Authors: Starla Kaye
“Nay. In the last hour or so.” She concentrated on a particular tree a few yards away. She recognized the odd twist to its trunk that she’d noted before. “We’re going in circles.”
“Are ye sure?” Fia followed Maggie’s gaze and grumbled a Scottish curse. “Ye’re right.”
The daylight that they’d seen above the towering trees was fast fading. It would be dark soon, even darker here in the forest. While Maggie had camped out with her father, her brothers, and their men, she wasn’t sure about camping here alone with just Fia. In truth, she had a bit of fear of the deep darkness of a forest. Her heart started racing. Why hadn’t she thought this all out better?
Because sometimes
y
er stubbornness g
e
t
s
the best of
ye
.
“How do we ken which way to go?” Fia asked, now sounding frightened.
“We’re awful deep in this forest now.”
Maggie thought a second, looked around again, and nodded toward the oddly-trunked tree she’d recognized. “I think I could climb that one. Get up high enough to mayhap see Middleham. Then we would strike out in the opposite direction.”
She started to pull the hauberk over her head, snagging her braid in it and swearing at the painful tug on her hair. When she managed to free herself, she tossed the chainmail vest to the leaf-covered forest floor.
“I dinna think this a guid idea.” Fia’s face was pinched in concern. “What if ye fall? What if ye get too high and canna get back down? Nay. ‘Tisna a guid idea.”
Maggie rolled her eyes. “When have ye become such a worrywart? I’ll be fine.”
She walked to the tree filled with determination. They had to do something to keep from walking about in circles and this was all she could come up with. “Come here, Fia. I need a bit of a boost to reach the first limb.”
Fia walked over but didn’t look the least bit happy. As they stood directly beneath the lowest limb, she scowled and then cupped her hands in front of her.
Maggie had a second of hesitance but put her boot-covered foot in Fia’s hands. Then guiding herself with her hands up the thick trunk, she stretched up until she caught hold of the lowest branch. It took a bit of squirming and huffing and puffing, but she finally scrambled onto the branch. She sat there a few seconds to regain her breath.
Beneath the tree, Fia looked
as if
certain disaster lie ahead. Maggie hoped to prove her wrong. Although she was quickly discovering she wasn’t all that fond of heights, at least not sitting precariously ten feet off the ground on a mere branch.
“Well, best get climbing
be
fore it becomes any darker in here.” Each passing minute seemed to steal away the light in the forest.
She sucked in a steadying breath and eased to her feet along the trunk, holding tightly to it for a second. Then as she stood there, she heard the crunch of leaves, quickly followed by the pounding of hooves.
Fia plastered herself to the trunk of the tree, screeching in fright. “Lord
,
help us!”
Maggie’s foot slipped and she clung frantically to the tree, trying to find her footing again. At the same time a half dozen
war horses
burst through the trees nearby. Richard, Middleham’s first knight, looked in horror up at her as he and the others reined in a few feet from Fia.
“God’s teeth, woman, have you no sense!” In his distress, he failed to call her by her title. “Get down immediately!” Then he noted how far off the ground she was and corrected, “Nay! Wait there. I will come help you.”
“Have ye been following us all this time?” Maggie asked, irritated at her failure to sneak successfully away.
He dismounted and strode beneath her, his expression one of worry and fury at the same time. Two other men dismounted as well and wore the same expressions as they joined him.
“From a distance. I wanted to see just what you were up to.” He blew out a frustrated breath. “You were heading for Urquhart, weren’t you? In spite of your husband’s wishes.”
Thinking about how mad Nicholas was going to be when he learned what she’d done had her considering just staying in this tree. She wouldn’t be sitting comfortably anytime soon. “He’s a verra stubborn mon.”
Richard’s mouth twitched for a hairsbreadth of a second. “And you’re a very stubborn woman, m
’
lady. One who’ll certainly pay dearly for this little bout of mischief.”
She scowled down at him,
and then
lost her balance. With a squawk of dismay, she plunged downward. And with her rotten luck of the day, she managed to land hard on her bottom between the horrified men who’d failed to catch her.
“My lady!” Richard knelt beside her, eyes wide in fear. “Have you hurt yourself?”
Maggie wiggled a bit, wincing and rubbing at the pain on her bottom from landing on a thick stick. “Only m
y
backside.” She blushed as she met Richard’s gaze, both knowing this mere bruising would be nothing once Nicholas got hold of her.
Richard was enough of a gentleman not to speak of what everyone there knew would happen. Instead he helped her up and she brushed off her braies.
“John, grab her lady’s bow and quiver. Her knapsack as well. Thomas, Fia can ride with you.” He faced Maggie with a look that said there would be no discussion. “Lady Middleham, you will ride with me.”
*
*
*
Maggie stood looking out one of her bedchamber’s windows two mornings later when she spotted Nicholas leading his men back from Spennithorne toward the drawbridge. She froze, drew in a sharp breath. Soon she would face her husband’s wrath. She had no wish to suffer a tender bottom, but it was inevitable. She had gone against his wishes. And she’d done something foolishly dangerous. She and Fia had been lucky that it was her husband’s men who had found them and not some bandits. Richard had lectured her fiercely about that nearly the entire ride back to Middleham. Then, worried that she’d try something again, he’d locked her in her chamber since then. He’d only allowed her to come down for meals, accompanied by one of the guards. At first it had angered her to be treated like a prisoner. But she’d soon realized he’d not only been frightened for her but also worried about his position with Nicholas. She hadn’t meant to cause trouble for him.
She rubbed her hand over her nervous stomach and watched her husband ride across the drawbridge. He rode tall and proud in the saddle. His dark hair nearly touched his shoulders and fluttered lightly in the gentle breeze. He was a handsome man and she’d missed him
, a
lthough she was still a bit miffed that he’d left without kissing her good-bye. He’d been angry with her, she with him. He would be even angrier now.
Drawing in an anxious breath, she went to sit on the side of the bed. Waiting was not something she liked.
Tension seemed thick in the bailey as Nicholas rode into it. The men who had been training near the paddocks stopped and looked at him. Something was wrong. He felt it in his gut. Immediately he feared something had happened to Maggie.
He noticed Richard, frowning and walking toward him. His fears intensified and he all but leaped down from his horse. “Maggie? Is she all right?”
Richard blinked and appeared relieved. “Yes, she suffered only a few bruises. She waits for you in your chamber,
M
y
L
ord.”
Nicholas felt as if he was missing something important. “How did she suffer these bruises?”
The frown returned to Richard’s face. “You don’t know then? I thought mayhap you had already heard.”
“Heard what?”
Now Richard didn’t meet his eye. “About Maggie and Fia’s adventure.”
Gerald stepped beside him, scowling. “Adventure?” he growled.
“The two of them snuck out through the secret passage in the outer wall not long after you left,
M
y
L
ord.”
Nicholas’s hands fisted at his sides. “Snuck out? Headed for Urquhart, I assume. But you brought them back.”
“Aye. I took some men with me and we followed them discreetly from a distance. I wanted to see what they were up to.” He heaved a sigh. “They got lost in the forest. She was climbing a tree to find their way when
—”
“Lost? Climbing a tree?” Nicholas questioned in a growl. He looked toward the keep. “She’s in our bedchamber?”
“Actually I have locked her in there since we returned. I didn’t want her sneaking off again.” At Nicholas’s nod of understanding, he glanced at Gerald. “Fia, too, has been confined to her room.”
Gerald stormed past them both, grumbling about
blistering her ass
.
Nicholas followed him inside. His independent wife was going to be the death of him. He didn’t want to think of all the dangers she’d risked facing. The bandits who roamed the forests, who would have…
.
Nay!
He wouldn’t think of that now. But his headstrong young bride would pay dearly for such foolishness.
He stopped by the solar first to get the
tawse
. The soldier standing guard outside his bedchamber noticed it in his hands and nodded in approval before walking away. Nicholas doubted there was a man on the castle grounds who wouldn’t give their woman a fierce leathering for such misbehavior. And he was fairly certain Maggie knew what she faced.
Pulling in a breath to calm his anger, he pushed open the door. Maggie sat on the side of the bed in her chemise, plaid skirt, and bodice, the familiar Scottish dress she wore when uncomfortable. It soothed her somehow. She raised her sassy chin and met his gaze boldly.
Nicholas closed the door and stood for a second just looking at the wife he loved but who was a trial in his life. He sensed she would always be so. “You know I must punish you, wife.”
“If ye’d just agreed to go with me…
.
” She stopped talking when his scowl deepened.
“I told you that I would consider it in a month or so.” He tapped the
tawse
against the side of his leg. She focused on it, tensing. “You disobeyed me, didn’t you? Worse, you risked not only your life but also Fia’s.”
She fidgeted with her skirt. “I suppose Gerald will be unhappy with Fia as well.”
It pleased him to see she felt guilty for what her friend would suffer because of her decision. “Aye. You will both have very sore bottoms for a few days.”
“Ye canna jist be glad we’re back safe and sound?” She looked at him hopefully, although he knew she already knew his answer.
He walked closer. He’d much rather have returned to Middleham and come to this chamber to take her to bed. He’d thought many times about how he wanted to…
.
He forced those thoughts aside. “I’m pleased that you are back safe and sound, of course. But I’m most displeased with what you did.”
She nodded, her slight shoulders slumping.
“Stack the pillows in the middle of the bed, Maggie. Then remove your clothes. I would have you stretch over the pillows naked.” He’d never asked this of her before and wondered if she would comply. But he didn’t want to mess with shifting her clothing out of his way.
His demand was also to fully show who was the dominant one here, who was the subservient one—or
who should be
more submissive.
At first she didn’t move, pinched her face in annoyance. To his relief, she decided not to press him and rose to first drag the fur covering to the end of the bed and then stack the two pillows where he’d instructed. She gave him an uncertain glance, and finally undressed.
Nicholas couldn’t help from reacting to the sight of his shapely wife standing naked before him. He badly wanted to toss down the
tawse
, strip off his own clothing, and join her on the bed. His cock pushed against his braies. He fought down his desire to
run his hands over every beautiful inch of her precious body, to
drive into his wife. She needed to be punished. He couldn’t let her get away with what she had done, with how she’d frightened him, and caused Richard such distress.
Everyone in his household would expect her to suffer dearly for this act of rebellion. Still, he hated having to do this.
“Take the position I ordered.”
His stubborn wife took her sweet time to obey. She gave him a sour look
when she finally
crawled onto the bed and moved over the pillows until her bottom was perched on them. “’Tisna necessary fer ye to do this, husband. I’ve already told Sir Richard how sorry I was fer worrying him. Apologized to Fia as well. I admit I did wrong.”
He stepped to the side of the bed.
He didn’t want to cause her great pain, but he still felt almost sick at all that could have happened to her. And he knew in his gut that she would do this again given the chance.
“Do you really expect me not to give you a leathering?”
“Nay. I’ve expected it.” She shifted her long
braid
to one side, stretched out her arms, and lowered her head to the mattress. “
I wish I had no’…. What does it matter? I did it. Even knowing ye would be verra upset with me.
”