Page 14 of The Highlander’s Auctioned Bride

CHAPTER 14

Maisie woke up to an empty bed, still in James’s room. The mattress beside her was cold, it was clear the laird had not returned after he had left.

He said it would be different. He said I didnae have to be lonely anymore. Was that all a lie? For what?

Maisie tried hard not to resent James for leaving. She reminded herself that he was a laird of the land. After all, he had ruled his people for many years, and he had only known her for a week.

But still, the anger persisted.

He could not leave them for a single night just to be with me. He abandoned his wedding night for his people; what could possibly be more important than that? He will never prioritize me. Never.

Her gut clenched as she looked at the bedsheets beneath her. She would begin her time as Lady MacLennan with servants’ gossip. It was clear from the pristine sheets that they had not consummated their marriage.

Were they even legally wed if they did not?

If someone had told her the day before that this would happen—she might have rejoiced, but not now. Now she had felt James’s skin caress her, his body against hers, and the softness in his eyes when he forgot himself. They were wed now, and that could not be easily undone.

Maisie swallowed, shivering in the cold room. She wanted him… and he would never want her back.

She lost track of time, trying to decide what to do next when a gentle rap came at the door.

“Me lady?” Jean called. “Are ye awake?”

Maisie pushed herself out of the bed, dragging on a robe and checking her appearance in the looking glass. Her hair was a mess from where James’s fingers had run through it and her eyes were red from crying.

She groaned inwardly but was determined to present herself as a lady should. “Aye, ” she called, “come in.”

Jean entered, a happy smile on her face. “Good mornin’, m’lady” she said happily. Maisie would have to get used to the title, it sounded foreign to her ears.

Jean went to the curtains and pushed them open. The wide pane bathed the room in the bright morning sun. The floating specks of dust should have made the atmosphere feel magical, but Maisie felt as though her entire world was falling to pieces.

“Is all well?” Jean asked, and Maisie understood that she was enquiring about the night she should have spent with her husband.

“It was wonderful,” she managed, attempting a smile.

Jean nodded. “I am so glad, m’lady, now let’s get ye to yer own rooms where ye have yer things so I can get ye ready for the day. All the laird will have is pomade and an old comb.”

Maisie let herself be carried along by Jean’s enthusiasm as they made their way through the corridor to her rooms.

Once Maisie was dressed, she descended to the dining room.

She hoped that maybe she would see James at breakfast, but she dined alone—a tiny figure in the vast hall. The servants seemed dutiful and courteous, but she was not convinced. It might have been her imagination, but they seemed to be exchanging a great number of uncertain glances throughout her breakfast.

She could hardly stomach a mouthful and had to force herself to consume just enough so that she did not stir up yet more gossip.

So much for becoming Lady MacLennan, she thought miserably.

James stared at the documents on his desk. He was raw with exhaustion from the night before, but at least the issue was resolved—for now.

An old disagreement between two families had reared its head across the boundary between two clans. A ridiculous drunken bet had got out of hand and the Campbells from the Abingdon clan had taken it upon themselves to attack the MacCarthy’s on his lands.

He had been duty-bound to help defend them and resolve the scuffle, but it had taken a long time to calm things down and send everyone back to their homes.

And did I receive any thanks for me efforts? Did I hell .

They had all been drunk off their heads and he had had to leave Harris to deal with the stragglers, losing all patience as dawn had arrived on the horizon.

He sighed, leaning back in his chair, he hadn’t slept at all, and his thoughts moved to Maisie for the hundredth time...

“What if ye didnae need to be lonely anymore.”

That was what he had told Maisie, and then he had abandoned her to attend to clan affairs. All the way there and all the way back, he wished he had had the foresight to send Bram and Harris to deal with the ruckus. But he had never been good at leaving clan matters to others—it was something born from his own father’s incompetence.

James could recall dozens of occasions when his father had promised to resolve an issue, and then weeks later, James would discover that he had never done it. He would end up picking up the pieces.

If ye needed a job doin’ well, dae it yerself.

He had tried to forget the look of pain in Maisie’s eyes as he had left her. But when dawn rose behind him he had convinced himself that she would understand. After all, the clan took precedence over everything else; she knew that.

The door creaked open and Harris’s bushy beard appeared round it. He looked as tired as James felt. James nodded at him, trying to make sense of the documents in front of him.

“Have ye seen Lady MacLennan this mornin’?” Harris asked.

James paused— Lady MacLennan— he had not thought of the name until now except for his mother. How well it sounded when attached to Maisie.

“Nae, I have been tryin’ to find a solution to the matter of the MacCarthy’s and the Campbells since I returned, I’ll go to her shortly.”

“That’s just it, m’laird, no one can find her.”

James looked up, a skitter of alarm in his gut.

“What?”

“Miss Foster got her ready as usual and she had her breakfast, but she has disappeared. I thought she would be with ye, but I can see she isnae.” Harris’s eyes seemed almost reproachful. “Ye didnae call in on her when ye returned then, nae?”

James’s stomach churned unpleasantly.

“Where was she last seen?”

“Her rooms. Miss Foster was changin’ the—Miss Foster was tidying things away and then she was gone.”

James heard the double meaning in his words. Jean had been clearing the sheets . Once they reached the laundry it would be all over the castle that he and Maisie had not spent the night together as a new couple should.

James growled low in his throat and Harris backed away toward the door.

“Dae ye wish me to look for her?”

“I can find me own wife!” James shouted, standing up, punching his fist into the desk, and following Harris’s retreating back.

Maisie could hear quite a lot of movement outside from her seat in the library. She had no desire to leave the warm room and find out the cause.

She had been tucked up for hours behind one of the bookshelves reading The Tempest—her favorite Shakespearean play. She had been dismayed to find it was the only such book by Shakespeare in the whole place. She would have to rearrange the library, perhaps that was a task to occupy her.

She had no intention of leaving just yet, particularly if it meant having to face James. He had not even had the courtesy to speak to her when he returned. She knew he was back because the servants were rushing about all over themselves to see to the ‘laird’ as the wedding guests slowly left.

She should be seeing the household, speaking to the housekeeper, and getting to grips with her new duties as Lady MacLennan, but she was too melancholy to try at the moment. She didn’t wish to hear yet more details on how she would be spending all her time alone in this vast castle.

“Dae ye ken how many people are lookin’ for ye? ”

She peered around the corner of the shelves to find James standing ahead of her. His eyes were heavy-lidded and tired as he glowered at her. He looked truly furious, and he had no right to be considering how they had parted.

She snapped her book shut and rose, walking around the shelves. James’ eyes scanned her appreciatively, and she scowled. If he appreciated her so much, he should have shown it last night. She had on a new pale blue gown that she knew she looked good in. James, on the other hand, looked dead on his feet.

“I hope that book is of some interest, given the trouble it has just caused.”

“It is Shakespeare” she replied icily. “I would say it is of a great deal of interest, and why, may I ask, is there nae a single volume in the rest of the library?”

“Ye wish to read Shakespeare instead of carin’ for yer household?”

“Ye wish to see to yer clan instead of carin’ for yer wife, ” she snapped back, but at his angry look, she deflated. He looked exhausted. “Did ye resolve it?” she asked placidly.

“Aye. Somewhat. What are ye doin’ in here?”

“What dae ye think? I am readin’! I came here after I woke up alone, ate breakfast alone, bid our guests farewell alone, and needed some time on my own,” she answered, letting the rage infuse itself into every syllable.

James’s reaction was not what she had expected. He stalked toward her poking a finger at her as though she were a child.

“Ye kent why I had to leave,” he said just as angrily. “I told ye it was clan business.”

“It was our wedding night ,” she thundered, throwing the book down behind her on the chair, “ye truly couldnae get someone else to handle things for one single night?”

“Nae! I couldnae. That isnae how I dae things, and it never will be.”

Maisie scoffed. “Ye left me without a word of explanation, and I woke up to an empty bed nae kennin’ if ye were injured or lyin’ in a ditch somewhere!”

He gave a hollow laugh. “I am nae so easy to kill, lass.”

“Ye really dinnae ken why I am angry?”

“Ye should understand me position.”

“Yer position?” she shouted, throwing up her hands in outrage. “Ye mean the one ye remind me of every minute of every day? How could I possibly forget? Ye left me there as though I meant nothin’ to ye.”

She shut her mouth at his look, desperately trying to keep a check on her temper. She realized, belatedly, that she had been screaming at the top of her voice in easy hearing distance of dozens of servants. She could just imagine the gossip now.

‘There was a full-blown argument, and they didnae share a bed on their wedding night—trouble is brewin’ in their marriage already....’

“Ye have nae idea what it is to be the laird of these lands and care for so many. Ye were a spoiled child all yer life, indulged by yer faither. Ye come here, preachin’ to me about what I should prioritize.”

“I am yer wife.”

“And I dinnae need ye!”

James froze.

What the hell are ye doin’ treatin’ her this way after last night? Ye are bein’ an arse.

Maisie’s face twisted into a scowl, and she made to walk past him, stalking to the door.

He lunged after her, but she threw him off with a snarl. She reached the door in two easy strides before he managed to land his full weight against it.

They stood awkwardly like that for a full minute, neither of them moving. James had his head pressed against the top of Maisie’s shoulders, her back to him as one hand held the door handle. James’s hands pushed it shut with all his weight.

“Forgive me,” he said swiftly. “I didnae get any sleep, as ye well ken, and I am nae myself. Maisie. I am sorry. I didnae mean that.”

She spun around. “But ye did, did ye nae? That’s what I failed to understand. Ye dinnae need a wife for anything but a bairn, and ye cannae even allow yerself enough time with me to produce one of those.”

Her words were a hiss, even more mindful of the servants now as she fumed at him.

“Ye are one to talk. One minute tellin’ me nae to touch ye and insistin’ on separate rooms and then beggin’ for me to pleasure ye the next.”

He whispered the words, and this time, he could see the effect they had on her. She might have been furious with him, and she had every right to be, but reminding her of her lust only stoked those flames higher.

“I may nae have been able to claim ye last night, but that was one of many still to come. Are ye honestly tellin’ me that if I bent ye over that chair ye were curled up in, ye wouldnae scream me name and beg for more?”

Maisie huffed, but it sounded unsteady. Her eyes kept flicking up to his lips and back again.

“I ken ye are angry,” he said his hands smoothing over her waist. “I didnae say ye shouldnae be, but dinnae ye think I was the more sorry of the two of us?”

He slowly lowered himself, little by little, until he was at a similar height to Maisie, his thumbs rubbing over her stomach as he came level with her.

“I finally had ye before me, all that glorious skin and that beautiful body, and I was wrenched away to bandy about the hills with a bunch of drunken men.” He saw a tiny smile twitch at the corner of her mouth. “Ye think I wouldnae have rather been with ye, tastin’ yer flesh, pushing inside ye and feelin’ yer heat.”

She let out a shuddering gasp of air. “Ye are a wicked man.”

“Aye, I may be, but it is only because me wife makes me want to dae wicked things to her.”

He nuzzled at her neck even as he felt her relax back against the door and probed at her jaw with the tip of his tongue. He bit at the skin with his teeth, feeling her tremble beneath him.

He pushed a hand into her hair, smelling that wonderful scent of pine trees waft over him again.

“Dae ye wish for me to take ye over that desk? Because I will dae it.”

He kissed the corner of her mouth and then the other until she finally opened for him with a groan of pleasure. At that, he plastered his body against hers, pushing her mercilessly into the door, as his hands roamed all over her body.

As he finally pulled back, he could see the reluctant forgiveness in her eyes and then she chuckled softly.

“Ye willnae take me anywhere until ye have a bath, ye smell like ye’ve been gallopin’ about the hills all night.”

James found himself laughing too.

“Dae ye forgive me, lass?” he asked, all humor leaving his tone as he waited for what he so desperately wanted to hear.

“As long as ye promise nae to dae it again,” she said teasingly, “then I’ll forgive ye.” But as soon as she spoke those words James pulled back feeling a leaden weight in his stomach.

“If ye are askin’ me to prioritize ye over me clan then ye’re askin’ me to be a man I am nae,” he said stiffly.

Maisie pushed him away, all semblance of pleasure and laughter gone. In its place was the haunted look he had seen before.

“Then ye should go to them,” Maisie said sharply, stepping away from the door and leaving him space to depart.

On a low growl, he did just that, leaving her behind him with a hollow feeling in his chest.