The Highlander Series (9 page)

Ewan jerked his thumb in Alaric’s direction. “He brought her.”

As expected, Alaric immediately denied his part in the whole mess. Ewan held back his laughter at the weariness in Alaric’s voice.

Caelen was close to losing his patience, not that he had much, so Ewan told him everything he knew. Alaric filled in some of the information, and when they were done, Caelen looked at Ewan in disbelief.

“She would tell you nothing? And you allowed this?”

Ewan sighed. “What would you have me do, beat her as Cameron did? The lass will come around. I’ve given her until tomorrow to decide to trust me.”

“And what will you do when she refuses tomorrow?” Alaric smirked.

“She won’t refuse me.”

“The important thing is we have Crispen back,” Caelen said. “What the woman does or says is irrelevant. If Cameron comes looking for a fight, I’ll be more than happy to give him one and then we’ll send the woman on her way.”

“Come, ’tis getting dark and Gertie will have dinner waiting. She doesn’t like to serve a cold meal and well you know it,” Ewan said. “Leave the matter of Mairin to me. The two of you needn’t concern yourself over it.”

“As if we’d want to,” Caelen muttered, as he shouldered past Ewan.

Mairin gathered her shawl closer around her body and crept over the crumbling wall of the stone skirt. She’d chosen the pathway closest to the loch because fewer guards were posted on that side. After all, an enemy could hardly come barging over the water to attack.

The spring air had a decided nip, and suddenly the decision to leave the warmth of her small chamber didn’t seem so wonderful.

The evening repast had been a stressful event. She’d taken one look at the laird’s youngest brother and thought better of her promise to sit next to Crispen at the table. He scowled at her, and it wasn’t as if she hadn’t been treated to scowls from the other McCabe brothers, but there was a darkness to Caelen’s frown that unnerved her.

She’d uttered an excuse about not feeling well and had immediately retreated above stairs. Undaunted by her departure, Crispen brought a plate of food to her door, and the two of them had sat cross-legged in front of the fire to eat.

Afterward, she pleaded fatigue and sent Crispen on his way. And she waited. For hours she listened for the sounds of the keep to diminish. When she was sure everyone was abed, or at least safely ensconced in their quarters, she snuck down the stairs and out the entrance that faced the loch.

She breathed easier when she entered the shelter of the trees that divided part of the loch from the keep. Here she could move with relative obscurity and follow the loch until she was away.

A great splash startled her, and she turned in the direction of the water. She went still, holding her breath as she peered through the trees toward the inky black water. There was barely a moon this night, and only a slim light was cast onto the rippling surface.

It was enough for her to see that three men were taking a late swim. It was also enough for her to see
who
was taking the swim. Ewan McCabe and his brothers were diving into the loch, and God have mercy on her, they didn’t have a stitch of clothing on.

She immediately covered her eyes with both hands, mortified beyond all measure that she’d just seen the backsides of three grown men. Were they mad? The loch had to be incredibly cold. She shivered at the mere thought of just how icy such a swim would be.

For several minutes she sat, hunkered down by a tree, hands covering her eyes until finally she eased them away only to see Ewan McCabe come walking from the water. Her eyes rounded in shock, and her hands hung limply at her sides as she stared, transfixed by the sight of a fully naked man. He stood, drying himself with a cloth, and each stroke only drew attention to his muscled body. And … And … she couldn’t even bring herself to
think
about the area between his legs.

When she realized she was staring quite unabashedly at his … his … 
manhood
, she promptly clapped both hands over her eyes again and sank her teeth into her bottom lip to stifle the squeak that threatened to spill out.

Her only hope was that they would finish their swim and go back to the keep. She couldn’t risk moving about in the trees and attracting attention, but neither did she want to sit here staring immodestly.

Heat suffused her cheeks, and though she kept her eyes firmly covered, the image of Ewan McCabe without clothing burned through her mind with astonishing clarity. No matter what she did, she couldn’t rid herself of the memory of him walking from the water—completely and utterly naked.

It would take at least three confessions to atone for this much sinning.

“You can look now. I assure you I am fully clothed.”

The laird’s dry voice slid with agonizing precision over her ears. Mortification billowed over her, and her cheeks grew so tight with humiliation that all she could think to do was sit there, hands still covering her eyes. Maybe if she wished really hard, when she opened her eyes, the laird would be far, far away.

“Not likely,” came the amused reply.

She dropped one hand to her mouth, which is where it should have been all along so nothing stupid slipped out, like the fact that she’d just wished the laird to be a great distance away.

Now that she had one eye uncovered, she chanced a look at him to see that he was indeed clothed. With that established, she let her other hand slip down as she looked nervously at the laird.

He stood, legs apart, arms crossed over his chest, and, predictably, he was scowling.

“Want to tell me what you’re doing skulking around in the dark?”

Her shoulders sagged. Apparently she couldn’t even muster a good escape. How was she to know he and his brothers liked taking idiotic swims so late?

“Do I have to answer that?” she mumbled.

The laird sighed. “What part of me telling you that you weren’t leaving my protection did you not understand? I don’t take kindly to those under my authority
blatantly disregarding my orders. If you were one of my soldiers, I’d kill you.”

The last didn’t sound like a boast. He didn’t even say it with any flair, so she was sure it wasn’t said to impress her. Nay, it was God’s truth, and that served to scare her even more.

Some demon prompted her to deny his claim. “I’m not under your authority, Laird. I’m not sure how you came to that notion, but ’tis quite untrue. I’m not under anyone’s authority, save God’s and my own.”

The laird smirked back at her, his teeth glinting in the low moonlight. “For a lass determined to make her own way, you’ve done a poor job of it.”

She sniffed. “That’s very uncharitable of you to say.”

“It doesn’t make it any less true. Now if we’re done with this conversation, I suggest we return to the keep, preferably before my son vacates my chambers and goes to seek you out in yours. He seems to have a certain affinity for sleeping with you. I don’t like to imagine his reaction when he finds your bed empty.”

Oh, that was simply unfair, and the laird well knew it. He was manipulating her emotions and striving to make her feel guilt for leaving Crispen. She frowned sharply at him to let him know of her displeasure, but he ignored her and took her arm in his strong fingers.

She had no choice but to allow him to herd her back in the direction of the keep. He marched her around the stone skirt and through the courtyard where he paused to issue a sharp command to his guard that she was not to be allowed to escape again. Then he proceeded into the keep, and to her further dismay, insisted on escorting her all the way back to her chamber.

He opened her door and thrust her inside. Then he stood in the doorway, glaring ferociously at her.

“If you intend to intimidate me with mean looks, you’re destined to fail,” she said airily.

His eyes went heavenward for a moment, and she could swear he was counting under his breath. He took a second, as if trying to collect his flagging patience, which amused her, considering he didn’t seem to possess any.

“If I have to bar the door, I will. I can be a very accommodating man, lass, but you’ve sorely tried my will. I’ve given you until tomorrow to trust me with whatever you’re hiding. After that, I can promise you won’t like my hospitality any longer.”

“I don’t like it now,” she said crossly. She waved her hand in his direction. “You can leave. I’ll only be going to bed now.”

His jaw ticked, and his fingers flexed at his sides. She wondered if he was imagining those fingers around her neck. He looked to be contemplating such a thing right that very moment.

Then, as if to contradict her command, he stalked forward until he loomed forbiddingly over her. His jaw still twitched, and his eyes narrowed as he stared down at her.

He touched his fingertip to the end of her nose. “You don’t make the rules here, lass. I do. It would be in your best interests to remember that.”

She swallowed, suddenly very overwhelmed by the sheer size of him. “I will endeavor to remember.”

The laird gave a short nod then turned on his heel and left the room, slamming the door with a bang.

Mairin flopped onto the straw mattress and sighed in disgust.
That
had not gone the way she intended. She was supposed to be well away from McCabe land by now, or at the very least to the border. Her plan had been to venture north, because there was nothing for her to the south.

Now she was stuck in the keep with an overbearing laird who thought he could command her trust as easily as he commanded his soldiers. He’d find out on the morrow that she wasn’t so easily bent to another’s will.

“Laird! Laird!”

Ewan frowned and looked up from the table to see Maddie McCabe rush into the room, her face flushed with exertion.

“What is it, Maddie? I’m in talks here.”

Maddie ignored the reprimand and stopped just a few feet away. She was so agitated, she wrung her hands.

“With your permission, Laird, there is something I must tell you.” She glanced surreptitiously around and then confided in a low whisper, “Privately, Laird. ’Tis very important!”

An ache began in Ewan’s temples. So far, the morning had been filled with dramatics. The evening before as well, as he remembered his encounter with Mairin. The lass hadn’t showed herself as of yet, and he was sure she was being purposely difficult. As soon as he was finished with Alaric and Caelen, he planned to confront her and tell her that her time was up.

Ewan raised his hand and gestured for his men to leave. He caught Alaric’s and Caelen’s gazes and nodded for them to stay. Anything Maddie had to say could be said in front of them.

As soon as the rest of his soldiers filed out, Ewan returned his attention to Maddie.

“Now, what is so important that you’d interrupt a meeting with my men?”

“ ’Tis the lass,” she began, and Ewan groaned.

“What now? Has she refused to eat? Has she threatened to throw herself from her window? Or perhaps she’s disappeared?”

Maddie sent him a puzzled look. “Of course not, Laird. She’s above stairs in her chamber. I brought her morning meal myself.”

“Then what about her?” Ewan growled.

Maddie let out a breath as if she’d run the entire way. “May I sit, Laird? For truly, ’tis not a short tale I’ll be telling you.”

Caelen rolled his eyes while Alaric looked bored. Ewan gestured her to sit.

She settled down and pressed her hands into a single fist before setting it on the table before her.

“The lass is Mairin Stuart.”

She dropped the announcement as if she expected Ewan to react in some way.

“I know the lass’s name is Mairin. I hadn’t known her family name, but ’tis a common enough name in the highlands. The question is how did you gain this information? She’s refused to tell anyone who she is. If Crispen hadn’t let it slip, I wouldn’t have known myself.”

“Nay, she didn’t tell me. I knew, you see?”

“Nay, I don’t see. Perhaps you better tell me,” Ewan said patiently.

“When I went up to bring her meal, I came in on her dressing. It was all quite awkward, and I apologized of course, but before she covered herself, I saw the mark.”