Reunited (Book 2 of Lost Highlander series) (24 page)

It was all Piper could do to keep from slapping her.

Quinn stepped in between them with a look of mild amusement on his face. Piper wanted to take a swing at him too, but scurried out of his way when he picked up Bella like she was a small bag of flour and tossed her onto the saddle of a fresh horse. He turned and gave Piper a long look.

“Lachlan said ye aren’t much of a horsewoman, so ye’ll ride with me.”

Bella snorted and expertly turned her horse, preparing to ride out. Pride as badly blistered as her bum, she let Quinn help her onto his horse, trying not to lean back into him when he settled into the saddle behind her.

“Ye know if ye try to outrun me, ye shall lose?” he asked Bella.

She nodded sullenly and with that, they were off, racing north toward the trees.

***

They stopped after about an hour’s ride and when Quinn reached up to help her off the horse, she gratefully let him, all but collapsing into his arms.

He lay a stiff blanket out on the leaves and gestured rather gallantly for her to have a seat. She lay down flat on her back and groaned, trying to ignore the looks that passed between Quinn and Bella. Well, she’d like to see them behind the wheel of her Mercedes. The Judgy McJudgersons wouldn’t even know where to put the key.

“Have horses gone extinct, then, in the time ye’re from?” Bella asked snidely as she sat on a corner of the blanket.

“Shut up,” Piper said, and closed her eyes.

She heard Quinn laugh over by the horses, and thought he might just be on her side.

“I can see why he chose ye,” Quinn said. “Ye’re verra much alike.”

Piper didn’t know what to make of this, since it was coming off her being rude, but in her miserable state, she decided anything resembling a compliment was worth taking.

“He chose her?” Bella stood up and sputtered. “How can ye say such a thing when I’m married to him?”

Piper’s eyes flew open and she pushed herself up on her elbows, hoping the monstrous little hellcat of a great-great etcetera grandmother wasn’t going to bring out her claws.

Quinn raised an appraising eyebrow at Bella and shrugged. “Aye, and for the life of me I dinna know how that happened, or why. But it’s clear as I know my brother, that he loves her, and not ye.”

Bella wilted under this calm assessment, and even though she’d been sniping at Quinn the entire ride, and generally being awful, Piper didn’t think she deserved that. Still, even though she felt a little bit bad for Bella, she glowed knowing that Quinn saw Lachlan’s love for her.

She smothered what she felt must be a very smug smile and crawled over to where Bella was standing. She patted her boot.

“It will all work out for you,” she said, then dropped back onto the blanket.

Shortly after they rested and ate some food, Lachlan and Pietro showed up, followed by a terrified looking girl, who turned out to be Bella’s maid, brought under obvious duress.

Without hesitation, as soon as Lachlan was off his horse, Piper flung herself into his arms, not caring what his brother or Bella thought. She’d never been possessive of anyone like this before, and the ferocious need to stake her claim on him surprised her.

It obviously gratified Lachlan, who might have been worried she was still mad at him, and he kissed her deeply, until her jelly legs felt like they weren’t even there anymore.

He helped her back to the blanket and sat beside her, looking troubled.

“We shall have to go to my land,” he said. “Laird Glen was none too happy that I left my bride to run off and nearly get herself killed, and abducted by a foreigner, no less. All so I could be with another woman.”

“Yikes.” Piper took his hand.

“Aye, yikes has a good ring to it.”

“I’m excited to see your home,” she said, feeling contentment wash over her. “Will I be the lady of the manor?” she teased.

“Aye,” he said seriously. “Ye shall. As soon as we get there I shall have that ridiculous marriage annulled.”

She giggled as she looked up into the trees, ancient even in this time. “I can’t believe you did that,” she said, turning to look at him.

His face started to turn red, and he laughed.

“I was so afraid at the time what might happen to ye if that wee lecherous worm married her, and when he couldna be threatened or bought off …”

“You panicked,” she finished for him, scooting over and snuggling into his lap.

“I am glad ye could forgive me for lying to ye.”

“Well, don’t do it anymore,” she said.

He stroked her hair. “Piper, I know the journey is a great discomfort to ye, but I should like to see Agnes again before we go home. When we get to the village I shall hire a carriage for ye and we can take it most of the way back.”

She shivered when he so casually included her in the mention of home and hugged him. “I want to see Agnes again, too. I still have so many questions.”

He nodded and got up to give instructions to Quinn. Pietro took Lachlan’s place on the blanket, cracking his neck and sharing a grimace with her.

He looked pale and strained, and his bruises were in full technicolor bloom. She asked him if he was all right, trying to feel his forehead again.

He ducked away from her hand with a scowl. “Too much hard riding, not enough sleep, getting beaten to a pulp by your boyfriend is all that’s wrong with me.” He softened his words with a rueful smile. “I look forward to a bit of peace when we get to the Ferguson’s land.” His gaze turned to Bella.

“You sure did get yourself into it, didn’t you?” she asked.

He massaged his temples and laughed. Bella must have seen he was comfortable, and having a nice chat with Piper, because she called him harshly over to help her with her saddle. Piper rolled her eyes as he jumped up and all but ran to her.

When it was time to part ways, Piper gave Pietro a hug, begging him to be careful.

“You’re so used to being a hero in our time, but things are crazy here. Just watch and be wary, okay?”

“Aye, little one. Ye be careful as well,” he said.

She rolled her eyes, still unable to reconcile that he would be her many times great-grandfather.

She took Bella by the shoulders and gave her a tiny shake, then looked deep into her eyes, trying to see a glimpse of anything there. All she saw was hard anger and maybe a touch of fear. Filled with sympathy, she hugged her.

“He’s a good man, Bella,” she whispered in her ear. “Things are different in our time. Women are independent. He won’t get in the way of what you want, if you’re not a shrew about it.”

Bella’s eyes flew wide at Piper’s words and at the last second she hugged her back.

Last, Piper threw her arms around Quinn’s neck, surprising the hell out of him. He stood there stiffly until Lachlan waved off his apprehension.

“She hugs everyone,” he said magnanimously.

Quinn awkwardly patted her back and smiled down at her when she pulled away.

“Safe journey, sister,” he said quietly, so Bella wouldn’t fly into a rage. “Until we meet again.” He bowed slightly and backed away.

Piper wiped the tears from her eyes. “I know you’ll take care of them,” she said. “We’ll see you soon.”

After watching them ride off into the distance, Lachlan lifted her into the saddle and mounted behind her. Wherever they ended up, she made a pact with herself to become a better horsewoman. Having to be bundled in front of everyone due to her poor skills was wearing thin.

Quinn rode ahead of them after warning them to be alert for any trouble, giving his men terse instructions to keep Bella and her maid in the middle of their group, and keeping them to a harried gallop for the first several miles.

Pietro was relieved to now have a sword strapped to his side, though he would have felt more comfortable with a sidearm, no matter how old fashioned it might have been. At first Quinn had been silent to him, giving him coldly assessing looks, even though Lachlan had vouched for his trustworthiness.

They settled into a more relaxed pace when he deemed them a safe enough distance from Castle Glen. They would continue northwest until they came to the outskirts of Ferguson land later that night. Quinn told them they would stay with crofters and make it to his own home later the next day.

“Is what my brother tells me true?” Quinn asked him.

They had been riding in strained silence for so long that Pietro started at his voice. He glanced over at Quinn, expecting to see stone faced skepticism. Instead, Quinn was wide eyed and hopeful looking.

Pietro relaxed, feeling for the first time that he may have an ally. He began to try to sort in his mind who Quinn would be to him, if Piper was his many times removed great-granddaughter, and she were to marry Lachlan. It made a dull pounding start behind his eyes and he gave it up. He hoped they would be friends.

“Aye,” he said. He wanted to elaborate, but he had no information to share, other than what was already obvious. He was there.

“It is madness, but my brother is not mad, so I believe ye.”

“Lachlan’s a good man?” Pietro asked, worried about Piper.

She had seemed completely smitten with him. He rubbed his sore, stinging face.

Quinn cocked an eyebrow at Pietro’s bruises and then rolled his eyes. “Aye, to a fault. He’ll likely be feeling bad about yer face, if that makes ye feel any better.”

“It does not.” He smirked and Quinn burst into laughter.

Hearing a source of happiness, Bella rode alongside them to quash it. She spent a good amount of time trying to get Quinn to tell her about the Ferguson land since she would be the mistress of it, but he quickly shut her down on any such notions and kept a distance between them. She made her maid miserable for a while, then grew bored with that and rode beside Pietro.

“Tell me about the place ye came from,” Bella said.

Pietro turned and studied her. Her face was shuttered and suspicious, but he looked deeply and thought he might have also seen a glimmer of something else. He thought she might have been hopeful, but because that was what he was feeling, he was probably projecting.

“It’s this exact same land,” he said, turning away.

The pretty face that had once inspired him on this adventure caused him pain now.

“Verra well,” she sighed. “Tell me about when ye’re from.”

“Do ye believe me, then?” he asked, keeping his voice neutral.

He wanted her so very badly and had gone along believing she felt the same. He still wasn’t sure how much of what she spouted was fear of having no control over her life, and he didn’t want to spook her. He wasn’t about to let her run roughshod over him, either.

She shrugged. “I’m weary. Ye can try to entertain me if ye like.”

A hot spear of pain swiped him behind his eye and he nearly fell out of the saddle. He leaned over and gripped his head, in too much agony to even swear.

Bella reined in her horse and pulled up close to him, pulling his hands away to try to see his face. He looked up at her, and swallowed as the wrenching pain started to subside.

“What is it? she asked, and the worry in her voice almost made the vicious pain worth it.

He smiled weakly and straightened up, massaging his temples. “I think the blows I got to the head are starting to take their toll,” he said.

The initial stab mellowed to a throbbing ache and spread down the back of his neck, tightening his back muscles. He rolled his shoulders and groaned.

“Aye, that man is a heathen. A beast.”

She reached over and gently touched the side of his swollen eye. He was happy she was being nice to him and liked the soft caresses she continued to give him, so he didn’t argue with her assessment of Lachlan.

He’d accepted the beating with good grace at the time, feeling like he at least partly deserved it, but now that he was so sore, his attitude was shifting.

She ran her hand down to his shoulder and looked him over with concern as she pushed her hand under the collar of his shirt.

Well, now this was more like it, he thought, glancing at Quinn’s ramrod straight back in front of them. He knew beyond a shadow of a doubt, that no matter what she said, she felt a strong attraction to him. It was something he would definitely use to his advantage in his quest to win her heart.

“Have ye got a fever?” she asked, pulling her hand away and pressing it to her forehead to compare body temperatures.

He rolled his eyes. It seemed that he would have to settle for her concern. “I’m fine,” he said gruffly.

“I believe ye are hot,” she asserted, reaching over with her other hand to try and feel his head.

He almost laughed, but his headache kept him from finding anything too funny at the moment. He leaned out of her reach but grabbed her hand and kissed her palm, threading his fingers together with hers.

“Thanks,” he said.

She snatched her hand away, but not before he saw her cheeks flush with color in reaction to his kiss. Confusion filled her eyes now, and she quickly kicked her horse to a trot, catching up to Quinn to badger him for a bit.