A Lesson in Passion (18 page)

Ginny walked up to the two men and said, “Good
morning, gentlemen. Alec, how is Aileana doing today?”

“Better. We have decided to raise
the baby together. It doesna matter who the real father is. I will
be the father.”

Ginny beamed. She was really proud of him.
Although Alec blamed only himself for what happened to Aileana, she
could imagine how hard it would be to raise a child if you're not
sure of the true parentage. “I'm glad to hear it. I'll be happy to
help in any way.” After a pause, she added, “I want to thank you
for your kind words to me yesterday. It's humbling to have you as
my champion.”

“He is not your champion, Ginny. I
am!” Ian looked angry. But, what else was new.

“Very well,” Ginny moved to the
table and began to eat the porridge Maude had brought her. She also
had a shiny new apple. Maude knew Ginny loved her fresh fruit and
vegetables and would often bring some from her own garden. Before
Ginny could thank her, she disappeared again.

Ian and Alec continued their discussion. Ginny
didn't want to eavesdrop, but it was impossible not to
listen.

“We havenae found out who was
behind the taking of my wife. Sealing this alliance will only aid
us if it comes to war,” Alec said, once glancing at
Ginny.

“Aye. I will do what is best for
the clan,” Ian responded.

“I am sorry, brother. Ya do a great
service.”

Ginny wondered what awful duty Ian had to
undertake for his clan. Just then, Broderick walked into the keep.
It was a good thing, since Ginny hadn't tortured him yet today.
Just as he walked up, she was about to ask him about his tunic,
when he spoke, in a loud voice, “Ian, I am ready to leave to bring
back yar bride. I willna be gone more than a few days.” Ginny was
staring at Broderick and he was staring right back.

Bride? Bride for Ian? That was the
duty he had to undertake for his clan. Seal the alliance?
Great, just great!
she
thought grimly. That was what he hid from her yesterday. Probably
what he'd been trying to tell her for days. Ginny's head dipped
down to look at her porridge.

Ian was madder than hell. He had every
intention of telling Ginny of the situation, but Broderick decided
to take the insensitive approach as usual. “Leave us!” Ian
practically shouted at the two men.

Alec and Broderick walked to the door and went
no further. They still had much to discuss with Ian and were just
waiting for him to explain himself to the girl and be done with it.
Broderick didn't care what he said, she deserved no explanation as
far as he was concerned. Alec, on the other hand, felt truly sorry
for her, since he was certain she had fallen in love with Ian. Both
men watched from the doorway.

“I am truly sorry, Ginny. I dinna
know how to tell ya.”

Ginny was quite surprised when the
tears started to form in her eyes.
Please
don't cry, please don't cry,
she kept
telling herself. She took a shaky breath and without looking at
him, said, “How long have you known you were marrying someone
else?”

“The betrothal was arranged a few
months ago.”

Ginny fairly whispered, “A few months ago.”
She took in another shaky deep breath and stood up. The tears were
now gone, replaced by anger. He had used her, plain and simple. She
was a fun toy, but now that business needed to get done, she was
cast aside. Nice!

She turned to him, stared him in the eye and
spoke with an eerily calm voice, “So, the kissing, the... other
stuff... what the hell was that?”

“Now, Ginny, ya must know that I
dinna want to marry this other girl,” he didn't even finish when
the torrent opened and Ginny let loose.

“Well,” she screamed, “that's just
great! You don't want to marry her. How nice will that be when she
comes here and meets me and finds out she was a means to an end.
God dammit, Ian. Thank God we didn't sleep together!”

At that last statement, Ginny heard
gasps from the kitchen.
I guess they're
all listening to this juicy bit
, she
thought as she tried to contain herself. Maude came running into
the room and put a protective arm around Ginny. Maude had seen what
Ginny's temper accomplished and was trying to save her from another
paddling.

Ian just shook his head, turned and left with
the other men. Ginny couldn't believe he wasn't going to say
anything else. Didn't he care that he had shown her Nirvana and now
left her with nothing. Ginny closed her eyes and tried to get her
heart to slow down.

“Ginny, what did ya mean ya havenae
slept with Ian?” Maude asked tentatively.

Now she had to have a sex talk with her
fifteen year old friend. “Maude, I hope you don't think less of me,
but Ian has kissed me a few times,” Ginny had to fairly choke those
words out, “and it never came to... came to... coupling, so to
speak. Do you know what I mean?”

“So, when ya and Ian shared a bed
each night, ya never...” Maude had more trouble finding the words
than she did.

“Shared a bed? Maude, what are you
talking about?”

“Ian sleeps in his own bed every
night. I found him there when Rosalyn had the baby. How dinna ya
know that?”

Like a bolt out of the blue, Ginny finally
realized why she suddenly got warm at night. She closed her eyes
and began to silently berate herself for being so dumb. She never
asked him where he was sleeping after giving her his bed. Well, now
she knew where... with her, the whole time.

Something else occurred to Ginny, “Maude, who
knows about us sharing a bed?”

“Everyone, by now. Broderick was
verra angry and had a loud fight with the laird over it. I never
heard Broderick yell at the laird before.”

Ginny closed her eyes and prayed for patience.
The prayer went unanswered.

She strode to the door and slammed it open.
There, standing a few feet into the courtyard, were Ian, Alec and
Broderick. Judging by the look on their faces, hers must have been
telling of the coming storm. Ian just stared at her and lifted an
eyebrow. The condescension was obvious.

“HOW DARE YOU!” Ginny screamed at
the top of her voice.

Calming down slightly, she said, “You've been
sleeping in my bed every night. And everyone in this village thinks
we're lovers. What's wrong with you?”

In a calm voice, Ian replied, “It is my bed,
Ginny. Ya would do well to remember that.”

“Fuck you, Ian McKenna," Ginny said
while pointing her finger into his chest. "You have the nerve to
treat me like some kind of plaything. You can go to hell!” Ginny
walked down the steps and through the courtyard. Just then, the
stable boy came with a saddled horse. Without considering that
she'd only ridden a horse a couple of times, she lifted her skirt,
put her foot in the stirrup and pulled herself up. Then, before the
stable boy knew what was happening, she kicked the horses flanks
and off it rode, out the gate.

“My horse!” Broderick fairly
screamed as she rode off.

Ginny had no idea where she was going. She
headed south, at least she thought it was south. She held on for
dear life and hoped the damn horse knew where to go. After a few
minutes, Ginny pulled back on the reins and got the horse to slow
down. The horse was walking now, so Ginny took some time to adjust
her skirt so it wasn't so indecent. She could no longer see the
huts of the village, could no longer see the keep. Ahead she saw a
field with a small stream running through it. Fortunately, she was
able to stop the horse and get off it without killing
herself.

She walked over to the stream and scooped up
water into her hands. She rubbed the water onto her face, trying to
cool down her temper. Ginny couldn't remember a time when she was
this mad. Maybe that time she caught her boyfriend Victor sucking
face with her co-worker at the hospital Christmas party. No, not
even then.

Ginny sat remembering their few sexual
encounters together. They had been brief, but they had also been
passionate. Could Ian have been faking it? No, he wanted what he
wanted and as laird, he got what he wanted.

Ginny was muttering to herself. Why the hell
did he continue to insist that she was his when the whole time he
knew he was marrying someone else? She knew he wanted her, but why
would he use her like that? Ginny guessed it had something to do
with an over abundance of testosterone. He simply didn't consider
her feelings.

“Well, well, what do we have
here?”

Ginny turned to face the voice. Three young
men, barely no longer boys, were standing there facing her. Judging
by the sneers they gave her, there intentions were less than
honorable. They were a gruesome bunch. The tallest, who was well
over 6 feet, had bright orange hair and a bad complexion to match.
The second, was only slightly shorter, and had a lazy eye. The
third, who wasn't much taller than Ginny, was missing an
extraordinary number of his teeth. The effect made his sneer even
more laughable.

“Yar the Englishwoman, aye?” the
orange haired boy said.

“Yes, I'm Ginny,” was all she said,
staying on her guard.

“Isnae she the laird's mistress?
That's what my da told me,” that came from lazy eye.

“Aye, his mistress. Do ya think she
might want to demonstrate her wares?” Orange hair was having a good
time.

“Never had a whore before,” came
out of Shorty's mouth and it made them all laugh.

Ginny had had enough. “Really, what a shock!
Although, considering you haven't had any woman, I can see the
appeal of having one you had to pay for.” Oops, wrong
answer.

“She dinna just disrespect me, did
she?” Shorty took offense to her response.

“Aye, she did. What kind of whore
doesnae like to relieve a man's suffering,” Orange hair looked
perplexed.

“I'm not a whore, gentlemen. The
stories of my sleeping with McKenna have been greatly exaggerated,”
Ginny did not like where this was going. Three against one was
never good odds, but then as a female, with limited strength, it
made the odds even worse.

“If I say yar a whore, then yar a
whore, aye?” Shorty was getting bold and Ginny was getting
pissed.

Her morning had started off so promising. She
remembered thinking the day would be so much better because she had
gotten a bath. It went downhill from there. Finding out about Ian's
marriage to a woman only for the sake of an alliance, finding out
that the entire village thinks she's a whore, and Ian's obvious
lack of repentance over the situation. If anger gives you strength,
then call her the Hulk. “Careful, gentlemen, you wouldn't like me
when I'm angry.”

All three started laughing. The loud guffaws
made something in Ginny snap. She moved forward to Shorty and
clocked him upside his head. The other two stopped laughing and
came at Ginny. She was able to kick Orange hair square in the nuts,
but lazy eye grabbed her from behind and lifted her off the ground.
She couldn't move her arms and her legs were thrown out in front of
her, so she couldn't kick his shins.

Shorty came over, looking particularly pissed.
Ginny's heart was beating so fast, she could both hear and feel it
pounding in her ears. It was probably why she didn't hear the horse
approaching. Shorty stayed out of the way of Ginny's flailing legs,
but managed to back hand her. Then suddenly, Ginny was on the
ground.

All three boys were looking toward a
frightening sight. There stood Ian, breathing heavy and scowling
viciously. The boys ran in different directions, but Ian caught
Shorty and proceeded to pound him into the ground. His yell stopped
the other two in their tracks.

“Ya dinna want to make me run after
ya. Get over here, Malcolm, Hamish,” Ian's voice indicated that
this was one order that wouldn't be disobeyed. As soon as they were
in front of Ian, he took their heads and smashed them together. The
sound was a sickening thud and both boys crumbled to the
ground.

He stepped over the boys and walked toward
Ginny. His face was still frightening and Ginny wanted nothing to
do with him. She got up and began to back away. The tears were
streaming down her face. Wanting nothing more than to be anywhere
else, she quickened her steps and promptly fell over a rock. This
gave Ian more than enough time to catch up. Without a word, he
scooped her up and walked back to his horse.

How he was able to climb onto a horse while
cradling her, she could not fathom. But there she was, once again
in his arms, riding on his huge horse. Before heading back to the
keep, he grabbed the reins of Broderick's horse. They were back in
the courtyard within a few minutes, since she'd only managed to get
over one hill during her flight.

Broderick snarled at her, muttered something
about stealing a man's horse, then quickly climbed up and left,
presumably to pick up Ian's bride. Ian dismounted and brought Ginny
into the great hall, where he gingerly put her down on one of the
chairs by the hearth. Ginny just stared into space, not willing to
make eye contact, not willing to listen to anything he had to
say.