Highland Avenger (5 page)
“No, she has no coin but she is very pretty.”
“Not so pretty that one of these savage fellows would not turn her over to us for a nice, full purse. My brother certainly did not find her worth much in bed or he would have left that slut he married. Her dowry was a hefty one though, although this mess Claud left behind could cause the Murrays to demand it returned. And that is another good reason to see that she does not return to her family.”
Lucette badly needed killing, Brian decided, and had to fight the temptation to try and fulfill that wish. He began to get a clearer idea of what Arianna’s life had been like with the Lucettes, and it was not good. Things she had said had let him know it had not been a happy time for her, but listening to this fool talk made it all chillingly clear. She had never been accepted.
“I will settle the men, m’lord. After a good night’s rest, we can begin the hunt again. We should also have word from at least one of the other groups soon. I will send a man to the meeting place to see if word has come. If one of the others has managed to find the boys, we could end this and go home.”
“Only the boys? Your lord wishes to catch the woman, too. I thought you knew that. His family is eager to pay back the Murrays for things that happened in the past and she would be a very good weapon to use. I cannot see the DeVeaux giving that up. That family lives for vengeance.”
Sir Anton just shrugged and walked away. A few moments later a tall, broad-chested man joined Lucette. As Brian watched Lucette order the man to see to his food and drink as well as make certain a bath was prepared, he decided he would gain no more information now. Lucette’s mind had turned to his own comforts. Brian was also running a risk by lingering too long. His family was not completely unknown in the area.
Despite the danger of being caught showing far too much interest in a party of visiting Frenchmen, Brian meandered by the stables. Hoping the stable hands would say nothing, he grabbed a shovel and began to clean out one of the stalls. When an older man came over to stare at him, Brian tensed but just winked and kept working. His tension eased when the man simply collected a bridle, sat down near him, and set to work on it.
“So what is your interest in these fools?” asked the older man the moment the stable was clear of Lucette’s men.
“Mayhap I have just taken on a job here,” Brian replied as he set the shovel aside and looked at the man.
The man gave a short bark of laughter. “Dinnae try to fool me, lad. I own this place. I do the hiring. Now, what is your interest in these men who think we are all naught but swine?”
“Ah, ye speak French.”
“Mother was French. Father brought her back when he was done fighting one of their battles for them.” His sharp gray eyes remained fixed upon Brian’s face. “Ye are verra good at nay answering questions, m’lad.”
Brian considered his answer for a moment as he studied the innkeeper. The man looked honest enough, his gaze straight and clear. The deciding factor, however, was that the man had not exposed him. One word and Brian would have been fighting for his life, a fight he might well have lost against so many. Lucette’s men might not know who he was but they were strangers in his country, hunting three innocents with murder on their minds. They would have viewed anyone unknown as suspicious and a threat to their plans.
“Just here to try and discover how close they are to the bonnie wee lass I am trying to get to Dubheidland.”
“Dubheidland, huh. Ye dinnae look like one of those cursed Camerons.”
“I am from the dark side of the family.”
“Ah, one of old Fingal’s lads. Ye do have the look of him. Odd mon, that Fingal. Always was.”
Since his father had been born and raised in this area, Brian was not surprised that the older man would know who his father was. “Aye, odd, but verra virile.” He grinned when the man laughed heartily and slapped his knee.
“True. Verra true. Get out of here, lad. Get your wee bonnie lass far away. These men are nay good. Didnae like them from the moment they stepped in my door and will be glad to see the back of them. If business round here wasnae so poor, I would ne’er have let them in the door. They will gain no information here. I will see to it. Get her to Dubheidland. That braw laird will enjoy swinging a sword at a few Frenchmen.”
Brian did not hesitate to obey the man. With a grin and a wink that made the man mutter something about Fingal breeding true, he slipped out of the stables and made his way back to his horse. He had not gained much information on how close Lucette was to finding him but what he had learned was not good.
They knew who might have taken Arianna and the boys. They even had developed a way to keep each group informed of what the other had discovered. That meant there was no stopping them from eventually riding to Scarglas. At least he knew the man would gain no help from the ones working at the inn.
He also knew he could not tell Arianna all he had learned. The moment she heard that her enemy had knowledge of who might be aiding her, she would be terrified about the fate of the two boys. She had enough to worry about. He would not add to her fears.
As he rode back to where he had left her waiting for him, he thought on what he had learned. There were more men with Lucette than he had realized. This was the first time he had seen them all together. At least, he hoped that was all of them. Ten men and Lucette himself. That was more than he could deal with on his own, especially when he also had to keep Arianna safe. It also meant that, if the men landing on the beach had actually split up into three groups, Lucette and his allies had brought a small army with them.
For a moment he was concerned about the others, his brothers, the captain and his men, and the two boys, but he easily shook off that worry. His brothers would be safe enough. The odds were far more even with the other two groups. It did not even matter that the enemy now knew who they followed for it was not easy to catch up with a MacFingal who did not wish to be caught. The number of men hunting him and Arianna, however, made it even more imperative that he get her safely to Dubheidland.
The way Lucette had spoken of how the DeVeaux wanted to get their hands on Arianna and why plagued his mind as he rode. He was no stranger to the need for vengeance but Brian only saw the need for it when a wrong had been committed. He had the feeling the DeVeaux wanted it only because some Murray had thwarted a plan they had made. The more he learned about the DeVeaux, the more he saw them and what they wanted as a far greater threat to Arianna and the boys. Lucette’s wants were appalling, but simple. He wanted his nephews dead so he could return to France and take his place as the new heir.
If it was possible he would make Lucette and his allies believe that Arianna and the boys were already dead. Unfortunately, there was no time to concoct such a scheme. The ones following him, and those chasing his brothers, had undoubtedly already been given enough reason to believe otherwise, as well. The only way this could end now was with the deaths of the ones hunting her and the boys. Considering the number of men on his trail and adding in the ones who were chasing his brothers, Brian was certain that would only happen with a battle, and if he was going to have to go to battle, he wanted to do so on his own land with his brothers at his back.
“Ach, weel, Fither will be happy,” he muttered. “He believes that the truce with the Grays has made us all soft.”
“Brian?”
He heard Arianna’s tentative, soft call and looked around. Brian frowned when he could not see her. Edging his horse a little closer to where he had left her, he finally saw the banked fire, the pot of aromatic stew, and the horses. He dismounted and a moment later found his arms full of the woman he thought about far too often, and far too warmly.
“I was afraid they had found me,” she said against his chest, her small hands clutching at the back of his shirt. “Too long sitting here whilst the night crept in, I am thinking.”
Brian stroked her back until her trembling eased. She was a tempting armful. He could feel the press of her breasts against his chest and his hands itched to stroke them. Even as a voice in his head warned him it was not a good idea, he placed his hand under her chin and turned her face up to his. Stealing one kiss would not hurt, he told that voice, as he lowered his mouth to hers.
Arianna watched his mouth come closer to hers and knew she should pull away. She knew it would not be a good idea if only because they still had a lot of miles left to travel together and this could breed some awkwardness between them. The temptation to be kissed by this man was too strong to resist, however. She may have been married for five years but, even counting the few stolen by young men before she was betrothed, she had experienced a paucity of kisses. And none of the ones who had kissed her had been as handsome as Sir Brian MacFingal. Not one of those kisses had made any grand impression upon her, either. She was curious to see if the man whom she found so intriguing, so fine to look at, would change her mind about the worthlessness of kisses.
The moment his lips touched her, Arianna knew this kiss would be different from any that had come before. His lips were soft and warm, that warmth flooding through her body. She slid her arms up around his neck, giving in to the urge to be held even more closely in his arms.
When he nudged at her lips with his tongue, she opened for him with caution. This part of the kiss had never really pleased her. Her kinswomen had assured her that it was wonderful if done by a man you wanted and one who had some skill. With but a few strokes of his tongue within her mouth, Arianna knew they had spoken the truth.
She quickly sank beneath the pleasure of the kiss. Her whole body was warmed by it and greedy for it. That warmth began to change, however, as he stroked her back and the kiss grew fiercer. A tightness began to grow inside her. Her nipples tautened and ached until she rubbed up against his chest in a vain attempt to ease the strangely pleasurable pain. Dampness pooled between her thighs, her woman’s place beginning to feel slightly swollen, and a low throbbing ache started to form deep in her belly. Arianna wanted to crawl inside his skin.
Shaken by what she was feeling, she pulled out of his arms so quickly she stumbled. He reached out to steady her and she stepped back, away from his touch. Fear slid insidiously through her veins, cooling the heat he had stirred within her. Arianna had no idea what he had done to her, but it worried her. She needed to think and that would be impossible as long as she was in his arms.
Unable to meet his gaze as she recalled how she had been rubbing her body all over his, she turned to the fire and the meal she had prepared. “We best eat this before it burns,” she said, and inwardly cursed herself, certain that she was acting and sounding like an idiot.
Brian frowned at her but said nothing. The brief glimpse he had gotten of her expression after she had leapt out of his arms, as if she had suddenly remembered that he was a leper, had been one of fear and confusion. He had not pushed her too far, or asked too much, so he did not really understand what he had done to frighten her.
For now, he decided as he moved to use a little of their water to wash, he would let her run. It was clear that she did not wish to talk about the kiss, either. He would grant her that silence for a little while. It would also give him time to think of the best way to approach her about her sudden retreat.
One thing he was sure of was that she had felt the same rush of desire he had. He was tempted to point that out to her and then ask her what ailed her, but knew that could be a very big mistake. Arianna had scars on her heart. She was not a woman a man rushed. Brian winced at the ache in his groin that told him his body was more than willing to rush her.
He would have to ignore it, something he had some experience in. Arianna was like some abused animal, cautious and easily frightened. Brian suspected she was unused to passion, may never have really experienced it. Nothing she had yet told him about that idiot Claud implied that he had been a good lover, or had even tried to be. Until Arianna could accept that she was a passionate woman and that he stirred that passion in her, he would have to tread very lightly. He would have another kiss soon, however, he decided as he sat down by the fire and watched her stir the stew. Forgoing the occasional reminder of what they had just shared with another a kiss would be wrong because he knew she could easily convince herself that she had felt nothing. That lie would not be allowed to stand.
Arianna served Sir Brian some stew and then sat down across the fire from him to eat her own meal. She could barely even look at him so deep was her embarrassment. The more she thought on the way she had behaved, the more she saw it as wanton behavior worthy of some tavern whore.
It did not help her peace of mind to discover that every time she stole a glance at him, she looked at his mouth. She could taste him on her lips and there was a greed within her for more. If this was passion, she was not sure she wanted anything to do with it. It was too strong and made her act in ways she never had before. Arianna did not like to admit it, but going to France to marry Claud was the most, and only, truly adventurous thing she had ever done, but even then she had not suffered any of the wild emotions one kiss from Sir Brian had stirred within her.
When she finally settled down on her blanket to sleep, she decided it was best if she stayed out of the man’s arms. She had too much to worry about at the moment without venturing into the turbulent waters of passion. Regret was a sharp pain in her heart but she ignored it. Perhaps when her enemy was defeated and she and the boys were truly safe, she could venture down that road—if Sir Brian was still close at hand, she mused, rather liking the idea of that.
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