by Terry Spear
“Can I now?” His vexation was evident in the tone of his voice, and his eyes blazed with fire as he assessed her. “How far do you think you would have gotten?” He motioned to the window. “The castle is locked tight at night. You would not have gotten beyond the walls. ‘Tis not safe for a wee lass to be roaming the castle by herself in any event. Some of my men might have thought you were seeking male companionship.”
She narrowed her eyes. “I was thirsty. The salted meat made me thus.”
James gave her a look like he knew better than that.
She had not managed to eat a bite, only drank some of her mead. If she truly drank anything more this eve, she would float away.
“Aye, well, Tavia will remedy that. But the next time you wish something, wake Tavia and have her get it for you. Fergus is under strict orders to ensure you do not leave the chamber. He will not disobey me in this matter. So do not try him.” Instantly, the darkness faded from James’s face, and a small smile appeared. “Shall I tuck you back in bed?”
When he was angry with her, she felt less wary of his intentions. ‘Twas much better than when he put on his seductive air. Besides, they were alone in his chamber and…
She frowned at him. “I am not a child.”
His face hardened again. “Nay, you are not. That is why you will not roam the castle alone at night.”
Before surprise could even register, he leaned down to kiss her. She should have turned her head, discouraged his attentions, but she couldn’t. Breathless, she waited with great expectation and watched as his lips touched hers. At first, ‘twas naught more than a brush of warm velvet against her mouth. She trembled, not from fear, but from the sheer pleasure of his touch.
Her bones turned to soggy oats, and if James had not tightened his grasp on her wrist, she was sure she would be kneeling before him. His lips turned up slightly, mayhap because she did not object to his kiss. ‘Twas highly inappropriate, and she should step away. But she lifted her mouth to his and solicited more.
To her frustration, he did not oblige. Instead, he touched her cheek with his fingertips and caressed the skin with a gentle sweep, his smoldering gaze fixed to hers. Mesmerized, she could not look away.
“’Tis not safe for you to be in here, lass.” His words were huskier than she’d ever heard them. “You need to return to bed.”
But he did not release her, nor did he move her from the spot of floor she was affixed to. Worse, she did not try to pull away either.
She licked her lips and dropped her gaze, studying his chest, well muscled and bronzed, the dark hair trailing lower toward his trewes. ‘Twas then she saw the bulge between his legs beneath the fabric, straining against the seams. Her cheeks heated, and her eyes shifted up, away from his tantalizing treasures. He gave her a wicked grin.
Pulling her against his body, James let her feel the way she had aroused him. He knew he should have returned her to her bed, but he wanted to join her in it, despite his conscience telling him otherwise. Her lips were honey-flavored from the mead, sweet and tender, her body soft and warm as he pressed himself against her. The slight intake of her breath tantalized him all the more. Again, he bent his head and kissed her.
Lips like silk caressed him back. Demurely at first. He released her wrist and wrapped his arms around her as her breasts rose with her quickened breaths. Her fingers skimmed across his naked back, sending ribbons of desire coursing through him. Never had he felt in such a way, tortured to the outer edges of the world, filled with ragged desire that he knew he could not fulfill. ‘Twas more than foolish to press his advantage with the lady.
Yet when she tentatively kissed him back, she ignited the flame deep within, and he tossed aside all convention. He wanted her more than he had ever wanted a woman. She was his gift from the sea, his to keep and hold.
He deepened the kiss, and she opened herself to him. His knees weakened. ‘Twas more than daft. No woman had ever made his head spin. He would kiss her and be done with the infatuation. ‘Twas Catriona whom he would wed and bed soon.
Caressing Eilis’s tongue with his, he forgot all about Catriona and concentrated on the sea nymph in his arms. He stroked her breast and felt the nub peak, begging for his attention. He closed his eyes, desiring to bare her to his touch. Why did the lass not push him away? Instead, she leaned into his embrace, her breath nearly inaudible, her heartbeat racing.
“Tavia,” Eilis managed to get out, and he cursed himself inwardly as he finally heard the woman’s light footfalls nearing the lady’s chamber.
Taking a deep breath, he moved away from the lass, his painful arousal reminding him of where he’d nearly gone with her. It could not happen again. ‘Twas only a ruse he was bound to play with Eilis, naught more, and he could not be with her in his bedchamber, alone, without witnesses again.
Tavia greeted Fergus at the door to Eilis’s room. “All is quiet, Fergus?”
“She is still in His Lairdship’s chamber,” Fergus replied or warned.
James couldn’t tell which. He should have sent Eilis back to her chamber, but instead, he waited with her until Tavia came to his, not willing to give Eilis up just yet.
After crossing the lady’s chamber, Tavia peeked into James’s chamber, her face flushing as she observed Eilis with him. Tavia lowered her eyes. “My laird, I am sorry if the lady disturbed your sleep.” Her words expressed profuse apology.
“Nay, ‘tis not a problem.” He motioned to the goblet. “Drink up, Eilis, so I will be assured you can sleep.”
Annoyed James would watch her, Eilis drank the mead. Even Fergus and Tavia kept an eye on her progress. She tried to leave some of it, but James motioned for her to finish it all then bowed his head to her slightly when she was done.
“Now, may we all get some sleep?” James turned to Fergus. “You may retake your post.”
When Fergus closed the door, James said to Eilis, “I would tuck you in if it meant you would go where you need to be. But I will let Tavia take care of it.”
Eilis scowled at him, whirled around, and returned to the bedchamber. Instantly, her head swirled. By the time she reached the bed, she felt verra woozy.
From a great distance, she heard James and Tavia whispering to each other. How discourteous. Yet she greatly wished to know what secrets they shared with one another.
She barely made it into bed, dressed and all. Tavia hurried across the chamber and pushed Eilis against the bed before she collapsed on the floor.
The low light in the room faded to pitch.
“Sleep well, my lady,” James said, his lips curved up slightly as Tavia removed Eilis’s shoes and recovered her with the blanket. The lass would not disturb his sleep any longer this eve.
‘Twas only a short while later after returning to bed, that rough pounding on the door wakened James. Now what was the lass up to? “Aye,” he called out from the bed.
“My laird, Daran MacLeod has come seeking your help. Dunbarton’s men raided his farm near our border and took his young daughter, Anna.”
Chapter Seven
“I want five men ready to go now,” James told Fergus as he jerked his tunic on, ready to end this business with Dunbarton and his men once and for all. Never had they done anything so low as to steal a child. “Five volunteers. But not Niall.”
“Aye, my laird.” Fergus hurried out of the chamber.
James had barely made it down the stairs when Niall waylaid him. “You cannot mean to take on Dunbarton’s men with only five of our own.”
“We are slipping in and out with the girl, naught more at present.”
“But Fergus said I cannot go.”
James grabbed his cousin’s shoulders and gave him a firm squeeze. “While my brothers, Eanruig, and I are away, you have to be in charge, Niall. The clan is counting on you. ‘Tis your place.”
Niall’s eyes widened. “Let me go in your stead then.”
James rushed down the stairs. “Nay. Not this time. Stay and make sure Eilis does not run
away again.”
“She tried again?” Niall asked, keeping up with his quickened pace.
“Aye.” James headed outside the keep. “Fergus was guarding her chamber, but he will come with me. Have someone else take his post.”
“Aye.” Niall slammed his fist into the palm of his hand, itching for a fight.
James knew Niall would do right by them if he was needed to govern the MacNeill clan in his absence.
“She is sneaky, Niall,” James cast over his shoulder as his cousin followed him to his saddled horse.
In all seriousness, Niall nodded. “You have my word I will keep the lass here. You can see for yourself upon your return.”
James and his men mounted their horses and, with well wishes from the men on guard, the party slipped beyond the curtain wall into the pitch black night. James and his men knew the land, whether it was night or day, and made their way to where Dunbarton’s men had fled across the MacNeill border.
No one spoke a word, the only sounds the horses clopping on the ground and a cool breeze stirring the heather. In the distance, peat smoke burned in a dwelling. When they grew closer, James recognized it as the croft where the girl had been taken.
The men separated from one another, making bird sounds to keep in touch. ‘Twas not too far into Dunbarton’s land that James heard the raucous peal of laughter from a bunch of drunken men. Had they believed themselves invincible from the MacNeill at this late hour? That James and his men would not track them and thwart their evil deed?
Fergus cawed to James, and he signaled him back as they drew closer to the peat smell of a campfire. The light danced in the dark from the crackling flames. Six men sat drinking while a seventh struggled with the girl, no more than twelve summers old.
‘Twas the redheaded girl James and his companions sought.
With his men in place, James galloped into camp, signaling the beginning of the battle. “Buaidh Na Bas!” he and his men cried out.
The startled Dunbarton men scrambled to gain their feet before they could unsheathe swords.
Instantly, James’s men clashed with the brigands while James targeted the one holding the girl. His black eyes hard, the man held his sword to the girl’s throat, threatening to cut her.
“Do and all your kin are dead men,” James warned, drawing closer, as the steel of swords striking one another rang out in the woods.
The girl sobbed and shrieked.
“I will let you go, if you release the lass unharmed,” James conceded, although he didn’t wish to make any such concession with the brigand.
“And the others.”
The woods had grown still, deathly quiet. James glanced back, but his men had already dispensed with the others. “They have met their Maker. What of you?”
The man peered around James and, seeing his claim true, shifted his gaze back to James. “You will let me go?”
Aye, you coward.
“I said I would, and know you I always give a man my word and keep it.”
The man threw the girl at James and ran off into the dark.
“You cannot let him go, Laird James,” Ian said, stalking in the direction of the swine.
“Aye, lad. Stand down. I gave my promise. Anna’s life was more important.” James pulled her onto his horse. “There now, lass. We shall return you to your da’s croft and give you and your family safe passage to the keep in case Dunbarton’s men plan further mischief this eve.”
The young girl clung to him, her body trembling, but the tears had finally ceased. Anna’s fear made James reconsider how worried Eilis was about her family knowing her whereabouts. If ‘twas a betrothal she didn’t wish, he could do little about it, he feared.
Before long he was certain someone would make mention of the lass they’d plucked from the sea. Surely, someone would have been looking into the matter. And the way tales spread, no telling how far the stories would have traveled.
****
Much later that eve, James and his party had escorted Anna and her family and all their sheep to Castle Craigly. Niall hurried to greet them, his face brightening to see James return whole.
“Who is the guard for Eilis?” James asked, as he made his way to her chamber door.
“I was keeping vigil.”
His heart skipping a beat, James glanced at his cousin.
Niall gave him a shrug. “She did not escape.”
“But you came and greeted me upon our arrival and left the door unguarded.”
“For only a wee bit.”
Clenching his teeth, James shook his head. “The lass would only need a wee bit o’ time. Fetch a guard for what’s left of the eve.”
Neill hurried off down the hall. James grabbed a lighted candle and peeked into the chamber. Not being able to see the ladies in bed for the dark, he walked into the room.
“Tavia,” he whispered.
Silence.
He couldn’t help but feel the lass had managed to slip away.
“Tavia,” he said a little louder, to no avail. He drew closer to the bed, until he was able to see Eilis, her covers down at her waist, her arms bared in the sleeveless chemise, the fabric so sheer he could make out her enticing breasts. He stared at the rounded soft mounds and the rose-colored nipples standing out against the fabric, knowing he should look away but could not.
Tavia stirred, and the ropes holding the mattress creaked.
He glanced in her direction.
“My laird,” she whispered, her eyes rounded. “What is the matter?”
“The door was left unguarded. I called out to you, but you did not wake. I had to ensure Eilis was still here.”
Tavia looked over at Eilis then raised her brows. “All of her appears to be here, my laird.”
The tips of James’s ears grew hot.
Tavia smiled. “The herbs I plied her mead with will not wear off ‘til late in the morn.”
“Aye.” He meant to keep his eyes averted and return to his chambers, but he couldn’t help himself and glanced down at the lass’s angelic look. And a little lower, at the treasures she possessed.
“Good night, my laird,” Tavia said, yawning then she rolled onto her side with her back to James.
“Night, Tavia,” James muttered, and to ensure a guard was posted, he returned to the hall instead of going through his chamber door.
Ian greeted him with a boyish grin. “Niall gave me guard duty for the lady, my laird.”
The lad was excellent at horsemanship, keen with the blade, and a tremendous spy, but when it came to women, they easily got their own way.
James gave him a warning look. “You will not let her pass.”
“Aye, my laird. Niall warned me she is as slippery as a pearl.”
James shook his head and made his way for his bedchamber. “That the lass is.”
But after this despicable business with his neighboring clan, another raw concern came to mind. What if the Dunbartons waylaid Catriona’s escort?
She and her escort would know the troubles he was having in the land. He rubbed his whiskered chin. He would send some of his men to meet and escort her safely to Castle Craigly. ‘Twas the only way he’d be assured of her safe journey.
****
Late the next morning, James found Eilis getting a piece of brown bread from the cook in the kitchen to break her fast, although the rest of his people had done so much earlier in the day. He smiled at her, glad the herbs had worked. “Did you have a good sleep this morn?”
She gave him a scalding look like he’d better not say another word.
He hadn’t given the order for Tavia to drug Eilis so she’d sleep the rest of the morning, although if he’d thought of it, he might have done so to keep her from attempting another escape.
As annoyed as she acted, he assumed practicing their charade that she was interested in his hand in marriage would not work this day. Although the way he had mishandled her the night before made him realize he needed to ensure he was never left alone with the
lass again.
The swollen knot on her temple had faded considerably, and the skin around her eyes was more of a yellow-greenish color now. Again, he was reminded of the girl he had rescued a couple of years earlier from the incoming tide before she’d been swept into the cave and drowned.
Eilis looked up from the table, and her face blanched. Turning to see what concerned her, James found one of his mother’s ladies-in-waiting staring at Eilis. Lady Allison quickly looked at James, curtseyed then headed for the kitchen garden.
“Hold,” James said. “You look as if you have seen my father’s ghost, Lady Allison. What ails you?”
The woman cast a glance in Eilis’s direction, looked at James, turned her gaze to the floor, and quickly shook her head. “Naught, my laird.”
“You seem to recognize the lady. Do you know her?”
“Nay, my laird. ‘Twas just that I had not expected anyone to be in the kitchen since the meal has been eaten sometime past. Forgive me, my laird.”
If it were not for the fact that Eilis seemed just as distraught to witness Allison as the maid was to see her, he would have assumed the woman was just flighty the way so many of them were when they were in his presence of late.
Even now, Eilis wrung her hands and seemed ready to take wing.
He nodded. Mayhap his mother could speak with the woman when she seemed unwilling to speak with him.
“Verra well, Lady Allison. Continue with whatever you were about.” He turned his attention to Eilis. “Come, you and I have work to do as well.”
Eilis looked faint, and James smiled. Teach her to keep secrets from him. Before long he would know all about the lovely lass.
“A moment of your time, lass.” James offered his hand to Eilis.
She looked cross but took his hand and rose from the bench. “Tavia had no need to drug my mead last eve.”
James cast her a sardonic smile. “Tavia needed her sleep. If you had sent her to fetch for you all night long…” He tsked. “Surely, wherever you are from, you did not mistreat servants thusly.”
