Highlander's Wicked Gamel (Wicked Highlanders Book 1)

by Fiona Faris

  Marra closed her eyes for a brief moment to blot the sight of the laird’s face from her view, but she found that even then, he was still there in her mind, threatening her, leering at her. Opening her eyes, she scanned the people at the tables below the dais. Are they oblivious tae the monster who rules o’er them? Do they care? She had never heard a negative word spoken against the Laird o’ Skye, and yet she knew him to be among the most monstrous of men. How can that be? My faither was nae well liked among his fellow chieftains, and yet Alexander MacDonald has nae such reputation. I dinnae understand.

  “Are ye nae hungry, my dear?” the laird asked from beside her, his voice that of a concerned father-in-law, but his eyes held an entirely different sentiment.

  “Nae, I am no’ hungry,” she murmured in reply. Her stomach was riotous from all of the fear, anger, and anxiety that roiled within her.

  “Perhaps a wee bit o’ bannock tae settle the stomach,” he offered, breaking off a piece of his own bannock for her and shoving it into her mouth. Leaning forward he whispered in her ear. “When I say eat, ye eat, whether ye are hungry or nae. Ye will act the happy bride or ye will suffer the consequences.” He leaned back smiling and said for all tae hear. “Is my son’s bride nae the bonniest lass ye e’er did lay eyes upon?”

  “Aye,” came the chorus from those below.

  “A toast then, tae Marra MacDonald, the Lady o’ the Isles!” he raised his tankard in one hand while his other wrapped itself in a steely grip around her shoulder.

  “Tae the Lady o’ the Isles!” the crowd roared with a great deal of stomping and clanging.

  That night the crowds became quite intoxicated in celebration of their new lady. To them all was well and good in her arrival, a MacDonald wed to a MacDonald. Not a one of them questioned her happiness or asked her if she was pleased with the arrangement. No one thought it strange that she had arrived without her own people. No one knew that she was a prisoner and those who did know, did not care. She had begged the maids to help her, but her pleas had fallen on deaf ears. When Alexander had entered, catching her in her attempts to persuade them, he had punched her in the stomach, where she had directly fallen to her knees in pain, gasping for breath. He had directly hauled her to her feet and escorted her down the stairs to the hall.

  “Ye are mine,” the laird whispered in her ear, pleased with his people’s response to her. “Forever.”

  Forever is a verra long time. An entire night and day had passed since she had been taken from Duncan’s embrace. This cannae be the rest o’ my life, her heart cried out in protest. Duncan where are ye?! Please come and rescue me. I dinnae care if Alexander kills me in the attempt, I cannae live like this for the rest o’ my life. She willed her pleas to reach Duncan’s heart. Escaping Alexander’s grasp was worth the risk of death.

  A commotion at the door caught Marra’s attention. “Ah, James has arrived,” Alexander announced genuinely pleased. “Remember our agreement, daughter-in-law.”

  “O’ course, Faither,” she humbly answered, bowing her head. She would play his game for now, but someday somehow she would find a way to escape him, or she would take her own life. There was no way on earth she was going to allow Alexander MacDonald to own her. He might have control of her body, but he would never control her spirit.

  James moved through the crowd approaching the dais. When he reached his father, he embraced him and then Marra. “What a pleasant surprise tae find ye here upon my return!” he greeted joyously. “What has brought ye here?”

  “I have come tae take my place as yer wife,” Marra answered weakly, unable to meet his eyes. She hated lying to him, for she had no such intentions. Either Duncan would rescue her, or she would throw herself off of the top of the castle walls, before she would willingly lay in any other man’s bed.

  “And what o’ Duncan?” James asked.

  “He is nae longer able tae protect me.” At least that part was not a lie.

  “Oh?”

  “Aye.”

  “Well his loss is my gain then,” James replied merrily, taking her into his arms once more. Releasing her he moved to sit beside her at the table. They ate together, James telling his father of all that he had accomplished concerning their business ventures.

  “I am well pleased, my son,” the laird replied, smiling with pride. When he looked at his son there was no hint of the terrible monster that lay just under the surface.

  “I am glad, Faither.” Turning to look at Marra, James grinned. “Is this no’ the most joyous of occasions?”

  “Aye, it is, son,” his father agreed.

  “I thank ye, Faither, for yer wise guidance in this matter. Had I listened tae my own misgivings, Marra would no’ be here with us now.”

  “Ye are young yet. One day ye tae will ken what is best for yer own son. ‘Til then ye have me.” The laird laid an affectionate hand on James’ shoulder.

  “A more blessed man there cannae be.”

  “Indeed.” The laird looked well pleased with himself as he raised another toast, this time to his son.

  When the dinner was done, James arose to his feet, extending his hand to Marra. “Shall we away tae bed, Wife?”

  Marra looked from James to Alexander. The look on the laird’s face left no room for interpretation. Marra placed her hand in James’ and arose from the table. “Aye, o’ course, Husband.”

  “Splendid!” Alexander exclaimed and escorted them up to James’ bedchamber. “Sleep well.” He smiled as they disappeared within, and James locked the door behind them.

  Chapter Thirty-Four

  “James, I…”

  James stopped her from speaking by pressing his lips to hers. He groaned loudly in pleasure and picked her up tossing her onto the bed. Marra squealed in fright and panic. He undid his belt and let it fall noisily to the floor. Marra squawked again when he removed his clothes and stood before her naked, his rod hard and at the ready.

  “James, I…” she tried again.

  “Be quiet, wife, and let us find a more useful activity for that tongue o’ yers,” he commanded.

  A raucous laugh sounded from outside of the door and then the sound of Alexander’s footsteps echoed down the hall as he returned to the hall below. James’ demeanor changed immediately, and he gathered his clothing from the floor, putting his shirt back on. “I am sorry, lass,” he murmured softly as he moved to help her from the bed. “I had tae make it sound real.”

  Marra sighed with relief as she realized that the James she knew had not lost all of his senses. “Thanks be tae God.”

  James chuckled and belted his kilt back on. “Aye, ‘tis a blessin’ indeed that I visited yer husband afore comin’ home tae Skye.”

  “Ye have seen Duncan?” Marra asked hopefully.

  “Aye, congratulations on yer marriage,” he answered.

  “Is he comin’ for me?”

  “Aye, he is already here.”

  * * *

  Duncan, Ian, Robert, and Liam all waited in the darkness below the keep, hidden by the jagged rocky terrain. Their band of men was small but skilled. With James helping them on the inside, their plan had become exponentially more likely to succeed, but it still brought with it a great many risks, not the least of which was being attacked even after they succeeded in rescuing Marra. James had instructed them to wait by the back gate, promising that he would get Marra out of the castle and bring her to them. Getting her safely back to the boat and then to their own lands was their job. Even then there was a high probability that Alexander would cross the sea once more, this time to kill them all. They had all argued for killing the laird and ending the risk to Marra’s life, but James had disapproved. As his help was incremental in getting Marra out of the fortress, they had all conceded on the grounds that if Alexander came after them he was fair game to their swords.

  Duncan stirred restlessly as he waited, searching the darkness for any sign of her. “She will come, Duncan,” Ian reassured him. “’Tis a good plan.”

>   “Aye,” Duncan nodded firmly in an attempt to convince himself.

  Hours passed, and the castle eventually grew quiet. Villagers stumbled home to their crofts, intoxicated from the feast, while the guards chatted and drank atop the fortress walls. One of the guards made a rather uncouth statement about what he would do to Marra if she were his wife, and Duncan stiffened, his hand tightening around his sword. “Easy,” Ian murmured, cautioning him to remain calm. “Their words cannae harm her, but Alexander MacDonald can and will.”

  Duncan took a deep breath to steady himself. The idea of anything happening to Marra had him on edge far more than any other raid would have. He had been tested in battle and knew his mettle, but the thought of any harm whatsoever befalling Marra, and he was wound tighter than a bow string. A sound off to their left had the men turning, swords at the ready.

  * * *

  James opened the bedchamber door and peered out into the corridor. He stepped out and stood waiting for a moment before he motioned for Marra to join him. He turned and guided her down the hall to a narrow flight of stairs that led to the kitchens below. The kitchen was dark, but for the faintest of glows from the dying embers in the fireplace. He opened the back garden door and led her out into a walled kale garden. The walls towered overhead, and there was no sign of any other opening to the outside world. Grabbing her skirts he lifted them up tucking them into her waistband. “James?” she questioned.

  “Trust me,” he whispered reassuringly and taking her hand led her over to the far wall. He placed her hand on a protrusion in the wall. “Do ye feel that?”

  “Aye,” she nodded.

  “There is another one above it. Do ye feel that?” James placed her other hand above the last.

  “Aye.”

  “Then climb.”

  “Climb?”

  “Climb,” he replied placing his hands under her rump and pushing her upwards. Marra scrambled with her feet until they achieved purchase among the stones. “I will be right behind ye,” he promised.

  Marra climbed silently up into the darkened sky until she reached the top of the wall. James climbed up after her, joining her at the top and then swinging himself over the side, dropping down into the inky blackness below. “James!” she whispered fearfully in surprise.

  “Jump,” came his voice commanding her from below.

  “Have ye lost yer mind?!” she hissed down to him.

  “Nae, now jump or return tae my bed. Those are yer choices. That or death o’ course.”

  Taking a deep breath Marra did as he commanded and plummeted down in the darkness. To her surprise she landed in a rather large pile of straw. “Straw?” she asked in disbelief at their good fortune.

  “A local farmer owed me a favor.”

  “Thanks be tae that.” By now she was bordering on hysteria. Tired beyond belief, frightened nearly out of her mind, and giddy at the chance of escape, she was bordering on temporary madness.

  James grabbed her hand and led her over to a rocky outcropping near the shore. Rounding the edge they came face to face with four drawn blades flashing in the moon’s light. “Marra?” Duncan’s voice called from the dark.

  “Duncan!” Marra exclaimed softly so as not to give their position away. She rushed forward as the men lowered their swords and launched herself into Duncan’s arms. “Oh, Duncan!”

  “Marra, my bonnie, my love,” he whispered, kissing her face and neck in joyous relief.

  “Alexander will hunt ye down and kill ye for this,” she whispered, clinging to him like a mollusk to a rock.

  “Aye, that I will,” an ominous voice threatened from the darkness behind them.

  “Faither?” James questioned as his faither emerged into the moonlight flanked by his warriors.

  “James ye disappoint me, but I kenned that ye would. Yer love for this lass has left ye without reason. Dinnae fear, my son. I will do what ye could no’. It will be my bed instead o’ yers that she will be warmin’ this night.”

  “Faither!” James exclaimed in horror at his faither’s words.

  “O’er my dead body,” Duncan challenged pushing Marra behind him, his sword raised. He was flanked by Robert and Liam on one side with Ian and James on the other.

  “That can be managed,” Alexander promised, then lunged forward his men following suit.

  The clang of metal against metal rang out through the night as the men met each other blow for blow. Only the moon lit the field of battle, leaving Marra clueless as to who was winning the fight. She prayed with all of her might that her own men would be victorious. A pair of hands grabbed her roughly from behind, and she reared back with her head breaking her attacker’s nose. Scurrying up over the rocks she fled. In spite of his wounds, her attacker pursued her, cursing loudly. Fleeing blindly into the night she became lost and disoriented. Eventually she could no longer hear her attacker, but she kept running. She ran until she fell down over the side of an outcropping onto the wet sandy beach below. Exhausted she passed out, unable to continue on, the tide lapping at her feet.

  * * *

  Duncan faced off against Alexander in the darkness, the moonlight glinting faintly off of their blades. “I will kill ye, MacDonald,” he promised.

  “Ye may try,” the laird chuckled menacingly.

  They clashed swords matching each other blow for blow. Duncan was stronger, but Alexander was more experienced. The darkness and rugged terrain did not do either of them any favors, but they fought on stumbling, advancing, and retreating at will. He heard Marra squeal from behind him, but was unable to turn and see what had caused it as Alexander was right on top of him, hammering him hard with his broadsword. Duncan had to use all of his strength to keep the blade from slicing through his torso. “Ye will no’ have her,” he roared, throwing every last bit of his weight into staving off the blow and advancing on his opponent. The laird slipped on the wet rocks beneath their feet allowing Duncan the moment he needed to drive his sword into Alexander’s chest. “Ye will ne’er hurt her or anyone else e’er again,” he grunted as he drove the blade through the laird’s body and into the ground on the other side. James, Ian, Robert, and Liam each dispatched their opponents and came to stand beside Duncan.

  James knelt down beside his father and closed the laird’s eyes. “He was no’ the man I believed him tae be.”

  “I am truly sorry, James, but I could no’ allow him tae live and return tae harm Marra.” Duncan laid a hand on James’ shoulder in sympathy. “Ye are a better man than he could e’er have been.”

  Duncan turned to give James a moment of privacy to say goodbye and looked for Marra. “Marra?” he called out into the darkness. There was no answer. “Marra?!” Still nothing.

  Marra’s kinsmen gathered around him. “Where is she?” Ian asked, searching the ground for signs that she might have fallen in the struggle.

  “I dinnae ken. She was just here,” Duncan answered, his heart beating faster in fear that something might have befallen her. “Marra!” he called out, but again there was no answer. He began searching the ground for her tracks, but the ground was hard and the moonlight was too dim to be of much aid.

  James came to stand beside him. “I will send for torches and men tae take my faither away tae be buried. It is time that his people kenned the man that was their laird. I will go with ye and search the island.” James quickly returned to the castle and very soon after, he returned with the promised torches.

  Duncan searched the ground, looking for any sign of where she might have gone. He found blood spattering the ground and was reminded of when he had searched for her when she had been abducted by Lachlan. “If anyone has harmed her, I will kill him.” Some distance away from the outcropping, he picked up her and another man’s trail. “This way,” he called out to his compatriots and then took off running, following the trail.

  Duncan raced through the darkness as fast as the terrain would allow. A lump on the trail ahead caused his heart to race in fear, but when he reached it, he fou
nd that it was an unconscious man with a broken nose. He assumed it was Marra’s attacker. James joined him a moment later. “I will take him back tae the castle and question him once he has awakened. Ye have my word that he will be punished most severely.”

  “Aye,” Duncan nodded and kept going.

  He followed Marra’s trail until daylight began to peek above the horizon. He reached the end of the trail where it disappeared over a rock ledge to the sea that beat the rocks below. His heart felt as if it were being ripped out of his chest as he peered over the side and found Marra’s crumpled form at the base of the rocks, the waves gently washing over her time and again. “Marra!” he yelled in horror as he scurried down the side of the outcropping and made his way to her side. She was not breathing. “Marra!” He took her into his arms, tears streaming down his cheeks. “Ye cannae be dead! Ye cannae be dead!” He rocked her still form back and forth in his arms over and over again, sobbing out her name until her body instantly came to life, coughing up water out of her lungs.

  She hacked and wheezed until she had emptied her body of the offending liquid and then looked up into his eyes. “Duncan,” she whispered, her voice harsh from the salt of the sea. “Ye came for me,” she reached up and touched his cheek with a trembling hand.

  “Aye, my bonnie, my love, always. I will always come for ye. No’ even death will e’er keep us apart again.” Crushing her to him, he kissed her with a passion so fiery that it defied God and the fates to argue otherwise. “Always.”

  Epilogue

  One Year and One Day Later

  Duncan stood nervously, with James and Ian, awaiting Marra at the door of the kirk. They had been handfast for a year and a day, and the time had come to make their marriage official in the eyes of God and man. It had been the happiest year of his life. Since the day that they had consummated their love on the shore, they could not get enough of each other. They spent their days caring for their people and their nights making love. Some of the MacDonalds had chosen to return to the Isle of Jura after the first harvest, while others had chosen to stay on with the Clan MacGregor, many of which waited inside of the church for the bride and groom.