And now that she was pregnant with the babe, she would separate herself from Connor while they waited to see if she would have a boy or a girl.
It was what they both wanted, right?
“So the laird is to have an heir,” a dark voice said from behind her. Moira gasped and whirled around to find Greg lurking in the shadows. “I have to say that I am sorry to hear that, my lady. I doonae relish what I have to do now.”
“What do ye mean?” she asked nervously. Since Greg had followed Ainsley here, he’d been the best worker, even teaching Connor’s grooms a thing or two about horses. Moira suspected that Greg was a little in love with Ainsley, but while she showed him a great deal of loyalty, the love didn’t seem to be reciprocated.
“I mean that I cannae allow ye to live long enough to give birth. Ye willnae have the Sinclair heir.” As he rose and walked toward her, she was reminded of just how large he was, and fear struck her. If she screamed, who would hear her? ’Twas late, and most people had retired for the night.
“What do ye have against me and my babe?” she whispered as she clutched the carrots, a poor substitute of a weapon, and backed away.
“Nothing against ye, but everything against that babe,” he hissed. “Connor Sinclair doesnae deserve the power that he wields, and that child will only do more harm.”
Something clicked in her mind as she stared at him, her heart pounding. “Ye!” she breathed. “Ye are the one who has been trying to kill him. To undermine him! But why? When ye needed shelter, Connor gave it to ye! He has treated ye with nothing but kindness. Why would ye target a man that ye barely know?”
“But I do know him. I know that he is beloved by everyone who sees him, and he doesnae deserve it. I know that he doesnae care for those who would give everything to him!”
His eyes danced with insanity, and she wondered if perhaps Ainsley’s husband’s death truly was an accident, or if Greg had a taste for blood. When he raised his hand, she saw the dagger glint in the moonlight. She screamed.
The blade came down and she dodged it just in time. Remembering the training Hamish had given her, she waited for him to stumble and then swung her elbow as hard as she could. Greg grunted and sprawled onto the ground.
The bigger they are, the harder they fall, she thought.
She screamed once again for help, and this time, there were shouts to answer. Greg pulled himself up and launched himself at her once again. This time, she was able to dance around the blade but not the body, and when he hit her, she fell into the wall. His fist swung, connecting to her jaw, and for a moment, she could see nothing at all.
“Moira!” Mungo shouted, and suddenly, the barn was full of people. Someone dragged Greg away, and she huddled in the corner and held an arm over her stomach, By the time Connor arrived, Greg was unconscious on the ground, and three of his warriors were standing over him.
Connor ignored him completely and hurried to her side. “Moira! Moira, look at me, love. ’Tis over. Ye are safe.”
The babe! She needed to tell him about the babe, tell him that she needed a healer, but if she opened her mouth, she feared that she would cry. Instead, she just sagged against him and shivered.
“All right, lass. I have ye.” Picking her up, he swung her easily into his arms. “Take the traitor to the dungeons and wake him up. I will speak to him first, but make no mistake, he is to be executed before the morning light. Find the healer and send her to my chambers. I want my wife looked over.”
There was a flurry of activity, but all she cared about was being safe in her husband’s arms.
21
After the healer announced that Moira would bruise but was otherwise fine, Connor left them and stormed down to the dungeons. It didn’t surprise him to see Ainsley waiting for him at the entrance. Her hair, normally so neatly bound, was tumbling down her shoulder, and tears streamed down her face. “Connor, I cannae do any more than beg for yer forgiveness although I understand if ye refuse to give it to me. I had no idea what Greg intended to do.”
“’Tis not yer fault,” he said as he pulled her into a quick embrace. “Although Moira told me that she feared this was not the first time Greg may have tried to spill blood.”
Ainsley paled. “Ye think…my husband…I had no love for the man, but I feel sick to think that the man I trusted as a protector and a friend has turned to this. And…oh, Connor, there was a death, a murder, of a pretty young woman in the village. The man courting her had been terrorized for weeks, and then she ended up dead. Most thought her suitor had done it, but there was never any proof. What if Greg…”
“Doonae blame yourself.”
“Please, will ye give me a moment alone with him? Yer guards willnae let me see him, and I need to know why he did this. I think if I speak to him, he will be more likely to speak to ye.”
Connor considered it. Ainsley had a point. Despite what Greg had done, he seemed loyal to her. If she told him to be honest, Connor might get the truth out of him. “If ye can get him to speak to me, then I will make his death a quick and clean one, honorable. I can promise no more than this.”
“No, I wouldnae ask for more.” Her face hardened. “Under the circumstances, ’tis far more than he deserves.”
Although he hated the idea of her being alone, Connor escorted Ainsley down and made sure that Greg’s chains were secure before he and his guards gave her some privacy.
No more than ten minutes later, Ainsley emerged, crying, with her arms tucked around her body. Connor quickly embraced her. “Doonae cry, lass. His crimes arenae yers.”
“He admitted to killing the girl,” Ainsley whispered. “Admitted to an obsession with Moira. He would have killed her, Connor. Oh, how can I forgive myself for this? How can I trust anyone?”
There were sudden shouts of alarm from below. Ainsley pressed a hand to her mouth and glanced fearfully back.
“Go back to yer chambers,” he ordered. “Now!”
Leaving her, he grabbed a torch and hurried down the long stairwell. His men were standing outside the iron gates staring somberly inside. “He must have had a small blade hidden in his boot,” the guard said apologetically.
Muscling through, he saw that Greg was still chained, but his shoe was half off, and there was a small blade in his hand. Blood dripped from a wound on his wrist. “Ask Lady Ainsley to forgive me,” he rasped. “I never meant to betray her. I cannae contain my dark hunger.”
Then, before anyone could react, he slit his own throat and died within seconds.
“Take care of the body,” he ordered angrily. There would be consequences for the guards who had not searched him more thoroughly. Connor had wanted to get answers himself, not get his answers through a second party.
Tomorrow, he would send a messenger to Covington lands. Greg’s other victim’s family deserved to know the truth of her death.
For now, he needed to see his wife and come to terms with the wild fear that had erupted inside of him, the fear that he had lost her without ever telling her the truth.
He found her in his chambers. She’d changed out of her dress and was curled up in his bed holding one of his pillows tightly to her chest. Grace was in the chambers as well, facing the floor, her eyes wide with anger.
“Grace,” he said softly so he didn’t rile her and startle Moira, but it was already too late.
“What did he tell ye?” Grace demanded. “Ainsley spouted some nonsense about him enjoying violence against women, but that couldnae be the reason. Someone has been trying to kill ye, not Moira.”
“Grace,” Connor tried again, but Moira was sitting up. Her expression mirrored Grace’s, all that fury and rage. Pride rose up inside of him. It took more than Greg to keep his wife down.
“Nay, Grace is right. Things simply doonae add up. He confessed to me that he was targeting ye.”
“Moira, Greg couldnae have been the man after me unless he commissioned it,” Connor told her. “I suspected him as well, simply because he was a stranger, but
he was surrounded by people during the incidents. If he confessed, then he did so falsely. I doonae know why Greg would say those things except to inflate his worth before he died. He took his own life before I could question him. He confessed to Ainsley that he has been obsessed with ye, Moira.”
“And so he decided he wanted to kill me?”
That part didn’t sit well with Connor either, but Moira turned her head and stared out the window. She no longer wanted to be a part of the conversation, and he wanted her to sleep. “He confessed to killing another girl on Covington lands. I have to assume that he wasnae right in the head, but ’tis over now. Grace, return to yer chambers, and I beg of ye to stay there.”
“Doonae worry about me,” Grace said under her breath. “I am far too tired tonight. Moira, tomorrow, if ye feel up to it, Ainsley and I will take ye out on horseback. We shall have a picnic!”
“Aye.” Moira forced a smile. “That sounds wonderful, thank ye.”
When Ainsley left, Connor gathered his wife in his arms and held her. “I am sorry,” he said hoarsely. “Oh, Moira, I am so sorry.”
“’Tis not yer fault.” Straightening, she sat in his lap and curved her hand over his cheek. “Ye could not have known what kind of monster was lurking inside of Greg. Ainsley didnae know. No one is at fault here except for him, and he is dead. It will do no good for ye to blame yerself or anyone else.”
“When I think of what could have happened to ye...” He kissed the tip of her nose. “Moira, I dare not think of what I would do if I lost ye.”
“I am right here, Connor.” Slowly picking up her skirts, she straddled him. “Ye have not lost me.”
Kissing him tenderly, she slowly ran her hands down, unbuttoning his shirt and trailing a finger down his chest to his abdomen. His whole body hardened with desire, but tonight, it was about something more. He needed to feel every inch of her to know for certain that she was all right. He needed to chase away the nightmares so when she slept in his arms tonight, she would know that she was safe.
He needed her to believe him when he finally told her the truth of how he felt about her.
She circled her arms around his waist, and he started to flip them. “Nay,” she whispered, stopping him. “Nay, I want ye just like this. Please. Slow and deep. I want to feel yer whole length.”
With a groan, he nodded, and she reached between them to free his member. For a few quiet moments, she stroked him, stoking the flames, and when he reached down to test her, he was pleased to see that she was wet and ready for him. “Now,” he said thickly. “My sweet, Moira, now.”
“Aye.” Moving, she slowly lowered herself onto him, and they both whimpered from the feel of them together. It was perfect. The fit, the heat, the friction. There was no need to hurry, only a need to draw it out and make it last as long as possible.
As she swirled her hips, drawing out every ounce of pleasure from him, he undid the buttons of her shift to loosen it and pulled it down to bare her breasts. Gripping her waist tightly, he shifted down the bed so that she leaned over him, and at every opportunity, he darted his tongue out to tease her nipples.
When they finished, they fell together, and she pressed her lips to his as they swallowed each other’s cries, their bodies shaking in the night.
At some point, he’d managed to get her shift off her, and he undressed as well. After a few hours of sleep, they made love again. She sighed and stretched languidly.
“Moira.” His chest squeezed with anticipation, but he kept his voice and his caresses along her back gentle. “There is something that I need to tell ye.”
Moonlight streamed in from the window, bathing her naked body in a soft glow, and when she turned to him, she looked as ethereal as an angel. Giving him a soft and sated smile, she blinked sleepily at him. “Am I going to like what you have to say?” she teased.
“I confess to not knowing, but I need to say it anyway. I want there to be no confusion about my affections.”
“Yer affections?” Straightening, she pulled the blanket over her body, her panic written all over her face. “Connor there is no need to discuss this.”
“There is.”
“We have an arrangement,” she reminded him.
The bloody arrangement! He wasn’t likely to forget it with her reminding him every day that she would soon separate herself from him. “Aye, and I will uphold that arrangement, but I still need to tell ye that I…”
“Connor,” she interrupted. “Please.”
“Moira, I love ye.”
Still clutching the blankets to her body, she slipped from the bed and pressed herself to the stone wall on the opposite side of the room. “Ye told me that ye have no capacity for love after what happened to ye, so why are ye lying to me?”
His hopes plummeted. “I thought it wasnae possible, but in truth, I never stopped loving ye. I didnae want to be hurt again.”
“Hurt?! Ye say that as if I am to blame! Ye are the one who sent me away, Connor. Ye believed that I was capable of murdering yer parents, and now ye tell me that ye never stopped loving me? How can it be both, Connor?”
“I will beg yer forgiveness for that day for the rest of my life, Moira, and I understand if ye never give it to me.”
“’Tis not forgiveness that I am withholding from ye, Connor. I am here, in yer bed, as yer wife. There is no need to forgive that day because I have moved past it. Ye are only saying this now because of what Greg did, but I am alive and so are ye. We will move past this, find our routine again, just as we moved past that day.”
“Obviously ye havenae!” he roared. “Or ye would not be calling me a liar now!” Furious, he got out of bed and began to dress. If she had told him that she didn’t love him back, that she would never love him back, it would hurt less than knowing that she didn’t believe his love. He’d done everything that he could to make her feel cherished and loved, but if he couldn’t make her believe it now, then there would never be any hope for them.
“I love ye, Moira, and I think deep down, ye know it to be true. Ye push back against me because ye are scared, and I deserve it, but I willnae have ye questioning my feelings for ye.”
“Where are ye going?” she asked softly.
“Somewhere where I can think.”
Faintly, before he clasped the door shut, he heard her sob.
22
Connor still had not returned to bed when there was a knock on the door. Brittania had already come and gone, so Moira was dressed when she opened it. “Ainsley.” She tried to force a smile for her friend. “Good morn.”
“Oh, Moira.” Ainsley teared up as she reached over and hugged her. “I am afraid that I didnae sleep at all last night. I was so worried about ye and sick with guilt.”
“’Tis not yer fault. As I told Connor last night, Greg had a monster inside of him, a monster that no one else could see, and ’tis no one’s fault but his own. Please do not shed a single tear over what happened last night. ’Tis over, and we are all going to be just fine. Grace mentioned that we might have a picnic this afternoon. I think it will do the three of us some good.”
“Actually, if ye wouldnae mind, I was thinking that we might go out riding this morning.” Ainsley hesitated. “There is something that I must do.”
Moira wanted to tell her no. She wanted to go in search of her husband and to apologize to him. She’d handled last night badly. In truth, all she had ever wanted was to hear him tell her that he loved her, but he was right. As soon as the words were out of his mouth, fear and panic brought her back to that horrible day, where he proposed and cast her out within minutes. Greg’s actions notwithstanding, things had been wonderful there. The clan was starting to trust her. Her nights with Connor were breathtaking, and her days of managing the keep were pleasurable. Until she’d realized that she was pregnant, she hadn’t even thought about the cottage and the promises that they’d made to each other.
He told her that he loved her, and suddenly, she feared the worst. Something woul
d happen now, something that would tear her away from all of this. It was easier for her to push him away, to try and go back to the way things were.
Then he’d walked away, and she’d never felt such an ache in her heart. What was she to do now? He would probably never want to see her again. She’d be relegated to the cottage.
Several months ago, it was exactly what she had wanted.
“It has something to do with Greg,” Ainsley added.
That brought Moira’s attention back. “Greg? Ainsley, if ye know more than ye are saying, then we must tell Connor.”
“Nay, I am not certain. All I know is that he continued to make trips out to the woods, and was carrying something in a cloth bundle. I think he was hiding something out there. I hate that he died without speaking to Connor. I want to know the truth of the man that I trusted, and I am certain that ye do as well, but I doonae want to bother Connor or any of the men in case this is all for naught. Please, Moira. Ye and I, we can end this together.”
Ainsley had a point. To get Connor’s hopes up that they might understand Greg better, only to realize the exploration was futile, might send him into a tailspin. “Shall we invite Grace?”
Reaching out, Ainsley took her hand and squeezed it. “In this, I think it will be better if ye and I do it alone.”
“All right. Are we walking or taking the horses?”
“Greg walked, so I believe it will be better if we walk as well. I did learn one thing from my husband, and that was how to track. We will see what Greg was hiding,” she said coldly. “And then I believe it might be best for me to leave. I have caused far too much trouble.”
“Not a chance. This is yer home now for as long as ye need it.” With one last look behind her, Moira wished that Connor had returned, but they would talk later, and she would make it right. Closing the door, she squeezed Ainsley’s hand again and released it. “Let us finish this.”
Highlander's Moonlight Seduction (Scottish Medieval Historical Romance) Page 15
