The Viking's Highland Lass (17 page)

She would have thought the lasses who had an interest in him would all be concerned for his welfare. She sipped more of her ale to cool her fevered cheeks and choked on it.

He patted her back. “Are you all right?”

Her body heated with mortification. When she finally caught her breath, tears filling her eyes, she didn't want to see if anyone was observing her. Most were still conversing at the meal. But a few
were
watching her and Gunnolf, Lady Akira, for one. She didn't seem to miss anything.

Brina finally stopped coughing, gathered her composure, and figured that subject was best left alone.

James rose from his chair. “'Tis time to begin the games and dancing. Let us move this outside.”

Everyone headed out to the inner bailey where Lady Akira spirited Brina away to talk with her in private.

Gunnolf sighed, folded his arms, and watched as a couple of the men played on a lyre and flute, and men and women began to dance. A handful of men took up the sword to best each other and others were testing their skills at archery. James quickly joined Gunnolf.

“Why not join in the games? Best the men at sword fighting or dance with one of the lasses? What ails you? You never stand off to the side and watch the others. It would not be because of the one wee lass you saved from Seamus, would it?”

“Nay. I must see my kin whose farms border her da's.”

“Have you considered her da's offer?”

Gunnolf frowned at James. “Her da killed my brother.”

“You told me once how cruel he was to you. That was one of the reasons you stayed with us even after you were well enough to leave.”

Gunnolf snorted. “I did not know brothers could be friends.” He glanced at James. “Like you and your brothers and cousin are to me. We are not of the same blood, but I could not have chosen better brothers.”

James smiled. “Aye. The feeling is mutual.” He sighed. “She wouldna be a bad choice, my friend.”

“You would gain her clan as allies, if I were to manage to oust Seamus and take over the clan.”

“Aye, my thought exactly.”

Marginally smiling, Gunnolf shook his head.

“So what will you do?”

“Seek out my kin. Learn what the matter was between my brother and her father, and then make a decision.”

“Aye. Will you need me to ride with you? Some other men too?”

“To see my kin? Nay. To help remove Seamus from power, mayhap. If it comes to that. Returning there may present another problem if we learn her father is dead and Seamus is deeply entrenched in his place. Will anyone care then if I had married the chief's daughter, then tried to take control of the clan? I highly suspect her father's men would side with Seamus against the Norseman.”

“However, you do bring some power to the table. Not only have you proven yourself in battle numerous times, you will also be allied with me. And Seamus canna say that. He is a lone wolf, from the sounds of it. We can even ally with your people against Seamus should he remain in power. But the main point of the matter: is she even interested in a union between the two of you?”

“My family is one of her clan's enemies.”

James glanced around and saw her dancing. “She doesna seem to treat you as though you were her enemy. Go dance with her. That is a command.”

Gunnolf shook his head. “I do not believe you have ever commanded me to do anything. Asked, but never commanded.”

“I do it for your own good. And because my mother is waiting for me to do so.”

Gunnolf chuckled. “All right. I will do this, but it does not mean she will accept.”

He left James and walked across the bailey to speak with Brina, now standing alone, smiling at the children dancing together. “Brina, tell me where my kin are living in relation to your da's lands.”

After she explained where they were, from what Wynne had told her, she pulled Gunnolf into the shadows of the stables. “Do you think your people will be angry with you that you did not die?”

Gunnolf smiled a little. “You mean they will be angry I did not return to my village.”

“Aye. What if they feel you betrayed them by living with the Highlanders instead?”

“I have every right to feel they betrayed me by leaving me behind for dead.”

“They should have checked all the bodies.”

“
Ja.
You cannot know how I felt—alone, wounded, in a strange land, fighting to survive on my own.”

She shook her head.

“I will leave before first light,” he said.

She nodded, tears in her eyes.

“Brina, what is wrong?”

She shook her head again as if she couldn't speak.

“Brina?” Gunnolf tilted her chin and looked into her tearful eyes, hating to see her distress. “Your father cannot force us—“

She threw herself at him and hugged him tight. “I worry that your kin would rather hurt you for living with Highlanders all these years, rather than welcome you. And then what will we do? I will have to come and rescue you.”

Gunnolf laughed and kissed her. Her mouth was warm and willing and sweet, and he realized she might never have been kissed before like he had kissed her. But he awakened a fierceness in her that he had not expected. She held on tight to him, pressing her breasts against his chest, her mouth against his lips as if she was afraid she'd lose him on the morrow.

He couldn't stop the desire coursing through his blood, the need to have her in his bed, and not just for some immediate fulfillment. He wanted more between them.

“If you keep kissing me like this and holding me close, I will have to insist you wed me, per your da's orders,” he said, his voice already ragged with lust.

He felt her mouth curve against his, and he smiled before their tongues tangled. His raging need for her was spiraling out of control. Even now, he had to keep his hands on her hips, wanting to slide them over her breasts, to feel the pointy tips against the palms of his hands instead of just against his chest.

He was hard and wanting and he was certain she felt his steel staff pressing against her, showing just how much he craved having her. Yet it didn't frighten her but seemed to excite her. She didn't pull away from him, which was not good because he didn't seem to have any control when it came to her.

He finally ended the kiss and held her for a moment longer, not wanting to let go.

He felt more for her than he had for any other woman. A kinship, maybe because of her love of the small wolf pup that had needed their help. Maybe because she worried so about his welfare. No one had worried about him like she did. And yet he also admired the way she handled a bow, the way she had fought to protect herself and would have taken care of him also. She had not run away when she could have saved herself in case he had been wounded. She had searched for her father when he had been wounded when she could have traveled farther away from her home instead. And she had tried to take care of him when he was wounded so long ago.

He could tell she cared about her father even if they had not always gotten along. He saw it in her anxiousness when she had learned he was alive, and wanting to remain there to protect him as if one small lass could have saved her father from a man such as Seamus.

“You would not wish to ride with me on the morrow to see my kin, would you? Serve as my guard?” He only said it in jest, trying to make her feel better, though the way she had been kissing him and was still clinging to him, he thought she was feeling a little better.

“You canna be serious. Your brother's wife, Inga, would want to kill me once she learned my da mortally wounded her husband on the field of battle.”

T
he festivities were still going
on when Gunnolf considered Brina's words about Hallfred's wife. He had forgotten all about Inga being promised to Hallfred as his wife when they were five and ten. Hallfred had been nine and ten at the time. Would she still want to wed Gunnolf like she had when they were younger? And how had Brina known about her?
Wynne.
Had to be.

Then he saw three women who regularly flirted with him and were always hoping for more than a passing comment, now watching him with Brina near the keep while others were still dancing. They were all winsome lasses, but they didn't have the allure that Brina held for him.

“Do they wish you to wed them?” Brina asked, startling him from his thoughts.

He hadn't even realized she'd taken notice of them. He kept his arm around Brina's waist as if she belonged with him. He had never done that with a lass either, showing any display of affection for a woman in front of the clan as if wanting everyone else to know they were together. And that he wasn't interested in any other lass.

“Mayhap, but the interest would be all theirs, not mine.”

“You are no' keeping me close to protect yourself from them?” Brina asked. Her tone was serious, but he believed she was teasing him.

“Nay, to protect you from any man who might show an interest in you.”

“That would be foolish on their part, dinna you think? No' when you can handle six men at once.”

He laughed. “You will never let me live that comment down.”

She smiled up at him and he realized just how much he truly enjoyed being around her. “Dance with me,” she said, and pulled him into the area where others were dancing.

He hadn't remembered a time when he'd had more fun with a woman either, just enjoyed being himself, laughing, making mistakes—dancing wasn't something he usually did—and just having a good time. Tomorrow would come soon enough and he'd have to deal with his own kin, and hoped they would be welcoming. Tonight, all he wanted to think about was Brina, and how much he treasured being with her.

When it was late and everyone was retiring to their pallets for the night, Gunnolf took Brina to the guest chamber that she and Lynette were sharing.

“I worry about you,” Brina said again. “You be careful. Dinna let your guard down.”

“I will be thinking about you,” he said quite seriously. He realized he was doing a lot of that lately too whenever he wasn't with her, or even when he was.

He leaned down to kiss her and ignored the people retiring to their chambers who giggled or tried to slip by as unobtrusively as they could. Lynette reached the room and brushed past them to open the door, then shut it.

Lady Akira and Lady Eilis headed up the stairs, Eilis smiling, Akira clearing her throat in a motherly way that said Gunnolf needed to let Brina get her sleep.

Brina wrapped her arms around Gunnolf's neck. “Sleep well, Gunnolf. I will pray all goes well for you.”

“I will return before you know it. Enjoy this time with your sister, grandmother, and the rest of the MacNeill clan. We will have business to discuss when I return.”

She raised her brows in question. He only kissed her back in response. And then with the greatest reluctance, he pulled away, heard more people on the stairs, Fia, this time, who smiled at them, and James, who slapped Gunnolf on the back. “See you in the morning,” James said.

Then Gunnolf said good night to Brina, wondering why he was really going to see what was left of his kin when he had made a new beginning here so long ago, and he was looking to start a whole new adventure with the Highland lass.

“
M
y mother worries about you
,” James said, seeing Gunnolf off early the next morn, having broken bread with him before he left. “We will ride with you to the border of our lands.”

James and five of his men went with Gunnolf, though he had expected to go alone. This was why he saw them as family.

But he also knew James had a hidden agenda. “You wouldna do badly married to the lass whether you stay here or no'. I will pledge as many men as you need to deal with the threat to her da.”

They rode in silence for a bit, then Gunnolf nodded.

“How long do you intend to stay with your people?”

“I am not sure.” Gunnolf supposed it depended on the welcome he received.

“If you dinna return in a sennight, I will bring a force to ensure your safety.”

“They would not kill me or take me hostage.”

“Still, if you dinna return, we will come, either as a force to free you, or to meet your kin.”

“It will take me two days to travel there. Two days to travel back. I may stay for a few days.”

“Aye.”

They talked about their people, and for a very long time, James's people
had
been his people. And nothing had changed that. When they finally reached the border, James looked uneasy.

“I will be fine and I will return and tell you all that I learn.” Gunnolf inclined his head to James and the others, all whom wished him well.

And then he was off, hoping that he was correct in his assumption. He still couldn't get over the notion that his brother had married, though why Gunnolf hadn't realized that, he wasn't sure. He tried to envision Inga, his childhood friend who had fought against him just as vigorously as any man would when practicing swordsmanship, and how she would look today, grown into womanhood. She had wanted to marry him, if her father hadn't wished her to wed his older brother.

She would be in mourning now. He wondered how his brother and she had fared together. Had they loved each other? Why was he even wondering such a thing? He had always known she would marry his brother, both their fathers dictating such an arrangement, and Hallfred had continually reminded Gunnolf of it. When the family thought Gunnolf dead, did Inga shed a tear for him?

Then the realization struck him like a blow to the gut. If Hallfred had been freed and really had spoken on the battlefield, telling one of his clansmen that Gunnolf had died when he knew very well Gunnolf had not…

Anger welled up in him. But then he let out his breath in irritation. Hallfred was now dead. What was past was past, and he had to think of what today and tomorrow would bring.

“
D
inna worry about Gunnolf
,” Lynette said, practicing archery with Brina in the outer bailey.

Whenever Brina worried about something overmuch, she felt better practicing with her bow.

“He will see his childhood sweetheart.” Brina couldn't help feeling irritated about it, when she had no business doing so. “Wynne told me so.”

Brina couldn't help worrying about her da too, and she felt sure that Gunnolf would be the one to save him and get rid of Seamus. Maybe Gunnolf could take charge until her da was better, and they could contact her cousin. He could return and take over, and Gunnolf could go back home to his MacNeill family. What if instead, he decided to stay with Inga, and then fight Brina's family on his own people's behalf?

She saw the way Lady Akira treated him just as fondly as she did her firstborn son. And everyone else genuinely liked Gunnolf: slaps on the back, tankards raised to him wherever he went. Even early this morning before everyone was awake, she'd learned James and some of his men had ridden out with Gunnolf to the border as a sign of true friendship. So she really wasn't certain how this would go.

“I worry about Hallfred's wife, Inga,” Brina said.

“You think she will want to wed Gunnolf now, and he will help to rule their people?”

“'Tis a possibility, do you no' think?”

“Anything is possible. That you will even find a man here that you will fall in love with among those of the MacNeill clan.”

Brina sighed. “Are you interested in anyone here?”

“I havena had the chance to meet with anyone but Gunnolf and James.” Lynette glanced over her shoulder and smiled at the men who were supposed to be practicing swordsmanship but instead were watching them, smiling, eager to maybe even court one of the women, or both. “Lady Akira has been like a mother hen to both of us and keeping the men at bay, though she didna stop you from kissing Gunnolf last night.”

“How do you know that?”

Lynette smiled at her. “Everyone knows that.”

Brina couldn't believe the whole of the clan had seen, or at least the word had spread about the deed. “Will you stay here if I return home?”

Lynette's eyes widened.

“I mean, if someone goes home to put an end to Seamus's rule.”

“You worry about your da.”

“Aye.”

Lynette readied another arrow and shot at the burlap figure of a man, striking him in the head. “He wouldna acknowledge that I am your sister.”

“Before, aye,” Brina said. “If you were to return—“

“Nay, I willna return. I am home here. Welcome. Loved.”

Brina took a deep breath. “You know that I love you as a sister. I always have.”

“Aye. But I would have a difficult time returning with you, no matter how your da has changed. If he ever were to change. He isna my da, but I understand your need to return home.” Lynette gave her a warm hug. “No matter where we live, we will always be sisters. Aye?”

“Aye.” The knowledge they were sisters and would be separated didn't appeal.

“Come, you are still trying to beat me and so far I am doing better. Put that fearsome Viking out of your thoughts and concentrate!”

O
n the second
day of Gunnolf's journey, three men rode out to meet him way before he even reached the first shieling. They wore patchy lamb fleece cloaks over light-colored wool tunics, highly decorated penannular broaches holding them in place. Swathing bands, or
spjarrar
, wrapped around their trouser legs, protecting them from the cold and dense brush. One of the men was blond-haired, the other two brown-haired. All looked prepared to fight, their hair braided in part on the sides, the blond holding his sword in hand.

“
Ver heill ok sæll
!” Gunnolf called out in his native tongue, greeting them with be healthy and happy. “I am Gunnolf, brother of Hallfred, son of Gustavson!”

His words had the men stopping in place as if they were seeing a man who should be dead, who looked similarly to his older brother, Gunnolf suspected. “I survived and lived to see my kin sail away and leave me behind. My brother Hallfred had been rescued, so not all had been lost.”

They still didn't move from their spot of dormant grass and grilled him about his family. Then finally, the darker-haired, older man of the three said, “Come, Gunnolf, son of Gustavson. Inga will know you when we do not.”

“Fair enough.” Gunnolf rode toward them and they flanked him while they galloped to the center of their village, men and women, farmers alike, watching the stranger in their midst.