Nestling against the crook of his shoulder, she felt the comfort of his beard against her, and felt a new sense of security. And, for the moment, she enjoyed the bliss that came with the sexual heaven, even though in the back of her mind she knew that Callum was already on his way, and he would not take kindly to this turn of events.
6
Almost a week had passed since Abbie and Duncan had shared passion in the forest. Ever since then they had enjoyed sexual union many times, and were sharing an intimate bond that was new and exciting to both of them. They told each other their innermost secrets, and tried to avoid the impending attack of Callum. The sentries watched the horizon carefully but there was no sign of Callum yet, and gradually Abbie became more and more distracted.
“If you want to stay here, I will fight for you. We need to make a stand against Callum and his bullying ways. I will not let him treat you the way he has done. You deserve better than that.”
“I am his wife, and I will go back to him if it will avoid a war,” Abbie said, with sadness in her eyes.
Inevitably Callum did come, and when he did it was with force. The small army waited outside the village and a few of the warriors, led by Callum, marched through the village to meet with Duncan. When he arrived, Callum demanded that the return of Abbie and was surprised when Abbie walked out freely, with no restraints.
“You will find that she has not been harmed,” Duncan said, trying to hide the pain in his voice.
“I do not care. You have transgressed against the agreement between our people and now you shall pay the price. I will take my wife back, and your life shall be forfeited,” he said, raising his mighty sword and pointing it directly at Duncan, who merely looked weary of all the macho bravado. It was at this point that Abbie stepped forward.
“Callum, what are you doing? These people have no quarrel with you. All they want is to be left in peace. You should not demand things from the other tribes. We should be working in harmony together, to share things and-”
“Are you really siding with them against your own husband? Your own clan?” Callum asked, narrowing his eyes at her, “They took you in the dead of night and you claim that I am in the wrong here?”
“They only did that because you threatened them, because that's what you do! You treat people like they owe you the world, and when they refuse to bow to your whims you think there's something wrong. There's not, and I'm not standing for it any longer. Callum, turn around and go home.”
“Only if you come with me,” he growled. Abbie hung her head and looked at her husband, and then at Duncan. Then, she walked towards Duncan and linked her arm in with his, much to the shock and dismay of Callum.
“I am not leaving here. I'm happy.”
“You are my wife and you will do as I say.”
“No,” she said, and with that word Callum's strength crumbled. The defiance of the one he had controlled for so long broke him, and she could see it in his eyes. His face twisted into a cruel manifestation of evil and he gripped the hilt of his sword, ready to kill anyone and anything that stood in his way but Abbie had more to say. “You will leave here now without any conflict and you will stop your barbaric ways. Look into yourself Callum and see the person you have become, it is not the hero that everyone sees.”
“Give me one good reason why I should walk away from here and not skewer you all on my sword.”
“Because I am pregnant.” The revelation took Callum and Duncan by surprise. Duncan looked at Abbie, although she did not meet his gaze. Callum then looked at the two of them and suddenly became aware at what had transpired between them.
“You treacherous-” he began, but Abbie interrupted him before he could finish the thought.
“That may be, and yes, I do not know who the father is between the two of you, but do you really want to take the chance of killing your own son? There is still a chance for you to do the right thing. I will tell him about you, but it is your choice about the story I tell.” Abbie saw in his eyes a transformation. He looked down at his sword and then at the people around him, his enemies who cowered in fear and his allies who were ready to go into battle for him, and in that moment he wondered how he would be remembered. He took a last look at Abbie and then sheathed his sword, and everyone in the village breathed a sigh of relief.
After he had gone, Duncan and Abbie went somewhere alone.
“Is it true?” he asked. Abbie nodded.
“I wanted to tell you earlier but I didn't know how. I don't...I'm sorry that I don't know who the father is.” Duncan embraced her tightly and cradled her head.
“That does not matter to me. If you are happy to stay with me I will raise the child as my own and we will give the baby the life that it deserves.” They looked at each other, smiled, and kissed tenderly, knowing that they had given each other a second chance. Abbie felt something she never thought she would feel again – happiness. And, although she was saddened at having to say goodbye to her home and her friends like Maggie, she knew that ultimately it was for the best With Duncan she felt safe, like she had always imagined feeling when she used to dream of being in love. Duncan pulled the necklace out of his pouch.
“I want you to have this,” he said, and placed it around her neck. This time it was a gift given freely, with love, and she cherished it in a way that she would never have been able to had she not encountered Duncan.
Sometimes after that day she would gaze across the water at her old home and wonder if Callum had truly changed. All she knew for sure is that there were fewer reports of barbaric behavior, and she hoped that in some way the events would shape Callum into the hero that he always thought he had been. And, on some lonely nights she would sit at the edge of the village and gaze into the dark forest. She rested a hand on her belly and spoke in soft, dulcet tones to her unborn child, telling it all the stories of the mysterious creatures that lived in the forest and how they watched over everyone and protected them. As she repeated the stories she had heard so often as a child, that feeling of wonder grew inside her again, and sometimes when the light was low she swore that she saw a soft glow amid the trees, and smiled to herself.
THE END
Please enjoy this free collection as a gift for reading!
Surrendering to the Scots
A Scottish Romance Collection
By: Midnight Moon Publishing
Seized by the Highlander
Chapter One
Elizabeth’s crinoline skirts rustled as they swept against the blades of grass that peeked through the cobblestone path. The shops seemed more crowded than normal as she made her way from one to the next. It was her maidservant’s day off but there were still things that the household needed. Her husband, Henry, would not be pleased if his whiskey was not available at the end of the day, and the cook needed a few things for dinner. Elizabeth would not want to be home if Henry were deprived of his food or his beverage. Her cheek still smarted from upsetting him the night before, by not refilling his mug quickly enough.
She smiled at the shopkeeper as he wrapped up the cheese, pickles and sweet jam. Apparently Henry’s reputation preceded him, and with a small nod, the shopkeeper also added a bottle of whiskey to the brown paper package before tying up the white twine.
He offered to add the purchases to the family’s shop credit and she agreed. Henry never allowed her to carry any money and the shops all seemed to place good faith on his abilities to pay the bills.
With the package tucked into the wicker basket she carried in the crook of her elbow, she wrapped her shawl around her shoulders and headed back into the streets. The summer was waning and the air carried the autumn chill. She welcomed the relief from the heat of the earlier months, but knew she should start preparing the house for winter.
She made a mental list of tasks as she made her way back to the estate. The wind tickled at the nape of her neck and tried to steal loose tendrils from her coifed blonde curls. The walk was not short, but she enjoyed the chance to get
out of her drafty old stone estate. It seemed to trap the heat in July and the cold in January, and never felt quite comfortable at any time of year. And while the shopping could have been done by the servants, she liked having an excuse to wander about town. She knew better than to spend too much money at any of the stores, but it was a pleasant afternoon to window shop. Henry constantly chided her for not taking the carriage into town, but she almost always took the trip by foot.
Henry was well-known in the area as the region’s largest landowner so most of the shopkeepers were overly attentive to her needs. They would fetch her a cup of tea, provide her a chair to rest, and even wrap packages extra carefully when she did decide to buy something.
When she arrived home, the cook whisked the package away from her and set a pot of tea on the stove to heat.
“Would you like something to eat ma’am?” the cook offered.
“Yes, Olivia, that would be lovely. I know that dinner is not far off, but I’m not certain I will make it that long.” She smiled gently at the older woman and settled into a chair at the servants’ table in the kitchen. Her blue eyes twinkled since she knew that she would shortly be enjoying some of the sharp cheddar cheese that she had just purchased.
“Ma’am, I am happy to bring it to your room if you like.”
“No, I should prefer to sit here in the warm kitchen with your company, if that’s alright.”
Olivia smiled and nodded. “But of course, Ma’am.”
She poured the tea into an elegant china mug and cut off pieces of homemade bread and the fresh cheese as a snack. While Elizabeth sipped and nibbled, they discussed the changes in the weather as Olivia started to prepare their dinner.
Out of the corner of her eye, Olivia watched the delicate young woman and shook her head slightly. She could not understand Elizabeth’s choice to marry her boss. He was a gray-haired, flabby, pig-headed drunkard who constantly yelled at everyone in the household. And Elizabeth seemed to take the brunt of it. They had been married almost two years now, and despite his every effort to force her, she had yet to produce an heir for his estate.
Olivia smirked to herself as an errant thought crept through her head. Perhaps Elizabeth’s body was rejecting Henry in a way that she could not. The cook was certain that it had been an arranged marriage. Elizabeth’s father had been the banker in town, and thusly had his choice of suitors when Elizabeth came of age. The wealthiest landowner in the area was an obvious choice on paper, and it was not allowed for the young lady to question the agreement that had been made. They had both been brought up in the proper British environments, and the arrangement did make sense on paper.
By the time Henry had returned from his meeting with the other landowners, Olivia had the dinner prepared. They dined on more of the same bread and cheese, along with slices of smoked ham, fresh green onions and ripe tomatoes from the vegetable garden, tart pickles, and slices of crisp apple from the grove down by the pond.
After they finished, Henry retired to his study with the bottle of whiskey. Elizabeth went to her bedroom to light her fireplace, and to cross stitch before retiring for the evening. She just hoped he would succumb to the effects of the alcohol before he wanted to try yet again in his heavy-handed, demanding way for a son.
Chapter Two
William grinned as the wind ruffled his shaggy dark hair and he squinted his brown eyes against the sun. His horse, King, huffed at the dust in the air and pawed at the ground between the trees where they waited.
The tall, broad-shouldered man ran his hand down the horse’s whither and admired the well-muscled animal. He had always been a good companion and a faithful friend, even when William would talk his ear off with all sorts of random mutterings about the state of the countrymen he encountered.
William pitied the working man as he strained his back in fields that did not even belong to him, and he detested the nobleman who cracked the whip over that back. He much preferred his life, not that it was ever much of a choice, but he could not imagine answering to either master—the field that demanded so much or the landowner who demanded even more. Some would envy him his freedom, but some would pity him for his lack of roots.
His band of friends would be meeting up soon, in the clearing just on the other side of the pond, and he knew he should get going. But he did love these fall days, when the sun was still warm but the wind had started to whisper of the winter chill. He did hope that one of the men had found some food that day, because the rumbling in his stomach was starting to irritate him.
He mounted the horse and urged him into a walk. He loved to tell people that he had named the horse King, so that he would always be in the company of royalty wherever he went. They were planning an outing for some time in the next few days, and he was looking forward to the adventure and hopefully the spoils of their personal private war. He liked to think that they were raging against the heavy-handed nobility, but some of their group simply did it for the fight and the gold.
Some of their party rode on horseback while others traveled on foot. It gave the group an advantage overall, with more flexibility in their approach, and easier to split up after the fact. William liked the speed he gained from King, and he could carry more when the need demanded.
As he approached the pond, his watchful and trained eyes noticed the gathering group of bedraggled and battle-scarred men on the other side. He grinned at the sight of his nomad family and prodded King to move faster. He tended to be the leader of the group, not by any formal decision or acknowledgement, but by the sheer force of his personality and experience.
The wind ruffled his dark hair again and he shook a stray curl from his eyes. The men waved and beckoned to him when they caught sight of him, and King broke into a run at pressure from his heels. When he arrived at the group, he dismounted and walked King to the pond for a drink before grabbing an apple from the tree above him, settling into the grass with his back up against the trunk.
“The shopkeeper in town was kind enough to loan us this,” one man grinned as he leaned over to hand William a bundle of brown paper.
His mouth watered when William unwrapped it and found generous chunks of buttered bread. He tried to eat it slowly and savor the taste, but his hunger won the battle and he ended up scarfing it down along with the borrowed apple.
“Many thanks,” he mumbled in a voice muffled by the first meal he had had in over a day.
As William ate, the others finalized their plan. It seemed that the owner of the land they rested on was going to be away for some sort of business the next day, so it was the ideal time. The landowner usually traveled with his protective guard, which would leave the house and lands unprotected, save a few servants and the field workers. It was always easier to take on the wife and the handmaidens, than the homeowner and his private soldiers.
William nodded his approval enthusiastically, and looked around the group for a telltale flask to wash down his dinner. A hand appeared above his head and he gratefully accepted the offer of ale.
The group had no real intentions in mind when they had chosen this estate to plunder. It seemed generous and wealthy, and almost assuredly had something for everyone. Some of the men were looking for gold and jewels, others searched for women to assault. One or two of them always checked the stables for extra horses. And nearly always the youngest of the group, a boy of about thirteen or so, was assigned to the kitchen and larder for anything he could grab easily.
Full and content, the men all settled into the clearing and grove for the evening. It was a good spot to call home for the night, with the protection of the trees, and the water for the horses. They wanted to be alert and nearby as soon as the man left his castle so they could move in and move on.
Chapter Three
William and his band were up with the sun, splashing cold water over their faces and finishing up the last of the food that had been borrowed in town. They each checked their weapons and clapped each other on the shoulders for support. There was always a
risk in these raiding parties, but so far they had been lucky to escape serious injury or capture.
Inside the estate, Elizabeth’s attendant had returned from her day off and was rousing her for breakfast. The dogs were making more noise than usual, so Elizabeth got up more quickly than usual, since she was already half-awake anyway.
The young woman, Mary, helped Elizabeth dress for the day and twisted her hair into the topknot before cinching her into the corset and dress. Breakfast was simple, hot tea and warm bread and fried eggs. Elizabeth dined with Henry that morning, as he slammed his meaty fist into the table and droned on about some deal he was going to make.
Kidnapped By The Highlander Lord (Scottish Highlander Romance) Page 3
