In the Warrior’s Bed (26 page)

“No. I just understand that ye will be disappointed. My elder brothers are very much like my father.”

Cullen raised a single finger. “But why do ye care if I’m nae happy?”

Uncertainty held her silent.

She wasn’t sure.

Wasn’t sure why it pleased her to know that he thought she harbored affection for him. Only that her heart was full of happiness for the first time in what felt like years.

There was activity outside in the yard. The blacksmith halted his work and she heard men running. Cullen sighed, his arms tightening momentarily.

“We’ll have to discuss our trust issues later. Yer brothers are here.”

“Now?” He held her in spite of her squirming. His keen eyes watching her.

“Aye, they sent the message from outside the gates. I must admit it was surprising to see McQuade retainers in the light of day on McJames land.”

“As am I…” She spoke without thinking. But his eyes brightened and it was a sight that warmed her heart. She couldn’t say just why, only that earning his approval made her happy. He was not a man who gave it out; it had to be earned.

But as soon as it appeared, it vanished. Cullen frowned, his expression becoming guarded once more. His arms opened.

“I suppose I’d be a true blackguard to be angry over your joy at knowing yer family is here.”

But he was, there was no mistaking it in his voice. She chewed on her lower lip debating her next words. It was the truth that she did not trust Liam or Sodac. Cullen was allowing them into Sterling because of her. Responsibility weighed her shoulders down. A captive wouldn’t have cared about what befell those who imprisoned her.

The weight bearing down on her shoulders was unmistakable.

“Keir.” Her voice was choppy. “I only miss Keir. He is a good man, Cullen. I swear that.”

Cullen’s face tightened. “Only the one, ye say?”

Let her father haunt her, she would not lie just because Cullen was a McJames. He was a good man who deserved honesty.

“Keir will keep his word. If he gives it, he keeps it.”

The bells began ringing, alerting every person at Sterling of the approaching threat. Cullen stiffened. In a swift motion he drew her back against his body, his mouth claiming hers in a searing kiss that was hot and needy. Her hands slipped up his chest to his neck to hold him, her lips moving in unison with his. She forgot about everything except the man holding her. In his embrace there was pleasure and security without the harsh, cutting edge of reality.

Someone cleared their throat loudly. Cullen lifted his head, a scowl on his face.

“So sorry to interrupt ye.”

Brodick McJames didn’t sound repentant. Not a bit. He smirked at his brother but offered her a kind smile. “Sorry, lass, I’m just repaying me brother for a bit of teasing he put me through with my own bride.”

“Damn poor time for ye to recall that.”

“I’m thinking it’s a fine time considering we’ve got McQuades riding through our gate. We’d best get out there and set an example for the men or we’ll find our wives needing permission to visit us in prison when Jamie clamps us in irons for allowing a melee.”

Bronwyn turned to look out the doorway. Liam, Sodac, and Keir sat atop their horses in the middle of the yard. It felt almost like a dream but they were there as sure as she was in Cullen’s arms.

Her siblings stared at her, the open doorway making it simple for them to see her. Liam and Sodac scowled at her. Keir’s face was unreadable.

“I detest yer ruthlessness, Cullen, ’tis a fact I do.”

He didn’t release her quickly. The arms holding her against him remained firmly around her waist until she looked back into his eyes. Determination burned there, so bright it could have blinded her.

“Be that as it is, Bronwyn, but ye are my wife.”

And he intended to make sure her clan knew it. She should have blushed. The few McQuade men with her brothers frowned deeply at her but her face didn’t heat.

She pushed away from Cullen but couldn’t escape the reason she wasn’t blushing. It was simple, she wasn’t ashamed. Her craving for him overwhelmed her sense of clan loyalty.

But he was her husband, too.

Keir swung off his horse first, giving up the position of height. It was a gesture of trust, one the McJames retainers watching him didn’t miss. There was a ripple of approval from the McJames men as Keir walked through to reach her. Tension was thick between the men behind her and her brother. Keir paused at the bottom of the steps, sweeping her with his eyes. With a nod he climbed up until he was facing off with Cullen and Brodick.

A hard hand grasped her wrist, keeping her beside Cullen. Short of jerking against his hold, she was stuck in place.

“It looks like marriage agrees with ye.” Keir sounded tired. More so than she could ever recall.

“It does.” Cullen answered too quickly and far too boastfully for her taste. Her brother frowned.

“I’ll hear that from my sister if ye don’t mind.”

“I mind.”

“Enough.” She jerked on her arm and stumbled between the two men before they too got to quarreling. “This marriage is meant to end the fighting so don’t ye two go picking at one another and quarrelling.”

Keir stared at her, one dark eyebrow twitching up. He suddenly smirked at Cullen. “Well now, it’s good to know ye aren’t cowering at his feet.” Keir’s face darkened. “I’d have to quarrel over that.”

There was silence for a moment before Cullen spoke.

“Is that a fact, McQuade?”

“It is, McJames. My sister is a McQuade and I couldna have her acting like anything else.”

Cullen nodded. “I can live with that.”

Keir grunted. Brodick and Cullen both seemed to understand what the single sound meant. Bronwyn stared out at her other brothers. Liam and Sodac had still not given up their horses. Liam noticed her attention first and his lip curled in disgust. A tingle of foreboding went down her back.

She trusted Keir, only Keir.

S
omething wasn’t right.

Cullen snorted at his own thoughts.

McQuade’s sons sat at his father’s high table and all he could think was that
something
wasn’t right?

He’d watched McJames women mourning husbands and sons that his guests had run through. There was an uneasy quiet in the hall while supper was set out. Even the maids set their platters down carefully. He was gaining a new respect for his king. Dining with one’s enemies was a task that took a lot more skill than he’d given it credit for.

But his wife had spoken truthfully about one thing. Her brother Keir was different than his older brothers. As the night progressed, he found himself thinking it was a pity that Keir wasn’t the elder. The man was not like his father. That was not to say the man liked him. Keir sent him more than one hard glance.

“Enough.” Keir pushed his chair back and stood. “I’m going to have a word with my sister. Alone.”

He shot Cullen a look that dared him to refuse. Cullen stood up, but Bronwyn pushed away from the table.

“We can go to the chapel.”

Cullen nodded but kept his attention on Keir. He couldn’t deny her the chance to talk with her brother but dread twisted through him. She brushed past him and he caught her hand. She raised her eyes to stare at him.

“Ye shall have to trust me, Cullen.”

He didn’t want to.

Bronwyn saw it in his eyes. Anguish filled her. There would always be a part of him that refused to trust her, trust her father’s blood. It was so unfair, but at the same time the very reason why he had stolen her.

Cullen followed her and Keir. The sounds of supper faded behind them until the only thing she heard was her own steps on the stone floor. Her heart accelerated, beating faster the closer they drew to the chapel.

She would have to make a choice.

Keir was going to ask her if she wanted to stay with Cullen. She knew it in her heart just as she knew that she was still torn. Doubts twisted through her but an ache began to burn in her chest. It increased with each step until all of the reasons she had for leaving became trivial matters.

Every bride had to earn her husband’s trust…

Every bride had preconceived ideas to overcome in her new home…

Every bride longed for affection…

She froze for a moment, her feet still while her mind admitted the greatest betrayal of her father’s ideals.

She loved Cullen McJames.

Oh, he infuriated her. He was a stubborn man who would send her temper flaring a thousand times in the years ahead, but she could not deny what she felt. It lived inside her. She had only loved two other people in her life but she knew what it felt like. She would never escape the emotion. She missed her mother every day but didn’t think of her father at all.

That was love.

She turned around, her skirts flaring up because she moved so quickly. Cullen and Keir jerked to a halt.

“I am his wife.” She stared straight at her brother. “Make yer peace with him, Keir, he’s a good man. Just as I told him ye are.”

She couldn’t decide which one was more shocked, Cullen or Keir. Their eyes widened and words failed both of them.

“I’ll be in the chapel when ye two have finished.” She shot a look at Cullen. “But I will have yer trust to speak to my brother alone.”

Bronwyn didn’t wait for Cullen to argue with her. She turned back around and entered the chapel. Candles lit the altar, even when everyone else was eating supper. The golden light was welcome. Walking toward it, she felt peace settle over her. She still worried, but resigned herself to her fate.

She could no more leave Cullen than stop breathing. He had stolen her completely now.

Even her heart.

“My sister is right. I’ve words to have with ye.”

Keir looked like the walls were pressing in on him. Cullen found himself feeling the same way. This was the only man Bronwyn loved and he was good and jealous of it.

“By all means speak yer mind.”

They moved through a door frame and into the yard. With the sun setting, no one took notice of them. Snow was piled up along the walls sending everyone inside for warmth.

“Did ye rape her?” Keir growled through his teeth. “I’m going to know, McJames. I swear to God I’ll carve yer cock off if ye raised yer fist against my sister. It’s nae her doing that my father was a greedy son of a bitch.”

“And ye think I don’t know that?”

“Ye stole her.” Keir blew out a snarl. “If ye raped her…”

“I did not rape her. I did steal her against her will.”

Keir shook, his body stiff with rage. Cullen stared at him without a hint of fear. “On my honor, I swear I seduced her, overwhelmed her, and took advantage of her innocence but I did not rape her.” He raised a single finger and pointed it at Bronwyn’s brother. “I also tried to marry her first.”

“What do ye mean tried?”

Cullen shrugged. “She refused to wed with me.”

A suspicious glint entered Keir’s eyes. “Is that when ye overwhelmed her?”

Cullen just couldn’t suppress the grin that curved his lips. He was too happy to know that Bronwyn was his to keep it hidden.

“Since me cousin and Bishop Shaman caught us in bed the next morning, yer sister ended up marrying me in spite of our rather strained introduction. I dinna rape her. And yer free to go ask her that yerself.”

Keir growled.

His fist connected with Cullen’s jaw a second later. Cullen stumbled backward, snarling in return.

“Since ye dinna rape her, I’m going to use my fists on ye instead of this.” Keir untied his sword and tossed it aside. “For seducing my sister before she agreed to marry ye, I’m going to turn that pretty-boy face black.”

Cullen untied his sword and placed it against the wall. His grin returned.

“That was a lucky shot, but now it’s my turn to return the favor for allowing yer bastard father to treat my wife like the lowest maid.”

They circled each other, their large bodies smashing into each other with muffled grunts. The fight raged on without interference.

Far from it. Liam watched for a moment from the doorway. Keir was falling into his plan perfectly. All he needed was a few minutes to deal with Bronwyn so that she might never threaten what was his. Sodac was keeping the earl busy, while he had made the clever excuse to use the privy. His father had been right. The McJames were idiots. Trusting fools.

But there was one thing he disagreed with his father on. Bronwyn should have been smothered years ago. Every threat to the McQuade clan had to be cut away without pity. She was a useless girl child; no laird needed daughters draining their gold away when they married. Alliances could be made through the marriage of sons to other lairds’ daughters. That would bring money along with the connection. He was going to make sure no daughter of his own lived to see a single birthday, nor any niece either. Being laird came with responsibilities, after all.

He turned to look at the chapel. His duty stood there. Liam refused to think of her as his sister. She was nothing but the person who could steal his land. Reaching into his doublet, he pulled a small ball from an inside pocket. It was the size of a gooseberry, but the man he’d bought it from assured him it could kill three men once swallowed. It was a quick poison, one that was impossible to counteract once it was absorbed.

Exactly what he needed. A death that was suspicious enough for him to wage war on the McJames. His father would be avenged.

What were they talking about?

Bronwyn rubbed her eyes. Behind her forehead, tension made her head ache. She fingered the wool of her skirts, trying to remain in place. She didn’t dare turn around or she would be tempted beyond her self-discipline to venture out to where Keir and Cullen were.

They were the only two people she loved in the world. She needed them to make peace, needed it more than she’d ever thought she needed anything before in her life. With a sigh, she resigned herself to waiting. Men often needed to make peace among themselves without women around.

A hard hand slapped across her mouth, pushing something inside. She bucked and fought but a brutal hand wrenched her hair down, stretching her neck to a painful angle.

“Swallow it, sister.” Liam didn’t wait for her to comply. He shoved two thick fingers into her mouth to push whatever he’d placed inside it across her tongue. She gagged on his fingers but he pulled his hand free and she swallowed out of reflex. Whatever it was, it rolled down her throat before she regained control of herself. So surprised by his attack, she sucked in a gulp of air that sent whatever it was toward her stomach.

Liam threw her away from him a second later. He did it with no care for her at all, his greater strength tossing her against the altar. Pain tore through her side when her hip knocked against the polished wood. Tears sprung into her eyes but she turned to face her sibling.

He wore a sneer that was chilling.

Hatred blazed in his eyes. It was a horrible sight, making him ugly beyond anything she had ever seen.

“What was that?”

He laughed softly. “A solution that is very much overdue in this family.”

Icy dread crawled over her skin. “What do ye mean, Liam?” She moved along the altar, the need to flee roaring through her mind. She was suddenly frightened.

“Father should have dealt with ye when ye were a babe instead of leaving it for me to do.” His eyes flickered with satisfaction. “But it doesna matter now. ’Tis done. As long as Sodac does his part and keeps the elder McJames talking at his supper table, I will have ye on the path to facing yer final judgment.”

Liam looked at the altar behind her. “A fitting place, too. But I doubt God will forgive ye for turning traitor to yer kin.” His gaze landed back on her. “I know I won’t. I canna wait to tell Keir how much he helped me by keeping that husband of yers busy. Keir is soft on ye. Sodac and I dinna bother even trying to convince him of the need to poison ye.”

Horror filled her. The hate aimed at her left little room for hope. The small ball in her belly began to burn. Raising her hand, she meant to stick her own fingers into her mouth to force herself to retch. Liam grabbed her before she touched her lips.

With brutal force he wrenched her hands behind her back. He shoved her forward into the altar, using his body to trap her against it. She strained against him but he held her fast, hurting her as he twisted her arms until the bones cracked. He clamped one hand around her neck, squeezing until her vision started going dark.

“Just a little longer, sweet sister. That poison cost me a lot of gold. But it will be worth it if it snuffs out yer life and gives me the right to blame the McJames for yer death. Be an obedient McQuade, and die by poison so that I can accuse the McJameses of murdering ye.” His fingers tightened. “But make no mistake, I’ll gladly crush yer throat with my own hands if there is no enough time.”

He opened his hand enough to allow her one huge breath. A soft chuckle brushed past her ear.

“Liam…I am yer sister!”

“A fact that makes it necessary to end yer life. Yer bitch of a mother left ye land. It’s willed to yer offspring. So ye must die. I am yer laird and that land is mine.”

“Ye’ve got that wrong. Ye are the one who is going to die tonight.”

Cullen’s voice was deadly cold. Liam jerked but never got the chance to turn to face his death. Cullen pulled his head back by his hair and slipped his boot dirk between her brother and her. The blade sliced Liam’s throat from ear to ear, spilling his blood down his chest while he still held her. His hand tightened around her throat in those last moments, compressing the fragile bones and cutting off her breath.

Keir grabbed his brother’s fingers, pulling them away from her neck. In his death throes, Liam had more strength than normal, his hand compressing her throat mercilessly. Keir’s fingers gouged into the soft skin on her neck as he pushed them beneath his brother’s. Her vision darkened, dizziness beginning to spin her around.

A moment later and Liam’s hand went limp. Keir dragged her up and over the altar in a hard motion that knocked her knees against the ornately carved edge of the table. Pain smashed into her brain but there was no time to express it. When she opened her mouth to drag a desperate breath into her burning lungs, Keir shoved his fingers deep into her mouth. There was no controlling the urge to retch. Her stomach heaved with Keir’s fingers touching the back of her throat.

Two minutes later, humiliation turned her cheeks scarlet. Poised on all fours behind the altar, she shivered, quivering from the violence of losing her stomach contents. The metallic scent of blood filled her nose, making her belly roil once more. If she hadn’t already vomited, she would have when she noticed the warm feeling along her shoulder blades.

She was drenched in her brother’s blood.

It made her sick. She retched again unable to contain the horror. The moment she finished, Cullen scooped her up. He cradled her tightly against his body, his arms quivering slightly. She heard a brass bell being rung. The things were set throughout the hallways to be used to alert the rest of the inhabitants to danger.

“I’m fine.”

“The hell ye are.” Cullen roared loud enough to shake the glass mosaic window set into the wall. “I wish I could kill that bastard again.”

“There’s still one rat.” Keir sounded deadly.

“Ye can’t kill Sodac.” Bronwyn wiggled, kicking against the hold on her, but Cullen refused to release her. “He’s yer brother. Everyone will think ye did it to become laird.”

“Good, that leaves the bastard for me.” Cullen snarled and went to hand her to Keir. Bronwyn gripped his shirt, refusing to allow him to let her go.

“Ye must send him to the king for justice, Cullen.”

The side of his jaw twitched, the muscles running along his throat tense and corded. Keir released her and she stood up, refusing to let her husband go. Rage burned in his eyes, and may God forgive her, she enjoyed the sight of it.

He cared. Cared enough about her to be enraged.