A Beautiful Lie (The Camaraes) (6 page)

She didn
’
t know
a lot
about what went on between a man and wife - that, more than anything, had been what had terrified her that morning.  Muira thought, perhaps, if she had just knew what Tavish wanted from her, she could bear giving it to him better.  And then she remembered what he had said, and decided that really hadn
’
t been the problem at all.

She felt dirty when she recalled his hands groping at her body, squeezing at her breasts and fumbling between her legs.  Muira shuddered, and felt like she needed to bathe all over again.

Surely it shouldn
’
t have to feel like that? 
Muira found herself asking silently, and then, for reasons she didn
’
t understand, the memory of Lachlan MacRae drifted to the forefront of her mind
…

He was so large, but he had been so gentle.  When Muira thought of his hands tending to her ankle, so unlike Tavish
’
s brutal grasp, or if she remembered his arm around her waist, tight without being crushing, then a strange heat burnt beneath her skin, and an even stranger ache settled deep in the pit of her stomach.   She was glad of the distraction when the door opened and Cait returned with her supper.

Only it wasn
’
t Cait.

“
Get up you, little bitch,
”
snarled Tavish, and then, without waiting for her to obey, he stormed across the room and dragged Muira to her feet, pulling her after him, out into the corridor and towards his own room.

..ooOOoo..

It could have been worse.

Lachlan rubbed his jaw, bruised, from where one of the Cameron men had taken a swing at him.  He hadn
’
t expected anything less.  He had been beaten, soundly but not viciously, and only then had he been allowed to
walk
the rest of the way to Castle Cameron.  Graem was a fool for thinking he
’
d be welcomed as a
guest
. 

But, it was still true that he had been expecting worse.  He was still
alive
at least.  Perhaps his kindness to the Cameron lass had not gone un-rewarded? 

In the darkness of very basic, almost prison-like, room Lachlan smiled.  Muira Cameron.  She had certainly made the journey more interesting.  He found himself wondering what it was that she was running away from, quite obviously, regardless of the tale that she
’
d tried to spin him, that was what she had been up to.  Jilted by her lover perhaps?  Abandoned by her family? 

He couldn
’
t find a reason that explained why she had been so ready to be brought back though.  Deciding that he
’
d spent too long letting his thoughts linger on the pretty Cameron woman, Lachlan sat up, and decided to have a quiet snoop around the castle. 

He
wasn
’
t
a prisoner.  He also hadn
’
t been fed.  He
’
d been told nothing more than Laird Cameron would see him when he was ready. 

No one had been ordered to guard his room, so Lachlan slipped out into the corridor easily enough, walking in the opposite direction to the one he
’
d been brought.  He hadn
’
t been going for more than a couple of minutes when he hear a low sobbing, and the strange sound of someone trying to shout under their breath.

“
Shut up, you little whore!  You
’
ll wake the whole castle!
”

Lachlan
’
s stomach turned over as the sound of flesh striking flesh reached his ears.  He didn
’
t care that he was more or less unarmed and not in his own castle.  He walked quickly towards the commotion, rounded the next corner, and then stopped dead.

Muira was lying in a huddle on the floor.  A man was leaning over her quaking figure, looking ready to haul her roughly to her feet.

“
Touch her again and I
’
ll kill you.
”

Lachlan was just as shocked by the words as they flew out of his mouth as it appeared the couple were, he hadn
’
t
thought
them, they
’
d just- burst into existence.

Muira recovered first, she scrambled to feet and limped to Lachlan
’
s side, throwing herself, sobbing against his chest.

“
D-don
’
t let him hurt m-me!
”
she begged, clinging to him desperately.  Speechless, Lachlan
’
s arms closed tight about her trembling body
…
just as the commotion brought a little gathering of new spectators.

“
What the hell is going on here?
”
Ewan roared, looking from Tavish, to his sister, (clad only in her nightdress,) to the man in whose arms she was draped.

“
That
’
s- that
’
s just what I
’
d like to know, Ewan!
”
Tavish jumped in. 
“
What are you doing with my fianc
é
e, MacRae?
”

“
What am
I
-
”
Lachlan choked, and then he froze, taking a moment to glance at the hostile hated-filled faces that were staring at him.  He tried to jump away from Muira, as if she was actually burning him, but she cling ever tighter to his body.

“
MacRae!  I demand an answer!
”
Tavish yelled loudly, glancing in feigned horror at the other members of his clan, while saving a smug smirk for Lachlan himself.

“
You bastard,
”
Lachlan hissed under his breath.  He was dead.

“
Muira, come away,
”
Ewan spat, grabbing his sister by the arm and yanking her out of Lachlan
’
s arms.

Lachlan waited for Muira to say something,
anything
, to explain the matter; no one was going to listen to him if he tried to tell the truth, no one would believe
him
, but surely they
’
d believe her!  She seemed completely dazed now though however, and limply let her brother pass her into the arms of a dark haired young woman without objection.  He watched Ewan take in his sister
’
s black eye and bloody lip
…
and then the man launched himself at other Scot, knocking him to the ground. 

Lachlan fought back as well as he was able, but it was hardly a fair fight.  Tavish leapt into the fray, and then also another, younger, man who looked remarkably similar to Ewan.  Lachlan caught someone square on the jaw, but then a boot landed a kick in the centre of his gut and he doubled over.  He heard a woman scream, and then everything went black
…

..ooOOoo..

“
Here now, let me just-
”

Muira winced as Cait dapped at her lip. 
“
It
’
s fine, really,
”
she mumbled, pushing her friend
’
s hand away.

“
It is not fine!
”
Cait wailed, tears welling up in her eyes. 
“
I never should have left you alone with that MacRae man loose in the castle!
”

“
It
’
s not your fault, Cait,
”
Muira said quickly, a guilty weight settling in the pit of her stomach. 

She didn
’
t know why she hadn
’
t set anyone straight about what had really gone on in the corridor.  Perhaps it was because she feared no one would believe her if she told them that Lachlan had saved her from being raped by her fianc
é
? 

She had fainted, after watching her brothers and Tavish beat Lachlan unconscious, and when she
’
d come around again had listened silently, piecing together what everyone thought had happened to her.  They thought that it had been
Lachlan
who had beat and tried to rape her; while she was unconscious they had found the bruises Tavish had left on her body that morning.

“
I want to sleep,
”
Muira murmured, lying down on the bed that she was sitting in and rolling away from Cait.  She just needed to work out what she was going to do next. 

“
Your brothers will want to speak to you first, Muira,
”
Cait said quietly.  Muira simply sighed heavily and nodded. 

As if Cait had conjured them out of the air, there was an almost immediate knock at the door.  Ewan walked in, followed by his and Muira
’
s younger brother, James.