Forbidden Highlander (25 page)

“I’m not quite sure what to make of him,” Lucan said of Broc’s retreating form.

Fallon shook his head. “Me neither. Let’s get Malcolm to the castle. Larena will want to see him.”

But when Fallon bent down to lift Malcolm he noticed the extent of his injuries, including the bone protruding from Malcolm’s arm. Fallon met Lucan’s gaze and sighed. Malcolm’s arm hung at an awkward angle, and Fallon feared trying to use his powers to move him to the castle and what it might do to Malcolm’s arm.

“Logan, I need you to find Sonya and bring her here. Tell her we have an injured man she needs to see to immediately. Lucan, find Larena.”

Lucan rose to his feet, his face grim. “What will you do?”

“I’m going to move Malcolm into a cottage. We cannot treat him out in the open.”

Camdyn moved to stand at Malcolm’s feet. “I’ll help you carry him. The more of us that hold him the better.”

“I agree,” Galen said.

“Then Logan needs to stay,” Lucan said. “I can get Sonya and Larena.”

“Hurry,” Fallon urged his brother.

Lucan spun on his heel and ran toward the castle. Fallon wiped his hand down his face and looked at Malcolm. He could barely recognize his face.

“All right,” Fallon said after a moment. “I want to take him to the cottage we just repaired, Logan. The bed was still intact, wasn’t it?”

Logan nodded. “Aye, and there are a couple of chairs that also hadn’t been destroyed.”

“Good. I want us to lift and move him carefully. He’s unconscious, and I’d like for him to stay that way for the time being.”

“Will Sonya be able to set his arm?” Camdyn asked. “It looks dreadful.”

Fallon swallowed the bile that rose in his throat. “I honestly don’t know.”

The four of them lifted Malcolm with the care they would have shown an infant. Their steps were slow and measured as they walked to the cottage. Thankfully, it was the closest one.

Malcolm groaned in pain when Fallon stumbled over a rock and jerked. Fallon wanted him on the bed and some of the blood washed away before Larena saw him.

“The door is narrow,” Logan said. “Camdyn, you go first, but step carefully over the threshold. Once he’s through, Galen, you go next.”

Camdyn eased through the door with Malcolm’s feet. Galen had some trouble getting through, but after they angled Malcolm’s body, he was able to walk into the cottage. Logan was next as he squeezed through the doorway without bumping Malcolm once.

Fallon had Malcolm’s shoulders and easily stepped through the door, then turned to lay him down when they spotted pieces of the roof on the bed from when Larena fell through.

“Hold him.” Logan moved with efficient speed as he cleaned off the bed and pulled back the covers.

It took all of them to lay Malcolm down without incident. Fallon straightened and jerked his head to the door when he heard a startled gasp and found Larena gripping the doorway so tightly her knuckles were white.

Larena’s face crumpled, but she didn’t cry, not that Fallon would have thought less of her had he seen the tears.

“What happened?” she asked in a strangled voice.

Fallon’s heart ached for the pain that seemed to swallow her whole. “Broc brought him to us. He said he found Malcolm being beaten.”

Her eyes lifted to his, and he saw the stark anguish in their smoky-blue depths. “Who would do this to him?”

“Broc didn’t say, but I think it was Warriors.”

“Could Broc have done it?”

Fallon shook his head. “It was my first thought. Until I saw Broc’s own injuries. Nay, Larena, he fought to get your cousin free.”

“Oh, God,” she said and put her forehead to the doorway. “His arm, Fallon.”

“I know. Sonya has great magic. She will do all she can.” He just prayed it would be enough.

Larena took a deep breath and straightened from the door. That’s when he noticed she no longer wore a gown but breeches and a tunic. The buttery soft brown leather encased her slim legs like a second skin. His mouth watered at the sight.

A tunic of blue had been altered to fit her, showing off her full breasts. Though the tunic hid her waist and most of her hips, Fallon still saw the swell of her buttocks.

He licked his lips and bit back a groan. He had never thought he would be reduced to such a state by the image of a woman. But then again, he had never imagined a woman such as Larena.

Her gaze dared him to rebuff her. Fallon didn’t like the idea of her walking around in breeches, especially given the fact that both Camdyn and Logan were as thunderstruck as he was.

“You said I couldn’t depend on my powers,” she said. “You said I needed to learn to fight without them.”

“So I did,” Fallon murmured. She had taken his argument and used it against him. “I’m not used to seeing a woman in breeches.”

She looked down at herself and stubbed the toe of her boot on the ground. “It feels odd, but I can move much better when I’m fighting.”

Malcolm groaned and everyone forgot Larena’s attire and focused on him.

“I knew this might happen to him,” Larena said as she walked to Malcolm and placed her hand on his forehead. “He always said he would fight and die by my side, even though he doesn’t have my powers.”

“He is a good man,” Fallon said.

Larena nodded. “I will never forgive myself if he dies.”

“He won’t die,” Logan said. “Sonya is coming, and she will help him.”

Fallon prayed Logan was right. Malcolm looked ghastly but Fallon knew from personal experience that Sonya’s magic for healing was great.

A moment later Sonya, Cara, and Lucan walked into the cottage. Sonya didn’t say a word as she went to Malcolm and began to inspect his injuries.

Fallon moved to the door where the other men had gathered. He crossed his arms over his chest and watched as the three women bent their heads over Malcolm.

Moments stretched into hours as they wiped away the blood again and again. Fallon and Lucan took turns getting more water for the women to wring out the blood-soaked cloths.

An eternity later, Sonya straightened, her hand on her lower back. “His arm is broken and dislocated. If I don’t get it back in place and set the bone correctly, he won’t be able to use his arm, regardless of the magic I use. Once his arm is done, I’ll see to the other wounds.”

A Highlander needed both arms. A clan looked to their laird for strength, courage, and wisdom. Without all three, they wouldn’t follow him. And even though Malcolm had enough courage to overcome losing an arm, his clan wouldn’t care.

Fallon walked to Sonya. “What do you need me todo?”

Her red hair was plastered to the side of her face, and her amber eyes held a wealth of misery. “Hold him. It’s going to take all of you, I’m sure.”

Fallon motioned the other Warriors over, and each set their hands on Malcolm to hold him down.

“I’m going to pop his shoulder back into position first,” Sonya said.

She licked her lips and with a twist and a yank, put the joint into place. Malcolm yelled, his back bowing from the pain.

Sonya glanced up at Fallon. “Get ready,” she advised everyone. “The bone has gone through the skin and he’s going to fight.”

“Can’t you just use magic?” Logan asked.

Sonya glanced at him and shook her head. “If only it were that easy, Logan. Magic isn’t the answer to everything, especially for mortals who hold no magic within them.”

As soon as Larena touched his arm near the break, Malcolm’s eyes flew open. He bucked and tried to break from their grip, his bellows of pain filling the cottage. Fallon and the other used all their strength to hold him steady so Sonya could set the break.

Cara took Malcolm’s injured hand in hers and held it. Larena caressed his brow and whispered words into his ear that Fallon couldn’t discern.

Malcolm’s eyes were crazed, his breathing ragged. Already his wounds had begun to bleed again.

“Hold him,” Sonya yelled when Malcolm gave a vicious yank.

“Forget his other injuries,” Fallon said to the others. “Just hold him. Sonya will deal with everything once his arm is set.”

With that, the other Warriors clamped down on Malcolm until he could barely move. He screamed in agony when Sonya pulled his arm to get the bone back under the skin.

Sweat beaded Fallon’s brow as he imagined the pain that filled Malcolm. No one let up their hold until Sonya had set the bone.

“He’s passed out,” Larena said.

Fallon looked down to find that Malcolm was indeed unconscious again. He released his hold and stepped back. The others did the same, but Camdyn left the cottage.

Once he saw how pale Larena was, Fallon brought her a chair and made her sit. Then he wrung out a wet cloth and gave it to her so she could wipe Malcolm’s brow.

Sonya gave him a nod, letting him know that she had everything under control. Fallon left the cottage to seek some fresh air. The smell of blood clung to the air in the cottage, reminding him of his clan’s murder.

“Is he going to be all right?”

Fallon turned his head to find Camdyn leaning against the outside of the cottage. Camdyn’s hands shook as he brought them to his face to brush away a strand of hair.

“I think so,” Fallon answered. “We won’t know about his arm until the break has mended. Sonya will use whatever magic she can to heal him.”

Camdyn shifted his stance. “I had an uncle, a big bear of a man, who had his arm crushed when a tree fell on him. He had been respected and revered in the clan until that accident. Afterward, people wouldn’t look him in the eye. He didn’t give up living though. He learned to use his sword with his left arm, but when the time came for battle, they wouldna let him fight.”

“What did your uncle do?”

“He stayed behind as they demanded, but their actions hurt him more than the loss of his arm ever did. My aunt was a good woman, and loved him despite his missing arm.”

Fallon looked to his castle and frowned. “Malcolm is supposed to be laird of his clan.”

“God help him then,” Camdyn murmured.

Fallon pinched the bridge of his nose with his thumb and forefinger. Camdyn had the right of it. If Malcolm couldn’t use his arm, his clan wouldn’t want him. He would have nowhere to go.

After all Malcolm had done for Larena, Fallon couldn’t let him wander Scotland. They would make a place for Malcolm at the castle.

“We’ll help him,” Fallon said. “He’ll stay here with us.”

Camdyn’s head swiveled around to him. “You are the man everyone says you are. I’m sorry you didn’t get to be laird of your clan, Fallon, but I’m glad to have you lead us.”

Fallon didn’t know how to respond to Camdyn. In the end, he gave the man a nod and walked away. There was work to be done, and he was doing no one any good just standing around.

When Larena left the cottage night had fallen. The women had agreed to take turns watching over Malcolm. Larena had taken the first watch, and Sonya had come to relieve her. Malcolm slept soundly, his chest rising and falling regularly, but Larena was still worried.

She wasn’t sure what Sonya had done or what kind of magic she had used, but whatever it was, it was healing Malcolm well.

Sonya had assured her she would send for Larena if Malcolm woke, but Larena expected him to sleep the night through. And so did Sonya by the way she readied for the night.

A shadow moved at the edge of the cottage and Larena caught a whiff of orangewood.

Fallon
.

She walked to him, and when he opened his arms she didn’t hesitate to accept his embrace. She laid her head on his shoulder and closed her eyes.

“If Broc hadn’t found him…”

“Don’t,” Fallon whispered. “Broc did find him, and Sonya has healed him as best she could.”

Larena nodded. “He will have many scars from the claw marks.”

“Did you see his hands? He fought back, Larena. Even though they were Warriors, he fought back.”

She blinked through the sudden rush of tears. “I thought once I left Edinburgh he would be all right.”

“I don’t think he was in Edinburgh. I told him if he ever needed anything that he was welcome here. I think he was on his way to the castle to see you.” His strong hands took hold of her shoulders and pulled her away from him. “There is something else.”

She couldn’t see his eyes because the moon was behind him, but she heard the concern in his voice and saw the frown that marred his forehead. “What is it?”

“If for some reason Malcolm isn’t able to use his arm as he should, he’s welcome to stay here. You know his clan willna take him as their laird if he isn’t whole.”

“You would open your home to him?”

“I would.”

She was stunned at his gesture. Fallon constantly amazed her. “Why?”

“Because he stood by your side when the rest of your family wouldn’t. Because he put his life in danger to help you. Because he was your friend, and because he trusted me to help you.”

“Fallon,” she whispered, her throat clogging with emotion.

His mouth descended on hers, cutting off anything else she might have wanted to say. When his lips moved over hers expertly, teasing and coaxing her, she touched her tongue to his. He groaned and crushed her to his hard chest.

Larena never wanted to leave his arms. In his embrace she felt as if nothing could ever harm her, that she was protected and … loved.

Love.

It was a word she didn’t say and never considered. Unless she thought of Fallon.

The last person who had loved her was her father, and he had been taken from her. Robena had cared for her and had been proud the goddess had chosen her, but Robena hadn’t loved her. Nay, Robena had a job to do, and that’s all that had mattered to the old Druid.

Love wasn’t an emotion Larena could allow herself to feel. It opened her up to the pain she never wanted to experience again. It was better to close herself off, and keep her distance.

Are you so sure now that you’ve met Fallon? He could offer you much more
.

Larena pushed such thoughts from her mind as Fallon deepened the kiss. His hands cupped her buttocks and held her as he ground his arousal against her.

All the breath left Larena’s body. She clung to Fallon’s thick shoulders and surrendered to the passion that unfurled low in her belly.