’Twas easy to tell someone to trust, but it was an altogether other matter to earn said trust. “If ye intend to be faithful and not stray from my bed, then why would I need a false pillicock?”
His bronze skin reddened. ’Twas difficult to be angry with the man when he blushed.
“Put it away.” He reached for it, but she held it behind her back.
“Tell me, and I’ll not speak another word on the subject. I swear.”
“You are insufferable.” His jaw clenched as he pulled her tight to his body. He leaned into her ear as if his words were too wicked to speak aloud. “Unlike a man,” the palm of his hand slid down the base of her spine, “a woman is particularly sensitive to stimulation in more than one orifice.” His middle finger slipped into the crevice of her backside.
Robbie’s eyes flew wide. She pushed him off her and dropped the false pillicock back into its velvet box, then slammed the drawer. “If ye dare try to stick anything false or otherwise in my arse, I will take a blade to your bollocks.”
He laughed outright and unexpectedly scooped her off her feet. “How dare ye threaten to maim your new husband?” He carried her through the bathing chamber and out a back entrance.
“Put me down! I’m naked.” She kicked her feet uselessly.
“I rather like ye that way.”
“Blast ye, Reid McGregor! This is not amusing.” Blinded by a high sun, she cupped her hand over her eyes to find herself surrounded by a landscape of broad-leaf bushes speckled with flaming red blossoms. Seconds later, he tossed her into a pool of warm water.
She hit the sandy bottom on her backside with a muffled grunt. The shallow water was crystal clear, and if fish resided in the pool, her entrance scared them away. She emerged in waist deep water, pushing hair from her face, and pivoted in the sand a full circle before she located Reid. “Think ye I deserved that?”
“Aye. I do.” He stripped off his breeks. “You were spewing fire and needed to be doused.” He swaggered into the water with confidence, flaunting his physique as well as his erection. “I would think a woman who’d been so eloquently ravished on her wedding night would have awoken in a better mood.”
His mouth claimed her tender breast before she could grasp his words.
She winced and grabbed a fistful of his hair to pull him off, but her attempt was further thwarted when he unexpectedly slipped a finger inside her.
“Ow!” She tensed and pinched her eyes shut. She felt bruised inside and out and wasn’t nearly prepared for his assault.
He quickly retracted, his forehead creased with worry lines. “You are sore?”
“Aye.” She lowered her lashes. “It seems ye are deserving of your name. ’Twill take time for me to adjust.” Given his current behavior, she expected him to boast over his size. Mayhap even toss out a comparison regarding Eoin, but he simply caressed her hip beneath the water and kissed her shoulder.
“Forgive me. I should have been gentler.”
She cupped his jaw as pressure squeezed her chest. “No man is gentler than ye, Reid MacGregor. None more loving.” He hid his sensitivity beneath muscles and brawn, but she saw the man inside and he was beautiful.
“Dinnae be blathering my secrets. I’ve a reputation to uphold.” He kissed the inside of her wrist, then pulled her toward a rock ledge. “Come. We need to prepare for the expedition.” The glass globe and a sandglass sat atop a flat rock as well as towels and various articles she’d used during her experiments aboard the Obsidian.
“Are we testing?”
“Aye. I need to know exactly how long each of us can be under water before we dive into the Well of Sacrifice.”
She nodded, rejuvenated by the task. “I was under for more than a half hour. Think we need more time than that?” She dried her hands on the towel and set to work preparing the crystals.
“If there are no air pockets between the Well of Sacrifice and the water reservoir, then we verra well might. I’m going to take a group of men into the jungle at dawn to make preparations for the dive.”
“How long will that take?”
“Six, mayhap seven days.”
“Seven days?” she whined. She didn’t want to be separated from him for one day, let alone a sennight.
“The current of the underground river will have changed based on rainfall. I’m taking the diving barrel into the larger well where Xitali was sacrificed. Once I locate the entrance to the underground river, I intend to release a weighted log between the wells to measure the time and distance. Once my calculations are complete and preparations made, I’ll come back for you.”
He had everything figured out, did he? “I’m going with ye.”
“Nay. Ye are not. ’Tis not necessary, nor is it safe. Jax and his family are coming to stay with you at Rukux. I forbid you to go into the jungle until Kantico is taken care of.”
Taken care of? Had he decided to kill the jaguar? She was more than a little disturbed by this thought. Reid wouldn’t have given the animal a name if he didn’t feel some attachment to her. “Kantico did not hurt me.”
“She is a hunter. Her instincts to protect me are lethal. She could have killed you.”
“Oscar could have done the same,” she pointed out, frustrated by his lack of leniency on the subject. “I dinnae want ye to kill her.”
“My decision is made. You are too important to me.” He diverted his gaze away from her. “Jax, Moon Hawk, and Bow Hunter are already building the traps. They will protect you while I’m away.”
“Am I allowed to make any decisions? Or shall I tarry about in my chamber playing dress up like some witless princess? I have a mind. When allowed to use it, I can be quite intelligent. If ye think being my husband—”
He kissed her with his eyes open.
She pulled back. “—gives ye the privilege to act as some tyrant over me, then ye are—”
He splayed his fingers around her skull and stilled her tongue with his own. Spreading his jaw wide, he covered her mouth and chased her tongue round and round until the remainder of her words fell away from her mind.
She held on to his wrists but quickly succumbed to the perfection that was his mouth. His kiss was gentle, yet hard. Loving, yet demanding. Her toes curled in the sand, her knees grew weak, and whatever they’d been arguing about no longer seemed important. He lingered full seconds on her lips before he slowly pulled away.
Her heavy eyelids blinked open to meet his silver-blue gaze only inches from her face. “Why did ye do that?”
“I was testing a theory.” He kissed the corner of her lips. “I wanted to see if my kiss could tame your temper.” He nipped her top lip. “While my findings are inconclusive and require further exploration, I dare say I’m onto something.” He pulled her bottom lip between the seam of his smile a final time before adding, “Now, may I continue?”
Nodding, she stared at him with parted lips, trying to recall what they’d been discussing.
“I’ve duties for you while I’m away. Songbird already offered to help stitch a leather suit large enough for me. I’ll need you to direct her on the tailoring. You will also need to build a second breathing apparatus for me and devise a means of attaching the globes to our bodies. Black Dove will assist you. There is a firing pit and tools in the alchemist’s work-house.” He gestured over his shoulder at a grouping of outbuildings. “But I want you back at Rukux before the sun goes down.”
Robbie stood on the tips of her toes to gain a better look at the structure. “Ye have an alchemist’s work-house?”
Reid gave her a sad smile. “Your grandda always enjoyed mixing the vapors. I had hoped to give Argyle a place to spend his days doing something he loved.”
Tears filled the bottoms of her eyes. If Reid gave her a thousand baubles, none would ever compare to this gift. She’d called him selfish on more than one occasion. She couldn’t have been more wrong.
He turned and pointed. “The smallest of the three buildings is a dwelling which is attached to the work-house. The la
rgest structure is a barn filled to its rafters with heartwood logs. I had intended to take the timber to London in the spring once it dried, but I will entrust Jean-Pierre to take over the venture. He has a knack for bartering.”
“What are ye saying?” She wouldn’t allow herself to hope until he spoke the words.
He brushed her hair back and drew a repetitious semi-circle over the rim of her ear. “My obligations have changed as a result of my recent vows. I am a husband now, and if luck continues to follow me, I will soon sire the next Gregarach.”
“Ye are going to lead the clan?” she questioned while everything inside her sank with relief.
“Is that not what you asked of me?”
She nodded fiercely and swallowed. Her mind raced. Flashes of her kinsfolk burst forth: Grandda and auld Angus, Nanna and Shane, each girl bearing the mark of the MacGregor, and baby Alana. None of them would be left behind.
Robbie’s eyes refocused on an enormous deep red flower, reminding her where she was. The man had made the decision to leave the Garden of Eden, and she prayed she was worth it. “What about Rukux?”
“I care not where I sleep at night so long as it is beside you.” He kissed the thin, blue vein on her wrist. “Rukux will make Jax and his family a fine home.”
“Leading the clan is the honorable thing to do,” she tossed out, feeling the need to convince him he’d made the right decision.
“I’m going to save Clan MacGregor for many reasons. Honor and duty are two, but mostly my decision is selfish. A man is really no man at all without the respect of his woman.”
She hugged him. Everything inside her danced with victory, but the celebration ran short when Eoin slipped into her head. “Eoin will fight ye. There is naught he loves more than his status.”
“Aye. ’Tis true, which is why you are going to stay away from him. If he looks at ye, turn away. If he speaks to ye, hold your tongue. For the nonce, I’ll take him with me into the jungle.”
19
~ REGRET ~
Reid should let the scabbit die. “I told ye to walk behind me,” he reminded his cousin for the hundredth time as he searched the vine-thick jungle for a means to pull Eoin out of the sinking sand.
“Get me out!” Eoin shouted at the half dozen Mopán men circled around him. He twisted and turned frantically at the waist, for that was the only part of his body not submerged beneath the quagmire.
After wiping the rain from his eyes, Reid jerked on an old vine hanging overhead until it broke free and fell in front of Eoin’s flailing arms. “Stop struggling and grab hold.”
For once, Eoin did what Reid told him and slowly pulled himself back onto solid ground. He scrambled to his feet, kicking mire from his boots and swiping it off his plaide as if the sludge might still be a threat to his person. “Ye hesitated. For a moment ye considered letting me sink.”
Reid rolled his eyes, picked up the heavy pack he’d carried for two days in the rain, and gave a nod to Kante to resume their trek. But before the behemoth Mopán warrior could swing his machete, Eoin started ranting again.
“Admit it,” Eoin yelled behind Reid. “If I never returned to Scotland, ye would have Robbie as well as the chieftainship.”
Vexed beyond his normal limits, Reid spun a full circle and clenched his fists. “I have Robbie.” He closed the space between them. “And if I wanted you dead, I would have let the snake you stepped on yestereve sink its fangs into your prick. And you apparently need reminded of this morn’s incident. Had I not prevented you from wiping your arse with the ten ts´ak plant, ye would’ve choked on your own tongue by noontide. And,” he leaned so close he could see the red veins forking through the whites of Eoin’s eyes, “now I have saved ye from the sinking sand. Unless ye wish to offer your gratitude, I strongly suggest you hold your tongue else I may feel less generous should ye find yourself faced with death again.”
“Your suggestion is noted.” Eoin pushed a straggly chunk of wet hair out of his eyes and donned a grin that looked less than appreciative. “I will offer my thanks for one thing, cousin.”
Reid exhaled and waited suspiciously.
“The savage ye call Wild Tigress was an unexpected treat. The woman certainly knows how to use the tongue God gave her. Of course ye likely already know this.” Eoin winked at the Mopán men behind them as if they were all old friends. “’Twas a welcome change to fuck a woman who knows how to hold silent.”
Eoin’s lewd comment was laughable. No doubt the fool attempted to insult Robbie and demean Wild Tigress at the same time, but his comment only opened the field for Reid to knock him down a peg.
“’Tis odd.” Reid feigned confusion. “Mayhap my memory fails me, but the time or two I had the pleasure of Wild Tigress’s company I recall her screaming like a banshee.” Reid turned toward his Mopán kinsmen. “What say ye, brothers? Did Wild Tigress ever hold silent in any of your beds?”
The Mopán men shook their heads in unison.
Reid actually heard Eoin’s teeth grind. His nostrils flared but no retort came.
The two men inside Reid’s conscience battled. The one with morals told him to defend Wild Tigress, while the other—the wicked troll who was enjoying their banter immensely—encouraged Reid to goad Eoin just a wee bit more.
The wicked troll won.
“Allow me to enlighten you, cousin.” Reid scratched his unshaven jaw. “A silent woman in bed is not a sign of submission so much as a sign of dissatisfaction. Or,” he slapped Eoin on the back, “mayhap the brevity of your performance stunned Wild Tigress into silence.”
“Or mayhap it was the size of my cock,” Eoin retorted, his bluster renewed.
After coupling with Robbie, Reid knew otherwise. The wicked troll begged him to unlace his breeks and prove Eoin wrong, but Reid found his morals. Regardless of her licentiousness, Wild Tigress was the Jaguar King’s daughter and deserved respect. The woman only behaved like a tart because she thought her talents would one day gain her a husband.
“Mayhap you are right, cousin,” Reid conceded and once again gave a silent order to Kante to continue clearing a path through the dense jungle with his machete. The six Mopán men that made up the tail end of their party raised the bamboo conveyance holding the diving barrel onto their shoulders and followed. The footfalls of his Mopán brothers echoed his own as they walked through the thicket. A steady warm rain kept his lèine shirt and breeks plastered to his skin, but the elements were a paltry irritation compared to his cousin’s constant blathering. The man groused about the weather. He talked of politics, war, and religion. When those topics didn’t provoke Reid, Eoin went on about the clan.
Robbie is worth it, he told himself and drew forth an image of his beautiful wife—fierce green eyes, unruly honey-red hair, velvety skin. Thinking of her elicited calm in him. Oddly enough the first memory that slipped into his head was an image of Robbie holding the Jaguar King’s bollocks.
Reid laughed a little on the inside. The woman was bold, defiant, wild, and loyal to a fault. She would give her life to save the clan, and Reid hoped one day she might care as deeply for him as she did for her kin.
He loved her, but knew in his heart she didn’t return his affections. ’Twould take time. Fortunately, he was a patient man.
The rain eased as the hours passed but was replaced by a scorching sun that seemed to grow more unbearable as the day progressed. He didn’t recall the insects being such a nuisance the last time he’d made this trek. Nor had he been this exhausted, this drained of physical energy.
Reid suspected the elements were not to blame for the turmoil wracking his body. It was Eoin, and his constant chucking of hawkers, his wretched smell, and above all else, his incessant chatter.
“I suspect you’ll be returning to Scotland for Argyle?” Eoin’s question held a little more edge than simple curiosity. The man was baiting him.
“I will be returning to Scotland indefinitely,” Reid answered, not yet prepared to expound on the fact that he intend
ed to reclaim his position as the Gregarach.
“Mayhap I’ll assign ye to your own battalion in the coming battle.”
“What battle?” Reid tossed over his shoulder, his steps slowed.
Eoin strode forward. “Against the Colquhouns. Ye are witless if ye think the Laird of Luss will just relinquish Kilchurn Castle because the proscription against our name is lifted?”
The man lacked an ounce of wit. “The clan no longer possesses the manpower to storm the stronghold.”
“Oh, but ye are wrong, cousin.” A cocky grin angled his mouth. “I can assure ye the MacGregors of Glenstrae will reclaim the clan seat. Before we left Scotland I ordered Lyall to send word of our uprising into the Highlands. I issued an offering of a hundred pounds to any MacGregor who wished to return and fight the bastairds who had us exiled. I suspect an army of four, mayhap five hundred men will be awaiting my orders to retaliate.”
Gawking at Eoin in disbelief, Reid stumbled over a vine. “You endanger their lives by bringing them back prematurely. Where in God’s name do you plan to hide five hundred men?”
“Finglas Gorge,” Eoin answered with confidence. “The MacThomases are no doubt losing cattle in droves as we speak.”
Reid’s shock left him nearly speechless. He calculated the enormous sum Eoin promised this army as compensation. “Fifty-thousand pounds would better serve the clan if used to purchase Rannoch or Auchingaich.” That was Reid’s plan.
“I want Kilchurn Castle. Use whatever coin ye must to barter with King James to repeal the proscription, but withhold enough funds to pay those who once pledged fealty to your da before he abandoned them. We are going to war.”
“God’s legions, man! How many have to die to put you back on your throne?”
“As many as it takes.” Eoin fell back and held silent for the first time that day.
Reid stared ahead wide-eyed and was quickly hypnotized by the to and fro thrashing of Kante’s machete, but thoughts coiled through his head at an alarming speed. Fergus had only been the first of those Eoin would sacrifice to rise to power. The people Reid intended to save just multiplied by five.
Caribbean Scot Page 18
