Maya Banks - In Bed with a Highlander

“Oh, my lady,” Christina exclaimed. “We were just coming to see if Maddie knew of your whereabouts. Cormac has the entire keep in an uproar trying to find you.”

Mairin let out a sigh. “I persuaded him to fetch my shawl so I could seek Maddie’s advice about something. ’Tis a private matter, you see, and not appropriate for Cormac’s ears.”

Bertha grinned broadly. “Then we needn’t tell him where you are.”

Mairin nodded her appreciation and fully expected the two women to depart, but both sat down at Maddie’s table, and Bertha leaned forward in interest.

“What is it you wish instruction on, my lady? We’re all willing to help. You’re our mistress now.”

“Our lady said it was a private matter,” Maddie scolded.

Mairin nodded. “Aye. A delicate matter, indeed.”

Warmth traveled into her cheeks and she was sure her face was afire.

“Ah, a woman’s matter,” Bertha said knowingly. “You can tell us, lass. We’re very discreet.”

Maddie nodded her agreement while Christina looked on in puzzlement.

“Well,” Mairin began reluctantly. “Perhaps it would be better to gain more than one perspective on the matter. ’Tis the truth I’m a bit confused at the coflicting information. You see, Mother Serenity instructed me on the ways of loving.”

“Oh dear Lord,” Bertha muttered. “Lass, tell me you didn’t receive all your instructions from an aging abbess.”

Startled, Mairin stared back at the other woman. “Why aye, Mother Serenity is knowledgeable in all things. She wouldn’t lie to me. I think perhaps I may have confused some of her instructions. There were so many, you see.”

Maddie shook her head and made a tsk ing sound through her teeth.

“Tell us what you want to know, child. I can assure you that your Mother Serenity, while well intentioned, couldn’t possibly have told you the whole of it.”

“Well, she instructed me on kissing, and the laird—” She broke off, mortified at the idea of saying aloud what was in her thoughts.

“Go on.” This time Christina piped in and leaned forward, her eyes round with curiosity.

“Well, he used his tongue. Mother Serenity never said anything about the use of one’s tongue in kissing. She was quite explicit in the matter.”

Maddie and Bertha chuckled and exchanged knowing glances.

“Tell me, lass, did you enjoy the laird’s kisses?” Maddie asked.

Mairin nodded. “ ’Tis the truth I did, and I have to admit, I used my own. It was quite … breathless. I don’t understand it at all.”

“Kissing with tongues?” Christina’s eyes went wide.

Maddie frowned at Christina and then made a shooing motion with her hands. “Lass, you’re far too young for this conversation. Why don’t you go stand outside and keep watch for Cormac.”

Mairin noted Christina’s crestfallen look but she didn’t argue. Christina stood and left the room. Only when the sound of the front door closing reached them did Bertha and Maddie return their attention to Mairin.

“Is that all you were wanting to know?” Maddie asked.

Mairin shifted in her seat and wondered if she shouldn’t abandon the entire notion and return to the keep so Cormac could lecture her for her desertion.

“There now, lass,” Bertha said in a kindly voice. “Ask us what you want. We won’t be telling tales on you.”

Mairin cleared her throat. “Well, I might have told the laird that he was unskilled at loving.”

Both women looked so appalled that Mairin regretted blurting out that tidbit. Then they burst into laughter. They laughed so long and hard that they wiped tears streaming down their cheeks.

“And how did the laird take tis?” Maddie gasped out between wheezes.

“Not very well,” Mairin grumbled. “I did later tell him I was wrong.”

Bertha grinned. “Ah, you were, were you?”

Maddie nodded approvingly. “Proved you wrong, did he? You can’t hold your wedding day against him, lass. It was your first time. Not much he could have done would have helped in that regard. Better to get it done with and over, I say.”

“But he …”

“He what?” Bertha asked.

“It was indecent,” Mairin muttered.

Maddie stifled her laughter with a hand, but her eyes danced merrily. “But you liked it, aye?”

“Aye,” Mairin admitted. “He did things.…”

“What sort of things?”

“Well, he used his mouth.” Mairen leaned forward and whispered, “Down there. And on my …”

“Your breasts?” Bertha asked.

Mairin closed her eyes in mortification and nodded.

Both women chuckled and leaned back in their chairs.

“Sounds like the laddie has the right of it then,” Maddie said, approval firm in her voice. “You’re a lucky lass to have a skilled man in your bed. Not every woman does.”

Mairin frowned. “They don’t?”

Bertha shook her head. “Now don’t be telling anyone I told you so, but my Michael, well, it took him a few years before he developed any skill. If it weren’t for a few discussions with some ladies older than I, I’m not sure we would have ever gotten it right.”

“Oh, aye, ’twas the same with my Ranold,” Maddie said. “He was always in such a hurry. It wasn’t until I threatened to withhold my charms that he made an effort to work on his skills.”

Mairin’s head was spinning at the women’s chatter. Such intimate matters didn’t seem to bother the other two women whatsoever. Mairin on the other hand was ready for the earth to swallow her up.

Maddie reached across the table and put her hand over Mairin’s. She squeezed and offered Mairin a smile. “Let me give you some advice, lass. If you don’t mind an old woman offering it.”

Mairin slowly nodded.

“ ’Tis not enough for your man to be skilled in matters of loving. You need to have some skills yourself.”

Bertha nodded vehemently. “Aye, ȁtis the truth. If you keep your man satisfied in the bed chamber, he won’t have any cause to stray.”

Stray? Mairin looked at them in horror. “Are you suggesting that the laird wouldn’t be faithful?”

“Nay, of course we wouldn’t disparage the laird. But ’tis a fact, ’tis better to be safe than sorry. You want your laird to be well satisfied. Men are far more amenable when they’re sated from loving.”

Maddie slapped Bertha on the shoulder and laughed. “Aye, now that’s the truth. The best time to ask a boon is just after a rousing bout of loving.”

Amenable was good. Mairin liked the idea of that. And now that the disturbing thought of Ewan’s fidelity had entered her head, she couldn’t shake it. Surely he wouldn’t?

“What things should I know?” Mairin asked.

“Well, you said he used his mouth. You know, down there,” Bertha said with a twinkle in her eyes. “You can do the same to him, lass. ’Tis guaranteed to drive him wild.”

Mairin was sure her absolute ignorance was reflected in her expression. And her horror. She started to say something, but the image of what Bertha was describing hit her square between the eyes and she couldn’t shake it.

“How …?” She couldn’t even finish the question. What was she supposed to ask?

“You’ve shocked the lass,” Maddie said reproachfully.

Bertha shrugged. “No point in dillydallying around the point. The lass has to learn from someone. Her Mother Serenity certainly didn’t do her any favors.”

Maddie put her hand back over Mairin’s. “What Bertha means is that a man likes being kissed … down there. On his cock.”

Bertha snorted. “Tell her right, Maddie. A man likes to be suckled.”

Mairin was sure the blood leeched right out of her cheeks. Kissed? Suckled?