His Conquest (9 page)

So Seathan hoped. But he would not underestimate a ruler seasoned in war, a man driven by grief.

Regardless, in the end, Scotland would again be free.

“The plans are solid ones,” Seathan agreed.

His brothers nodded.

Tiredness washed over Seathan, layered upon the steady ache of his wounds. “It is time to sleep. We travel at first light.”

Alexander grumbled, but didn’t disagree, and Seathan understood. If the circumstances weren’t so dire, his brothers would insist they remain here at least another day to give him time to rest. But with the viscount’s men scouring the lands for him and Linet, ’twas not an option.

In the end, it would be Lord Tearlach who paid the price. On that he gave his solemn vow.

Seathan lay down, pulled the blanket over himself and closed his eyes. But with his grief over his men’s deaths, and the prospect of having to break the news to those whom the men had loved, he doubted he’d find sleep this night.

Seated before Seathan upon the large bay, Linet glanced over at his brothers, doubled up upon the black steed. Against the smears of reds and yellows tossed in the evening sky, she caught Alexander watching her, his expression grim. Unsettled by the directness of his stare, she turned and rested her head against Seathan’s chest. Seathan’s brothers didn’t trust her; she wouldn’t expect them to.

Since they’d awoken at dawn and broken camp two days past, they’d ridden at a slow but steady pace, stopping only to rest and water their horses. Seathan’s determination to travel didn’t surprise her, but in his condition, that his brothers allowed him to underlined the danger of being caught by Fulke’s men.

She sensed a difference now in his attitude toward her. What had Seathan told his brothers about her? Two nights past, she’d pretended to be asleep to eavesdrop. Instead, exhausted, she’d fallen into a deep slumber.

Now, his brothers’ guarded looks kept her on edge. Seathan might be the oldest, a titled noble and a powerful man whom few dared to cross, but ’twould seem his brothers, only knights in a land driven by mighty lords, were a force to be reckoned with as well.

She should find it ironic that a man as powerful as Seathan would have his younger siblings looking out for him, but the strong bond between the brothers, and the fierceness with which they protected him, left her anything but amused. She couldn’t help comparing the richness of his life with her own empty future.

Linet shifted against Seathan’s muscled chest. With each beat of his heart, emotions she’d rather not feel stirred within, awareness that was destined to go unanswered.

No, that wasn’t true. From Seathan’s passionate kiss, the intimate way he’d touched her, if she’d allowed him, they would have made love. Warmth coursed through her as she imagined his powerful body claiming hers. She dismissed the stories of fear and pain. With Seathan’s passion, his thoughtfulness, she refused to believe he’d be anything but tender.

“You are quiet, but I sense your thoughts are far from calm,” Seathan said, the burr of his deep voice sending another shot of awareness through her.

“How can they be?” Linet replied, scrambling for logical thought. “Since our escape, five days have passed, each one raising worries that Lord Tearlach’s men will discover us.” She paused. “How long before we reach your home?”

“This night.”

Surprised, she turned to look at him. A mistake. This close, she saw the way he looked at her, watched as a predator eyed his prey. Though injured, this warrior was far from safe.

Shaken, she turned around. “With you recovering so quickly, we should be able to head for the Highlands within a sennight.”

Duncan, riding at their side, coughed, which oddly sounded like laughter.

She shot a covert glance toward his youngest brother, but found him facing forward as if unaware of their discussion, a fact she doubted after having come to know Duncan a bit more these past two days.

At Seathan’s silence, she focused on him. “We will be leaving for the Highlands posthaste, will we not?”

“We will depart on our journey when I deem it prudent,” he finally replied.

She turned to face him, irritated to find his expression had hardened to a scowl. “Do not try to intimidate me with a fierce look. You promised you would take me to the Highlands.”

Only the slightest inflection betrayed his displeasure at her challenge. “And I will.”

“When?”

Duncan cleared his throat, and she glanced over to find him watching her with mirth.

As if aware of her embarrassment, Seathan drew his steed to a halt. “Ride ahead,” he ordered his brothers. “We will catch up with you.”

Alexander halted his mount beside them, frowning. “It is unwise. Tearlach’s men may be about.”

“With the viscount’s knights thinking Linet and I are on foot, even if they search this route, I doubt they’d believe we would have traveled this far.” Seathan nodded. “Go. We are within a league of Lochshire Castle.”

Alexander hesitated, then his eyes narrowed. “We will ride beyond the tree line. No more.”

Tension hummed between the brothers. That any would challenge Seathan surprised Linet. But the defiant glare Alexander shot his brother assured her that on this, his younger sibling refused to budge.

Seathan’s body stiffened behind her. “Wait beyond the tree line then.”

Alexander kicked his steed forward. Duncan shot her a wink as the brothers disappeared into the thick stand of pines ahead. The soft clop of hooves faded, then grew quiet.

“Your brothers only want to ensure that you are safe,” Linet said.

Seathan turned back to her, his jaw taut. “My brothers’ wants are not what I wish to discuss. I have given you my word that you will be taken to the Highlands. I will not break it.”

“I did not ask if you had given your word, but when we will be leaving for my mother’s home?”

“Upon my return.”

“Return?”

Pain flickered in his eyes, then disappeared as quickly. “There is a matter I need to take care of first.”

Her heart softened. “Dauid.” The word tumbled from her lips before she could stop it.

“Is not your concern.”

“It is,” she said, understanding too well the hurt of being betrayed. “You led me to believe there would be no delay in our travel to the Highlands.”

“I could not tell the truth and give you the chance to abandon me, to leave me to die.”

“From the start you misled me?”

His eyes narrowed. “Dare you accuse me of what you yourself chose to employ?”

“I had my reasons.”

“As did I,” he said, his voice cold. “I will take you to the Highlands as promised.”

“When it suits you, clearly,” she added, anger wrapping around her words.

“Aye.”

Linet exhaled, striving for calm. Seathan was not to blame for her situation. That honor belonged to Fulke. “How long will you be gone?”

Seathan hesitated, surprised by her quick acceptance, but not fooled. “Until I finish the task.” The pulse at the base of her neck pounded. Linet was upset, but on this he would not budge. Until he found Dauid, he’d not rest.

“So,” she said, her voice dry, “I sit and wait until your return?”

“You will reside within my home, Lochshire Castle, and be allowed every freedom.”

“Including to leave?”

Annoyance flickered through him. “It would be far from safe to travel without a chaperone.”

A humorless smile flickered on her mouth. “After traveling with an injured warrior who could barely fend for himself, I will take the risk.”

Bedamned. “You will wait for me.”

“Dare you order me about?”

“You will not put yourself at risk.”

“The decisions I make are my own. Neither you, nor any other, will dictate to me.”

“You will not argue with me.”

“There is no argument. I am a free woman. Unless”—lavender eyes narrowed—“you have decided to keep me against my will. Then, it would seem that I would be your prisoner.” She angled her jaw. “So, tell me, which am I?”

He couldn’t help admiring her bravado, that she’d dare challenge him at every turn. Still, it changed nothing. “Do not twist my words.”

“Then do not dictate what I can or cannot do.”

“God’s teeth, you have the sense of a pignut.”

Instead of anger, she laughed, a soft, pure sound that had his pulse kicking up.

Her eyes smiling, she looked up at him. “There again, it seems we are even.”

He wanted to remain irritated—it would be easier when dealing with the lass—but her sharp wit, and the way she stood up to him when most would back down, drew him to learn more about this intriguing woman.

Seathan nodded slowly. “Mayhap.” Her ability to disarm him, and to make him want her, spelled danger. He had too important a task ahead to allow his thoughts to ponder a lass who shielded secrets, a woman who, if he’d guessed correctly, might be betrothed to his enemy.

Silence spilled between them, the breath of wind cleansing the discomfort of moments ago until it shifted into something intimate.

The rich scent of pine, earth, and desire melded into one. An essence so real, so potent, it incited images of her lying naked beneath him, her body arched to meet his.

Her eyes widened. “Do not kiss me,” she whispered.

“It would be foolish,” he said, even as he caught her chin with his hand and angled her mouth to his. “And a mistake.” But it seemed a time for whimsy, to give in to what logic forbade.

On a groan, he claimed her mouth, gentle, probing, wanting to taste her essence, to savor this woman who would stir up a saint.

She stiffened beneath him as if to reject him, but he’d already seen her need, tasted her desire even as her mind fought to refuse. Seathan accepted her silent challenge, enjoyed her strong will. Never had a woman aroused him on so many levels.

He slid his tongue over her lips, teasing, toying with her mouth until her pulse raced beneath his thumb. “Open for me,” he whispered.

“No.” But her words lacked conviction.

“Open.”

For a moment she held firm. Then, on a sigh, she acceded.

Her taste infused him, the slick warmth igniting his body like a torch tossed upon dry tinder. He took the kiss deeper, wanting her full compliance, for her to admit that she wanted him, a truth she sought to deny.

On a shudder, her body softened, then she was kissing him back. Seathan had thought himself ready, but as before, the full impact of her kiss, the heat backed by need, exploded through his mind, and for a moment, all he could do was absorb.

Taking control, Seathan cradled her face within his hands, turning her so he could fully explore her mouth. Christ’s blade, her taste was a combination of heaven and sin. The softness of her flesh teasing him to stay, to explore her body until he sated his every need.

With his senses steeped in desire, he nibbled along the curve of her neck, inhaling her scent. His mind spun with erotic fantasies, of the pleasures he could give her. And when she believed she could take no more, begged him to stop, he’d savor showing her there were no boundaries when making love.

Instinct assured him a night of sensual seduction would but whet his appetite. With Linet, he would need a sennight or more to slake his need.

Then, would even that be enough?

“Seathan.”

At the rough passion in her voice, his body trembled with anticipation. He kissed the silken length of her neck, his hand skimming where fabric brushed against flesh. “Aye.”

“Should…we not go?”

“We will.”

Her hands shook as she pressed against his chest, shoved. “I do not want this.”

He drew back, irritated. “Your kiss tells me otherwise.”

Eyes dark with passion, she stared up at him. She drew in a shaky breath. “But that is not the point.”

“What is?”

“My freedom,” she replied. “Or do I truly have a choice in either?”

Irritation edged through him. “Never have I forced a lass to my bed.”

“Yet you pressure me.” At his silence, she pressed forward. “I did not want your kiss.”

“No?” he asked, taking in her lips swollen from his kisses. “Your body is pressed against me, at odds with your words.”

She pulled back. As he began to lean forward, she pushed back harder. “Do not.”

The nervousness in her voice stayed his actions. “Why?” he demanded, wanting to hear her say the words they both knew she held back.

She glared at him. “Because, damn you, I want you too much already.”

Satisfaction rushed through him. “Who are you angry at?” he asked before she could speak. “Me, for making you admit what you feel, or yourself for feeling it?”

Herself
, Linet silently admitted, ashamed she’d taken the turmoil of her feelings out on him. Still, she refused to argue, she’d caused herself enough shame. “We need to go. If you have forgotten, your brothers await us beyond the bank of firs.”

“Their choice.”

“And leaving is mine.”

He watched her for a long moment. “What is between us is far from over.”

That she believed. A fact that unnerved her far more than Fulke’s threats ever had. This powerful lord had no idea he held his enemy’s sister before him. God help her if he found out.

Then a new, unsettling thought came to mind. She’d believed it prudent to keep Seathan ignorant of her blood tie to Fulke. But having come to know Seathan, she’d learned he was a fair man. Should she tell him? Would he believe her? Be furious? No, it was best to remain silent. In but a short while she would be in the Highlands.

The time to tell Seathan the truth had long passed.

At her continued silence, his mouth tightened. Then he kicked his mount forward.

Relief washed over her as if she’d escaped something monumental. She faced forward as he guided his steed toward where his brothers waited. No, she’d far from escaped, but had delayed a moment she feared was inevitable. He wanted her in his bed.

A place where she wished to be as well, but a place she could never choose.

Her heart ached. Never had she imagined that she would be so attracted to a man that she would consider casting aside society’s strict rules in search of pleasure. But Seathan had her mind exploring dangerous ground. And if she chose to join him in his bed, would it destroy her when she left? How could it not? Already she cared for him more than was wise. At least she wasn’t in love with him.

Lord Grey caught a limb, shoved it aside as they broke through the sweep of firs. In the distance she made out Alexander standing by a tree keeping a lookout while Duncan kicked back against a stump.

Alexander shoved away from the elm with a dark frown. “I see you have decided to join us.”

“Mount,” Seathan said, his tone equally sharp.

“Tossing orders about after he lags back to kiss the lass,” Duncan quipped.

Heat stole up her face. His brothers had seen their kiss. Judging by their expressions, despite Duncan’s humor, they still weren’t sure what to think about it. Alexander looked particularly grim.

“On with you,” Seathan growled.

After Duncan and Alexander mounted, they guided their steeds up a sharp, angled bank.