mightily at the vision she produced in his mind. But he did not want to hurt or frighten her, so he said, “It can be done, sweetheart. But I’d liefer have your dress off first, for you will be more comfortable so.”

She reached for her gold-linked girdle, unclasping it and setting it atop a kist. He helped her slip off her velvet tunic, its matching skirt, and her red flannel underskirt. Standing before him in only her shift, its top still agape to reveal her firm, rosy-tipped breasts, she was even more magnificent than he had imagined.

Stripping off her shift and casting it aside, he picked her up and carried her naked to the bed, which the women had turned down to reveal the pristine sheet. Laying her down, he took off his shoes, hose, and netherstocks. His cock was ready for her, and he saw her eyes widen when she saw it, but she did not protest.

“You did not say if your grandame warned you that the first time may be painful for you,” he said. “But I’ll do all I can to make it easier, especially since we have a long ride ahead of us. We need only couple, though, no more, so—”

“Aye, sure, I know that,” she said as if she wondered why he would say something so obvious.

“Ah, but there is more to this than you may be thinking after we’ve finished. So you should know before we start that to do what I mean to do will deny me much pleasure. That denial will weigh heavily on me until I can ease its weight, which,” he added, grinning now, “I mean to do before we rest tonight.”



Catriona could scarcely breathe as she watched him. He had taken off only his hose and netherstocks. But it was enough to tell her that Lady Annis must be mad to think that a man built as he was could ever couple with a woman as small as Catriona.

He glanced again at the door to the main stairway.

“In troth, sir, I doubt that anyone will enter without rapping first,” she said.

“Likely, you’re right,” he said. “We’ll just snatch blankets over us if they do.”

On those words, he got into bed, stretched out beside her, and raised himself on an elbow to lean over and kiss her. His breath smelled pleasantly of whisky, and the velvet doublet he still wore caressed her bare breasts, stirring new sensations wherever it touched her. “Breathe deeply, and try to relax,” he murmured against her mouth as he stroked her belly. “I’ll be as gentle and as quick as I can be.”

With that, his stroking hand moved toward the juncture of her legs. When she stiffened, he shifted his hand to her thigh, stroking it gently but moving slowly, inexorably back toward his objective until his fingers brushed lightly over the curls there. When he slid a finger inside her, she started.

“Easy, sweetheart,” he murmured, kissing her again. “I think your body is more prepared to receive me than your mind is. Don’t think, just feel.”