As he watched Fia helping there, he could not help but realise that, if he did not please his godfather, there was one good thing to come of it. Her. He could go to Brodie Mackintosh himself and explain his involvement. In confirming that ’twas not a Cameron plot and with the King’s signet as proof, Niall might be able to find a place there and keep Fia as his own.
His heart wanted that. His soul did too. She smiled and he knew it. At the sound of her laughter, as one of the servants tried to balance bowls and dance, he needed to claim her. She glanced over at him at that moment and he saw the expression in her gaze.
It made him want to drop all pretence and expose his every secret to her. It made him want to beg her forgiveness. It made him want her as he never had wanted any woman in his life.
What made this ever worse was that he read more than the frank desire in her eyes. She wanted him. Oh, but it was nothing as simple as lust in her gaze. He saw a dangerous combination of wanting and...loving. The nobleman within him urged him to leave now, to make his way to the King and end the charade. The rogue he was now could not have left even if he tried. Every moment with her now was a step towards complete and utter disaster.
Mistress Murray thankfully broke the moment when she stepped between them, on her way down the corridor in which he stood. As he shifted to let her pass, her constant smile disappeared and she whispered so that no one else could hear her.
‘Ye are no more brother to her than I am,’ she warned. ‘If ye hurt that lass, ye’ll be answering to me first.’ Niall stumbled back against the wall at the vehemence of her words. ‘Finish yer game and let her be.’
Did the lass engender the same fierce protection from everyone who met her? He wanted to laugh then, but this was serious. Mistress Murray saw more than Fia did and she was the centre of gossip and talk in this town. Though she used it, he’d noticed, as entertainment, he understood the weapon it could become.
He nodded without saying a word. Arguing would make things more difficult. She knew their story was a fraud and knew he was one as well. But that much, Fia knew. He sensed that the innkeeper knew even more. Her eyes flared when he looked at her.
‘Ye talk in yer sleep,’ she said. With a glance towards the kitchen, she nodded. ‘Finish it.’ She walked away, raising her voice and warning him not to stumble.
Niall needed to find a way to get a message to Edinburgh and arrange his return and a meeting with the King. It was a thing that could customarily be arranged through an inn such as this one, with people travelling to and fro, into the King’s city on any given day. But, he could not entrust such a message to Mistress Murray now. He had no doubt the woman would read every word of it and raise questions he’d not even thought of then.
He remained out of bed the rest of the day, pushing himself harder than he had. There was so much to do and he must be on his feet to do it all. First, he would find a way to send his message. Then he would seek out a way to get to Edinburgh and make his case to the King. He was tired of the subterfuge. Tired of the constant lying. Tired of deceiving the one person who’d given him his life back.
Mostly he was tired of not having a life to live. Nearly a decade of jumping at the King’s commands, doing any nefarious deed he wanted done, was too long. Too much. It needed to be over.
Exhausted in every possible way, Niall lay on the bed later, thoughts and plans and other plans tumbling in his mind. Within days, he needed to set his plan into action. No matter what happened, he would see to the lass. She did not deserve the changes wrought to her life by Iain Dubh or the man he used to be. He rubbed his face and waited for the lass to enter the chamber, ever mindful of Mistress Murray’s very credible threat.
* * *
Fia had noticed the conversation and encounter between Mistress Murray and Iain and knew the woman saw through their lie. She had a keen eye for seeing through concocted stories. She must have heard thousands of made-up excuses and fabrications while she tended to her guests and customers here. So, it surprised Fia little that the woman had seen through theirs now.
After helping with some of the preparations for the morning when the inn would be filled with hungry travellers wanting to break their fast before leaving, she tugged off the handkerchief from her hair. No matter how cold it might be outside, a kitchen like this with its huge hearth and oven always lit held the heat within it. She walked to the doorway that led outside and let the cool night air pass over her, easing her as the woman sent her servants off to bed.
‘I told ye that ye dinna hiv to do chores like this,’ Mistress Murray said.
Holding out a mug of ale to her, the woman motioned to the chairs next to the huge table where most of the kitchen work was done. Fia accepted it gratefully and drank some before sitting down as directed.
‘I feel better keeping busy. At home, I am accustomed to helping when I can.’ Fia pushed her hair back and, without needing to think about it for her hands were so used to the task, she braided her hair under control again.
‘And where is home, Fia?’ She’d fallen right into the woman’s well-set trap. Before she could think of something to say—for it was more difficult to lie to this woman by the day—Mistress Murray shook her head and patted Fia’s hand. ‘We both ken yer no’ a lowlander named Corbett. Yer a Highland lass by my best guess.’
Fia could not voice another untruth to this woman. She nodded without saying a word.
‘’Tis no’ my intention to pry,’ she began. In watching this woman over the last days, Fia understood that her most ardent prying would begin now. ‘But are ye in some kind of trouble?’ She leaned in closer and spoke softly. ‘Ye and yer brother?’ She winked as she said brother, telling her in clear terms that their pretence was over.
‘Nay,’ she said as confidently as she could. ‘We are not in trouble.’
‘Then why are ye no’ at home? Why are ye travelling wi’ him?’ She nodded her head in the direction of the chamber Fia shared with Iain.
Fia thought before she answered the question. And then thought again, not willing to give out knowledge about him or even how they’d met, since it could get him in trouble. So, finally, she shrugged.
‘’Tis quite complicated, Mistress. I will return home, soon I think, but first there is something I need to see to the end,’ she admitted.
She’d spoken the truth. No matter how things began between them, she knew in her heart that there was something more now. She saw it in his gaze and heard it in his words. And that was why she would learn his truth before she returned home.
‘Dinna be stubborn, lass,’ the woman advised. ‘I ken yer mam would greet ye wi’ open arms no matter what.’
There it was. Stubbornness.
She was too stubborn to let this go. If her whole life had to change, and it would indeed, she wanted to know why. Why had he been there? What did he know? Why did he have to make her fall in love with him? Why could her silly dreams not come true?
Fia knew the answer to the last one and it taunted her every day. Dreams were not meant for the likes of her. Oh, high and mighty Highland lairds and ladies might see theirs come true. But for a simple Highland village girl, no matter the company she kept, it was simply not meant to be.
‘Aye, Mistress,’ she finally said, standing and washing her mug out in the bucket. ‘My mam will welcome me home.’
‘But yer no’ going yet?’
‘Nay. Not yet,’ she said, with a shake of her head. Fia glanced down the corridor towards the chamber she shared with him and then back at the woman who was trying to help. ‘But soon. Very soon.’
She made her way quietly down the hallway and lifted the latch. He lay on his back on the pallet, his one arm stretched over his head and the other across the pallet as though waiting for her. He mumbled in his sleep constantly, when he was not snoring, but she had understood little of it now.
/> It had been worse when the fever took control over him. When his body was racked with pain and heat, he did not mumble. He cried out loudly and spoke to the demons that troubled him.
Dishonour. Treachery. Exile.
Terrifying words that were part of the mystery of him. She’d remembered what he’d whispered when she’d asked him what he was—I am a man who had sold his honour to the one who will pay the most. What had he done and to whom had he sold his honour?
The strangest thing was the way he said these things in the middle of the night. Pain and remorse filled his voice with every declaration he made. With every name spoken. With every prayer uttered.
Now, since Glynis gave permission to remove the brace at night, he’d been sleeping more soundly. And spoke little of the things he only remembered in dreams.
Fia stood watching him then and thought of what was coming. No matter how stubborn or curious she was, she knew there was no way to stay here and avoid trouble.
Days. Two, possibly three days were all that was left to them here. A place where she did not ask all the questions she wanted answered. A place where he turned to her in the night and sought and offered comfort. A place where she could pretend everything would work out for them.
Once his leg was stronger, he would travel to Edinburgh and she would lose him. Even though he gathered her in close to him and kissed the back of her head and neck when she settled there, she could not see a way in which she could keep him.
Worse, she suspected that learning the truth would make her want to leave him behind.
Chapter Eighteen
Like the time in the cave, it all began in the middle of the night with a dream.
His kisses had stirred her more than she’d ever admit to him and she’d been thinking about what love play might be like. The women in Drumlui—married, widowed or those with lovers—made no secret of the pleasures that could be had with a man during a long winter’s night. Or even a short summer’s night.
In her curiosity, she noticed things. Things between men and women. In that first dream, they had done some of those things. She wanted to touch him, so she did, stroking his skin and touching his chest as she’d had a wont to do since watching him undress from his wet clothing. And when she wanted to taste his mouth as he had hers, she did that. All of it happened only in her dream. Until she opened her eyes and realised it was real and her hand was inside his shirt, stroking him.
But this time, it was different. She would not wait for a dream so she could blame her lapse in virtue on something or someone else. Nay, this time she would touch him and kiss him because she wanted to...she wanted...him.
Niall blinked a few times as his eyes opened. His body had reacted to her caresses already for the flesh between his legs swelled and hardened against his belly even now. Meeting his gaze, she pressed her hips closer to him and noticed that flesh surged in size and rigidity against her. Her skin burned now, the fabric of her shift irritated her and she wanted to touch him, her skin to his.
In the dim light of the lantern left burning low, she was watching him as she touched him. He’d taken to wearing his shirt and trews to bed, to keep up the pretence of their kinship should anyone enter without warning. But she wanted them gone now.
‘Fia...’ He whispered her name and she knew he would try to stop her. But she would not be naysaid in this. She touched her hand to his mouth and shook her head.
‘You owe me a boon, Iain Dubh, and I will claim it before we are parted.’ His eyes filled with some unknown emotion and then took on the wicked gleam she’d seen before. His body shifted towards her, but he might not have even known that. ‘Now, must I take my boon or will you give it freely?’
His mouth moved against her hand, but no sound came out. She smiled then, pleased at rendering him speechless, with his own words and without his usual quick retort. She lifted her hand. ‘Well, ’tis your choice.’
‘Take your boon, lass,’ he whispered. ‘Take what you want.’
Fia leaned up on one elbow and just studied him. Given the choice, given the power, she wanted to touch him...everywhere. So, she got up on her knees at his side and began lifting the edge of his linen shirt. He eased his body up off the bed a bit so she could remove it and then he laid back.
His body was impressive, even now after the injuries. He would give even Brodie a good fight with his strong chest and arms. She lifted her hand and stroked with one finger from his shoulder to his neck and then down, following the whorls of black curls on to his chest. When one finger was not enough, she spread her fingers out and slid them into the hair there. When he jolted as she touched his dark brown male nipple, she smiled.
When his breathing changed and he began to pant in shallow, quick breaths as she circled the sensitive areas, she did what she wanted to do. Taste him. Crouching up on her knees, she kissed along his jaw, skimming her lips over his several times. He grabbed her head and pulled her against his mouth and opened to her tongue.
Her body shook as she swept her tongue deeply into his mouth, seeking and finding and suckling on his. The place between her legs began to throb and grow wet. Her breasts ached and the tips hardened much like his flesh had. She pulled away at the thought and watched as it moved within his trews. She’d seen it when he’d changed his garments in the cave, but not enough to satisfy her curiosity well enough.
‘Nay, lass,’ he warned, seeing her intention. He reached out to grab her hand and she shook her head.
‘’Tis my boon to take as I please.’
‘Lass.’ One word, elongated into a sound that almost sounded as though he begged for something. Was he begging her to touch him or not to?
At first, she outlined the shape and size and hardness of it with her fingers. It moved to her touch and his hips thrust with each caress. He barely breathed now, gasping with each inch closer she moved. Fia tugged at the laces, loosening the front piece, and then she slid her hand inside. The curls there were tighter, springier, than the ones on his chest. And then she found his flesh and wrapped her hand around it. Hot. Smooth and hard. His manhood pulsed against her palm as she stroked its length. He hissed and reached down to take her hand.
‘Did I hurt you?’ she asked. She lessened her grip and stroked the length of it gently.
‘Nay.’ His voice was hoarse and more like a groan.
‘Should I stop?’
His answer was to thrust his hips once more, sending his flesh surging into her palm. Still grasping him, she set about to explore all the other interesting places on his body. The muscles of his chest and stomach rippled at every caress. She tugged his trews out of her way, pushing them down to expose his hips and thighs to her view. The lines and ridges that led from his hips to his manhood drew her gaze and her fingers and soon he was gasping and moaning.
‘Stop, I beg you,’ he said, covering her hands with his. ‘Or I will shame myself.’ He took several slow, deep breaths, holding her hands still while he did. Fia eased her hands from him and slid from the bed. ‘What are you doing?’
She knew she had him at a disadvantage. He still needed some help getting on and off that pallet and his leg did not move easily yet without pain. He was trapped there and she liked it but she truly did not know what to do next. He smiled the wicked smile of a rogue and held out his hand to her.
‘Come back here,’ he whispered, drawing her down to his side once more. ‘Lie here.’ He entwined their fingers and pulled her next to him. He slid one arm under her and shifted until they lay facing each other. He reached behind her head and loosened her braid. ‘That is something I have wanted to do since I saw you in the village.’
The touch of his hands as he used his fingers to shake the braid apart sent a tingling through her whole body. He gathered much of it in his hand and brought it over her shoulder, spreading it on his naked chest. Then, he leaned d
own and kissed her mouth. In one moment, it was gentle and easy and in the next he took control and took her mouth with relentless attention. She lost herself in the heat of his mouth and the caress of his hands.
Niall smiled against her mouth. Once more she’d surprised him. First in demanding her boon and then in being the one to control the passion that flared between them. There was a second when he thought she meant to put her mouth on his erection and he nearly passed out from the anticipation of it. Now though, the bigger surprise was that she once again put herself into his hands.
She shifted next to him, pressing closer and closer until he lifted her and laid her across him. Guiding her leg over his hip, he loved the pressure on his hardened flesh. He gathered the edge of her shift and slid it up, caressing her thigh and then cupping her bottom as he moved. The scent of her arousal spread around them as he turned and opened her thighs wider around him.
Now he made her gasp, returning the intimate touches to the most sensitive place on her body. She met his gaze as he slid the back of his hand along the inside of her leg, closer and closer to the curls there. He stopped less than an inch from the damp folds of flesh he longed to touch, to kiss, to suckle. He held still until she moved, thrusting her hips forward against his hand. Turning it, he parted the curls and delved into the folds, sliding one and then two fingers along them.
Her open-mouthed breathing excited him. He pressed deeper, using his thumb to find the small, raised nub that would intensify her pleasure. When he did, she pulled her hips back from the intense, exquisite caress.
‘Too much?’ he asked, not moving. She nodded and then shook her head and then shrugged, confused and surprised, he thought. ‘Come back to me.’ A few shallow breaths and then she slid her hips back to his hand. His thumb pressed against that place but he let her choose to move. Soon, she was allowing him to stroke her there.
Her head fell back and he felt her body tightening around his fingers. Her own fingers tried to find purchase on his skin and she raked her nails over his chest. Pushing in deeply, Niall slid one finger inside her, and then another, watching her reaction to each. A low, soft moan began from deep in her throat and he knew what would happen.
KIDNAPPED BY THE HIGHLAND ROGUE Page 17
