by Terry Spear
“You can wear your brother’s clothes and your spare plaid when you return, but you may be questioned about it. No matter what you do, I’m returning with you to your island.” He glanced at the bundle she’d brought for him. “We canna keep doing this, and you canna risk losing your life while aiding me.”
“’Tis my life.”
“Nay, ‘tis your da’s.” He noticed then a line of thunderstorms off on the horizon. They had not been there when he’d looked earlier. He swore with every stroke he made with the paddle, the dark clouds inched closer. “We willna make the return trip before the storm overtakes us. We’ll have to wait until it passes.”
“Och, can the day get any worse?” She didn’t say anything further, and he paddled hard to reach the island as fast as he could.
When they landed on the beach, he lifted her up and out of the boat. He meant to carry her to the loch and then return for the boat, but she objected.
“I will walk. It will warm me. And you can carry the boat. We canna leave it here. Hurry, I must return as soon as I can. But I have some news.” She was still too cold, but she was moving as fast as she could in the wet garments.
He tied the now-wet bundle she’d secured in the coracle—the only way she’d managed not to lose it when the boat flipped over—around his waist, and carried the boat over his head. “Are your men returning from battle?”
“No’ yet. Some of the ones who remained at the keep found the other man’s body in the bog.” She turned to frown at him, then blushed when she glanced at her plaid wrapped around his naked body. She quickly turned away.
“He should have been weighted down enough.”
“I think Wolf pulled him out.”
That reminded him of the terror Wolf would be on the wildlife here. “Wolf! Come!” He wasn’t certain if the wolf would mind him, especially when he had so many other distractions, and he was a wolf, not a dog. But Wolf came bounding over the hill straight for him.
Avelina’s mouth was agape. Then she shook her head.
“Stay with us, Wolf. To the right on the other side of the hill is my home, Avelina. The loch is this way.” He guided Avelina to the loch and then set the boat down. “While you wash, I’ll fetch your brother’s shirt and your spare plaid, and you can wear them until we can dry your clothes.”
“They think I killed you,” she said at the loch’s bank.
“That I was the man in the bog?”
“Aye. That I killed him and that he was you.”
“Then they think I am dead.” The notion was finally sinking in.
“Aye.”
He let out his breath. “That could be good. Do you need help removing your things?”
“Nay!”
“Aye. I’ll be right back with clothes and start the fire. Wolf, come!”
Wolf bounded after him as Quinn carried the boat to his shelter. Then he quickly started a fire and grabbed her dry spare plaid and her brother’s shirt. At least he’d washed and dried them a couple of days ago, and she’d have something warm to wear. He fastened his plaid with his belt and slipped on his boots. He needed to rinse off also, but for modesty sake, he didn’t want to return to the loch naked. And he only had her brother’s shirt, so until her léine dried, he could only wear the plaid. He grabbed her wet plaid too, to wash in the loch.
“Wolf, come.” He didn’t trust him to stay at the shelter, or to leave him alone with the food.
When he reached the loch, Avelina was naked and up to her neck in the cold water, but it was so clear, he could see her beautiful breasts, her rosy nipples peaked.
“Here, lass. Come out and get dry. I’ll wash off, and clean your clothes, and then carry your wet things back to the shelter.”
“I’ve washed my chemise, boots, and léine already.”
“Good then.” He stripped off his plaid, belt, and boots and walked into the water with her sopping wet plaid. She’d seen him naked so many times already, he didn’t think it would matter to her. He expected her to hurry out of the water, but then he realized she probably didn’t want him to see her naked and was waiting for him to turn his back to her, or leave.
“I’ll turn my back, so you can leave the water,” he said, rinsing out her plaid that he’d borrowed from her in the coracle, then laid it out on a rock to dry with her other garments.
“You have already seen me fair naked,” she said, her teeth chattering again, the whole while watching him.
“I have started the fire so that you can warm yourself.”
He heard her leaving the water, and she fell on the slippery rocks, giving a little oath. He was behind her in a shot, grabbing her up and carrying her the rest of the way out of the water. He dried her with his own plaid, then pulled her brother’s shirt over her head. He wrapped her in her spare plaid. Once he wrapped his damp plaid around himself and belted it, he pulled on his boots. He tied her wet plaid, belt, boots, and léine into a bundle, then looped it around his belt. He finally lifted her into his arms.
“You dinna—”
“Aye, I do. I want to. I need to.”
“Thank you. My da would kill me if he knew what had happened between us.”
“He would kill me if I didna do everything I could to ensure you dinna get sick.” He carried her to his shelter. When they reached it, he set her next to the fire.
“What were you doing swimming in the sea?” She looked at his arm where he’d been injured. “You are healing nicely.”
“Aye. Thanks to your care.”
“Your ribs?”
“Much better. You didna hear me groan once when I carried the boat or you, did you?” If he had to fight, he was sure that would be a different story.
She shook her head. “You were no’ thinking you were swimming to my home, were you?”
“Aye. This works better. I’ll leave you on shore, and I’ll try to make it to the mainland.”
“You intend to steal Lendon’s boat?”
“Unless I swim to the mainland.” Quinn laid her clothes out to dry by the fire.
“You wouldna make it.”
“I canna stay here forever. And you canna continue to risk seeing me. One of these days, your kin will return from battle and then what happens?”
She sighed, and he pulled her onto his lap to share his body heat with her. She nestled her head against his chest, her hair damp.
He kissed the top of her head. “I couldna quit thinking of you.”
“Nor I of you. I imagined you starving to death out here, or going mad with no one to talk to.”
“I made friends with the seals and the birds living here. If I’d had enough time, I would have made friends with the deer.”
She looked up at him and smiled. She had the most beautiful smile, though he didn’t mind when she scowled at him either. Any attention she paid him was well worth it. “I canna believe Wolf minds you so well. You would think you raised him from a pup.”
“I’ve always done well with animals. I think ‘tis a gift. You have it as well.”
“I’m no’ sure I could make friends with the seals.” She sighed. “All right. I’ll give you permission to steal Lendon’s coracle. He will be livid when he learns of it, but if it gives you a chance to make it to the mainland, then I’ll aid you. What will you do when you get there?”
He shook his head. “I have no idea. As much as I abhor the notion, I may be forced to become a mercenary like the men who came with me. I take it the others are dead.”
“Aye.” She gave another heavy sigh, relaxing in his arms.
This felt right to him. Like she belonged here, with him, to him, as he belonged to her.
“One of the women who has an interest in my da said he and my uncle, the chief of our clan, will be bringing contracts back to have us married off to make alliances with other clans,” she said.
He didn’t say anything for a while, just continued to hold her tight to warm her, wishing he had a place to call home that he could take her to. He’d n
ever felt like that about a woman. That he would take her in, call her his own, take care of her, and provide for her. But she’d touched at his heartstrings from the moment she had come upon him when he was injured on the beach, a perfect stranger, someone who could have been a danger to her. “I would take you with me, if I could.”
“I would go with you, if I could.” She turned her face up to his.
He kissed her, wanting so much more. And she was just as eager to kiss him back. “Ah, lass,” he sighed, tightening his hold on her, loving the soft curves of her body and the heat, the way she stirred his body to life. “You are more beautiful than any lass I’ve ever chanced to meet. If I had a home of my own, I would take you there. Handfast now, even. You would be mine.”
She wrapped her arms around him. “I’ve never felt the way I do for any man like I do for you. I would never have gone against my people’s ruling, or risked my life to do what I have done for you. I must be mad.”
“Nay, you love me, just a little,” he said.
Avelina chuckled. “A lot.” If he truly cared for her as much as he said he did, she thought of how far she would go to be with him. Had he said he couldn’t take her with him because he really didna want to feel encumbered with a wife? Then again, his brother was trying to kill him, and Quinn didn’t have a place to live. She would be leaving her comfortable home for who knew what.
Something like this? Wrapped in Quinn’s arms, she didn’t think she could want for more. Her da would be furious with her for running off, especially if he had an alliance with someone else, based on a marriage contract for her. But how could she wed someone else when Quinn seemed so right for her? She would always remember him. Always want to be with him. To help him. To love him. She couldn’t believe he’d been swimming in the sea naked, though it made sense, or that he’d join her naked in the loch. He seemed comfortable in his skin, and it made her feel more comfortable around him.
She didn’t think she’d feel the same way about another man, yet she couldn’t burden Quinn with a wife when he was having trouble enough of his own. And she didn’t think he would seriously consider taking her with him either.
“Do you know for sure that your da is returning with a marriage contract?” Quinn asked.
“Nay, it could be Gwyneth’s own idea. But both Fenella and I are of age, so it could very well be.”
Quinn just caressed her arm in a relaxed way, not saying anything. Wolf was sitting by the fire, his ears perked as he listened to the sea birds and seals speaking in their own languages. She thought Quinn might be resigned to the notion she could be married soon. But then he said, “You canna marry anyone else when you want to be with me.”
“We have no say in it.”
For a long time, he didn’t say anything further, and she assumed he realized she was right, but then he said, “Sometimes we must make our own destiny.”
She looked up at him. He was serious! And it gave her hope. “Where would we go?”
“I have fought alongside Malcolm MacNeill and his brothers. They have all said I could join them, but that was before my brother accused them of no’ bringing as many men to battle as Malcolm had promised and as a result, my da died.”
She sighed. “My mother always said my da would give me a choice, especially if he believed the man to be right for me.”
Quinn chuckled. “I dinna think he will believe that of me.”
“I believe it. We will go then, but I must get word to Fenella. I dinna want her to think I have drowned.”
“If you try to get word to her, surely you will be caught. What if she doesna want you to leave and raises the alarm herself?”
Avelina snuggled closer to Quinn, loving the way he held her in his arms and warmed her. “She would take you for her own, if I hadna already.” She rested her cheek against his chest. “She knows I have claimed you as my own prisoner.”
He chuckled. “I am yours to command.”
“No’ all men would say such a thing to a woman. Or if they did, they wouldna mean it. But with you, I know you do. When do we leave?”
“On the morrow. When the storm passes. We couldna outrun it. We’ll return to your island. I’ll stay either with Judith, or if it appears to be too much of a risk, I’ll stay at the abandoned croft. You return with Wolf to your keep. Tell Fenella what you intend to do, if you think she can keep a secret. Bring whatever you can with you, and we’ll leave early the next morn so that we’ll have time to make it to the mainland and be on our way.”
“With Wolf?”
“Aye. Unless you think Fenella would treasure having him when you are gone.”
Avelina pondered that for a moment, then shook her head. “She would, but if her da had drawn up a contract for her, and she is sent away, what would become of Wolf? Many of the men dinna like him. I would worry they’d kill him when we are both gone.”
“Then we take Wolf with us. Between the two of us, we can make him mind.”
“We are really going to do this?”
“Unless you change your mind. I will wait for you a day. Send me word if you dinna wish to go with me, and I will understand.”
“Or if I am delayed, or stopped?”
“Get word to me. Somehow.”
“You must leave without me if I dinna reach you the next day.” She didn’t want him to leave without her. But she knew he’d have to, if she wanted him to have a chance at escaping the island and her kin.
“I dinna want to leave you behind,” he said.
“You take Wolf with you. I know you will care for him. If I should have to wed another, I dinna want to worry about what might happen to him.”
“I will. We’ll take care of each other.”
She was glad they’d have each other. She just hoped Cormac didn’t finally succeed in killing Quinn the next time, if Quinn had the misfortune to deal with his brother again. But she hoped she could meet up with Quinn as planned and they’d leave together. If she was able to leave with him, she hoped she wouldn’t be making the biggest mistake of her life.
9
Quinn cooked fish he’d caught for them and they had that and bread and cheese, sharing some with Wolf. As soon as Avelina’s clothes were dry enough, she dressed, though she said, “I thought you were going to make a smaller shelter because you wouldna have Wolf here to share it with you.”
“I dinna like cramped quarters. I was in a cave-in when I was around eight and, if I have a choice, I willna stay in a place that is too confined.”
“Oh, no. How long were you trapped?”
“Three days. My da was angry with me for wasting everyone’s time spent digging me out when they had other duties to perform. Our mother had died when I was young, and Cormac made it out of the cave to tell the others. He saved my life.”
“It took them that long to dig you out?”
“Nay. I didna hear the men digging until the next day. I could see a trickle of sunlight when the dawn came.”
“Did Cormac trigger the cave-in?”
“Nay. He couldn’t have. He said he went for help, but no one believed him.”
“Do you believe him?”
“I did. But now I’m no’ sure that I do.” Quinn had thought about that day since the more recent events. He’d never asked anyone if Cormac had told the rest of their clansmen right away, or if he’d waited until the next day. Quinn had just been so relieved to hear the men moving the stones to free him from the darkness.
“Your da shouldna have been angry with you. You were only a child and his son. He should have been grateful you hadna died.”
“I’ve wondered of late what my brother had said to him. Had he told them we’d been together in the cave? That he’d managed to escape? Or that he had warned me no’ to go near it and see what happened?”
“Your brother is despicable.”
“Aye. Come. Let’s watch the incoming storm, and mayhap we can see a bit of a sunset.” Quinn turned to Wolf. “Stay here, Wolf.” Quinn didn’t want t
he wolf to chase all the wildlife off while he was on the island.
Quinn and Avelina made their way to a flat rock where he often watched the sunset. Tonight, they could watch the storm building and moving closer.
“’Tis like the day we were shipwrecked. It looked as though we’d have time to make it to the island that day, but no’ as we’d planned,” Quinn said, his arm wrapped around Avelina.
“Does it scare you now? When you see another storm?”
“Only if we were in the coracle, trying to reach your island. But here, with the safety of the shelter to use when we need it, the storms are invigorating.”
“I worried about you when the last storm passed over the island.”
“I worried if you had made it back to your island all right.”
The wind whipped about them and the lightning flashed in the dark sky, striking the dark ocean.
“Will they miss you no’ returning this eve?”
“Hopefully, they will believe the storm overcame me, and I stayed with a crofter. I have done so a couple of times before. They would have no need to worry about me unless Fenella is alarmed, knowing where I really had gone. If she thinks I’m in trouble, she might tell Haimish where I went. But they couldna do anything for me anyway, so I pray she doesna say anything to anyone.”
“I agree. I will make a bed for us when we return to the shelter. We need to share it for warmth.”
She smiled at him. “You didna need anyone to warm your bed before.”
“Nay. But I’m more worried about you staying warm.”
She sighed and snuggled next to him. “My da will kill us.”
“If we agree to be married?”
“He may still wish to kill you. Especially if he has a marriage contract for me.”
“He canna marry you off to another man, unless you agree. And if you ask me, I dinna agree.”
“I have fought feeling anything for you, Highlander. But…I canna help myself. I canna think of anything but being with you when we are apart. ‘Tis a sickness, I think.”
“Nay, it only means you love me.” He smiled down at her and kissed her mouth.
“What of how you feel about me?”
