amused glance before refilling his tumbler of mead. “The Grants want something from ye, and I think they mean to marry ye off to their surviving daughter, which, if ye were looking for another wife, would make sense.”
“Dinna say that. Ye know better than anyone that I’m not looking to marry again.”
“So, the thought has not entered ye mind with the lovely Kenzie? I know, should I be in your position right now, I’d seriously consider it.”
Ben narrowed his eyes at the sight of his clansmen’s appreciative inspection of Kenzie, before he reminded himself he wasn’t jealous. Fool. Never was there a man more so than he was right now. “Kenzie will be returning home soon—without a hand fasting to me.”
“’Tis a shame, I think the lass would do well here, and by the way she keeps looking at ye, I’m guessing she’d like to stay as well.”
Ben looked up and caught Kenzie’s attention. She was standing beside Clan Grant’s men, but not conversing with any of them. That she was a beautiful woman was obvious, and a pang of regret pierced Ben that she couldn’t be his forever.
Someone else’s, in another time and place, that he couldn’t even watch and appreciate from afar. He poured more mead into his tumbler.
“Mayhap I should look to Aline’s sister and marry again. My son would be well cared for by having a woman so like his own mother. The same values would be bestowed upon Alasdair that Aline would’ve taught him.”
Bruce raised his brow. “Ye said yourself ye didn’t wish to marry again, and there are plenty of women who would warm ye bed without so much as a backward glance when the pleasure was over. Ye have yer heir. Leave it at that.”
Ben rubbed a hand over his face. His clansman was right, yet, if he did marry Athol, at least that would secure his keep and lands from possible clan war. Not that he suspected the Grants of wanting to do him harm, but Laird Grant not accompanying his son and daughter here did leave him wondering if their truce, the burying of ill will, was really so.
“Tomorrow I’ll be helping with the preparations for Beltane. Have the horses prepared, as I’ll take Kenzie with me out to collect the wood for the fires.”
“The berry trees are showing that they’ll be abundant in fruit this year. It’ll mean a harsh winter.”
“Aye, but we have a good many cattle ready, and in the coming months, we’ll send them south to Stirling for sale. ’Tis time that I started to act as the laird that I am and ensure Castle Ross and the tenants who rely on this keep are kept safe and well during the harsher months to come. We shall celebrate Beltane, hope that the crops will be plentiful, and all will be well with the people here.”
Ben caught Kenzie slipping out the doors that led to the front of the keep and he stood, downing his drink. “I leave ye in charge. I’ll be back anon.” Bruce didn’t say anything, but Ben wasn’t stupid enough not to know his clansman had seen Kenzie leave the great hall.
No one followed her, and yet that still didn’t make it safe for her. Castle Ross wasn’t impenetrable, and he couldn’t guarantee her safety, even with his own clansmen if they’d imbibed too much drink. She was an unmarried woman and there were some who’d think she was too forward and fast for staying here without a husband. Kenzie would be an easy target and he could not allow that.
He found her at the side of the castle that looked out over the sea. The stars shone brightly down upon her and with her light gown she looked like a ghostly apparition, her gown billowing out behind her like mist.
Ben came up behind her and wrapped his arms about her waist, breathing deep the smell of roses that wafted from her hair. Kenzie always smelled so good, as fresh as a summer day. “What are ye doing out here, lass. ’Tis not safe.”
“I think I’ve had too much to drink, and I needed the fresh air. The mead tonight seems stronger than it was previous evenings.”
He frowned. “Do ye feel ill? Can I get ye something to eat, perhaps? That may settle ye stomach.”
“No,” she said, turning in his arms and wrapping hers about his waist.
Being like this together, holding the woman who’d captured his attention from the second he laid eyes on