“Fingal?” Niall said sharply, “Don’t ye think ye have offered him enough comfort for one day?”
Katherine folded her hands in front of her and took a deep breath before saying with a controlled, calm voice, “Niall, I would like to check on our son before we retire. It is not necessary for me to check on Fingal. His wound is not serious. I’m not sure what I’ve done to anger ye, but I have not seen Fingal since I stitched him up this afternoon. As soon as I bandaged his wound, I gave instructions to Turcuil and Edna to look after him. I have not been back since then. If anything goes awry, they will let me know.”
Niall wondered why she would say this when Malcolm had clearly told him she was with Fingal, but he didn’t call her on the lie. “I will go check on Tomas. Ye go to bed.”
“Niall, he is afraid, I want to see him and kiss him goodnight.”
“Do not argue with me tonight,” he growled, opening the door of their chamber for her. She walked silently past him and he shut the door before she could say anything else.
When Niall returned, he found Katherine combing her hair, getting ready for bed. She looked so very beautiful and even though he was angry, he ached with need for her. Why had she spent the afternoon with Fingal and lied to him about it? He pulled her roughly into his arms. With one arm he held her to his chest, knotting his other hand in her hair so she could not turn away. His lips slanted across hers and his tongue plundered her mouth relentlessly. She responded to him by wrapping her arms around his neck and returning his kiss ardently.
He broke the kiss and asked, “Why did ye lie to me?” searching her face for a clue to what she was thinking but seeing only confusion.
“Niall, I don’t know what ye are talking about. I have never lied to ye and I never will. I love ye.”
He gave her another searing kiss, wanting to believe her. He remembered the unbearable pain of betrayal at the hands of a woman whom he thought he loved, and didn’t think he could live through that again. When he drew away from her, he said fiercely, “Ye are mine, Katherine. Ye are mine. I will not share ye!”
“Aye, Niall, I am only yours, completely and forever. I love ye.”
He wondered if he was mad for believing those words, but he wanted them to be true. He carried her to the bed and made love to her urgently and passionately. She responded to his every touch with abandon. He wanted her, needed her, as he had never wanted or needed another person. How could she possibly understand that, and how could she possibly feel the same way about him? He poured his searing need into their joining, as if by the sheer intensity of his love-making he could convey all of this to her.
~ * ~
Afterwards, when they both lay spent, his slow, regular breathing signaled that he slept. She lay with her head over his heart, gently stroking his chest and shoulder. She wondered if he would ever release the pain and doubt plaguing him, which made him so uncertain of her devotion. Eventually her mind turned to the events of the day.
Who had Tomas overheard? Katherine didn’t want to believe, couldn’t believe, Fingal was one of the men involved, nor could she understand why Niall believed it with such assurance. She decided surely Niall would realize this when his anger cooled. Perhaps in the morning he would see things more rationally.
In the wee hours of the morning they awoke to the sound of Diarmad pounding on their chamber door. “Laird, wake up! There has been a raid to the southwest. The fires have been spotted by the watch.”
Niall jumped out of bed, dressing in an instant. He strapped on his sword before turning to Katherine, who had arisen and was dressing as well. "Ye stay here, in this room. Don’t leave for any reason until I come back,” he ordered sternly. “I mean it, Katherine,” he added even more forcefully, and strode out of the room, slamming the door.
Katherine stared at the door in wide-eyed shock. She wasn’t sure if he had confined her to their chambers for her own safety or for some other reason, but she would not provoke his ire further by defying him. She did not leave the room.
~ * ~
By the time Niall and a contingent of his men reached the site of the raid, the small cluster of farmers’ cottages and barns had burned to the ground. The raiders had completely destroyed everything in the dead of the night. Unlike the other raids in which they stole animals or burned hay, this time they had senselessly slaughtered the animals and set fire to the whole lot. The only thing for which Niall could be thankful was that the raiders had pulled his people from their homes before they torched the buildings. Even so, they killed three men, who had apparently tried to interfere. Surveying the ruins, he knew Matheson intended to send a message by this devastation. Diarmad approached him and asked, “Do ye want to send men to follow the raider’s trail?”