Helice’s chin went up. “So no matter what you say, I will remain here.”
Stunned, Hannah stared at her a moment more before shaking her head, gathering her senses and walking out of the kitchen. She entered the Great Hall to be greeted by the door being ripped from its hinges.
Blair’s husband stood in the open doorway and acknowledged her with a respectful nod, then returned to work. Soon the sound of splintering wood and stone being chipped away echoed through the Great Hall, yet Hannah paid it no heed, her thoughts on Helice’s shocking reveal.
How was it that no one knew, or did they? That Slain had been wed once before? What had happened to his wife? Why did Slain not speak of the marriage?
Secrets revealing more secrets, would they never end?
How could she complain when she had her own secrets? Still, the news troubled her and also reminded her of how little she knew about her husband.
“Your head will pound soon enough, if you sit here and continue to listen to that noise.”
Hannah looked up to see that her husband had entered the room, her heart swelling at the sight of him. Why was it that he seemed to grow more and more appealing to her every time she laid eyes on him? And what was it with the little lurch and tug to her stomach that grew as he neared her?
Guard your heart or you will lose it.
She feared it might already be too late.
A silent reminder of what she had just learned raised disturbing questions. What of his first wife? Did she lose her heart to him as well?
He snatched her cloak off the bench. “Come, we will go for a walk and leave Imus and his men to work.”
Hannah stared at her cloak, not even remembering that she had taken it off. She walked over to him and he slipped it over her shoulders. She caught her gasp before it could slip from her lips when his hand drifted down along her arm to take hold of hers, closing around it with strength. He led her out of the room and through the kitchen, Helice nowhere in sight. She thought he intended to walk in the woods and was surprised when he led her around the back of the keep and down a path, open land to either side of them, with woods bordering the land a distance to the left. Not so to the right, rolling hills rippled over that land, extending around to the side of the keep where the heather grew in abundance.
She looked out over the beauty of the land as they walked. Something familiar about it caught her eye and she turned to him. “There is a creek up ahead.”
Slain’s brow creased as he asked, “How did you know?”
“You did a drawing of this area, a map of sorts.” He seemed to tense beside her, his grip slightly tighter on her hand. “It is good to know the lay of the land and its vulnerability to attack.”
That mystified look, he had gotten when last she had said something strange, for a crofter’s daughter, appeared once again on his face.
“Your croft was vulnerable to attacks?” he asked.
She was quick to offer an explanation. “For a keep, attacks. For crofters, strangers who may mean harm. My father kept open land around us, so he could see who approached and make ready if necessary.”
“You are well versed in many things,” he said.
Hannah was not sure if he meant it as a compliment or if it puzzled him that she was well-versed… for a crofter’s daughter.
They continued walking, silence falling between them.
Slain wondered over Hannah. The more he spoke with her, the more he learned about her, and the more he questioned her story. She kept something from him, but what and why?
They reached the bank of the stream, its water flowing rapidly. On the opposite side of the stream was a brief stretch of land before one reached dense woods.
“Your land extends beyond the woods?” she asked, though knew his land was vast, having heard her father speak many times about it.
“Far beyond the woods. My ancestors were granted part of the land by various chiefs and rulers. Other areas were claimed from the spoils of battle. My grandfather allowed the chiefs of some of the defeated clans to keep their lands as long as they pledged their fealty to the Clan MacKewan, most have remained loyal.”
Hannah slipped her hand out of his and dropped down to sit on the ground, patting the spot beside her for him to join her, and smiling as she did. She wanted some time to speak with her husband. Not only to come to know him better, but because she actually enjoyed his company.
Slain stared at her a moment before lowering himself down and sitting close enough for their arms to brush each other. Her beauty never ceased to get his heart racing and his loins stirring, but it was her smile that really did him in. It invited and tempted.
“Tell me of your family’s croft,” he said, wanting to avoid kissing those far too tempting lips of hers, fearing one kiss would not be enough. He would want more, much more.
Hannah thought of the only croft she had ever visited with her mum. The crofter’s wife had claimed to be a healer and her mum had sought her out when she had taken ill and their own healer had done little for her.
“There is not much to tell. It was a good piece of land or so my father said. He worked it hard and expected my mum and me to do the same.” That was not so with the croft she had been to. The healer and her husband had four sons to help tend the land, while the healer tended those who sought her skill.
“That is the way of crofters, the land and survival demands it,” Slain said. “Why did your father truly sell you? It had to be more than being a disobedient daughter?”
She thought about what her step-brother had said to her and spoke the words aloud. “Plans changed.”
Slain caught the distant look in her eyes and he could see she was reliving a memory. He hated for her to revisit such a horrid time, but he wanted to know what had truly happened to her.
Again her thoughts went to her step-brother’s words, though she changed them to fit her response. “I became a burden who stood in his way.”
Anger rumbled through Slain, hearing the sadness in her voice. How could her father have treated her so cruelly? He reached out to take her hand in his and tempered his annoyance when he spoke. “You are no burden to me.”
She favored the way his strong hand devoured hers, clutching it firmly, and that he should consider her no burden warmed her heart and made it beat a bit faster. Her instinct was to move closer, rest her shoulder to his, turn her face up for a kiss that she sensed was wanted, and one she would not deny she wanted as well, yet she did none of that.
Instead, she could not help but ask a question, one that had plagued her since learning the news. One she needed an answer to. “What happened to your first wife?”
Slain dropped her hand as if it was suddenly hot to the touch, stood, and walked closer to the edge of the stream, keeping his back to her.
Hannah did not relent. She needed to know for her own sanity or was it her own safety? “Helice told me when I warned her I would let her go if she continued to be troublesome.”
He turned then, a flash of anger in his dark eyes. “This is Helice’s home. She remains here.”
“I have no wont to send her on her way. It was nothing more than a false warning. I simply wish she was not so cantankerous.”
“It is her way.”
“Tell me so I may understand,” she offered.
“You need not know.”
“I need to know why you made no mention of your first wife,” Hannah persisted.
“It is of no importance.”
“It is to me.” Hannah stood.
Slain approached her with quick strides. “Tell me what secret you keep from me and I will tell you of my first wife.”
Hannah took a step back away from him, his words startling her.
Slain snagged her arm with his hand before she could put too much distance between them. “I am no fool, wife. There is more to your story than you tell me.”
Stunned that he recognized the truth, Hannah found herself speechless.
Slain steppe
d closer to her, lowering his head as he spoke. “Secrets can only be shared when there is trust. Do you trust me, wife?”
Her response came easily. “Do you trust me, husband?”
It was Slain’s turn to be startled. She had turned his question on him and he responded in an angry tone. “How do I trust you when you do not tell me the whole of your story?”
“I could say the same of you,” she accused annoyed that while she wanted to trust him, caution warned against it.
He looked ready to spew his anger at her when a shout in the distance caught his attention.
Hannah turned and saw Helice waving for him to return.
He kept hold of her arm and their return walk was far different than when they had ventured this way. Their pace was rushed and they spoke not a word to each other.
When they reached Helice, she said, “You have a visitor.”
Slain’s hand fell off Hannah’s arm and he rushed off, saying not a word to her.
Helice walked off as well, though not before warning, “If you know what is good for you, you will keep hold of your tongue.”
Hannah entered the keep wondering over the visitor that had Slain rushing to meet and curious about why Helice would warn her to hold her tongue. About what and who? What Helice had told her about Slain? If that was so, it was too late and she was glad of it. She wanted to know about Slain’s first wife and he would be the only one who would tell her.
She drifted past Slain’s solar and heard voices raised in argument. They quieted again, as if they realized their mistake, though they raised again a moment later, stopping Hannah suddenly. Her eyes turned wide and her heart pounded in her chest. The voice sounded familiar. But what would Melvin, one of her father’s most trusted warriors, be doing here?
Was it him? If it was, did his presence here have anything to do with her?
Please, Lord, no, she silently prayed. Going home would mean certain death for her.
She listened, straining to hear what was being discussed, but she could catch only snatches that made no sense.
When quick footfalls approached the door, Hannah scurried away to hide in the shadows in the Great Hall. Her heart continued to pound and her stomach roiled so fearful was she if it was Melvin that he would see her.
Angry shouts followed the two men into the Great Hall and Hannah’s legs almost failed her when she saw that she was right. It was Melvin, though he looked to have aged since she had last seen him only two or was it three months ago? He was already an aged man, but he had grown more so, the gray in his long hair having devoured what dark strands had been left. The few wrinkles on his face had multiplied and fatigue seemed to fill his blue eyes that once were bright but had since dulled. He had always been kind to her and her mum, but first and foremost his allegiance had been to her father.
Melvin’s anger spewed out with his words. “You will regret that you did not accept his generous offer.”
“Generous?” Slain said his voice so strong it echoed in the Great Hall. “Ross MacFillan has never been generous. He is a greedy, ruthless man who takes what he wants or believes should be his. Clan MacKewan and all its holdings will never claim fealty to him.”
“You are a fool, Slain MacKewan,” Melvin shouted and shook a raised fist at Slain. “You leave your clan vulnerable with no warriors to defend it and refuse a generous offer to keep them safe.”
“Safe?” Slain shouted. “MacFillan leaves destruction wherever he goes.”
“Chief MacFillan is a—”
“Do not say generous man again or I will cut out your lying tongue,” Slain threatened. “MacFillan demands more and more from the clans he decimates, leaving them to starve while he grows his coffers and land.”
“You will regret this,” Melvin warned.
“The only regret I have is that I have yet to kill the foul, despicable, lying Ross MacFillan.”
Melvin turned and stopped, the men who had been working on the door having entered the Great Hall and spread out in front of the open door, axes, picks, and hammers in hand.
Melvin turned to Slain and had no time to protest, Slain ordering, “Let him pass. He has a message to take to Ross MacFillan. The Clan MacKewan will never bow, claim fealty, or surrender to the Clan MacFillan.”
Attack. Her father would attack the Clan MacKewan, as he had done to other vulnerable clans, and lay claim to it. What had Slain been thinking not making certain he had an army of warriors to defend his clan?
Slain had powerful friends. Would he call on them for help?
Either way, her presence here would be revealed to those she had been hiding from, leaving her where? Would her husband protect her as he had said he would or would it be easier for him to surrender her?
The men parted only enough for Melvin to slip past them, his feet taking flight to hurry through the crooked doorframe that was nearly repaired.
Slain nodded to the men and they returned to work.
Hannah held her breath, hoping her husband would return to his solar so that she could hurry up the stairs to her bedchamber and make it seem that she knew nothing of what had just happened.
She should have known better.
He walked straight to her, his hand reaching out to snatch her arm and she had to ask as he yanked her out of the shadows, “How did you know I—”
“I see in the darkness,” he answered before she could finish and rushed her to his solar.
She would have thought that impossible until the healer had told her how to use the darkness to see. She had learned that shadows, movements, sounds, and smells shed light in the darkness and that knowledge had helped her keep her sanity while imprisoned.
“Why were you hiding?” Slain demanded after shutting the door behind them.
She had not expected that question, though she had no difficulty answering it. “I did not think you would want me there.”
“So you hid instead of taking your leave.”
He trapped her with that one, but she was quick to respond. “I am unfamiliar with wifely duties in such a situation, so my instinct told me to conceal myself.”
“From this moment on, you will not now or ever conceal yourself. I want all to know I have wed and to meet my wife.”
That should be no surprise to her and yet it churned her stomach, for it meant it would not be long before it was discovered that she was Ross MacFillan’s daughter. Did she tell Slain now and be done with it?
Consummate the marriage first and seal your vows.
Oddly enough, she could not do that to him. She had grown to care for this man, though of late she wondered if she could possibly be falling in love with him. Or was she simply grateful for what he had done for her since her arrival here. He had saved her life twice and their marriage had offered her even more protection. But would that last if he knew the truth? And what of her father? How would he respond to the news that she had wed his enemy?
Time. She needed time to sort through it all. Time to come to know her husband better. Time to see if love was even possible between them? Unfortunately, Melvin’s unexpected presence here showed that time was something that was running out for her.
Hannah had not realized that her head had drooped, her chin nearly to her chest, until Slain slipped his finger beneath it and gently raised it. It was not his fine features that fluttered her stomach, it was the concern so potent in his dark eyes. It spoke louder than words… he cared. He did not hide it. It was there for her to see and she felt a tug to her heart.
“I want no worry burdening you. You are my wife and will remain so. You are stuck with me.”
Hannah had to look more closely to catch the slight teasing smile that caught at the corners of his mouth. Her smile was far from slight, it lit her face. “It is no chore being stuck with you.”
“You say that now, but you have yet,” —he paused and brought his face close to hers— “to hear me snore.”
Hannah erupted in laughter.
Her burst of laughte
r had an unexpected and unfamiliar laugh spilling from his lips. How long had it been since he had last laughed? He could not recall, but it felt good.
Hannah’s eyes softened when she stopped laughing and said, “I would not mind hearing you snore.”
The message in her remark was clear to Slain… she would be pleased to share his bed. It sparked his manhood, rousing it, and it also poked at his heart. As clear as her remark had been, he wanted his just as clear.
His hand had fallen off her face when she had laughed and he returned it there now, running a finger along her cheek and down to her chin. “Think well on it, Hannah, for I have a strong appetite for coupling. I may demand more than you want to give.”
“What if I want more than you are capable of giving me?”
Slain could not help but laugh lightly, especially since she said it so seriously as though it was possible. “The only problem I see with that is that you would probably be with child more often than not.”
Having a large brood pleased Hannah, her husband thinking her question humorous did not. “So you are telling me that you will never fail to pleasure me?”
“That, my dear wife, I can promise you.”
That he gave another little laugh annoyed Hannah. “And what recourse do I have if you do not? Do I seek another man’s bed?”
Slain grabbed both her arms and yanked her close, anger sparking his words. “Do not even joke about that. No man will touch you but me, and the day that I cannot please you will be the day I am put in the ground.”
Hannah felt a jab to her heart at the thought of him dying and she reacted without thought. She pressed her cheek to his, her whisper sounding like an edict. “You will not die before me.” She brought her lips to his and kissed him gently as if sealing her command with a kiss.
Both her words and kiss were demanding and tore through something inside him, breaking past some of the shields and barriers he had erected. He felt them shatter as her kiss deepened and she worked her way further into his heart.
His hands dropped away and his arms circled around her, pulling her close, needing her there snug against him as his lips took charge of the kiss. It was as if he was kissing her for the first time, tasting, savoring, and enjoying every bit of her. Her lips tasted like no other. There was a sweetness, a freshness to her that he favored. It snuck inside him and spread, stirring and churning, making him want more and more.
Embraced by a Highlander Page 14
