Highlanders Collection. Ann Lethbridge

if you try to eat.’

      ‘I’ll eat,’ he agreed. But he couldn’t resist grazing his hand against her cheek. She reddened and touched her face, shivering slightly.

      Dougal stalked away after Ross released him, his tight anger evident within his posture. He’d been humiliated before everyone and no doubt he’d want to sulk in private. Though Bram wanted to talk to him, he understood that it wasn’t a good time.

      When Ross came forwards, his smile was so broad, it nearly split his face. ‘Bram!’ He gripped him in a hug so tight, it nearly crushed his lungs.

      The older man released him, pounding him on the back. ‘By God, it’s a miracle t’see you again.’ With a gleam in his eye, he prompted, ‘Alex, we’ll be needing a few barrels to celebrate.’ Then his gaze fell upon Nairna. ‘And you’ve brought your lass home again.’ His smile turned teasing. ‘After seven years, we all know what you’ll be doin’ tonight.’ A loud laugh erupted from the old man. ‘Next summer, I suppose we’ll be celebrating the birth of a bairn! ‘

      There were resounding cheers from the other men, but Bram didn’t miss the pain upon Nairna’s face, though she tried to smile.

      ‘Did you find Laren?’ Alex asked Nairna, but she shook her head.

      ‘She returned with your daughters and is preparing them for bed,’ Ross interrupted. ‘I imagine she’ll be here soon enough.’

      Frustration lined Alex’s face as he gave a brief nod. But Nairna intervened, saying, ‘Don’t trouble yourself if she’s busy with the children. I’ll be glad to meet her in the morning.’

      Alex gave a nod, but Bram saw the way his eyes drifted above stairs. There was something unreadable in his brother’s expression, almost a sense of regret, before Alex turned back to them.

      ‘Where is the mead?’ Ross reminded the chief. ‘We should drink to Bram’s return!’

      Alex managed a smile and gave the order. ‘We’ll drink tonight,’ he proclaimed, ‘and tomorrow, we’ll have a feast.’

      Though Bram understood that his brother was trying to welcome him back, the last thing he wanted was to be the centre of everyone’s attention. He’d survived captivity and come home. It was enough.

      ‘For now, I want to find a place for Nairna and I to sleep,’ Bram responded. They needed shelter, and from the look of the keep, there wasn’t much room. He didn’t want his wife sleeping on the earthen floor amid the stench of rushes. He wanted privacy from everyone else, a place where they could retreat in solitude.

      ‘I’ll find something,’ Alex agreed.

      As more and more people joined them within the keep, the noise level rose higher and the mead flowed. So many of his clansmen came to welcome him, asking questions, until Bram found himself having to repeat himself time and again.

      The crowds made him agitated, with so many people he hadn’t seen in years. Though he tried to manage it, speaking to each one, he felt himself growing more weary and less interested in food.

      ‘Here y’are, lad,’ came a voice from behind. Ross sloshed a cup of mead into his hand. ‘A long, hard drink is what you’re needing.’

      Some of the men snorted and another called out, ‘It’s not the only thing that’ll be long and hard tonight! ‘

      Nairna’s mouth opened in shocked surprise and she quickly looked at the ground as if she were searching for an escape.

      Bram took the drink and eyed the men. ‘Go. Away.’

      Ross raised a toast and drained his mug, laughing with the others. To their credit, they left him alone with Nairna.

      Right now, his mood was balanced on a razor’s edge. He needed to escape the crowds, to gather up the pieces of his sanity. Nairna offered him food, but he only picked at it.

      ‘You’d better eat more than that, MacKinloch,’ she ordered him. ‘You need to get your strength back.’

      ‘And what will I be needing the strength for, a ghaoil?’ he asked, taking her fingertips.

      Her face coloured and she held out a bite of fish, offering it to him. When she pushed the bite of food into his mouth, her thumb brushed against his lip.

      The soft touch brought him into a deeper awareness of her. He ignored the clan members gathering and the sounds of their conversation grew muted. He looked into Nairna’s worried green eyes and kept her fingers locked in his.

      ‘Bram, are you all right?’

      No. He was tired, irritated at having to be around so many people, and his mind couldn’t stop thinking about the night he would spend with Nairna.

      The bawdy conversation was doing nothing to alleviate the sexual hunger he felt for Nairna. He remembered the silken skin and the sweetness of her kiss. Even more, the way she’d clung to him when he’d kissed her only deepened his own arousal. He wanted to be alone with his wife right now. He wanted to explore her body, to learn the mysteries of a woman’s flesh. Unless she kept her hands off him, his control was going to break apart.

      When her hand came up to stroke his cheek, all semblance of reason snapped.

      Nairna wondered what she’d done to provoke such a response. Bram took her arm, guiding her up and away from the others. He took her to the furthest corner, away from everyone else, and pulled her into his arms.

      Behind her, she heard the sounds of cheering, the men applauding her husband.

      Bram’s gaze locked with hers and he looked as though he’d rather devour her, instead of the food they’d shared earlier. ‘Ignore them.’

      His thumbs caressed her jawline and he leaned in to rest his forehead against hers. Her body responded with a shiver, though she wasn’t cold at all. Bram lowered his hands down to her shoulders, past her waist, before he brought her up against the wall.

      She forgot about all the people around them, lost within the intensity of his dark eyes. His mouth moved in to take hers and she yielded to him, sensing the caged tension. He kissed her until she couldn’t catch her breath, until she no longer heard the sounds of men celebrating.

      Her heartbeat was racing so fast, her body responding to the desire he’d conjured. And though she knew he had the right to consummate their marriage, the flutter of nerves rose up in her stomach.

      ‘Bram,’ she interrupted, turning her face to the side. ‘Not here.’ Too many were watching them and she suspected he’d forgotten where they were.

      His face was unyielding, his eyes turning to frost when he released her. ‘You have five minutes to finish what you want to eat. After that, you’re mine.’

      He left her alone while he went to speak with Alex, and in the meantime Nairna sat down, trying to collect her stray thoughts.

      He was going to take her body tonight. He would become her husband in flesh, as well as in name.

      She steadied her breathing, letting her mind drift. It might be pleasant, if Bram’s kiss was any indication. And she wasn’t a maiden who would be terrified of the joining. There was nothing that should frighten her.

      But something about Bram made her pulse quicken and her body ached in secret ways. She overheard more raucous jokes about sex, and though she knew the men meant no harm, it was making her more nervous. She couldn’t stop wondering what it would be like with Bram.

      Before she could calm herself, he returned.

      ‘Alex has found a place for us. We’ll go now and rest.’

      Rest? From the hungry look in his eyes, it seemed that sleep was the last thing on his mind.

      Breathe, she reminded herself. It’s nothing more than sharing his bed. But her nerves tightened at the thought of lying naked beneath him.

      As