His Bonnie Highland Temptation (The Clan Sinclair Book 2)

by Celeste Barclay

  The men spent the remainder of the day trudging through the rain and mud. All of them were miserable but none were as miserable as Callum. He was cold and wet and overcome with frustration and guilt. He did not completely fault Siùsan for running away. He knew he was as much to blame as she was. If he was truly being honest, he knew he was even more to blame, but he was frustrated that he could not find any trace of her. It was as though she disappeared altogether. Where are ye, little one? Where have ye gone? I dinna think ye ran home to yer da, but I cannae find any hint of ye.

  ~~~

  “Callum, we need to make camp soon.” Magnus called to him. The rain had finally ceased, and the sun had poked through for the last couple of hours. “There is a clearing up ahead. Do ye remember we stayed there the last time we travelled to the Sutherlands?”

  “Aye. We are well into Gunn territory now, but we should be fine to stay there.”

  The men found the clearing and dismounted. They began to make camp. Some of the men went to hunt and others gathered firewood. There was a stream not far away, so a couple of men went to refill the waterskins. Callum stood with his brothers. He was growing angry at himself because he could not find one small woman, and he was growing even angrier at Siùsan because she clearly did not want to be found.

  “Where could one lass get to when she is travelling with only her horse? I ken she is not used to long journeys. Coming to us was the first time she’d left Mackenzie land. How has she managed to give us the slip for four bluidy days?” Callum ran a hand through his hair making it stand on end. He looked up to the heavens and growled. A tiny movement to his right drew his attention. He looked up into the branches and could not believe what he saw.

  “Woman! Get down here now!” Callum stalked over to the trunk of the tree and glared up at Siùsan. She had the audacity to shake her head. “What do ye mean nay? Come down now or I will fetch ye. If I must do that, I will turn ye over ma knee.”

  “Ye wouldnae dare, ye beastly mon.”

  “Would I not? Ye dinna ken me that well yet.”

  “I dinna need to ever ken ye any better than I do now. I ken all too much.”

  “Is that what ye think? Ye believe ye ken the whole of it, do ye? If ye werenae so damn stubborn and reckless, we could have resolved this in ma da’s dry hall.” He hauled himself up onto the lowest hanging branches. He watched Siùsan scramble to move to a higher branch. He was surprised once again at how agile she was. She moved like a squirrel and swung from one branch onto the limb of an adjacent tree. He continued to climb higher. He came even with her and moved out on a branch.

  “Ye canna follow me, Callum. Dinna do it!” She was shaking her head vehemently.

  “I have come this far for ye. I amnae going to--.” He was unable to finish as the branch below him snapped, and he dropped through the branches and twigs to land heavily on his left shoulder and arm.

  “Callum!” Siùsan swung down and dropped to the ground beside him. She pushed through the circle of men that had quickly converged around him. She kneeled beside him. “Callum, Callum. Please say something.” She gently lifted his head enough to run her hands over his head. She felt a goose egg forming where his head had hit the ground. She looked at his arm and saw that it was clearly broken, and the shoulder was dislocated.

  Callum was awake and in excruciating pain, but the fall had knocked the wind out of him. He opened his eyes to see Siùsan’s breasts straining against the neckline of her kirtle as she leaned over him. Her hair fell around them as a curtain. He could not resist the opportunity to touch her, to taste her. He licked the crevice between her breasts, kissed them softly as she ran her hands over his injured shoulder.

  Callum was reassured when she did not jerk away from him. She looked into his eyes, but he could not read her emotions. He wrapped his good arm around her waist and pulled her closer. His mouth found hers, and he kissed her passionately. He was desperate for any contact with her. She opened her mouth and met his greedy kiss with her own desire. Callum was lost in his cloud of pain and lust. He did not really notice that Siùsan shifted her body. He was completely unprepared for the ripping pain that seared through his shoulder as she set it. He groaned and pulled her from him. She flew across him and landed with a thud. He looked over at her and could not believe how he had just manhandled her.

  “Siùsan, I am sorry. I dinna mean to hurt ye. Not ever.” He watched as she wiped her mouth with the back of her sleeve and stood. She did not look at him but instead spoke to Tavish and Magnus.

  “His shoulder is set. That was the worse of the two injuries, but I still need to set his arm. I need two smooth, sturdy sticks to make a splint. Ye will need to hold him down. If he tries to throw me again, I will hit back.”

  Siùsan was all business. Callum was taken aback with her brusque manner after the passion of their kiss only moments ago.

  She kneeled beside him again and saw his confusion. She smiled, but it was cold and did not reach her eyes.

  “I needed to distract ye, so I could set yer shoulder. Had ye not tossed me aside, I could have set yer arm too. Or ye could have listened to me when I tried to warn ye that ye shouldnae have followed me. The branches were never going to hold someone as large as ye.”

  “I didna think ye meant following ye in that moment. I thought ye meant I shouldnae have followed ye at all.”

  “I meant that too. Prepare yerself. This will smart.” Before he could draw another breath, she pulled and pressed on his broken arm at the same time. He howled in pain and his back arched off the ground.

  “Ye might have given me a moment to prepare maself as ye so kindly advised.”

  “Aye, well next time use some sense, and ye willna find yerself needing an arm set.”

  Siùsan stood up and walked away. She had hidden in the trees very early that morning and had just woken up when she heard the men enter the clearing. She did not dare move because she recognized Callum, Tavish, and Magnus’s voices immediately. There was a ravine not far from there, and she had tied Trofast there earlier. She walked towards the ridge now and peered down at her horse. He must have caught her scent because he neighed and nodded his giant head. She smiled and turned towards the stream.

  Siùsan had just finished washing her hands and face and was leaning forward to take a drink when she sensed him behind her.

  “Ye should be resting by the fire right now. Ye need a sling to keep yer arm and shoulder in place.” She said without looking back at him.

  “Is that really all ye have to say to me?”

  “Nay. It is not even close to all that I have to say but it is the nicest that I can think of.”

  “Siùsan, I ken ye saw it all, but ye didna hear me, did ye? Ye didna hear me refuse her.”

  “It doesnae matter what ye may or may not have said. Ye didna force her off ye, and ye didna defend me, defend us. Ye didna try hard enough. I ken what I saw.”

  “Aye. I will agree that I may not have tried that hard but it doesnae mean that I had any intention of allowing her to finish what she started. I didna want to anger her or antagonize her because I feared, still fear, how she might retaliate against ye. I wanted to be kind and gentle but underestimated her desperation and deviousness.”

  “I dinna want to hear anymore of yer excuses, Callum. She was yer mistress before I arrived, and she can go back to being yer mistress now that I have left. I already spent one lifetime in a home where I wasna wanted. I dinna need to enter a marriage with a mon who doesnae care for me to feel that way all over again.”

  Callum did not know what to say to everything that Siùsan just revealed. It was the most she had ever said about her family. He simply stared dumbfounded.

  “Ye can shut yer gob. I havenae ever told ye about ma kin because it was too humiliating to admit that ma father could not be rid of me fast enough. That is when he bothered to remember that I was his daughter to begin with. Ye want to ken about ma doting father. Vera well. Ma father was deeply in love with ma mother.
They met when he and his father visited their holding. Their part of Clan MacLeod was a smaller sept. Ma father was smitten, and ma mother returned his affections. He asked for her hand in marriage, and ma grandfather agreed, but ma father’s father would only agree to a handfast. Ma parents were desperate to marry one another, and so they agreed, believing they would eventually marry. It was nae long after that ma mother discovered she was breeding. They hid her pregnancy for as long as they could, but it became too obvious to ignore. As her time drew near, they decided that they would be wed by a priest before the bairn, me, was born. Laird Mackenzie was not in agreement. He wanted to dissolve the handfast early and was in talks to betroth ma father to the Gunn’s daughter. They snuck off to a monastery on Mackenzie land and were married. When they returned to the Mackenzie keep, the laird was enraged that ma father defied him. He called ma mother a whore and told ma father to set her aside because the Gunn lass was on her way.

  “They rode out the next morning before anyone was up. They were riding back to her father when they came across a group of riders. The riders galloped towards them and bellowed at them. Ma mother’s horse was spooked and threw her. She landed badly and couldnae move. Her labor pains began, and it was not long after that I was born. Travelling with the warriors was a woman. It was the woman ma father was to marry. Elizabeth Gunn was a well-known healer, but she stood over ma mother as she bled to death after giving birth to me. Ma father could not convince her to help.

  “Ma father was left with a dead wife and a squalling newborn. He carried his wife in his lap back to his keep. He refused to even look at me from what I have been told. It was one of the Gunn warriors who wrapped me in his plaid and brought me along. Ma father had told them to leave me behind.”

  She paused for breath and looked down at the stream. She sighed and then started again.

  “They returned to the castle and were greeted by the entire village. I can only imagine what a strange sight that must have been: the laird’s son with his dead wife in his arms and his new betrothed riding alongside, and a strange warrior carrying the laird’s granddaughter.

  “I was turned over to a family in the village where a woman had recently given birth and had enough milk to spare. That was Robert’s family. I lived with them until I was almost ten summers. I vaguely understood that they were not ma real kinand that the laird, for ma grandfather had passed by then, was ma true father. I was brought to the keep and told that I would be allowed to live there now. I was given a small chamber at the top of the family tower. I learned that I had two young half-brothers who I was expected care for. I quickly came to understand that ma father had agreed to marry Elizabeth Gunn because he didna care what happened to him. He was too grief stricken to consider what he was agreeing to. In turn, he was angry and bitter that he was forced into a marriage to the woman he believed allowed his beloved to die. Elizabeth was no more pleasant that he was. She ignored her sons except for when she wanted to manipulate ma father or me.

  “I wasnae allowed in their presence except to receive instructions on what was expected of me. Elizabeth suffered through teaching me to read and write just a wee more than the basics. Once she believed I kenned enough to teach maself more, she abandoned me to a study she refused to heat. It was not until ma brothers were old enough to study there that a fire was finally lit during the winter.

  “Ma father so rarely acknowledged me that I was stunned and scared to learn that he planned a marriage for me. I had assumed that I would never marry because I was not worth his time to arrange one. I didna ken to whom he planned to wed me. That is why I sought out Robert. I was scared but ye ken how that turned out. So ye can see, it isnae a pleasant and loving family like yers that I come from. I have a father and stepmother who canna stand one another and who despise me because I apparently look exactly like ma mother. I dinna need a marriage to make me feel unwanted and useless. I never needed to leave ma own clan for that. I willna have a marriage like the Laird and Lady Mackenzie which in now only in name. Laird Mackenzie openly seeks his pleasure any and everywhere but with his wife. I dinna need a new clan to be humiliated in front of.”

  Callum stood there and stared. He had no idea at all how to respond to all that Siùsan had just explained. She glared at him and turned away. She had not taken more than two steps before she felt a hand on her arm.

  “Wait, lass.” She heard his whispered voice and stilled. Despite her hurt and anger, she longed for him to comfort her after she shared her most painful secret. He gently turned her to face him again. He cupped her cheek and ran his thumb over her cheekbone. He leaned forward, but instead of kissing her on her lips, as Siùsan suddenly yearned for, he kissed her temple. Then her nose and each of her eyelids. He kissed each of her cheeks, and then finally brushed his lips against hers. He pulled back to look at her. Siùsan stood with her eyes closed, but the tears still leaked out. She reached up to brush them away, but Callum kissed them away instead. As he pressed his lips to hers, she tasted her own salty tears. He gently wrapped his arm around her and pulled her in for a hug. The kiss remained soft and gentle. It was not one of passion and desire but rather love and understanding.

  “Siùsan, I should have told ye how I felt about ye long before now. I regret that I told ma da before I am telling ye.” He tilted her chin up, but her eyes were still closed. “Look at me, mo chridhe. Ye are ma heart, and I love ye. I would pledge maself to ye here and now for all eternity if ye would have me. I have made a mess of our relationship from before ye even arrived. I have much to atone for, but I would spend every day of the rest of our lives together making up for it and showing ye that I speak only the truth. I want none other than ye. I love only ye.”

  “I love ye too, mo chridhe,” Siùsan whispered. “But I am afraid to trust ye again. I never want to experience that type of pain again, that sense of loss and betrayal. I willna survie it.”

  “I gave ye ma word of honor that I would never stray and that I would be true unto ye. I ken it seems like I have dishonored maself and ma vow, but I swear to ye, I truly do, that I was never going to couple with her or allow it to go any further. I was pushing her away when I heard ye.”

  She searched his eyes and saw her own pain mirrored in his gaze. He was hurting too. Their time apart had not lessened either of their feelings for the other or their pain at their separation. She took a deep breath and took his one good hand in both of hers.

  “I believe ye, Callum. I dinna want to be apart from ye anymore.”

  “Will ye handfast with me now? Here? I would make ye ma wife. I ken ye have already agreed three times, so we are wed by consent, but I would pledge maself to ye. I want there to be nay doubt in yer mind that I want to be with ye as yer husband.”

  “Three times? We are wed?”

  “Aye. The first was when ye agreed to come to me for our betrothal and wedding. The second was when we spoke our betrothal vows. The third was when we agreed to announce our wedding date.”

  “Ye are right. We are wed by consent,” she marveled at the idea, “but I would like to pledge ma troth to ye now in a handfast.”

  “I will wed ye before a kirk and a priest as soon as we get back to Sinclair land.”

  Callum unpinned his plaid from his shoulder and pulled the extra material down. Siùsan understood what he meant to do so she helped him wrap their hands with the Sinclair plaid. When their hands were joined with entwined fingers and covered by his plaid, Callum looked into Siùsan’s eyes and cleared his throat.

  “In the presence of God and before His whole world, I promise to be a loving, faithful, and loyal husband to ye, for as long as we both shall live. With this I pledge ma troth.”

  “In the presence of God and before His whole world, I promise to be a loving, faithful, and loyal wife to ye, for as long as we both shall live. With this I pledge ma troth.”

  Callum pulled her in for a kiss. This was one was far from gentle. It was filled with passion and pent up desire. He was wed finally to the only
woman he had ever considered marrying, and the woman that he desired above all others.

  “I told ye they would make up.” The sound of Magnus’s booming voice broke the mood for the happy couple.

  “I dinna disagree with ye. I kenned it all along. Only a mon in love would traipse through the rain for four days and then climb a bluidy tree only to fall from it. And only a lass as equally addled would jump from that tree to tend him when the eejit mon hurt himself.” Travish grinned at them both. “Welcome to the family, lass. It’s aboot time ye two sorted things out.”

  “Aye, well it took a moment, but we are handfasted now.” Siùsan laughed along with her new brothers by marriage.

  “We are married.” Callum was quick to correct. He had no intention of ever having their union dissolved. “There will be no repudiating in a year and a day. Ye are mine for keeps.”

  “Just as ye are mine too. Aye?” Siùsan looked to Callum, and he vigorously nodded his head.

  “Only yers.”

  Siùsan was about to repeat that promise when she could have sworn she heard something in the distance. She turned in the direction of the sound and noticed that the three Sinclairs were doing the same.

  “Riders approach and fast.” She murmured.

  “Stay close to me, Siùsan. We will all go back to camp. Hopefully, all the men will be aware and gather there. I want ye well surrounded by the men.”

  The four of them hurried back to the camp and were greeted by the sounds of steel on steel. Tavish and Magnus charged into the fray. Callum understood his weakness and took up a defensive stance to protect Siùsan. The camp flooded with men coming from seemingly all directions. Callum had no choice but to engage. While he could fight with a sword in either hand, he counted himself lucky that it was his left arm and not his right that was injured. He fended off one man after another, but eventually three men began to encroach upon him and Siùsan. He angled himself so that she was sandwiched between him and a tree.