“I apologize for the rough treatment,” Duncan said in a soft tone. It took Abbie by surprise and she found herself to shocked to reply. “These are desperate times and they called for drastic action. Do you know why you are here?”
“Because you're going to attack my village?” Abbie responded. Some of the old fire that had been burning in her youth returned. During her marriage the fire had been quelled but now she had a new target for her frustration, and while she couldn't fight back against Callum, Duncan was a different proposition altogether. He chuckled softly and then raised his head, sighing heavily.
“Is that what you really think of me?” he said.
“That you're a savage and a brute? That's what I've been told.”
“By your husband no doubt.”
“Of course. And it's plain to see from the way you stole me from my bed and took me captive.”
“Again, I am sorry for that,” he said, and the words were heavy with emotion. Abbie studied him and started to think that there was more to him than what Callum had suggested. After all, she knew how deceiving appearances could be, and yet she was wary too. “But we are not like you people. We are not the brutes here.”
“Do I look like a brute to you?” she asked. At this point Duncan turned around and studied her with his eyes. She saw that they were a deep blue. His beard had flecks of gray in it, suggesting that he was older than she had assumed. His eyes were kind too, and had a weariness about them that she found she could sympathize with.
“No, I have to admit that you do not, and that is what I find most puzzling about this turn of events.” His gaze drifted down to the necklace. He started to say something and then stopped himself, before smiling at her. “It's a pleasant day outside, would you care to join me for a walk?” Abbie accepted the offer, unsure what to believe.
The sun hung high in the sky and it bathed the world in a resplendent golden glow. The air was fresh and it reminded her of how her village had been in the days before the barbarians attacked. The lake shimmered under the sun, and she looked out to the opposite side. It was too far to see anything except a faint plume of smoke, but Callum was sure to be amassing forces. Duncan led her away from the town to the edge of the forest, where they walked around the quiet fringes. It was a while before they spoke, but Abbie noticed that Duncan kept glancing at her necklace, and eventually she asked him why he kept looking at it.
“Before I answer that...how much do you know of your husband?”
“More than you, more than anyone else.”
“But what of his...travels, and the tributes he takes?”
Abbie cast her eyes downward, ashamed. “He only tells me that he takes a tribute for the services he offers. That they are earned because of the protection he can give all the villages but I...I fear that is not the whole truth.”
“Yet you wear it as thought it was your own.”
“He made me. I'm sure you've seen how...persuasive my husband can be.” It was at this point where Duncan stopped and pulled Abbie aside. He took hold of her chin and tilted her head up so that he could look into her eyes. She tried to glance away but his stare was mesmerizing and he seemed to look more deeply into her than anyone had before. She felt him inside her and yet it was not a feeling of invasion, more a feeling of comfort, as though he was swallowing up the loneliness that had resided inside her, as though he witnessed all the pain and anguish and shared the burden.
“I can see you have suffered a great deal. Perhaps I was mistaken in my initial judgment, but you cannot blame me for I only had your husband's reputation to go on.”
“What do you mean by that? What's going on?” Abbie asked. “Why did you take me?”
Duncan sighed. “First tell me what your husband told you about us, if anything?”
“He said that you were planning an attack on us, that you were a savage. He acted frightened, more frightened than I had ever seen him, so when I met you I assumed that you would be...a monster.”
“I am glad to see you were mistaken. It is interesting that he is scared though. I assume it isn't me he is scared of, but the truth.”
“And what is the truth?”
“That he is the only brute in this land and that he is the barbarian, the one responsible for so much suffering.” He looked at her with cold eyes, eyes that had seen so much sorrow, and to hear it from his mouth struck a chord in Abbie's chest. She knew now that she had not been the only one who was a victim of Callum's evil.
5
“Tell me more about what he has done to you,” Abbie said. She was sitting on a fallen log now, and Duncan was leaning against a tree. There was a slight breeze that tugged at her dress, but otherwise it was a calm and peaceful day.
“Callum has been tormenting the local tribes for a while now. He's offered protection but it is him who we need protection from. He asks for more and more tributes, which only make us weaker, and finally I have had enough. I am tired of the way he thinks he can bully us and make us submit. So I took his wife. I refused to give him something he wanted yesterday and I could see in his eyes that he was not used to being told no, and I knew that he would be back. It would seem that he is trying to whip your tribe up into a frenzy. I took you to use as a peace offering, hoping that if I offered you to him we could come to an agreement.”
“I fear you may have made a grave mistake. Callum is a proud man and he will not take this lightly. Sadly, he will be more offended that you dared to take something of his than the woman he loves. I am just a possession to him, no more or less than anything else he owns, and most likely he will simply try to take me back by force. I would urge you to prepare your town for an onslaught. He has started to believe his own hubris, that he is invincible, and he will not stop until anyone he sees as an enemy dies at his hands.”
“Is there no chance that you can reason with him? I do not want to see any bloodshed.”
“I only wish I could but my standing in the clan is that of a figurehead now. They are wrapped up in their worship of him and they will not be dissuaded if he orders them to war. I am sorry for his behavior. I have had to endure it far longer than anyone else and I know the pain you must have been going through. Please, take this back, I can tell that it is of some importance to you,” she said, unclasping the necklace from behind her neck and thrusting it into Duncan's hands. He seemed surprised at the gesture and he swallowed hard while his eyes glistened with tears. He studied the necklace and nodded slightly, then buried it in his pocket. Then, he turned and marched off, and Abbie had to quicken her pace to keep up with his long strides.
“Did you ever hear the stories about the creatures in the forest?” he asked, but he kept on talking as though whether she had indeed heard of them or not didn't matter. “I always used to believe in them. I used to pray to them, and asked them to bless me and those I cared about but in the intervening years my faith in them has wavered. I thought I saw one once, as a young boy. I had been riding all day and I was growing weary. Night was falling and I was afraid that I was going to be lost in the woods, but the glow of a fairy guided me home. I never actually saw it, and to this day I wonder if my mind had played a trick on me, but at the time I was sure. Of course, everyone thought that it was just the work of a child's imagination.”
“I did hear the stories. I loved them as a child and I longed to see them come true. I would have given anything to experience what you did. I was always told that they would watch over us and guide our lives, make sure that nothing bad happened. They were responsible for the good in the world, and for that little piece of magic that made life wonderful, but I think somewhere along the way that illusion was shattered.”
“I don't know if they were killed off, or perhaps they grew tired of us and they left, but they no longer have any influence here and I think that's sad. I have long wanted to go on a quest in the mountains, for some have said that they enclosed themselves in a cave, protecting themselves from the outside world.”
“From what I'
ve seen I cannot blame them. Especially when there are people like Callum around. I know that he would have seen them as the enemy and as a challenge. He's already destroyed enough...but I lost my faith because of him. Why did you lose yours?”
“I suppose now is as good a time to tell you as any,” he said, and a wistful look came upon his face. His hand moved into his pouch and he started playing with a necklace, and the reason for that became apparent when he launched into his tale.
“Many years ago I fell in love with the greatest woman in the world. She was everything I could have ever wanted from anyone, and our days were filled with happiness. We planned our lives together and every night I went to bed, thankful for the glory the world had bestowed upon me. We were even blessed with a child, and I didn't think life could get any better. And it didn't. Shortly after our child was born my wife fell ill, and so did the child. I consulted all manner of healers. I prayed until my throat was raw but nothing helped, and before I knew it everything had been taken away from me.”
“The necklace. It was hers?”
“Yes. And Callum wanted to take it. I could not let him have it.”
“But he took it anyway. So you took me.”
“I did. I am not proud of it and I dread to think what my wife would think of me if she knew...”
“She'd think you were a good man, that you were a man of principle, a man who isn't frightened to stand up to those who seek to dominate others. She'd see you for what you are, a hero,” Abbie said, and with each word she moved closer to Duncan until she was standing by his side. She breathed deeply and looked up at him with her deep green eyes. She ran her hand down his long arm and linked her fingers in with his, squeezing them until he released the necklace. He turned to her and they both saw in each other something that had been missing from their lives, a spark of innocence that they thought had been destroyed. She was so young yet had lived more than most, and he was a man, the head of a clan, with gray in his hair and beard and the burden of experience. But they each had something the other needed, wanted, and in that moment as they stood in the privacy of the trees attraction sparked between them.
It hadn't been anticipated or even necessarily wanted, yet it felt entirely natural. They were in a wooden clearing with the trees creating a canopy overhead. The branches reached over and blocked out the sun, so they were cast in green shade, and they saw in each other a common need for comfort and companionship. Both of them knew what it was like to lose something precious. They had both been jaded by events in their lives and needed to rediscover what they had been seeking for so long. Furthermore, both of them had a common enemy. Callum had destroyed the maturity that Abbie had been so looking forward to. She had been looking forward to growing up, falling in love, and raising a family, yet it had been far bleaker than she could ever have imagined. And now Callum was threatening everything that Duncan held dear. Both of them wanted to hold onto something that made them feel human, made them feel alive.
They stripped off each others' clothes and barely a word was spoken between them as they peeled away each others' clothes and fell to the floor. The grass was soft under their skin and they felt the unfamiliar flush of arousal surge through their bodies. Abbie had been so used to Callum's rough style that the tender touch of Duncan was enough to send thrills sparking through her body. She gasped and writhed as she welcomed him in close to her. His hands roamed around her curves and her flaming hair was splayed out underneath her – a sea of red amid the green scenery. Their kisses were fervent and desperate. Their tongues twisted together. Abbie felt around his body, all the old scars and war wounds, but she stopped when her palm rested against his chest for she knew inside his heart lay the greatest wound: that of his wife. It induced within her great sympathy and attraction, and a desire to remind him of the good in life. She wanted to touch him in a way that few had and reignite the passion that once burned so brightly within him.
His hands grew tighter around her as the sexual energy bristled through their bodies. Abbie felt him harden and swell. Their lips scorched each other as their bodies entwined together. His long fingers searched her body and found the burning wetness, making her tingle all over. His hot breath washed over her as he buried himself in her neck, while her delicate hands ran down to take his hard lust, curling her fingers around it and stroking slowly. The sensations were so foreign and distant but everything came back to them quickly and they did what came naturally. Their bodies welcomed each other and melted together in the heat of the afternoon. They locked eyes and knew that there was no going back. She was married and he was from a rival tribe yet neither of them felt as though they were doing anything wrong. Being together and feeling the sheer excitement of attraction and intimacy again only added to their pleasure, and neither of them wanted to turn their back on it. They both smiled as they descended into the erotic bliss; their exposed skin brushed against each other, both of them gasping as their bodies shifted, twisting together until they became one entity.
She breathed in his scent and clung to him tightly as he plunged himself inside her, his hips moving in a steady, thrusting rhythm. He braced himself against the ground and pounded her body, and as her mind cracked everything that she used to be came pouring out and she was reborn. Her spirit rose through her body like a phoenix and she was gripped by the excitement of resurrection, and glowed with a new kind of beauty. She shrieked with delight and spun the two of them so that she was resting upon him, straddling him, her red hair falling behind her like a cape. Duncan held her hips steady as she rode and writhed atop him, basking in her glory as she recaptured all she had lost. A wide smiled adorned her face as her naked body convulsed and shuddered. For the first time in her life she was making love instead of having it forced upon her, and gone were the shackles of Callum's wedlock. The heaving rhythm of the sexual sea caused a flood inside her. Every fiber of her being shivered as the pulse crackled through her body and swarmed her mind, flowing out in a long warm release. When she collapsed against Duncan's sweaty, sticky body she did so with a long, anguished moan of delight.
Nestling against the crook of his shoulder, she felt the comfort of his beard against her, and felt a new sense of security. And, for the moment, she enjoyed the bliss that came with the sexual heaven, even though in the back of her mind she knew that Callum was already on his way, and he would not take kindly to this turn of events.
6
Almost a week had passed since Abbie and Duncan had shared passion in the forest. Ever since then they had enjoyed sexual union many times, and were sharing an intimate bond that was new and exciting to both of them. They told each other their innermost secrets, and tried to avoid the impending attack of Callum. The sentries watched the horizon carefully but there was no sign of Callum yet, and gradually Abbie became more and more distracted.
“If you want to stay here, I will fight for you. We need to make a stand against Callum and his bullying ways. I will not let him treat you the way he has done. You deserve better than that.”
“I am his wife, and I will go back to him if it will avoid a war,” Abbie said, with sadness in her eyes.
Inevitably Callum did come, and when he did it was with force. The small army waited outside the village and a few of the warriors, led by Callum, marched through the village to meet with Duncan. When he arrived, Callum demanded that the return of Abbie and was surprised when Abbie walked out freely, with no restraints.
“You will find that she has not been harmed,” Duncan said, trying to hide the pain in his voice.
“I do not care. You have transgressed against the agreement between our people and now you shall pay the price. I will take my wife back, and your life shall be forfeited,” he said, raising his mighty sword and pointing it directly at Duncan, who merely looked weary of all the macho bravado. It was at this point that Abbie stepped forward.
“Callum, what are you doing? These people have no quarrel with you. All they want is to be left in peace. You should not demand th
ings from the other tribes. We should be working in harmony together, to share things and-”
“Are you really siding with them against your own husband? Your own clan?” Callum asked, narrowing his eyes at her, “They took you in the dead of night and you claim that I am in the wrong here?”
“They only did that because you threatened them, because that's what you do! You treat people like they owe you the world, and when they refuse to bow to your whims you think there's something wrong. There's not, and I'm not standing for it any longer. Callum, turn around and go home.”
“Only if you come with me,” he growled. Abbie hung her head and looked at her husband, and then at Duncan. Then, she walked towards Duncan and linked her arm in with his, much to the shock and dismay of Callum.
“I am not leaving here. I'm happy.”
“You are my wife and you will do as I say.”
Bought By The Highlander (Scottish Highlander Romance) Page 65