His Highland Surprise (The Clan Sinclair Book 1)

by Celeste Barclay

  “The queen made us even. I made Ceit give away yer private name, and the queen gave away our own secret. I ken how a Highlander can never give up his lass.”

  Chapter Twenty-Four

  Tavish, please be honest with me,” Ceit said when they made it back to their chamber after being stuck in the Great Hall for the entire meal.

  “I am honest with ye. What makes ye say I’d be otherwise?”

  “Because ye have been trying to spare me worry. And ye have been well distracted.”

  “And what are ye worrying aboot, and just how have I been distracting ye?”

  Tavish nuzzled her neck as she stepped into his embrace, and his hands glided down to cup her backside. She slipped her hands into the grooves on his hips and squeezed his buttocks. She moaned as his kisses found the spot just behind her ear that shot desire to every nerve and fiber in her body. She arched into his hold and pressed her breasts against his chest.

  “Distracting me like this.” Ceit made herself focus on what she wanted to ask. She slid her hands up to his ribs and pressed on either side. It took little pressure for him to jump back like he had been scalded. Ceit grabbed his arms and pressed her thumb into the place where his arm was fractured.

  “Bluidy hell, mo sheillean beag. I prefer it when yer words sting and nae yer hands. What are ye doing?”

  “Trying to make ye be honest with me. Ye’re still vera injured, Tavish. I watched ye try nae to grimace each time a mon embraced yer or clapped ye on the back. I’ve seen ye favoring yer bad arm. I’m worried, Tav.”

  Tavish tried to pull her back into his embrace, but she stood firm in her spot, shaking her head.

  “Ye canna hug or kiss this away. The bruises on yer ribs arenae fading. If aught, they are worse. Ye havenae had yer ribs bounds since the attack in the passageway. Ye fought using both arms and took more blows to yer ribs. I have tried to be careful of yer wounds on yer head, but I suspect the one on the back is nae coming right. Ye always generated more heat than the average person, but when ye stood and then sat near me this eve, ye scorched me without us even touching. Tav, I suspect ye are running a fever because the wound on yer head is infected. I canna tell because yer hair is in the way.”

  “Dinna fash. I dinna feel off, and none of this is any worse than I have experienced before.”

  “That doesnae mean ye aren’t in need of tending or more rest.”

  Tavish did not want to accept she was right about everything she said. The only time he was not in pain was when he was making love to her. He was invincible then. But the rest of the time, his head pounded, and the cuts itched. His ribs ached with every breath, and he mustered every bit of determination not to let his eyes water each time a man greeted him too enthusiastically. His arm also hurt, but it was the least of his pains. He had not noticed until close to the end of the meal when he realized he was hotter than usual, but he would not mention it.

  I want her out of this pit of adders before anyone breaks their fast in the morn. This isnae a safe place for either of us. I ken she didna miss the way Lady Stewart, Tessa MacLean, or that Cameron lass were looking at me. What was that lass’s name again? Bluidy hell. I wasna any different from a whore except I am the one who paid.

  Tavish looked at his wife and saw the worry on her face. He cupped her cheek in his hand and ran his thumb over her lips then cheekbone.

  “I told ye I wouldnae lie. Ye are right on each account, but I dinna want ye here any longer. I dinna trust the king to nae go back on his word.” Tavish looked at his feet. He was too embarrassed to look at her as he admitted the next part. “And I would shield ye from ma past. I dinna want either of us around any of the women who might say something to hurt ye.”

  Ceit tried to lift his chin, but he would not look at her.

  “Regret gets a person nowhere. The past is the past, and I suppose neither of us would be as we are now if nae for what has happened already. I detest seeing women ogle ye, and I amnae fond of seeing them touch ye or hearing the reminders that ye have bedded far more people than I have. But I admit as jealous as I am, I am also most chuffed to gloat in front of them when ye dinna let go of me. Ye were so solicitous of me during dinner I worried a few of them might stalk out. I appreciate that ye ignored them.”

  “Ceity, ye’re a wise woman. But I wasna ignoring them. That would mean I noticed them. I have eyes for nay one but ye.”

  “If I am as wise as ye say, then ye will agree to remain here to rest a few days before we venture so far north. Ye ken it will take days on horseback and sleeping on the ground, and that will do naught to help ye heal.”

  Tavish stroked her hair and took in the wonder that was his wife. As much as her words had the ability to sting, they soothed him as well. He wanted to indulge her, but on this, her wellbeing, he would not budge. He hedged his bets though.

  “We are packed, so let us play it by ear. We shall see how we both are in the morn and then decide.”

  Ceit opened her mouth to argue. She had a biting retort, but she did not want to argue with her sick husband. She only wanted to take care of him.

  “Vera well.”

  “Now, there was something ye wished to learn.”

  Ceit’s mind lingered over his injuries. They agreed that he was not healed and probably had a fever. Her body screamed for her to take him up on his offer, but her mind screamed just as loudly that she needed to be the responsible one.

  “There is much I wish to learn,” she hedged too.

  Tavish took Ceit’s hand and walked her to the bed. He pulled her laces free and kissed the bare skin of her shoulders. He inhaled her scent of rosemary and thyme, becoming lightheaded.

  I have done that countless times now, and her scent has always been heady but nae made me dizzy.

  He continued to undress her, pushing first her dress then her chemise to the ground. She stepped out of them and took off her shoes and stockings. Tavish unpinned then unbelted his plaid, catching it and putting it on the end of the bed. He bent over to unfasten his boots and swayed. He caught himself before he had to reach for the bed, but the room lurched sideways when he stood up.

  Have I been drugged? Did someone poison ma food? Have they done so to Ceit?

  He looked at her as panic rose within his chest. She looked normal even if a little hazy. Tavish walked to the table that held an ewer of water and a chalice. He poured and drank from it. It burned as it went down his throat, but it cleared his head. He poured another cupful and downed that before walking back to the bed. Ceit watched him as still as a statue. Her worry was clear, so he smiled.

  “I am still overdressed compared to ye.” He waggled his eyebrows as he lifted his leine over his head.

  Bringing his arms over his head told his equilibrium the ground was falling away from his feet. He pulled the shirt off and lost his balance. He plopped on the bed. Ceit was beside him in an instant.

  “Let me catch ma breath for a moment. Ma eagerness seems to go to ma head.”

  “Or yer fever more likely.” She laid the back of her hand against his forehead then cheeks before touching her finger tips to his temple. “Och, Brodie, ye’re burning up.”

  When she murmured the name that was only hers to use, he looked at her. She spoke it only when she was most connected to him and experienced the strongest surges of love. It was during moments of passion, but now her gaze showed her concern.

  He reached for her waist and pulled her close as she cupped his jaw.

  “I may be a mite more poorly than I reckoned a few minutes ago. It seems to have come on rather of a sudden.”

  “Brodie, it isnae sudden. This has been brewing for days. It’s just caught up to ye at last. Ye need to get into bed.”

  “Only if ye are coming with me.”

  “Duine gruamach,” she muttered.

  He was being a stubborn man, but Ceit was equally stubborn.

  “I must get ma medicinals for ye, then I will join ye, but only after ye have a tincture.”

&
nbsp; Ceit helped him into bed and pulled the covers over him. She moved to her chest and pulled a robe from it.

  “What are ye doing? Ye dinna need that while ye are in bed. Ye ken I’ll keep ye warm.” Tavish tried to grin but lifting his head from the pillow made him nauseous.

  Ceit ignored him and went about collecting the ingredients she needed to make a tincture to bring down his fever and ease his discomfort.

  “I will burn every night gown and robe ye have.” Tavish muttered.

  “Ye are ranting, ye foolish mon.”

  “That is the most lucid idea I’ve had in the past five minutes.”

  “Ye arenae burning any of ma clothes. What a waste.”

  “Then ye are giving them away. Ye willna have any need for them.”

  “Bah, such clishmaclaver,” Ceit mixed henbane to ease his pain, wormwood to fight his infection from the inside out, skullcap for his headache, and angelica for his fever. She added water and then handed the chalice to Tavish. “Drink this.”

  Tavish sniffed it and gagged.

  “Kill or cure, mo chridhe.”

  “Kill more likely from the smell of that. That canna possibly be good for me.”

  “Ye willna ken if ye dinna try it. Plug yer nose and down the hatch.”

  “I dinna want to.”

  Ceit paused and looked at him before crowing with laughter.

  “Wait until I tell yer family aboot this. Yer brothers will never let ye live this down.”

  “Then ye dinna ken ma sister. I’m more worried aboot her. Tongue sharper than a rasp and mind faster than a field mouse.”

  “Then drink, mo chridhe, and I willna have aught to share.”

  Tavish glowered at her before throwing back the awful liquid. He grimaced and spluttered but kept it all down.

  “Now roll to yer side, please. I need to look at yer head.” Ceit’s voice was much gentler now, so Tavish complied without complaint.

  Ceit separated his hair and breathed a sigh of relief. Their bath earlier scrubbed away not only the dirt but the dry crust that must have formed. Now she saw fresh skin, but it was angry and red. She noticed tinges of yellow around the center where it was infected. She went back to the table and mixed yarrow with mandrake both to prevent further infection and dull the pain. It would also keep it from bleeding any more now that she had pressed around it. She wiped the puss away with a fresh drying linen and was glad for the mandrake when it bled again. She repeated the process for his forehead after placing a bandage on the back of his head. By the time she finished with her examinations, the tincture had done the trick, and Tavish was asleep. She stayed with him a while longer to make sure he would not stir and then dressed. She needed to find his uncle and aunt to tell them they would not be traveling the next day.

  Ceit slipped from the room and moved along the passageway. The Sutherland suite of chambers was not that far from the Sinclairs.’ She moved quietly but ever alert. She was close when a door opened, and two women stepped out. Ceit wanted to groan when she recognized them. Lady MacAdams and Lady Gordon stood staring at her. She nodded to them and attempted to walk by, but they stepped in front of her.

  “Ah, the newest Lady Sinclair. How exciting,” Lady Gordon gushed, her voice far too sugary to sound at all sincere.

  “Good day, Lady Gordon, Lady MacAdams.” Once again Ceit made to step around them.

  “Rushing away from your husband’s chamber already? Your husband sending you back to yours so soon?”

  Lady MacAdams snickered after needling her.

  “If I was going back to ma chamber, I would be going to the chamber I just left. Tavish had ma belongings sent to ours.” Ceit would not tell them anymore than they needed and nothing more than would keep them in their place.

  “Sharing a chamber. How quaint. Are you sure it is not to keep an eye on you? Word is buzzing about that you are a spy. Would not shock me that a Comyn would stoop to such.” Lady MacAdams tried again.

  “I did as the king bid me.”

  “What else did he bid you to do?”

  Ceit understood what Lady Gordon insinuated.

  “Naught ye wouldnae do given the opportunity.” Ceit arched an eyebrow. “By the way, I really should thank ye, ladies. I ken husband tossed both of yer skirts at some point or another. The practice has paid off, and I am reaping the benefits. Such a shame that ye must keep searching for someone who will keep ye in their bed for more than an eve. If ye have need of any advice on how to catch and keep a mon, I am happy to share what I have learned.”

  Ceit brushed past them and continued down the hall. Her hands were shaking, and she was sweating.

  Thank the heavens with all the saints and angels I locked our chamber before leaving. I dinna trust either of those she-devils to nae sneak into bed with him. Worse than bitches in heat.

  Ceit picked up her pace as she neared the Sutherlands because footsteps followed her. At first, she fretted the two women might have followed her to offer more set downs, but the tread was masculine. She ducked around a corner and rushed into an alcove that hid her within. The man walked past but stopped short when he no longer saw her. She strained to see if she recognized him. She swallowed her cry of alarm when she recognized her uncle’s second. The man was merciless and known to torture women just as he did men, except he raped them first. The man looked about before walking in her direction. She pulled a dirk from her pocket and the one from her boot. She braced herself for when he would inevitably find her. She did not have long to wait. His arm shot out and grabbed hers. She brought her dirk down to his forearm and ripped towards her. He howled in pain and released her. She kicked out, aiming for his groin but catching him in the thigh. He caught her again by the other arm and dragged her out. She let out a blood-curdling scream before he clamped a hand over her mouth. She bit at it and caught the fleshy part just below his fingers. She clamped down until she tasted blood. He slapped her, and she stumbled back against the wall. With nowhere to run, she brought both dirks up to a fighting stance.

  “Quite the hellion still. I suppose that husband of yours has not tamed you yet. I will enjoy doing so myself. My cock in your arse should make you understand.”

  The man’s vile words made Ceit seethe. The notion of what he threatened had none of the tantalizing appeal it did when she was with Tavish.

  “It will be rather hard to do that when I’ve gelded ye, and yer twig stays limp.”

  The man laughed, but the malice was there instead of mirth.

  “Quick with your tongue. I shall put that to good use too when it’s wrapped around my cock.”

  “Then I shall have to cut yer cock off when I cut off yer bollocks, or did ma uncle already do that?”

  The man lunged for her again, and she stabbed at his side. Her knife made no progress, and she realized he must have been wearing some type of leather hauberk under his tunic.

  “Can you guess what your uncle’s final command was?” When Ceit said nothing, the man sneered at her. “He ordered me to kill you. His exact words were, ‘do what ye want with the wily bitch as long as ye gut her from stem to stern.’ He was clear you were to breathe your last if anything happened to him. I am here to follow orders.”

  The man lunged again, but this time Ceit crouched and stabbed down.

  “I warned ye I would cut off yer twig and berries.” Ceit hissed as blood spread across the crotch of the man’s breeks.

  Ceit used the moment of shock to scream again. Footsteps from more than one man echoed through the passageway as their boots pounded the solid floor. Her uncle’s second reached out and snatched hold of her hair and yanked so hard, Ceit was sure he would come away with a handful. He brandished his own dirk and placed the point just beneath her chin.

  “Kill me, and the king will see ye dead. In fact, he will see ye dead regardless. Ye hear the men coming just as I do. Kill me and all ma secrets I wrote will be found. The money ye and ma uncle wrongly assumed nay one kenned aboot. The fact that ma uncle conspired to cr
oss the border countless times and everyone who helped him, including yer mother and sister. They will make their home in a dungeon somewhere. If nae there, there is space at Inchcailleoch Priory, an island with women who have vowed silence and poverty. Ye also have a son in service here at court. I wonder what the king will say, or rather do, when he realizes yer son, one of his pages, is a spy. The lad is only, what, ten maybe eleven summers. So young to lose his head.”

  “Ye win this time, bitch. But this is the last. I will kill you. And while I’m at it, I will murder your husband after I’ve made him watch me take you over and over until you beg to die.”

  The mercenary turned second shoved her once more as he made to flee. Ceit threw her first dirk that lodged between his shoulders, her second went into his ribs and lung. The third, the sgian dubh small and deadly, went into his neck. She had wagered his hauberk would only protect his chest, and she had been right. The man never expected anyone would stab him in the back. He crumpled to the ground in a pool of his own blood as Hamish arrived at her side. He came from a direction opposite his chambers.

  He wasna even there. This didna even have to happen. Dinna fool yerself. The bastard would have found ye either way, but ye might have avoided those two women.

  “Lass, what are ye doing in this passageway?”

  Hamish asked after he looked Ceit over and was satisfied that she was uninjured. One of his men cleaned and returned her dirks to her before she spoke.

  “Tavish is vera ill. He’s running a fever and more injured than he will admit. He canna travel tomorrow, so I was coming to tell ye as much.”

  “Stubborn lad. Always has been. Gets it from ma sister.” Hamish smiled fondly.

  “Aye well, he will just have to be stubborn in our chamber here because I willna let him get on a horse any time soon.”

  “I wish ye luck in that account. He willna be pleased with that. He wants to protect ye and being unable to travel on top of being ill will only make him ornerier.”

  “I will have to make him see reason.” Ceit’s saucy smile left Hamish laughing as she headed back to her chamber.