Page 16 of Highland Sky

Chapter Six

Kellina made her way back to the cottage she shared with her siblings, to quickly change back into her tunic, breeches and boots. Her lips still tingled from Nash’s kiss, and she held her hand to her mouth, cursing herself for enjoying it so much. She should have pushed him away and not let him do it. It was what she’d intended to do, but then she had liked it too much to stop him.

“Sister!” Caitlin came into the cottage and closed the door. “Why are yer cheeks so flushed? Are ye ill?”

“Nay, they’re no’ flushed. I am fine.” Kellina turned around and continued dressing.

“Wait. Yer lips look swollen.” Caitlin peeked around her, perusing her lips. “Ye liked the kiss, didna ye?”

She hesitated before she answered. “Nay. Of course, I didna. He’s a MacKeefe. I hate the MacKeefes.” She walked over to a trunk and pulled out a pair of boots and sat down on the bed to pull them on.

“Was he a guid kisser?” Her sister giggled, sitting down next to her on the pallet.

“Caitlin, I dinna want to talk about it.”

“Are ye scared to share the weddin’ bed with him tonight? Ye ken that is next.”

“What?” Her head snapped upward and a sinking feeling came to her stomach. She’d been so caught up in the whole wedding, she’d almost forgotten about that part. It was something that scared her out of her mind. “I’m no’ consummatin’ the marriage, no matter what,” she snapped.

“Losh me! Ye have to. It’s no’ a true alliance with the MacKeefe Clan if ye refuse to let him bed ye. The consummation is what seals the alliance. Even I ken that.”

“I’ve had enough of this kind of talk.” Kellina stood up, tying back her hair with a leather cord. The last thing she wanted to think about right now was making love with Nash MacKeefe. “There are roofs to be thatched and ye and Jamie need to help. Find Nash and meet me in the stables to collect the thatch. We’ll start with the roof on Uncle’s cottage. There isna much damage and it can be fixed quickly.”

“Dinna ye want to start with the infirmary?” asked Caitlin. “After all, that is where the box bed is that ye’ll be sharin’ with Nash tonight.” She said it in a sing-song voice, which only infuriated Kellina even more.

The bed in the corner of the infirmary was a special one. It was a box bed that had walls built around three sides of it for privacy. A long curtain attached by iron rings to a bar pulled across the front of the bed to stop curious eyes from watching a couple get intimate. The bed wasn’t used all that much. It was only for consummating marriages, birthing babies, or to lay out the dead before burial.

“Aye, mayhap ye are right. We should start with the infirmary,” Kellina agreed.

Caitlin giggled. “So, ye’ll have more privacy on yer weddin’ night now.”

“Nay,” Kellina answered. “I am doin’ it so we’ll have a private place to lay out Nash’s dead body, since I’m no’ expectin’ him to live that long.”

“What are ye sayin’, Sister?” Caitlin’s smile turned to a frown. “Ye truly sound as if ye mean to kill Nash. He’s yer husband now. Please tell me this isna true.”

“I wish I could,” said Kellina, her hand going to her tingling lips once again. “The truth is, I would have no qualms about him dyin’, because it is what he as well as the other MacKeefes deserve.”

“Nay! Dinna say that. No one deserves to lose their life. Besides, all the MacKeefes that have come here seem so nice. Please, change yer mind,” begged Caitlin. “I could tell ye liked his kiss, so ye canna really hate him as much as ye let on.”

Kellina’s tongue shot out and touched her upper lip, savoring the essence of Nash MacKeefe. Damn, why did he have to kiss her so passionately? And why did her little sister have to be so observant? Kellina didn’t want to admit it to herself, but she did enjoy the kiss, although she didn’t think she would. Her plan at first was to kill off the three MacKeefes one by one. She wanted it in vengeance, to make them pay for killing her parents. She hated them. She didn’t want them around.

Or did she?

“We’ll start with the infirmary’s roof, just as ye’ve suggested, Caitlin.”

“Then ye’ve changed yer mind, and want to bed Nash after all?” asked her sister.

“Nay, that is no’ the reason at all. Now, no more chatter. We need to get to work.”

She headed for the door, touching her lips once more as she started to wonder if being married to Nash MacKeefe would really be so awful after all.

*

“I’m supposed tohelp in the fields with the crops, no’ thatch roofs,” complained North as he and Nash approached the stables. “I dinna ken why ye even want me here.”

“Just keep yer eyes open, and dinna trust the lass at all.” Nash nervously walked into the stables and stopped just inside the door. “Hello?” he called out, trying to see into the darkened area. “Is anyone here?”

“Watch out,” snapped Kellina, slamming into him with the bundle of long straw she carried over one shoulder. It had to be as tall as her, if she were to set it on end. “Both of ye, go get some thatch and bring it over to the infirmary right away. We’ll need plenty of it.”