Black Heart (44 page)

morning and had decided would be his spear.

“Go on back to ma’, lad,” Liam said, barely sparing him a glance as he gestured for him

to do as he was told.

Undeterred, he pumped his legs faster until he thought they’d fall off, but he didn’t let

that stop him. He was ready to fight with his brothers and he needed to tell them so.

“Pleeeaaassssssseeeeeeeeeeeeee!” he begged unashamed as he dropped his mighty spear

and dove for his oldest brother’s legs when he was close enough.

As soon as he had his small arms wrapped around Liam’s thick leg, he promptly

followed up his attack by wrapping his legs around his brother’s calf and held on tightly,

prepared to hold his brother captive forever if that’s what it took.

He really hoped that it didn’t come down to that, because his doggie was expecting

puppies any day now and he really wanted to play with them. That would be impossible to

do if he had to keep doing this, but do it he would if that’s what it took. He was a man now

and it was about time that his brothers realized that.

Instead of yelling at him or hitting him like most of the men around their land would have

done, Liam sighed heavily as he reached down and gently grabbed him by the arms and

plucked him off. Tadgh tried to hold on tightly, but being only three, it was kind of difficult

to put up much of a fight against his brother who was already as large as a full-grown man.

“Didn’t we talk about this, lad?” Liam asked as he shifted Tadgh in his arms so that he

could place his arm over Liam’s shoulder and look his brother in the eye like a man.

“Aye, but that was before,” Tadgh informed him.

“Before what, lad?” Finn asked as he reached over and ruffled Tadgh’s hair.

“Before I found my spear!”

“I see,” Liam murmured as his lips twitched.

“Ye mean this stick?” Quinn asked, stepping around them so that he could show Liam his

spear.

“That’s it!” Tadgh said proudly as Liam reached out and took the stick from Quinn.

Liam pressed a kiss against his brow before he set him down on his feet and handed him

back his spear. “What’s this about, lad?” Liam asked as he took a knee in front of him.

“I wanna go with you and fight,” he said, not quite able to meet his brother’s eyes as he

lied.

“Ye hate fighting,” Liam pointed out as he patiently waited for Tadgh to tell him the

truth.

“That’s not true,” Tadgh mumbled as he looked up and met his brother’s gaze. “I like

fighting. It’s fun, but I don’t like hurting anyone.”

“Aye.” Liam nodded in agreement, because he understood how he felt. “And ye know

that where we’re going we might have to hurt someone so I don’t think that’s the real

reason that ye want to go.”

Tadgh shrugged his tiny shoulders. “It’s not.”

“Then what’s the reason?”

Tadgh felt his chin quiver and tried to stop it before it gave him away, but he couldn’t.

“I’m going to miss ye,” he shamefully admitted as he hurried to wipe away the tears on the

back of his dirty arm before his brothers could see them.

With a kind smile, Liam gently wiped away his tears. “And we’ll miss ye, lad, but we

have to go.”

“Do ye promise to come back for me?”

“Always, lad, always.”

-
-
-

“Ye shouldn’t have talked back to me Da’,” Macha said in way of greeting as she

finished crawling in beneath the tent’s flaps.

“Aye, I’ll try to remember that the next time he’s pulling ye through the camp by ye

hair,” Tadgh said dryly, shifting slightly on his sleeping fur and immediately wishing that he

hadn’t when the small action caused agonizing pain to shoot through the slices on his back.

“I had it handled,” Macha argued, opening her small satchel. “Besides,” she rushed to

continue before he could call her on her lie, “I don’t remember asking ye for yer help.”

He chuckled. He couldn’t help it. “Ye never have to ask fer it, mo shonuachar.”

“Ye shouldn’t be calling me that. If me father hears-“

“Then he’ll know that much sooner that ye belong with me,” Tadgh said firmly, loving

the way that she nibbled on her bottom lip as she tried to hide a pleased smile from him.

She didn’t say anything else while she laid out her herbs and cleaning cloths and he

didn’t care. He was more than happy to lie there and watch her. She was his heart, his soul

and he’d known that since the moment that he’d laid eyes on her when they were nothing

more than children.

“Ye need to stop pushing me father,” she said, sounding sad as she set to work to clean

his cuts.

“Then he needs to keep his hands off ye, lass,” Tadgh said, trying not to cringe as the

herbs stung him.

“He could have killed ye when ye threatened to kill him if he ever touched me again.”

“It was a promise, lass, and believe me, if I ever see him hurt ye like that again I will kill

him,” he swore, meaning every word, because he would kill the bastard. He’d do whatever

it took to keep her safe.

-
-
-

“Please,” Macha said, panting heavily as she shifted beneath him in an attempt to

tempt him to take her.

“Please what, mo shonuachar?” he asked, teasing her with the head of his cock and

loving the way she growled in frustration as he pulled away when she tried to roll her hips

and take the choice away from him.

“Don’t make me kill ye,” she growled, making him chuckle as he returned his cock back

to her core.

“Who knew that my wife was such a violent little thing,” he teased her as he leaned down

and stole a kiss.

“Ye did! Now take me before I’m forced to kill ye!” she snapped, rolling her hips up and

this time he let her catch his cock.

“We wouldn’t want that now, would we?” he groaned as he slid inside her hot sheath,

amazed at how wet she could get with a few simple touches and kisses.

Knowing that they didn’t have much time and that they needed to be quiet, he leaned

down and took her mouth as he picked up his pace. He swallowed her moans as she did the

same for his groans, both aware that any noise could draw the wrong kind of attention and

cost them their lives. They shouldn’t be doing this, but he couldn’t help himself.

She was everything to him and he needed to be with her and touch her. He hated that

they were forced to sneak around, but until his service to his king was over or he figured out

another way to get her out of her marital contract, this was the only way that they could be

together. One day the king would pay for forcing him to sneak around with his wife like she

was one of the whores that followed after their camp.

That day couldn’t come fast enough for him.

-
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-

“I can’t ask ye to do this!”

“Ye don’t have to, lad,” Liam said unconcerned as he grabbed his sword and headed for

the door of their small hut.

The rest of his brothers grabbed their swords and satchels without a word and followed

after Liam, but this wasn’t over. Tadgh grabbed his own sword and the satchel that held his

and Macha’s things and headed after his brothers.

“I’ll be right back,” he told her, hoping that for once she’d do as she was asked and wait

here for him, but she didn’t and probably never would.

“Ye know that yer not going to be able to talk them out of this,” she said as she caught

up to him.

“Aye, I know,” he bit out, taking her hand into his. “Stubborn bastards.”

She chuckled as they hurried to catch up to his brothers who were already a good

distance ahead of them.

“They’re gonna get themselves killed!”

-
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-

“Get yer hands off her!”

“Make a choice!” the bastard said, giving Macha’s hair a violent twist that had her crying

out. “Yer life or hers?”

“Mine!” he shouted without hesitation.

“So be it,” the king snarled as he shoved his daughter aside, pulled out his sword and

swiftly slid it through Tadgh’s stomach, his men tightened their hold on Tadgh as he calmly

accepted his fate. He’d do anything to keep her safe.

“Ye bastard!” Shayne roared. “I’ll kill ye!”

“Yer dead! Dead!” Liam shouted as the rest of his brothers fought and screamed,

desperate to get to him and kill every man in sight, but Tadgh could barely hear them over

his wife’s cries. She was in pain, so much pain and there’s nothing that he could do to stop

it. He only prayed the baby waited just a little while longer until his brothers could get free

and protect it.

Clenching his jaw tightly, he forced himself not to cry out in pain as the king slowly, so

goddamn slowly, pulled the sword out, making sure that Tadgh felt every ounce of pain. He

wouldn’t make a sound of pain, too afraid that he’d use up the last of his energy when he

needed to save it to beg for his wife and brothers to be spared.

He could accept his fate as long as Macha was left unharmed, able to raise their child and

that his brothers could be there to protect them. It was the only thing that kept him from

fighting back and taking as many of the king’s men with him as he could. The only thing

that he wanted above vengeance was the knowledge that his family would survive this.

“Do ye truly believe that she’s yer soul mate?” the king asked tauntingly as he gestured

for a guard to grab Macha when she tried to go to him.

“Aye,” he admitted, knowing that there was no point in lying and fearing what the king

would do to Macha if he tried.

“I see,” the King said solemnly, pulling out his short sword and pointing it towards

Tadgh’s chest, probably expecting him to beg for his life, but he wouldn’t. This was the

bargain for his family’s lives and he would gladly pay it for them.

“Then where yer soul goes, shouldn’t hers follow?”

It took a few seconds for the King’s words to sink in and by the time they did, it was too

late. The King grabbed his own daughter by the hair and thrust the small sword into the

right side of her chest, a killing wound. It was a wound that he’d inflicted hundreds of times

into his enemies’ chests. It was designed to cause a slow painful death with no hope of

recovery.

“Ye bastard!”

Keeping his eyes locked on his wife as she fell helplessly to the ground, he grabbed the

sword at his throat, barely noticing or caring as the blade sliced through his fingers and

shoved it away as he grabbed the wrist that held it and with a well practiced move, snapped

it. He took the sword, turned it and thrust it back, killing the man before he could react. He

quickly killed the man to his left as he pushed up on his trembling legs and went after the

bastard that he should have killed a long time ago.

He was barely aware of the commotion going on to his left or the screams of agony as he

moved towards his prey. Before he could get within striking distance, the coward grabbed

Macha by her hair, tilted her hair back, exposing her throat to the sharp blade of a dagger.

“Not another step,” the king warned.

“Ye won’t be leaving this field alive,” Shayne promised hoarsely as he stepped up beside

him.

“Yer life is mine for the taking,” Liam swore, stepping up to his left and claiming the

right to kill the King. Tadgh didn’t waste his energy arguing, not when the only thing that

mattered was that the king died this night.

“Tadgh,” Macha said, sobbing as she pressed one hand to her wound and the other over

the baby that she would never hold.

“Drop the knife,” Finn said coldly, coming up behind the King while Fergus, Aidan and

Quinn disposed of the men protecting the King’s back.

His brothers were badly injured, but determined. The King’s smug smile froze on his

face as his eyes quickly darted around the clearing and whatever he saw had him dropping

his hold on Macha’s hair, but he didn’t move the blade away from her neck.

Using his sword as a staff to support his weight, Tadgh quickly looked around and saw

the reason why. All of the King’s men were either dead or dying. Months of running and

hiding ended tonight.

Keeping his knife firmly against his daughter’s throat, the King reached into his robes

and pulled out a smooth disc shaped grey stone. Holding it over his heart, the King locked

eyes with him.

“Ye will all pay fer this, this I swear! Ye will never know peace or true happiness. Ye will

forever walk this earth as slaves, never knowing a moment of peace! Ye will pay for stealing

from me! Ye ruined me over this nonsense of soul mates and true love, so I curse ye all to

hell and back and ye soul mates along with ye! May ye only know pain and suffering for

eternity and ye soul mates suffer fer what ye did to me this day! Ye will always meet with

death!” the King shouted, but none of them heard him. None of them cared for the

nonsense that he shouted.