Highland Hero

by Hannah Howell

  David considered his words and inwardly grimaced, but since he could not claim to have lived the life of a monk, he decided to fumble on. “Not e’en to say that ye put them all in the shade? That ye make them such dim memories I cannae recall their names or faces?”

  “Weel”—she slid her hand down his stomach and tentatively curled her fingers around his erection, enjoying the tremor that shook his body—“tis flattering in a way. ’Tis a pity, is it not, that I cannae repay the compliment in kind.” She grinned at his brief look of disgust. “I do think that ye may be the brawest laddie I have e’er seen.”

  “Aye, I am.” He laughed softly, then murmured his pleasure over the way her soft stroking made him feel. “Ye are making me feel more braw by the moment.”

  Tatha smiled against his skin as she kissed his chest. She had finally come to a decision. She would leave Cnocanduin. It would not solve all of David’s troubles, but it would free his hands to act as he must to protect his people. It would rip her heart out to leave him, but it had to be done. Tonight, however, she intended to soak herself in the pleasure he gave her so freely. She planned to crowd her mind with so many memories it would be years before they began to dim, if ever.

  Cautiously, alert for any sign of shock or disgust, she kissed her way down to his taut stomach. She had every intention of leaving her memory firmly planted in David’s mind. Her free-speaking aunt had told her of the things men liked, and she decided it was time to put some of that knowledge to the test. She touched a kiss to the inside of each of his strong thighs, then slowly ran her tongue along the thick, hot length of him. The way he groaned the word aye and curled his fingers in her hair to hold her where she was told her clearly that he liked that. Tatha grew even bolder.

  David clutched the sheets in his fists and struggled to cling to his control. He wanted to savor what she was doing to him for as long as he could. When the moist heat of her mouth enclosed him, he arched up off the bed and knew his control would not last much longer.

  Finally, his endurance broke. With a harsh cry he pulled her up his body. When she straddled him, he slid his hand between her thighs and growled his pleasure when he found her already damp with welcome. He plunged into her and savored her gasp of pleasure. She quickly learned the art of riding her man and took them both to a shuddering climax.

  After washing them both clean, he slipped back into bed and pulled her close. “Tatha, I mean no insult, but where did ye learn of that?”

  “My aunt,” she replied, idly smoothing her hand over his broad chest. She loved the feel of him, loved his scent and his taste. “She was an earthy woman and much enjoyed her time in her husband’s bed, sadly short as it was. She was still a young woman when he died and, although she ne’er married again, I believe she took a lover or two.”

  “And she spoke freely of such things?”

  “Aye. She ne’er saw the sense of keeping maidens so ignorant. Aunt Mairi felt knowledge protected a lass against seduction and would aid her in keeping her mon’s bed warm.”

  “I seduced you,” he said, feeling a pinch of guilt.

  “We seduced each other.”

  He grinned and pushed her onto her back. “And did your aunt tell ye what a woman likes?”

  “Some,” she answered, blushing faintly. “I think she felt I would learn what I liked all by myself.”

  She shivered with pleasure as he trailed kisses over her breasts. Curling her fingers in his hair, she held him close as he lathed and suckled her breasts, restirring her passion. Tatha dared not even think about how much she was going to miss him.

  “Ye like that,” he murmured against her stomach.

  “Oh, aye.”

  “Weel, let us see if ye like me tasting your secrets as much as ye seemed to like tasting mine.”

  It took but one stroke of his tongue to make Tatha cry out her pleasure over his intimate kiss. Modesty fled hand in hand with sanity. She offered herself freely to his mouth and let her passions rule. He took her to the heights of pleasure, then, barely allowing her to catch her breath, drove her close to the brink again. Even as she demanded he join her this time, he sat up, dragging her with him. He straddled her across his lap and plunged into her. Bending her back over his arm, he slowly drew the tip of her breast deep into his mouth. Tatha cried out as she lost all sense of where she was, knew only the pleasure raging through her. As her release shuddered through her, she was faintly aware of his cry signaling that she did not travel to that pinnacle alone.

  Later, as she watched him sleep, she fought against the urge to weep. There would be time for tears, too much time. There were still several hours before dawn, and she decided she would let him rest for a short time, then draw him back into her arms for one last taste of the joy they could share. She would be exhausted come the dawn, but she could not bear to spend her last night with him only sleeping.

  Dawn was but a hint of color on the horizon as Tatha led her pony out through the gates of Cnocanduin. Some of the men on the wall called to her, but seemed to accept her explanation that she was just going to collect some herbs. She thanked God that they were, perhaps, too sleepy to recall that David did not want her riding out alone. Leith would have remembered, but luck was with her and he was still abed.

  She mounted her pony and rode toward the forest to the north. Although she felt as if she were slowly dying, she kept on riding. When she had first arrived she had sworn that, if her presence caused Sir David any trouble, she would leave, and it was time to hold to that vow. Her whole body ached with the excesses of the night, but she savored that discomfort. She had made some very warm memories, and she would force herself to be satisfied with that.

  Chapter 9

  “Where is Tatha?” asked Leith as he answered David’s sharp command to enter his bedchamber and looked around.

  “I think she has fled,” David replied as he buckled on his sword.

  “Fled? What did ye do?”

  “Naught, curse it.”

  He sighed and ran his hand through his hair. When he had awakened to find his bed empty he had not given it much thought, but a swift search through the keep and a few questions had revealed that Tatha had left at dawn. Loudly berating the guards who had let her ride away alone had not eased the sudden fury and fear that had seized him. He had returned to his bedchamber to arm himself, thinking to ride out after her, but now he wondered if that was wise.

  After the passionate night they had spent he had found it hard to believe she would leave him. Then he had begun to see that she had been saying good-bye. The question was, Why? The only thing that lay beyond the walls for Tatha was danger. What would make her wish to risk discovery by Sir Ranald? He simply could not believe it was something he had done or said. No woman could make love to a man as thoroughly and as often as she had if there was no longer some feeling for him. That left him with no answers, however.

  “I dinnae ken why she has left. She told me naught, gave me no hint that she considered leaving,” David said. “She simply crawled out of my bed and rode away.”

  “Were ye going after her?” Leith asked, glancing at David’s sword.

  “That was my first thought, but now I wonder if that would be wise. Sir Ranald is trying to kill me. Riding o’er the countryside searching for some fool lass is a sure way to give him an easy target.”

  Leith frowned as he followed David out of the room. “Do ye think she has decided to go back and face her father?”

  “Nay,” David answered as he entered the great hall, not really hungry but knowing he needed to eat something to keep up his strength. It could prove to be a very long and exhausting day. “The fools who let her ride out say she headed toward the forest to the north of us.”

  “Toward Sir Ranald’s lands?” Leith sat down and began to fill his trencher with food. “Nay, there is no reason for her to go to him. He is why she ran away from her family.”

  “I dinnae think she goes to him. She just goes.” The food David ate tasted
like ashes in his mouth, but he forced himself to keep eating.

  “Mayhap she grew weary of being your leman with no hint that she would e’er be more than that.”

  David frowned as he considered that possibility for a moment, then shook his head. “Nay. I believe Tatha would have said something. She slipped away ere I woke because she intends to do something she did not think I would agree with. Yet I cannae believe she would willingly walk into Sir Ranald’s grasp. She kens that her presence here isnae why he is tormenting us.”

  Leith stared at David for a moment, then said quietly, “Nay, but she may have wit enough to ken that she is the reason we dinnae strike back fast and hard.”

  After a moment of thought, David cursed, then took a deep drink of ale to soothe his agitation. “Aye, she has wit enough. That is it. She saw that she was tying our hands. God’s beard, she may have e’en heard us say so. She has unbound us.”

  “Aye, but could be riding straight into trouble.”

  “I believe she may have a true skill for that. Weel, we shall gather a few men and see if we can find her.”

  “And then what?”

  “And then I drag her back here and tie her to the bed.”

  Tatha winced and rubbed at the small of her back. After such a rigorous night, even a few hours of riding were proving to be more than she could bear. Riding north, so close to Sir Ranald’s lands, was probably not the wisest route to take, but she had felt it was the one David would be least inclined to follow. Now, however, she wished to rest and did not dare to. She needed to get as far away from both men as she could as fast as she could.

  As she prodded her little pony over the rocky trail, she frowned. It was very quiet, too quiet. She suddenly realized that none of the sounds one usually heard in the forest were there. It was as if someone had just thrown a smothering blanket over the area.

  Her heart began to beat faster as fear crept over her. This was a warning, but of what? She touched her knotted cord, silently trying to pull forth the protection it promised, as she looked around. Just as she began to convince herself that she was succumbing to nerves, she saw a movement off to her right.

  A man on a horse slowly became visible through the trees. Tatha turned her horse to the left, only to see another. Within moments she was surrounded.

  “If ye mean to rob me,” she said, struggling to remain at least outwardly calm, “ye will find some verra poor gain. I have little or naught that would be of profit for you.”

  “Nay, Lady Tatha, we dinnae mean to rob you,” said a tall, thin man with a huge beak of a nose as he rode closer and tore her reins from her hands.

  “How do ye ken who I am?” she demanded even as she frowned at the man, something about him striking her as faintly familiar.

  “I oftimes visited your father’s keep with your betrothed. I am Baird, one of Sir Ranald’s men.”

  “How unfortunate for you.”

  Ice trickled through her veins, but she fought the urge to scream in terror. She had obviously ridden right into the midst of one of Sir Ranald’s raiding parties. She was right back where she had started from when she had fled her father’s keep. Her freedom had been short, glorious, but short. The only hope she had, and it was a very small one, was that she would have a chance to speak to her father before the wedding. She might be able to make him listen to the truth about Sir Ranald.

  “Weel, I shallnae trouble ye,” she said, trying and failing to tug her reins free of Baird’s grasp. “I was just riding home to my father. Mayhap I will see ye again at the wedding.”

  “Clever lass, but ye cannae fool me. Ye fled your father’s keep near to two months ago. Ye have no intention of returning there. So we shall just take ye to your betrothed and let him deal with you.”

  “Sir Ranald is nay my betrothed.”

  “He paid a handsome bride price for you.”

  “Then he can just get it back, for I havenae agreed to wed the bastard.”

  She scowled at the man as he laughed and began to lead her north toward Sir Ranald’s keep. She knew most people would consider her opinion that the betrothal was void unless she agreed to it pure nonsense, but she did not appreciate being mocked. Then she felt the weakening touch of defeat. What did suffering a little mockery matter when she would undoubtedly soon be dead?

  David stood beside Leith staring down at the tracks upon the ground and not wishing to believe what they told him. Tatha had ridden right into the hands of Sir Ranald’s men. David felt sure she had not done it on purpose, but that mattered little. She had been taken out of his reach, and he did not think there was anyway he could take her back.

  Without a word he mounted and headed back to his keep. The tracks were old enough to tell him that there was no point in trying to run her or her captors down. She was gone, and he found that cold truth too difficult to deal with, especially with all of his men staring at him.

  Once back at Cnocanduin, David went straight to his bedchamber and poured himself a large tankard of ale. By the time he had downed a second one he felt a bit more in control, was even able to greet Leith’s entrance with some appearance of calm. Inside he felt as if some animal were tearing him apart. He wanted to rage, but knew that would gain him nothing.

  “He will hurt her,” Leith said, helping himself to some ale.

  “I ken it,” David whispered, shuddering a little as his raging emotions tried to break free of the restraints he had put upon them.

  “Is there naught we can do?”

  “I have already sent word to her father concerning Sir Ranald’s part in my mother’s murder. Mayhap he will bestir himself to change his mind about the marriage.”

  It was not enough. David wanted to go to Sir Ranald’s keep and tear it apart stone by stone until he found Tatha. He wanted to tear Sir Ranald apart as well. Neither could be done, but the only alternatives were meek, paltry ones that gave him little hope and no ease.

  Somehow she had burrowed herself into his heart, beneath his very skin, and he had not seen it. He had favored her passion and enjoyed her company, but had never allowed himself to look beyond that. In his mind all had been settled. He would marry the woman who so gloriously warmed his bed and made him smile, despite her lack of dowry, despite her red hair, despite the fact that she was left-handed, and even despite the beliefs she had that caused him such unease. Not once had he wondered why he would. Not once had he considered losing her. Now that he had, he felt a cold emptiness he feared could prove permanent.

  He loved her. He saw that now. Now that it might be too late. David cursed himself and his blindness. He should have simply wed her and spit in the eye of all the possible consequences.

  “Mayhap ye should send word to her father again,” said Leith, watching his gray-faced cousin closely.

  “Why? If claims that the mon he sold her to is a killer willnae move him, what else may?”

  “Mayhap ye should tell him that she was here, tell him all she said about what Sir Ranald sought from her, about the maids. Is it nay worth the gamble? It may be all that is needed to make him recall his responsibilities as a father, and we could use his support. Aye, if we had it, we could go to Sir Ranald’s keep and tear her out of his grasp.”

  “It will also tell him that Sir Ranald may weel have righteous grievance against the Ruthvens.”

  “I ken it. I dinnae think ye will find anyone here who willnae be more than ready to take that chance. I would be willing. Donald would be, for his Sorcha is still carrying her bairn, grows rounder and heavier with it every day, and ’tis a lively one. He tells us all of its every kick. Robert’s back is better, and he has discovered a new way to enjoy his bonnie wife. The blacksmith near to kisses the ground your lady walks on, for his son is alive and getting into trouble again as all wee lads should.”

  “So weel loved in such a short time?”

  “Aye, by all of us, and I think mostly by you. She saved your life as weel.”

  “Aye, she did. Ye had best be sure of this
, Leith. If that fool father of hers has no caring for her at all, thinks naught of who she weds but only of the coin weighting his purse, we could be setting ourselves in the midst of a bloody feud with no hope of allies.”

  “I am sure. Send him word. If he proves to be such a heartless bastard that he cannae e’en come to judge the truth for himself, then once we are done with Sir Ranald, we will go to his keep and steal all her sisters.”

  David laughed, surprised he could do so. Then he realized that he had some hope now. Even if Tatha’s father did not join him, he had the support of his people. Pulling them into the midst of a feud, something that could be long and bloody, for the sake of a lass who was not a Ruthven, was something he had been reluctant to do. He had feared that he would be leading his people to their deaths simply to keep a lass he wanted. It was clear that his clan wanted her as well.

  “Weel, find the lad who took the last message to that fool Tatha must claim as her father,” David ordered. “I will try once more to rouse the mon’s conscience. We willnae wait long for him, however, so we had best begin to plan our attack as weel.”

  “Dinnae worry, David.” Leith briefly clasped his cousin’s shoulder in a gesture of sympathy. “We will get the lass back.”

  David prayed his cousin’s confidence was trustworthy. He dared not think on all that could happen to Tatha while she was in Sir Ranald’s hold, nor what the man might do to her when he discovered she was no longer a maiden. Or, if he had guessed correctly about what ailed the man, how he would treat her if she could not cure his problem. All he could do was plan, and pray she could keep herself safe until he could get to her.

  “Where is my daughter?”

  David stared at the huge scowling man standing in his bailey, only briefly glancing at the well-armed force he had brought with him. It had been four long days since he had sent the last message to Sir Malcolm Preston, and he had begun to lose hope. It was hard to believe this angry brute of a man was Tatha’s father, but David was willing to accept any help he could get.