A Perfect Wife(8)

“Thank you,” she whispered. “I couldna sleep well on that hard floor.”

“Did ye do as I ordered and keep from peaking?” asked Duff.

Her face flamed. Malcolm’s arm rose from her waist to capture a breast. He gently squeezed, sending a promise.

“Aye, I didna do it, though I wished to,” she admitted. Her husbands shared a smirk.

She’d wanted to touch herself more than once those first few nights. She’d held back as she knew how difficult it would be to stop. She’d felt no need after her bed was taken. Now, ten days of wanting rushed to arouse her.

“’Tis not sleep we plan to do after bathing,” said Malcolm. He caught her nipple between his splayed fingers. She inhaled a gasp.

“Nay?” she managed to choke out. “And what is it you plan to do?”

The sounds of approaching servants had him releasing her. Both men had changed while they were away. Duff seemed more serious. Malcolm had control before, now there was a power behind it that both aroused and frightened her.

“What will we do with ye?” His low chuckle made her shiver. “Whatever we wish.”





Chapter Three




“What vexes you, husband?”

Malcolm stopped pacing at Kiera’s soft question. She stood quietly, fingers clasped in front of her. The set of her hunched shoulders suggested she was not nearly as calm as she wished to appear. Nor was he.

The truth was he wanted to rip her clothes off and plunge into her heat, but he couldn’t tell her that. Not when the servants were doing what he’d demanded, which was also why he was pacing back and forth rather than devouring his wife.

“I am not used to standing by while others work,” he said. “We had no servants at Duncladach.”

His words came out abrupt and harsh. She flinched, as if he’d hit her. He cursed, turning away. He wanted to explain that he’d not meant it as a complaint of her, but that was not something one said in front of servants. He knew she was no lily-fingered lady who gave orders but did nothing herself. Duff had told him all she’d done at the sheiling. During the long days of riding the men had spoken of how well she’d managed Castle Leod after her mother’s death.

He leaned a callused palm on the stone wall and looked out, mainly to avoid Kiera’s hurt expression. MacKenzie said women were complicated and that a man could never understand them. Malcolm understood Kiera when they were alone in their chamber as husband and wife. He had no problem giving orders to men, and to servants. MacKenzie said his wife Silean was not only obedient, she did all she could to ease his way.

Kiera may choose to be obedient, but she was not tractable by nature.

A person, male or a female, who could not think and make decisions could not be a leader. Good hunting dogs and horses were trained to follow the orders of their master. The best would let the master know they’d sensed danger yet still follow orders. A mule was far harder to train, and if they sensed danger they would not obey. Was it that they were stubborn by nature, or were they more intelligent than horses?

Kiera was more like a mule than a horse. Though stubborn, she still wished to be praised for obeying. Being intelligent and well schooled, she would have a greater desire to be part of decisions that affected her.

He hadn’t liked how her father, and his laird, Somerled, had manoeuvred them into this marriage. It didn’t matter that it was what he wanted in the end. He would’ve liked to have had a say in the decision. Why would Kiera, just because she was female, feel any different?

And because she was female he wanted her to kneel to him, submitting to her master. Not as an unthinking servant but as a woman who chose to be obedient because it pleased him, and pleasing him made her happy. They could do as they chose when alone in their chamber. They could act as three equals, discussing a subject. Or they could play as two husbands with a wife who’d promised obedience.

It was with others that he was uncertain.

With ten older brothers, most of whom were loud and demanding, he’d learned to be quiet while he worked. He had little trouble giving orders to men as he’d done so to the five youngest. He was still unsure how to treat women, other than Kiera, when alone.

He’d paid close attention to how MacKenzie handled people at Castle Leod. The powerful man quietly coaxed and encouraged the shy. He loudly praised those deserving and quickly shut down the ones causing problems. Malcolm had done the same at Kinrowan. He’d seen how a quick smile by Duff could make a terrified child or uncertain servant relax enough to show a hesitant smile.

“Laird MacKenzie had to remind us a few times at Kinrowan,” explained Duff. “Though it might be faster to do it ourselves it would be an insult, as if we dinna believe they could do the work. He said with time the Kinrowan servants would learn our ways.”