Dating Two Dragons (22 page)

“Well my dear, this is a nice surprise, I hardly recognised you in that outfit. You are a proper Robin Hood and no mistake. You will be pleased to know that I have come to rescue and take you back to Inverness where we can be married post haste.”

The girl shrank from his gaze. What she had once thought of as handsome, she now saw as cruel and heartless. She could never love this man, ever.

For a moment she stood defiantly, trying to hold her head high and stop herself from shaking.

“I no longer wish to marry you sir. I am grateful for your offer but I will not be coming with you.”

Lord Andrew felt the ire rise within him.

“So, you are going to stay here, but a young girl on her own, under whose protection will you be?”

He was playing games with her but she had to continue.

“James Macadam.”

He could no longer contain his jealousy. He loathed James Macadam with a passion, he was everything that he was not and now it seemed he had the love of his betrothed, his Arabella. He had not loved the girl but she was attractive and would have suited him well between the bed sheets.

He smiled down at the girl with the eyes of a serpent.

“I’m afraid I have made a pact with your father and I am a man of my words. You will come back with me now and we will be married tomorrow. I am prepared to overlook your little indiscretion, but you will remain under lock and key in the castle until you can be trusted. I can think of many ways to keep you entertained,” he licked his lips lasciviously as he looked her up and down.

“Get her into the carriage men, we head back immediately.”

Arabella tried to struggle but the men soon had her captive and she was soon bundled into the back of the carriage. It was no use, there was nothing she could do, only hope that somehow James would get to her in time.

She did not weep, she would not allow herself to weep in front of this terrible man, and she dug her nails into the palms of her hands to stop her from crying.

“At least now you have me, you can relinquish the lands you have stolen from the Macadam Clan and release James’s father?”

Andrew Stewart snorted in derision. “Then you are more naive than I thought my dear. Of course I will not be giving back the lands. The old man will be put to death and the others will shortly follow, including your beloved James.”

She wanted to tear at his face but her hands were bound and she sat, hopeless, pondering her fate, as the carriage rumbled on towards Inverness.

The men had decided quickly on a plan and James hurried to tell Arabella the news. When he could not find her in the camp he began to worry. Some of the men had seen her wander off into the forest a little more than an hour ago but had not seen her return. James was angry that no-one had stopped her, and getting up a small band of his men they started to comb the forest. Soon the little cap of berries was found and James feared the worse. The tracks of a carriage and horses was found a little further out and his fears were confirmed – it could only be one man that had taken his beloved Arabella – Lord Andrew Stewart.

Racing back to camp James saddled his horse and with two of his most trusty men they set off on the trail of the Laird. They would ride much quicker than the lumbering carriage and they would soon be able to track it down.

Andrew Stewart had been asleep, dreaming of bedding the delightful Arabella when the coach came to an abrupt stop and the lurching motion of the carriage caused him to wake.

He pounded on the roof of the carriage and called out to see what the matter was.

The driver’s voice was thin and afraid.

“I think you had better come and look for yourself sir.”

Frustrated with the stop to his journey, Lord Stewart stuck his head out of the window. He could not see anything and opened the door and jumped out into the open.

Walking to the front of the coach he froze in fear. There stood three enormous brown bears, directly in their path.

Turning back towards the carriage, he raced forward to collect his gun, but was too slow. The largest of the bears had him trapped in its gigantic paws and dragged him away into the undergrowth. The sharp claws tore at his skin, the large teeth gorging into the soft flesh until he was no more.

Arabella had sat quietly in the carriage, she had managed to work on the bindings to her hands and finally break free. There had been strange noises outside and she had been afraid. Now it was silent and she cautiously stepped outside to see what had happened. At first she wondered where Lord Stewart had gone, and then she noticed a trail of blood on the grass leading into the bushes. The coach driver was missing too and the air was eerily silent. As she walked towards the undergrowth she thought she saw something move. A crackle of dry leaves followed by the snap of twigs, and then she saw it, the magnificent brown bear. It had seen her and she froze. She had heard stories of these creatures and how they could tear a man apart with their sharp claws and teeth.

It lumbered towards her, its brown deep eyes staring deep into hers. It seemed calm and yet she closed her eyes, braced herself for the inevitable. All was quiet again.

Opening her eyes the bear was stood a short distance away, still gazing at her. A large paw came towards her and she held her breath, yet the claws were pulled back and the dry leather paw touched her face softly. She almost fainted with fear, yet there was something about this creature, something almost familiar.

With a great bellow it raised itself onto its hind legs and waved its gigantic paws into the air before falling down onto the ground.

The poor thing looked ill, it seemed to writhe around in agony and she could only stand and watch. The face twisted and contorted, it was changing before her very eyes. The body was changing shape and instead of brown fur there was bare skin. Soon James Macadam was lying naked before her and she eventually swooned, the whole experience being too great for her mind to contemplate.

When Arabella next awoke, she was back at the camp. She did not know how long she had been asleep, but it had grown dark and she was very hungry. James was sat next to her, he looked tired and worn, deep shadows forming under his eyes, yet he smiled when he saw her wake and his whole visage changed to one of joy.

“James I had the most fantastic dream.”

His smile changed to a look of concern.

“Arabella, there is something you need to know about me.”

As she looked into his dark, brown eyes, she thought of the bear and deep inside already knew. There had always been something different about James Macadam, and although she could hardly believe it, knew it was true.

“I would never hurt you Arabella, you must trust me. My family is ancient and we have handed down the werebear gene from generation to generation. It is said that one of my ancestors was cursed by a witch for not returning his love and was turned into a savage bear, but through the centuries we have learned to tame our bear and use it only when we must –that is our code”

She placed her hand in his for comfort, not knowing what to say.

“Can you still love me after this Arabella, I understand if it is too much. I should have told you but I was afraid?”

Weaving her fingers into his she looked openly into his deep, dark eyes.

“I love you, no matter what James and I always will.”

The pair kissed and James gave her a knowing smile.

“It’s good job that you do. I fear that our first night of passion has produced a new life within you,” he touched her stomach tenderly.

She had felt different too, something that she hadn’t quite grasped, but there had been a fullness about her, a blossoming that she had put down to love, yet how could he know? She looked up at him quizzically.

“Call it my animal instinct.”

The new Laird of Inverness was a kindly, younger man, a nephew of the late Lord Andrew Stewart. His had been a terrible death, ripped to pieces by a pack of wild bears, but many said it was not undeserved. The lands were restored to the Macadam Clan by the new Lord Stewart and the old man was immediately released and recovered well in his ancestral home.

James and Arabella were soon married with the full blessing of her parents. With Lord Stewart dead there was nothing more to be done. Besides, they had never fully understood who was behind the kidnapping of their daughter in the first place.

Their joy was complete with the birth of their son, James Macadam the second, a bonny baby with dark brown eyes like his fathers and a shock of wild brown hair.

He was her baby bear.

*****

WEEKEND WITH THE BEAR

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“
You had plenty money in 1922…You let other women make a fool of you. Why don’t you do right? Like some other men do?
” Ursula Blake sang her heart out night after night at the Big Dipper nightclub in Silver Lake. She was five foot six with long, red hair that was curled like a ‘70s TV starlet. Her eyes were a purplish blue. At twenty-six years old, she was well on her way to gaining a loyal following at the club. She was hoping to really make a name for herself and make it big as a jazz and soul singer, but so far the only thing big about her was her size.

Ursula weighed two hundred and forty pounds. This usually did not get to her, because she didn’t allow it to, but it was hard to ignore some of the looks she received from people as she came onto the stage. People in LA were varying levels of rude, but they were all judgmental in some way towards her.

It wasn’t all bad, though. She had the support of her boyfriend Wesley, who came to see her performances and sat at a table in the front row, smiling up at her every night. He was tall and handsome, with sandy hair and hazel eyes. As long as she had him, she would be okay.

After the light applause at the end of her set, she stepped down off the stage and joined him at the table. He gave her a kiss and helped her into her seat, but he did not sit beside her. Something was amiss. She could feel it in the way he was looking at her.

“I have to go,” he told her. “This… This isn’t going to work out.”

Ursula felt like something was breaking inside of her. “What? What are you talking about?”

He sighed, looking down at her now instead of up when she was in the spotlight. “I’ve met someone. It’s not you, it’s me… I feel like we’ve been moving in different directions for a while now.”

Her head was reeling. How could he be doing this to her now? Right there where she worked and everything? She felt like everyone was staring at them and listening in.

“I’m sorry, Ursula,” Wesley said.

Shaking his head, he walked away from her and was gone. Ursula could feel the pounding of her heartbeat in her ears. She felt like she could faint at any moment. She could not be there anymore.

The table was prepared for a meal for two. When the waiter came and asked what she wanted, she stared at him numbly. “I’m sorry,” she said shakily. “I’m not staying, actually.”

Doing her best to stay upright, Ursula removed her silver high-heeled shoes and walked back to her dressing room. Once inside, she closed the door and allowed the waterworks to start.

The icing on the rotten cake for her was that Wesley had chosen to dump her at the Big Dipper and not at their apartment or something. Sure, it still would have hurt anywhere, but the Big Dipper club was her
home
. He was moved out of the apartment that they’d shared for four years by the time she got home that night, and she was somewhat relieved that she hadn’t been sent out on her ass. Now that her hurt and sadness had passed, she was mad at Wesley. He had given up on her and had found someone else. After everything they’d been through, all of the love and support he’d claimed to have for her…That liar. That untrustworthy, two-timing bastard!

Ursula lay on her bed and cried, hugging a plush cat to her face. Then she realized that Wesley had given her that cat and threw it across the room in angry frustration.

She was not going to give up just because of him. She was going to go right back to the club tomorrow and belt out her soul like she always did. She didn’t need Wesley King. She didn’t need
anybody
.

Walking onto the stage the following evening, her shimmering purple dress catching the light in all of the right places, Ursula felt beautiful in her own skin for the first time in a while. A weight had been lifted. She could do this on her own. She could be her own support.

“
They say I’m crazy, got no sense… but I don’t care…
”

As she sang, she paced around the stage like a tiger on the prowl. She caught the eye of a mysterious young man that she hadn’t seen at the club before. He winked at her and she blushed a little but did not otherwise skip a beat.

Her song was met with loud applause at the end. Ursula looked out at the small crowd of people sitting down at the tables, surprised and delighted at their response. Then she realized that the loudest and biggest amount of applause was coming from the new fan of hers.

At the end of her set, she went back into her dressing room and touched up her hair and makeup, preparing herself to go out and try and talk to the young man who had aroused her curiosity. However, when she went back out, he was no longer at his table.