“Nay, they can just leave bastards all about the countryside to haunt them later.”
“A good point and true enough—if they are foolish.” He slid his hand down her side and rested it on her abdomen. “I fear I was a wee bit foolish with you, lass. My bairn could already be stirring beneath this soft skin. Why not cease this bickering and just tell me what troubles you so about wedding me?”
Ye dinna love me,
was what she ached to say, but she swallowed those words. She did not wish to hear him agree with that statement. It was hard enough to know that her love was not returned. To prompt him to put that knowledge into words would only make it hurt more.
“I dinna wish to have a husband who was brought to the altar at sword point.”
“There has been no threat of that.” He kissed her cheek and edged close to her. “Silvio but recalled me to my duty, to what my honor, and yours, demands of me.”
“Honor and duty.” She spat the words out as if they were curses. “They are cold things to bring to a marriage bed.”
“Tessa,” he whispered as he pulled her into his arms and kissed her. “Has any bed we shared ever been cold?” He smoothed his hands down her back and felt her move against him involuntarily. “ ’Tis the fire we spark between us that has brought us to the point where we must confront matters of honor and duty.”
“And will this fire be able to survive, or will it be smothered into cold ashes by the weight of honor and duty?”
“Is that what worries you?” He brushed soft, light kisses over her face.
“ ’Tis something to consider.” She tensed, trying to fight the pull of desire because there was so much they needed to discuss.
“Even such weighty things as those couldna dim the passion we share, lass. I had some firm rules concerning lasses of good family. They have held firm for many years. Yet, even they couldna still the hunger ye bred in me. Nor could all ye have been taught still your wanting. Nay, burdens though they can be, duty and honor willna cool this fire.”
“Then why were ye reluctant? And ye were. I could see it in your face, feel it.”
Revan grimaced. “Ye are an heiress, Tessa. I have naught—little coin and no lands. Although I can find few who dinna consider me a great fool for thinking so, I canna like wedding the land and money I havena gained by birth or skill.”
“Ye mean it was your pride?” Tess found that alarming, for pride could be a strong and destructive thing.
“Aye, my pride. Tessa, I just didna like the thought that I needed to marry for such gain. It seemed to me to be the act of a whore. I have yet to find a man who agrees with that view. I begin to think I am the only man who holds it.”
He smiled at her as he turned so that she was sprawled beneath him. “However, ’tis not gain that brings about the marriage but honor and duty. I will soothe my foolish pride with that. Come, Tessa, dinna frown so. We are well matched. Ye ken that as well as I do.”
When he kissed her, she clung to him, fully returning the kiss. Although he had eased her concerns about honor and duty nudging him to the altar, he had given her a new one with his talk of pride. She grasped tightly at the passion his kiss stirred, needing it to wash all thought from her mind and replace the cold fear in her heart with the warmth of desire.
She eagerly matched his every kiss and caress. So desperate was she to completely lose herself in the pleasures of the flesh, she grew more bold and more aggressive than she had ever been before. Revan’s enthusiastic response to her tactics inspired her to go even further.
Tess nudged him onto his back and straddled him. After giving him a deep, fierce kiss, she began to kiss her way down his long, taut body, moistening and heating his skin with her lips and her tongue. She even used her own body to caress his, never missing a chance to rub against him. As she drew faint designs upon his stomach with her tongue, she curled her fingers around his erection and very slowly stroked him. The way he shifted beneath her and his hoarse murmurs of pleasure added to her own hunger.
While continuing the intimate play with her hand, she knelt between his strong legs. Revan whispered her name and looked at her. She smiled faintly and, holding his gaze, replaced the gentle caress of her hand with the warmer one of her tongue and her lips. He groaned, his hands tightening their grip in her hair, and, although his eyes grew increasingly heavy-lidded, he watched her. Tess boldly kept her gaze upon his face as she continued her intimate caress. It heightened her own desire to see how much she was pleasing him. She loved him slowly, retreating a little now and again when his control appeared close to breaking.
Finally he grasped her by the arms and tugged her up his body. Tess straddled him and eased their bodies together, trembling with pleasure as she felt him fill her. For a little while longer she held the reins, moving slowly and with care, to keep them on the edge of satisfaction for as long as she could. Then Revan suddenly took control. She gave a soft cry of surprise when he sat up, his strong arms around her so that she could not falter. The moment he leaned her away from his body and took the hard tip of her breast into his mouth, she lost what little restraint she had clung to.
Revan kept them lurking on the edge of release for a little while longer. He feasted upon her breasts as he gently moved her upon him. When her movements grew more frantic as her release shuddered through her, he let her draw him along. He held her tightly against him and kissed her, swallowing her cry and feeding her his, as the culmination of their hunger swept over them.
It was several moments before Revan felt inclined to separate their bodies. As soon as they had washed up and slid beneath the covers again, he pulled her back into his arms. He smiled faintly as she yawned and curled her body around his. Idly stroking her hair, he crooked one arm beneath his head and stared up at the ceiling.
“That, lass, was as far from cold and weighty honor and duty as anyone can get,” he murmured.
“Aye, true enough. I suppose I must concede that ye were correct.”
He chuckled. “Painful, is it?”
“Ye are far too arrogant now. It needs no boosting.”
“Silvio apologized for being unable to bob that sharp tongue of yours ere he sees us married.”
“Did he. Well, I shall see he pays for that insult.” She smiled faintly when Revan laughed.
“Best ye get some sleep, then. ’Twill not be easy to bandy words with Silvio. Ye will need all your wits about you.”
“Aye. Where do ye think I honed my sharp tongue?” She laughed softly along with Revan. “But, ye are right. Sleep is what I need. Even if I dinna squabble with Uncle Silvio, the Douglases and Thurkettle are still about.”
“We shall be the victors in that fight, Tessa. Dinna worry on that.”
She nodded and closed her eyes. The Douglases, Thurkettle, and all their treasonous plans did not really worry her that much any longer. Now that she and Revan were with her kinsmen, she felt safe, as safe as anyone could with a battle for the throne looming before her. All that concerned her about the battle between the Douglas and King James was that the king won and none of her loved ones were maimed or killed. That worry was one that would not really trouble her until the battle itself was at hand.
Revan concerned her now, he and their forthcoming marriage. Now that passion no longer held her fears at bay, they all rushed back into her heart. He had softened the threat of duty and honor, even given her the hope that he did feel more than passion for her when he spoke of their being well matched. Then he had ruined it all by talking of his pride, of how it would be sorely bruised by wedding an heiress.
Inwardly she cursed. Although she did not really feel that she had lied, she knew she had not told Revan the whole truth. She had spoken of a few thousand riders and made her land holdings sound somewhat meager. Tess dreaded to think of how he would react when he found out that a “few” was thirty thousand or more and that her land holdings were not only somewhat large but profitable. It was past time to tell him the whole truth, but she lacked the courage. It was going to be even worse if she gained all that Thurkettle now held. Most often a traitor’s holdings were forfeited to the crown, but she knew, because of her role in bringing information against those traitors, that she could well inherit it all. If Revan thought his pride bruised now, when her full wealth was disclosed, he would surely feel it had been mortally wounded.
And she would be the cause of that shattered pride, she thought and cuddled closer to Revan. Considering how he felt about wedding an heiress when he was virtually penniless and landless, the truth of her riches would leave him with no pride at all. She shivered. That would be the death knell for any happiness they might find together. He would grow to hate her, the loss of his pride slowly eating away at any feeling he might have for her.
She felt like weeping but forced back the tears. It would solve nothing, and he would notice, then press for an explanation. She had about a month to find some solution, some way of salvaging a scrap of Revan’s pride. If none presented itself, she knew what she would have to do—she would have to let him go, free him of the bonds of duty and honor. It would hurt, but she knew the pain would be greater if she had to see him stripped of his pride and watch that loss destroy them both.
CHAPTER 17
Tess yawned, then quickly glanced around her to be sure no one had seen her. She hurried down the stairs and into the great hall, embarrassed that, for the third time in three days, she had slept through to the midday meal. What troubled her a little was that she could go back to bed and easily sleep for a few more hours. That had never been her way, but she supposed the arduous travel with Revan could have depleted her strength more than she had supposed.
It also annoyed her to miss so much of the day. That meant missing time she could spend with Revan. Although the marriage was still being planned, she had not yet come up with any way to salvage Revan’s pride. Unless she did, she would not allow the marriage to take place, and that meant her time with Revan was limited. It was foolish to waste it lying in bed like some pampered queen.
Entering the great hall, she admitted to herself that she had another reason to want to be with Revan as much as possible. She was dressed as a lady again, and she wanted to impress that image upon his mind. If they were doomed to part, she did not really want his strongest memories of her to be those where she was dressed in the old, ill-fitting boy’s clothes.
“Ah, she lives.” Silvio grinned as his niece blushed and hurried to her seat at the table next to Revan while the others in the hall chuckled. “I was about to send your man off to see if ye were still breathing.”
As she helped herself to the wide array of food set out, Tess frowned at her teasing kinsmen. “Ye shouldna let me be so lazy. ’Tis a scandal.”
“Ye have been hard-pressed since this rogue yanked you out of Thurkettle’s grasp. Ye need rest. I but tease you, lass.”
“I ken it. But, I believe I have ‘rested’ quite enough. I must not be left to lay about on the morrow. It becomes a habit too easily, I think.” She smiled faintly when her uncle, Tomas, and Revan laughed.
“We sent out the third messenger this morning,” Silvio reported.
“Three?” Tess was a little surprised at how full her plate was but started to eat, a little dismayed at how sure she was she could finish the hearty meal and a little more besides.
“Aye, Tess. Three. We want to be sure the king gets the information Revan and ye uncovered on his behalf.”
“Why not send Revan?” Although she did not want Revan to leave, it was a reasonable question.
“Nay, we need the lad here. Besides, all of the Douglas’s men, and Thurkettle’s, ken his face and search for him.”
A glance toward Revan revealed him smiling faintly. Revan did not believe Silvio told the whole truth, either. The reasons Silvio gave were sound ones, but she knew there was at least one other. Silvio wanted to keep Revan within reach until the wedding vows were exchanged. In a way Revan was a prisoner. Tess did not like it but made no complaint. There was little she could do to change it. Arguing with her uncle Silvio would certainly not help much.
“Any sign of their men? Do they still lurk in the area?” she asked.
“I fear so, although there arena so many. When my men have the time, they set after the rogues. They consider it fine sport. We have culled a few men from the Douglas’s traitorous army.” He frowned as an uproar was heard from beyond the doors of the great hall. “It canna be an attack,” he murmured. “No alarm was sounded.”
A moment later the heavy doors to the great hall were flung open. Two of Silvio’s men entered dragging a man between them. He struggled in their hold, loudly cursing them. The rumpled state of his clothes and the trickle of blood from his mouth revealed that he had put up a fight from the start. Tess mused that Silvio’s men had probably tried to shut the man’s mouth as well and reached for another thick slab of bread. Suddenly she froze as the man looked their way. It was the man on the black stallion with the white stockings. Her uncle’s men had captured Angus MacKinnon, the traitor. She shivered when the man’s cold gaze rested on her for a moment before fixing on Silvio.
“Ah, lads, here is a fine catch,” her uncle said.
“I demand to ken the meaning of this outrage, Delgado,” the man said, uselessly trying to tidy his clothes as Silvio’s men loosened their grip on him.
“Actually, the name is Comyn.”
The man gave a soft scornful laugh. “Your family changes names as others do their shirts. Why have I been dragged here?”
“For the blackest of crimes, MacKinnon. We will take you to the king to answer for it.”
“Crimes? What crimes are ye babbling about? I was on my way to the king when these curs grabbed me. If we speak on crimes, ye had best consider the one ye commit—halting a king’s man in his mission. I was taking an important message to the king.”
“Aye, a dagger in his heart. A message from the traitor Douglas.”
“Ye are mad, Delgado.”
Tess had to admire the man, if only slightly and fleetingly. His poise was awe-inspiring. There was no question of his guilt, yet he barely faltered when told that his crimes were now known. Only the faintest loss of color gave away the fear he had to be feeling, and one had to look very closely to see even that.
“Nay, but I think ye may be, MacKinnon. What could ye hope to gain with such a black betrayal? How can ye turn against the king, a man who has given you nearly all ye can lay claim to? Is this how ye repay our liege? With treason?”
“Ye have no cause to spit on my honor like this, Delgado.”
“Honor? Ye have no honor, traitor. As for proof, for cause, may I present my niece—Contessa Comyn Delgado.” Silvio smiled coldly when MacKinnon’s eyes widened slightly, revealing his shock. “And her betrothed—Sir Revan Halyard.”
“Ye call me traitor and treat me like some outlaw yet house these two as guests? Have ye heard nothing of the crimes they are charged with? Halyard is a kidnapper and a rapist. Your niece, Delgado, is suspected of aiding the man in betraying the king. Aye, and she is already betrothed—to a nephew of the Douglas who plots to steal the throne.”
“I am betrothed?” Tess could barely speak above a whisper she was so shocked. “I canna be.”
MacKinnon gave her a cool glance. “Aye, to one of the Douglas’s nephews. ’Twas announced.”
“Not to me.”
“Dinna fret, Contessa,” Silvio said. “ ’Tis but a ploy they use to try to strengthen their cause. If nothing else they tried to accuse ye with was accepted, the fact that Revan took a man’s betrothed probably would be.”
“And it would allow them to do just what they have been trying to do—kill him, or us.” Tess was relieved to see that Revan was nodding in agreement. “My saying I wasna betrothed to this Douglas cur would carry no weight.”
“None at all, darling.”
“Ye can visit with the wench later, Delgado,” drawled MacKinnon, his tone arrogant and sneering. “I am a busy man.”
“Ye will have a long rest soon, MacKinnon, though reaching your final rest may well be a very painful journey. The death of a traitor isna a pretty one.”
“I am no traitor, Delgado. Ye toss about empty charges. I will see that ye pay dearly for the insult.”
“The charges arena empty. Ye were seen, fool. Your conspiring with the Douglas traitors was witnessed.”
“What are you saying?”
“Remember riding with your treasonous companions one afternoon and chasing down a couple caught watching you?” Silvio nodded when the man grew visibly pale. “The chase was ended. Ye thought them but peasants who wouldna ken the value of what they had seen. Well, ye erred badly, MacKinnon, and we thank ye for it. Here sit those witnesses.” Silvio indicated Revan and Tess with an idle wave of his hand. “My niece recognized you, remembered seeing you at Tomas’s wedding. She got a very good look at you, as did Sir Halyard.”
“Her word willna hold firm against mine.”
“Hers and Sir Halyard’s. Once she pointed you out, he took a closer look. They can both swear to having seen ye riding with the traitorous Douglas’s men, riding toward the Douglas lands. Now ye return to the king. James will be very eager to hear why. ’Tis a shame the two she saw riding with you werena caught as well.”
“They were caught, sir,” said one of the men guarding MacKinnon. “Well, one of them was. The other was killed. The one we hold is wounded. Old Alice cares for him and says he will live.”
“Live to talk, eh, MacKinnon? I think ye will soon regret that ye didna stand more firmly against my men, thus forcing them to kill you. Death at their hands would have been a great deal more merciful than what ye face now.”
The man cursed, then jerked free of his guards. Tess expected him to race for the doors despite the guards standing there. She gave a soft cry of surprise when he started toward her instead. Revan scrambled to his feet, putting himself between her and MacKinnon, but the guards grabbed the man before he could reach them. There was a brief, fierce struggle before they got a firm grip on the man. When MacKinnon was on his feet again, he glared at Tess. Although she knew it was somewhat cowardly, she tried to avoid that murderous look by hiding behind Revan.
“Ye will regret this, Delgado,” MacKinnon told Silvio, only briefly diverting his glare from Tess.
“Regret serving my liege lord—King James? I think not. Secure him, men. I mean to deliver this traitor to our king alive.”
“Ye will all pay for this!” MacKinnon yelled as he was dragged away. “Especially you,” he spat at Tess. “Fergus was a fool. He should have killed you years ago. I willna be so careless. Ye are a dead woman, bitch. A dead woman!” he screamed just as he was yanked out of the hall and the doors were slammed shut behind him.
Revan sat down, his gaze fixed upon Tess. She looked pale, and her hands shook faintly as she picked up her goblet of wine. He reached out and took one of her hands in his. Since she had just spent over a fortnight running from people who wanted to kill her, he was not sure what it was about MacKinnon’s threats that bothered her so.
“ ’Twas just words, Tessa,” he said. “Just words. The man hurls empty threats. He just wants to scare you.”
“Aye. I ken it.” She took a slow, deep drink of wine to steady herself. “He wants someone to share the fear that is eating away at him now. And by now I should be quite accustomed to people wishing to kill me. At times it seemed as if half of Scotland was trying to put me in the ground.” She gave Revan and Silvio a weak smile, then sighed.
“I sometimes thought the same.” He kissed her hand. “Ye didna quail then, lass.”
“ ’Twas dark in that cave. Ye couldna see me that well, ’tis all.”
“Tessa.” He knew she was being evasive and was determined not to allow it. “Why were this fool’s threats different?”
“ ’Tis foolish, but I suppose ’tis because he spoke them aloud. No one really has before. This also seems more personal. He doesna want me dead so that he can have my money or to save himself. He is already doomed. Nay. He wants
me
dead. There was such hate behind his words,” she whispered. “Such fury aimed at me. Most everyone else after us has done only what they had been ordered to do. This man
wants
to see me dead. ’Twill take some getting used to.”
“Ye willna have to get used to it, dearling,” Silvio said. “The man is well secured now. His next journey will be to the gallows.”
“I ken it, Uncle Silvio. I will shake the chill he has left me with. It but takes a bit of time, is all.”
Revan and Silvio nodded and returned to discussing the battle they felt was certain to come. Tess was glad that she had soothed their concern. She wished she could soothe hers so easily. After all she had been through, she knew it was foolish to be so frightened by one person threatening to kill her, yet she could not shake that fear. Although she could not really explain it, even to herself, there was something different about MacKinnon’s threat. Inwardly she shook her head. It was undoubtedly just his looks, that hawkish, predatory face, and the emotion he had embued his words with. She would put the man and his threats from her mind. He was locked up now, and no one from Donnbraigh would help him.
Tess paused in brushing her hair to look at Revan as he entered their bedchamber and walked by the bed she sat on. She was beginning to think that getting up earlier in the day would not buy her much more time with Revan. Immediately after the noon meal, he had left with the other men and had not returned until it was time to eat again. Even her uncle had hobbled off. She had spent the rest of the day helping what few women remained at Donnbraigh do their chores.
“The mighty huntsman has returned to his lair for the night, has he?” She faintly regretted her sarcasm. She was not really angry with him, but he was at hand.
Revan cast her a wary glance before undressing to his braies. “Looking for an argument, are we?”
“Mayhaps.” She grimaced and set her hairbrush on the table by the bed. “ ’Twould be more interesting than hearing about Janie’s bairn and how he is teething now or Maura’s aching bones or the weather.”
“Spent the day with the women, eh? It canna be so strange. Ye must have done that back at Thurkettle’s keep.”
“I didna do it much. I helped with the chores, did my part and all. Spending much time with the women often meant meeting up with your beloved, Brenda.” She tensed, as the mention of Brenda brought on a sudden, clear memory that left her stunned.
Finished with his washing up, Revan rubbed himself dry as he turned to face Tess. The somewhat cross reply he was prepared to make to her reference to Brenda stuck in his throat. Tess looked strange, as if someone had struck her, but she had forgotten to fall down. He hurried over to the bed, grasped her by the arm, and lightly shook her.
“Tessa, are ye ill? Tessa?”
“I just realized how I could recognize MacKinnon’s horse.” She turned her head and stared at Revan, who frowned and slowly sat down beside her.
“Ye recognized MacKinnon,” he said, his voice revealing the confusion he felt.
“Aye, but ’twas his horse that first caught my eye. I thought that was just because it was a fine stallion but then got distracted by the man himself, by the certainty that I had seen him. But now I realize I had also seen that horse before, that it was the horse that had first stirred a memory.”