Highland Avenger

by Hannah Howell

  “True. Verra true. Get out of here, lad. Get your wee bonnie lass far away. These men are nay good. Didnae like them from the moment they stepped in my door and will be glad to see the back of them. If business round here wasnae so poor, I would ne’er have let them in the door. They will gain no information here. I will see to it. Get her to Dubheidland. That braw laird will enjoy swinging a sword at a few Frenchmen.”

  Brian did not hesitate to obey the man. With a grin and a wink that made the man mutter something about Fingal breeding true, he slipped out of the stables and made his way back to his horse. He had not gained much information on how close Lucette was to finding him but what he had learned was not good.

  They knew who might have taken Arianna and the boys. They even had developed a way to keep each group informed of what the other had discovered. That meant there was no stopping them from eventually riding to Scarglas. At least he knew the man would gain no help from the ones working at the inn.

  He also knew he could not tell Arianna all he had learned. The moment she heard that her enemy had knowledge of who might be aiding her, she would be terrified about the fate of the two boys. She had enough to worry about. He would not add to her fears.

  As he rode back to where he had left her waiting for him, he thought on what he had learned. There were more men with Lucette than he had realized. This was the first time he had seen them all together. At least, he hoped that was all of them. Ten men and Lucette himself. That was more than he could deal with on his own, especially when he also had to keep Arianna safe. It also meant that, if the men landing on the beach had actually split up into three groups, Lucette and his allies had brought a small army with them.

  For a moment he was concerned about the others, his brothers, the captain and his men, and the two boys, but he easily shook off that worry. His brothers would be safe enough. The odds were far more even with the other two groups. It did not even matter that the enemy now knew who they followed for it was not easy to catch up with a MacFingal who did not wish to be caught. The number of men hunting him and Arianna, however, made it even more imperative that he get her safely to Dubheidland.

  The way Lucette had spoken of how the DeVeaux wanted to get their hands on Arianna and why plagued his mind as he rode. He was no stranger to the need for vengeance but Brian only saw the need for it when a wrong had been committed. He had the feeling the DeVeaux wanted it only because some Murray had thwarted a plan they had made. The more he learned about the DeVeaux, the more he saw them and what they wanted as a far greater threat to Arianna and the boys. Lucette’s wants were appalling, but simple. He wanted his nephews dead so he could return to France and take his place as the new heir.

  If it was possible he would make Lucette and his allies believe that Arianna and the boys were already dead. Unfortunately, there was no time to concoct such a scheme. The ones following him, and those chasing his brothers, had undoubtedly already been given enough reason to believe otherwise, as well. The only way this could end now was with the deaths of the ones hunting her and the boys. Considering the number of men on his trail and adding in the ones who were chasing his brothers, Brian was certain that would only happen with a battle, and if he was going to have to go to battle, he wanted to do so on his own land with his brothers at his back.

  “Ach, weel, Fither will be happy,” he muttered. “He believes that the truce with the Grays has made us all soft.”

  “Brian?”

  He heard Arianna’s tentative, soft call and looked around. Brian frowned when he could not see her. Edging his horse a little closer to where he had left her, he finally saw the banked fire, the pot of aromatic stew, and the horses. He dismounted and a moment later found his arms full of the woman he thought about far too often, and far too warmly.

  “I was afraid they had found me,” she said against his chest, her small hands clutching at the back of his shirt. “Too long sitting here whilst the night crept in, I am thinking.”

  Brian stroked her back until her trembling eased. She was a tempting armful. He could feel the press of her breasts against his chest and his hands itched to stroke them. Even as a voice in his head warned him it was not a good idea, he placed his hand under her chin and turned her face up to his. Stealing one kiss would not hurt, he told that voice, as he lowered his mouth to hers.

  Arianna watched his mouth come closer to hers and knew she should pull away. She knew it would not be a good idea if only because they still had a lot of miles left to travel together and this could breed some awkwardness between them. The temptation to be kissed by this man was too strong to resist, however. She may have been married for five years but, even counting the few stolen by young men before she was betrothed, she had experienced a paucity of kisses. And none of the ones who had kissed her had been as handsome as Sir Brian MacFingal. Not one of those kisses had made any grand impression upon her, either. She was curious to see if the man whom she found so intriguing, so fine to look at, would change her mind about the worthlessness of kisses.

  The moment his lips touched her, Arianna knew this kiss would be different from any that had come before. His lips were soft and warm, that warmth flooding through her body. She slid her arms up around his neck, giving in to the urge to be held even more closely in his arms.

  When he nudged at her lips with his tongue, she opened for him with caution. This part of the kiss had never really pleased her. Her kinswomen had assured her that it was wonderful if done by a man you wanted and one who had some skill. With but a few strokes of his tongue within her mouth, Arianna knew they had spoken the truth.

  She quickly sank beneath the pleasure of the kiss. Her whole body was warmed by it and greedy for it. That warmth began to change, however, as he stroked her back and the kiss grew fiercer. A tightness began to grow inside her. Her nipples tautened and ached until she rubbed up against his chest in a vain attempt to ease the strangely pleasurable pain. Dampness pooled between her thighs, her woman’s place beginning to feel slightly swollen, and a low throbbing ache started to form deep in her belly. Arianna wanted to crawl inside his skin.

  Shaken by what she was feeling, she pulled out of his arms so quickly she stumbled. He reached out to steady her and she stepped back, away from his touch. Fear slid insidiously through her veins, cooling the heat he had stirred within her. Arianna had no idea what he had done to her, but it worried her. She needed to think and that would be impossible as long as she was in his arms.

  Unable to meet his gaze as she recalled how she had been rubbing her body all over his, she turned to the fire and the meal she had prepared. “We best eat this before it burns,” she said, and inwardly cursed herself, certain that she was acting and sounding like an idiot.

  Brian frowned at her but said nothing. The brief glimpse he had gotten of her expression after she had leapt out of his arms, as if she had suddenly remembered that he was a leper, had been one of fear and confusion. He had not pushed her too far, or asked too much, so he did not really understand what he had done to frighten her.

  For now, he decided as he moved to use a little of their water to wash, he would let her run. It was clear that she did not wish to talk about the kiss, either. He would grant her that silence for a little while. It would also give him time to think of the best way to approach her about her sudden retreat.

  One thing he was sure of was that she had felt the same rush of desire he had. He was tempted to point that out to her and then ask her what ailed her, but knew that could be a very big mistake. Arianna had scars on her heart. She was not a woman a man rushed. Brian winced at the ache in his groin that told him his body was more than willing to rush her.

  He would have to ignore it, something he had some experience in. Arianna was like some abused animal, cautious and easily frightened. Brian suspected she was unused to passion, may never have really experienced it. Nothing she had yet told him about that idiot Claud implied that he had been a good lover, or had even tried to be. Until Arianna could ac
cept that she was a passionate woman and that he stirred that passion in her, he would have to tread very lightly. He would have another kiss soon, however, he decided as he sat down by the fire and watched her stir the stew. Forgoing the occasional reminder of what they had just shared with another a kiss would be wrong because he knew she could easily convince herself that she had felt nothing. That lie would not be allowed to stand.

  Arianna served Sir Brian some stew and then sat down across the fire from him to eat her own meal. She could barely even look at him so deep was her embarrassment. The more she thought on the way she had behaved, the more she saw it as wanton behavior worthy of some tavern whore.

  It did not help her peace of mind to discover that every time she stole a glance at him, she looked at his mouth. She could taste him on her lips and there was a greed within her for more. If this was passion, she was not sure she wanted anything to do with it. It was too strong and made her act in ways she never had before. Arianna did not like to admit it, but going to France to marry Claud was the most, and only, truly adventurous thing she had ever done, but even then she had not suffered any of the wild emotions one kiss from Sir Brian had stirred within her.

  When she finally settled down on her blanket to sleep, she decided it was best if she stayed out of the man’s arms. She had too much to worry about at the moment without venturing into the turbulent waters of passion. Regret was a sharp pain in her heart but she ignored it. Perhaps when her enemy was defeated and she and the boys were truly safe, she could venture down that road—if Sir Brian was still close at hand, she mused, rather liking the idea of that.

  “Shall I kiss ye good night, love?”

  She turned her back on him, not needing to look at him to see that he was grinning for she could hear it in his voice. Then again, she thought, perhaps she would just find a thick stick and hit him over the head.

  Chapter 5

  Brian glanced at Arianna, who was far too quiet. She had barely spoken a dozen words all morning. He could still taste the kiss they had shared. When the memory sent all the blood rushing straight to his groin, he quickly banished it. He set his mind back to puzzling out why she had fled his arms as if he was a threat to her instead of a man she desired. One thing he had never been to any woman was a threat. He never forced his attentions upon a woman or told lies to get what he wanted. And, he thought, a simple kiss should not have been so frightening to a woman who had been married for years.

  Unless her husband had abused her. Brian frowned and glanced at her again, wondering if he had been wrong to think that it was simply a matter of Claud never having given her a taste of passion. He had seen what a man’s abuse could do to a woman and Arianna did not show any of the signs. The biggest proof of that was that she had allowed him to separate her from the boys, from all the others, and make her travel alone with him, yet revealed only a natural wariness to begin with despite the fact that she only knew him by name. That wariness was already easing.

  He returned to the idea that the late, unlamented Claud might have been a very poor lover. If the man had never roused the passion Brian was certain was in Arianna, she could easily fear such unknown heat and need. Even in the morning’s harsh light, he remained confident that she had felt the same fire he had when she was in his arms. He might not have the wealth of experience some of his brothers had, but he did know when a woman responded to his kiss, and she had. That brought him back to what he had decided last night and that was that he was going to have to ease her fears because he had every intention of sharing another kiss with her and, if luck was on his side, a lot more than kisses. Brian just wished he knew how to do that. All the thought he had exerted on the problem before falling asleep had not given him any answers.

  “We will stop soon, give the horses a wee rest, and take one ourselves,” he said, already planning exactly where he would shelter. “Mayhap have a wee bit to eat.”

  “That would be lovely,” Arianna said as she briefly met his gaze.

  She quickly looked away again, setting her attention firmly on the trail they followed as it passed by beneath her horse’s hooves. Just looking at Sir Brian was enough to make her blush. Her lingering embarrassment was born partly from how she had felt as they had kissed, all hot and aching with a need she was not sure she understood. Most of it, however, came from how she had reacted to the flood of feeling that had swept over her from the moment his lips had touched hers. She had leapt away from him as if he were some leper. Young maidens did that sort of thing, not mature widows of three and twenty. In truth, she suspected she had acted worse than even the shyest of maidens. She should have found a way to end the embrace with some dignity.

  At least I did not swoon, she thought with a twinge of self-disgust. Although it had been a close thing, she admitted reluctantly. Claud had kissed her and made love to her, but she now considered there was the very good chance that Claud had simply been dutifully mating with her. Claud had never once caused her to experience such tumultuous feelings. Most of the time she had just wished Claud would hurry and get it over with, or stop. That had certainly not been what she had been wishing while she had been kissing Sir Brian.

  And that was really what had terrified her, she thought, and finally accepted that harsh truth. She was a coward. It was quite possible that Sir Brian’s kiss had stirred that passion her married kinswomen all sighed over and she had always thought she wanted. And what had she done when finally given a taste of what she had craved? Run from it. Arianna was not sure what she could do about that or if she should do anything at all.

  “I think this will be a good place to rest for a wee while.”

  Brian’s deep voice shattered her thoughts and Arianna looked around. They were in a beautiful spot near a swiftly running burn. Wild violets covered the banks of the burn and she could see bluebells winding through the trees.

  “Despite all the troubles I still face, it gladdens my heart beyond words to be back here,” she said as she dismounted.

  “I have heard that France is beautiful,” Brian said as he also dismounted and moved to stand beside her. “I suspicion your husband’s lands were beautiful and probably verra fertile.”

  “Aye, they were, but they were nay like Scotland.” She knelt down on the bank and inhaled the gentle scent of the violets. “I think I missed the land as much as I missed my family.”

  He grabbed some oatcakes and cheese from his pack, handing her some as he sat down next to her. He looked over the land as he ate, thinking it a particularly pretty spot, and knew he would miss Scotland if he had to leave it. Harsh in as many places as it was soft and peaceful, the weather temperamental, and the living often hard, it was still home. It was in his blood. He suspected it was in Arianna’s as well.

  “They didnae let ye come home at least once during the time ye were there?” he asked.

  “Claud occasionally promised he would take me home to visit, but I soon saw that it was said mostly to quiet me,” she replied. “I dinnae think he e’er wanted to come here. He e’en called this land barbaric when he thought I couldnae hear him. So did his family. And thus I was the wee barbarian they were forced to endure for the sake of the family’s fortunes.”

  There was the hint of bitterness behind her words but he was surprised there was not more. Everything she told him about Claud and his family revealed that she had never been accepted, and she had endured that for years. She was due a hearty bout of bitterness. She had not only lost her family when she had been sent to France, but had been given nothing to take the place of them.

  “I also think,” she continued, “that, once I had learned of his mistress, they all feared that, if I went home, I wouldnae return.” She shrugged. “I probably wouldnae have and they would have been humiliated by that.”

  Brian cursed under his breath. “They ne’er gave a thought to what that fool did to ye, did they? Ne’er once cared how ye suffered.”

  Arianna looked at him with surprise, his anger clear to hear in his vo
ice. “Nay, I was but the wife and wives must endure, must they not?”

  “The wives my kinsmen have taken would do the fools a sore injury if they did to them as Claud did to ye. Aye, and the family would have been sent running to the hills if they tried to make either of those lasses take all the blame for their son’s betrayal of them.”

  She grinned. “Aye, that is how most of my kinswomen would behave.” She suddenly frowned. “’Tis verra odd that none of my family came for me as I did write to them of what I was suffering. What Claud did should have enraged my kin.” It was hard to understand that, to find a reason that would ease the pain she felt at their apparent desertion of her.

  “Oh? And tell me, did ye hand that missive to one of your husband’s people to have it sent on to your family?” He nodded when her eyes grew wide and she paled. “I suspicion those letters ye wrote were read ere they were sent on and any that spoke of the wrongs done to you were probably tossed straight into the fire.” Brian clenched his hands into fists as he fought the urge to take her into his arms to soothe the grief and pain he could read on her face. “Ye had a large dowry, did ye?”

  “’Twas rich enough and they were in sore need of it for they lived too weel.”

  It should not have been such a painful shock, she thought, as tears stung her eyes. She had certainly not been welcomed into the family. The man she had married had obviously never cared for her. Arianna now knew that, if she had had a child, that child would not have been completely accepted, either. She could not believe she had been so naive as to trust any of them. People who treated a person as they had treated her were not ones that should be trusted. Worse, she had accepted the possibility that no one in her family cared how she was treated, and for stirring that mistrust of her own kin in her heart, she would never forgive Claud’s family.