The Imposter (11 page)

I did as he
instructed and turned my back to him.  In one swift move, his arm was around in
front of me and the dirk was at my neck.  He showed me the slicing motion that
was necessary, drawing the dirk quickly across the front of my body.  Shivers
ran down my spine.

“Try it now,
lass,” he said, turning his back to me.  I had to stand on my tippy toes to
reach his neck, but I reached around in front of him with my dagger and just as
I was about to make a tentative practice strike, he reached up and grabbed my
wrist, jerking it hard and pulling me around to face him.  “Now what do ye do,
lass?” he questioned, squeezing my wrist painfully, causing me to drop the
dagger in surprise.

Adrenaline coursed
through my veins and my heart beat faster.  Devon loomed over me and yelled, “Nae
what do ye do?” his brogue thick, his grip on my wrist painful.  I did the only
thing that I could think to do.  It was a matter of instinct.  I brought my
knee up hard and kneed him in the balls with all of my might.  He released my wrist
and doubled over in pain.  A look of shock overtook his face.  Caught up in the
moment, I took his advice and ran like hell.  I then  realized that this was
just practice, and I had just kneed my teacher in a most sensitive area.

“Oh my God!  Are
you alright?  I’m so sorry!” I pleaded, rushing back to Devon’s side.

He held out a
hand, palm out, pushing me away.  He wheezed, turning away and slowly
straightening to his full height.  He exhaled sharply and then turned back
around.  My face must have been the color of the blood that once again saturated
his white shirt.  I was embarrassed beyond belief.

His eyes met mine
and he smiled a somewhat painful smile, still breathing heavily as he recovered
from my unexpected blow.  “That’s a braw lass,” he said, smile broadening
across his face.  “That is exactly what ye should have done.  It’s just that I didna
actually expect ye to carry though with it,” he chuckled, coughing slightly as
he struggled to regain control.

“I’m so sorry,
Devon!  Are you alright?” I said, wanting to die from embarrassment.

“I’m fine.  I’ve
been better, but I’m fine.  Honestly, I’d fancied that ye might someday touch
me there, but that’s not exactly what I had envisioned,” he admitted brazenly.

Oh my.

I knew that my
face had turned a whole new shade of crimson.  The man had openly admitted his
attraction to me and I was taken aback by the boldness of his statement.

Saving me from
responding to his comment, he gingerly regained control and jumped back into
his teaching.  “There’s one more thing that ye must ken about fighting with a
dirk.  I want ye tae ken what it feels like when ye hit bone so that if ye get
the chance for a second attack, ye can adjust and meet yer mark.”  He walked
over towards a towering pine tree and ordered me to follow.  “Strike this tree
with all yer might, and ye’ll ken what it feels like to land a blow against
solid bone.”

I settled the dirk
in my hand and adjusted my grip.  “How hard?” I asked, unsure of what exactly
he wanted me to do.

“As if yer life
depended on it.  As if ye meant to kill a man.”

I drew the dirk
back and stabbed the tree with all of my might, burying the tip of the dirk
into the flesh of the tree.  Pain reverberated through the bones of my arm,
causing me to release my grip on the dagger and yelp with the surprise of my
pain.

“Now pull out yer
dirk,” Devon demanded.  “If yer lucky enough to get a second attack, ye must be
ready.  Don’t be stunned by the pain, expect it.”

I reached up and
pulled the dagger from the tree, wiggling it to release it from its wooden
entrapment.  My arm was numb and tingly, still not yet recovered from the
initial pain of the blow.

“Why didn’t you
tell me it would hurt like that?” I said angrily, glaring up at him.

“Because ye wouldna
have used all of yer might.  I wanted ye to ken what it feels like so if need
be, ye’ll be prepared for a real fight.”

“Obstinate man! 
You could have at least warned me!”  I said, gingerly rubbing my sore arm.  I
smacked him playfully on the bicep, noticing that it really did hurt to use my
arm.

He smiled
radiantly at my reaction.  He was so beautiful and when he smiled at me like
that it unnerved me.

I can’t think
when you look at me like that.

Nodding in
approval and looking quite pleased with himself, Devon sheathed his dirk and
ended my lesson.

  “Now ye’ve
kicked me in the ballocks and taken a needle to my skin, but I feel better
knowing that ye might be able to protect yerself if need be. The dirk is yers
to keep, have it with ye always, tucked into yer garter.”  Apparently, Devon
was ending my lesson, feeling that I had accomplished enough to get me by for
now.

“I’m not wearing a
garter,” I said truthfully.  The garment seemed useless, and I much preferred
having my legs bare under the voluminous fabric of my dress.

“Christ woman,” he
muttered under his breath.  “It’s as if ye were sent here tae taunt me, tae
drive me mad.  No wearing a garter?” he said shaking his head in dismay, raking
his hand through his dark hair.  Put it in the pocket of yer dress then, but
carry it with ye always.”

He walked back
towards the horses and busied himself with readying them for the ride back to
the keep.

“Thank you,” I
said simply.

He froze, stopped
what he was doing and turned around to face me.  “I’ll no have ye left
unprotected again.  If I canna protect ye myself, which I fully intend tae do,
I must be certain that ye can take care of yerself.”

I was struck by
the possessiveness in both his statement and the tone of his voice.  I felt his
gaze settle on my breasts, and my pulse quickened along with my breathing.  His
eyes were intense, desire clouding them as he openly looked at my body.  I held
his gaze, challenging him.

“I am not yours to
protect.” I said, thinking of how hard I had fought to be a free woman, only to
feel myself becoming trapped again by my feelings for Devon McClain

My statement was a
futile attempt to deny my attraction to this alluring Highlander.  Truth be
told, I wanted nothing more than for Devon to protect me.  I wanted to feel
safe and indulge in the new feelings that he stirred deep within me.

“At least ye might
be able tae do it on yer own then,” he said, untying the tether that bound the
dapple horse to the saddle of his stallion.  He tossed me the reins of the
dapple mare and effortlessly mounted his own horse.  He spurred the stallion
into motion and headed back towards the keep, leaving me to wrestle with not
only my conflicting emotions, but the fact that I had no idea of how to get
onto a horse, let alone ride one.

***

Devon avoided me
like the plague for the next two days.  It was agony.  I saw him several times
as I went about my business at the keep, each time he thoroughly ignored me,
pretending as if I was not even there.  His rebuff stung, but I knew that
removing the temptation provided by his presence allowed me to focus on what I
needed to do.  I needed to escape this place before I was found out to be a
fraud.  I lived in constant fear that visitors to the castle would turn out to
be relatives of the real Katherine Berkshire and that they would expose me for
what I was: an impostor.  I had resolved that it would be better to devise a
plan to leave the McClain keep and the rouse of safety that it provided.  Now
all I had to do was come up with this marvelous plan for my escape, which was
proving to be much more difficult than I had expected.

I needed to figure
out just exactly where I would go when I left the castle.  I needed to plan
quickly, because I feared that I wouldn’t get away with posing as Ms. Berkshire
for much longer. 

                                                                        ***

“Ye fancy her, do
ye no?” Leti asked as she settled down into the seat on the bench next to her
brother.  The tables and benches had been moved to the edges of the great hall
to allow room for music and dancing in the center of the room.  Devon sat
scowling, watching the merriment, taking deep draughts from his mug of ale, and
watching Kate.

“I’d like to tup
her, if that’s what ye mean,” he said, making a mental note of how beautiful,
how alluring she looked tonight.  Watching her twirl through the crowd on the
arms of his clansmen, jealousy flared as he watched one warrior laugh and
whisper honeyed words into Kate’s ear.

“It’s more than
that, I can tell.  I’ve never seen ye look upon a lass in such a way.  She
intrigues ye,” Leti called him out.

Devon resigned to
be more careful.  He would need to be much more careful, given that his sister
had picked up on his interest in the lass so easily.  He hadn’t imagined that
it was so obvious.  Devon could not afford for Collin to come to the same
realization as his sister had.

“The thought of
her warming my bed intrigues me,” he said, denying that there was anything more
than a physical attraction that he held for her.  “If Da were not already dead,
I assure ye that this hellcat would have been the death of him when he tried to
bed her.”

“I’d rather not
think about that,” Leti said, looking away and swirling the wine that filled
her glass as the color rose in her face.  Devon knew that his prim and proper
sister would drop this inquisition when he turned the topic to love making.  It
was a topic that she was both unfamiliar with and embarrassed about.

The song came to
an end and Devon watched as the lively dancers began to move from the floor,
headed towards the tables for refreshments before the next song would begin. 
The musicians struck up the first notes of a song with a quick beat and ale
mugs were slammed back onto the tables as the dancers fled back to the floor. 
Kate’s hand was grabbed by a young man named Gavin, and he pulled her smiling
behind him out onto the floor. 

An attractive flush
had spread over her cheeks and as she was swept around the floor, she giggled
and smiled at Gavin.  This was enough to make Devon steaming mad.  He watched
from his seat on the bench as Kate’s auburn hair glistened in the firelight and
her breasts bobbed seductively up and down. He decided right then that her
dress was much too revealing.  Each time she leaned over, her breasts almost
spilled from the confines of her dress. 

He hated the way
that Gavin’s eyes were upon her.  He hated the way that she was smiling at
another man.  Hands way too low on her hips, on the precipice of resting on her
bottom, Gavin leaned forward and whispered something into Kate’s ear, which
caused her to put a hand to the pale skin of her breasts and giggle.  Devon
fought the desire to kill Gavin right there on the dance floor. 

Kate was so damn
beautiful it pained him.  He had no claim to her.  She should have been his
father’s bride, but still he wanted her.  She deserved better.  Better than him
and better than he could ever provide for her.  Let her go, he thought to
himself.  Forget her, he commanded himself. 

Gavin held her too
close during the dance, his desire for her was evident.  Devon clenched his
fists on the table, rage boiling within him.  He watched as Gavin spun Kate to
the rhythm of the music, twisting her so that her back was flush against his
front.  The he did something that nearly got him killed.  He kissed her. 
Softly, right beneath her ear, he kissed her as he held her close.  

Devon reacted in
an instant, possessiveness overtaking him.  He pushed back the bench, nearly
unseating Leti, and sprung into action, ready to leap over the table and punch
Gavin squarely in the face.  It was Kate’s reaction that stopped him, saving
Gavin’s life.  Gavin’s kiss melted the smile from her face and she froze.  She
turned and smacked him hard across the face, leaving him with a look of awe as
she sauntered away.

The song ended and
Devon stood, watching Kate slip through the crowd, hips swaying delicately as
the threaded her way through the people and made her way out of the room.  He
noticed how the men in the crowd watched her as well, jealousy setting his
blood on fire.  At once, he was in motion, following her from the room.  He
would make sure that none of these would be suitors would bother her.  He would
make sure that she was safe whether or not she deemed his protection necessary.

He trailed behind
her up the stairs, glancing quickly over his shoulder to ensure that none of
the men followed her.  He gave a glare to the crowd for good measure.  If there
was one thing that Devon McClain could be when he wanted to, it was
intimidating.

***

My breathing was
heavy and my skin was flushed from the exertion of dancing.  It had felt
wonderful to lose myself in the music, in the rhythm, to allow an array of men
that I didn’t know take control of me and spin me around the dance floor. 

The sound of boots
on the stairs behind me startled me and I turned around quickly, starting into
the same pair of green eyes that I had noticed were watching me all night.

“What are you
doing?” I hissed, surprised by the emotions that spilled forth when I finally
came face to face with Devon McClain. He had gone out of his way to ignore me
for the past two days and I just realized that this had infuriated me.

“Following ye tae yer
room, tae be sure that ye get there safely.” Devon said, scowling.

“I’ve told you
once already that I am not in need of your protection,” I said as I turned and
stomped up the stairs. 

“I don’t think yer
aware of just what ye need, woman,” he murmured between gritted teeth.   “The
keep is not always a safe place for a lassie to be unescorted at night, especially
a lass who has been using her womanly wiles on sae many men while dancing,” he
scowled as he followed me up the stairs.