Highland Lover (7 page)

yet he did not think the name was that common. If one considered that Alana seemed to be calling

for a healer and that the Gillyanne he knew was a healer, such a coincidence became more of a

possibility. And if it was the same Gillyanne, that made Alana a Murray, he mused, and scowled.

What was a Murray lass doing traveling alone and disguised as a young girl?

That was a question he would not get an answer to soon, he thought as he collected his now-dry

plaid. Settling himself on the mattress next to Alana, he spread the plaid over them and decided to

get some rest. One thing he did know about a fever was that it often got a lot worse before it got

better. There was a good chance he would find little time to sleep in the next few days.

Gregor winced and then cursed as one of Alana’s small fists connected sharply with his jaw. She

was a lot stronger than she looked, he thought, as he struggled to pin her down. He had managed to

get several hours of sleep before the fever madness had struck Alana. Since then he had only been

able to catch an hour or so of rest now and again. After two long days and nights of that, he was

both exhausted and frightened. He did not like to see anyone die, save for a few enemies he had

known, but the thought of Alana dying left him feeling cold and empty in a way he did not

understand. He breathed a hearty sigh of relief when she grew still, only to start cursing when she

then began to weep.

“I must find Keira,” she said, her voice thick and hoarse as she cried.

“Your sister?” he asked as he slid his arm beneath her shoulders, lifted her up a little, and tried to get her to drink a little water.

“Aye, my twin. She needs me, but they wouldnae let me look for her.”

“Ah, and so ye went to hunt her down by yourself.” Gregor sat next to her, kept his arm around her

shoulders, and held her close to his side.

“I can find her. I am certain of it.”

“So, there is another wee lass roaming the country, aye? One just like you?”

“Nay. Keira is beautiful and clever and sweet and has a true healer’s touch. I am just a wee brown

lass.”

Gregor looked down at her in surprise, but her eyes were closed again. “Ye are a bonnie wee lass.”

“Nay, just a wee lass. Keira is the bonnie one. Everyone loved Keira, and I cannae find her.”

“Ye will, lass. Cast off this fever, get weel and strong again, and we shall go ahunting.”

She did not really answer him, only muttered something about lack-witted brothers and smelly

Gowans and fell asleep again. Gregor gently settled her back under the blanket and his plaid. As he

stood up and stretched, he studied her. She was pale except for the scarlet tint of the fever in her

blood, her hair was a dull brown as if her illness had stolen away all hue and shine, and her full lips looked as if they had been burned by the sun. Alana was definitely not looking her best, and yet, he

had no difficulty seeing the beauty of her. He had to wonder who had given her the idea she was

just a “wee brown lass.” He also wondered why he wished to find the one who had convinced her

she was so plain and beat them until they could see more clearly.

Shaking away that thought, Gregor gently tied her down. He needed to leave her alone for a while

as he searched out some food and wood. Although finding such things as a bucket, rope, and a few

wooden plates and tankards had been helpful, he had found no livestock and only a few edibles in

the tiny kitchen garden. Not only did he need something to eat, but some sort of broth was needed

to feed Alana. She could not continue to fight off the fever unless she got some sustenance.

If not for the dangerous illness that had befallen Alana, Gregor would have thought them blessed.

The snare he had set out earlier had caught a fat rabbit, and a more thorough search of the garden

had uncovered a hearty assortment of vegetables and a few herbs he recognized. Though some were

not fully mature, they were more than adequate for his needs. Even better, Alana was still sleeping

when he returned, which allowed him the time to prepare the food and set it in the battered pot that

had been left hanging in the fireplace.

It was as he was finishing his meal that Gregor noticed something odd about Alana. Her skin

appeared to glisten where the light from the fire touched it. Setting down his bowl, he quickly

moved to her side and felt her forehead. She was cool and covered in sweat. Gregor was so relieved

at this sign that Alana’s fever had finally broken, he nearly cheered. He stepped around the cat that was greedily licking his bowl clean and fetched water and cloths to clean the sweat from her skin.

By the time Gregor got Alana clean and settled between dry blankets, he was knotted up with lust. It

both annoyed and puzzled him. Despite the opinion of his eldest brother Ewan, Gregor had never

had any trouble controlling his lusts. The fact that Alana was in need of his care, that she was ill and dependent upon him, should have been enough of a tether upon his baser feelings, but that tether

had consistently failed him. He had never been so easily or fiercely stirred by the sight of a

woman’s body or the feel of her skin. It would be easy to blame it on the fact that he had not had a

woman in weeks, but Gregor could not convince himself of that. Something about Alana set his

blood afire.

And that was something he had to think hard about, he decided as he draped the shift he had just

rinsed clean over the bench to dry. Since the moment he had met Alana, his doubts about the

wisdom of marrying Mavis had grown. Gregor knew that the possibility that Alana really was the

child she pretended to be had helped keep his feelings for her in check, but that restraint had been

shattered the moment he had removed her binding.

Gregor settled himself next to Alana, grimacing when she curled up next to him. When they had

shared a bed before, she had been clothed and he had thought she might be the child she claimed to

be. Now, she was naked and he was well aware of every soft, womanly curve of her body.

Feverishly, achingly aware. It was a hunger that seemed to possess every part of him, and not just

his heedless groin.

In the past, he would simply have seduced her, fed his lusts, and walked away. That was not a game

he could play with Alana, and not simply because she might well be a Murray, a wellborn lass with

a vast army of kinsmen behind her, ready and willing to avenge any insult to her. Alana meant

something to him, although he was not exactly sure what or how deep that feeling went. The

unsettling feeling that if he made love to Alana, he would not be able to walk away also prompted

him to be cautious.

He had some hard decisions to make, but he was too exhausted to make them now. Later, when his

wits were sharp again and he was not feeling so needy. A few facts were needed as well, he mused

as he closed his eyes. Facts such as exactly who she was, why she was wandering about alone, what

had happened to her sister, and if she already belonged to someone. The thought that Alana might

already belong to some other man chilled Gregor, and he hurriedly pushed that thought from his

mind. Aye, he thought, there were decisions to make, and as soon as Alana was awake and clear-

eyed, he would get the answers he needed to make them.

Chapter 5

There was a hunchbacked man sleeping next to her. Alana closed her eyes and slowly opened them

again. He was still there. When the hump upon his back moved, she nearly leapt out of the bed. The

fact that she was too weak to move so quickly was all that kept her in place long enough for good

sense to prevail.

The man sleeping next to her had long, shining black hair. His scent was familiar to her. Even the

weight of the arm draped around her waist and the sound of his breathing were familiar. It was

Gregor sleeping next to her, she realized, and smiled faintly. She had fallen asleep to that not-quite-a-snore sound he made too many times not to recognize it now that she had a moment to think

clearly.

Then Alana frowned. Since she did not believe someone could grow a lump upon his back in but a

day or two, what was that lump? Cautiously, she lifted the covers, and her newly recovered calm

immediately dissipated. The gray cat staring at her from its warm, comfortable place upon Gregor’s

broad back did not disturb her at all. The fact that she was completely naked did, however. It

disturbed her a lot.

She quickly lowered the covers, resisting the strong urge to see if Gregor was also naked, and

clutched the blankets to her chest. A slight movement at her side drew her attention and she slowly

turned her head. Alana found herself staring into Gregor’s beautiful eyes and felt herself blush.

“I am naked,” she whispered.

“Aye, lass, that ye are,” replied Gregor, idly wondering just how far down that deep blush went.

“Why am I naked?”

“Because ye were all asweat when your fever broke and I didnae think ye should be left lying in a

damp shift. The other shift wasnae dry enough, either, and I had to rip up your third shift so that I would have rags to wash ye down with.” As he watched the import of those words sink into her

mind, Gregor was amazed at how her blush deepened, for he would not have thought she could get

any redder.

“I had a fever?” Alana asked and immediately began to recall several things that she had thought

were only strange dreams. “Ah, I think I do recall feeling ill. How long was I feverish?”

“Nearly three days.”

Alana stared down at her hands, still clutching the blanket tightly against her chest, and idly noticed that those hands were no longer bandaged and were nearly healed. She knew she ought to be deeply

embarrassed by the knowledge that Gregor had cared for her for nearly three days. Now she could

recall the feel of a cool cloth bathing her skin, easing the heat that ravaged her body. There would

have been other intimacies as well. Yet all she could think of was that he now knew she was no

child. Her breasts might not be large, but he could hardly have missed them when he removed her

binding.

He knew she had lied to him. Perhaps lie was too strong a word, she thought. She had simply not

corrected his assumption. Alana inwardly cursed. It was a lie and it revealed a lack of trust she truly had not felt. It was going to be difficult to explain why she had not told him the truth, especially

since she was not completely sure of the why of it herself.

She looked at him again. He was watching her closely, the hint of a smile curving his mouth. At any

other time, she would have found the sight of the cat’s head poking out from beneath the blanket

amusing. It was watching her as closely as Gregor was. Alana wondered if there was any chance

they could simply ignore the lie.

“Ye have a cat upon your back,” she said and could tell by the look in his eyes that Gregor knew

what game she tried to play. That look also told her it was not going to work.

“I am aware of that,” he drawled.

“Where did it come from?”

“Whoever lived here obviously decided to abandon it when they left. How old are ye, Alana?”

The abrupt question startled her so that she answered without hesitation. “Two-and-twenty.”

Gently turning so that the cat removed itself from his back, Gregor lay on his side facing her. “Why

are ye searching for your sister?”

“How do ye ken that?”

“Ye told me.”

She obviously became far too talkative when gripped by a fever, Alana decided and grimaced. It

was also clear that she had revealed enough that it was foolish to try to hold fast to her secrets now.

Since she and Gregor were united in trying to escape the Gowans, it was better if he knew the whole

truth anyway.

“Aye, I am looking for my sister, my twin sister Keira,” she said. “We have heard nothing from her

since her husband died several months ago. Weel, nothing but some very alarming rumors. Her

husband had been cruelly murdered, her lands had been taken by a vile mon, she had been wounded

badly and fled, or died, or was being held prisoner. Dark tale after dark tale.”

“Did none of your people go to her keep to find out the truth?”

“Two. When the first did not return, another went. He returned but only lived long enough to tell us

that Keira was not being held captive, that rumor said she had been wounded but had escaped, and

that the devil himself held fast to her lands.”

“And so ye set out to find her?” Gregor rose from the bed before he gave in to the strong urge to

take her into his arms.

Alana stared at him as he got out of the bed. He wore only his braies. As he stretched, she watched

the muscles in his broad back and long, well-shaped legs flex and felt as if her fever had returned.

She had to bite back a soft protest when he began to dress. The man was such a pleasure to look at,

it seemed a sin to cover all that beauty. She forced her wanton thoughts aside and put her mind back

on the matter of the search for Keira.

“My brothers Artan and Lucas decided to go ahunting for Keira. I wished to go with them. Keira is

my twin, after all. She would wish me to be at her side, especially if she was hurt. No one would

heed my wishes, however. So I slipped away and followed my brothers, intending to join with them

once we were far enough away from home so that they couldnae send me back.”

It was not the full truth, and she felt a little guilty about that. Caution was necessary, however.