by Terry Spear
He ran his hand over her bare arm, caressing and loving the way she felt—warm and silky soft. “You know Gaelic,” he said.
“My parents taught me the old ways.”
He hated that she’d known what that bastard had called her. He kissed her cheek. “I’m sorry for what Vardon had said.”
“He was trying to make himself feel better for striking me. He didn’t mean it.”
Cearnach looked at Elaine in wonder. “You are a treasure. I’ll return to my chamber and get dressed while you slip into your clothes.”
She raised her head and looked at him, her expression a little skeptical. “What if your ghostly cousin returns?”
Not having considered such a thing, he frowned at her. “He better not.” His voice was dark with threat. Then he took a deep breath and rethought his cousin’s interference. “I’m pretty certain now that Flynn got his way, he will leave you alone. At least he better.”
Elaine sighed, hoping Cearnach was right. She rolled over onto her back and surveyed the rest of the chamber—the richly woven Turkish tapestries hanging on the walls, the thick bottle glass covering narrow arrow-slit windows. Antique oil paintings of lochs, heather-covered hills, snowcapped mountains, and bubbling streams hung from some of the walls.
One painting stood out from all the rest. A red-blond, long-haired Highland cow stared at her with warm brown eyes half hidden under bangs that nearly reached the tip of its nose.
“That is a painting of the first cow we ever stole from our neighbors,” Cearnach remarked as he caressed her shoulder, his voice hinting of self-righteous satisfaction.
She turned and frowned at him, surprised to hear that his own clan was not above reproach when she had worried what he thought of her family and their pirating past. “Your kin stole from others?”
“’Tis an Old World tradition, lass. They stole one of our kin’s brides before she reached the kirk. We stole a cow in retaliation. Well, six, but who’s counting?”
Surprised that they’d be satisfied with cows in the lady’s place, she frowned. She would have envisioned a fierce battle between the clans lasting for days instead. “Wasn’t the lady worth more than the cows?” Where was the romance in that?
His mouth curved up a fraction more, his dark eyes alight with humor. “She orchestrated the whole charade. The man she wanted to mate couldn’t make up his mind and hadn’t believed she’d marry someone else. When she agreed to marry one of my kin, the Highlander finally took her seriously. And rescued her, or so he believed. In truth, she’d arranged the whole affair through one mishap or another so that she never make it to the kirk. At least she hadn’t wanted bloodshed between the clans.”
“Your kinsman must have felt awful to lose his bride before she even arrived at the altar. He must have been heartbroken.”
“Once he learned of her deception and we were able to convince him that she was not worth any bloodshed, he was all too willing to go on a raid, steal the cows, and forgo the lass. Within a fortnight, he had found a new bonnie lassie to wed.”
“Wow, that was fast.”
“The first lassie had not been the right woman for him. When he found the right one, he realized what a mistake he could have made with the other. The one he married had been living within our castle walls, her father the blacksmith, and not until that day had he ever taken notice of her.”
“I’m glad he found the right woman, then. Did the other clan retaliate for your stealing the cows?”
“Aye. They said if we’d taken one, that would have been enough.”
Elaine laughed. “What did the woman think of that?”
“She was not happy with her husband. She made him sleep with the other men for several days, we’d heard. We always wondered if he regretted rescuing her from our clansman.”
Elaine smiled, then realized perhaps the MacNeill clan was not above stealing like she’d thought they were—and her kin weren’t so bad after all. He might believe differently. Yet her uncles had felt justified in what they had done, hired to do the pirating as privateers. So anyone could justify anything, truly. Not that she agreed with any of it.
“You said last night your clan gave you grief over some other woman,” Elaine asked.
“Calla.”
Elaine took a deep breath, not wanting to hear that he had feelings for Calla that he couldn’t admit to. “She’s just a friend, you said.”
“Aye. Most of the wolves in my pack didn’t believe it. They thought we had to be more than friends. When she told me she was mating with Baird McKinley, many of my family members believed I’d fight him for the right to have her as my own mate. Calla is more like a sister to me, like Heather, my cousin, is.”
“Just a friend.” She realized that he truly meant it.
She considered staying here in the guest chamber and dressing, then frowned and dismissed that notion. “I don’t trust your ghostly cousin.” She pulled away from Cearnach, got off the bed, grabbed her towel, and wrapped it around her. Then she bundled up some clothes. “I’ll go to your room with you while you get dressed.”
“You sure you don’t want to dress here first?” He climbed off the bed and joined her.
She shook her head. “No. We need to get down to the kitchen and have breakfast before everyone assumes the worst.”
He smiled at her words, wound his hands in her hair, and kissed her hard. She melted against him. He loved that his kisses and touches turned her into melted wax.
“They’ll know the truth before long. But this works for me.” He kissed her cheek, pulled away, then stalked into the bathroom. Once he snagged his towel off the floor, he secured it around his waist. He returned to her and clasped her hand in his and led her to the door.
As soon as he opened the guest chamber door, Cearnach saw his mother and aunt coming down the hall as quietly as they could, when they would usually be talking their heads off. They had to have been attempting to eavesdrop, trying to learn what he and Elaine were up to. For Elaine’s sake, he hesitated to leave the room.
To his surprise and delight, Elaine didn’t stop. She hauled Cearnach across the hall to his room and gave both his aunt and mother a bright smile. “Good morning.”
His bedroom door was still open from when he’d thrown it aside to save Elaine in the shower. He nodded to his mother and aunt, not about to say a word, moved Elaine into his room, and shut the door.
“Omigod, could that have been any more embarrassing?” Elaine whispered as she slipped a pair of jeans on under her towel, her cheeks crimson. “After they saw us both wearing only towels in my guest room, there was no way to rectify the situation.”
Since she was an alpha, Elaine had reacted in a way that he should have expected: in his mother’s face with a “get used to it” attitude.
He was much more the diplomat, trying to smooth situations over that had gotten a wee bit out of hand. Not Elaine. He loved her for it.
“Think nothing of it, lass,” he said, not about to mention that his mother and aunt had to have heard what sounded like his mating with Elaine.
With wry amusement, he was surprised to see Elaine so shy with him now, or perhaps she was afraid someone would come knocking at the door and confront him about what had just occurred.
He jerked off his towel and headed for the bathroom to shave. He was one satisfied wolf. He reminded himself that Elaine had been alone for years. That meant he had to do everything in his power to make her feel at home with his pack, family to his kin, and satisfied that she’d chosen him for her mate above all others.
Still, a vague worry continued to plague him concerning Flynn. Why had his cousin felt that the need for Cearnach to mate with Elaine was so pressing that he would harass her like he had?
Cearnach was certain Flynn knew something was wrong, and it all had to do with Elaine and keeping her safe.
Chapter 17
Cearnach had a devil of a time leaving his bathroom and dressing in his bedchamber, while Elaine watched h
im as if she was starving for more loving, a saucy smile in her expression. His gaze had to have been just as interested as she pulled the soft, pale blue sweater she was wearing down over her bare breasts. He was thinking of pushing it back up and tasting the treats poking at the fabric even now.
“Hurry up, Cearnach.” She smiled at him in the most devilish way. “If you dress any slower, you’re going to forget that we were headed for the kitchen to grab a bite to eat.”
A bite to eat. He wanted more of her. One little taste would start a craving in him that couldn’t be satisfied.
“Remember, I didn’t have any supper because I was too tired to eat the delightful stew Heather and Shelley made for us last night.”
He sighed and took her hand. “Let’s go before I forget I have chores to do today and decide to take the afternoon off to spend with my mate. You do realize we have to get married now.”
She frowned a little, not as though she was concerned, but more pondering the notion as if she hadn’t considered it. He kissed her cheek. “Remember when I told you at Calla’s wedding that nobility have to get married to carry the title to the next generation.”
Then she smiled at him, more amused than anything. “Is that a proposal?”
He chuckled. “I guess I could have worded that a little differently.”
“You think?” she teased, and he loved her for it.
Before he could get on bended knee and try again, she added, “I want something really simple.”
He would give her anything in his power that he could. But, because of the size of their pack and his mother and aunt’s involvement, a modest wedding wasn’t going to happen.
He was about to say so when someone knocked on the door.
He growled as he released her hand and stalked to the door, trying to get his annoyance under control and expecting that his mother wished a word with him.
When he opened the door, he saw Duncan and Guthrie standing there, not at all who he had expected. Both were smirking at him. His brothers had to have a death wish if they thought to disturb him when he was with Elaine in his bedchamber. Something had to be amiss.
Duncan folded his arms and leaned against the door frame. “We’ve got company. Baird McKinley, his brothers, and Robert Kilpatrick and his brother are at the gate. They want to speak with Elaine.”
Cearnach snorted. “Tell them I’m planning on pressing charges.”
Guthrie laughed. “They said they’d contact the police and say you kidnapped Elaine. That she’s being held here against her will.”
They all knew no one would be contacting any police over the matter.
His brothers shifted their gazes to a point behind him. Cearnach turned.
Brows furrowed, Elaine strode toward them, looking like she’d take his brothers on in an instant. Both Guthrie and Duncan were fighting a smile. Not in a condescending way, but with respect for her alpha-ness.
“When they stole my car?” she growled, standing next to Cearnach. “They would have a hard time convincing a cop that Cearnach is in the wrong when they left me no choice but to go with him. Plus, there’s the little matter of their having destroyed Cearnach’s minivan.” She said to Cearnach, “I’ll go with you.”
Cearnach frowned down at her. He’d rather she stayed far away from her kin, as he was still worried she might be talked into leaving with them if only to clear things up between them, maybe learn about the stolen goods, and reclaim her car and personal effects along with Cearnach’s.
“I’ll speak with them. I’d rather you stayed safely here,” Cearnach said.
Instead of disagreeing with him and insisting she accompany him, she slipped her hand around his and gave his fingers a squeeze that said, “We’re in this together.”
Bloody hell. No words could have undone his steadfast resolve faster than her touching him in such a loving way.
His brothers’ eyes widened. Not because of what she had done, but because of Cearnach’s hesitation. If he’d been his indomitable self, he would have stated emphatically that she would remain behind. His hesitation said volumes to anyone who might be watching. That the she-wolf knew just how to play him. And that he would go along.
She added, “I’ll insert my two cents worth if they give you a bunch of lip.”
He’d never understand the strange phrases Americans were fond of saying.
He shook his head but tightened his hand on hers, confirming they were unified in this.
“We’re accompanying you also,” Duncan said. “The portcullis is down so they won’t be coming in. We’ve got men posted around the wall walk, watching them.”
“Are you certain you want to go with us, Elaine?” Cearnach asked one last time, knowing what she would say even before she squeezed his hand marginally.
“Yes.”
“I’m sorry to have dragged you into this, lass.”
She let out her breath. “I’m not used to pack politics.”
“A loner?” Cearnach asked as they followed his brothers through the hallway, down the stairs, and through the great hall until they were outside the keep and striding across the inner bailey.
He knew Duncan and Guthrie were listening to their conversation, as quiet as they were. They normally ate up the stone pavers with their lanky strides. Both were walking slower to maintain Elaine’s pace and sticking closer to them.
“Yes, by choice. I’m not a follower,” she said.
“Oh.” He realized then that if she’d had no remaining family in the States and she hadn’t mated with a wolf with a pack that she’d stayed with, she had indeed been a loner.
She gave him a small smile and pulled his arm around her waist as if declaring she was fine with joining his pack. “The cobblestones are slippery.”
They were, he had to admit. He knew her cuddling against him meant much more than that, though. She was declaring that she wanted him just as much as he wanted her—again.
His brothers cast them a look over their shoulders as if to see what she had done to make the comment about the slick stones, both slightly raising their brows in unison when they saw them wrapped up together.
“Path’s slippery,” Cearnach said to his brothers, grinning and giving Elaine a squeeze.
* * *
Cearnach saw Robert Kilpatrick first, scowling, his face as red as his hair as he watched him, Duncan, Guthrie, and two of their cousins walk Elaine to the outer gate, the iron portcullis firmly in place. More of the MacNeill clan stood atop the wall walk armed with bows and arrows as they observed the talks. Four of Cearnach’s clansmen had shifted into wolves.
Robert’s carrot-topped brother, Edmond, and Baird McKinley stood beside him. Baird’s four brothers were milling about some distance from the gate near their two vehicles as if to show they were the backup muscle but giving enough space to indicate they had come in relative peace. From their dour expressions, all of them looked ready to do battle.
Cearnach glanced at Elaine, whose head was held high, lips thinned, eyes narrow. Her whole tension-filled posture said she was angry and she wasn’t about to take crap from any of them.
As soon as they reached the portcullis, Robert opened his mouth to speak as Baird speared Cearnach with a glacial stare.
Everyone’s attention shifted abruptly to Elaine when, to Cearnach’s surprise, she spoke first. “I’m Elaine Hawthorn, daughter of Hans Hawthorn, the third; son of Hans Hawthorn, the second; son of Hans Hawthorn, the first. You are?” she directed at Robert.
“Robert Kilpatrick, my brother, Edmond, and our cousin Baird McKinley. I missed meeting with you earlier at Senton Castle, cousin.” He sounded as though he was trying to emphasize the point that she was on the wrong side of the gate, that she belonged with them and not standing with the MacNeills.
“We did meet already, Robert. At the church. Remember? There was a little matter of you stealing my rental car and personal items.”
“Send her out here now,” Baird growled at Cearnach.
; “I’m not going anywhere,” Elaine said to Baird.
Baird looked at her. “I’m talking about Calla.”
Calla had gone into hiding? Cearnach had thought she was at her father’s home.
“Calla’s not here,” Cearnach said. “If she were, I wouldn’t send her to you unless she wished it.”
Robert cleared his throat and motioned to one of the vehicles they had come in. “We’ll take you to the bed and breakfast now, Elaine. I’m sorry for the… mistakes made yesterday. Had I known that you were the bonny lass sitting beside me at the church—”
Looking beautifully obstinate, Elaine folded her arms. “I want my car and all my belongings…” She looked up at Cearnach as if she needed his permission first, even though this was her home now and she didn’t need it.
He nodded, giving her a small smile, which he knew would irk her kinsmen.
She took a deep breath and continued. “I want them brought here.”
“You can’t stay here,” Robert said as if she was considering sleeping in a dungeon and as if he could dictate to her. Then he got more to the point. “We have a private matter to discuss.”
“She’s not going anywhere with you,” Cearnach said, wanting to make that perfectly clear.
Elaine didn’t take her eyes off Robert, watching for every reaction like a wolf would. Like an alpha wolf. “You owe Cearnach a replacement minivan and whatever else he lost in his vehicle, including his clothes and sword.”
“They’re not our friends.” Robert gave Cearnach and his men a cold glare, then turned his attention back to Elaine. “You don’t know the history between us.”
“That may be so, but your history has nothing to do with me. And you know what? Cearnach protected me from hunters when my own kin left me in an untenable situation. More than untenable. Potentially deadly.”
They had to have known what might happen when they stranded them without vehicles or clothes, and Cearnach and Elaine had no choice but to run in their wolf coats across territory not their own. Cearnach assumed they had figured she was a new girlfriend of his and it didn’t matter what had become of her… or him. He was more than irked that they valued her life so little.