Her Highlander's Heartl (Highlanders 0f Cadney Book 2)

by Fiona Faris

  “Aye, I wish tae wash Nathan, and I need yer help to lift him without causing damage tae his wound.”

  Gavin looked at her as if she’d grown another head. “Ye want tae wash him? Is that wise?”

  “He willnae wake. I’ve tried everything, Violet’s tried everything. I dinnae want tae send for a surgeon, ye ken they will only bleed him, and he’s lost enough blood. There is no fever. It cannae hurt any more than he is already hurt.” She squared her shoulders and stared her brother down. It was so good to see him after so long knowing he was out there somewhere. Even in argument, she loved her brother dearly and missed having him close. Even though he looked at her as if she were a mad woman, he smiled.

  “Alright, lass, I suppose yer right. What can it hurt?. But ye let me dae the liftin’ and we dinnae go beneath the sheets. Yer a lady, and I dinnae want ye gettin’ any ideas. The man can hardly defend himself.” Was that a joke? She saw the humor in his eyes. Gavin always was the one ready to lighten a mood with humor.

  “Thank ye, Gav.”

  They didn’t talk to one another while they cleaned Nathan, Milly going back and forth between humming gently to the sleeping man and whispering notions of affection and love to him. When they finally finished, Gavin took a seat in a chair by the hearth.

  “Ye love him, then?” he asked while Milly ran a drying cloth up and down each of Nathan’s arms.

  “Aye, like I never thought possible.”

  “How did ye ken I wasn’t dead, Milly?” She’d wondered when he would get around to asking him. She moved to sit on the floor in front of the fire, looking up at him like she used to look up at their father as he read them stories as children.

  “Yer my twin, Gav. I figured if ye’d left this earth I would’ve felt it here,” she said, pressing her hand to her chest. “Like when we were bairns and we kent if one of us was in trouble or sick. Like how ye ken I love Nathan. It’s that same feelin’. There is a truth between us that I can’t explain.”

  “Aye, I suppose yer right. I’d hoped ye’d find me, I never thought ye would, but I hoped. I tried tae escape once, ye ken.” He looked into the fire and Milly saw pain gather in his eyes, the same emerald greed as her own.

  “It was bad?”

  “Aye, it was hell. Barely any food, no clean water, illness everywhere. Men dyin’ and those that weren’t wishin’ they were. I was in bad shape when Elias sent his man. Out of my mind, I dinnae ken how I would survive it. Then when I saw Thomas in the cell, I thought he died. I thought it was… I thought it was my fault.” He put his head in his hands, and Milly lifted up to embrace him. “If I dinnae have Thomas down there with me, I would’ve gone mad. Then Nathan came.”

  “Aye, he believed me from the beginning,” she said and smiled. “Well, almost from the beginning. But after we left the gaol in Perth, he vowed to find ye, no matter where ye were.”

  “He’s a good man, Milly, ye’d dae well tae marry him.” She could think of nothing she wanted more than to marry Nathan. She only wished it were as easy as Gavin made it sound.

  “Aye, if he’ll have me. Now that Elias is dead, and Lucas has spoken tae the council, there’s no need. He’ll be Laird, as he should, without want of a wife. I’m not sure.”

  Gavin gave her a sweet smile, and a pat on the head. “Oh sister, there’ll be a weddin’. Ye’ve nothin’ tae fear on that account. We just need th’ bastard tae wake up.”

  Chapter Thirty-Seven

  Pain shot through Nathan’s side and he moaned in agony. He tried to roll over as something was nagging him awake. There was something he had to do. Bloody hell, he tried to remember but nothing came. It was something important, if only his body wasn’t on fire. No, not his body, only his stomach. Why did it hurt? Without opening his eyes, he reached down and felt a tight fabric stretched across his center, wrapped all the way around him. He pressed down and winced. There was a wound. Breathe, take deep breaths. The pain clawed its way up to his head. The pounding was unbearable, and holy hell he was thirsty. Where the hell was he?

  Finally able to open his eyes, he blinked back, the room was dark. It was night. He wasn’t shackled. His gaze settled upon a person, a woman sleeping in a rather uncomfortable position on a chair near the bed. Milly. The chapel, Elias, Gavin, his uncle… everything came rushing back in a torrent. He let out a moan.

  “Nathan?” Milly looked up sleepily from the chair. Milly was his savior, the light. She rushed the bed and took his face in her hands. “Yer awake. Oh thank God! Yer awake.”

  “Water…” It was the only word he could croak out. His lips were dry, and the thirst was overwhelming, but he needed to speak… needed to ask her.

  “Aye, of course.” She tried to leave his side, but he gripped her hand tightly. She couldn’t leave him, not again. Not ever.

  “Nathan, I need tae get ye water. ’Tis alright tae let me go, I’m nae leavin’ ye.” Her voice was smooth, heavy with sleep and weighted in the darkness, but he wanted to listen to her speak forever. He nodded, releasing her hand and closing his eyes.

  It felt like forever before she returned, holding the cool water to his lips. He tried to gulp, greedily, but she slowed him down. “Slowly, love,” she said, pulling the water away. “Ye’ll choke. Go slowly.”

  Love… love… love… ELIAS! He tried to push himself upright, pushing through the pain. Elias, he needed to get her away from Elias. Was she married? Was he too late? Nay, he stopped the wedding, he remembered. She was here, with him. Were they prisoners? Did the bastard win? Nothing made sense. He tried to speak, but his voice came only in a croak.

  “Elias?”

  “He shot ye, dae ye not remember?” Aye, he remembered bits and pieces. Mostly feelings and emotions. He remembered barging into the church, just in time. He remembered Elias killing Uncle William. He remembered the pistol. So rare, a pistol. Highlander men preferred to solve their disputes with more honorable weapons. The crack as the ball released, the smell of black powder, Milly’s scream. He gripped her hand tighter. She was here with him now. That was all that mattered.

  “Aye, I remember. Are ye hurt?” He ran his hands up and down her arms and moved them to her stomach, checking, searching for any sign that she was hurt.

  “Nay, Nathan, I’m well. I promise.”

  “How long?” He closed his eyes again. The room was spinning but he needed to know. He would not surrender to the oblivion that was calling him.

  “Nathan, ye’ve been asleep for two days. I was afraid ye’d never wake up. We’ve been watchin’ for fever, but so far none.” Two days? Two days and no-one has been protecting Milly from Elias? Where was Gavin? Lucas? He searched her eyes frantically?

  “Elias?” he asked again. She immediately took his meaning.

  “Elias is dead. He’s dead, Nathan.” A vision, or memory came to him, of Milly with the dirk in the chapel. Rage in her eyes. He told her to run but she wouldn’t. She wouldn’t leave him. No, he wanted to spare her. He didn’t want the blackness of murder to touch her sweet soul. But if he was shot, and Elias was dead, it must have been Milly. He groaned in agony. The one thing he wanted to protect her from and he failed. He failed.

  “It wasn’t me,” she said as if reading his thoughts. “Lucas wouldnae allow it. I wanted tae. It was all I could think of when I saw ye layin’ there shot. Rage filled me, and I would’ve done it if my brother hadnae held me back. ’Twas Gavin that ended yer cousin’s life and ran him through. ’Twas nae a peaceful end for Elias.” She looked away from him then and his heart sank. No matter how much they tried to protect her, Milly was still touched by murder. She’d witnessed a horror. His heart broke for that which he couldn’t shield her from. His da was dead, his uncle was dead, Elias was dead. He was the last true male MacKenzie. What would happen to his clan now, his family?

  “Alone,” was all he could say before letting sleep claim him again.

  * * *

  She ran her hand along his brow. She wanted to give him comfort. When she realize
d he had woken relief filled her. She wanted to weep, but she knew she needed to be strong for him. He was in so much pain. The physical pain would ebb, she knew. It would get better with time. But the emotional pain, that was worse.

  She turned to put another log on the fire. It was late. Dawn was yet hours away. She didn’t want to return to the chair, but sleep threatened to claim her. She undid the buttons of her day dress and slipped it onto the back of the chair. She tentatively slipped into the bed beside him. She felt as if she was looking down on her body from above. She hadn’t the slightest idea where her brashness came from. He had rejected her once, but that was so long ago. She loved him. She wanted only to soothe him, to feel his warmth next to her own. He sighed and rolled onto his good side, facing her. His sleep was different, it was still fitful, but he no longer seemed to be somewhere far away from her.

  She ran her hand along his chest. Alone. Alone was what he had said, and Milly wanted to weep. She knew what he meant. He was the last, but truly he wasn’t. He had a brother. Even if he didn’t know it or care, he had her; no matter that she would leave and go back to Cadney. They would be the family he needed. He was not alone. He would never be alone.

  She pushed down the part of her that wished he would take her into his arms like he had that night before the chapel. She was a smart lass and knew that Elias was the driving force behind their need of each other. Now that he was dead, and the council would not demand Nathan wed in order to lead, she would not stand in his way. She loved him too much. She ran her fingers along the touch plane of his abdomen, gently around the bandages, and up until her fingers entwined the curly dark hair that surrounded his nipples. Even in illness he was a magnificent man.

  His eyes opened, and she wanted to be embarrassed, caught touching him so brazenly. But she saw something hungry in his gaze, something that mirrored her own need and any hint of embarrassment fled. Their eyes locked for what felt to Milly like an eternity, but she could stay in the moment with Nathan for much longer. The emotion flowing between them was understood, if only for this brief moment in time. He raised a hand and ran it along her jaw and down her throat before resting his fingers at the hollow dip at the base of her neck, spreading his hand wide. They were quiet, content to communicate with locked gazes and roaming touch. Heat began to pool in Milly’s stomach.

  “Nathan MacKenzie, ye’ll not be alone. Ye’ll never be alone again,” she whispered as she moved her hand up to cup his cheek, referring to Simon, and Claire, and the rest of the clan. He still had family even if he didn’t know it yet, but she wished her words included herself. She didn’t ever want to leave him, but she could not force herself on him again. He pulled her into him and crushed his lips to hers. This kiss was different. Milly couldn’t pinpoint the exact moment she knew, but the hunger in her as he took her mouth proved to her that she loved him. If only she could be brave enough to tell him. He used his tongue and his teeth to gently move her to open for him. The taste of him was familiar yet foreign at the same time. Her tongue answered him, searching, tasting. A single tear threatened to fall. They were together and finally safe. The danger had passed, Elias was dead, and the evidence of Nathan’s want of her existed. The hard core of him pressed firmly against her. She felt the wetness pool between her legs. She wanted him. She could feel it, taste it, touch it. If forced to put words to her emotions, she would not be able to. It was an eternity that he was away from her, stolen by Elias, thought dead, and then with horror she had watched him fight his way back. She missed the easy laughter in his eyes when he teased her. She missed the authoritative way he worked to protect her.

  Their kiss became more urgent. His hands began to move over her body and the familiar heat of his touch caused her to arch into him. She felt him wince, and the world came crashing back into focus. The violence of her need caused her to draw back as she threaded her hands through his hair. She looked at him, searching his eyes for any sign of further pain. All she saw was desire, raw and intense.

  “We have tae stop, Nathan. I’m afraid if we continue I’ll hurt ye.” He let out an exasperated sigh, holding her tight before placing a sweet kiss onto her forehead.

  “I ken, but I want ye Milly, injuries be damned. I want all of ye.” He leaned back and closed his eyes. Milly’s heart gave a small slip ‒ she wanted him, too, more than she had ever wanted anything. But after all that has happened, she didn’t want him if it was obligation he felt, or lack of family. Nay, she wanted him only if it was for love he truly felt. Now that he was healing, and the true danger had passed, she would return to her bedchamber and start making plans to return home. He didn’t need her about confusing things more as he healed and learned how to become Laird.

  Chapter Thirty-Eight

  “I feel fine, Simon. There is no need to fuss about me like a mother hen.” Nathan was feeling caged. He sat down on the bed and swung his legs up from the edge. He had been walking back and forth in a circuit around the chamber for the last few hours. He liked the exercise, but nothing would numb the irritation he felt at not having a private moment alone with Milly. It was as if she was avoiding him altogether. He had been confined to the bed and his chamber for the last three days, and Milly was rarely to be seen. Oh sure, she would check in on him twice a day, make sure he was resting and fever was kept at bay, but she rarely had more than two words to say to him. Worst of all, she had returned to her own bed chamber. He couldn’t even spy on her as she slept. When he woke in the middle of the night, there was only the memory of her warm curves next to him. Only the hint of her scent remained in the room.

  “Ye may think yer fine, Laird, but ye still cannas be too careful. There is a hole in yer stomach, and I would hate tae see ye ruin all the hard work of Violet and Milly but jumpin’ around like a slimy toad in a loch.” He gave his friend an annoyed smile.

  Simon had been around him non-stop since he woke. He had been acting strange, fussing over Nathan and lurking about as if he had something important on his mind. But no matter how Nathan thought to ask, he couldn’t get the lad to admit that anything was amiss. He wanted to talk with Milly about it, but even when she did come to check in on him, she was never alone. She always had Violet or Thomas with her. He leaned back closing his eyes and taking a deep breath. He’d thought of when they were last alone. Her delicate hands as they slide down his chest. The way she’d told him he wasn’t alone. What had changed? Why was she being so distant? If only he could get her alone.

  “Och, where’s Milly?” he asked while Simon was busying himself with the fire.

  “This morning Violet said they would be busy in her chamber, packing th’ trunks.” It was said so casually that had Nathan not been listening intently he would have missed the implication. Packing? He opened his eyes and looked at Simon.

  “Packing for what?”

  “Och, ye dinnae ken?” Simon rubbed his hand through his hair. “I thought someone woud’ve said.”

  “Said what? Yer th’ only fool I’ve talked tae besides them and they’ve not said a word!”

  “The ladies are returnin’ to Cadney with Lucas and Gavin.”

  Milly was leaving? There was no way he could allow it. He had just gotten her back, and while yes, he supposed the immediate danger was over, there was no way he would allow her… no, not allow, that was the wrong way to think of it, he supposed. There had to be a way he could convince her to stay. She was his. His to protect, his to love. Of course, if he knew what she was thinking, he would bet she would have figured that now since Elias was dead, he was Laird. He wouldn’t want her around anymore. The blasted lass, how could he not want her around? She was all he’d thought about for days, nay months. She was everything to him. But he hadn’t told her. He had to stop her from leaving. He was in no condition to ride a horse. Yet, if she left and made it back to Cadney, he would go after her. No, he needed another plan of action, and he knew just who to enlist for help.

  “Nathan?” Simon asked. “Ye hae a strange look in yer eye?”


  “Do I?”

  “Aye, ye dae.”

  “Do me a favor, Simon, go fetch Gavin MacGille.”

  * * *

  Gavin paced across the bedchamber floor. “So ye mean tae do right by her then?”

  “Aye,” Nathan said as he dressed. He knew he should’ve asked Lucas for the permission to wed Milly. It was proper since her father was dead, but with everything they had been through and with Gavin being the cause that brought them together, he felt Gavin was the best MacGille to get on his side at the moment. There would be time to seek out Lucas’ approval later. He needed Milly to agree first, and her twin brother was the key.

  “What makes ye think I want ye tae wed my sister? Ye never much had th’ time for her when we were bairns. If I recall ye broke her heart once already. What’s tae keep ye from doing it again? Mayhap it’s better for her tae come home and let whatever it is between ye cool down a bit before making any rash decisions?”