“Kat,” he whispered as he stroked her breasts, rubbing his thumbs over her nipples until they hardened and she wriggled against him, “open your eyes.”
She slowly opened her eyes but only part of the way, just enough to see that he looked far too tempting in the morning. Katerina almost grinned. She was sorely tempted, but rather liked the feeling of being coaxed. He rubbed his shaft against her thigh and there was no doubting his interest. During their long night of lovemaking she had feared that she would wake in the morning and feel the bitter pinch of shame, but she felt none at all. The passion she and Lucas shared was all she could have hoped for and more. It was also a perfect way to make her forget all her worries and she found that she craved that delightful respite.
“Tirling at the pin rather early in the morning, arenae ye?” she murmured as she slid her hand over Lucas’s hip and lightly trailed her nails up and down his shaft.
“If ye keep doing that I willnae be merely knocking on the door, lass, I will be kicking it in.”
Enjoying the way his eyes closed and a light flush colored his cheeks when his desire rode him hard, Katerina encircled the hard, thick shaft with her hand and stroked him. The soft growl that escaped him made her shiver in anticipation. There was definitely something not quite tame about Lucas Murray. When he opened his eyes to look at her she saw that the silvery-blue of his eyes had darkened into an almost midnight blue and appeared just as mysterious. She smiled at him as she slid her hand down his shaft and lightly squeezed the sacs at its base. The way he shuddered gave her a delicious sense of pure feminine power.
“Temptress,” he growled and kissed her.
The idea that anyone would think her a temptress was almost laughable. She might even question their sanity or think them liars. The way Lucas said the word, with such heated honesty, actually made her feel that she really was a temptress, even if she was only in his eyes. Then Lucas joined their bodies, the rhythm of the thrusts of his hips matching those of his tongue in her mouth. Very quickly Katerina forgot all about feminine power and temptresses. The only thoughts that lingered in her head for long were those of the rhythm of their bodies and midnight blue eyes.
“Ah, there ye are,” said Annie as Katerina stepped into the hall.
“Aye, here I am.” Katerina grinned at the look of disgust Annie gave her. “Anything I might help ye with?”
“Aye, ye could chop the leeks for me but only after ye have something to break your fast. I will make ye some porridge and Patrick brought us a jug of goat’s milk.”
“I am nay too fond of goat’s milk,” Katerina said as she sat down at the table.
“Weel, try to stomach it. Ye need to keep up your strength and put on a wee bit of weight. When ye had that fever ye lost some weight in fighting it and ye didnae really have enough to begin with. Sir Lucas was most concerned about that lack of a few more pounds to fight the fever with.”
“Oh, weel, where is the milk then? I better gain those few pounds as swiftly as possible or the mon will recall that he wanted me to gain some and he will become a sore trial.”
Annie quickly set a large bowl of porridge in front of Katerina and a tankard full of goat’s milk. “If ye are serving everyone so much of this milk, Annie, ye will be emptying that jug within an hour.”
“The jug can be refilled. Three of the four goats Patrick brought to us are female.”
“We have goats?”
“Aye. It seems people are noticing that Ranald and the rest of those fools soiling Dunlochan arenae hunting their food and yet are eating as if they are kings without a worry for where the food comes from. Those who have animals are gleaning the best out and hiding them. The goats are from Patrick’s sister.”
“Weel, that makes sense, I think.”
“The best cows from Old Wey’s land are being kept with the horses and moved from place to place.”
“’Tis that bad?”
“Aye, and getting worse. And, dinnae worry, Mistress Meg’s chickens will be nay trouble at all and we will have fresh eggs more often now.”
“Where are the chickens?”
“Two of them joined me in my bath,” drawled Lucas as he strode into the hall and sat down next to Katerina. “Since they kept the messy end away from me and my water I didnae mind.”
Katerina ate some more of the porridge and forced herself to drink some of the milk before she asked, “Sheep?”
“High up in the hills where there are many places to hide them if Ranald comes looking.”
“Pigs?”
“Three. One with piglets. We refused to take the boar for the beast is huge and verra temperamental. Dinnae worry, m’lady, Thomas is happy to care for them all. He has always loved animals and will keep them clean and weel fed. He has e’en discovered a way to take them out to enjoy the sun now and again.”
“So somewhere in these caves are chickens, goats, and pigs.” Katerina watched Annie closely as she asked, “No ducks or geese?”
“Nay, not yet.”
Katerina almost laughed at the way Annie kept her gaze fixed firmly on the porridge she was dishing out for Lucas and did not even twitch as she was questioned. The woman was getting verra good at not lying but not revealing any unnecessary truths, either. Although Katerina could only admire that skill, she felt sad that Annie had been forced to learn it.
“A bargain has been made, ye see,” said Annie, sitting down across from Lucas and Katerina. “If we keep these much-prized animals safe we will get help in rebuilding the stock of the keep that those fools are devouring. I am thinking we may need it.”
“It sounds a good bargain, Annie. I am just surprised William made it for he isnae too fond of such animals.”
“Nay, he isnae, but he is fond of eating.” Annie smiled when both Lucas and Katerina laughed. “’Twill be fine. Being that these animals are such fine breeders and all they are verra weel cared for, so it shouldnae be too great a trouble.”
“Oh, it will be,” said Katerina. “We cannae let the people lose all their source of food, can we.”
“Nay, we cannae although it already begins to stink like a stable in here,” snapped William as he strode into the hall.
William had obviously not had a good morning, mused Katerina as she fought to hide a smile. Her cousin did not often lose his temper completely, but he could become surly when things did not go his way. Since they had been trapped in these caverns for almost a year it was a good thing that William’s surliness was usually short-lived.
“Have ye already been out moving the horses?” she asked.
“And those cursed cows.”
“Ye may be grateful for those cursed cows one day if Ranald and Agnes are being as careless with the stock as everyone says they are.”
As he poured himself some ale and sat down at the table, William grunted. Katerina waited patiently while her cousin took several slow but deep drinks of the ale. When he finally looked at her over the top of his tankard, she smiled at him. He laughed and shook his head.
“I worked hard to ne’er become a farmer,” he said. “It irritates me to find that I am one, at least for the nonce.”
“And I am a troll.” She grinned when everyone laughed, then said quietly, “’Twill pass. It has to. At some time e’en those-old fools on the council will have to see that Agnes is hurting Dunlochan, hence their own ever-fattening purses.”
“Do ye think the men on the council are using this trouble between ye and Agnes to fill their own coffers?” asked Lucas.
“I do although I cannae prove it. I cannae really leave here to find anyone powerful who would heed me and who those old men would then bow to, either. Aye, they were my father’s friends and compatriots, but they arenae mine, and they arenae Agnes’s. Oh, they dinnae break whate’er promises they made to my da as far as I can see, but they dinnae really honor them either.
“As his old friends they ken full weel that he would be screaming for them to put a stop to this or beating them about the h
ead for making a profit on the misery of the people of Dunlochan. But they dinnae do any more than what was written in the verra terse last testament my da scratched out as he was dying. They sit like carrion birds, watching and grasping what they can, telling all who may listen that all the old laird wished was for them to be sure neither of his daughters married without their approval.”
William nodded in solemn agreement. “That says it true. The old laird would be fair to shaking with fury o’er what is happening.” William frowned toward the opening leading into the passage as the sound of voices and laughter drifted closer. “And here comes one reason we were a wee bit later to return here than I had planned.”
Before Katerina could ask him what he meant Patrick, Thomas, Donald, and another man entered the hall. She stared at that other man and knew her mouth was hanging open even before Lucas shifted closer to her on the bench and gently closed it with his fingers on her chin. For a moment she stared at the man very hard as if a closer look would change what she was seeing, but there was no mistaking that fiery red hair, bright green eyes, or cocky grin.
“Why the devil have ye come back here, Robbie?” she demanded.
He laughed, walked over to her, and gave her a kiss on the cheek. “Why, to see ye, my dear sister.”
Katerina was hard-pressed to hide her surprise when Lucas edged even closer to her, his long legs nudging Robbie until the man had to step back a little. Lucas acting so possessive was a heady thing and she told herself that later she would take the time to lecture herself about how little it meant A man could act possessive over a tankard of ale. She kept her gaze fixed on Robbie and acted as if she had not noticed Lucas’s behavior.
“I am nay your sister,” she said.
“I am wed to dear, sweet Agnes, so that makes me your brother.” He looked around the hall. “Very comfortable for a cave. Just why are ye living down here?”
“We are living down here because we are rather fond of staying alive. And I always thought ye were as weel.”
“And I am.”
“Then why have ye come back to Dunlochan?”
Robbie started to reply, but paused when a blushing Annie served him a tankard of ale. “Why, thank ye most kindly, Mistress. ’Tis glad I am to see that someone has held fast to their good manners despite living in a cave.”
“If ye dinnae answer my question, ye will be buried in a cave.” Katerina forced herself not to soften her expression beneath the warmth of Robbie’s wide grin. “Now, sit down and answer the question.”
“Weel, I decided it was time to see my wife again,” he replied as he sat down across from Katerina, slipping smoothly between Annie and William. “I am married to the woman and the vows did say for better or worse. I began to wonder if I had judged her unfairly.”
“The vows ye spoke also said until death do ye part and, by returning here, ye have now given Agnes the chance to fulfill that part of the vow.”
“Agnes and Ranald have been searching for ye, Robbie,” said William. “They want ye dead.”
“Why?”
“So that she can marry Ranald, get the council to approve the marriage, and then claim Dunlochan as her own,” replied Katerina. “There is a battle going on here, Robbie, and ye have just stepped right into it. And just in case ye have some idea of still going to visit with your wife, let me tell ye that anything ye thought Agnes had done, she probably has, if not a lot worse.”
“But what can she gain by killing me?”
“I just told ye—Dunlochan. Ye werenae approved of by the council, the men my father chose to help us poor witless women. Agnes feels verra certain Ranald will be and I suspect she has a good reason for feeling so confident about that.”
The fact that Robbie did not respond to her sharp words told Katerina just how upset he was. He had somehow convinced himself that Agnes might not be as bad as he had thought, perhaps even thought on how he had no hard proof and thus could have allowed jealousy to cloud his thinking. Agnes could cause a man to be a fool even when she was miles away. Even if he no longer loved Agnes or was even truly enthralled by her, it had to be a hard blow to realize your wife wanted you dead when you had never done anything to her to deserve such a harsh sentence.
“’Tis verra hard to believe,” Robbie finally murmured and suddenly finished off his ale, but Annie was quickly close by his side to refill his tankard. “I think I hoped too hard that’I was mistaken about her, but all ye have said so far only reminds me of all the reasons I left, and how clear it was then that she wasnae the woman I thought she was.”
“She fools a lot of people, Robbie,” Katerina said gently. “She fooled him,” she added, pointing to Lucas.
“Just who is he?”
“Sir Lucas Murray of Donncoill,” Lucas replied.
“I have heard of your clan. Why are ye crouched in the cave with these Haldanes?”
“Because Agnes and Ranald have already tried to kill me twice. It has annoyed me and I wish to discuss the matter with them. They have also tried to kill Katerina.”
“It has been bad here then, has it?” Robbie asked.
“It could be worse, but, aye, it has been bad,” replied Katerina. “Ye are verra lucky that these men found ye and nay Ranald or his men.”
“And all this is because your da gave those fools on the council the right to say who ye should marry?”
“Aye, although I feel certain that at least one mon on the council plays his own deep game.”
“Probably Hay, Sorley Hay.”
“Do ye ken the men on the council weel then?”
“A few of them,” Robbie answered, “and I have to be surprised that your da would place any trust in them. Oh, they arenae all bad men, but they are weak. If your da was still here they would stay loyal, but he is dead. That was probably too much temptation for them.”
Katerina rested her arms on the table and leaned closer to Robbie. “What I need is proof of the crimes being committed here. I need more than my word that she has tried to see me dead.”
“I am nay sure my word would be much better,” Robbie said quietly.
Although Katerina had suspected as much she was still disappointed. “Weel, just tell us what ye do ken about Agnes, Ranald, and e’en the council. We may see something ye dinnae.”
There was a lot, from the death of the maid to rampant adultery committed by Agnes. Robbie had no real proof that Ranald and Agnes had killed the maid, however. The complete lack of morals revealed by Agnes’s bedchamber activities might help, she mused, if only to get some of the more pious members of the council to deem Agnes unfit as mistress of Dunlochan. That slowly forming plan was destroyed when Robbie spoke of finding Agnes in bed with Daniel Morrison, the leader of the council.
“Weel, that explains why they just let her continue on and didnae e’en raise an outcry when I was declared dead,” muttered Katerina.
“The mon has a wife and she holds the purse-strings, ye ken,” said William. “Mayhap we should try a little of the blackmail that Ranald and Agnes obviously use.”
“’Tis something to consider. We have to do something soon. Before Ranald found out that Lucas and I were still alive we had at least been able to stop some of their crimes, and ease their brutality. Now we cannae e’en do that. What usefulness we had is gone. I think it may be time to confront the council. After all, I dinnae need to pretend to be dead any longer.” She frowned when she saw Lucas shaking his head. “I could go to one of the few meetings they have and speak out.”
“It would be too dangerous,” said Lucas. “’Tis obvious Agnes has the head of die council under her command. If naught else he wouldnae want anyone to ken that he bedded down with her.”
“That still leaves four others.”
“None of whom have made any attempt to help ye or restrain Agnes.”
Katerina knew Lucas was just speaking the truth but she still wished to hit him. The more they tried to find some solution, anything aside from open war or murder, they came u
p hard against a wall. It was beginning to feel as if she had been caught in this trap for years and she was beginning to be a little frantic. At least for a while it had seemed as if she was accomplishing something, but now, hiding constantly because of Ranald’s searches for her or Lucas, nothing was changing and it probably never would. All they were doing now was surviving and that was just not good enough.
“I will keep thinking on it, Katerina,” said Robbie. “I may yet recall something of use to ye. Mayhap if I go to the village—” He grimaced when everyone shook their heads. “Nay? A bad idea?”
“Ye are too recognizable, Robbie,” Katerina said.
Feeling sorry for herself and hating it, Katerina decided she would have a bath. A nice hot bath always calmed her and then she might be able to think of something beside how defeated she felt. With Annie and Thomas helping, she soon had a full tub of steaming hot water. Sprinkling some lavender over it, she shed her clothes and climbed in. It was sinful to indulge in such a luxury so soon after the last one but she was in sore need of it. Soon she was so relaxed, so calm, she was even able to ignore the chicken sitting on the stool in the corner.
“Katerina is finding it hard right now,” said William after she, Annie, and Thomas had left with the last buckets of water and he knew she would not return for a while. “It does seem as if Agnes has won right now.”
“There has to be some proof of some crime,” said Lucas. “No one can hide every sin they commit. Aye, and ones like Ranald and Agnes make a lot of enemies. They may kill some, but they cannae kill them all, nor can they always keep them too terrified to talk.”
“We have been at this for a year,” said Patrick. “We should have found something by now.”
“When ye werenae raiding or trying to save someone, ye were hiding until the need to ride out came round again. ’Tis impossible to gather the sort of information ye need under those circumstances.”
“Aye, true enough, yet none of us can go out openly and start seeking the information needed. Ones like myself may nay be as recognizable as ye or Robbie or William, but we have been hiding here for so long, we would appear to be strangers and that would rouse a dangerous interest.”
Highland Savage Page 15