“There is a large patch of bluebells bloomin’ for as far as the eye can see. It’s a beautiful sight and smells guid, too.” His eyes twinkled as he told her about it. Logan seemed to find excitement in every little thing he did. She liked that about him. He had such a passion for life.
“Does it smell better than roses?” she asked playfully, subtly reminding him of his rose candle in the shed.
He blew a puff of air from his mouth and waved his hand in front of his face. “Nothin’ is better than roses. Except mayhap Highland heather. Or the scent of ye.” He leaned over and sniffed her hair like a dog, and kissed her atop the head.
“Me?” she asked, laughing at his flirtatious nature. They strolled hand in hand, climbing to the top of the tall, green hill. “Logan, you make me laugh. I like a man with a sense of humor. It’s refreshing. I didn’t see that at all in the Englishmen back in Yorkshire.”
“I mean it, lass. I go crazy with yer bonnie scent.”
“How can you say that with a straight face?” she asked him. “I’ve washed but haven’t even had a proper bath since I’ve been here. I probably stink like a pole cat.”
“Then ye should try bathin’ in the loch with me,” he told her, waggling his eyebrows when he said it. “That will solve the problem.”
“You mean get naked and bathe where the fish will bite my arse?” she asked, giggling again.
“Aye. And if they dinna bite it, I promise ye, I will!” He bent down and pretended like he was going to bit her butt. Or at least she thought he was pretending. With Logan, one never knew.
“Logan, stop it!” She hit him and he winced, acting like it hurt.
“Och, lassie, ye punch like a man.” He rubbed his shoulder where she’d hit him.
“I do not and you know it. Besides, it wasn’t a punch, it was just a little love tap, that’s all.”
“It’s all right. I dinna mind. Just as long as ye make love like a lady, that’s all that matters.”
As soon as he said that, it made her want to make love with him once again.
They got up to the top of the hill and Rhoswen stopped, drinking in the wondrous sight. A field of bluish-purple flowers stretched out over the rolling land for as far as she could see. The sun shone down, almost illuminating the bell-shaped flowers that stood tall and proud on green, straight stalks.
The strong, sweet scent of the wildflowers filled her senses, making her heady.
“Bluebells!” she exclaimed. “I’ve never seen anything like this before. The Highlands are so beautiful.”
“I agree,” he said, stroking the side of her face. His tongue shot out and wet his lips, and suddenly he seemed so serious. “Rhoswen, when I say the Highlands canna compare to yer beauty, I mean it.”
She looked up into his eyes, seeing the wanton look within them. “You’re not so bad looking yourself.”
“I am tryin’ my hardest no’ to kiss ye.”
“Why stop yourself?” she asked. “I would like it if you kissed me.”
“But when I kiss ye . . . I canna stop.”
“And neither do you have to,” she whispered, her hands going to his weapon belt. She unclasped it and gently lowered it to the ground.
“What are ye doin’, my bonnie cailin?”
“I was just wondering what it would feel like to roll around naked in a field of bluebells.” She unclasped her belt next and lowered her sword to the ground.
“Rhoswen, I dinna think we should –” he stopped when her hands slipped around his waist and her lips caressed his. Feeling bold and daring, her tongue shot out and entered the warmth of his mouth. Then she pulled back and looked him in the eyes.
“What were you saying?” she asked with a seductive smile.
“Ye’re a little vixen, is what ye are, temptin’ me this way.”
“You’re right, I’m sorry.” She released him. “I don’t know why I’m acting like a strumpet. I guess it’s just because I can’t get enough of you. Let’s go back to camp.” When she bent over to pick up her sword, she felt a whoosh of air as her gown was thrown up over her head. Then she felt a pinch on her back side and realized that Logan had bit her on her bottom end.
“Aaaah!” she said, jumping up to a standing position, holding her hand behind her. “I can’t believe you just did that,” she said, not able to hold back her laughter.
“Really?” he said, getting a very playful look in his eyes. “Then ye willna believe it when I do this either.” He picked her up, swung her around, and then collapsed in the field of bluebells. Lying on the ground holding each other, they both laughed until their sides almost split.
“Do ye want to make love in a field of bluebells?” he asked her.
“Well, I don’t mind. But what about the poor flowers we smashed when we fell?”
“They’ll get over it.”
Before she knew it, Logan was atop her, pushing up her gown and pulling down her braies.
“Something is pinching me,” she said, not liking the feel of her bare bottom touching the earth.
“I have an idea,” he told her. He lay down, pulling her atop him.
“You want me on top?” she asked.
“Why no’?” he answered.
“But I thought men were the only ones to play the part of aggressor.”
“Ye swing a sword and speak yer mind. I think ye are aggressive enough to do this.”
“All right,” she said, liking that he was letting her be in control. “However, I’m not sure I’m experienced enough to be in this position.”
“Ye said yerself, ye’re a fast learner. Now stop talkin’ so much and kiss me.”
When she brought her mouth to his, he surprised her. He’d pushed up his plaid and she discovered he wore nothing underneath. He was ready to couple, and she was as well. Spreading her legs, she took him in, and started to move slowly.
“How do ye like it on top?” asked Logan.
“It feels so freeing.”
Logan yanked at the ribbon in her hair, and her locks cascaded down around her shoulders. Then he reached up, untying the laces at her bodice and slipping one hand inside to caress her breast.
Right there, in the middle of the field of bluebells, they made love. And when they both reached their climaxes, Rhoswen collapsed next to him on the ground. They both stared up at the bright blue sky, trying to calm their breathing.
“I think this is becomin’ a habit with us,” said Logan.
“A habit that I’m in no hurry to break,” she added. Lying next to him, she snuggled up closely, thinking this might be the best time to talk to him to ask for his help. She figured she’d ease into it gently by asking what he wanted to say to her first.
“Logan, what was it you wanted to talk to me about?” she asked.
The ecstasy of their lovemaking was cut short when Logan heard what Rhoswen said. He froze, not able to tell her now. Not like this. Not after they’d just made love and were lying snuggled up together. He couldn’t tell her she and her siblings were no longer welcome, because it wasn’t the right place or time to do so. It would just have to wait.
“Ye go first,” he told her.
“All right,” she said, sitting up and fixing her gown. He lay there, putting his arms behind his head. “I wanted to ask you two things really.”
“Go ahead,” he said, having the feeling it would be something he wasn’t going to like.
“I really like it here, living with the MacKeefes. My siblings and I have nowhere else to go, and I was wondering if you could talk to Storm and ask him if we could stay here.”
“Ye mean, for now? Until ye return to England?”
“Nay, I mean forever.”
“So, ye dinna want to go back to England?” His heart almost stilled. “Willna ye miss yer land and yer people?”
“Nay, I won’t,” she told him. “The people I’ve met here in Scotland are so much friendlier. I don’t ever want to go back.”
Logan shot up to a sitting positio
n. “No’ all of the Scots are friendly, so dinna believe it,” he told her. “And ye have a castle back home. Ye’ll probably inherit it now that yer faither is dead.”
“I’m a girl, Logan,” she said with a smile. “You know as well as I that I can’t inherit my father’s holdings.”
“But what about Newell then? He’s yer faither’s son. Surely, he will inherit.”
“I don’t think so. Mayhap if we had found the king’s sword, we could have begged King Richard to let us stay at our castle and not be punished for our father’s decision to steal from him. But without it, if we went back, we would probably hang.”
“Then ye need to find that sword and take it back to England.”
“Honestly, I don’t care about the sword anymore,” said Rhoswen. “Let the Drummonds have it. It doesn’t matter to me. But what I do want is to bring my nephew, Lockie, here.”
“Here?” Logan felt frantic. Things were not going the way he thought they would. “Ye mean ye want to steal the baby from the Drummonds and raise him here with my clan?”
She nodded. “Will you help me?”
“Help ye? Ye want me to risk my life, stealin’ Drummond’s baby? Are ye crazy?”
“It’s not his baby. It never was.”
“Ye’re out of yer mind, Rhoswen.”
“I know it’s a lot to ask of you, but Lockie is my family. I’ve lost so many I loved that I cannot lose him, too. And if Ranulph really did kill my sister like everyone says, what’s saying he won’t kill the baby, too?”
She had a point, Logan realized. And he didn’t like the idea of anyone killing an innocent baby.
“I was hoping you could convince the rest of your clan to help us retrieve my nephew.”
“Och, lassie, ye have no idea what ye ask.”
Her demeanor changed quickly, going from happy and hopeful to sad and sullen instantly. “Well, if you don’t want to help me, then just say so. I don’t know why I thought I could count on you in the first place. I thought I meant something to you, but now I see that all I am to you is a roll in the bluebells and nothing else.” She stood up and searched for her weapon belt and sword.
“Wait, Rhoswen, that’s no’ it at all.” He jumped up as well. “Ye dinna understand. Somethin’ happened between the MacKeefes and the Drummonds years ago and there was a battle and lots of lives were lost. We’re enemies now. I canna put my clan in danger.”
“What happened?” she asked, strapping on her weapon.
“It doesna matter.”
“It does to me. Now, tell me.”
Logan let out a frustrated breath and figured he might as well tell her before she became any angrier with him.
“It was about five years ago,” he told her. “I met a bonnie lassie on the road in need of help. The wheel on her wagon broke and I fixed it.”
“What does this have to do with anything?” she asked impatiently.
“Be still. I’m gettin’ to that.”
“Go on.” She looked down and slowly buckled her belt as he continued.
“I didna ken it at the time, but she was Ranulph Drummond’s daughter. Well, she was thankful and kissed me and ye ken what happens when I start kissin’ a bonnie lass.”
“I don’t care to hear about your escapades with other women.” She turned to go but Logan reached out and grabbed her by the arm.
“Please dinna go,” he told her. “It is important ye ken what happened so ye understand why I canna go to the Drummond Clan.”
“Why? What happened?”
“We made love, and had a secret tryst for months before her faither found us in the act one day.”
“Along the road?” she asked snidely.
“In the back of the wagon, but it doesna matter. What matters is that I let down my clan.”
“By bedding a girl? I don’t understand.”
“I had with me the lucky sword at the time since it was my turn to wear and guard it. The MacKeefes never lost a battle when we had that sword.”
“So, are you saying something happened to it?”
“To get to my point, Drummond was furious to find us. He ended up stealin’ the sword, and tried to kill me. But Ilona – that was his daughter’s name – tried to stop him, gettin’ in between us.”
“So she died?” asked Rhoswen in astonishment.
Logan nodded. “I was careless and stupid. A young lassie died, and we lost the lucky sword, all because of me.”
“Didn’t you try to get the sword back?”
“We did. Actually, that is when the MacKeefes and the Drummonds went to battle. But the Drummond Clan won because they had our lucky sword.”
“You don’t really believe a sword can be lucky, do you?”
“I do,” he said. “The MacKeefes have had a streak of bad luck ever since. We were never able to retrieve the sword, and when we lost too many clan members, we stopped tryin’.”
“That is a horrible story,” said Rhoswen.
“And now ye see why I canna involve my clan. We’ve lost too much already, thanks to the Drummonds.”
“I’d think that would make you want to help me all the more. I never told my siblings, but on my father’s deathbed, all he cared about was revenge.”
“What do ye mean?”
“He never cared about Lockie. He told me with his dying breath to forget about the boy since he was only a bastard.”
“He really said that about his own grandson?”
“He did. He was so afraid of it hurting his reputation. He didn’t want anyone to know about the stableboy and my sister, so he doomed poor Ailsa to her death by sending her away – far away to the Highlands. He made it look like an alliance, but it was actually naught but a way of ridding himself of a daughter who shamed him.”
“That is no’ guid,” said Logan.
“And that’s not all.”
“There’s more?”
“My mother took her own life because she was so upset when a messenger came from Scotland to tell us that Ailsa had died. Ailsa and my mother were close. She was the eldest daughter. My mother knew about the baby and she didn’t care. She swore she would protect that baby forever. She wanted grandchildren more than anything. My mother loved children.”
“So it was yer faither’s doin’s that caused her to kill herself.”
“In a way I suppose it was. I didn’t know it at the time but found out from my father that in Drummond’s missive he also admitted to killing poor Ailsa. That was too much for my mother to bear. I was gullible and didn’t know any of this. Neither did I know that my father stole the king’s sword and that his intention was never to save little Lockie, but it was to kill Drummond because that is what my father thought would save his soul.”
“Blethers, Rhoswen, I had no idea.” Logan held her tighter.
“On his deathbed, do you know what he said to me that day? He told me he wanted me to kill Ranulph Drummond.”
“What? Nay, lass.”
“He meant it, too.”
“Please dinna tell me ye plan to kill Drummond.”
“I don’t want to kill anyone,” she said, wiping a tear from her eye. “But I want to save my nephew and do whatever I have to in order to make it happen.” She raised her chin and looked him in the eyes, almost scaring Logan by the vengeance he saw within her gaze. “Logan, I will bring my nephew home even if I have to kill to do it.”
“Och, lass, please dinna talk that way.”
“If only I had the king’s sword, then mayhap I could kill Drummond and manage to save my nephew, even without your help.”
“Dinna say things ye dinna mean, lass.”
“I do mean it. My father said with the king’s sword we would be triumphant. I just remembered, he called it the Sword of Triumph.”
Logan’s body stiffened when he heard the name of his clan’s sword springing from her lips. It had to be a coincidence, that’s all.
“Sword of Triumph?” he asked. “What did this sword look like, lass?�
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“Like a sword,” she said. “But it had some colored jewels in the handle.”
“Was it a wooden handle and was there a snake runnin’ around the hilt that had an open mouth with fangs?”
“Yes, I believe so,” she said with a sniffle. “How did you know?”
“I ken exactly the sword ye are talkin’ about because it is clear to me now that the sword yer faither stole from the English king was the same sword the Drummonds once stole from me. I never even kent they’d lost it.”
“That sword is the sword you told me about?” she asked in surprise. “The MacKeefe’s lucky sword that helped you win every battle?”
Logan nodded. “Aye. I carved the snake into the hilt myself. It seems the MacKeefe’s Sword of Triumph is findin’ its way home. But unfortunately, once again, our enemy has what is mine.”
“What is ours,” Rhoswen answered. “I hold no claim to the sword since my father stole it, but remember the Drummonds have my nephew. So are you going to help me or not?”
Chapter 16
Logan furiously whittled away at a small, wooden cross later that day, sitting in the stable by himself. He never expected that the sword Rhoswen’s father stole from the king was the MacKeefe’s Sword of Triumph that had been lost because of him. He wasn’t sure how he felt about this either. Nay, he needed time to think because he didn’t know what to do.
“At it again, I see.”
Logan looked up to see Ethan leading his horse into the stable. He opened a stall and took it inside.
“Aye, I thought I’d whittle a cross and put it on a cord and give it to Blaine to wear around her neck for comfort. She seems so distraught lately, so I thought this might help.” He blew off the dust and started making a hole through the top, using his whittling knife and a nail.
Ethan chuckled as he took the saddle off his horse and hung it on the fence. “I wasna talkin’ about yer whittlin’. Although ye should have stuck to that instead of havin’ a little fun in the bluebells.”
“Och, ye ken about that?” he asked, not happy that Ethan always seemed to know when he made love with Rhoswen. “Please dinna tell me that the entire clan heard us again.”
Highland Steel: Highland Chronicles Series - Book 3 Page 13