by Scott, Tarah
“Shh, love,” he whispered so softly she knew neither Elise nor Sue could have heard even in the close confines of the carriage. “We're nearly there.” He smoothed her hair and Phoebe melted into a river of dreams.
It seemed she had slept a lifetime, yet she felt as if her eyes had only just closed. Phoebe was aware of arms lifting her. She looked up, her sight catching the angular jut of a man’s jaw. She reached to touch a lock of raven hair that curled where neck met shoulder, but stopped when the roof of the carriage gave way to a clear night sky. She blinked up into the light of a full moon and nestled into the crook of Kiernan’s neck when cool air rushed across her face.
So quiet here. Phoebe opened her eyes. She lay on a bed in a room she didn’t recognize. Still, something in the flicker of light cast by the fire in the hearth sent a ripple of security through her. She gazed in wonder at the sea green canopy that draped the bed before again closing her eyes.
Voices, soft, murmured nearby. Had she slept? Her head turned toward the sound as though it was a mechanical object controlled by something other than her will. Phoebe opened her eyes and saw only the blur of objects. A figure moved toward her and sat on the bed beside her. She tilted to the side toward the weight on the mattress. She focused on the figure, trying to understand the sense of familiarity she felt.
“Uncle?” Phoebe said and reached up to touch his face.
“Shh,” he replied. “Sleep.” A tiny strand of hair was brushed back from her face. “It won’t be long now,” he said. “Sleep while you can.”
And she did.
“Phoebe.”
Her name came to her as though an echo from a distant canyon.
“Phoebe.”
Large hands grasped her shoulders. She tensed, then relaxed upon understanding the gentleness in the touch. She felt a little shake to her body.
“Phoebe, wake up. It’s time.”
Time? She tried to recall a forgotten appointment.
“Wake up.” The voice grew more insistent.
Phoebe opened her eyes and blinked into the face above her.
“This isn't what I had planned,” he was saying. “Not what you had planned, I know. But so much more than your reputation is at stake now.”
“Reputation,” she repeated groggily.
“Yes.”
“Ashlund.” She slowly wrapped her fingers around the wrist gripping her shoulder. Flesh and blood. Indeed, he was with her in this unfamiliar place.
“Yes,” he said. “Can you get up?”
“Must I?”
He broke into a brief smile and she realized his brow had been furrowed in a fierce frown.
“You must. Though, I promise you a good bed once we are—”
“What time is it?” she interrupted.
“Five-thirty.”
Phoebe glanced at the curtained window and detected no sunlight. She frowned. “I slept an entire day away?”
“You haven’t, sweetheart. It is five-thirty in the morning.”
“Morning?” She sat up, forcing him back as he released her. The room spun around her. She tried to focus on him. “What are you doing in my chambers at this ungodly hour? Is this my bedchamber?” she added more to herself than him, glancing down to find she was dressed in nothing but a shift. “Rather improper, you being here.”
Kiernan took her hand in his. “Propriety is of little consequence at this point.”
“I beg your pardon.” Her stomach gave a lurch to match the dizziness in her head. “My agreeing to come to Scotland gives you no rights to my bed.”
A tender smile touched his mouth. “I know. The necessity of what lays ahead is what forces me to overstep the boundaries of gentlemanly behavior. I pray you'll forgive me. We have a trip ahead of us, but it’s what awaits us there I have come to explain.” He gave her an odd look, then said, “Is the idea of marriage to me really so appalling?”
“Marriage? Why the devil are we discussing marriage at five—” Badgering her in the dawn hours was going too far. She kicked. He grasped her shoulders and forced her back against the pillows.
“Phoebe,” he said, his voice firm, his expression now burning with a fervor that startled her. “Do you remember what happened last night?”
“I—dear God.” She stilled. "Is Adam really dead?"
“Yes.”
She stared at him, her breathing heavy. “You.”
He shook his head. “We have been over this. I had a single pistol.”
“But you could have—”
“When have you known me to carry more than a single weapon?”
That stopped her. She recalled that first night when he had waylaid her. “Never thought I’d need more than one shot,” he had said. And he hadn't even shot those men…had he?
She focused on him. “Who?” Her voice caught. “Why?”
“I don't know. I didn't know the man, remember?”
She flushed. “I never dreamed he would—” Tears threatened again.
“I know.” Kiernan squeezed her shoulder, then released her. “Up.” He pulled her into a sitting position. “As hard as it may be to believe, we have a larger problem at the moment.”
He stood and Phoebe swung her feet over the edge of the bed. She pulled the blanket around her shoulders. “What could possibly be worse?”
“Lord and Lady Ingersol.”
“What of them?” she croaked, keeping her eyes on the floor in an effort to slow the dizziness.
He regarded her for a moment, “You remember nothing of the evening?”
She jerked her head up. “Lord Ashlund. I shall remember it for the rest of my life.”
“Afterwards,” he insisted. “Do you remember what happened after I arrived?”
Phoebe thought for a moment. “You took me to the carriage. The duchess was there. You had a pistol.”
“The one that fired when you grabbed it.”
“Yes.”
Kiernan sat down beside her. “Lord and Lady Ingersol believe you killed Branbury.”
“What?” she exclaimed. “That’s ridiculous.”
“Forgive me, my dear, but it is not a far fetched notion.”
“I would never harm him.”
“Consider how it looks.”
Phoebe opened her mouth to argue, but muttered instead, “By heavens.”
He smiled. “Never fear, I will remedy the situation.”
“I don't see—oh no.” She shook her finger at him. “No you don’t.”
“Phoebe.”
She jumped to her feet only to have the room spin in a violent circle about her. In the next instant, Kiernan’s arms encircled her.
“Easy, sweetheart,” he said, holding her steady against him.
Phoebe nearly fell into his solid warmth and she didn't resist when he held her tighter. The strong thump of his heart forced the rise and fall of his chest against her cheek. Eyes closed, she breathed deep of his familiar scent. Memory rushed forward of the carriage ride last night and—
"The highwayman." She yanked her head back and looked up at him.
He stroked her hair. "What?"
"You told the duchess that you were following someone who you feared might be a highwayman intent upon waylaying us. What did you find? Oh, my lord, this man could be the killer."
"He very well could be. Unfortunately, I didn't find him."
"What?" she cried. "We must find him. We must try."
"I agree, which is why I have someone searching for him."
"You do?"
"I do."
She buried her face in his chest. "Lord Ashlund, thank you."
He gave a laugh. "Lord Ashlund? Why so formal, Phoebe. In a few hours we'll be married."
"What?" Then she recalled the reason for his visit. Phoebe shoved at his chest. "Let me go!"
He grasped her shoulders. “Stop it. Don't you understand? Once you're my wife, they can't touch you.”
Her mind whirled. “Wh-what?”
“As my wife, th
ey cannot touch you. I won't chance a constable knocking on my door. Not just yet, anyway. So you see why we must leave for Brahan Seer immediately. The arrangements have been made for a small service when we arrive.”
“My lord!”
Afterwards, it will be my word against theirs," he cut in. "They saw nothing.”
“Neither did you.”
“Technically, not quite true.”
"Technically, you did not," she nearly shouted.
“I reached you before anyone else, and I searched the area. I found no weapon. You couldn't have thrown the gun far had you shot him.”
“Good of you to clear my name.”
“I would have been a fool not to investigate.”
Phoebe pushed away from him. “Indeed.”
His brow wrinkled.
She couldn't believe it. Her cynicism had wounded him.
“Had you told me you shot him, Phoebe, it would have made no difference.”
“Yet you looked for a weapon.”
“I did," he replied. "It will be much easier to swear that I didn't find a weapon when I truly didn’t. Not to mention, I had no intention of leaving any evidence behind to be found later. Have you considered the possibility it wasn't Branbury the killer meant to shoot?”
“By heavens.” She sat down on the bed again and looked up at him. “Who would want to kill me? Adam said if he were to meet a highwayman, he wanted to be the one to surprise him. Perhaps there really was a highwayman—”
“A common highwayman who hid in the trees and killed a man he didn't know? To what end?”
Someone who had meant to kill her, not Adam? Phoebe felt the room begin to spiral again and she lay back on the bed.
Chapter Eighteen
Brahan Seer lay half a day’s ride ahead of them. That was half a day too long, as far as Kiernan was concerned.
“She hasn't uttered more than a word in response to my efforts at conversation,” Elise told him as they walked the grounds of the Glaistig Uain.
“Not surprising,” he replied. She'd said even less to him. “You sent word to Father?”
“Yes, though it’s likely he is already on his way to us and won't receive the message.” She lapsed into silence for a moment, then said, “He will be deeply upset if he misses your wedding, Kiernan.”
“I won't wait. God only knows what trouble Lord Ingersol and his wife have already set into motion. Who was this Branbury, Elise?”
She sighed. “I only met him once. But in answer to the question I know you're thinking, she gave no indication of having any tenderness for him.”
“You were obviously wrong on that score,” he said between tight lips.
“No,” she replied patiently. “They were clearly well acquainted, but she didn't act the part of a woman in love. In fact, she seemed very displeased with him.”
Kiernan kept his eyes straight ahead. “Lovers quarrel?”
“No, it wasn't that sort of thing at all.”
“I'll have to trust your judgment in the matter, but her upset seems to go beyond that of a friend dying.”
Elise slipped a hand into the crook of his arm and tugged him to a halt. “Kiernan.”
Kiernan met her gaze.
“He died in her arms.”
Kiernan covered her hand with his and gave it a squeeze before starting forward again. “Why was he there?”
“He was in love with her.”
“Yes, that was obvious even to me, but waylaying her on the road was a highly irregular way to go about pursuing her. Damnation, first someone tries to abduct her—” He caught the surprised look on Elise’s face. “Father didn’t tell you?”
“No,” she replied.
“Well, the night Phoebe and I met—”
“Would this be the night you abducted her?”
He gave her a dry look. “Indeed, madam.”
“Ahh.” She faced forward and they started walking again.
“There was someone else attempting the same thing,” he said.
“Good Lord, you aren’t serious?”
"Very serious."
"Why wasn't I informed?"
The harsh note in her voice surprised him. "It didn't occur to me. I suppose, I assumed Father told you."
Her eyes narrowed. "Had I known that, I would have been more forceful in trying to stop Phoebe from making this trip. Don't think I'm not aware that you blame me for not stopping her."
"Blame you?" Did he blame her? "Elise, she was determined."
"Was her uncle aware that someone else attempted to kidnap her?"
Kiernan halted. "I-at the time, Phoebe was sure she knew Branbury was the kidnapper, so I didn't feel—" He broke off.
"Didn't feel what?" Elise demanded.
"Damnation, Elise."
She lifted a brow. "I know exactly what your father and you would have done if I kept that sort of secret."
He knew she was recalling a time when she had kept just such a secret and had nearly got her brother and him killed. That had been a terrible time for them all, and he had often wondered if she'd fully forgiven herself for the deception—and his father for nearly killing her brother. Would Phoebe forgive him for setting her life on this new course? Did she blame him for her friend's murder? Could she accept him despite being forced into marriage?
"I was wrong," he said.
Elise's lips pursed, but she began walking again and said, “Who was this kidnapper?”
“I believed it was Branbury, but Phoebe swears it wasn’t him. Given that he was willing to chase her clear to Scotland, I’m not so sure. By the way, until this mystery is solved, Phoebe isn't to go anywhere without a guard.”
“Ahh, that explains why Donald is always nearby," Elise said. "You may use Niall, also, if you like.”
He shook his head. “No. It 's best if you both have someone near at all times. I would prefer to think it was Branbury who had tried to adduct her that night," Kiernan went on with his previous thought. "A midnight run for Gretna Green would be harmless enough,”
“Yes. If it wasn’t him, the kidnapper is still out there.”
“Just as Branbury's killer is still out there.”
“You're certain it was deliberate murder?” she asked. "It is possible a highwayman shot him."
"Possible, but unlikely," he replied. "Which means I have to discover whether or not Branbury was the intended victim."
Elise gasped. "Why would anyone want to kill Phoebe?"
"That is what I intend to find out.”
*****
Kiernan opened the door to the women's salon at Brahan Seer.
Phoebe didn't turn from where she sat staring at the fire, but said, “Are you ready, Lord Ashlund?”
He closed the door and crossed to the couch. “No need to rush.” He sat down beside her and she looked at him. Her brow furrowed as her gaze shifted downward and he realized she was surprised to see him in a kilt. A hint of amusement shone in her eyes, then vanished.
“What did the constable have to say about Adam's murder?" she asked.
"I sent word to the magistrate from Glasgow. He's someone we trust and the closest magistrate. I haven't heard back from him yet, but rest assured, he'll conduct a thorough investigation."
"I can't hide forever."
"We aren't hiding, Phoebe, but we must prepare for whatever that fool Ingersoll has in mind."
"Adam was a good man,” she said. “I owe it to him to face his family.”
“It's not your fault he was shot.”
Her brow rose. “It was you who suggested he wasn't the intended victim.”
“That doesn't make it your fault.”
Something flickered across her face. A sense of knowledge, he realized.
“He was there to beg me to marry him—to run off to Gretna Green that very moment, in fact."
“I see. Why didn’t you accept?”
“I…I wasn't in love with him."
"Are you sure?" He glimpsed the moisture in her eyes b
efore she ducked her head. "Phoebe," he began, but she pushed to her feet.
He stood and reached for her. She turned away, but he grasped her arm and turned her toward him.
"Let me go," she said through a sob. "He is gone. You needn't worry that he is any threat to—"
Kiernan pulled her close. “Hush,” he said. "You misunderstand."
“I understand well enough.”
The tears in her voice wrenched at his heart. “No, sweetheart, you don’t.” He pressed her closer and leaned his chin on her head.
She sagged against him. “He's dead, for-for what?”
“I wish I knew.”
“You can bloody well believe—” she hiccupped “—I'll find out.” She sobbed softly into his coat. “Don’t think you can stop me.” She hiccupped again. “Or that our marriage will stop me.”
Kiernan placed a finger beneath her chin and tilted her face up. “I wouldn't dream of stopping you.”
She stared, eyes wide, cheeks stained with tears. Desire swept through him. Steady, he warned himself. Now isn't the time—He froze when she reached up and wrapped a hand around his neck. She drew his face to hers. Her lips touched his. She's distraught, he reminded himself. She will regret her actions, but when she arched her breasts against his chest, his resolve failed. He devoured her mouth. Her small whimper sent blood pounding through his veins and his cock throbbed with staggering need. He became aware that her fingers had tangled in the hair at the nape of his neck. His erection pulsed. Warm, insistent, her lips parted, and he swept his tongue inside. Her tongue flicked against his and he sucked her into his mouth.
She gave a small gasp and melted against him. Kiernan cupped her buttocks and undulated her mound against his erection. By God, her touch set him on fire. They were to be married in minutes, their wedding night was only hours away. Could he wait? He had only to lift his kilt and he would be inside her in seconds. Would she let him? She broke the kiss and he was sure she'd come to her senses, but she slid her mouth along his jaw and down his neck. When she breathed deep he thought he would lose his mind. Kiernan thrust gently against her. Pleasure radiated through his cock and he groaned.