by Alisa Adams
The man made an odd noise as he stilled and looked down at her. He made an attempt to shake his head, trying to clear the blood as his vision blurred from her head hitting his face repeatedly.
Cristianna and Serena both froze. They let go of their hold on his hair and ear and backed away slightly.
The man took that moment to shake his head again. Then he tried to raise his fist as he glared down into Darling’s face with both of his eyes already swelling shut. “Why, ye little bi—”
But before he could finish that sentence, he collapsed, falling hard on top of Darling.
She tried to scream, but his weight crushed the breath out of her. She shoved him off her with all her might as Cristianna and Serena hurried forward to help her.
They gently pulled Darling to her feet.
9
Cristianna put a cup of hot tea in Darling’s hands.
“Sit, drink that,” Cristianna ordered quietly. She glanced to her side to see Charlotte Lynn sitting at another fire, staring at them with a faraway look of fear on her face. Cristianna frowned, worried that Charlotte Lynn had seen what the man had tried to do to Darling. She wondered if it had brought back terrible, frightening memories to the tall girl.
“I think I would prefer some of your Scottish whiskey,” Darling whispered as she held the cup tightly, willing her hands to stop shaking. She slowly brought the tea to her lips and sipped at the hot drink.
“There is whiskey in your tea,” Serena said.
Darling tried to smile, but her lips trembled. “I thought this tea tasted unusual.” She paused, lowering her cup as she stared at the two women who had come to her aid. “Did I kill him?” Darling asked in a hushed voice.
Cristianna shrugged. “If ye didnae, I think he will be praying ye did.”
“Aye,” Serena said with the first full smile that Darling had ever seen on the thin girl's face. “He was a bloody mess. I tied his hands and feet, however, just in case he isnae dead.”
Darling shuttered. “Gracias. Thank you for helping me.”
They both gave her huge smiles.
Cristianna turned to Serena. “Did ye recognize him, Serena?”
“Aye. He is not one of the crewmen from the ship, nor one of the freed prisoners.”
Darling looked up with interest. “Then, who is he?”
Cristianna frowned as her eyes looked into the past. She shook herself and looked at Serena. “He was one of the guards in the dungeon, wasnae he?”
Serena nodded. “I remember him well. Too well.”
Darling looked back and forth between the two young women as she clutched her tea tightly in her hands. She dreaded the answer to the question she wanted to ask. “That man who attacked me, he said….” She swallowed past the lump in her throat. “I think this dungeon has something to do with my father, does it not? Captain Lawrence has made me realize that mi padre is a pirate. It was mi padre’s dungeon, si?”
Cristianna and Serena looked at her with nervous faces. They nodded solemnly and looked away.
The two women quickly started chatting nervously to each other, not meeting Darling’s eyes.
“I think ye tore a fist-sized patch of hair off his head, Serena,” Cristianna said as she smiled over her tea at Serena.
“And you nearly pulled his ear off, Cristianna,” Serena said in a proud, soft voice.
They laughed quietly and then grew somber.
Serena took a deep breath. She glanced at Darling and then Cristianna. “My friends, I know this was frightening, especially for you, Darling...if I may call you Darling, instead of Miss DeLeon?”
Darling quickly nodded, pleased to be called a friend to these women.
Serena smiled. “I must tell you both that this is the best I have felt in a long time. We were saving you, Darling, but also ourselves, were we not?”
Darling looked at the two women. She was still trembling, but they looked as though they had let go of a very heavy weight. They were smiling!
A sound came to the three women drinking tea from outside the cave.
It was a horse, off in the distance, calling out to other horses.
Darling jumped up. “That is Tommy!” she called out as she ran to the front of the cave.
Darling stared out into the rain and the thick white fog. She could hear the sounds of the waves as they rolled to shore. She listened with breath held, waiting for the familiar sound of Tommy neighing once again.
Slowly, through the fog emerged the large, dark shape of her horse’s precious head and long, damp mane as it came walking through the swirling mists of the fog.
The horse nickered shrilly, having spotted her mistress.
Beside Tommy, walking on either side of her emerged two big Highlanders from the fog. Both had swords at their backs. Warwick Ross and Sandolf MacKay.
Darling stifled a sob as she put her hand to her mouth and tried to look deeper into the moving mists. Where is Law! her mind screamed.
But then Tommy shook her great black head, causing the fog to swirl more. Darling saw a large hand reach forward out of the fog from atop her mare’s back to pat the horse’s neck.
The white mists floated and swirled apart as the black horse came towards the cave. A figure emerged out of the mists on her horse’s back.
Law is riding my horse!
Darling let out a small cry as she ran to Tommy and Law. She passed Warwick and Sandolf as they walked past her with a nod and a smile towards the entrance to the cave.
Law leaped down from Tommy and met Darling as she ran at him. She threw her arms around his neck as he picked her up and hugged her tightly within his strong arms.
Darling cried into his neck and held him tightly to her. He smelled of horse and wet rain and the wonderful smell of...him. She looked up at him and clasped his face between her hands, kissing every part of his face that she could reach as he laughed softly.
She pulled back and looked at his dear face, holding onto his arms. He looked so tired. Her fingers stroked his arms as she stared up at him.
“Estaba tan preocupada! I was so worried,” she said as she looked up at him. “You were gone all night!” she whispered as she caressed and stroked down his arms and looked him over for injuries.
Law stared down, sinking into the feeling that he was home when he looked into her velvet brown eyes. She was petting him again. He smiled, loving the feel of her hands on his arms. He loved her need to touch him. He realized he needed her touch as much as she needed to give it to him.
“Aye, I am sae sorry I worried ye. It was a lang night.” Then his lips tilted up into a smile. “Your mare is the bravest, smartest horse I think I have ever met or ridden. I am most impressed with her,” he said as he dropped his hand from Darling’s cheek and reached up to pet Tommy.
Darling watched in amazement as her normally standoffish mare gently nuzzled the big Highlander’s hair with her nose.
Law went on as he smiled affectionately at Darling’s horse. “I think she would cross well with several of my stallions. Just imagine the foals she would have. She is also very comfortable tae sit on. Her trot is huge but so soft—”
“Law!” Darling said loudly. “I am very pleased that you like my horse though I am astonished that Tommy let you get on her back; however, I will think about that tomorrow. Where did you find Tommy?”
Law’s face instantly grew serious as he reached up and clenched his fingers in the horse’s long mane. “Your mare was nae at the beach. In fact, I finally found her near Kinloch Castle,” he said tiredly.
Darling stared up at him. “She was at the castle? You found it? Was it still deserted?”
Law turned back to her horse and gathered the rope that was around her neck. “She was near it. Aye, it was deserted, but I had sent the crews of the Lion and Lioness tae the keep with Falcun and MacDuff, tae make sure none of the MacKenzie or Sutherland clans had taken it. If it was still deserted, their orders were tae prepare it for us while we unload what we could off of
the San Gabriel.” He smiled tightly. “From what I could see, our men have been hard at work.”
“That is good, but where was Tommy?” Darling asked firmly.
“She must have gotten this rope caught,” he said as he lifted the rope in his hand. “I found her under a tree, not too far from Kinloch. The rope was around one o’ the branches.”
Darling moved past Law to her horse. Tommy nickered and wuffled softly as Darling held her hand out and then hugged her neck as tears misted her eyes. She quickly ran her hands down her mare’s legs, looked over her sides and haunches, and picked up each hoof to inspect it.
“She is fine, Darling,” Law said softly.
Darling turned back to him. She quickly and angrily untied the rope from her horse's neck. She held the rope out to Law. “No, Law. Este cuerda—this rope...I do not use a rope on her neck. This is not my rope. Someone else put this on her.” She stared up at him with wide, fearful eyes.
Law looked at her, and then at the rope. His eyes narrowed to slits of blue. Then he leaned down closer to study Darling’s face, and his eyes widened. “What has happened tae ye!” he roared.
Darling twisted her hands together in the front of her skirts, wondering how she would tell him what had happened to her. But before she could speak a single word of the horrific attack, she heard shouting. It was the deep voices of Warwick and Sandolf. They were familiar Scottish words, coming from within the cave.
“Mhac na galla!” came a roar from Sandolf.
“Sards! What happened tae the blaegeard?” boomed War’s voice.
There were more shouting and loud talking in deep voices.
“What are they blethering aboot in there?” Law asked.
Darling groaned, causing Law to spin back to her.
“They must have found the body,” she said haltingly in a voice full of dread.
Law’s eyes narrowed at her for just an instant, and then he spun about to run into the cave.
At that same moment, Cristianna and Serena came running out. They ran straight to Darling and stopped, each holding one of the other’s hands as they all turned to listen.
There were more roaring and garbled shouting and exclamations from all three of the men.
“Oh, my,” Cristianna said with her free hand over her mouth as she watched the cave entrance and listened avidly to the men’s shouting.
“Goodness,” Serena said in a hushed voice as she too watched the cave entrance and listened, holding Darling’s hand tightly within one of hers.
“Law! Calm doon! We have tae take care of this problem…” It was Sandolf’s voice.
“Does this have anything tae do with the marks I saw on Darling’s face?” Law’s voice boomed back angrily at them. “I will kill that scunner!”
War's voice came calmly to them through the fog. “He is already dead...”
War’s voice lowered. It became so quiet that the girls could not hear what was said next.
Law came striding out. He did not look left or right but stared only at Darling as he strode towards her. He scooped her up into his arms and turned around and started walking away with her.
Darling squeaked. At least he was carrying her in his arms, cradled against his chest instead of thrown over his shoulder as before. “Where are you carrying me off to this time?” she asked him carefully.
“We are going on a pleasant stroll in the sunshine…” He struggled to control his fury at the bruises on her face.
Darling looked up at him and swallowed as she quickly wrapped her arms around his neck and held on while he walked with big, angry strides. “There is no sunshine today, MacLeod. Only fog and more rain,” she said.
He raised an eyebrow at her and kept walking.
“Are you going to walk until you are no longer angry, MacLeod?” she asked pleasantly.
“Aye, Lion, I am,” Law said in a clipped voice. “And dinnae tell me tae put my anger away in a box.”
Darling held on as he continued walking along the beach with her in his arms.
“I can walk, Law,” she said quietly after a long while.
“You are hurt.”
“He is dead, and he did not...violate me,” she said haltingly, unsure of the correct word.
Law stopped. He groaned softly and dropped to his knees in the sand with her in his arms. He lowered his cheek to the top of her head.
Darling tightened her arms around his neck and buried her face under his chin and inhaled his scent.
“I should have been there to protect ye,” he said in a tortured, hoarse voice.
“Yoy cannot think that today, or tomorrow, or even the next day. You must put all of that away in a box. I have,” she whispered as she kissed his neck and unwound one arm to stroke his hair with her fingers.
“Sards, I dinnae ken I can do that,” he said as he raised his head and looked down at her with his blue eyes full of anguish. “How bad did he hurt ye?”
“It is over, mi capitan. He is dead. He did not get what he wanted. He did not win,” she said softly as she tried to soothe him with her hands as she lightly caressed his chest and then his arms and finally his handsome face.
Law closed his eyes and groaned. His forehead fell onto hers. She watched as he tried to control his emotions, squeezing his beautiful eyes shut tightly.
“No haga. Do not hurt like this, not for me.”
Darling reached up and kissed him slowly, shyly.
She kissed him until his anger and guilt softened, and he kissed her back with such tenderness it brought tears to her eyes. He held her there where he knelt in the sand, whispering melodious words to her in between his kisses, some that she had heard before, from somewhere deep in her past. Was he telling her he loved her?
“Mo chridhe, mo ghraidh...I dinnae ken if tha gaol acha ort...but…” he whispered in between his kisses.
He kissed her lips so sweetly, so slowly that Darling was swept away from all her hurts.
Law’s blue eyes looked deeply into hers. “Do not tell me not to hurt like this for you; it is only for you that my heart will ever feel pain. For when you feel pain, so shall I. It is only for you that when you feel happiness, so shall I.”
Neither noticed when the rain started. Lightly falling in soft droplets, glistening on their skin.
“It is raining again, mi pirate capitan,” she said with a soft smile.
“Ye will have tae get used to that,” he whispered as he took her lips again.
Darling did not know what he meant by that; she was too swept away by his gentle kisses that very rapidly became a blazing fire as their tongues entwined and the kiss deepened to a hot, hungry, wet, passionate, devouring need for one another.
He insisted on carrying her back to the cave, of which she did not mind.
She began exploring him as he carried her, lightly running her hand over the strong corded muscles on his neck and up into his long, sun-streaked hair. Then her hand wandered down to rove over the taut lines of his chest and abdomen. He was all hard steel, strong and thick and solid and hot.
“You are so different from me,” she said in a shy voice. “So strong and hard.”
Law groaned. “Ye have no idea how hard I am,” he murmured under his breath. Then he smiled down at her. “Yer hands please me. Where I am hard, ye are soft. ’Tis the way God meant us tae be, tae please each other.”
He started to walk towards the cave again but paused at her look.
“What is it?” he asked in a tender, patient voice.
Darling hesitated, but then she answered tightly, “Mi madre’s locket was ripped off her neck when she was murdered. Her last words were for me to find it.”
“Aye?” he said, waiting as he watched her emotions cross her lovely face.
“Mery Munro is wearing my mother’s locket,” she whispered.
Law’s jaw firmed. He tightened his hold on her. “Someone deliberately threw a rock at Tommy and possibly also at ye that night in the storm. When ye fell off, they left ye, p
erhaps for dead for all they cared,” he said with gritted teeth. “Then they took yer horse and tied her tae a tree tae hide her from ye.” He scowled as he became deep in thought. “Now ye tell me someone on my ship is wearing the locket stolen off yer mither’s neck when she was killed. Is there anything else?”
Darling shook her head as she stared up at him. She did not tell him that there was something inside the locket that her mother did not want anyone but her to see.
“Say nothing about the locket. Let Mery keep wearing it, for now. I want to watch that girl. We will face this together,” he said in a low, melodious burr. He leaned down and captured her lips in a firm, deep, kiss, and then just as slowly pulled away.
“Stay by my side,” he said when they reached the entrance to the cave. “Ye need my protection. Do ye trust me?” he asked and was pleased when she nodded.
He carefully put her down. He was the stern capitan again.
He took her hand and they walked into the cave together.
10
Lawrence and Darling were met by War and Sandolf.
Cristianna and Serena were also there, smiling reassuringly at Darling as they walked up to her. Each put an arm protectively around her waist.
“We did it,” Cristianna announced. “The three of us. We killed the bowfin, boggin, bampot, scunner,” she said victoriously.
“He is a vera lucky mon that he didnae die by my hand,” Lawrence said loud enough for everyone to hear in the cavern.
“I pulled his ear off,” Cristianna said proudly as she squeezed Darling’s waist reassuringly.
“I tore his hair out,” Serena added placidly as she nodded with a soft smile down at Darling.
Charlotte Lynn stood behind them, visibly shaking. “’Twas terrible,” she said in a hushed voice. Mery and Jamys hurried forward to stand next to her.
Mery looked at Lawrence. “We recognized the man, Captain. He was a guard at the dungeon. He must have mixed in when ye rescued us from that pirate DeLeon’s dungeon.” Her eyes flitted to Darling and then back to her captain. “’Tis a guid thing that a man as evil as he was is dead! We can all be less fearful, I think. If I had ken he was here, I would hae killed him myself!”
