The Highlander's Bargain (14 page)

He wasn’t eager to face his parents. His uncle would’ve told them the tale. His father’s disappointment would be difficult to bear, and his mother would wring her hands with worry. He rubbed at the ache in his chest as they entered the village. They turned their horses over to the stable master, and Rob ordered the guard not to sound the horn signaling their return. He couldn’t face a crowd gathering to witness his homecoming.

He and Angus made their way to the ferry. Days of travel in the damp November chill had taken its toll—that and his failure had brought him to the edge of total exhaustion.

“Welcome back, milord,” Arlen greeted, bobbing his head. “I took yer da and ma tae the island just yesterday. I ken they be eager tae see thee.”

“My thanks, Arlen. How does your family fare?”

“Och, couldn’t be better.” Arlen gave him a gap-toothed grin. “My lass and her man couldn’t be any happier tae ha’ a midwife sae close, since she’s breeding.”

Rob’s Adam’s apple bobbed at the mention of his lass. “Erin has been to see her?”

“Och, aye. Lady True brought her tae the village but her second day here. Went ’round tae all the houses she did, and met with each and every family. Me own wife says she spoke of naught but ‘wellness checks’ and the importance of ‘prenatal care,’ whatever that might be.” He chuckled as he untied the ferry from its moors. “Seems a dedicated lass, and comely too. The entire village is talking ’bout her. We’re grateful tae ye for wresting her away from the Sutherlands, milord.”

So the story they’d come up with had stuck. “I’m glad she was amenable to making Loch Moigh her home.” As if she’d had a choice in the matter. He and Angus boarded the ferry, and Rob’s gaze fixed on the island. He wished with all his heart for a happy resolution to his troubles. One where he and Erin had a lifetime to share, rather than a scant handful of days and nights. He swallowed against the sudden constriction in his throat and decided to seek her out first before greeting his parents.

Rob took a coin from his sporran and handed it to Arlen as they grew close to the island. “My thanks. I look forward to meeting your first grandchild, Arlen. Give my regards to your family.”

“Och, I’ll do that, milord.” Arlen tugged at his cap and set about slipping the ferry into its landing.

Robley didn’t wait for him to secure the vessel. Arlen would be shoving off for the mainland soon enough. “Angus, my thanks for your company. Greet your wife for me, aye?”

“Will do, lad. See ye in the lists on the morrow.”

“Aye.” Rob headed toward the keep, anticipation filling him. He caught a glimpse of the cottage True used as her stillroom, noticed the curl of smoke drifting out of the chimney. Mayhap True worked inside. At this hour she should be in the keep with her feet up, and he meant to tell her so. Erin had said carrying twins brought more risk. Shouldn’t True be confined above stairs? He strode to the door, rapped his knuckles against it and waited.

“Yes?” The door swung open.

He came face-to-face with Erin. His heart leaped for his throat, and he lost his ability to think, much less speak. She wore garments suitable for work, with an apron tied around her waist and a cloth covering her hair. Her cheeks were rosy, as if she’d been exerting herself. He’d never seen such a beautiful sight. The need to reach for her nearly overrode his good sense.

Her eyes widened, then narrowed. “You left without telling me first.”

“Aye. I thought it best.” The smell of vinegar wafted out. “Do ye mean to pickle the place, babe?” His heart raced at the spark his words ignited in her eyes. No matter what the future held, in this moment he was with the woman he loved with all his heart. For right now, ’twas more than enough, and far more than he deserved.

“Don’t call me
babe
.” She swung the door open wider to let him in. “I’m pissed at you.”

“Humph.” He entered, taking note of the pail, scrub brush and rags. “Does that mean I can call you
babe
when you are more favorably inclined toward me?”

She glared at him and crossed her arms in front of her.

He placed his hands on her shoulders. “
Mo cridhe
, then,” he teased, hoping for a smile. “I shall revert to fifteenth-century terms of endearment if it pleases you.”

“Conking you on the head with that iron cauldron over there would please me right now.” She backed out of his hold, blinking rapidly against the sudden brightness filling her pretty green eyes. Her chest rose and fell rapidly, and she kept her arms crossed tightly. “What were you thinking?” She raised her chin and glared at him.

“I was
thinking
to keep you safe whilst I sought an easy solution to a complicated problem.”

“And how’d that work out for you?” She tapped her foot, her glare still fixed his way.

“No’ so well,
mo cridhe
. Madame Giselle is no longer in Inverness, and I have no idea where she might be or how I might find her. I have men out searching as we speak.”

“Oh, Rob . . .”

He glanced about the interior of the wee cottage. “What do you here? Why does this cottage smell so strongly of vinegar?”

“This is my clinic.” She followed his gaze around the room. “Vinegar kills germs because it’s a natural disinfectant. I’m cleaning and getting ready to see patients.”

“Germs, disinfectant and patients.” He grunted again. “I dinna ken the meaning of most of what you just said.” Yearning to make things right between them, he kicked the door shut, giving them some privacy against prying eyes. He wanted her in his arms with her luscious lips pressed against his. “If I had told you what I intended, you would have insisted on coming with me.”

“Of course I would have!” She threw up her hands. “This involves me. I should be there with you when you confront Giselle. Who knows? Maybe I can help find a solution. I have faerie DNA, Rob. That might carry some weight with the fae.” She canted her head for a second. “Now that I think about it, did you notice how that faerie’s expression turned to surprise when he looked at me?”

“Nay. My mind was on other things.” He unbuckled the belt holding his scabbard and placed his claymore on the table. “When we travel to Inverness for the fair each autumn, the journey takes us five days.” He flashed her a pointed stare. “Five there and five back would’ve left me with but a score of days. You’re no’ used to hardship, lass. Do ye even ken how to ride a horse?” he asked, raising an eyebrow.

She worried her bottom lip between her teeth and shook her head.

His heart wrenched at the sight. “I made the entire trip in less than a se’nnight. Had you been with us, ’twould have taken far longer, and every distress, every tiny hurt you suffered along the way would have preyed upon me. I had enough to worry about as it was.” He took a step closer. “I kent you would be safe and well cared for here with my clan and family, lass.”

“We should have had this conversation
before
you abandoned me without so much as a ‘see you later.’” She huffed. “It would’ve saved me a lot of grief.”

Ah, she thinks I left her!
No wonder she was so angry. If she didn’t care, she wouldn’t be nearly so upset. “Nay, lass. We could no’ have had this discussion before I left. Do ye no’ ken I have no willpower where you’re concerned? I canna say ye nay, and worrying about ye would have been my undoing.”

“And what?” She lifted her chin again. “You don’t think I suffer the same when it comes to you?” A single tear trickled down her cheek. “Don’t you
ever
do that to me again.”

He traced the trail of her tear with hungry eyes. “Suffer? You see caring for me as suffering?”

“Caring
is
suffering, Rob. Didn’t I make that clear when we talked about my family?” Another tear fell from her other eye, and she swiped at it. “It’s exactly why I don’t want to get involved.”

“I missed you, Erin,” he whispered, taking another step closer. “You were on my mind every waking moment of every single day. Never before have I suffered so sweetly or with such a willing heart.”

“Oh, Rob,” she sobbed and threw herself into his arms. “I was so afraid Giselle would kill you. I haven’t slept since you left. Don’t you get it? You’re the only link between her, the damned pensieve and the faerie searching for it. She knows you can rat her out!”

He drew her close and held her fast, his insides melting. “Rat her out?” He chuckled, happy for the first time in days. “What does that mean, sweetling?”

“It means telling on her. Tattling.” She sighed, resting her cheek over his pounding heart.

“Erin?”

“What?” She lifted her head to peer up at him.

“If it pleases you, I mean to kiss you now.”

“Yeah?” She blinked.

Her lovely green eyes roamed over his face, pausing at his lips and coming back to meet his gaze. Her expression filled with such tenderness and longing his lungs lost the will to draw breath. Lord help him, he could drown in the depths of her eyes. His heart strained toward hers as if to merge into one beating organ sustaining them both for all time.

She frowned. “Well, what’s keeping you?”

“I’ve been days on the trail. I’ve no’ bathed or shaved since—”

She tangled her fingers in his hair, drew his face down and kissed him. Surprise rendered him senseless, but soon the amazing sensation of kissing her overtook him. He tightened his arms around her slender waist, nearly lifting her off her feet, and plunged his tongue into the welcoming warmth of her scintillating mouth. She tasted of chamomile and honey—delectable. Her answering moan set his blood aflame.

Their heavy breathing filled the cottage. The sound was so erotic and inciting that he ached with wanting her. Backing her toward the small bed, thoughts of her bare, velvety skin next to his excited his senses till he thought he might burst. She was his, and he wanted to brand her skin with his possession, his scent.

The backs of her knees hit the straw mattress, and her legs buckled. He scooped her up in his arms and laid her out, easing down to cover her. “Och, love. You have no idea what you do to me.” He covered her face in a spate of tiny kisses, over her eyelids, cheeks, the intriguing corners of her luscious mouth. “I’ve longed to hold you like this since first I laid eyes upon you.”

She gave a breathless chuckle. “Seems to me we were pretty much in this same position when we met.”

“Aye, and we should remain thus for days and nights on end.” He rolled to his side to untie the apron knot at the small of her back. His fingers shook at the prospect of seeing her bare. He tugged the apron free and tossed it to the ground. Cradling her beloved face between his callused palms, he kissed her deeply, moving across her cheek to nuzzle one side of her neck and then the other. He found the laces to her surcot and freed her of the outer garment, exposing the linen chemise beneath. “I wish to take down your hair, lass. May I?”

A dazed expression suffused her face, and her lips were swollen from his kisses. “OK,” she murmured, sitting up. She brought her heavy braid over her shoulder and took the binding from the end, unraveling the braid with her fingers.

The intimacy of seeing her in naught but her undergarment while unbraiding her hair sent his heart tumbling end-over-end. His groin tightened, and he grew even harder. He covered her hands and stopped her. “Let me.” His words came out a gruff rasp. Running his fingers through the silken tresses, he savored the texture, longing to feel the softness all over his skin. Once it was free, he tangled his fingers in it and brought the handful of spun gold to his face, inhaling deeply. “You smell like wildflowers on a sunny summer day, lass.” He grunted. “And slightly of vinegar.”

“You smell like rain-washed air, leather and campfires.” She pressed her hands against his chest. “I’ve always loved your scent, Robley.”

He untied the front of her chemise and slipped it down her shoulders. Her breasts were perfect, fair, lush, with the nipples forming hard little buds just for him. “You are so beautiful, you steal my reason, lass.” Running his hands through her hair again, he leaned in to kiss her, taking them both down to lie on the bed. It almost seemed a sacrilege, running his roughened hands over the perfection of her smooth, warm skin, but he could not help himself. He burned for her with a need that would not abate.

From the first he’d made up his mind to wed her. So what if they consummated their union before the banns were posted? They’d hardly be the first couple to do so, and none would know of it but the two of them—unless his seed took root.

“I want you, Erin of clan Durie.” He cupped both of her perfect breasts in his hands and ran his thumbs over her hardened nipples, pleased beyond measure when she gasped and arched into him. He took one delicate bud into his mouth and suckled.

“Erin,” a voice called, and the door to the cottage burst open. “It’s almost time for supper. Enough work for one day. Come to the keep.”

True barged into the cottage just as he pulled Erin’s chemise back up over her breasts. Erin hid her flaming face with her arms and groaned. Rob remained where he was, covering her with his body, keeping his raging erection from his cousin’s view. He avoided eye contact with True and dropped his forehead to Erin’s. “We’ll be there anon.”

True gasped and slapped her hands over her eyes. “Oh crap, oh crap, oh crap! I’m so sorry. I didn’t know you were back, Rob. I didn’t hear the village horn announce your return. I didn’t know anyone else was in here.” She backed out of the cottage in a rush and slammed the door, calling as she went, “You could’ve latched this shut, you know.”

He listened for a moment before rising to stand beside the bed. “I wish now I
had
latched the door. ’Twould have spared you this embarrassment. My apologies, Erin. It seems I canna do anything right.”

“Don’t say that. We’re both consenting adults here. If anyone is embarrassed, it’s True.” She pulled her lovely hair over her shoulder and began to braid it. “She’s not going to say anything to anyone about this.”

“Humph.” He straightened his plaid and tucked in his shirt, recalling the feel of Erin’s soft hands roaming over the bare skin of his back. “I’ll wager she tells Malcolm before the night is out. I’ll hear about it on the morrow when we meet in the lists. See if I don’t. Still,” he said, winking at her, his grin unrepentant, “next time I’ll be sure to latch the door.”