The Rogue’s Redemption

by Mecca, Cecelia

  Then Aidan caught her off guard by saying, “When you first asked me to train you, I wondered if you felt unsafe here. I considered explaining to you that you’d always be safe here, and that arming yourself was not necessary—”

  “But you did not.” Allie took a deep sip of the French red wine, allowing it to slip down her throat. Where was he going with this?

  “Nay. I knew it would not dissuade you. Besides, I began to understand why you wanted it so badly.”

  “Hmm, that is quite a feat since I hardly understand it myself.”

  Aidan sighed and looked out into the crowd. She could not allow her gaze to follow his, though she felt certain he was staring at a certain rogue in a blue surcoat.

  “You wanted adventure but were told to remain inside Lyndwood—”

  “For my own protection,” she whispered, repeating what she’d been told over and over again.

  “You wanted your sister to be happy, but your father promised her to Covington.”

  Allie swallowed. “So we would not lose Lyndwood.”

  “You wanted to learn the healing arts, but your parents would not allow it.”

  Allie placed her goblet back onto the table. “It was not necessary for me to do so. We had a healer already—”

  “And you wanted to learn to train with the longsword. I figured I could at least give you that—just one of the things you wanted.” He paused, staring at her intently. “And now there is something else that you want,” he whispered. “And I will help you get that too.”

  This time, she did look into the crowd. And when her eyes met Reid’s, she nearly lost control. The look on his face . . . she would never forget it. He wanted her. Nay, it was more than that. He needed her.

  “Why?” she asked, turning back. “Why have you always been so kind to me, Aidan?”

  His smile was so kind, so loving. She marveled over how accepted this man had made her feel, right from the beginning of her time at Highgate.

  “Because there is something I want too.”

  She sniffled, trying to hold back tears.

  “What? What do you want, Aidan?” She would give him anything.

  But he did not answer, so she repeated her question, more loudly this time.

  “A sister,” Graeme said. “He wants a sister. And always has.”

  When she turned back to Aidan, he was smiling.

  “Of course,” she said at once. “I’ve thought of you as a brother from the moment I arrived here. I couldn’t be more honored.”

  Aidan hid his face behind his mug and finally finished it with a long swig. “Understand, Allie, that I will always, always protect you and love you, as only a brother can do.”

  Allie wiped away the single tear that escaped from the corner of her eye. The acceptance and love she and Gillian had found here was beyond belief. It was nothing like the relationship they had with their parents.

  “As will I,” Gillian added, the resolve in her voice unmistakable.

  Allie looked from Aidan to Gillian, and though she wasn’t sure how much her sister had overheard of their conversation, one thing was for sure.

  They had a long few days ahead of them.

  14

  “War has been declared.”

  Allie’s eyes widened. Aidan had found her in Wern Hall, a much smaller—and infinitely more private—version of the great hall. Accessible only through a secret passageway from the kitchen, it was one of the very few places where privacy could reliably be found. At one time, according to Aidan, it had been the only great hall at Highgate End.

  “The council—”

  “Nay.” Aidan sat on the bench next to her. Despite its name, Wern Hall resembled a large chamber more than it did an actual hall. Only three trestle tables and a small high table adorned the small space. “In fact, I believe some progress was made today. With luck, an accord will be reached soon.”

  And Reid would be forced to go home.

  “I will not let him leave without me.”

  “Then you should abandon your insistence that he and Gillian come to any sort of agreement. She will not yield.” Aidan pointed to the oil lanterns on the wall. “Did you light those?”

  “Aye,” she said, pointing to a nearby candle. “I am not completely incapable.”

  “I never said such a thing.”

  Nay, but her sister had certainly made her feel that way. She’d retired early last eve, worn out from the emotional talk with Aidan as much as she was by the strain of avoiding Reid. This morn, she had intended to appeal to Gillian once again, but her sister had apparently gone to the village to supervise the gathering of supplies, a task they normally completed together. How was she to sway Gillian if Gillian would not even talk to her?

  “You mentioned a war?” she asked as if inquiring about the weather.

  Aidan smiled, apparently enjoying himself. “Gillian returned just as the council broke for the morning.”

  “You are maddening,” Allie said with a shove. Aidan was being deliberately roundabout. “And?”

  “And she had a few words to say about my advice to you—”

  “So she overheard everything last eve.”

  Aidan shrugged. “So it would seem.”

  Allie sighed, defeated. If her sister was back, it was time for them to have a frank talk.

  “She cannot understand why I am helping you. I was reciting all of Reid’s, shall we say, finer qualities, when your betrothed—”

  “We are not betrothed. Or not officially, of course.”

  “When your favorite Kerr brother overheard us.”

  Allie held her breath. “What did he do?”

  Aidan’s smile broadened. “Nothing. Which was when Graeme officially declared war.”

  “Graeme?”

  “My stubborn brother came upon us and took Gillian’s side, of course. I simply mentioned that Reid was doing nothing more than submitting himself to an unprovoked attack upon his character when—”

  “Graeme told Aidan not to become involved,” a newcomer to their conversation said from behind them.

  Reid.

  She and Aidan turned in tandem.

  “You followed me here,” Aidan said, though the accusation lacked heat.

  “I did.”

  “Knowing I would tell Allie.”

  Reid walked toward them, but he didn’t speak until he stood at Allie’s side.

  “And I thought your brother was the more intelligent of the two of you,” he teased good-naturedly. “It seems I was mistaken.”

  Aidan clasped Reid’s shoulder. “Though I admire your restraint back there, I must say, we may be on the losing side of this battle.” He glanced at Allie. “Of course, the war has already been won. Your sister—”

  “Will come to know Reid as I do,” Allie said, her voice firm. “She’ll have no choice.”

  Aidan looked back and forth between them, bowed, and then chuckled the entire way out of the hall.

  Allie wanted to ask Reid why he hadn’t come to her last night. Though she didn’t dare admit it aloud, she’d waited for him until the wee hours of the night. In the morning, she’d felt totally unequal to the day ahead.

  Her sister was angry. Her training, on hold. And Reid . . . perhaps he had thought better of being with someone whose family hated him. Even if he did deserve some of Gillian’s ire.

  All of those worries seemed to ebb away now that they were together. Nothing had been resolved, and yet it seemed to matter less now that they were together.

  Reid sat atop the table opposite her, his feet on the bench below. “Good day, Lady Allie.”

  “Good day,” she replied, though in truth it was not.

  And then she remembered their last encounter. The tub. His fingers . . .

  “You’re embarrassed.” Though he might not intend for it to provoke, that lazy smile put her in mind of the day they’d met and his arrogant attempt to take her to bed.

  “And you are enjoying it.”

  He con
tinued to smile at her. “I am enjoying . . . the view.”

  Allie’s pulse raced as it did every time he was near, which only made her more cross. “Reid, please be serious.”

  He was unapologetic. “I am.”

  “This is not a jest. Aidan said the meeting went well. When an accord is reached, you will leave. And if Gillian—”

  He stood and reached for her before she could finish her thought.

  “If your sister and her husband do not come around to our way of thinking, I will take you back to Brockburg with me, and you can convince them later.”

  He pulled her to her feet.

  “I am not leaving here without you. We’ll have our whole lives to make things right.”

  Reid brought his head down, claiming her lips, her mouth, her soul. She kissed him back with all of the longing she’d felt the night before and still felt now. He pulled back, just a bit, and took her lower lip between his teeth. He then kissed that same spot, slowly and gently, tugging and teasing. When Reid lifted her up against him, she grabbed him around his neck. He carried her to the edge of the table, sat her down, and gave her mouth the same attention he’d given it before moving her.

  But this time he stood between her legs, his hands pushing them open until their bodies were pressed together.

  Closer. She needed to be closer.

  “Are we agreed?” he asked.

  When he pulled away, it took Allie a moment to recover.

  He wanted her to disobey the one person who’d always loved her. But she’d realized something in the whole Covington mess. While she still needed Gillian’s love—and, indeed, always would—she no longer needed her cosseting. She was no longer a child. Allie could decide what she wanted, and she wanted Reid.

  “Aye,” she said, feeling his breath against her face. Their eyes locked, an agreement passing between them.

  “I will not leave here without you,” he repeated.

  Reluctantly, she responded, “Neither will I let you go.”

  It was not the way she wanted it to go, but as Aidan had said, they were at war. She, Reid, and Aidan on one side, Gillian and Graeme on the other. The outcome would not be as dramatic as that of the war being waged inside the solar of Highgate Castle, the one that would determine the course of the border clans’ future. But it was her private battle, and to her it meant everything.

  She intended to win.

  Reid reached up and stroked her cheek with the back of his hand. That touch, so tender, strengthened her resolve. Gillian may think she knew all there was to know about Reid, but she was wrong. There was a softness in him that he did not allow others to see. Both sides did exist in the same man, but his loving nature was stronger than the front he put on for the world.

  “Why do you push people away? There is such goodness in you—”

  “And darkness too.”

  “So you say. But the goodness is stronger. It slips through even when you don’t mean for it to happen.” She threaded her fingers through his and laid them atop her lap. He still stood between her legs, the position more intimate in some ways than the day before in her bathtub.

  “Just like there is a passion in you that demands to be set free.”

  Her expression had given her away. She couldn’t stop thinking about that moment, his hands on her, inside her. Would it always be like that if they married?

  “I never . . . I never knew.”

  “And now you do.” He leaned toward her and kissed her, slowly at first. She reveled in the softness of his lips, the slow, sensual movement as his mouth glided across hers, his tongue demanding attention. When the kiss became more insistent, she met his demands with some of her own.

  Releasing his hand, Allie reached up and wrapped her arms around his neck, pulling him closer. Reid’s groan encouraged her, and as she gave herself freely to him, she tried to forget about her sister and all the stumbling blocks that still lay between her and Reid. She allowed her fingers to stroke the side of his neck—

  “Ahem.”

  Reid pulled back as they turned toward the interruption.

  “Aidan?” She pushed Reid away, embarrassed to have been caught in such a position.

  “I’m unconvinced such behavior will convince either Gillian or my brother to your cause.”

  Heat rushed up from Allie’s neck to her cheeks. He was right, of course, but it seemed every time Reid was near, she was compelled to touch him, feel him next to her. She chanced a glance at Reid, who looked anything but embarrassed.

  In fact, he was . . .

  “You’re gloating,” she accused.

  Allie looked from Reid to Aidan, whose amusement was on full display.

  “And you,” she spoke to Aidan. “Would not make a very good chaperone.”

  Her brother-in-law’s laugh forced a smile from her despite their situation.

  “Aye, you might be right about that. But you may want to come with me,” he said to her. “You’re wanted in the hall, and I did not think you would appreciate anyone but me finding you here.”

  “Gillian,” Allie concluded.

  “Nay,” Aidan said. He nodded to Reid. “You’re the one who’s wanted.”

  Allie groaned. “Another lecture from your brother? I will come and speak to—”

  “It’s not Graeme who seeks you.”

  She looked from Aidan to Reid. Some silent message had passed between them, but Allie had no idea what it meant.

  “Reid?”

  But it was Aidan who spoke first.

  “Your brother Alex is here.”

  15

  “What are you doing here?” Reid asked.

  “Is that any way to greet your brother?”

  By the time Reid found Alex, the afternoon meetings had already begun. He had to sit through another brutal round of negotiation before he was able to speak to his brother alone.

  As soon as a break was called, he and Alex walked away from the solar, away from the other men. Reid led his brother to a small alcove on the ground floor.

  “Fancy you knowing all the hiding places,” Alex said with a small smile as they sat on the stone bench perched inside of the nook. The words had been intended to tease, but he did not need a reminder of his tarnished reputation just now.

  “I’m surprised to see you here.”

  Alex leaned back against the wall and folded his arms. “Some said talks were breaking down, that an accord would not be reached.”

  He and Alex shared such a likeness, people had oft thought them twins when they were younger. The key difference was the coloring of their hair—Reid’s was much lighter. In some ways it had felt like they were twins, only Alex had always been in charge. Despite his tepid greeting, Reid was pleased to see his brother. He’d missed him, though it wouldn’t feel manly to say so. “Aye, indeed. And you thought to come here to help them?”

  How very . . . Alex of him.

  Alex shrugged. “I served as Toren’s second for so long . . .”

  “Move back,” Reid said, his words sincere. “If you miss your position at Brockburg, come back and serve him again that way.”

  “Nay, that is not my intention.” He leveled a serious look at Reid. “The position should be yours.”

  “Alex, do not—”

  “Very well,” Alex said quickly. “I didn’t come here to continue that old argument.”

  They both went quiet as a servant entered the nook, bowed to both of them, and lit the wall torches. Neither of them spoke again until the man continued down the passageway.

  “Then why did you come?” Reid pressed.

  “I told you, I’d heard there was discord.”

  “As you saw this afternoon, you were right, but it appears as if an agreement is close. The only issue that remains is how precisely to deal with Caxton.”

  Though the chiefs continued to quibble, they’d begun to form a plan that would please all involved. The chiefs who’d jawed about boycotting the next Day of Truce had pledged to hold off so lo
ng as Douglas gave his word to ask King Alexander to consider new laws that would address the rampant blackmail on both sides of the border, ensuring harsher punishments for those found guilty. Only if the king and his English counterpart refused to come to new terms would the border clans attempt to find justice outside of March Law.

  Alex shook his head. “With Caxton as Lord Warden, new laws will not matter. He is the worst of all offenders—”

  “And the reason,” Reid agreed, “that we are here.” Some members of the council had actually argued for Caxton’s murder. Others, like Douglas, believed more peaceable measures could be taken. “I fear we will never have peace with him in power.”

  “Agreed,” his brother said. “What do we do about it?”

  “A topic for another day,” Reid said.

  It struck him that Alex hadn’t given him a straight answer about why he’d come. He was far from the only Scotsman who doubted Caxton’s integrity, and with him in power, peace may very well crumble. But what did Alex hope to achieve by being here?

  “How is my new niece?” he asked.

  Alex and Clara’s first baby had been born in May, four months earlier.

  His brother’s smile was so pure that Reid could not help but offer one of his own in return. Both of his brothers had been blessed with wonderful wives. Which reminded him of Allie, a topic he was not anxious to discuss. He’d have to explain himself soon enough.

  “She and Clara are both doing well.”

  “I’m surprised you left them.”

  Though he’d not meant it as an insult, he could tell Alex took it as one.

  “The outcome here will affect us all.”

  Reid stood and reached out his hand. “It will,” he agreed, pulling his brother up off the bench.

  “I suppose you are staying with me?” Although Highgate was a large castle with many rooms, it was filled to capacity for this council.

  “Looking forward to it, brother.”

  “I hope you brought a bedroll.”

  “I am older.”

  “I am a better swordsman.”