“But everyone knows Lucy is only a few men-at-arms away from being a whore.”
Rona heard a thump and a yelp of surprise.
“Watch it. That’s probably your future wife you’re talking about.”
“I could do better!”
The two men were only a dozen yards away now, though they didn’t seem to have much of a purpose in their direction. But then one of them reined in his horse and dismounted.
“I have to piss,” he said by way of explanation to his companion.
“Christ, you went an hour ago! We’re supposed to be scouting, not marking every tree in the bloody woods!”
The other man only grunted and made his way to a clump of bushes to Rona’s right. She shot a glance at Daniel, who shifted slightly so that the copse of trees remained between him and both the mounted man and the one on foot. His sword was the same blue-gray as his eyes in the darkness of the woods.
Rona’s heart hammered in her chest. She was sure they would hear it, so loud was it in her own ears. She hunkered lower to the ground behind the screen of trees. But as she did, a twig snapped under one of her knees.
The two Englishmen froze and whipped their heads around. Her breath stalled in her chest, her stomach twisting with panic.
“Probably just a rabbit,” the mounted man muttered, “but check it.”
The man on foot turned fully toward the copse where Rona hid and strode nearer. His eyes, which glimmered darkly, swept over her.
She sensed more than saw Daniel reach for something on the ground on the other side of the copse. Then she perceived a flash of motion. A second later, a rock landed on the forest floor behind the two men.
“What the—” Both men spun toward the sound.
Their momentary distraction was all Daniel needed.
Like a striking snake, he bolted from behind the copse, his sword raised. But instead of using the blade, he lifted the pommel and brought it down with a sickening crack on the Englishman’s uncovered head. He crumpled into a pile at Daniel’s feet.
Rona vaguely registered her own scream. The man on horseback was yanking his horse around to face Daniel.
Time stretched as the mounted man closed the distance between them. Daniel waited, sword raised. Just as the Englishman began lowering his blade toward Daniel’s head, Daniel simultaneously crouched and thrust his great sword upward.
Though the Englishman’s mail hauberk covered his torso, his legs were unprotected from mid-thigh down. The mounted man screamed as Daniel’s blade sank into his right leg. The horse reared, sending the man tumbling backward onto the ground.
Like lightning, Daniel moved over the wounded man. He stepped on the man’s sword arm and lowered the tip of his blade to his throat, just as Rona had seen him do in the practice yard. But this time, unlike the friendly contest earlier, the specter of death hung in the night woods.
“What does Warren have you looking for?”
Even though Daniel was normally commanding, he spoke now with such icy authority that Rona almost didn’t recognize his voice.
The man under Daniel’s blade only groaned.
“Answer me. Why has he sent you?”
Just then, the man whom Daniel had cracked over the head stirred. Through the boughs of the pine trees, Rona could see Daniel’s eyes flicker with resignation. Then with a quick twitch of his wrist, he slid the tip of his sword over the man’s throat.
He walked calmly to the crumpled Englishman closer to the copse. Despite the crack to his skull, he had rolled himself onto his back and was trying to sit up. Without hesitating, Daniel drew his blade across the man’s throat, just as he had with the first.
The only sound that pierced the forest was the sickening gurgle coming from both men. Daniel re-sheathed his sword and quickly ran his hands over first one slain man and then the other, presumably looking for a letter or other indication of their purpose. Then he approached the copse and pulled the branches back.
She looked up at him from her crouch on the ground, stunned silent. He slowly extended a hand toward her to help her out of the clump of trees.
There was blood on it.
She shivered and withdrew unconsciously. She crawled backward away from his extended hand and the path he was making through the branches for her. She was dimly aware that branches scraped and snagged her dress and cloak as she backed out of the copse.
As she emerged from the trees, she felt like she could breathe a little better, but then Daniel walked around the copse to stand in front of her. His face was set grimly.
“I’m sorry you had to see that,” he said flatly, looking down at where she still crouched.
“Why did you…” She swallowed, suddenly feeling as though she might lose the contents of her stomach.
His eyes hardened. “This is warfare, lass. What would you have me do? Let them find you and have their way with you? Let them kill us both?”
“They were only scouts!”
She knew hysteria edged her voice, but she couldn’t stop it. She’d never witnessed anyone killed before. Perhaps more disturbing was how calm and unhesitating Daniel was about the whole matter. But he was a warrior, and she was a sheltered girl, she thought dimly.
“Aye, and by their coat of arms they were sent by Raef Warren.”
“But Lord Warren has a deal with my father. He means us no harm. He just wants to collect a tax from us.”
Daniel’s face transformed from grim to enraged. He bent down to where she knelt on the ground and pulled her to her feet.
“Means us no harm? Warren has been slaughtering innocent Scots for years!”
“What?” She felt herself begin to shake as her initial panic dulled to shock.
“Warren carved a path across Scotland five years ago. He waged war on Sinclair lands. He slaughtered my people and anyone else who got in the way. Ever since he fled from defeat at my family’s hands, he’s been terrorizing the Lowlands at King Edward’s behest.”
She blinked in confusion. “He never tried to attack us at Loch Doon.”
“Probably the only thing that held him back was the knowledge that Loch Doon is Robert the Bruce’s keep. Warren would know that if he openly struck the castle, the entire Scottish rebel force would come down on him. But don’t be mistaken, lass. Warren will never be satisfied with simply extracting a tax from Scotsmen. He wants every last one of us to rot and vanish into nothing.”
“And…and those two?” She gestured with a shaky hand toward where the bodies of the dead scouts lay behind the copse of trees.
“I’m not surprised Warren would have the area watched. But those two were armed. They would have killed us to maintain the secrecy of their mission, whatever it was. And I would kill a thousand more of them to protect you and Loch Doon.”
Her eyes drifted down to his bloodied hands again, and she shivered. Immediately, he removed his cloak and spun it around her shoulders.
“I don’t have time to bury them, so I’ll just have to hide them as best I can. Stay back here.”
She nodded numbly and rubbed her arms. Once he had gone around the copse, she could hear him slap the rumps of the scouts’ horses, sending them off into the night. Then she heard him dragging first one man and then the other into the clump of trees she had been hiding in mere moments ago.
Daniel came back around to her side of the copse a few minutes later. Without speaking, he took her arm and guided her back toward the village. But despite the added warmth of his cloak, she shivered again.
She’d thought she was in danger for practicing falconry illegally. Tonight, though, she had seen two men killed and learned that her nearest neighbor was a black-hearted murderer who was plotting against them. Suddenly the world seemed far more dangerous than she’d ever realized.
HIGHLANDER’S RECKONING
CHAPTER FIFTEEN
“Rona, we need to talk.”
She looked up from her trencher, her face taut with worry.
“Very well.”
<
br /> This was the most they had interacted since the night before when Daniel had killed two of Warren’s scouts. By the time they had made it back to the castle, they were both so weary that they hadn’t spoken, except for Rona’s half-formed excuse as she continued up the stairs past his chamber to her own.
Even though a mere two weeks ago they hadn’t known each other, her distance made him ache. When would they be able to rebuild that delicate bond that had formed two nights ago when they’d made love? Would they ever have a stable, close union, as Daniel internally hoped for?
He had to do something to try to close this awkward distance. He stood and extended his arm to her. Though it was brief, he didn’t miss her hesitation before looping her arm in his. He guided her down from the dais and through the great hall where most of the castle’s inhabitants were taking their midday meal.
Once they were in his study, he closed the door behind them and turned to face her.
“About last night…”
Her bright eyes clouded with a depth of emotion he didn’t know how to interpret.
“As I said, I’m sorry you had to see that, but I’m not sorry I killed those men. I am a warrior, first and foremost.”
He braced himself for her reaction, fearing her rejection.
She turned and went to the window. A storm had blown in overnight, and heavy, wet snow now fell outside.
“I’ve…I’ve never seen anyone killed before,” she began.
He clenched his jaw reflexively. Despite all her bluster, all her willfulness and that flaring temper of hers, she was innocent, sheltered. His mind flitted back to his young cousin Will. It seemed that Daniel was doomed to be the one to educate the innocents of the world in the ways of warfare, violence, and death. He didn’t relish the role, nor did he enjoy taking lives. But he was a warrior, and he would fight for what he believed in and protect those he loved.
That word came unbidden into his mind. Of course he loved his family. And Rona was now part of his family…
He pushed the thought, and that complicated word, aside and refocused his attention on her.
“I don’t hold it against you. I just…I wish these wars were over,” she went on.
He moved to her side and tentatively brushed a lock of red hair over her shoulder. “We all do, lass.”
Could a man trained to be a warrior and a leader long for an end to the conflicts and wars? Contradictions be damned, Daniel thought gravely, he wanted peace.
A somber silence filled the study as they both gazed out the window at the falling snow. Reluctantly, Daniel steeled himself for what he had to say next. She wouldn’t like it, but he had to make his expectations known.
“I don’t want you going to Ian and Mairi’s cottage anymore.”
She turned to face him, a look of confusion on her delicate features.
“Why not?”
“It’s too dangerous.”
Now her confusion was turning into stubborn ire. She crossed her arms over her chest in a stance he was coming to know well.
“You can’t just lock me away here in the castle. I won’t be told not to see my friends or Bhreaca.”
He should be able to use logic and reasoning against her, or to meet and overpower her will with his own. Hell, he should be able to simply give her an order and expect her to follow it, as he normally did with his men. But Rona was different. Something about her always seemed to make his blood run hot.
“You’re damn right I can lock you up here, if that’s the only way to keep you safe,” he said, matching her cross-armed stance. “Or would you prefer that I let you roam the forests alone while armed English scouts move about freely?”
“There have always been Englishmen in the area,” she retorted, her eyes flaring. “I’ll not let you make me into a prisoner in my own home.”
“And what if those Englishmen from last night had found you alone? What do you think they’d have done to you?”
Her cheeks flushed but she didn’t reply, so he went on, his voice tight with frustration.
“And even if they actually acted like the chivalric knights they all claim to be, what if one of them saw you flying Bhreaca? He would be bound by English law to report you and see you punished—along with Ian and Mairi.”
She opened her mouth to reply but halted, suddenly unsure.
He knew he still needed to drive his point home, so he continued. “It is my duty as your husband to protect you in every way possible. I would never renounce you and make your secret known, but I cannot watch you endanger yourself.”
“You cannot take this from me,” she said, but now desperation mingled with determination in her voice.
He turned and paced the length of the study several times. Christ, was this what marriage was like? He longed for things to be simpler, for her to just follow his orders. And yet, he was surprised to realize that he liked her stubbornness, her strength of will, and that steely spine of hers. He reminded himself yet again to thank the Bruce for marrying him to a capable, smart wife rather than a simpering weakling of a woman.
He would hate himself if he simply overpowered Rona with his own stubborn will. He didn’t want her broken. But he needed more peace between them.
As a starting point, he focused his mind on overcoming their current impasse. He’d seen with his own eyes how alive she had been when she flew Bhreaca. He also gathered that she wasn’t one to trust or open up to people easily or quickly, yet she was as close to Mairi and Ian as if they were her blood.
He halted his pacing and ran a hand through his hair with a sigh. “What would you propose, then?”
She blinked in surprise, and her arms unconsciously fell to her sides. He suppressed a tired smile. She was an expert at fighting obstinately against being controlled, but he gathered that she’d rarely been asked what she preferred instead.
“I want to keep going to visit Mairi and Ian and Bhreaca,” she began, though she frowned uncertainly.
This was a start. Perhaps there was room for negotiation after all. But he would never compromise when it came to her safety.
“And what about the English? Or the risk that you’ll be found out?” he asked cautiously.
She nibbled on her lower lip, and his attention was tugged to her supple, soft mouth. Suddenly he couldn’t seem to focus on their conversation. A spike of heat stabbed his stomach, and then traveled lower to his groin.
“What if…what if I don’t go alone? What if you accompany me?”
He tore his eyes from her mouth to try to clear his head. They were making real progress. He had to stay focused.
“Perhaps. But that means no more disappearing. And are you sure you won’t mind having me hovering around you so much?”
She lowered her eyes and smiled shyly.
“I wouldn’t mind. Perhaps I’d like having you near me.”
Focus be damned, he wanted her. Badly.
He watched her closely as he stalked toward her one step at a time. Instead of slaking his desire for her, their first night of shared passion had only increased it tenfold. And something about their clashing wills shot heat that had nothing to do with anger or frustration through his veins.
“Would you, now?”
Her eyes flickered up to his, and shyness mixed with desire in their blue depths. It was all the encouragement he needed.
He took a final step to close the distance between them and snaked his arms around her waist, pulling her against him. He lowered his mouth to hers but paused just before they made contact. He held them both there, a hair’s breadth from touching, as he savored the anticipation.
She broke first. With a little noise of frustration, she nudged her head up so that their lips finally came into contact. Her boldness and urgency sent another hot spike of lust through him. Though she was still inexperienced, he sensed a deep well of passion just below the surface in her. And the temper that so often had both of their blood boiling could apparently be transformed into white-hot lust.
&n
bsp; Their mouths melded and their tongues mingled, but he forced himself to let her lead. She was tentative at first, but as both of their pleasure built, she grew impatient. She arched, pushing her chest into his, and her fingers sank into his shoulders with delicious need.
He let his hands skim lightly over her waist and down her hips, though he didn’t grip her and grind his pelvis into hers as he longed to do.
His restraint had the desired effect. The lighter his touches, the more demanding hers became. She grabbed one of his hands and planted it squarely on her bottom, then laced her fingers in his hair, holding his mouth to hers. He rewarded her with a little flick of the tongue, which made her sigh softly. But then he withdrew his tongue, ceding the lead once more.
“Don’t you want this?” she said, breaking their kiss. A frown creased her brow.
“Oh aye. I’m going to prove to you just how much in our chamber,” he breathed. “But I want you to show me what you like. Take your pleasure from me.”
She nibbled on her kiss-swollen lower lip. “I like it when you kiss my neck,” she said tentatively.
Immediately, he lowered his head to the slim column of her neck and let his tongue and lips play across her skin. She inhaled and shuddered slightly.
“And I like it when you touch me here,” she breathed, moving one of his hands to cup her breast.
He swished his thumb over its peak and felt her nipple harden through the thick wool of her dress.
Her head fell back under his kisses and touches. He gripped her bottom with his other hand, holding her hips against his as she grew increasingly aroused.
“I don’t think we’re going to make it to my chamber,” he said huskily against her neck. She moaned in response, rubbing against his already-hard cock, which was pressed into her stomach.
Suddenly he bent and scooped her up with a hand behind each knee so that her legs wrapped around his torso. She gasped in surprise and clung to his neck as he strode to the large wooden chair that stood behind his desk. With one foot, he kicked the chair away from the desk. Then he sat down with her straddling him.
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