You’re cold as a fish. Would she never get his voice out of her head? She had more important concerns now. She had a daughter to worry about. She lay down with her hand resting on Ella’s basket and watched the Highlander, who had moved farther away and leaned against a tree wrapped in his plaid.
He was brooding and drunk tonight. One would think a man so deep in his cups would not still be attractive. But he was as handsome as ever with the firelight playing across his face, broad chest, and long, outstretched legs. With looks like that, she imagined he had no trouble finding willing bed partners. No doubt he took advantage of that and had carnal relations with an abundance of women.
She had let down her guard earlier, drawn in by his humor, his easy conversation, and how good he was with Ella. But she must remember he was not her friend, and she could not rely on him. He would protect her and Ella only because it was in his interest to deliver his hostage unharmed. If that changed, he would leave them to the wolves.
The next morning, Finn was his charming and cheerful self again, and she found it hard to hang on to her resolve of the night before. He made them breakfast, letting Ella help again, and then they walked down to the harbor.
“Good morning to ye!” Finn called out to the men who were on the beach loading barrels onto the boat.
The sailors did not look any less rough and dirty to Margaret than they had the day before in the tavern. Finn walked with one arm around her while carrying Ella in the other.
“Try to look like you’re my wife,” he said in a low voice.
“How would your wife look?” she asked.
“Satisfied.”
She couldn’t help laughing, he was such a rogue. When they got to the boat, which was pulled partway onto the shore, he lifted Margaret into it and handed Ella up.
“Sit in the bow, where you’ll be out of the way of the oarsmen,” he said. “I’ll join ye shortly.”
Finn spoke with an older man she remembered from the tavern who was giving orders to the others, then he joined the men as they lined up on either side of the boat. On the older man’s signal, they heaved and pushed the boat into the sea, and then hoisted themselves over the sides. Finn joined the others at the oars, and the men rowed hard until the boat cleared the point at the north end of the bay.
Once they reached deep water, they unfurled the sail and pulled up their oars. The sailors, who had been fully occupied with their efforts until now, suddenly seemed to have nothing to do but stare at her. Her heart lurched, and she held Ella tighter as a huge man with the arms of a blacksmith and a jagged scar across his cheek took a step toward her.
“I wouldn’t mind a bit of that,” he said.
The next thing she knew, the man flew over the side of the boat. It took her a moment to realize Finn had come up behind him and flung him over. He was holding the man over the waves with an arm around his neck.
Good heavens, how did Finn do that? As the sailor cursed and kicked, he started to reach for something at his belt.
“Looking for this?” Finn said, holding out a dirk with a long, wicked blade.
“I can’t swim,” the man pleaded. “Let me up!”
“Are ye prepared to treat my wife with respect?” Finn asked. “Otherwise, the fish can have ye.”
“Aye!”
“What’s that?” Finn said, turning his head. “I’m not sure I heard ye.”
“Aye, damn it!” the man shouted. “Aye!”
Finn hauled the man back into the boat and dumped him on the bottom. Then he turned toward the other men with a smile on his face and a blade in each hand. “Can I count on the rest of ye to behave as well?”
The men turned their gazes away and settled onto the benches.
“Good,” Finn said and took his seat beside Margaret and Ella.
“I thought ye said we’d have no trouble with these men, so long as they believed I belonged to you,” she whispered.
“We won’t have any trouble.” Finn turned and winked at her. “Sometimes men just need a reminder to be courteous.”
“You enjoyed that, didn’t you?”
He leaned back and folded his arms. “It was rather satisfying.”
Margaret shook her head, but she could not help smiling at his cockiness. “Can ye tell me now where you’re taking us?” she asked.
“We sail to Aberdeen, which will take two days,” Finn said. “From there, we’re headed to Huntly Castle.”
“Huntly?” she asked. “The Gordons are behind this kidnapping scheme?”
“Aye. Your brother took over the guardianship of the young Earl of Huntly from the queen,” he said. “The Gordons want their chieftain back.”
“I saw young Huntly often at Holyrood,” she said. “He seemed happy to be there.”
“There are some who mistrust your brother’s intentions,” he said. “They fear he’ll misuse his position—and Gordon lands.”
“No doubt he will,” she said.
Finn laughed. “I didn’t expect such an honest assessment of your own brother.”
“I understand why the Gordons want a hostage to trade for Huntly,” she said. “But why were you chosen to undertake the task?”
“As I told ye before,” Finn said. “I didn’t have a choice.”
“Men always have choices,” Margaret said as she stared off at the horizon, “though they may pretend they don’t.”
###
The easy camaraderie they had enjoyed earlier vanished, and Margaret turned away from him.
“Since you’re doing this for the Gordons, I assume you’re one of them,” she said, still not looking at him. “Ye needn’t worry I’ll tell my brother who ye are so he can track ye down. I never will.”
It would be utterly foolish to trust her assurance that she would not tell her brother, even if she meant it at this moment. But her sudden coolness toward him bothered him, like a burr poking through his sock.
“My full name is Finlay Sinclair Gordon,” he told her. “My mother is a Sinclair and my father a Gordon, two clans that gravely mistrust each other—and that’s on a good day.”
“If ye were caught taking me, ye might well be put to death. How did they persuade ye to do it?” she asked, turning back to face him. “Was it the reward of lands alone? Or was it escape from punishment for some wrong ye committed?”
“’Twas both,” he said.
“Ye told me there was a long tale behind your reason for kidnapping me,” she said. “We have two days on this boat, and I’d like to hear it.”
She listened attentively as he told his sorry tale of how he came to be here, starting with his decision to join the Sinclair chieftain’s fight to regain Orkney and ending with the Earl of Moray promising Finn both lands and redemption with his Gordon clan.
“So where are these lands you’ve been promised in exchange for delivering me to Moray and the Gordons?” she asked.
“On the north coast of Sutherland,” he said. “’Tis beautiful, wild country up there.”
“I can understand your wanting a home so much,” she said in a wistful voice, “that you’d take a great risk to have it.”
“What I want is the freedom that comes with owning lands.” He was not sure why her saying he wanted a home got his back up, but it did. “I’ll owe my allegiance to my chieftain, and gladly fight for him when called. But with lands of my own, I’ll not be dependent on another man for a bed to sleep in, a roof over my head, and food on my table.”
He would have a place that was his. A place he belonged.
He’d only wanted to make her at ease with him again and maybe make her laugh, not spill his guts about why he wanted lands so much. When the captain ordered the food brought out for the midday meal, Finn was relieved to have an excuse to leave her to collect their share of the bread, dried meat, cheese, and ale.
The sparse meal was a far cry from the endless courses of fancy dishes and fine wine Margaret was accustomed to at Holyrood Palace, but it was all he had to give her. She
ate delicately, holding the food with the tips of her fingers as if she was at court instead of among rough sailors. Ella, on the other hand, shoveled it in her mouth with both hands as if she feared it would be taken away.
No sooner had they finished than a storm came out of nowhere and swallowed the boat in a swirl of wind and waves that set it bouncing like a cork. The men dropped the sail and took the oars. Finn was going to join them, but Margaret was shaking from the cold despite the blanket he draped around her and Ella.
“Here, let me warm ye up.” Though he knew full well this would ruin his peace of mind, he joined them under the blanket and wrapped his arms around them.
Margaret stiffened and started to pull away until the next wave crashed over the side, hitting them with an icy spray. Margaret held wee Ella on her lap and neither complained, but they had to be miserable.
“How are ye holding up?” he asked, and steeled himself for the criticism he deserved for endangering her life and Ella’s by choosing this sea journey.
“At least the sailors are too preoccupied with the storm to stare at me,” she said.
This lass was entirely too forgiving.
When another wave sprayed over the side, Margaret huddled against him and burrowed her head into chest. O shluagh! Even in the midst of a gale, her lithe body pressed against his drove him mad with desire.
This Lowland noblewoman, his captive, should not feel so good—so damned right—in his arms. She was a dangerous lass. If he had any sense, he’d be praying the storm would pass quickly so he could release her, instead of hoping it would last all the way to Aberdeen.
###
Margaret was far too cold to object when Finn put his arms around her. As his warmth enveloped her, she finally stopped shaking, but she also became all too aware of his body, the hard muscles of his thigh pressed against hers, the strong arms around her, and the broad chest beneath her head.
The storm ceased to frighten her. Inside the cocoon of his embrace with Ella on her lap, she felt safe. For the first time, Margaret imagined what it would be like to share responsibility for this precious child with a man and to make a family of three, rather than just the two of them.
That was just a foolish dream left over from her childhood. Though the Highlander was willing to give them protection from this storm on their journey north, he would not be there for the other storms of life. No one would.
She would have to be strong for Ella, for they were good and truly alone in the world.
CHAPTER 11
Margaret felt as if she were still at sea and the ground was rolling under her feet as she attempted to cross the wooden dock at Aberdeen. Finn caught her arm and steadied her. So much for her plan to keep a respectful distance between them after she’d practically glued herself to him on the boat for the last two days and nights. Naturally, now that they were on shore, the skies cleared.
“Are ye ready to meet a good friend of mine?” Finn asked Ella as they started into the town. “Most lasses are quite partial to him.”
Margaret’s pulse jumped. “Someone else is traveling with us?”
“Don’t fret, lass, I’m only speaking of my horse,” Finn said. “I boarded him with a tavernkeeper here when I sailed from here to Edinburgh to find you.”
She thought she’d kept her alarm from her tone, but Finn was disturbingly perceptive.
“I named him Ceò, which means mist,” he told Ella, “because he’s gray and can creep up on an enemy like a Highland mist.”
After paying for his horse’s keep and extra oats inside the tavern, Finn took them around to the stables behind it. A handsome gray horse snorted and stamped its foot as soon as it saw Finn.
“I know you’re annoyed with me for leaving ye, gràdhan,” darling, Finn murmured to the horse as he rubbed his nose and fed it a handful of oats, “but I told ye I’d be back.”
Margaret sighed. Finn was even charming to his horse. Did he have to make it so difficult to remember she must not let her guard down and trust him?
He saddled Ceò and tied on his blanket and supplies. When he attempted to tie Ella’s enormous basket as well, the horse shied, stepping sideways with wild eyes.
“Ye can’t blame a fine animal like Ceò for refusing to be treated like a mule,” Finn said and carried the basket himself as he led the horse out of the stables.
They continued through the town until they reached a church that sat on a small square.
“There’s something we need to discuss, wee one,” Finn said, crouching down beside Ella. “Ye see that woman over there on the steps of the church holding a babe? Looks to me as if she hasn’t got much and could use a bed for her babe. As you’ve grown too big for your basket, I wondered if you’re willing to part with it.”
Ella sucked harder on her thumb as she shifted her gaze to the woman in the ragged cloak. This was a battle he was sure to lose. Margaret was tempted to intervene, but Ella was not afraid of Finn, and he would not push her too hard.
“I’m taking ye to stay in a big castle,” he said, stretching his arms out wide. “You’ll have a fine bed to sleep in with piles of blankets and soft feather pillows.”
After turning to look at the woman and babe one more time, Ella gave a slow nod. He patted her on the back. When he stood up with victory shining in his deep blue eyes, Margaret’s heart actually fluttered. The man was sinfully handsome and dangerously charming.
“My mother warned me about silver-tongued devils like you,” Margaret told him in a low voice. “Do ye always succeed in persuading females to do what you want?”
###
“I do my best,” Finn answered with a wink.
But if he were that persuasive, he and Margaret would be in bed in a room above the tavern right now. By the saints, having Margaret in his arms during the storm had driven him to the point of madness. When they finally got off the boat, he wanted to kiss the ground, grateful his torture was over.
Margaret responded with an amused smile as she gave Ella the rag doll and blanket from the basket to hold. They were so ragged and dirty that Finn wondered again about the woman Margaret had entrusted with her daughter. At first, he assumed Margaret was more concerned with keeping her secret than with assuring her daughter’s wellbeing. Now he knew she was just too damn trusting, for she was clearly devoted to the bairn.
“I’ll take the basket to the woman,” Margaret said, and picked it up.
Finn watched her carry it across the square to the church, exchange a few words with the woman, and coo over the babe. Before Margaret set the basket down, she slipped a small leather pouch out of it and hid the pouch inside her cloak. He was curious what was in it that she did not want him to see.
When they resumed walking through the town, Finn kept catching himself about to run his hand down her back or around her waist. It was only because he’d become accustomed to touching her on the boat—and lust, of course.
As they passed the townsfolk on the street, women gave them warm smiles, and men looked at him with envy, believing Margaret was his wife. It felt odd to have people look at them and think they belonged together, that they were a family. He would never be that man, the husband and father they saw.
Tomorrow they would reach Huntly Castle, and he’d be on his own again, as it should be.
As Finn set up camp in the growing darkness that night, he realized just how wrong he’d been to think his torture was over when they got off the boat. Having Margaret’s sweet bottom between his legs all day on the long ride was bad enough, but tonight would be worse.
He and Margaret would be alone all night, except for Ella—and Ella slept like the dead. Before they took the boat, Margaret was so uneasy around him that there was no risk of anything happening between them, but she had warmed toward him considerably since then. Even if she wanted to, it would be wrong to roll around the blanket with her when she was his captive.
Wouldn’t it?
After supper, they sat side by side in front of the roaring
campfire with Ella fast asleep on the blanket behind them. Tension sizzled between them hotter than the flames. It was not just him. The sidelong looks Margaret gave him made the air crackle. He was more than ready to give in to temptation, but he waited for her to make the first move.
And waited.
He sighed. Evidently, she did not wish to act on the attraction between them. While this was verra wise on her part, he hoped to God she changed her mind.
He remembered the wistfulness in her voice when she said she understood wanting a home. Naturally, she would miss being mistress of her own grand castle, but did the husband she lost still hold her heart? Was that what held her back?
“If ye don’t mind my asking, what happened to end your marriage?” There must be more to that story, for he could not imagine how her husband could leave her.
“I failed to give him an heir.” She wrapped her arms around her knees and stared into the fire. “Once my family fell from power as well, I was no use to him at all.”
What a sack of shite to leave her when she most needed protection.
“He said I was worse than useless,” she said softly. “I was a rope around his neck.”
“The cruel bastard! How could he say that to his wife?” Especially to a sweet lass like Margaret. Finn wanted to gut him with his dirk and leave him for the wolves to finish off.
“’Tis not so very different from what you said,” she said.
“What I said? I’d never—” Then he remembered comparing a wife to having an anchor tied to his neck. “The difference is I don’t have a wife. And if I did, I’d never say that to her.”
“Ye wouldn’t have to say it,” she murmured as she stared into the fire. “She’d know.”
“He had no excuse for mistreating ye like that,” Finn said, and rested his hand on her arm. The bloody idiot should have thanked his lucky stars to have such a woman.
“I put his lands and position in danger.” Margaret turned and gave him a sad smile. “So, ye see, he had no choice.”
Kidnapped by a Rogue, kindle Page 10