Highland Master

chapter 17



Still stunned, Fin stared at Ewan in disbelief.

“Why is he here?” Catriona asked.

“I don’t know,” Fin said. “But I discern the fine hand of your grandsire in this. He knew I’d not seen my family since Perth and that I want to present you to them. But, for Ewan to be here now, he must have sent for him a sennight ago, long before knowing we would marry. I just hope Ewan did not bring the whole family.”

“God-a-mercy!”

Seeing her face pale, he said, “Don’t fret, sweetheart. If he did and they expect to upset my plans whilst we’re here, they will soon learn their error.”

She looked uncertain, and he hoped he was right. Ewan could be fierce, and despite the friendly wave, Fin had no idea how his brother would receive him.

When they reached the landing, he stepped out of the boat and extended a hand to Catriona as he said, “This is a fine surprise, Ewan, and a welcome one. How many of our kinsmen did you bring in your tail?”

“Nae kinsmen, just a half-dozen of my own lads,” Ewan said, grasping Fin’s hand warmly. “Ye’ve brought even fewer men with ye, I see.”

“My liege lord was reluctant to extend my leave beyond a few days, although I did mean to go on to Loch Arkaig to ask your forgiveness. Now, though…”

When he paused, Ewan said heartily, “I’m glad to see ye hale and well, lad. Sithee, we all thought ye must be dead. So ye could have knocked me down with a broom straw when I got the Mackintosh’s message that, if I were willing to accept his hospitality, I might meet ye here. D’ye mean to present this bonnie lady to me?”

“If the wily old man told you nowt of her, then I have a surprise to match yours,” Fin said as Catriona curtsied. “She is the lady Catriona Mackintosh, my wife. And if you are wroth with me for marrying without your consent, Ewan, you may roar at me later. For now, we are both tired from our journey and—”

“Be damned to your weariness, lad! How long have ye been married?”

Fin relaxed then, recognizing Ewan’s hearty mood as a friendly one. “Since sunrise,” he admitted with a rueful smile.

“Sunrise! Bless us, why did ye no invite your own family to the wedding?”

“That tale will take some time to tell,” Fin said. “And I’d liefer tell it over a good supper, because we ate only bread with some beef and cheese at midday. But what I want now is for us to settle in, tidy ourselves, and eat. After that, I’ll thank you to remember that this is my wedding night.”

“Aye, sure, I’ll remember. But ye’ll tell me your tale straightaway. I’ve nae doot that your lady will want a bath after her long ride. But unless ye’ve forgotten how to swim since ye left home, ye’ll make do with a dip in the loch. If I’m wroth with ye, Fin, ’tis not for marrying. But ye do deserve my anger, do ye not?”

Fin could not deny that, and Ewan’s tone had changed enough to tell him that he’d better tread lightly for a time and remember that Ewan was not just his brother but also a chieftain of their clan with rights of punishment. Accordingly, Fin said, “A swim is just what I’d like if you will let me see my lady wife settled first.”

“Aye, sure,” Ewan said, smiling at Catriona. “Did I understand him to say that ye be a Mackintosh, my lady?”

“You did, sir, aye. My grandfather is the Mackintosh.”

“Himself, eh? Well, ’tis grand to make your acquaintance. I wish ye happy in your marriage and bid ye welcome to our family.”

With a smile, she thanked him and turned to Fin. “We are to use the inner chamber, sir. Shall we go in?”

Glancing back across the loch to see Ian and Toby helping Ailvie into another boat that was doubtless already carrying their baggage, he agreed.

“Don’t be long, Fin,” Ewan said. “I ken a good place for swimming a few steps from this landing. I’ll await ye here.”

Agreeing, Fin escorted Catriona inside, where she introduced him to her grandfather’s steward and issued orders for a bath. She also asked that he delay serving supper until they had had time to get settled.

That done, she took Fin to the inner chamber. The bed there, he saw with approval, was much larger than Catriona’s was.

“Is your brother angry with you?” she asked when he had shut the door.

“He is glad to see me,” Fin said, looking around and noting the cheerful fire that leaped in the fireplace and the basket of extra wood. “But he does have cause to be wroth with me for not telling him where I’ve been and what I have been doing.”

“Will you tell him everything? Even the bits you have not yet told me?”

“I will answer his questions honestly,” he said. “As to what more I’ll say, I must first see how our talk progresses. For now, though, I ken fine that you and Ailvie can see to stowing what we brought with us and to your bath as well. But one day soon, I’d like to assist you with that latter task myself.”

“We’ll just have to see about that, too, won’t we?” she said, dimpling.

“Don’t tempt me, lass. I must talk with Ewan, but I will try not to fratch with him. Our supper will be more pleasant so, as will its aftermath.”

Hearing footsteps approach the door and pause there, he kissed her quickly and turned away as Ailvie entered, carrying a sumpter basket.



Informing Ailvie that the steward was ordering water and a tub, Catriona watched Fin walk away across the great hall and wished that she might be a fly on a nearby rock to hear his conversation with his brother.

Not to have told his family that he had survived the great clan battle at Perth must, she feared, be a choice that such a brother would not easily forgive.

She did not have to strain her mind to imagine how she would feel had Ivor or James done such a thing. She would want to see the offender smarting, at least.

Fin and Ewan seemed more alike than her brothers did. Ewan looked seven or eight years older than Fin and a stone or so heavier. Both had powerful bodies, dark hair with auburn highlights in the sun, and gray eyes. But Fin’s eyes were lighter, his body lither, and his movements more graceful.

She had detected signs of a temperament similar to his in Ewan, however.

“Your grandame did say that I should root through her things to find aught that ye’d need,” Ailvie said as she shut the door, recalling Catriona’s attention.

The maidservant bustled about then, finding places for the sumpter baskets and seeking French soap and towels for Catriona’s bath.

“I want to wash my hair,” she said. “We can brush it dry here by the fire.”

“Ye’ll be glad to put up your feet after this long day,” Ailvie said. “I’m still wondering about them Comyns, though. Did ye no think they submitted too quick?”

“Quick or not, they had to submit,” Catriona said, dismissing her own earlier concerns. “Our boatmen were nearby, and the men on our wall could see us.”

“Even so, I dinna trust any Comyn. And Rory ha’ been talking these six months past o’ taking ye to wife. I ha’ never heard o’ him walking away from nowt.”

Although she recognized truth in Ailvie’s words, Catriona had little concern. Against Fin of the Battles, Rory Comyn must always lose.



Eyeing his brother’s posture as Ewan looked out over the loch with his back to him, Fin recognized familiar signs that Ewan had been suppressing his stronger emotions for Catriona’s sake. With that in mind, before he got too near, he shouted, “Where is this swimming place of yours?”

Ewan turned, nodded silently, and led the way along the shore to an inlet boasting a smooth granite slab that sloped into the water.

“Shall we swim first or talk?” Fin asked, still trying to gauge Ewan’s mood.

“We can do both if you like. I found another such inlet some hundred yards north of here, round yonder point. Nae one will be there, whilst someone from the castle might disturb us here.”

“Just promise that you won’t try to drown me on the way,” Fin said.

Ewan looked at him, eyebrows raised, then smiled. “Nay, laddie. I won’t pretend that I’d not like to give ye a fierce drubbing, but I’ll hear ye out first.”

Fin nodded, relieved, and bent to untie his boots. When they had shed their clothing, Ewan led the way into the water, saying, “I’d wager this rock be gey slippery by midsummer. But for now it does give a man’s foot good traction.”

He dove in and Fin followed. They soon found the inlet, sun drenched and warm, and sprawled on the granite to dry.

Ewan remained silent. So, although Fin would have preferred to bask in the warmth, he gathered his thoughts and said, “What did you hear about the battle?”

“Only that we’d lost and that all of our men died on the field or afterward of their wounds,” Ewan replied, raising his arms to fold them beneath his head. Staring up at the azure sky, he added, “Plainly, though, you did not die.”

“I was the only Cameron who did not,” Fin said quietly. Without waiting for the obvious question, he turned on his side to watch Ewan as he added, “The fighting had well nigh stopped. But there were four men still hale on their side when I… I dove into the river Tay and let it carry me toward the sea.”

“Sakes, I ken fine that ye swim well, but that firth widens quick beyond Perth and grows gey rough, too,” Ewan said, scowling. “Ye might have drowned!”

“I swam to the Fife shore and made my way to St. Andrews.”

“Where, nae doots, that old scoundrel Traill hid ye.”

“He did not hide me, nor did he offer much solace,” Fin said. “In his opinion, I had merely chosen the most practical course under the circumstances.”

“But not the honorable one? Is that what the man did say?”

“Not in those words, but I felt that way myself,” Fin said. “Sakes, there were eleven Clan Chattan men still alive, the others sorely hurt. But nevertheless…”

Ewan frowned but looked thoughtful rather than angry. “Ye’ve never done a cowardly thing in your life, Fin, unless ye’ve altered mightily since ye left home.”

“I did think that I must have changed and that others would say so, aye.”

Ewan started to speak but did not. He was silent long enough then to remind Fin that Ewan himself had been one of those “others.”

At last Ewan said, “Ye’ve made me think, lad. I had nae authority then and small understanding of such, or of men, come to that. Likely, I would have thought such a thing, and others surely would have. Ye might not have been safe.”

“I didn’t think about safety,” Fin said. “But there were other reasons, too.”

“D’ye chance to ken what happened to our father?”

“He fought near me, Ewan. I was with him when he died.”

“Bless ye, lad, that must have eased his way. Did he say aught to ye?”

Tension swept through Fin, but it carried no urge with it to equivocate. “He told me that I must swear to take vengeance on Clan Chattan, that he was bequeathing that charge to me as a sacred duty.”

Ewan said curtly, “Did ye not, all thirty o’ ye, swear at the outset that yon trial by combat would settle the matter betwixt our clans and result in our truce forbye?”

“We did swear so, aye,” Fin said, feeling his tension begin to ebb.

“And did not that vow lead to our current agreement?”

“It somehow kept you living at Tor Castle as well, aye. I have never heard how, exactly, that did come about after Clan Chattan won the battle.”

“It did because yon Mackintosh is a canny man, is how. ’Tis no for nowt that he has led Clan Chattan nigh onto forty years. Sithee, with all from our side dead at Perth, some at home suspected treachery. He kent fine that if he ordered us off our Lochaber lands, that truce would no have lasted a heartbeat longer. So, he proposed that if we’d honor the ancient agreement and begin to pay the yearly rent again, we could continue to lease our lands from Clan Mackintosh and be peaceable.”

“Did the Camerons really have such an earlier agreement, then?”

“Aye, sure, but don’t ask me when or why we stopped paying. ’Twas before I was born. The old man kent fine the amount and said it would stay as it were till matters sorted themselves out elsewise. We’re content, and so are they, I think.”

“I did hear that you are now Constable of Tor Castle.”

“I am, aye. I collect the rents and act as host when the Mackintosh comes each Christmas to stay, as he still does. And when he dies, I’ll see that he’s buried in the graveyard there. But how the devil did ye come to marry his granddaughter? I’m thinking ’twas yet another canny move on his part, to see that we all keep the truce.”

“He said that if anyone did aught to break it, it would not be Clan Chattan.”

“We’ll see about that, I expect. He won’t live forever and nor will I—or our clan’s captain, come to that. So tell me about this marriage of yours.”

Fin explained what had happened, and although he thought that Ewan laughed at inappropriate times, the tale clearly entertained him. However, when Fin had brought him up to date, Ewan was silent again for a time.

Then he said, “This about the Comyns… D’ye ken aught more about it?”

“Only that they are weak and resentful,” Fin said. “The Mackintosh and Shaw have had occasional trouble with them for some time. Why do you ask?”

“Sithee, I keep lads out and about with their eyes open and their ears aprick, because our truce is central to the general peace. Of late, the name Comyn comes up whenever anyone talks of trouble anywhere east of Tor Castle. Some do say that the Comyns seek to aid the Duke of Albany by making trouble for the Lord of the North, mayhap by stirring the coals of our old feud into something fierier.”

“It is no secret that Albany wants his own son to replace Alex Stewart.”

“But d’ye ken aught more of what they all be up to? Sithee, I’m thinking that troubles for Alex may encourage Donald of the Isles to attack us here in the west.”

“I do know more, aye,” Fin admitted. “But as I told you, I serve Rothesay, so I cannot tell you all I know without breaking confidence with him. I will tell you that Donald takes more interest than he should in extending his power to the western Highlands. He wants more now than just his wife’s inherited lands.”

“I do ken that, aye,” Ewan said. “What more of Alex?”

“His interest is solely in Lochindorb and retaining the Lordship of the North.”

“Keeping it away from Albany, ye mean.”

“Aye, but I believe that he will also defend it against Donald.” A breeze stirred then, bringing a chill off the loch, so Fin sat up. Meeting his brother’s gaze, he said, “Are we good, Ewan, or do you still want to try giving me a drubbing?”

“Och, laddie, the past is gone, and I’m no one to be telling ye what ye should or should not have done whilst I were safe at home. I’m just thankful that your notion of vengeance against the Mackintosh was to marry his granddaughter.”

“Did I mention that her father is the Clan Chattan war leader?”

Ewan chuckled. “Ye left that out, but I’ll warrant ye don’t mean to murder either one, and I’ll thank ye for that, too. Peace is always preferable to war, but it will last only until it does not. So ’tis good to know ye’ve nae intention of breaking it. But I’ll expect to see more of ye now, mind. Ye’ll come to Tor Castle to stay with us, the pair of ye, after ye’ve sorted out whatever ye be into now with Rothesay and them.”

“The Mackintosh granted me a charter for life occupancy of Castle Raitt as a wedding gift,” Fin said. “My lass loves her home, and Raitt lies but two miles from it, so I expect I may find myself a Highlander again before I know it.”

“Ye’re a Highlander born, lad. Ye cannot be aught else.”

Fin drew a long breath and let it out, feeling a sense of ease that he had not known since long before he had flung himself into the Tay. He had not told Ewan everything, because he had not mentioned Ivor’s part, but his brother now knew more than anyone other than Bishop Traill did about what had happened at Perth.



Catriona paced Castle Moigh’s great hall, wondering how much longer Fin and Ewan would be. Her hair was dry, she was freshly gowned, and she was hungry.

She had gone out to the rock where she assumed that Ewan had meant for them to swim and had found their clothing there. Seeing no other sign of them, she had returned to the castle but only because it was the courteous thing to do.

Ewan might be one of those rare men who preferred not to parade naked where women, particularly his new good-sister, might see him. And she was in no hurry to see any man naked but Fin.

That she looked eagerly ahead to that made her wonder if all newly married women felt the same way. She remained uncertain about the future, because she was sure that she and Fin would frequently argue about all and sundry, as they had. But she hoped that he would also continue to elicit the strong responses she had felt with him that morning just as frequently if not more so.

Consequently, she paced, and when the two men finally strode into the hall, she greeted them with, “At last! Faith, but I was beginning to fear that you had both drowned and I would have to go without my supper!”

“You may have to go without your supper in any event if that is how you greet a guest of this house, madam wife,” Fin said before he caught her by the shoulders and kissed her thoroughly.

Pushing him away as soon as he would let her, she swept Ewan a curtsy. Rising, she said, “If you are as daft as your brother, sir, and believed that I meant aught but teasing, I do humbly apologize and swear that I will mend my ways.”

Laughing heartily, Ewan said, “I think you are just what he needs to keep him out of trouble, my lady. If ever I can aid you in that task, however, you need only ask. Sithee, he has earned a drubbing, so he still treads on thin ice with me.”

“Even so, I trust that all is well between you now, sir,” she said.

“It is, aye,” he replied, smiling at Fin.

Fin said, “As I do not see Ian here, I shall require your help to don a clean tunic for dinner, lass. You may come with me and see what you have earned.”

“I, too, want a fresh tunic,” Ewan said. “I doubt that ye’ll need my aid in managing him just now, Lady Catriona, but if ye do—”

“Nay, sir, I will not,” Catriona said. Despite her confident words, though, she did wonder if her saucy greeting might have irritated her husband.

As they turned toward the inner chamber, he put an arm around her shoulders, but he did not speak. She hoped he was just giving her back some of her own for teasing them, but she could not be sure. Looking up, she saw that he had pressed his lips together, which was an ominous sign.



Aware of her unease, Fin was enjoying himself a little, believing that it served his wildcat right to wonder if she had overstepped the bounds of what he would tolerate. Heaven knew, she had a bad habit of speaking impulsively and would be wiser to take more thought before she did offend someone.

Nodding at the young gillie who hurried to open the door of the inner chamber for them, he urged Catriona inside but did not release her when the door shut quietly behind them. Instead, he turned her to face him.

Looking sternly at her, he said, “Do you know what you deserve for teasing your husband and his guest so?”

“Aye, sir, more kissing.”

Having no desire to argue about that, he kissed her again but did not stop there. Scant seconds later, he had opened her bodice and was gazing hungrily at her enticing, rosy-tipped breasts as he stroked them.

Scooping her into his arms, he carried her to the bed and, stripping her of her clothing, began to discover just how fast her body would respond to his touch. He wanted her hot for him. At the same time, he did want to teach her a small lesson.

“Lie still now, lass, and close your eyes,” he said, casting aside his mantle and boots. “I want you to think only about what you feel.”

Retaining his tunic, he climbed onto the bed and straddled her, catching her wrists and pressing them to the bed before bending to kiss her again.

She opened her eyes wide and gazed into his but responded eagerly to his kisses. Capturing her mouth, he eased his body lower, still pinning her wrists and bearing his weight on his elbows and legs. Knowing that his tunic was rough enough to tease her nipples, he moved so that it brushed against them.

She tried to free her hands and then tried to pull her mouth away from his, clearly wanting to speak.

Briefly freeing her lips, he murmured, “Hush now. Just let be.”

“But I want to hold you, too, and touch you.”

“Nay, sweetheart, not yet. For now, you will be as meek and obedient in bed as you vowed this morning to be. That is to say,” he added, “you will do as I say now if you want to have a try later at being meek and obedient at my board.”

“I’d remind you, sir, that ’tis my granddad’s board and not yours at all.”

“Ah, but here at Moigh I am his guest. And you ken fine that a guest in any man’s house may command his own pleasure.”

“Aye, and so you may until I shout for the servants.”

“Do you think that any one of them will disobey me if I countermand an order you give?” he asked gently.

Seeing the answer in her grimace, he murmured, “Just so, sweetheart. Now, do as I bid you. I promise, you will not be sorry… well, not in the end, at all events,” he added conscientiously.



Catriona stared up at him, wondering what he meant by those last, ill-omened words. But she could not deny the feelings he stirred in her.

Her body had come alive and clamored for his attention.

He inched lower to kiss her breasts, and as he did, his body and his tunic set new nerves aflame wherever either one touched her. “You smell good,” he said, as he laved a nipple with the tip of his tongue. Both of her breasts swelled in response.

Gasping at the sensations that raced from that nipple to other parts of her body, she stammered, “ ’Tis Grandame’s French s-soap. Ailvie f-found it.”

“I like its scent. You must ask Lady Annis where she purchased it.” Attending still to her nipples, and without releasing her hands, he shifted his knees lower.

Knowing that she could not escape him unless he allowed it stirred new feelings in her, stronger than before. She felt helpless, as if she were his captive. But as long as he went on as he was, she had no wish to be free. He slipped one knee and then the other between her legs, easing them far apart.

Laying a trail of warm breath and kisses along her belly as his head moved lower, he nipped her skin between his lips and even now and again, gently, with his teeth. So focused was she on what he might do next that she failed to notice that he was shifting her hands lower, too, until they were nearer her waist than her head.

“What are you doing?” she demanded when his breath tickled the curls at the juncture of her legs.

“Shhh,” he said, and she trembled when his breath sent a rush of heat through her most private parts.

Her hands were even with her hips now, and still he held them. The things he was doing affected her senses so that she wanted to cry out and tell him to stop. But the torment was too pleasurable, and the last thing she wanted was for Ewan to pound on the door and demand to know what was going on, or even break it down.

It was a near thing, though, when Fin touched her with his tongue, and nearer still when his tongue invaded her most secret places, caressing the spot that had sent her soaring that morning. His tongue’s touch was softer, more engaging, and far more stimulating. Her body heaved, encouraging him of its own accord to do as he pleased. The sensations increased, sending her higher and higher until he stopped.

“Oh, prithee, don’t stop,” she breathed. “That feels wonderful, and it was beginning to seem as if something even more were about to happen. ’Twas the strangest, most wonderful sensation that I have yet felt, and gey promising, withal.”

“But recall that I had a long swim, sweetheart, so I’m hungry for food now, and you said you wanted your supper,” he added with a teasing smile. “We can continue this later if you like. As your grandfather said only this morning, we’ll enjoy it more if we have sustenance first.”

She nearly shrieked, “What! But why did you begin if—?”

“Now, lass, we must rejoin Ewan,” he interjected. “He must fear by now that we’ve forgotten all about him.”

“But, surely, if he has waited this long, he will wait a few minutes longer.”

“Mayhap he would, but I don’t want just a few minutes more with you. I want to take my time and enjoy every minute.”

“God-a-mercy, when you let me up, Fin Cameron, you had better take care!”

“There is no need for me to let you up at all,” he said, grinning now. “I might command you to stay here and wait for me instead, just as you are.”

Glowering, she said, “Very well, sir. But do not think I will forget this.”

“Sweetheart, I mean to make certain of that—right after supper.”



Still smiling, albeit with more difficulty than she knew, Fin released her and picked up his mantle. He was achingly aware that at least one body part meant to let him know that in punishing her, he was likewise punishing himself considerably.

After he arranged his mantle, he helped her dress, noting with delight that every time his fingers brushed her skin, she reacted. As he urged her back into the hall, he swore to himself that if Ewan had dawdled, the man would go hungry.

But Ewan was on the dais, examining the baskets and platters of food already on the table. Looking at Fin, he shook his head. “Ye took your time, lad.”

“Not nearly enough of it,” Fin said, grinning again and more easily. “I mean to desert you again right after supper, so you must entertain yourself this evening.”

Chuckling, Ewan said, “Since it is your wedding night, I expect I’ll manage. But do not think that ye’ll keep to yon bed all morning. I want to hear about all of your adventures these past four years, and I warrant that will take some time.”

“You may have me until midday if you like, because I mean for my lady to be so tired that she will sleep the whole morning away.”

Glancing at Catriona, he saw that her cheeks were as red as fire. Her eyes flashed, though, and her rosy lips formed a straight line, indicating that she ached to tell him what she thought of his tactics. They seemed to be working, though.

Catching her gaze, holding it, and noting that her breath caught audibly when he did, he knew that her heat had not ebbed in the slightest.

When she did not speak, he devoted his conversation to Ewan until they had finished the meal, the entire time as aware of her presence beside him as he knew she was of his. Only once or twice did he move a hand to touch her warm thigh, or let his leg brush against her. Her reaction each time encouraged him to believe that even if she had harbored the slightest lingering fear that she might again suffer the painful ache she had described that morning, she was not thinking about that now.



Catriona had begun the meal with a strong urge to kill Fin for exciting her senses to such a point and then stopping too soon. But so aware was she of every move he made and every time he inadvertently touched her that long before the meal ended, it was Ewan she wanted to murder for having such a healthy appetite.

At first, Fin offered him more and more food, as if he were still teasing her. But she had noticed in the past quarter-hour that he had not only stopped offering but was barely replying civilly to his brother’s comments.

At last, Ewan pushed his trencher away. But when the gillie picked it up, the fiendish man ordered another jug of wine. Catriona gritted her teeth, then sighed aloud when Fin got up, saying, “If you will excuse us, we’ll bid you goodnight.”

“Aye, I thought ye might,” Ewan said, grinning at him.

Catriona could have sworn that she heard Fin growl, but her thoughts swiftly flew ahead to what would happen in the bedchamber. She had no time to think long though, because when he’d shut the door, he wasted no time disrobing her.

Fire spread through her everywhere he touched her, but when she reached to put her arms around him, he stopped her as he had earlier. Then he scooped her up and carried her to the neatly turned-down bed, laying her naked upon it.

When she reached to pull up the covers, he said, “Nay, sweetheart, leave them. ’Tis warm enough in here, and I want to think of you lying as you are whilst I stir up the fire and light more cressets. Then I want to look at you.”