Kilted Lust – Bonus Prologue
Dunvegan Castle, December 1293
“Are ye going tae stand still, Kai, or are ye planning tae drive us all mad with yer constant bouncing?” Domhnall’s voice made Kai whip his head around to see all his siblings snickering.
Domhnall stood calm as ever, with the thoughtful Magnus at his side. He was watching Kai carefully, his head cocked at an angle, as Thora and Enya giggled between them.
“What?” Kai said with innocence. “I’m simply annoyed I couldnae go riding this morning. That’s all.” He folded his arms and tried to stand as still as his brothers, shutting down his thoughts as much as possible.
He knew well enough by now that when Magnus was looking at him with that penetrating gaze, he was seeing things in Kai’s mind. Things Kai didn’t necessarily want him to see.
Kai’s skill was similar to Magnus’, though perhaps more illuminating at times, an ability to read people’s emotions when touching them and being able to change them, usually for the better.
At this moment in time, it was plain that Thora and Enya were both excited about their visitors, and they found Kai’s fidgeting extremely humorous. Domhnall was more anxious, wanting the formal feast they were about to share with their neighboring clan to go as well as it could possibly go. Magnus, on the other hand, had learned to distance himself from his emotions. Bearing the calmest of tempers of all of them, his emotions were as quiet as he was with his words.
“Aye, aye, that’s what it is,” Domhnall said with sarcasm. “Yer anxious mood has nothing tae dae with our visitors arriving now, daes it?”
“I dinnae ken what ye mean.” Kai shrugged, trying to ignore what he was feeling.
“They’re here, they’re here!” Enya declared with sudden delight, racing to the window of the great hall that looked out over the courtyard of the castle.
The others moved to her side, all looking at the riders. Kai was careful to follow at a slow pace, well aware that Thora looked back at him, curiosity now in her expression.
“What is it?” Kai whispered to her.
“I just saw something. A flick of ye and…” She looked away, out of the window and down to one of the riders. “It doesnae matter. Ye ken as well as I the things I see dinnae always make sense tae me.”
“I wish ye wouldnae fear yer gift,” he whispered, for her ears only as the others talked excitedly of their visitors.
“Try me gift sometime,” Thora said with a sigh. “The glimpses I have of what may come tae pass, they dinnae always make sense.” The way she chewed her lip and looked out of the window told Kai the answer to the question he feared to ask. Had Thora seen something good in his future? Or something he should fear?
I should fear it. I feel it coming off Thora.
She kept her focus on one of the riders in particular.
“Laird Finley MacKinnon,” Domhnall said as he stared at the three main riders and the guards who had accompanied them.
“Why are ye nervous?” Magnus asked. “They are the clan’s oldest friends. Laird Finley has seen us all grow up.”
“Aye, I ken.” Domhnall nodded. “I dinnae want anything tae sour that relationship. Ever.” He glanced in Kai’s direction.
“Why did ye look at me then?”
“Ye ken very well why,” Domhnall said with a sigh. “Yer reputation with women is getting worse by the day.”
“I am nae that bad,” Kai insisted. Thora and Enya both looked at him with narrowed eyes. “I’m really nae, sisters.”
“Hmm,” they grunted in unison, then looked out of the window again.
“All I’m saying, Kai, is that if ye were tae pursue Laird Finley’s daughter, I fear what it could dae tae our oldest and best alliance,” Domhnall went on, standing tall.
“I beg yer pardon?” Kai felt as if he had been kicked in the gut. “Why would I pursue his daughter? Which one, anyone?”
All of his siblings stared at him now, the suspicion in their gazes so strong that Kai flinched at the power of those stares.
“Ye and Ava are inseparable,” Enya said, casting a gaze to the heavens to plead for patience.
“The way ye look at her,” Domhnall added, shaking his head. “Leaves little tae the imagination. I dinnae need Magnus’ skill of reading minds tae ken what ye are thinking.”
“Ye’re wrong,” Kai said sharply. “Ava and I are just friends. We always have been.”
Magnus raised his eyebrows so high in disbelief that Kai fidgeted on the spot.
“We are friends,” he said again, to which Magnus shook his head.
“Then shut down yer thoughts so I cannae glimpse them, Kai,” Magnus ordered in a low undertone.
Kai looked away, down at the riders.
It is hard tae deny that there is something there.
His gaze landed on Ava. She had just jumped down from her horse, her long blonde braid wild behind her. A warrior lady, she carried a sword on one hip and a dagger on the other. She was still young, but growing more and more into a woman.
Kai had to admit that from the first day he had ever met Ava, over ten years ago now, in this same spot in the great hall, he had been struck by her. Her wit and her strength, had drawn him to her. They had been friends by the end of the day when Laird MacKinnon had departed with his two daughters.
They saw each other often, when their clans met up, but they also made the effort to see each other alone. Many a night had they crept into the forests together to meet, or even the staff’s kitchen, for a place where the two of them could talk, be themselves, without interruption.
Over the last year, their friendship had shifted. Ava becoming a woman, leaving girlhood behind, was making Kai look at her differently. It would have been a lie to pretend he had never imagined him and Ava together, never thought of what it would be like to kiss her, to pleasure her, to have her in his bed.
Even now, he released a growling sigh, until Magnus elbowed him in the rib.
“Dinnae read me mind if ye dinnae like what ye see,” Kai hissed at him.
“Then shut down yer thoughts,” Magnus ordered. “They are coming.” He nodded through the window.
Laird Finley was leading the way up the keep steps, with his daughters, Ava and Lyla, following behind. It would be little more than a minute now before they were in the great hall.
Kai’s breath shuddered a little as he turned his gaze upon the double doors which were already open, waiting for Laird Finley’s arrival.
“Ah, Laird Finley,” Domhnall declared as Laird Finley walked in first. At once, he moved toward him and bowed. The others followed, though Kai hung back, returning to his fidgeting manner as he waited for another to appear.
Lyla came next, moving to Enya and Thora to greet them.
At last, there she is.
Ava appeared next, having shed her cloak and her weapons, so she was wearing a rich navy blue tartan gown, cinched just under the bust, to show off her athletic figure. Kai felt his breath hitch as he moved toward her.
She smiled when she saw him.
“Good day,” she whispered as he took her hand.
“Good day tae ye too.” He clasped it between both of his palms, a momentary act of friendship in the busy room. “Would ye like tae go fer a ride?”
Let us get out of here. Let us be just the two of us again.
“Aye, I–” Before she could say anymore though, Laird Finley called out to her.
“Ava, come. There will be a feast.” Laird Finley beckoned her to his side. Ava offered an apologetic smile, then moved to stand beside her father.
Kai’s hand dropped at his hip as he stared after her.
“Ye ken what he’s thinking, dinnae ye?” Magnus’ voice at Kai’s side made him jump.
“That’s yer gift. Nae mine,” Kai reminded him.
“He’s thinking ye are nae good enough fer his daughter. He certainly doesnae want Ava tae be just another woman ye bed.”
“She would never be that. It’s Ava,” Kai hissed.
“He doesnae ken that, Kai.” Magnus sighed. “Be careful, braither. Domhnall is right. We dinnae want tae make an enemy of our best ally.” As Magnus walked away, Kai felt numb.
He stared at Ava, now drawn into conversation with her father and Domhnall.
With Ava, it would never be that.
The mere thought of bedding Ava and then forgetting what they had shared disgusted Kai. She was different, she meant more to him than any other.
It was like a lightning bolt striking him overhead, the realization so strong that he actually wavered a little and reached out to the wall, holding a palm against the stone to keep himself standing.
Dear God… when did I fall in love with Ava?
Magnus’ eyes were on him. With horror, Kai realized that Magnus had seen into his mind at precisely the wrong moment. Ever so slightly, Magnus shook his head.
Kai nodded, showing he understood. It didn’t matter if he was in love with Ava, if she meant more to him than any other woman had ever done. The risk was too great, he couldn’t ever jeopardize the friendship with the MacKinnons.
Also Ava was the perfect woman, and he was nothing more than the roguish younger braither of a laird. How could he ever hope fer her tae love him back?
In the middle of her conversation with her father, she turned and looked at him, smiling. It made his stomach jolt with excitement.
Ah, Ava, ye are out of me reach.
