by Fiona Faris
“Husband and wife?”
“Aye. Aside from my cousin, there are dangerous people on the road. I can’t have ye put yerself in danger. It’s safer if we act as we are already wed.”
“I suppose we are to be married anyway, what harm is there? I still think it is cow droppings that as a woman I am in constant need of protection!” She thrust her chin up, forcing him to cough again. She certainly had grown more stubborn since he had been away. He wasn’t going to try and explain to her now that he wasn’t going to force the engagement. He didn’t want to argue with her about it. Besides there were more pressing matters. He explained Elias’ visit to the library that afternoon and watched as concern came over her face. He wanted to tell her that he would protect her from Elias, that there was no way that his cousin was going to get his hands on the Lairdship or Milly, not while he drew breath. But their time was limited. He had to focus on getting them to the stables and on the road before Elias caught on. Nathan feared his cousin’s unhinged behavior earlier in the day would only grow worse the longer Milly put him off, and that could be more dangerous.
“Do ye think he’s gone mad, Nathan?” she asked when he was done.
“I dinnae ken what tae think, but he is ruthless, and I’ll not have ye on the receiving end of it. It’s better for all that we leave tonight.”
“Aye, then let’s go.”
* * *
Two days on the road to Perth was enough to give Milly a new found respect for highwaymen, acting troupes, and priests. She now understood why the winter tended to slow these people down. It was miserable. During the day they rode in almost complete silence. Except for the occasional grunt or instruction of where to stop and rest the horses, neither she nor Nathan engaged in any conversation. What was there to say between them beside polite pleasantries? At night, thankfully Nathan had been able to find them lodging with kindly farmers. Of course, that lodging usually came in the form of musty straw and barely enough kindling to keep a fire going through the night. But she knew better than to complain. Her muscles were stiff and frozen, her thighs burned from the hard riding, but every time she thought to utter one word of complaint, Gavin flashed through her mind. He had no doubt suffered much worse. She could bear some slight inconvenience for his sake.
The first day was much easier as they were on MacKenzie and MacGille lands. It was comforting that both she and Nathan were recognizable. They had no need to protect themselves from the dangers of travel. The second day Milly learned Nathan was right, that it was much easier to be traveling as husband and wife. At first when he mentioned it, she wanted to protest, not liking to lie to innocents who were offering their help or feeling the need to be a married woman in order to travel in her own country. It was ridiculous what women were subjected to while men could carry on anywhere without worry of being attacked or worse. But upon seeing the judgement thrown her way for being a young woman, traveling alone with a brooding man, she quickly relented.
Now, on the third day, Milly had enough. They were resting the horses after a long stretch of hard riding. A light snow had begun to fall and Milly wrapped herself tightly in her plaid. They had come just off the main road, not far enough that she couldn’t see the gravel path, but just off enough to be in a lightly wooded glen. She couldn’t help but feel, just for a moment, like a fairy princess just escaped from an evil villain, like in one of the many stories she had read and loved dearly as a girl. A fairy princess with an eternally chilled nose and frost-touched ears.
“Oh, how I long for a bed…” she said aloud on the their third day of travel. “A bed, a warm meal, and a fire.”
“Aye, a bed,” Nathan said with a grunt. He had barely spoken at all since they’d left the keep under the cover of night. She too had been quiet, not wanting to disturb his thoughts. He was leaving his home at a crucial time in order to help her. She knew she was giving him something in return, but with no mention of their marriage in days, she started to wonder exactly what he was thinking. Concerned more with immediate need to get out of the cold as soon as possible, she left her concerns about their future aside.
“Nathan, surely there’s a village with an inn somewhere close by where we can stop for th’ night?”
“If we get back on th’ main road within th’ next two hours, we’ll be in a small village outside Perth, three hours after that, right around dusk. I’ll build a fire and we can give th’ horses a longer rest.”
“And will there be an inn? With real, hot food an’ a warm room, with a real bed?”
“Aye.”
She leaned her head back against a tree, how lovely it would be. She would happily suffer the cold for a few more hours knowing there was a bed waiting for her at the end of the day. It didn’t take Nathan long to get a fire working. She watched in slight awe as he hunched over the small pit he had dug out in the earth, his broad shoulders pulling tightly against his plaid. If it weren’t for the thick wool, she would be able to see every smooth line and muscle of his back move as he worked. He certainly was a specimen. Once the heat from the fire reached her, Milly let out a sigh. The warm yellow flames were intoxicating to watch as they danced in the gray morning. Nathan came and sat next to her, quietly pulling out a hunk of cheese from their travel rations and breaking off a piece for her.
“Thank ye,” she said before taking the bite of food. Suddenly she yearned for conversation. It had been too quiet. “Nathan, what was it like when ye were huntin’ criminals?” Nathan gave her a look that she couldn’t quite place, but if she had to swear by it, she would think it was slightly amused. Shocked as she was at her own brazen question, she couldn’t figure out why it would amuse him.
“It wasnae exactly ‘huntin’ criminals’ as ye put it, lass,” he replied, biting off his own hunk of cheese, smiling. “I realized I was good at finding things, especially things that didnae wanna be found. Remember when we were kids, playin’ in the meadow. I was always the one who found the hidden places.”
“Aye, ’tis true naeone could hide from ye,” she replied wistfully. How many times had she sat in the crook of a tree or hidden in the shrub waiting desperately to be found. Hoping it was Nathan and not one of her brothers that sprang her free.
“Well, I dinnae want tae be Laird. I wasn’t like yer brother, Lucas, always with a nose in the books learnin’ the ways of the keep. I wanted tae explore, see the world.”
“Did yer da not mind that ye dinnae want tae be Laird?” As a woman, she wasn’t privy to the conversations of heirs and their responsibilities. She had been taught other skills, lady-like necessities such as cooking, sewing, and how to run a keep.
“Och, he was disappointed for sure. Da was old, but ye remember he was strong. He shouldn’t hae died. There was no doubt that we had many years left. I was free to engage other pursuits. I would’ve had tae come home to it eventually. But I thought I had more time.” He paused and ran his hand through his jet black hair. Milly was starting to realize this was something he did when the talk became too personal, too emotional. She saw the sadness in his eyes. Hammish MacKenzie was a good man, and a good father, and Nathan had not yet come to terms with his death. She placed her arm on his.
“Anyways,” he continued, shaking off the emotion. “Da allowed my flights of fancy, but he said a real man had to earn his own keep. If I wanted tae see the world, he wouldnae stand in my way. But I would hae tae pay my own way. When I first left, I took the odd job here and there, just enough to get a meal and an occasional bed. Then I found myself in Aberdeen. I met a man, named Perry, working in the harbor and he was a tracker. The sort of man who could disappear in a crowd, ye ken?” Milly found herself not knowing and wondering what exact type of man would disappear in a crowd. Certainly Nathan would be noticed no matter where he was. “We became fast friends. He saw I had an interest in the work he did. He was a bounty hunter. I begged and eventually he relented and he taught me everything he ken about trackin’. Turned out I was good at it. People ye ken will pay a decent w
age for help in findin’ things that are lost, though not everyone I tracked was a criminal. Although, my da loved the stories about them the best.” He smiled, a brightness sparkled in the blue of his eyes and Milly’s heart swelled. She was happy he had such good relationship with his father, that even though he had turned down his birthright, he could still regal his father with tales of his exploits and the old man enjoyed it.
Until now, thinking of Nathan Mackenzie as a selfish, childish boor helped her come to terms with his rejection. But listening to him tell her of his past, she found he wasn’t that much different than her brothers. Maybe his rejection wasn’t about her at all. She had been begging him to stay and put down roots. He was young. He wanted an adventure. Where Lucas and then Gavin, sought theirs on the battlefield, Nathan found his in travel and finding the lost. If he had accepted her proposal then, would they have been happy or would he have resented her for clipping his wings?
“But now, ye want tae be Laird?” It was all she could think to ask. He was silent for a long moment. Milly thought she may have come close to crossing a line, her question to personal, too soon.
“Nay, but I willnae let Elias destroy it.”
“He won’t,” Milly replied, her voice a whisper. He held her gaze and Milly’s breath caught. She brought her hand up to his cheek, surprised by the warmth of his skin. He leaned into her palm, closing his eyes. Poor man, coming home and finding his father gone, no chance to say goodbye, and now at risk of losing his legacy because of his cousin’s greed.
The rumble of the ground beneath them caused the moment to break. “What the devil?” Milly gushed.
Nathan looked around. “Horses…” he said. “We need tae hide.”
“Why?” Milly saw no reason to hide, they weren’t criminals on the run.
“Dammit woman, what if it’s men Elias sent? It probably isn’t but just in case we should stay out of sight.” He pulled her up, her plaid falling to the ground with his abrupt movement and the sudden chill sending a shiver down her back.
“Wait…” She reached for it.
“No time.” He grabbed for her and the horses at the same time and pushed them further into the brush. Not enough time to put out the fire properly as he kicked up as much ground as his boots could, quickly dosing the flames. But if the people coming with the horses were enemies, the smoke would surely give their position away. He cursed silently, and Milly wondered what if anything she could do to help.
Satisfied they were far enough off the road to not be seen, he pressed his fingers to his mouth, indicating she should be silent. He should’ve let her grab her plaid. It was clearly a MacGille plaid and anyone who found it would surely be able to put the pieces together. As far as hiding went, Milly decided they were horrible at it. The rumbling from the horses hooves grew louder. She couldn’t prevent her teeth from chattering partly from nervous fear and partly from the cold. She wrapped her arms around herself willing her teeth to stop. Suddenly warmth surrounded her. Her teeth stopped their chatter. Standing behind her, he had covered her with his plaid. He frantically rubbed her upper arms to generate more heat.
Coming close to her ear, he whispered, “That’s it, lass, I’ll keep ye warm.” Milly leaned back, pressing her body into the hard wall that was Nathan’s chest. He took in a sharp breath, and abruptly stopped his movement. She felt a stirring from him and tried to adjust herself inside the plaid to tuck in closer, needing to reach more of his warmth, his body hot as a furnace causing a similar reaction in her own.
The rumble passed and it was clearly travelers, and not Elias or his men. The travelers posed no threat and there was no need for them to stay hidden, yet neither made a motion to move. Milly let out a small sigh of relief. Nathan also let out the breath he had been holding. Milly couldn’t help but think it seemed they were both worried about Elias, and his reach. She closed her eyes, taking a moment to be grateful it wasn’t a true threat and inhaled Nathan’s masculine scent. It was heavenly. He smelled of sandalwood, rosemary, and something else, something very Nathan. A new heat pooled in her middle, and she turned in the plaid to face him, her hands on his chest. She looked up, surprised to see a pained look on his face.
“Dinnae move lass, for the love of God, will ye stay still,” he ground out in a hoarse whisper.
Chapter Ten
Late January, 1690. Perth, Scotland
Millicent MacGille was driving Nathan to the point of madness. The brush that morning on the road with travelers thankfully turned out to be nothing. But the soft curves of her body pressed against his as they hid in the cold crook of that tree was most definitely something. Something he had to try and ignore, if only the throbbing in his breeches would stop reminding him. Had he worn the kilt, there would have been no hiding his need. He felt like a leech. The woman needed his help to get her brother back, his friend. All he could think about was her naked and curled beneath him. Her nearness was making him mad with desire, and he was no longer able to keep his mood pleasant. He told himself it wasn’t Milly, it would’ve been any woman. It had been too long since he had allowed himself any taste of pleasure. He absolutely refused to act on it. He refused to take her into his arms and show her how good it could be between them. He refused to force her to see what he needed and wanted from her. He would be better than that.
Her need for a bed and bath was also infuriating. He told himself the sun wasn’t yet low enough in the sky for her to be thinking about beds, or worse, baths. But that wasn’t true. Night would be upon them fast. A vision of her naked with him in a warm tub clawed its way into his mind. He grunted his displeasure. The traveling thus far has been rustic and he doubted Lady Milly was used to living rough, as it were, but he had done his best to try and find them the most comfortable accommodations possible. A warm bath and a bed would also be something he would like to enjoy. But even though Perth was a larger town than Milly had probably ever seen, it was still rough. He would not expose her to any potential threat by getting separate rooms at the inn. They would have to maintain that they were married. Therefore, the odds of him getting a warm bath and a bed anytime soon was slight, adding to his irritation.
The gravel road began to give way to a cobblestone path, and the lights from the oil lamps of Perth sent an orange glow into the grey late day sky.
“Nathan, what’s that smell?” Milly asked from her horse behind him. The air took on a decidedly sweet smell under the constant burning of coal.
“It’s melting beeswax. It smells almost sweet like honey,” Nathan supplied, slowing so she could settle up next to him.
“Beeswax, how marvelous. Does all of Perth smell this way? What’s it for?” Nathan was impressed by her curiosity. Most ladies of his acquaintance wouldn’t care one whit what the wax was actually used for, but Milly stared at him, eyes wide, waiting for his answer. He saw a glimmer of the curious child she had been in her eyes. He found he liked it, and that bothered him.
“Perth is a town with more than its fair share of Blacksmiths. It’s quite known for it, although linen is starting to compete. The smithy uses beeswax for many things, mostly to polish the wood handles of axes and hilts of swords. It can also be used with an oil like linseed to polish the hot steel and help prevent it from rust,” he replied, laughing a bit at her innocence. She looked at him in awe.
“I wonder what happens to the honey.” Her voice filled with thoughtful inquisitiveness.
“I suppose they would eat it, or use it in their tea.” She was to be the death of him.
They arrived at the Fox Cameron Inn, and Nathan turned the horses over to a young buck of a stable boy, overly eager to prove himself to anyone who paid attention to him. Including Milly, and Nathan found he didn’t like it. She’s not for you, lad, he thought as he led Milly to the inn.
After securing a room, he informed the innkeeper he and his wife would enjoy their dinner in their room that evening. He tried to avoid annoyance at the man’s knowing wink and grin. He was at his wits end for cer
tain. Maybe once he was sure she would sleep, he could sneak out? Find a good wench, get his needs met. Even as he thought it, he knew he wouldn’t leave her. No, he would suffer. Milly would surely be the death of him.
“Will we be able to have a bath?” Even if he knew her question wasn’t an invite, her words were poorly chosen, and Nathan felt a familiar stirring again in his breeches. The thought of bathing with her was too tempting. Her sweet curves, a bar of fine soap. He would wash her auburn hair, relish the feel of it as it ran through his fingers. Dammit, he thought. He needed space from the woman. Which was all for the better since he had forgotten to ask for the water to be brought up.
“I dinnea ken, lass!” he snapped. She flinched away from him, and he didn’t like it. He knew his tone was too harsh. But if it kept her from looking up at him with those innocent emerald eyes, if it kept her from asking a million questions, then his tone was worth it. He slammed the door as he left once again to face the randy innkeeper and his too familiar looks.
* * *
As she melted into her bath, Milly wondered what had made Nathan so cross. She knew it wasn’t as if they were on some kind of holiday. But he had been acting strangely ever since their run in with the travelers in the wood. She had rather hoped they would be able to behave amicably toward one another.
