The Angel and the Highlander

by Donna Fletcher

  She and the lad ran like wild idiots after the squealing animal as he dodged and darted around cottages, through a few gardens, his backside being swatted with a broom by a couple of irate women.

  “Henry’s going to get away,” the young lad cried as they kept close on his hind legs.

  “He is not,” snapped Alyce and leaped, her arms spread wide ready to grab Henry as she landed on her side in a mud hole beside him, her arms catching him tight around his fat middle.

  “Got you, you damn pig,” she muttered and looked up expecting to see the lad happy and saw her husband and his two brothers.

  “You truly do like to play in mud don’t you?” Lachlan said.

  The lad prevented any answer since he ran up and grabbed Henry tight, the pig no longer squealing.

  “Bad, Henry. Bad, Henry,” he scolded. Henry snorted. The lad turned to Alyce and sniffled back a tear. “Thank you for catching Henry.”

  “You’re welcome,” she said, not moving out of the mud hole and realizing that she probably looked a fright.

  “It might be a good idea, Lachlan,” Cavan said, “to find something for your wife to do so she stays out of mud holes.”

  That bristled her temper and she tried to get up only to keep tumbling back on her bottom.

  She heard them laugh as Lachlan extended his hand to her. She slapped it out of her way. “I don’t need any help.” Sheer annoyance got her up on her own, and she glared at Cavan. “And I’ll do what I damn well please.” She turned to leave then turned around and with a poke at Cavan who backed away to avoid her muddy finger said, “And as laird it’s your duty to help your people. It should have been you in that mud.”

  She gave one last poke that Cavan sidestepped, his foot catching the mud and the next thing he knew, went flying backward. Lachlan and Artair instinctively reached out trying to prevent him from falling. Both lost their footing and joined Cavan in the mud, though they hit it face first.

  Alyce stood stunned, looking down at the three men sprawled in the mud.

  Zia was suddenly at her side shaking her head. “Playing in the mud, lads? You really should know better.”

  The three scrambled to get up but could only manage to sit up with the assistance of each other.

  Zia looked to Alyce. “I assume you got yourself out of the mud?”

  Alyce nodded and smiled. “All on my own.”

  “Well, lads,” Zia said. “It would seem that Alyce is the wiser one here.”

  “She’s the one that got us in here,” Cavan complained.

  “Shame on you, husband,” Honora scolded as she joined the other two women. “Blaming a pregnant woman for your own folly.”

  Cavan tried to protest. “I did nothing.”

  “My contention exactly,” Alyce said.

  “You failed to help Alyce?” Honora asked perturbed.

  “I—I—I—” Cavan stumbled unable to find the right words.

  Zia wrapped her arm around a muddy Alyce. “Come with us, Honora and I will get you cleaned up.”

  Honora shook a finger at the three men. “You all should be ashamed of yourself for treating Alyce so unkindly.”

  Cavan shook his head watching the women walk away. “What happened?”

  “How the hell are we to know?” Artair said. “Women make no sense.” He looked at Lachlan. “And why the hell are you grinning?”

  “This was perfect,” Lachlan said and slapped his knee sending mud flying at his brothers.

  Cavan wiped the splat of mud off his cheek. “You better explain yourself before I drown you in this muck.”

  “This incident helped my wife bond with your wives.”

  “So we are to appear the fools so our wives will get along?” Cavan asked, confused.

  “He’s got a point,” Artair said. “Can you imagine what life would be like if they didn’t get along?”

  Cavan shook his head. “That won’t be good.” He jabbed a finger at Lachlan. “But find something to keep your wife busy, so that something like this doesn’t happen again.”

  “Not so easy a task,” Lachlan admitted.

  “What did she do at Everagis?” Artair asked.

  “Everything,” Lachlan said. “The women and land flourished because of her. She even taught them how to defend themselves in battle, and disguised as mercenaries they kept the area safe.”

  “How were they aware of who needed protecting?” Cavan asked.

  “Piper, their tracker was like none I’ve ever known. She knew everything that was going on in the area. She could scent intruders in the air long before tracks were even found.”

  “Then wouldn’t they have known of the mercenary troop long before the warring clans knew of their presence?” Artair asked. “And don’t either of you find it curious that the mercenaries never bothered Everagis?”

  “Why would they bother nuns?” Lachlan asked.

  “Why wouldn’t they unless they were paid not to,” Artair said. “They are paid thieves and murders, doing anyone’s bidding for a price.”

  “Artair makes sense,” Cavan said.

  “Artair always makes sense,” Lachlan said annoyed.

  “You’re just angry because you didn’t see it yourself,” Artair said. “But it’s obvious why you didn’t.”

  “Why is that?” Lachlan snapped.

  “Love blinded you to the obvious.”

  “He’s right again,” Cavan said.

  “Are you suggesting that Alyce lied to me?” Lachlan challenged, annoyed that there might be some truth to what Artair suggested.

  “She’s lied to you from the beginning,” Artair said.

  “She had to,” Lachlan defended, not wanting for a moment to believe he couldn’t trust his wife.

  “Then if she lied out of necessity, perhaps she does so again,” Artair suggested.

  Sometimes Lachlan hated Artair’s reasoning nature.

  “If that’s so,” Cavan said solemnly, “it could mean only one thing.”

  Lachlan didn’t want to hear or believe what Cavan was about to suggest.

  “Alyce could very well know something about Carissa and if that’s so, then she could possibly also know about Ronan.”

  “Why not share it?” Lachlan asked.

  “A necessity as I suggested,” Artair said, “perhaps an exchange or bargain of sorts agreed upon between her and the mercenaries.”

  “It makes no sense,” Lachlan argued, though truly it did; he simply didn’t want to admit it.

  “Find out,” Cavan ordered sharply, “or I will.”

  Lachlan nodded, knowing Cavan had suffered along with Ronan during their capture and would do anything to see him safely home.

  “Excuse me, sirs.”

  The three looked up to see the lad who Henry the pig belonged to.

  “Do you need help getting out of the mud?” he asked and held out his small hand.

  Lachlan wasn’t surprised when he heard Cavan refer to the lad by name, Daniel, since Cavan was familiar with all in the clan. He made a fuss over his generous offer and Cavan allowed the lad to help the mighty laird out.

  Lachlan remained sitting in the muck wondering just how long he’d remain stuck.

  Chapter 28

  Alyce was in the cottage when he arrived freshly washed and attired. While food waited on the table Alyce surprisingly seemed uninterested. She sat in a rocker by the hearth wearing a lovely deep blue linen gown and he silently thanked his sisters-in-law for their generosity. The dark blue made her own blue eyes all the more stunning, and he loved that she had left her long blond hair unbraided.

  Her beauty never failed to startle him and he wondered if Artair had been right about love having interfered with his awareness. If he hadn’t been so taken by Alyce would he have questioned things at Everagis more?

  She and Piper had disappeared often and the explanation was always the same. Someone needed help, but that someone, or specifics of the help, were never detailed. And why hadn’t Evan, a remarkable
scout in his own right, ever been able to locate a single mercenary track?

  Love truly must have blinded him because it was certainly blinding him now, since he wanted nothing more than to lose himself in a night of lovemaking with his wife. Or did he fear what needed to be discussed would not only cause a rift between them, but also damage the trust they had built? Or did trust exist at all between them?

  “You’re not hungry?” he asked for want of anything else to say.

  Alyce shook her head. “Not at the moment.”

  He walked over to her, scooping up a small bench along the way and sitting on it beside her. “Does something trouble you?”

  “Must you always be privy to my thoughts?” she snapped. “Will I have no time to myself?”

  While Terese could be forward in her remarks, it seemed Alyce was more biting, almost as if she intended to leave her mark on you, least you forget she bit.

  He took her hand and laced his fingers with hers. “Why do you always feel the need to attack?”

  She reacted as he expected. She yanked her hand, though could not free it, their fingers laced firmly.

  “And why do you always feel the need to run from me?” he asked.

  “I don’t,” she snapped and tugged once again.

  “You are tenacious, but I”—he smiled—“am tenaciously patient.”

  “Are you?” she asked with great concern.

  “Have you not seen that for yourself?”

  “Where was your patience when you wed me with haste? Where was your patience when you forced me to leave my home? Where was your patience in asking me if I wanted any of this?”

  He reached out to touch her face, but she turned away from him. “You told me that you briefly dreamt that we would wed and have a life together. If that is your dream why do you deny it?”

  “I wasn’t forced to wed you in my dream of a future for us. You asked; you gave me a choice and that meant the world to me.”

  “Why today? Why now does this disturb you once again?” he asked.

  She eased her fingers free of his. “Zia and Honora shared tales of their weddings with me and I realized that not one of the Sinclare wives chose to wed their husband.”

  “In all fairness one Sinclare husband did not choose to wed his wife, though it did not stop Cavan from falling in love with Honora. And you must admit they are a perfect pair.

  “Tell me why this truly disturbs you so much,” he urged. “It is the way of things for most. You knew as daughter to a laird you would be expected to wed a man of your father’s choice. Why rant against it?”

  “My father led me to believe otherwise,” Alyce said sadly. “He raised me to believe my life was my choice. He introduced me to the ways of a leader. He let me make choices for myself, encouraged me to make them and then after giving me my freedom, letting me taste the joys of it, he took it away.”

  Lachlan watched her grow teary-eyed and felt like strangling her father.

  “At Everagis I found what I wanted and was content, which was why I knew Alyce had to die, for Alyce would never be free. Terese, however, could live as she chose without repercussions.”

  “Then I arrived.”

  She smiled, though it was a sorrowful smile. “And changed everything.”

  “Truly, though, you got what you wanted, to love a man of your choosing.”

  “Terese did, not Alyce.”

  He leaned close and teased her lips with his then said, “You are Terese.”

  “Terese died the day you returned to Everagis.”

  Lachlan felt a grasp at his heart as if a hand squeezed it so tight that he could barely breathe. He shook his head. “No, Terese lives in you.”

  She shook her head.

  He took firm hold of her chin. “I am sorry if I have confused you, but one thing that will not change, that will remain constant, is my love for you. Whether I call you Terese or Alyce I love you. Isn’t that enough?”

  “Is it for you?”

  “What more would I want?”

  “For me to come to you of my own free will,” she said.

  “I thought you had done that.”

  “I did once,” she said. “Not so now.”

  “What do I do to amend this?” he asked concerned.

  “That is for you to answer.”

  “And here I thought to make love to you tonight,” he said with disappointment.

  Alyce stood and took his hand. “Making love has nothing to do with this matter. Our passionate love gave us our child and for that I will forever be grateful. And I will not deny I love making love with you. I want no other hands on me. I want no other lips to touch mine. I want no other man inside me. I want only you.”

  Lachlan wrapped his arms around her and kissed her like a man who just realized he was deeply in love. He savored the kiss, her taste so exquisite that he was certain he’d never get enough of her.

  “Make love to me,” she said softly. “I’ve missed you so very much.”

  Lachlan swung her up into his arms and carried her to the bed. He undressed her with loving tenderness, but hastily shed his own clothes. They settled on the bed together wrapped in each others arms and she held on tightly to him.

  “Never doubt that I love you, Lachlan,” she whispered.

  “I never have,” he said nestling at her neck.

  “Promise me you never will.”

  He rubbed his cheek to hers. “You have my word.”

  She moved her hands over him.

  He grabbed her hand as it settled around him. “Do that and I won’t last long.”

  “You only have strength for one time tonight?”

  “Now you challenge me, woman?” he grinned.

  “I love a good challenge.”

  “You asked for it,” he teased, his hands roaming her body, and she sighed with pleasure.

  He loved running his hands over her, finding spots that had her purring, sighing, moaning with delight. He took his time enjoying how eagerly she responded to his every touch and kiss.

  He had known from their first time together that it was different, special and everlasting, for he was content with Alyce as he had never been with any other woman. He didn’t even think of other women, nor did they catch his eye. He thought only of Alyce and the way she fervently responded to his every touch, as she did now arching toward his hand when it drifted away or moving over him when she wished to take control, and he willingly surrendered.

  He felt the fatigue in her body and while he enjoyed her riding him, he took hold of her waist and swung her off him to lie beneath him.

  “I will pleasure you,” he said with a tempting kiss.

  “You always pleasure me,” she said with a passionate sigh.

  He eased in and out of her, not wanting to rush, but to linger in the heavenly feel of her and she agreed, running her hands over him touching him, encouraging him, loving him.

  Naturally their passion heated, their rhythm turning frantic and both burst in frenzied climaxes one after the other until they were left breathless.

  Lachlan cuddled her in his arms and as he expected, she was asleep in mere minutes. He didn’t mind as long as she was there safe with him.

  He never expected to love a woman beyond rational reason, but he loved Alyce that way, and while he believed that excuse enough for his decisions, he could understand why it troubled her.

  He hoped she would see that she had her freedom though wed to him, but the fact that he forced a marriage on her shadowed his good intentions. She had been right about the Sinclare brides having no choices, though love certainly had claimed them all, which Alyce had not argued. She did not deny her love for him; it was the choice that mattered.

  How did he make this right for them? He wanted Alyce to have what she had always wanted. What her father had led her to believe she would always have…a choice.

  He didn’t know how he could do this, just as he wasn’t sure how he would approach Alyce and get the answers he needed about
the mercenaries. He wasn’t one to give into defeat and while charm was his best weapon, he didn’t think that was his best approach with his wife.

  He had loved her direct and honest nature and she would expect the same from him. His charm could be saved for more auspicious occasions.

  He grinned and cuddled around her ready to sleep and ready do what whatever was necessary to see his wife content with their life.

  Alyce was bored senseless. She even had trouble keeping track of time. What seemed like a matter of days had turned into three weeks since their arrival home. She had tried to find things to occupy her time, but hadn’t been successful. And when Lachlan was sent away to handle a nearby skirmish she had almost jumped on her mare and joined him. The week he’d been gone had been the longest in her life, and her endless days of nothingness had been driving her quite mad.

  While she should be growing accustomed and content with her knew home, it was the opposite. She missed her active life at Everagis all the more, though she had to admit she loved Lachlan more with each passing day.

  He was so very good to her, so why didn’t that matter more? The question haunted her and as much as she tried, she could not find an answer, and so it continued to disturb her.

  Autumn was holding fast, though today proved more summerlike and everyone was busy outside clearing and storing in preparation for a winter that would arrive soon enough.

  The splitting of wood resonated in the air and women tended what would be the last harvest of the year. Others dried and smoked meat, and candles hung to dry dotted the village.

  Alyce on the other hand could find nothing to do. Everyone had a chore or duty or whatever you wanted to call it, but her. And she was on her own since Lachlan and Artair had been sent to see to a problem with a bordering clan. Cavan was busy today hearing and settling villagers’ complaints. Between the ill and preparing her concoctions Zia had not a moment to spare, while Honora contentedly looked after her twins and her niece.

  Addie was the only one she hadn’t seen about, so when she saw her hurrying along in the village looking upset, Alyce seized the moment and asked what was wrong.