Page 24 of The Chief's Wild Promise
He was closer than she’d expected, now looming over her, and his proximity made her heart kick hard against her ribs. His scent filled her lungs, and his heat radiated toward her like a furnace. It reminded her of what it had felt like in that glade, with his lean, hard body pressed against hers. Hastily shutting down her reaction, she moved down another step. “Look through the window,” she said, her voice oddly husky, “and up.”
Mackinnon indulged her, leaning toward the window and tilting his chin up. A moment later, his lips quirked. “Bats … lots of them.”
“Aye … there must be at least two hundred roosting here during the summer.”
“They’re tiny,” he murmured, a trace of awe in his voice.
“Aye, they’re pipistrelles … some are small enough for two of them to fit in my palm.”
Mackinnon moved back from the window then, allowing her to squeeze in and look.Many of the lasses at Meggernie shuddered at the very mention of the colony of bats that had made the eaves of the tower house their roosting spot, but she loved them. Her gaze alighted then upon the clutch of small bodies, each covered in a tawny pelt, their dark, leathery wings tucked in as they slept.
“In an hour or two, they’ll emerge,” she said softly, “and fly through the early gloaming … looking for moths and midges to feed upon.”
Her betrothed didn’t answer, and she glanced his way.
He was watching her. His expression was veiled, yet there was something in his eyes—something that made her heart skip a beat.
Pulse pounding, she hurriedly looked away.
11: A WEDDING GIFT
NIGHT FELL OVER Meggernie in a soft black curtain. Rolling down the sacking over her bower window, Makenna tried not to think about what the morning would bring.
The day before her wedding had sped by in a blur, as if she were on the back of a galloping horse, and it now had the bit between its teeth. She’d risen early in the morning and taken a walk, alone, on the walls. The crisp air in her lungs and the feel of her dirk brushing against her thigh had reassured her.
But the solitude didn’t last. A short while later, she’d joined her kin and guests for bannocks and porridge in the great hall. Mackinnon had also been present, a silent, brooding presence at her side as she forced down mouthfuls of porridge. Usually, porridge was her favorite breakfast, especially drizzled with honey and cream, but she’d had little appetite.
After the first meal of the day was done with, she’d retreated to the lady’s solar to make the finishing touches on her wedding surcote.All four of her sisters came and went as she worked, fussing over her, and bickering over the details of how she’d wear her hair the following day. It was the first occasion all five of them had spent time together in seven years. That fact should have made a lump form in Makenna’s throat. However, as she’d listened to Sonia and Liza argue about what flowers she should wear in her hair, irritation had wreathed up.
She couldn’t bring herself to care about such things—not when she was days from leaving Meggernie.
“Violets are everywhere in the meadow outside the castle,” Liza had enthused. “They’ll be perfect.”
“Too commonplace,” Sonia sniffed. “Ma’s carpet roses have a lovely scent … and they’re more befitting a clan-chief’s bride.”
“But they have thorns.”
“Aye … but so does our wee sister.”
They’d all snorted with laughter at this—although Makenna merely glowered.
Both Liza's and Kylie’s gazes had shadowed then. Her ill-temper worried them. Indeed, it was a shame that she’d been so grumpy today. Who knew when they’d all be together like this again? All the same, she couldn’t help the resentment that had knotted in her gut.
Apart from mealtimes, she’d seen little of Bran during the day. She’d hoped their conversation on the roof of the tower house might have made things a little easier, but it hadn’t. They didn’t seem to know what to say to each other now. It was all so awkward.
And now, here she was, readying herself for bed.
Her maid, Fiona, had just finished brushing Makenna’s hair, and was about to settle herself into her cot in the corner of the bedchamber, when a knock sounded on the door.
Fiona crossed the chamber and opened the heavy oaken door to find Kylie standing on the other side. Makenna’s elder sister had a small leather-bound book in one hand.
“Come to tell me to cheer up?” Makenna couldn’t help the acerbic edge to her voice. She was almost out of patience with her family today.
Kylie inclined her head. “Would it help?”
“No.”
Her sister glanced over at Fiona, who was watching their interaction with interest. “Can ye leave us for a short while, lass?” she asked. “I wish to have a few words in private with my sister.”