He found her in his chambers. She’d changed out of her dress and was curled up in his bed holding one of his pillows tightly to her chest. Grace was in the chambers as well, facing the floor, her eyes wide with anger.
“Grace,” he said softly so he didn’t rile her and startle Moira, but it was already too late.
“What did he tell ye?” Grace demanded. “Ainsley spouted some nonsense about him enjoying violence against women, but that couldnae be the reason. Someone has been trying to kill ye, not Moira.”
“Grace,” Connor tried again, but Moira was sitting up. Her expression mirrored Grace’s, all that fury and rage. Pride rose up inside of him. It took more than Greg to keep his wife down.
“Nay, Grace is right. Things simply doonae add up. He confessed to me that he was targeting ye.”
“Moira, Greg couldnae have been the man after me unless he commissioned it,” Connor told her. “I suspected him as well, simply because he was a stranger, but he was surrounded by people during the incidents. If he confessed, then he did so falsely. I doonae know why Greg would say those things except to inflate his worth before he died. He took his own life before I could question him. He confessed to Ainsley that he has been obsessed with ye, Moira.”
“And so he decided he wanted to kill me?”
That part didn’t sit well with Connor either, but Moira turned her head and stared out the window. She no longer wanted to be a part of the conversation, and he wanted her to sleep. “He confessed to killing another girl on Covington lands. I have to assume that he wasnae right in the head, but ’tis over now. Grace, return to yer chambers, and I beg of ye to stay there.”
“Doonae worry about me,” Grace said under her breath. “I am far too tired tonight. Moira, tomorrow, if ye feel up to it, Ainsley and I will take ye out on horseback. We shall have a picnic!”
“Aye.” Moira forced a smile. “That sounds wonderful, thank ye.”
When Ainsley left, Connor gathered his wife in his arms and held her. “I am sorry,” he said hoarsely. “Oh, Moira, I am so sorry.”
“’Tis not yer fault.” Straightening, she sat in his lap and curved her hand over his cheek. “Ye could not have known what kind of monster was lurking inside of Greg. Ainsley didnae know. No one is at fault here except for him, and he is dead. It will do no good for ye to blame yerself or anyone else.”
“When I think of what could have happened to ye...” He kissed the tip of her nose. “Moira, I dare not think of what I would do if I lost ye.”
“I am right here, Connor.” Slowly picking up her skirts, she straddled him. “Ye have not lost me.”
Kissing him tenderly, she slowly ran her hands down, unbuttoning his shirt and trailing a finger down his chest to his abdomen. His whole body hardened with desire, but tonight, it was about something more. He needed to feel every inch of her to know for certain that she was all right. He needed to chase away the nightmares so when she slept in his arms tonight, she would know that she was safe.
He needed her to believe him when he finally told her the truth of how he felt about her.
She circled her arms around his waist, and he started to flip them. “Nay,” she whispered, stopping him. “Nay, I want ye just like this. Please. Slow and deep. I want to feel yer whole length.”
With a groan, he nodded, and she reached between them to free his member. For a few quiet moments, she stroked him, stoking the flames, and when he reached down to test her, he was pleased to see that she was wet and ready for him. “Now,” he said thickly. “My sweet, Moira, now.”
“Aye.” Moving, she slowly lowered herself onto him, and they both whimpered from the feel of them together. It was perfect. The fit, the heat, the friction. There was no need to hurry, only a need to draw it out and make it last as long as possible.
As she swirled her hips, drawing out every ounce of pleasure from him, he undid the buttons of her shift to loosen it and pulled it down to bare her breasts. Gripping her waist tightly, he shifted down the bed so that she leaned over him, and at every opportunity, he darted his tongue out to tease her nipples.
When they finished, they fell together, and she pressed her lips to his as they swallowed each other’s cries, their bodies shaking in the night.
At some point, he’d managed to get her shift off her, and he undressed as well. After a few hours of sleep, they made love again. She sighed and stretched languidly.
“Moira.” His chest squeezed with anticipation, but he kept his voice and his caresses along her back gentle. “There is something that I need to tell ye.”
Moonlight streamed in from the window, bathing her naked body in a soft glow, and when she turned to him, she looked as ethereal as an angel. Giving him a soft and sated smile, she blinked sleepily at him. “Am I going to like what you have to say?” she teased.
“I confess to not knowing, but I need to say it anyway. I want there to be no confusion about my affections.”
“Yer affections?” Straightening, she pulled the blanket over her body, her panic written all over her face. “Connor there is no need to discuss this.”
“There is.”
“We have an arrangement,” she reminded him.
The bloody arrangement! He wasn’t likely to forget it with her reminding him every day that she would soon separate herself from him. “Aye, and I will uphold that arrangement, but I still need to tell ye that I…”
“Connor,” she interrupted. “Please.”
“Moira, I love ye.”
Still clutching the blankets to her body, she slipped from the bed and pressed herself to the stone wall on the opposite side of the room. “Ye told me that ye have no capacity for love after what happened to ye, so why are ye lying to me?”
His hopes plummeted. “I thought it wasnae possible, but in truth, I never stopped loving ye. I didnae want to be hurt again.”
“Hurt?! Ye say that as if I am to blame! Ye are the one who sent me away, Connor. Ye believed that I was capable of murdering yer parents, and now ye tell me that ye never stopped loving me? How can it be both, Connor?”
“I will beg yer forgiveness for that day for the rest of my life, Moira, and I understand if ye never give it to me.”
“’Tis not forgiveness that I am withholding from ye, Connor. I am here, in yer bed, as yer wife. There is no need to forgive that day because I have moved past it. Ye are only saying this now because of what Greg did, but I am alive and so are ye. We will move past this, find our routine again, just as we moved past that day.”
“Obviously ye havenae!” he roared. “Or ye would not be calling me a liar now!” Furious, he got out of bed and began to dress. If she had told him that she didn’t love him back, that she would never love him back, it would hurt less than knowing that she didn’t believe his love. He’d done everything that he could to make her feel cherished and loved, but if he couldn’t make her believe it now, then there would never be any hope for them.
“I love ye, Moira, and I think deep down, ye know it to be true. Ye push back against me because ye are scared, and I deserve it, but I willnae have ye questioning my feelings for ye.”
“Where are ye going?” she asked softly.
“Somewhere where I can think.”
Faintly, before he clasped the door shut, he heard her sob.
22
Connor still had not returned to bed when there was a knock on the door. Brittania had already come and gone, so Moira was dressed when she opened it. “Ainsley.” She tried to force a smile for her friend. “Good morn.”
“Oh, Moira.” Ainsley teared up as she reached over and hugged her. “I am afraid that I didnae sleep at all last night. I was so worried about ye and sick with guilt.”
“’Tis not yer fault. As I told Connor last night, Greg had a monster inside of him, a monster that no one else could see, and ’tis no one’s fault but his own. Please do not shed a single tear over what happened last night. ’Tis over, and we are all going to be just fine. Grace mentioned tha
t we might have a picnic this afternoon. I think it will do the three of us some good.”
“Actually, if ye wouldnae mind, I was thinking that we might go out riding this morning.” Ainsley hesitated. “There is something that I must do.”
Moira wanted to tell her no. She wanted to go in search of her husband and to apologize to him. She’d handled last night badly. In truth, all she had ever wanted was to hear him tell her that he loved her, but he was right. As soon as the words were out of his mouth, fear and panic brought her back to that horrible day, where he proposed and cast her out within minutes. Greg’s actions notwithstanding, things had been wonderful there. The clan was starting to trust her. Her nights with Connor were breathtaking, and her days of managing the keep were pleasurable. Until she’d realized that she was pregnant, she hadn’t even thought about the cottage and the promises that they’d made to each other.
He told her that he loved her, and suddenly, she feared the worst. Something would happen now, something that would tear her away from all of this. It was easier for her to push him away, to try and go back to the way things were.
Then he’d walked away, and she’d never felt such an ache in her heart. What was she to do now? He would probably never want to see her again. She’d be relegated to the cottage.
Several months ago, it was exactly what she had wanted.
“It has something to do with Greg,” Ainsley added.
That brought Moira’s attention back. “Greg? Ainsley, if ye know more than ye are saying, then we must tell Connor.”
“Nay, I am not certain. All I know is that he continued to make trips out to the woods, and was carrying something in a cloth bundle. I think he was hiding something out there. I hate that he died without speaking to Connor. I want to know the truth of the man that I trusted, and I am certain that ye do as well, but I doonae want to bother Connor or any of the men in case this is all for naught. Please, Moira. Ye and I, we can end this together.”
Ainsley had a point. To get Connor’s hopes up that they might understand Greg better, only to realize the exploration was futile, might send him into a tailspin. “Shall we invite Grace?”
Reaching out, Ainsley took her hand and squeezed it. “In this, I think it will be better if ye and I do it alone.”
“All right. Are we walking or taking the horses?”
“Greg walked, so I believe it will be better if we walk as well. I did learn one thing from my husband, and that was how to track. We will see what Greg was hiding,” she said coldly. “And then I believe it might be best for me to leave. I have caused far too much trouble.”
“Not a chance. This is yer home now for as long as ye need it.” With one last look behind her, Moira wished that Connor had returned, but they would talk later, and she would make it right. Closing the door, she squeezed Ainsley’s hand again and released it. “Let us finish this.”
It was still early, but there were a few people out and about. News of Greg’s actions had spread, and everyone she met stopped and asked her if she was all right and apologized for their accusations against her. Despite everything, it warmed her heart to know that they were starting to like her.
“Ye really have turned things around,” Ainsley said as they stepped off the path and into the western part of the forest. “I have to be honest with ye, Moira, I didnae think that ye could do it. Highlanders are a stubborn lot and can hold a grudge for years.”
Pride swelled inside of her. “I have worked hard to greet each and every one of them, to allow them to get to know me rather than make assumptions through a bunch of rumors. I am just happy that ’tis paying off.”
Quietly, they walked deeper into the woods. “What do ye think he hid out here? A journal of some sort? Evidence of past sins? Evidence that might point to the person he hired to try and kill Connor?”
“Hmm?” Ainsley asked. “Oh, I doonae know about all that. I imagine that all we might find out here is proof that Greg used his immeasurable skills out here to bring a woman pleasure.”
Stopping abruptly, Moira blinked in confusion. “Ye saw Greg bring a woman out here?”
With a snort, Ainsley smirked. “No, Moira, I was the woman that Greg brought out here. Him and his brother. There is nothing out here but trees and birds. Certainly no one to hear ye scream.”
A slight chill crawled down her spine. Right before her eyes, the woman that she’d considered a friend seemed to transform. Gone was the teary wide-eyed innocent look of a woman who’d suffered betrayal after betrayal. In its place stood a hard woman with a calculating look on her face.
And hatred in her eyes.
“I doonae understand,” Moira whispered. “What is this all about?”
“I doonae relish the thought of killing ye. Ye have always been kind, but I am afraid that things have not gone to plan.” Slowly, she reached under her skirts and pulled out a weapon she’d been hiding under there. Swallowing hard, Moira backed up a few paces and held a hand over her belly. Ainsley gripped the mallet and followed the action with a stark smile. “My dear, sweet, Moira. Ye willnae leave these woods alive, and that child of yers will never be born.”
Then, she struck.
Once again, Moira was gone. Connor blew out his breath and cursed himself inwardly. Nothing he did was right, and last night, he’d walked out on his wife after she’d nearly been killed while under his protection. It wouldn’t surprise him if she decided she’d rather live on the opposite side of his lands and never see him again.
She was nowhere in the keep, and he’d already checked Miriam’s cottage on the way in. Remembering that Grace had said something about a picnic, he went in search of her and found her looking for him. “Connor, I was looking for Grace and Ainsley, but I cannae find them. A few people have said that they have seen them heading toward the western part of the border, but why would they be going there? We are supposed to be meeting in the kitchen.”
He frowned. “I upset her last night and left. Perhaps she needed to go for a walk this morning.”
“Ye upset her? After everything that she went through? Connor Sinclair, what did ye do?”
“I told her that I loved her.”
Pressing her hand to her heart, she smiled so sweetly before launching herself into his arms. He barely caught her and stumbled back with a grunt. “Ye arenae nine anymore,” he grumbled.
“I am so happy with ye that I doonae even care that ye are making fun of me. Connor, I knew that ye would realize that the two of ye are meant to be together. I know Moira is stubborn, but she will come around. Ye will see. I am just so happy that ye took the first step.”
“Aye, and she all but called me a liar. I got upset and left her, Grace. I need to find her so I can let her know that I understand, to know that I will take her whether she believes me or not. Do ye know when they will return?”
“Connor, I think we should go to her. I havenae wanted to say anything because I thought perhaps it was all in my head, but there is something strange about Ainsley since she’s arrived. She sneaks off in the dead of night and at all hours. I believe she was having an affair with Greg because more than once I saw them leaving for the woods. I would never say anything to her about it because she deserves happiness, but then she acts so shy when we talk about men. And now we know that Greg was a killer.” Grace’s voice trailed off, and she bit her lower lip. “I doonae think that Moira should be alone with her.”
Horrified, he stared at his sister. “Why did ye not say anything to me last night when we caught Greg?”
“It wouldnae be the first time that a woman chose poorly when it came to a man, and she already felt so much guilt. I didnae want to humiliate her further by dragging her secret out. I lost one friend for years after unfairly accusing her. I could not do it to another, but the more I think about it, the more things simply do not add up. I doonae think she is being honest about everything, Connor. Let me help ye look for her.”
“Nay. Ye will find Mungo, Clyde, and Nathair, and have t
hem form a search party. Then ye are to stay in the keep.”
“I want to help!”
“Ye have, and ye are, but Grace, I must know that ye are safe if I am to find my wife.” Pulling her close, he squeezed her. “Promise me that ye will do this for me.”
“Aye,” she sniffed. “This time, I will stay behind. They left on foot.”
There were paths too narrow for a horse in the dense woods along the western border. It was useless for hunting but it was the perfect place for a secret tryst.
Or perhaps something more devious.
He didn’t want to believe that Ainsley was a killer, but with Moira’s life at stake, he didn’t dare disbelieve anything. Hurrying, he raced to the woods but was stopped short when something stepped out onto the path and smirked at him before he raised his sword and struck. The blade sliced along his cheek and left a red trail trickling down his shirt.
It was the man’s likeness more than his surprise assault that had Connor stumbling back.
“Tis not possible. Ye are dead!”
“Perhaps I am a ghost,” Greg declared with a ghoulish grin as he raised his sword. It was still dripping with Connor’s blood. His face twisted with rage. “Or perhaps I had to stand by in the shadows while ye murdered my brother.”
“Twins.” Of course. There was no other explanation. Connor had been suspicious of Greg, but he was always surrounded when the incidents occurred. Now, it could have been him or his brother. “So are ye Greg?”
“George.”
“Well, George, ye should know that yer brother took his own life, like a coward.” Carefully, Connor circled the other man. He had a small dirk at his side, although it would do no good until he could get the sword away.
“Ye shut yer mouth! My brother would never! Ye murdered him in those prisons, and now ye spread filth!”
“Even if he didnae, I would have had every reason to execute him. He attacked my wife.” A thought struck him, and every hope he had that Moira might be safe fled. “Ainsley knew.”
Highlands’ Forbidden Deeds Page 33
