Page 31 of Bride Takes a Laird

“Do you mean Laird Hugh?”

Marny nodded. “Aye, tell me that he is not the most grumpy man alive?”

Kendra shook her head. “He has been nothing but kind to me and my father.”

“I jest with ye. Laird Hugh is a kindly man but he can sometimes be blunt.” Marny jostled the babe. “I vow nothing I do soothes Hale and he wails most of the day.”

“May I hold him?” Kendra asked. Marny held out the bairn and she took him. The bairn gazed at her and though his crying ceased, he continued to whimper and she rocked him. Within seconds, she found herself humming to the babe. Hale settled and looked content. How she wished all it took was a soft melody to settle her but it would take more than a song to make her troubles disappear.

Chapter Eleven

On the trekback to the keep, Magnus was displeased that he hadn’t questioned Aldo about Ned’s wagering. He should have gained his perspective and what Ned had told him about his repayment. Perhaps he would have alluded to where Ned was getting the coins from. It could have also led to a hint as to what happened to his brother. He would need to revisit the village again and soon, to question the knave.

Winston wasn’t at the stable when he reached it but then he remembered telling him to be at the fief watching over Kendra. He patted Sigge’s head and ruffled the fur of his hound in greeting. Wyren took the reins of his horse and said he’d get the beasts settled.

On his way to the keep, Magnus took a calming breath and appreciated the night’s tranquility. All had sought their supper or slumber and the sky darkened with speckles of stars spread across the sky. Such a night would normally soothe his agitation, but with so much on his mind, he barely allowed the beauty of it to affect him.

He took the steps of the tower keep and entered. Voices from within the hall alerted him that many had gathered. There was talk but no laughter. Perhaps one day there would be laughter within his hall again. Once he learned who had murdered Ned and sought vengeance, all would be righted and normalcy would return—whatever that normality was. He was uncertain if there ever would be peace withinhis clan again.

Magnus stopped short at the hall’s entrance when he spotted Kendra by the hearth. She held his brother’s bairn in her arms and was so focused on the babe that she didn’t notice him. He watched her with interest. How bonny she appeared holding a bairn. It gave him hope that within the next year or two, they would have a child of their own. Magnus hadn’t much thought about being a father or having a family but now that he married, it was something that suddenly struck him. If he was going to be the kind of father he hoped to be, he needed to make changes, not only to himself but to the hierarchy of his clan.

Marny sat in the chair by the hearth and appeared to be sleeping. His brother entered and bypassed him, making his way to his wife. He lowered his head to speak in Kendra’s ear, then took the babe from her. She smiled and gently placed her hand on the babe’s head. How appealing his wife looked and how pleased he was to be home. He stepped forward until he reached her.

She turned to look at him with a welcoming smile. “Magnus! You are back.”

Magnus wanted to grab her and pull her into his arms. He wished to kiss her with enough passion to brighten her fair cheeks. Lord, she was lovely. But then he realized everyone in the hall was looking at them and Magnus suddenly became reserved. He presumed his family hoped to get a glimpse of his relations with Kendra and he would leave them wondering. So he took her hand and gave it a light squeeze, letting her know that he was pleased to see her.

“Sweetheart, ye…are here…” He wanted to tell her how bonny she looked, but instead, he said, “What did ye do this day?”

She smiled lightly and squeezed his hand in return. “I visited my father, enjoyed speaking to your grandda, helped Ellen a little, and walked about inside the walls.”

“And what do ye think of our home?” He didn’t smile or frown but hoped she found their land as beautiful as he did.

“It is quite pleasant here, from what I saw of it. Perhaps when you have time, you can give me a tour?”

Magnus lifted her hand. “I would be happy to…when I have the time. I saw ye holding Hale. Ye look bonny holding a bairn. Are ye amiable to becoming a mother?”

Kendra pressed the long length of her blond locks behind her shoulder and nodded. “I had not really thought about it but aye, I should like to be a mother one day. It is a wife’s duty, is it not, to provide her husband with an heir? I shall do my duty one day. Do you hope for a large family?”

He waved to his family, beyond them at the table, and grinned. “That is what I am used to, but we will be blessed with whatever God deems we deserve.”

“I am sure we will have at least two or more. That is my hope.”

“God, how ye please me,” he whispered in her ear as he leaned close. “I shall show ye my adoration later.” Magnus guided her to the table and settled her in a chair. He sat at the head of the table and listened to the discussion going on around him. Yet, he heard all of two words of it because he was focused on Kendra. Though she appeared pleased to see him, there was a note of sadness in her eyes. He would find out later what had distressed her.

The meal was served and all ate, conversed, and partook of ale and wine. That his family gathered for the meal somewhat surprised Magnus. They hadn’t eaten together in some time. Supper ended and all left the hall. Kendra set her supper dagger on the trencher and peered up at him. She seemed to be waiting for him but Magnus had finished eating long ago.

“Shall we set off to bed?” he asked.

She nodded and demurely, rose from her seat. He walked behind her as she took the steps to the upper floor. Magnus appreciated her body and the way her shoulders moved when she walked. She had a gracefulness about her and was almost regal in her movement. Hefound himself completely enthralled with her.

Just inside their bedchamber, he didn’t wait but pulled her into his embrace. He pressed her against the closed door and kissed her. Lord, how he wanted to ravish her, but he maintained a little control.

Her response was just as filled with desire. Her hands gripped his garments, and he tried to untie the strings of her bodice with frustration. Once he successfully undid the ties, he shifted the material away from her shoulders. Her overdress fell to the floor in a heap. She was clad in an alluring chemise that covered little of her and did nothing to hide her attributes from him.

Magnus stood before her, staring into her lovely blue eyes. “Sweetheart, undress me. I long to feel your hands on me and cannot wait.” That certainly was true. Numerous times throughout the day, he had envisioned undressing her, her disrobing him, and the joining of their bodies. Lord, he was smitten with his wife, and he was damned satisfied by that.

Kendra’s hands shook when she unfastened his tunic and pressed away his tartan from around his body. She used both hands to take hold of his belt and unfastened it. With little care, she let it fall from his hips and it clanked on the wooden floorboards. Magnus should have removed his sword, but he was too anxious to have her. He lifted her in his arms and carried her to the bed. There, he set her gently in the center and leaned back to gaze at her beautiful body.