“Will ye?”
James’ eerie golden gaze fixed on Alpin’s.
Unnerving.
Especially through the red blood on his face.
Someone else’s blood.
Alpin shuddered.
“Ye will return and tell Connor and my father all that ye know. Tell them to send a contingency to the Kerr holding.”
“And ye? Will ye go after her without any men, as they expect ye to?”
“Walk into a den of wolves alone for my wife and bairn? Aye,” he nodded his head. “I would walk into purgatory and fall upon a sword for her. But ‘tis they who have to fear me.”
At Alpin’s doubtful gaze, James began walking, gathering his weapons.
“Wolves they may be, but beast am I.”
Chapter Thirty
“Only ye can replace him, Athyn.”
Athyn looked at Connor, the weight of the decision before him reflected in his gaze.
“He’s beyond control.”
Athyn nodded. “He always has been.”
“D’ye know who aids him?” Douglas asked him.
Athyn shook his head. “I doona. I havena spoken to my father in nearly two decades. His desire for power and control were burdens too heavy for me to bear. Near half of his men went with me when I left.”
“Ye have the opportunity now to reestablish control. Unite yer clan. Without yer father.”
“I care not for him. My sister, however, I do. We’ve failed many times to take her from him.”
“Well, as we speak, the madman is making preparations to force James to marry yer sister.”
Athyn shook his head. “Doesna he know James has married yers?”
Connor had informed Athyn of all that had transpired.
Connor sighed. “I’m nay certain, and I fear for my sister if he should discover that. It has been a week that we sent men to retrieve them from where she and James are.”
Raised voices neared them, and Connor and Athyn turned. They saw a pale Alpin barely able to maintain himself upright in the saddle. Connor hurried to him and helped him dismount.
“What happened?”
Lydell and Shaw dismounted and hurried to Connor.
“We caught him near the destination. He explained that Katherynne was taken and that James set out to find her,” Lydell explained.
Connor’s heart seized and he turned to Alpin, who was receiving care for his wounds. “They have Katie?”
Alpin nodded and told him what he knew. His eyes flickered to Douglas.
“James wanted ye to send men.”
“They wouldna kill James, but Katherynne…” Douglas let the sentence trail.
“There’s more.” Alpin’s eyes flickered to Connor’s.
“Yer sister carries their bairn.”
Connor blanched.
“He will kill her if he knows,” Athyn said of his father.
“We must hurry,” Connor replied.
Connor and Douglas began to plot their next courses of action, hoping that it would not be too late for Katie.
Chapter Thirty-One
“SPEAK!”
Kerr roared the command at Katie, who had refused to utter a single word since appearing before the laird. They were at the Kerr holding, where Boyd had remained despite sending his men to fight at different fronts.
Coward.
He had men to fight his battles and he’d said he would not sully his hands.
Kerr nodded to the man next to her, who at the action, held a dagger to Katie’s belly.
“I know not.”
“Truly? Ye expect me to believe that ye doona know where James Menzies is?”
She shook her head. “He went to hunt and before he returned, yer men were there.”
Kerr looked at one of his men, who’d seen one of Connor’s leave the fight. He’d smartly followed the green warrior who’d not been careful with covering his tracks.
“He was no’ near the whore, Laird. I ‘ad one groupin’ o’ men fight an’ subdue Menzies. I took the second tah retrieve her.”
“Where are the other men who were sent to find Menzies?”
The leader shrugged. “I doona know, Laird.”
He waited for the laird’s fist. Although he stood solid, the laird was a large man and managed to force the leader back several steps. The man wiped the blood from his lips.
“How did ye come by the chest wound?”
“The bitch there.”
Kerr looked from Katie to the leader. “Truly? That mite of a thing managed to stab ye?”
At the leader’s nod, Kerr laughed. “How weak are ye?”
The leader’s jaw flexed but he wisely said nothing.
“We left once we had her. I didna wish to prolong and then have Menzies come upon us.”
Kerr nodded and his gaze fixed on Katie.
“Is that bairn his?”
Katie stayed quiet and Boyd laughed.
“Been rutting around with the lads, I see.”
Her silence bothered him.
“DOONA YE HAVE ANYTHING TO SAY!!”
Katie’s back snapped straighter and she tensed. The temper in this man rivaled the heat of the sun.
She began shaking, scared for her bairn. Her ability to defend the babe was limited.
What would she do if he attacked her?
If it were just her, she’d fight as James had taught her.
But she had a babe in her belly, and she didn’t doubt that this evil man would kick her there, or worse.
Her doubt as to his actions did not remain unanswered for long. So distracted by her thoughts, she forgot one of James’ lessons- never take your eyes off of the enemy.
Well she had, and she realized that error when her head snapped to the side and her lips bled. She immediately brought her hand to her mouth and looked at him. Kerr raised his hand again, and Katie stuck her arm out, stopping his hand’s arc.
He began laughing and grabbed her chin roughly between his fingers and thumb.
“That was a mistake, lass.”
Her eyes remained on his.
“Look around ye.” When she didn’t move her eyes from his, he yelled.
“LOOK AROUND!!!”
He roughly forced her head to move around and look at the men standing in a circle around them. Still gripping her chin in a vice hold, he snarled.
“Ye keep on with this insolent behavior, and ye will soon wish that ye were before those three Wynton brothers again rather than my men and me.”
Katie’s eyes rounded. “Ye know?”
He laughed and forced her to look around again. He leaned in to her ear and whispered.
“See the lust in their gazes? It matters not that ye carry a bairn.”
He leaned further in and the touch of his lips on her ear caused her to shudder.
“If yer bairn survives their lust at all.”
At her gasp, he moved backwards, laughing. He stopped before her and stared. Katie became nervous. Having the attention of this mercurial man was not anything anyone would want.
Least of all her.
The Kerr laird was a large, stocky man. His hair was more white than red, and his green eyes had brown flecks. His fully grown beard was nothing like James’ tamed and soft one. Freckles colored more of his cheeks and nose than his skin.
He moved closer to her face, and when she moved back, he grabbed a fistful of her hair to prevent her from moving away further.
“Find me unappealing, do ye?”
Katie twisted her lips and wrinkled her nose, but smartly kept quiet. She didn’t want to antagonize him further. Still, his breath was fowl.
The clattering of chains gained their attentions. Katie and Kerr looked over to the entrance of the keep and there stood a chained giant surrounded with what appeared to be elves.
That’s what it seemed like to her, anyway.
James.
Her heart sped and her breath held as she looked upon her strong husband. He stood calmly in the mi
ddle amidst the eleven men he dwarfed, who held chains strapped to various parts of him. Arms hung at his sides.
A dark sack was covering his head. One man removed it, and then she saw a black cloth covering his beautiful eyes.
“Ahhh… and at last, the Marbhaiche has arrived.” Kerr looked at his men. “A bit much, eh?” Kerr laughed, commenting on sac over James’ head and cloth over his eyes.
Katie became distressed when she saw the blood covering his face. It was all over his cheeks, nose, and forehead.
Even on his bare chest.
She didn’t know what caused her more concern. That he had been bleeding, or that he was chained like an animal.
Thick iron bands were around his abdomen, neck, and arms. Five men held the chains that were attached to the band around his middle. Two chains came from his neck, and two from each arm. One man held each chain.
A garbled gasp emitted from her throat and she brought her hands up to her mouth. She watched as his demeanor changed immediately.
The knots of muscles in his thighs, arms, and abdomen grew pronounced, as if he readied himself for battle. The set to his jaw grew firm as she saw a muscle bulge there.
“Kate?”
She exhaled, knowing that he used that short name for her to help shift her into the right disposition for defending herself.
“Is. She. Here?”
His impatience and growing anger moved her to speak.
“Aye, James. I’m here.”
Kerr stepped forward.
“Just what is this?”
Kerr looked at the man who led the group.
“We didna trust him, Laird.”
“Did he attempt to evade or flee?”
The man shook his head. “Nay. He offered no resistance.”
Kerr placed his hands on his protruding belly and laughed.
“Ye feared his cooperation?”
The man’s cheeks heated as a few men behind the laird snickered.
“He was whistling, Laird.”
More men joined in the laird’s laughter and the man grew from embarrassed to angry and defensive.
“‘Twas as if he wanted to skip through the glen.”
Several men doubled over in deep laughter. The great hall echoed with boisterous heckling.
“D’ye hear that? He feared a happy mon!”
“Aye, mayhap fairies scare him, too!”
The hall erupted in laughter as the man’s cheeks colored to a deep red.
Kerr held up his hand.
“Now, now. We’ve had our jest.”
“Must ye keep the cloth over his eyes?”
Kerr looked at Katie. “So ye speak now, d’ye?”
Katie didn’t reply.
Kerr shrugged. “Unmask his eyes.”
The leader whose cheeks were returning to their normal coloring, asked, “Are ye certain?”
Any trace of humor left Kerr’s face.
“D’ye question me?”
The man hurriedly shook his head.
“Nay, laird.”
The man was still hesitant, but when Kerr’s first-in-command cleared his throat, he moved towards James.
“Hold him.”
The men in the great room laughed at the man’s caution. He groaned. Slowly, he took the dark cloth off James’ eyes.
It was as if he knew exactly where Katie stood, for once the cloth was removed, his eyes stared at her.
His gaze narrowed on the blood at her lips.
“He did that to ye?”
“Aye.”
Her voice was as soft as his was hard.
James’ eyes snapped to Kerr.
“Ye will suffer for touching her.”
Kerr laughed and looked at his men, who reacted with smiles of their own.
“Just make me suffer? Nay death? She mustna be too good of a rut, if all ye promise is suffering in her name.” He looked at Katie. “But ye do look delectable, lass.”
Katie shifted uncomfortably under his leering, lascivious gaze. Kerr’s eyes moved to James when he spoke.
“Ye forfeited yer life when yer men took her, Kerr. Yer death would have been swift.”
Kerr looked taken aback by James’ deathly calm voice and pointed predatory glare.
“Now, ye will suffer, Kerr, until ye beg for death, and still, I willna give ye mercy.”
Kerr was momentarily hesitant, but as if catching himself to disguise his trepidation, he looked at his men and laughed. He strutted over to James, and stood a foot away from him. James could tell the man didn’t like being so close. Because James was so tall, Kerr had to look up at him.
“Ye threaten me when ye’re in such a vulnerable position? I’ve killed men for less of an insult.”
James didn’t even blink as his gaze was downward looking at the laird.
“Who’s vulnerable? I certainly am not.”
Kerr snorted at James’ cocky words.
“Ye speak such delusions when ye are covered in blood and bound by shackles.”
Kerr’s men at arms laughed again as he looked at them. He enjoyed having their attentions, James had noticed.
“‘Tis nay mine, Kerr. ‘Tis a mixture of the more than fifteen men ye sent to capture me. Worry not, there is yet opportunity for me to cover myself in yer blood once I kill ye.”
The collected inhales of the men surrounding them caused Kerr’s anger to soar.
“Fifteen men? He alone killed them?”
James found the speaker, and aimed a smirk tinged with an infuriated glower. The speaker and the men surrounding him averted their eyes.
Cheeks red, Kerr walked closer to James.
“Watch yer tongue, Menzies. Son-by-marriage ye will be soon, but ye doona need that tongue of yers for that.”
James laughed and the chains rattled as he lifted his hands to swipe his nose. Kerr stepped back in caution and James laughed at the show of weakness and fear.
Kerr’s cheeks reddened yet more, and he furtively glanced at the men behind him, some standing wide-eyed staring at their laird.
“Marriage is a lofty endeavor, Kerr, as well as impossible.”
“How so? I’ve a priest at the ready to marry ye to Fiona. I have yer whore here to ensure ye’re cooperative.”
James snorted.
“Ye canna force a married man to wed, Kerr. That much, yer small brain must understand.”
When men around them snorted at James’ taunt, Kerr looked back effectively silencing them.
“Married, are ye? To who? Her?”
With every word, his voice rose until he was fairly yelling. Sensing the laird’s instability, James remained quiet for the moment. This served to further infuriate Kerr, who walked to Katie, grabbed her hair, and pulled her head back, causing her to gasp.
“Ye. Are. DEAD!”
James’ roar silenced everyone, causing Kerr’s men to look at one another in surprise and caution, bordering on fear.
James’ eyes were rounded and livid.
It wasn’t only James’ tone, however, that concerned them. His demeanor was opposite of what it should be. It was what he said and how he acted, as if he had the upper hand despite his precarious position in the shackles.
It was as if he knew something they didn’t, because any man in his position should be fearful, or at the very least, concerned.
James had not shown one weakness except for Katie.
That was all Kerr needed, however.
That one small weakness.
He laughed.
“So ye married this whore. I suppose, too, that her bastard is yers.”
Kerr pulled Katie’s hair tighter causing her to yelp.
“Let. Her. Go.”
James was nearly foaming at the mouth.
“Calm, James. It is just a bit painful. Truly.”
Her words did not soothe him, but instead, fed the conflagration. Selflessly, she attempted to calm him despite her own fears.
He would not allow her to offer him strength and co
mfort when he could not reciprocate.
“NO!”
The men holding his chains began shifting nervously, wondering whether eleven chains had been enough. James’ muscles were all engaged, much like an animal readying to attack.
Kerr dipped his head and kissed Katie so roughly, she cried out but it was swallowed by his hard mouth.
James began cursing at Kerr and the men began pulling him backwards.
Furious, Katie bit Kerr’s lips, causing him to bleed. He pulled back.
“Focking bitch!”
He backhanded her so hard, she fell to the floor.
“Wait until my hands wrap around yer throat, Kerr. I’m going to skin ye alive!”
Kerr laughed. “What an honor that would be from the Marbhaiche.”
Katie slowly rose and looked at James. “Please.”
James’ eyes transitioned from fury and rage, to concern when he looked at her.
“Doona ye concern yerself with me, lass.”
“Verra touching, indeed.”
“Say what ye will, Kerr, it willna change anything. I am married, and ye canna force me to marry yer daughter. Ye’re dead just as soon as I divest myself from these shackles.”
“How? I doona suppose ye have a witch who can help ye, d’ye?”
Some men snickered.
“As for marrying, widowers have no such restrictions. They are free to marry.”
The implication made by Kerr caused the hair to rise on his arms and neck. The fury thrumming through James peaked, lighting a spark hotter than lightning.
“My thanks for the candor, Menzies. I’d brought her here with the intention of forcing ye to marry or have her tortured. Now, I realize that that would not suffice.”
Kerr nodded to the two men behind him and they each grabbed Katie’s arms.
“No! Let me go!”
Katie used their strongholds as leverage, jumped, and kicked one in his groin. Before the other could react, she’d managed to do the same to him.
The men had let her go and Katie stood, watching James.
He smiled at her. “Verra good, lass.”
Her answering smile dissolved on her face as Kerr backhanded her again. Katie flew backwards. Her cry was loud and fearful.
She’d landed on her belly.
Katie hastily sat up, hands over her belly.
“Oh!”
The Highlander Who Loved Me (Heart of a Highlander Collection Book 4) Page 16
