Loved By a Warrior

by Donna Fletcher

  Reeve didn’t want to disturb her while she tended his brother, and so he left. He wondered over Bliss’s remark and told himself to remember it well. He couldn’t be selfish when it came to loving her. If he needed to wait to love her or make love to her or sacrifice for her, he would do it. He would do whatever it took to free her to love him without fear.

  He went to his bedchamber, thinking she might be there, but doubting it. And so when he found her naked in his bed, he simply stood there and stared down at her, tangled in his bedding, a leg, an arm, and a breast exposed.

  He didn’t think, didn’t hesitate; he shed his clothes. Only when he was about to climb naked in bed with her did Bliss’s words return to haunt him.

  An unselfish love will save Tara.

  If he crawled in bed naked with her and began exploring her exquisite skin, he’d never stop, and that would be selfish.

  He yawned, and she turned on her stomach with a sigh, her backside peeking out to torment him.

  He should dress and leave. He yawned again. He was tired, his sleep having been brief and disturbed over the last few days. He could use a rest just like her. After another yawn claimed him, he decided to join her. He promised himself he’d be unselfish. He wouldn’t touch her; he’d simply sleep cuddled against her.

  With an earnest determination in his heart, he crawled into bed with her, cuddling up against her, and, surprisingly, he was asleep in no time.

  Tara felt safe, so very safe that she never wanted to leave the lovely warm cocoon that sheltered her. She wasn’t sure how she had gotten there, but there was where she intended to stay. There was a lovingness she couldn’t describe but could certainly feel. It settled over her, every part of her and deep inside her, so deep it seemed as if it had always been part of her. And she never, ever wanted to be separated from it.

  Her body tingled from the protective warmth and she moved closer against it. Her hands explored, seeking what she wasn’t sure, only knowing she enjoyed the touch. And she sighed with pleasure when her touches were returned.

  Lips soon nibbled at her, and she smiled as the nibbles rushed over her body, sending the most exquisite shivers through her. It was when the nibbles settled between her legs and the sensation grew beyond bearable that her eyes flew open.

  “No,” she moaned when she realized that it all was real, and suddenly she felt safe no more. “No, Reeve.”

  Reeve rose up over her. “Don’t do this to us.”

  “Get off me,” she said, shoving at his hard chest.

  “Don’t,” he begged. “Let me love you.”

  Lord how she wanted him to love her, but she wanted him safe and alive more, and so she pushed at him harder. “Get off.”

  Reeve fell off to her side on his back, and she sprang out of bed, hurrying into her clothes.

  He bolted out of bed. “What good does it do to deny our love?”

  “It saves your life,” she protested, aching terribly for him to finish what he had started. Or had she started it?

  “Please, Tara, let me love you,” he begged. “Let me end your fear.”

  She bit at her lip, tempted, so very tempted to say yes. Instead, she shook her head and ran to the door, flinging it open. Bryce stood on the other side and shoved her back in, shutting the door behind him.

  “We have a problem.” Bryce grabbed Reeve’s clothes and threw them at him. “A big problem.”

  Reeve got dressed. “What’s wrong?”

  “Neil got word as to what disturbs the king,” Bryce said. “It seems that the king had plans to wed, and his intended’s caravan was attacked on the way here. At first he had thought her killed and her bride price stolen, but he had come to learn that she along with her bride price simply disappeared. He intends to find both.”

  The two men glared at Tara, and she knew there was no longer any point in denying it.

  “Are you the king’s intended?” Bryce asked.

  “Yes,” she said, her shoulders sagging, as if finally a weight had been lifted. “My father agreed to the marriage arrangement.”

  “Who is your father?” Bryce asked.

  Her chin went up. “That’s not important.”

  “Yes, it is,” he insisted.

  “No, it isn’t,” Tara snapped. “I have no intention of returning home, and I have no intention of marrying the king.”

  “You’re damn right you won’t,” Reeve said.

  Bryce shook his head. “Do you both realize the difficultly and potential danger this causes?”

  “No one knows that Tara is here,” Reeve said, going to her side and slipping a possessive arm around her waist.

  She leaned into him, glad for his show of support, but had she expected any different? He had protected her from the very first day they had met, and he had never stopped. He would always protect her. She could count on it.

  “Wagging tongues travel over the roads, valleys, and mountains of the Highlands,” Bryce said. “Soon someone is bound to put the pieces together. Then it will not be the king who comes to claim his intended. It will be her father, whoever he may be, and”—Bryce pointed at Tara—“she will have to go with him, and her bride price will have to be returned.”

  “But that has yet to happen,” Reeve said. “We have time to find a solution that will benefit all.”

  “This needs to be discussed between Da and our brothers,” Bryce said.

  “And me,” Tara said curtly. “It is my future, my life that will be discussed, and I will not be left out of it.”

  Bryce looked to Reeve. “This is your doing. Handle it.”

  With that, he left the room.

  Tara turned around and looked up at Reeve. “You send me to my death if I am sent to wed the king.”

  “What do you mean?” he asked, his arms wrapping protectively around her.

  “I believe the king only agreed to wed a death bride because he had plans to kill me before the curse could take him. He wants nothing more from me but my bride price.”

  “Have you any proof of this?” Reeve asked, angry and concerned.

  “Think about it, Reeve. Why would the king dare take a chance to wed a known death bride?” She shook her head. “King Kenneth is not an ignorant man. I overheard my father say that the king’s coffers were near empty, and my substantial bride price would replenish them quite nicely.”

  “Your father knew this and agreed to the arrangement?” he asked incredulously.

  Tara shrugged, though sadness filled her eyes. “I suppose it’s a small price to pay to finally be rid of me. After all, there was no man foolish enough who would agree to wed a death bride. And with things not going well in the clan . . .” She shrugged again.

  He took tight hold of her shoulders. “You’re a member of the MacAlpin clan, and here is where you will stay.”

  “I want to believe that, but Bryce is right. If my father learns my whereabouts, then I will have no say in the matter; you will be forced to turn me over to the king.”

  “That’s not going to happen,” Reeve said forcefully.

  “How will you stop it?”

  “I’ll find a way,” he said adamantly, “but you’re not going anywhere.”

  “Believe me; I’m right where I want to be.”

  His arms went around her. “And here is where you shall stay and where you belong.”

  “Perhaps Bliss could help,” Tara said. “If the curse could be removed—”She didn’t finish, though she blushed. It was presumptuous of her to think that Reeve would wed her to save her from wedding the king.

  “What then?” Reeve asked.

  “I’d be free—”

  “To still wed the king,” Reeve reminded.

  “Or someone else,” she said cautiously.

  “Anyone in mind?”

  She smiled at his grin, which seemed to keep spreading, and the merriment that danced in his dark eyes.

  “You tease me,” she said.

  “If I protest your wedding the king, what makes
you think I would agree to have you wed any other than me?”

  Her heart thudded, and her stomach fluttered. But the question was . . .

  “Why would you wed me?” she asked.

  If he claimed that he would wed her for love, then surely the curse would take him and he would die. But whether he claimed it or not, didn’t she already know that he did love her? Was she so fearful of ever being loved again that she didn’t recognize love when it was right in front of her?

  He leaned down and whispered in her ear, “That’s a secret I have yet to share with you.”

  “Why not share it?” she asked, disappointed, and yet she knew the answer or at least hoped she did.

  “Because the time is not right. When the time is right, I will share the secret with you,” he said. “Now you go see if Bliss has time to talk with you, and I will go talk with my family.”

  “I should be there.”

  “I understand why you want to be, but you cannot,” Reeve said, and continued before she could protest. “There are matters that will come up in the course of the debate that you cannot know about, matters vital to the true king’s return. Know that I will share with you all I can and trust that what I can’t will not affect you in any way.”

  “I do trust you,” she said, “though I still wish I could be there.”

  He leaned down and kissed her quick then returned to linger before releasing her lips. “I will fight for us.”

  “Of that I have no doubt.”

  They kissed again.

  And when it ended, Reeve said, “I had no intentions for what almost happened when I joined you in bed. I simply wanted to nap wrapped around you.”

  “Naked?” She chuckled.

  “Well, my first thought may have been—”

  She placed her finger to his lips to still his words. “It’s all right. Your embrace was so loving, warm, and welcoming that I never wanted to leave it. I truly wished that we could have finished what was started.”

  “I’ll make sure of that.”

  “When the curse is gone,” she reminded.

  “When the time is right.”

  Tara tried to argue, but he shook his head and hurried her to the door. “We must get busy. Time is short.” And out the door he pushed her, following behind.

  Time is short.

  Reeve wondered, as he took the steps two at a time. Was that what Bliss had been trying to warn him . . . time was short because the king was searching for Tara?

  Suddenly there was an urgency he hadn’t felt before. He needed to make certain that Tara was protected and that the king, or her father, could not lay claim to her, and there was only one way of doing that.

  He burst into the solar to find Duncan, Bryce, and their father waiting there.

  “I suppose you have a plan,” Bryce said.

  “What makes you think that?” Reeve asked.

  “You’re grinning from ear to ear,” Duncan said, smiling along with Reeve.

  “This is not a situation that calls for smiles,” Carmag scolded.

  “Unless the smile is because of a perfect solution,” Reeve said.

  Bryce shook his head. “You cannot tell me that between the time I left you and now, you have come up with a solution.”

  “Honestly, I cannot say that,” Reeve said. “Your news simply forced me to evaluate and better understand my own misgivings and procrastination in the situation.”

  Carmag shook his head along with Bryce, who said, “You’re confusing me.”

  Duncan clarified it for them. “Reeve has finally accepted and is admitting that he loves Tara.”

  Bryce scrunched his brow, even more confused.

  Duncan laughed. “It takes a man who has been there to understand.”

  “Love cannot rule a situation,” Bryce said staunchly.

  Reeve and Duncan laughed.

  “You’ll understand better when love finds you,” Carmag said.

  “I have no time for such foolish folly,” Bryce barked. “We have a mission, and this situation with Tara could easily damage our plans. Need I remind you all that we have already used some of the money we accepted from her?”

  “And we will continue to use it for our benefit,” Reeve said.

  Bryce crossed his arms over his broad chest. “It’s her bride price. It belongs to the man she will wed.”

  Reeve smiled and nodded. “That’s me.”

  Duncan clapped. “I knew it.”

  “You don’t win the wager,” Bryce reminded. “It’s been over a month.”

  “Why do you do this?” Carmag asked, looking to Reeve.

  “He loves her,” Duncan answered.

  “I didn’t ask you,” Carmag snapped. “I want to know why. Do you love her, or is it for the good of the true king of Scotland?”

  “I’m lucky that it can be for both,” Reeve admitted. “I do love Tara—”He stopped, hearing his declaration roll off his tongue so easily gave him a punch to the gut. “I have debated my love for her far too long instead of simply accepting it. I made it more difficult for myself than it needed to be.”

  “True,” Duncan said, “though I think that time of doubt and questioning is needed to get a firm grasp on love.”

  “You may be right,” Reeve agreed.

  Bryce snorted. “Listen to you two. You make something that supposedly you admit is so simple so very difficult. If you love someone, tell them, wed them, and get on with it.”

  Reeve and Duncan laughed again.

  Bryce grew annoyed. “Wait until I find love. I will show you how it is done.”

  Duncan and Reeve burst into a fit of laughter, and this time, Carmag joined in.

  Carmag finally cleared his throat, more of laughter than anything else, and asked, “What of this curse on her? Do you not fear it?”

  “Not truly,” Reeve said confidently, “but Tara is going to speak with Bliss and see if she can help with it. Regardless, though, I will wed Tara.”

  “And you believe this will solve the problem?” Bryce asked.

  “How would it not?” Reeve said. “Tara weds me, which makes me entitled to her bride price. Who can argue with it? The deed is done, and I’ll make certain our vows are consummated. No authority would dare rescind the vows.”

  “That leaves one problem left before all this can be done,” Bryce said.

  “What’s that?” Reeve asked.

  “You have to get Tara to accept your proposal.”

  Chapter 22

  Tara was relieved when she found that Bliss had time to speak with her. She was also remarkably surprised to see that the redness around Trey’s wounds had diminished considerably. And that his fever hadn’t returned since she had gotten there. If Bliss had such notable healing powers, then was it possible that she could help Tara?

  “Is there a private place where we can talk and share a hot brew?” Bliss asked, as they left Mara to watch over Trey.

  Not that Mara had wanted Bliss to leave, and Tara couldn’t blame her. It had been only a short time since her arrival, and already there had been marked improvements in Trey. Tara had no doubt that Mara would find a way to keep Bliss with the clan until Trey was healed to her satisfaction and relief.

  “My cottage is not far if you don’t mind a brief walk in the snow,” Tara said.

  Bliss smiled. “I love the way the snow paints the land in swatches of winter white. It’s such a beautiful sight to behold.”

  “I never thought of it like that,” Tara admitted.

  “Because you have never taken the time to look.”

  Bliss was right. She hadn’t. She had been too absorbed in her lonely world to see beauty anywhere. Now, however, it was different. It was as if colors suddenly appeared brighter to her, scents richer, and touch simply divine.

  She blushed, turning her head away, thoughts of touch producing naked images of Reeve that she was quite enjoying.

  “You’re afraid to love Reeve,” Bliss said, startling Tara.

  Tara
sighed and nodded, too taut with anguish to speak.

  Bliss rested her hand on Tara’s shoulder. “Get your cloak as you intended, and let’s go to your cottage and talk.”

  Tara was only too eager to obey, and it wasn’t until they had left the keep with a sprinkle of snow falling upon them that Tara stopped abruptly.

  Had it been a logical deduction that Tara intended to get her cloak? After all, they were going out in the snow.

  Tara shook her head. “How did you know—”

  “Sometimes I simply know what people intend to do, and other times I don’t,” Bliss said. “It is a strange skill I have and one that I have still to make sense of.”

  The two women were soon sitting at the small table in front of the hearth in Tara’s cottage. Hot cider filled their tankards while a pitcher was kept heated on the hearth.

  Tara didn’t waste any time. “Can you remove curses?”

  “Curses are a difficult lot.”

  Tara’s shoulders sagged, and she felt hope drain away.

  “It depends on the curse and who cast it, but it’s intention that matters the most.”

  Hope returned, though cautiously, as Tara said, “I don’t understand.”

  “When curses or spells are cast, they are done so with intention. Whether it is to hurt, to harm, for joy, for love, for help, it is the intention of the caster that gives it power. If someone is angry and wishes harm or hurt to another, then the cast is made with the power of hate. If it is with annoyance or as a nuisance, then its sting is not as strong.”

  “So the stronger the intention, the more difficult it is to be rid of the curse?”

  Bliss nodded. “That is what I have discovered through the years.”

  “Have you ever removed a curse from someone?”

  “A curse or spell can only be removed by the person who cast it or one more powerful than she or he,” Bliss said.

  “You are powerful,” Tara said, her violet eyes turning wide. “I saw how you have healed Trey and in such a short time.”

  “Trey has yet to fully heal,” Bliss said. “I but help him along.”

  Tara refused her explanation. “No, I have seen your remarkable power to heal. Trey’s wounds were near to filling with poison. You stopped that and reduced the redness to almost nothing. That is power.”