Highlander’s Viking Seductress: Scottish Medieval Highlander Romance Page 19

  “Aye, but ye ken his story, daenae ye lass?” Bessetta elbowed her in humor, then noticed the look of confusion on Idunn’s face. “Annas, have ye nae told our newcomer of the story?”

  “I am afraid I havenae,” Annas shrugged, as if it mattered not.

  “Well, I’ll tell ye.” Bessetta leaned forward, clearly delighted to be the bearer of the gossip. “Ye ken Tadhg is the elder brother though he is nae the heir?”

  “Já, Gavin is the heir.” Idunn was aware how saying his name aloud made her smile.

  “Well, Laird Fergus had a night, when he was very young, with one of the maids in the castle. Nae a girl of the best reputation,” Bessetta nodded.

  “Certainly nae after the event,” Annas agreed, as she folded more of the sheets.

  “She bore Tadhg for Laird Fergus. Nae long after that, he married Lady Úna, and the maid was sent away.”

  “Where?” Idunn asked in wonder.

  “Nay one kens, but the Laird always did right by his son.” Bessetta looked down at the bowl in Idunn’s lap. “Come on lass, put a little muscle into it.” Smiling, Idunn whipped the spoon harder. “There now, that’s how to do it. Anyway, the Laird always looked after Tadhg. Gave him a good upbringin’. Lady Úna wasnae so welcomin’.”

  “It must have been difficult,” Annas said with a frown, “Havin’ to care for a lad who was nae yer own like that and born the wrong side of the bedsheets.”

  “Aye, suppose so,” Bessetta nodded again.

  “But Tadhg and Gavin, they have always been good friends?” Idunn asked with curiosity. It was a question she had never asked Gavin. The topic of his brother was one that was too uncomfortable for her. She remembered too easily the threats Tadhg had made of torture when she sat in the dungeons. Hearing the truth behind the family was only more unsettling.

  “Aye, always been good brothers. I think Gavin always looked up to Tadhg when they were children. Well, he would as the elder,” Bessetta paused as she stirred her own bowl, “But I imagine there’s got to be somethin’ unspoken between them.”

  “How do you mean?” Idunn asked, as she surveyed her work with the lye and animal fat. The mixture had turned to a black paste.

  “Well, Tadhg is the elder. Elders are usually the heirs. Nae in this case.”

  Idunn nodded in thought as she finished with the lye. Bessetta had a point. There had to be some unspoken contention between the two of them.

  How could there not be?

  “Idunn, would ye do me a favor?” Annas asked, as she collected a new basket of sheets from the corner of the room.

  “Já, what can I do?” Idunn jumped to her feet and left the bowl behind her on the bench.

  “Would ye wash these down in the river for me?” Annas held up the basket. “There is so much to do here, and I am runnin’ out of daylight.”

  “Of course,” Idunn took the basket, pleased to be of help.

  Idunn was more than a little surprised at the chore she had been given on Gavin’s birthday. Most of the staff were split between the Great Hall and the kitchens, preparing for the food and celebrations. Idunn had not been given her usual horrid duties. As the nights were beginning to draw in, the feast would be lit by torches and candles. Idunn had been sent to the store to count out what was needed to adorn the Great Hall. What was even more surprising was the person who had the duty of assisting her was Gavin.

  “I do not understand.” Idunn folded her arms as she stood behind the boxes of candles as Gavin walked towards her in the cellar room. Dark and damp, the space was lit by two orange candles. “It is your birthday, should you not be able to choose your duty for the day?”

  “I did; I picked this one.” Gavin’s smirk gave way to a laugh when she shot him a dark look.

  “You chose to help me with candles instead of enjoying your day? An unusual duty for the son of a Laird,” she teased.

  “Well, this is still nae the duty for a warrior, in me opinion.” He took hold of her hands as she started to sort through the tallow candles. They needed sixty pounds for one evening. Before she could sort them, he gently took her fingers and made her drop them back into the box.

  “Gavin,” she whispered, casting a worried look towards the doorway, “If I am caught slacking in me duties, they are sure to send me back to fulling.”

  “Then we will have to make sure we daenae get caught.” Gavin pulled her hands towards him, drawing her in. She felt the protest die on her lips and happily went to him. Their kiss was light at first, just a brush of lips. When Gavin’s hands rested on the crook of her waist, she raised her hands to his neck and pulled him further down towards her, intensifying their kiss.

  She felt Gavin press her against the nearby box of candles and grip her waist harder. She whimpered at the sensation, wishing his hands would wander further.

  A sound on the staircase made them both jump apart. Idunn looked to the doorway of the spiral staircase, but no one entered.

  “It is just people workin’ in the kitchen,” Gavin chuckled, and gave her one last kiss on the cheek before turning his attention to the box, “So, are ye pleased ye are nae fullin’ today?”

  “Já, the smell is certainly much sweeter down here,” she gestured to the tallow candles in the box as they collected them, “I heard the other day of some of your myths.”

  “What myths are they?”

  “The Stoor Worm,” she smiled, as Gavin winced at the idea.

  “An old tale indeed now.”

  “On the contrary, one of your old maids claims to have seen it with her own eyes.”

  “Has she?”

  “Já, Bessetta. She works in the laundry store.” Idunn dropped her smile when she saw a look of realization on Gavin’s face. “What is wrong?”

  “Nothin’. It sounds as though ye are makin’ friends, is all.” He leaned over the box towards her. “Pray tell, did ye take me advice?”

  “You think the only way I could make friends here is through taking your advice?” she scoffed in jest, “A proud man indeed. Do you think so highly of your intelligence?”

  “If I am proved right, then I will certainly think even more highly of it,” he laughed, “So do tell, did ye take me advice?”

  Idunn moved her hands to her hips and gritted her teeth to stop herself from laughing. He seemed to see it in her face.

  “Ha, so I was right.”

  “I did not say that.”

  “Aye, but I can see ye are thinkin’ it.” He moved the box of candles to the side of the room, allowing the two of them to start on the next pile. “So, what did ye think of our old myth of the Stoor Worm?”

  “A little grand perhaps.”

  “Do ye nae have such tales of yer own? Yer stories of the stars are certainly a little grand.”

  She paused and considered all that her mother had taught her.

  “Ours may be grand too, but ours are true.” She smiled at his mocking look of affront.

  “What makes yer tales any truer than ours?”

  “Because it is merely so.” She shrugged and walked around the box, pleased as he followed her path.

  “Persuade me then, tell me yer own tales.”

  “Have ye heard of Odin?” She sat on a nearby box and balanced one of the candles in her hand. He walked towards her, his eyes lingering on her body. As he reached to stand in front of her, she tapped his chin, urging his gaze to her face. He smirked at having been caught.

  “A little. Tell me more about Odin.”

  “He is our greatest God,” Idunn added with drama.

  “Ye have more than one?” Gavin’s eyebrow quirked in suspicion.

  “Of course, we do.” She tapped him on the arm with the tallow candle in disapproval. “He sacrificed himself to gain knowledge and wisdom. He is our god of war and death.”

  “I see why ye like him,” Gavin nodded.

  “What do you mean?”

  “Yer lust for war is great indeed.” At his teasing, Idunn tried to climb down from the bo
x and push past him, but he would not let her. He blocked her path easily with his hands on either side of her.

  “I do not lust for war!” she said with affront, as he leaned over.

  “Then what do ye lust for?” he whispered against her lips, rendering her speechless for a moment. The teasing and light-hearted humor had vanished, leaving behind tension of excitement in the air.

  “Gavin, we cannot…” her words petered out as his lips travelled along her chin and to her neck, leaving gentle nips below her ear. She dropped the candle behind her on the box. “We might be caught.”

  “Nay one will find us down here,” he whispered against her neck.

  Idunn let her hands draw across his shoulders and drift down his chest. He shuddered beneath her touch, making her yearn even more for him. She closed her eyes as he kissed down her neck, arguing with herself.

  They could be discovered at any moment, but the temptation of him was too much. They had hidden their kisses in the shadows for so long, the idea that they could finally do something other than just kiss was thrilling to her.

  She opened her eyes again, looking over his body. He was tall, broad with muscle, and the arms braced on either side of her were toned, urging her to cling onto him. She let her hands move to those arms and trace the muscle that could be seen. As she dipped her fingers further up his sleeves, finding more hidden skin, he groaned into her neck.

  His hands moved from the box to her waist, his long fingers tracing the curve of her back and sides, cupping her chest. The new sensation made her gasp as he moved his mouth to hers, quietening the sound.

  “We will have to be quiet, bandia,” he whispered against her lips. She nodded in reply before he resumed their kiss. He pushed apart her lips with demand, urging her to press her body closer to him. A coil of excitement spiraled in her stomach. “Ye daenae ken what I have been thinkin’ of ye,” he murmured as he moved his kisses down her throat, “Thoughts of ye torment me.”

  “Torment you?” she repeated in wonder, as his lips moved to the top of her tunic dress, leaving soft kisses across her chest. She watched him move, wanting him closer. “How do I torment you?”

  “What we could do in each other’s arms.” He looked up and held her gaze, pushing the top of her tunic to the side, his finger curling under the blue kirtle. He flashed some of her skin, revealing a little more of her chest and the hint of her bosom. “Do ye nae think of me too?”

  She did. She had spent many nights thinking of what they could do together.

  “You know I do.” She smirked as he kissed the curve of her bosom.

  “Then ye are curious. To see what else we could do beyond kissin’.” He laid another kiss in the valley between her breasts. Her breath hitched at the new sensation.

  “Gavin,” she warned with a pleading whisper.

  “Aye?”

  “Do not stop.” She held his gaze for a moment, seeing his green eyes widen in realization. They shared a moment of stillness. The intensity and anticipation hanging in the air before he moved.

  He returned to their kiss, intense and passionate, pressing her back towards the box. She pulled at his tunic, desperate to see more of him, to feel his skin against her own. As she started to pull it over his head, he went to help her, lifting the tunic free of his body and tossing on a box of candles. Idunn turned her eyes to him, trying to see his body in the candlelight.

  Above the baggy leggings, his torso was revealed in the amber flames. Toned with muscle, Idunn’s hands moved to explore him. Before she could move far, he placed his hands to her waist and lifted her up to sit back on the box behind - pulling her to the very edge and slowly began to raise the skirt of her kirtle. At all times, his eyes stared into hers.

  “Ye can tell me to stop, bandia. If ye want.” His voice was still a whisper, the tone deep and soft. She nodded in reply, her mouth dry and unable to form words. She lowered her gaze to where he was raising her skirt. He pushed it back over her knees and up to her thighs. The exposure to the cold air of the room made her shiver.

  Leaving her skirt bundled around her hips, hiding the most secret part of her, he brushed the palms of his hands across the tops of her thighs.

  “Gavin, I…” she petered off, as her words called his hands to a halt. She marveled at the warmth of his fingers wrapped around her thighs.

  “Aye, bandia? Do ye want me to stop?” He started to step away, but she reached forward, pulling him towards her again for another kiss.

  “Nei. It is just that I have never done… anything quite like this before,” she explained with closed eyes.

  “I understand. Trust me,” he murmured into her ear, keeping their bodies pressed together as his hands moved up her legs again. She gasped into his neck, muffling her sound as his fingers reached her hips. He caressed her softly, planting quick kisses on her shoulder that matched his touches on her hips.

  He lowered his hands again to her knees and parted her legs, bringing her towards him on the edge of the box. She raised her head, smiling widely. With their gazes locked, she could have been back in the sea again, staring into the green depths of his eyes. It distracted her. She was so concerned with admiring the flecks in his eyes by candlelight that she missed the moment he moved his hand… until it connected with the most private part of her.

  She bit her lip at the new sensation, trying not to make a sound. As he moved his hand, she pressed her body against his, needing to be closer.

  “Ah, bandia,” he murmured in her ear, as he rested his lips on her neck.

  As the pleasure washed over her, she strained to keep her legs wider, a part of her wondering why they had not done such a thing before.

  Tadhg had been searching for Gavin for hours. Finding no sign of him in the castle, he dropped into the servants’ quarters and headed for the kitchen. In passing, one of the cooks mentioned Gavin was assisting a slave with the candles and torches. It sent Tadhg off towards the cellar.

  His steps were quiet on the spiral staircase as he listened for their conversation. Gavin had been spending too much time with the slave, and he wanted to know what exactly the two of them spoke of. Yet, the sounds that greeted him were more shocking than he’d been prepared for.

  They were not talking, but he could hear Idunn making small gasps.

  Tadhg tried to make his steps even lighter. The cellar door was slightly ajar, and he pressed himself into the shadows and peered through the gap. The sight made him clasp the stone wall beside him.

  Idunn was sat on one of the candle boxes while a bare-chested Gavin stood pressed against her.

  His hand…

  Tadhg realized what the two of them were doing. Gavin had buried his head in Idunn’s neck, murmuring something in Gaelic, though it was too quiet for Tadhg to discern the words. Idunn had her head thrown backward, gasping and making small moaning sounds.

  The sight of Gavin and Idunn doing what he had been dreaming of was maddening. Idunn’s blonde hair was tossed back in its braid, her body arched against Gavin and his touch.

  Tadhg tore his gaze away and covered his eyes, balling his fists tightly as though he could tear the sight from his mind and forget it. Hearing Idunn’s moan grow a little louder, he couldn’t help but peer through the gap again.

  Idunn was clutching tightly to Gavin’s bare arms; her face contorted in pleasure. She was biting her lip, trying to stop the sound coming from her. Gavin moved his lips to hers, quieting her moans with his lips. The sight of the two of them kissing so passionately urged Tadhg to move.

  He hurried back up the steps on the balls of his feet, trying not to make a sound. As he reached the top of the stairs, he grabbed the small sword he kept in his belt. There was something he had to do.

  Chapter Twenty

  Tadhg struck at the tightly bound bales of hay so many times with his sword in the training ground that all was left was splayed straw. The yellow strands scattered so far that some were in his hair and in his clothes.

  The sight kept co
ming back to him. The way Idunn had moaned at Gavin’s touch.

  Gavin.

  He struck out at a bale again, slicing cleanly through the hay. The fighting was doing well to let out his anger, but it would not solve it. With each blow, new angry thoughts invaded his mind.

  Why does Gavin get to have the slave? Does he nae have enough in his life already?

  He hit another bale, cleaving it in two. The resulting fragments of straw landed in his face, and he brushed them away with fervor.

  He had had enough. He was tired of playing second to Gavin, always coming behind him. His brother should not have everything given to him on a plate. His life had not been that easy; why should Gavin’s?