Playboy's Challenge (Highlander's Series) (10 page)

Her brother let out a heavy sigh of relief and she grinned.

“He will be fine, Erin. I will watch o’er him, and come the morn I suspect he’ll be quite his old self. But perhaps with a wee bit of a headache.”

Erin stood and clasped her shoulder as he made toward the door. “If you have a need…”

She patted his hand and smiled up at him. With a gentle squeeze and a soft smile, he left. And once again she was faced with the puzzle of Adam Sutherland and the strange feelings she had brewing in her chest.

Who was this man and why did he affect her so?

****

Adam peeled open his lids, doing his best to disregard the disgusting taste in his mouth. The room was lit only by firelight, and he realized he’d slept the day away. Well, better that than coughing up a lung, he supposed.

He turned his head, hoping to find a drink on the table, wishing for water, and yet willing to take whatever he could find. But instead of something to quench his thirst, he found Deidra.

She was sleeping in the chair by his bed, a bit of tartan over her shoulders. A shaft of moonlight cut across her cheek, and without thinking, he lifted his hand and brushed a finger across her skin. She was so damn beautiful.

A faint moan met his ears, and he pulled his hand back, curling his fingers into a tight fist. He had no right to touch her, to kiss her, to want her. She’d made that damn clear with her tainted pie.

She lifted her head and blinked a time or two to shake off her sleep.

“You’re awake,” she said, and rose from the chair to stand beside him. “Can I fetch you anythin’?”

He started to shake his head, afraid of what words might come out of his mouth, then recalled being thirsty. “Water?”

“Of course. Mum had some prepared for you.” She quickly snatched up the pitcher and filled a cup.

He moved to sit up and found it wasn’t as easy as he’d expected. The stuff she’d slipped him had really knocked him on his ass.

She noticed his struggle and set the cup aside. Griping one of his arms, she helped him up while adjusting the pillows behind him. Once settled in place, she pressed the cup to his lips, and he let the cool moisture bathe his tongue and throat. Keeping in tune with the times, water wasn’t something generally fit to drink. He would have to remember to thank his aunt Tuck for breaking their reenactment rules for him.

Feeling better with every gulp, he reached out and clasped the cup, trapping Deidra’s fingers beneath his. Their eyes met over the rim with the connection, and his heart rate picked up. He wanted to shoot off some witty comment, or at least work up a wink, but all he could do was sit there and stare at her.

“Do you want something to eat?” she asked, her voice barely a whisper.

The thought of food had him sitting back and releasing the cup, as his stomach did a bad impression of the cha-cha. “Um, no thanks. I don’t want to tempt it.”

“Verra well.” She placed the empty cup aside and went about fussing with the covers.

“Have you been here the whole time?” he asked.

“Aye. I said I would tend you.”

He clasped her hand where she continued tugging at the edge of the blankets. “You don’t have to do this.”

“I do. ’Tis my fault you are ill.”

“I deserved it.”

“Nay, no’ so harsh a punishment.”

“I deserve whatever you dish out for all the years of grief I gave you.”

Surprisingly, she didn’t attempt to pull from his grasp. “Then we are truly even.”

“All right, even it is, which means we can start over.” He lifted her hand and gave it a gentle shake. “Hi, my name is Adam Sutherland. Nice to meet you.”

“’Tis a pleasure to meet you, Adam Sutherland,” she said with a giggle, and his stomach did a completely different sort of dance. The kind he knew was more dangerous than any poison she could give him.

“You, uh, really should go to bed. I’m fine.”

“I canna’. I said I would tend you and I shall.”

He smiled at her determination. “Deidra, I’m not going to die. I’m just a little sick, and thanks to your work already, I’m a lot better. I’ll improve even more if you go to bed.”

“But—”

He chuckled and said, “I’m sure to have a relapse if I sit up here all night worrying about you. Go to bed. Please.”

She smiled and nodded, then paused at the door. “I will check on you at first light.”

He smiled and waved her off. Once she’d left him alone, he took a deep breath. Their new relationship would be a trial, because he realized she would be in his dreams and eventually in his heart. A heart he had sworn to never expose again.

Letting others too close, allowing them into his life on such a dangerous level, would bring nothing but heartache for all involved. He would let them down, break their hearts, and once again pummel his own. And this time he had the feeling there would be no hiding from it. The playboy act wouldn’t work a second time.

As he fell into a deep sleep, he swore to keep things between himself and Deidra on a strictly platonic level. They would be friends and nothing more.

Chapter Eight

Over the following days, Adam went back to work on the main gate with Erin’s help and managed to keep things on a friends-only level with Deidra. And yet, as he sat down alongside the other men, sweaty and filthy, he couldn’t stop himself from watching her. She was so beautiful, and when she smiled, although it wasn’t often, the very air around her changed.

Each day, various women, wives, mothers, servants, and Deidra brought them their mid-day meal. It was an event he’d come to look forward to although he shouldn’t. They were friends, he reminded himself over and over again. He could not, would not hurt her as he had others.

She stepped before him with a pie wrapped in a cloth. He lifted his gaze to hers and caught sight of her elusive smile.

“’Tis safe, I swear it on my life,” she said.

He grinned and reached for the pie. “I’m going to hold you to that.”

“Did I no’ promise Da that I wouldna’ try and kill you until he returned?”

He laughed then took a bite, and with a giggle, she turned to assist with other meals for some of the guard.

He liked this ease they’d developed, and yet with every friendly exchange, every teasing comment, torment became his constant companion, damning his soul to a perpetual hell.

He quickly finished his meal, forcing himself to concentrate on anything but the graceful sway of her hips as she moved, the way the sunlight caught in her hair, bringing out the hues of dark red streaking the black.

A shout from the center of the bailey pulled his attention away from what he could never have. Some kids were playing what looked like a game of football, although rougher and without the same rules of the twenty-first century. He’d known that the game had its variations over the centuries, but found it almost funny to see it here in the supposed past.

He got to his feet and wandered over to watch the kids for a little while, but when the ball landed at his feet, he got pulled into the game. It was a nice distraction from the work and from Deidra.

Deidra watched Adam play with the children, her chest heavy with regret. She watched him more often than she should. Her brother had noticed, unfortunately, and teased her well for it. He called her a mother hen, afraid her charge would overtask himself and have a relapse, when nothing could be further from the truth.

She watched him because she wanted him. She wanted him to kiss her again, although she vowed he would never so much as touch her. ’Twas a bit disheartening to realize that although she’d done her best not to feel more than friendship for him, her heart had other ideas.

“He will leave when the solstice comes,” she murmured to herself, remembering that he was only visiting. And it was likely he’d never return, especially since he still refused to believe he had traveled through time.

His deep laugh echoed in the bailey and warmed her heart. He was so much more than what she’d first believed, so much more than the silly rogue he showed to the world. She’d even gotten used to the way he flirted with the servant girls, because she knew it was but a mask. Although it helped that she’d heard he’d not so much as stolen a kiss from any of them. Only she’d received his attention, although no one knew, and it saddened her that he felt guilty for it.

A shout from a guard pulled her from her wandering thoughts and she turned from observing Adam to see what had the guards rushing through the bailey.

Erin appeared by her side. “’Tis Macconach,” he said, and ran toward the man who looked half dead on his feet. Deidra dropped her basket of herbs and hurried after him.

“’Twas an ambush. The Fergussons,” Macconach said, his speech broken with panting breaths.

“What of our parents?” Erin demanded.

Macconach shook his head. “Taken along with the honor guard.”

“Nay,” Deidra said, her voice but a strangled whisper as her legs turned to water.

Adam wrapped his arms around her, holding her upright.

“They sent me back with a message,” Macconach continued. “They demand a ransom for their safe return. Five thousand in gold.”

Erin’s gaze met Adam’s and something passed between them, something Deidra was certain she would not like.

“Take him to the guest chamber and have him tended to,” Erin said, then looked to the guard once Macconach was led away. “We’ve no time to waste. Michael, you shall man the guard here and protect the clan. I want no more than five men ta go with me.”

The blusters and cursing echoed between the walls of the bailey. All of them wanted to go in search of their laird and lady.

“No, Erin,” Deidra said, grasping at her brother’s arm. “We can send someone to pay the ransom—” her voice broke as hot tears sprang to her eyes. “You are to be laird, you must stay here with the clan.”

“I’ll no’ stay safe while Da and Mum are in the hands of demons!”

Adam watched, stunned at the scene. This wasn’t acting. This was real, because nothing would bring tears to Deidra’s eyes in such a way, nothing would have her trembling in his arms. And the rage in Erin’s eyes couldn’t be faked. Something had happened to his aunt and uncle. Regardless of the year, or what year they pretended it was, they had been taken. This was for real.

“I’m going with you,” Adam said.

Deidra jerked her gaze to his, and he couldn’t look away. “We’ll find them and bring them back.”

“You doona know what you’re saying,” Erin said. “You’ve no knowledge of the land, the people beyond these walls. I’ll no’ be able to watch out for ye.”

“I can take care of myself.”

“Adam,” Deidra said, her voice low. “You doona believe about—” She glanced at the guard standing about for a moment, then moved deeper into his arms. “You must believe. You must. Or you canna do this and remain safe.”

She was wrong. He was the perfect choice for the task. His aunt and uncle had left their sheltered world and fallen victim to all the ugliness the twenty-first century had to offer.

He cast her one of his grins. “Careful or I might think you care about me,” he said with a wink.

“No,” she whispered, her voice harsh as she gripped his arms hard. “’Tis no jest, Adam. You must understand the danger.”

He sobered a moment and brushed the backs of his fingers along her tear-stained cheek. “I’ll be fine. I promise. We’ll have them back in no time.” He tore his gaze away and looked at Erin. “Whenever you’re ready.”

“You are determined then,” his friend said.

Adam nodded. “They mean almost as much to me as they do to you.”

With a firm nod, Erin chose the men and they went to ready themselves while the others doubled the guard at the gate and along the wall, leaving Deidra, Erin and Adam alone.

“You’re a damned fine swordsman, so ’tis no’ as though you are unprepared,” Erin said. “But Adam, you will need to defend yourself. ’Tis no’ a game we play here.”

“Please, Adam. I beg you. Be certain you understand what you do,” Deidra said.

“Whatever is out there, whatever the danger or the year, I’ll do what I have to do to bring them back.”

Erin clasped his shoulder with a grim nod, while Deidra turned to go into the castle. He took the moment to watch her as she crossed the bailey, wondering, if it would be the last time he ever saw her.

Within the hour, the horses were saddled, and light packs were filled, and Macconach had been thoroughly questioned by Erin and Adam. Neither of whom believed much of his story. Erin sent a messenger on to the Fergusson keep to confirm Macconach’s tale, but refused to wait for a response, determined to track his parents.

“I wish I knew what he was hiding,” Adam said, as he and Erin walked across the bailey to the stables.

“Aye. The whole of it sounded—”

“Rehearsed?” Adam finished for him.

“Aye. But why, ’tis the question that concerns me.”

“We’ll soon find out.”

Adam went into the stable while Erin left to speak with Michael one last time. They would watch for an attack, or some other treachery and keep a close eye on Macconach.

The whole situation boggled Adam’s mind, it all seemed so real, and yet how could it be? But his aunt and uncle were missing and Deidra and Erin’s concerns were tangible.

He checked his pack then stuck his foot in the stirrup, preparing to mount up, when Deidra appeared. He hated how his heart lightened at the sight of her. He was a damn fool, that was for certain.

“Be careful, Adam.”

He was relieved to see no tears in her eyes or dampness on her cheeks, although her face was still pale. His heart ached for what she must be feeling.

“I’ll be fine,” he said, and chucked her under the chin.

She stepped closer and pressed her hand against his chest. “In here beats the heart of a good man, the heart of a man I am proud to know.”

He clasped her hand as he gazed into eyes filled with something he didn’t deserve. “Don’t try to paint pretty pictures around me, Deidra. You’ll be disappointed. This is just a small blip of chivalry on my radar screen.”

Her face scrunched up at his words, while her body brushed his, sending shockwaves of awareness through him.

“I doona’ know what that means, but I see you for who you are, Adam. I’m afraid you canna change that,” she whispered, and pressed a kiss, soft and sweet to his mouth.