The sound of a man clearing his throat nearby brought him rudely back to reality.
He broke the kiss slowly, gazing down at Leah’s upturned face, her eyes closed, her full lips parted. Only a second round of throat-clearing, obviously more forced than the last, kept him from losing himself once again in the woman in his arms.
Looking up, his eyes met those of Moreland. How the knight had managed to get so close to them was beyond his ability to reason at the moment.
Moreland looked almost embarrassed, but not enough to avert his stare.
“Your pardon, MacAlister. I’d no wish to intrude on an intimate moment, but we were concerned when you and your lady did not return.”
“We were . . . um . . . detained,” Drew responded, peeling Leah’s fingers from his arm while he spoke and pushing himself to stand. His heart still pounded in his chest so hard he was surprised those around him couldn’t hear it.
“Yes. I can see you were.”
Leah’s cheeks flooded with pink as he helped her to her feet. He’d give her credit. She acted her part very well indeed. For his own part, he refused to allow his mind to think on what had just happened between them.
Moreland’s usual smirk was firmly in place by the time he turned on his heel and headed back the way he’d come.
“Are you ready, my lady?” Drew asked, more for Moreland’s benefit than Leah’s.
“I am, my husband,” she responded, her dark eyes unreadable before she looked down.
They followed Moreland at a discreet distance, neither of them speaking as they skirted the blackthorn bushes they’d forged through on their way to the water’s edge.
When they reached the clearing, the soldiers had already mounted up and made ready to leave, their quiet conversations a low hum in the background.
“Yer oath, Leah. You’ve no given it yet,” he whispered, her soft hair brushing against his cheek as he leaned in close.
“I swear it,” she whispered back.
He grasped her arm, pulling back immediately when she winced at his touch as if in pain.
“What . . .” he began, but she silenced him with a soft finger to his lips.
“It’s nothing.”
She turned, placing her foot to the stirrup, and he fit his hands around her waist, lifting her to her seat.
Only then did he see it. A thin red line cutting across her sleeve.
Once in his saddle, he drew his horse up alongside hers. “Leah?”
She shook her head. “Forget it. I told you, it’s nothing.”
How could he have missed her wound before? Though the material of her clothing showed no sign of damage, the trace of blood on her sleeve clearly indicated an injury like the one the thorns had left on his arm when they’d sliced through his shirt.
Exactly like it.
Cautiously, he reached up to run his fingers over the tear in his skin, anticipating a sting of contact that didn’t come.
Pulling the shirt from his skin, he peered through the hole torn by the thorns to find his flesh smooth and unmarked.
By the saints!
He felt as if the air had been sucked from his lungs with the realization of what had happened. Any question he’d had about Leah was a thing of the past now. There was no longer any doubt.
The woman traveling at his side was definitely Fae.
Twelve
Leah’s stomach knotted into a hard, sick little ball, so tightly wound, she hardly noticed her aching muscles or the sting in her arm.
After hours of riding, they at last made their way down a brush-covered hillside toward a valley stretching out below them. On the other side, up a steep incline, the rays of the setting sun shone against a rather imposing castle battlement.
MacPherson Hall and Andrew’s family awaited her.
The guilt eating at her twisted her stomach another notch tighter.
Poor guy. First he’d risked his own life to jump into that loch to save her, then he’d offered to show her the way to Dun Ard. Since then, he’d just had one problem after another, all thanks to her, not the least of which was the crowd of English soldiers he led right straight into his family’s home.
Somewhere, somehow, she meant to figure out a way to pay him back for all he was doing for her and for all the trouble he put up with as a result of it.
But first she’d have to make it through meeting his family and pretending to be his new wife.
And no doubt, somewhere along the way, he was going to demand an explanation for what had happened when she’d touched him back there next to the loch. An explanation she’d like for herself as well as for him.
Her face heated again at the memory of the moment and the knot in her stomach dropped several inches lower.
It made no sense at all. He’d only been playacting for Moreland’s benefit. She’d known that from the first moment. His touch, the kiss, all of it was no more real than their pretending to be married.
And yet . . .
The feel of his lips on hers had taken her completely by surprise. It was like nothing she’d ever experienced or even imagined. When he’d held her in his arms, it had been as if her brain had ceased to function properly.
Obviously. Otherwise she never would have clamped her hand over that cut on his arm. On her arm now, thanks to her cursed Faerie “gift.”
How the hell was she going to explain that little episode?
She wasn’t. Not unless Andrew MacAlister believed in Faeries.
That thought drove the knot right back up into her stomach.
Maybe when they reached Dun Ard the MacKiernans would be able to help her come up with something. They were, after all, Faerie descendants. Surely they had experience in inventing rational explanations for all the bizarre things they must have done in front of normal people.
Clinging to that hope seemed her only reasonable course of action as they neared MacPherson Hall.
Now if she could only come up with some reasonable excuse to give herself for her reaction to Andrew’s kiss.
“Who goes there?”
The wall guard’s shout postponed her having to deal with that particular issue. At least for now.
“Andrew MacAlister,” the man at her side shouted back. And then, belatedly, “And friends.”
Almost immediately the clanking of chains sounded and the enormous wood and iron gates slowly lifted, allowing them entrance.
Men filled the bailey by the time they passed through the wall tunnel, each one armed with a sword or an axe or some other outrageously sharp-looking implement.
Leah shivered at the sight.
She’d seen plenty of armed men at MacQuarrie Hall over the years, but nothing like this. These men spreading out to form a circle around the new arrivals behaved as if they’d trained to defend their home. Their actions left little doubt that they meant business.
The English soldiers they rode with appeared to be approaching the situation with equal seriousness.
“What’s this, little brother?” one of the men called out as they came to a stop. “What worry have you brought into my home?”
Andrew moved his horse even closer to hers before answering, reaching out to grasp her reins as if he feared being separated from her.
Or perhaps that was only her fear.
“Hold yer men, Ran. These are soldiers, for a fact, but they’ve acted in good faith providing protection to us on our journey this day.”
The man called Ran snorted his disbelief, crossing his arms in front of him.
“Protecting you from what? There’s none here what would wish you harm. Yer claim makes no sense.”
Leah laid a hand on Andrew’s forearm, feeling it tense under her touch.
“I’d ask you to welcome Sir Moreland and his men as you do me. They mean no harm to any here.”
“We bring no threat to any of King Edward’s loyal subjects.” Moreland’s voice rang out across the bailey, greeted with complete silence.
“Drew!”
/> Leah looked to the woman who called. Small in stature, with fiery red hair, she stood at the head of the staircase, but not for long. In a heartbeat she was down the steps and at Ran’s side.
“What’s going on here? You confront my brother and his friends like they’re some pack of criminals? What’s wrong with you?” she demanded loudly. “If Drew says they’re friends, that’s what they are. Bid them welcome to our home as such.”
Ran nodded and the men in the bailey lowered their weapons. A moment later, the soldiers did the same.
Next to her, Andrew slid off his horse. Before his feet hit the ground, his sister was at his side, throwing her arms around him in a hug.
“My thanks, Sallie.”
He murmured the words so quietly, Leah strained to hear them and his sister’s reply.
“You’ve no a need to thank me. You ken that.”
One arm slung over Sallie’s shoulder, he made his way around the horses to Leah’s side, where he lifted his hands to help her dismount.
“And who might this be?” Andrew’s sister asked as she stepped back, a warm, welcoming smile lighting her face.
His eyes locked on Leah’s and she felt the weight of his impending answer like a lead ball in the pit of her stomach.
“My wife,” he said as he lifted her down. “This is my wife, Leah. And this . . .” He held her eyes for a second longer before turning toward the woman he introduced. “This is my sister, Sallie.”
Sallie’s mouth opened once and then closed, as if she considered what she’d heard and worked at processing the words before she was able to respond. In no time at all, she appeared to have made a complete recovery, and the smile that had graced her face returned, even larger than before.
“Well, Drew, you’ve plenty of explaining to do and that’s a fact. But for now, I’ll get my new sister inside while you and Ran can see to settling yer friends for the night. Come with me, Leah.”
Sallie put an arm around Leah’s waist and urged her forward, toward the great staircase. Leah took one last look over her shoulder as the bossy redhead hustled her forward, just in time to see Andrew wink at her.
No, not Andrew. Drew. The name his sister had called him. Leah rolled it over in her mind and realized it was perfect for him. As his wife, it would only make sense for her to call him that as well.
“I’ve so many questions, I hardly ken the place to start,” Sallie rattled on as they made their way up the stairs toward the door that would take them into the keep. “But I’ve no doubt yer weary after a day spent on horseback in the company of all those men.”
“I am at that,” Leah responded, grateful for any excuse that prevented her having to answer all those questions without Drew at her side.
“Jane,” Sallie beckoned to a young woman as they entered the hall. “We need the large guest chamber made ready for the night. And tell Cook to prepare something to send up for our guests before they retire. Hurry now.”
They crossed the entryway to a winding stone staircase, where Sallie took the lead. Midway up the steps Leah’s legs began to tremble with the effort of climbing the narrow stairway. Whatever nervous energy had carried her through her arrival here had completely deserted her.
As they moved into the hallway of the second floor, a door ahead of them flew open and three small bodies headed their direction.
“Patsy says Uncle Drew has arrived!” the tallest child exclaimed as the boys skidded to a stop in front of Sallie.
“That he has, Duncan. He’s out in the courtyard with yer da. You and yer brothers may go down to see him if you—” Sallie stopped talking, shaking her head as the boys raced off, pushing and shoving at one another in their haste, not waiting for her to finish. “They’ll be the death of me yet, those three will.”
The smile on her face clearly belied her complaint.
“Your sons?” Leah latched onto a subject she hoped would delay any personal questions directed at her as Sallie continued down the hallway.
“Aye. Duncan, Angus, and Connor. The only thing they like more than a visit from anyone of their uncles is an excuse to escape their bedtime. They’ll be terrorizing the whole of the castle until they’re rounded up again. Patsy!”
A young woman popped her head out of a doorway just ahead. “My lady?”
“They’ve taken off for the courtyard. You’d best go after them. Likely you’ll have to clean them up again before putting them to bed.”
Patsy bobbed her head and hurried away as Sallie pushed open another door and led the way inside.
The chamber seemed smaller than it really was, dwarfed by the enormous bed centered against the far wall that seemed to suck up all the space in the room.
“I’ll just get this fire going and we’ll have it warm for you in no time.” Sallie knelt in front of the fireplace as she spoke. “You’ll want to get out of those dirty things, no doubt. I’ll have the maids bring up a bathing vessel and water as soon as they . . . ah, here they are now.”
Two young women, their arms piled high with linens, rushed into the room and set about making up the bed.
“There. That should chase away the chill.”
Sallie rose to her feet, dusting her hands together. Behind her the fire had roared to life, its flames licking up toward the chimney casting a flickering glow across the room as the serving girls hurried through their task.
“Now. While we wait for the maids to finish their work, you can satisfy my curiosity. How did you meet my brother? And how long have you known him? All of this comes as such a surprise, though a happy one, indeed.”
Leah’s tongue suddenly felt three times its normal thickness as she tried frantically to think of answers. Why hadn’t she thought to speak of this with Drew? Any story she might invent could easily be found out since she knew so little of the man’s life.
“Where is she? I want to see her for myself !” An older woman flounced into the room, hands on her hips.
Whoever she was, she’d saved Leah from having to come up with a response, and for that alone, she already liked the woman.
“My maid tells me yer brother has shown up on our doorstep, bringing with him a new wife. This is the one?”
The woman marched closer, thrusting out her chin in what felt to Leah a most belligerent manner. She might have to reconsider her initial genial thoughts about this woman.
“It is,” Sallie answered. “Leah, this is my husband’s mother, Anabella. Anabella, my new sister, Leah.”
Anabella MacPherson made a great show of circling Leah, peering down her nose like someone inspecting market goods gone bad a day or two past.
“You dinna have the look of anyone I ken,” she huffed, circling one more time. “Did you bring any animals with you?”
Animals? Leah looked from Anabella to Sallie, who shrugged her shoulders as if the whole conversation had gone beyond anyone’s ability to control. “Only the horse I rode in on.”
“Hmmmm . . .” The older woman continued to study her as if she were examining some new species of insect until at last she stepped back and folded her hands at her waist. “Well, she disna have the look of any of yer departed relatives, nor does she come with a pack of nasty beasties determined to dirty our home. This one will do, I suppose.”
“Och, well, thank you for that blessing, Mother MacPherson,” Sallie responded, sarcasm dripping in her tone. “I’m sure Drew will be pleased to hear he can keep her now that she’s passed yer muster.”
“Dinna you take that tone with me, missy.” Anabella squared her shoulders, looking deeply offended. A moment later she turned her gaze back on Leah. “And where is it you come from? Who are yer people? How did you come to wed Andrew when we’ve none of us heard a word about you before?”
“Exactly the things I was trying to ask when you interrupted us with yer nonsense about animals and dead women.”
The two women glared at each other briefly and then turned the full force of their stares on Leah.
“Well?�
�� Sallie encouraged. “Tell us everything. How did you meet Drew? When?”
“Your brother is a good man.” Not at all what the women had asked, she knew.
“We’ve neither of us questioned the lad’s virtue. Now, speak up, lass, we’ve no all night to spend on this.”
Anabella’s rebuke left no doubt in Leah’s mind that her time for avoiding conversation was at an end.
“Tell us everything,” Sallie encouraged. “We’re dying to hear it all.”
“I hardly know where to start.” Leah paused, once again struggling to find something appropriately vague to say.
“At the beginning, woman! As Sallie says, we want to hear it all.”
“Are you badgering my bride, Sallie?” Drew stepped into the room, the smallest of his sister’s boys in his arms, the older two trailing along behind. “Leave her be ’til she’s had a wee rest, aye? Here.” He handed the giggling child over to Sallie. “This, I believe, belongs to you.”
Sallie took her son and placed him on his feet with a gentle shove forward toward his brothers.
“You had to ken we’d be wanting to hear all about how you met. It’s no like you’ve said a single word about her to give us any hint before showing up here, wife in tow.”
“No like you said a single word,” Anabella echoed.
“I’m well aware of what I have and have no said with regard to Leah. There’ll be plenty of time for yer questions later. For now, we’ve had a hard day’s journey and would appreciate the opportunity to refresh ourselves before we have to face yer interrogation on the morrow.” Drew stepped between the two women, placing a hand on each of their backs, urging them toward the door. “Besides, Ran could use yer help with Sir Moreland, I’m sure.”
“Sir Moreland? We’ve a knight in the hall? You’ve brought a knight to visit?” Anabella asked, patting her hair with a fluttering hand as she hurried ahead. “Ranald kens nothing about the etiquette of welcoming high-born strangers properly, Sallie. He’ll be wanting our assistance, no doubt.”
“That he will,” Drew answered, the grin breaking over his face in total disagreement with his serious tone.
“We’re no done with this,” his sister chided as she allowed him to push her into the hallway.
Healing the Highlander Page 10