Highland Sinner (19 page)

Tormand watched as Nora walked into the hall. She was glaring at him again. It stung and it annoyed him, but he would be courteous. She cared for Morainn and for that alone he would endure her censure without a word. He felt a little uneasy when she marched right up to him, however.

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“Ye had best take verra good care of her. She has suffered enough misery in her life and doesnae need a mon like ye bruising her tender heart.”

Before he could respond to that, Grant bid everyone farewell and got his spirited betrothed out of the house. Tormand looked at Simon and his kinsmen. The scowl he gave them did nothing to dim the wide grins they wore. Even Walter wore a grin on his usually dour face.

“Grant will have his hands full with that lass,” he said.

“I am surprised ye let her speak to ye like that without saying anything,” said Uilliam.

Tormand sighed. “She cares for Morainn. I have a reputation.” He ignored all the snorting that remark caused. “And she just wishes to be sure that not only Morainn’s life is protected while she is here.”

“Weel, the lass does give ye some warm looks,” said Walter. “I dinnae see why ye should be expected to ignore that.”

“I willnae have to ignore warm looks, Walter, because there willnae be any more. She saw the list.” He nodded at the looks of horror on the faces of his kinsmen and Walter. “’Tis verra hard to woo a lass when she has seen proof that the mon wooing her has—as she put it—bedded enough women that he will need a king’s army to protect them all.”

“Woo? Ye mean to woo the lass?” asked Harcourt.

“Aye, I mean to woo the lass,” Tormand answered between gritted teeth.

“Do ye need some help? Ye havenae done much wooing in your life.”

“I can woo a lass by myself, thank ye verra much.”

“Weel, if ye feel as if ye need a word of advice, just come to me.” Harcourt stood up. “Time to wander about the town and see what we can find. Who is with me?”

In minutes the great hall was cleared of everyone except Tormand. He sighed and poured himself some ale. It was going to be a long night. His mind was filled with memories of how sweet Morainn tasted and his body was crying out for more. Even recalling how she had looked at him after seeing that list did not chill the heat inside of him. The angry disdain he had seen there should have frozen any firey thoughts of her that had lit inside of him. He knew only one thing for certain—he had to get her back into his arms.

He needed a plan, he decided. Up until she had seen that list, Morainn had been drawn to him. He had enough experience to recognize when a woman was interested in him, and he had seen that interest in Morainn’s fine eyes. Tormand was willing to do whatever it took to see it there again. In fact, he needed that so badly he would even be willing to ask for advice if what he planned did not work. He just prayed he would not have to, because he knew he would never hear the end of it.

The soft thud of big paws drew his attention and he watched as William hopped up on a chair at the table. The cat stared at him and Tormand scowled at the cat. He still blamed the animal for what had happened, or rather not happened, in his ledger room. If he was a superstitious man, he could easily believe the cat had known what was going on and had come in on purpose to warn Morainn about the man she was kissing.

“Ye can just go and catch mice. I dinnae need a cat tripping me up when I go awooing. And I intend to win your mistress, so ye had best get used to me.”

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And now I am talking to a cat, he thought. Morainn Ross is definitely turning my life upside down.

Chapter 11

“I think the mon is trying to woo me.”

Morainn had to grin at the way Nora rolled her expressive eyes. They sat in the sunlit sewing room of the Chisholm house embroidering linens because Nora was determined to bring as much as she could to her marriage. Since she had no lands and was not rich, she said she would settle for chests full of linens and gowns. Her mother and sister had gone to her aunt’s house to work on the gowns, not only for the wedding, but to try to fulfill at least a few of Nora’s wants and needs. Pride was behind the flurry of work. The Chisholms were very determined to look as grand as any laird’s kinsmen at the wedding.

That left her and Nora blissfully alone in the house, if one ignored the fact that Harcourt and Rory were wandering around guarding them both. Morainn had insisted upon making this visit not only to help Nora, but because she badly needed a friend to talk to and all the men had insisted that she have guards with her. Tormand in particular had not been pleased with the plan, but had eventually given in. She suspected those female relations he often talked about had let him know that sometimes a woman just needed to be with another woman.

In truth, she thought with a smile, she also just needed a woman to talk to for a while. After days surrounded by men, a little boy who had now decided that he was a man too, and cats, just the sound of another woman’s voice made her feel better. They were all good men and she loved Walin, but sometimes a woman needed to talk with another woman and this was such a time. She certainly could not talk about what she needed to any of the men.

“And how is he doing that?” asked Nora, a strong thread of contempt in her voice. “With flowers, jewels, and empty flatteries?”

Resisting the sudden urge to defend Tormand, Morainn answered, “Weel, aye, there are flatteries, but I am nay sure they are empty. He compliments the work I do, my cooking, e’en the way the linens feel and smell. Oh, he does slip in a wee word or two about my bonnie smile, my lovely silken hair, and compares my eyes to the sea. Storm-tossed when I am annoyed and sun-kissed when I laugh.” She almost sighed as she recalled those pretty words and his deep seductive voice as he said them.

“Oh.” Nora sighed in appreciation. “Those are good ones.”

“I thought so.” Morainn was pleased to see that Nora was also touched by those sweet words, for it made her feel less like she was being an utter fool too easily swayed by pretty words. “And he does give me gifts, but nay flowers or jewels. A wee book of verses, a wooden goblet—”

“Wooden! That mon can afford far better than that. James told me the mon is building a verra impressive fortune, e’en said he needed to talk to the mon to see if there were a few things he could learn from him.”

“’Tis a lovely one with wee flowers carved into it, but, aye, he could have easily afforded to give me a silver one.” Morainn smiled. “But I would have had to give it back. Such a rich gift would taste too strongly of, weel, a bribe.”

Nora frowned and then nodded. “Aye, it would have, wouldnae it. It would feel too much like a payment for your favors. Look what I gave ye, he thinks. Now ’tis time for ye to give me what I want. Cannae think that over such things as a wooden goblet, nay matter how bonnie it is. Clever mon. He is giving ye
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simple gifts.”

“He is indeed. A ribbon he said reminded him of my eyes, a wee journal to write my thoughts in, as weel as the quill and ink to do so.” She nodded at Nora’s scowl. “Rich for ones like ye and me, but small for a mon like him. ’Tis a verra plain one.

“I think it all started a week ago. I was still so verra angry with the mon, but he stood by me during my vision, helping me find the strength and courage I needed, and he e’en rubbed my forehead to ease the throbbing there after the vision ended.”

“Ye like him, dinnae ye? Morainn, the mon just wants to bed ye.”

“I ken it, but, mayhap I would like to bed him.”

“That doesnae surprise me. He is a handsome mon, as bonnie as the summer days are long, even with those mismatched eyes. But think on your reputation,” Nora began, only to pause and then grimace.

“Exactly. Near everyone in town thinks I have already born a bastard child and they spend far too much of their time trying to guess who the father is e’en after all these years. And they all ken that I now abide in Tormand’s house, thanks to Magda and her lasses telling everyone they meet that she saw me arrive, that she had to leave to save her soul. Many truly believe that I am a witch and should like to see me suffer the same fate as my mother did. And let us nay forget how some think I got that cottage from the laird of Dubhstane by warming his bed whenever he wishes it. I have no good name to protect, Nora.”

“Ye and those who love ye ken verra weel that ye arenae what the gossips claim ye are.”

“I ken it and that knowledge eases the sting of what others say, but it doesnae silence them, does it? I would also like to think that those who love me would still do so e’en if I stepped off the righteous path for a wee while.”

“Of course they would, but, Morainn, that mon just wishes to bed ye. Truly. Ye cannae be hoping for more than that from such as him.”

“Most of the time I dinnae, but there is a wee foolish part of me that does, I fear.”

“A mon like that isnae sincere. He but plays a game with women. Leaping from one bed to another like some demented toad.” Nora grinned when Morainn laughed. “Ye deserve far better than that and weel ye ken it.”

“I do, but I doubt I shall ever have it.”

“And why not? Ye are bonnie and smart. Ye have a fine cottage and lands with it.”

“Which a lot of people think I spread my legs for.”

Ignoring that, Nora doggedly continued, “Ye work hard, sew a neat stitch, do beautiful needlework, and cook better than I could ever hope to, which is why I am so pleased James has a cook.”

Before her friend could continue with her list of Morainn’s fine points, which was already embarrassing her, Morainn said, “And a wee boy everyone thinks is my bastard son.”

“Idiots. ’Tis no secret that the lad arrived at your door when he was already two years of age. Did they think ye hid him away under a bramble bush until then? ’Tis just their own guilt that makes them say such things, for one of them is guilty of leaving that child there, others ken who it might be, and none of them
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told ye, nor did anyone offer to take in the child.”

“And so ye tell them whenever ye get the chance, but it has never made any difference, has it, and it willnae. People will believe what they wish and what makes them feel better. Because of such gossip the only men who have called on me are ones who think they can buy my favors or steal them.”

“Fools.”

“Ye will get no argument from me on that. Too many men also fear my gift. Tormand doesnae, Nora. He told me that his clan is riddled with people who have such gifts. ’Tis verra pleasing to be with people who dinnae see what I can do as sorcery or a gift from the devil that might taint them with the evil it came from; people who believe what I tell them when I see or feel something and dinnae just cross themselves.

Tormand not only doesnae flinch, he helps me when I fall weak from the vision or my head aches as it so often does after one.”

Nora set her needlework down and reached out to take Morainn’s hand in hers. “He will hurt ye, break your tender heart in twain and stomp on the pieces.”

Morainn smiled fleetingly. “He would ne’er be so unkind as to stomp on the pieces. There is no cruelty in the mon. Trust me in that. Ye ken weel that I would feel it if there was. And, aye, he may weel break my heart, but I will walk away with some verra fine memories to cling to when I am alone again. I believe Tormand will be a generous and skillful lover. Considering how many times the fool has bedded women, he must have learned something.” She laughed along with Nora.

“Ye truly want to do this, dinnae ye? Do ye love the fool then?”

“I think I might. I was still fighting it, fighting his allure, but I heard a few things in the last two days that have begun to take the fight right out of me. I heard his kinsmen teasing him about his stumbling attempts to woo me. They made it clear that he has ne’er attempted a wooing before. He said he had ne’er needed to, which brought forth a lot of derision from his loving family. But, he also said that he had ne’er wanted to, either.”

“Arrogant, but probably the truth.” Nora grimaced as she picked up her needlework again. “I confess, if I was in your place I would also see that as promising.”

Morainn felt relieved for she had feared she was grasping for any reason, no matter how weak and perhaps false, to stop fighting Tormand. “Then I overheard him speaking with Simon last evening.

Tormand confessed to having an epiphany. He said he grew more and more uneasy as he added name after name to that accursed list of his, that he had begun to see a mon he didnae like verra much.

Suddenly the things his kinsmen had said, and more especially his kinswomen, were no longer just annoyances to be ignored, but carried the bitter taste of a hard truth. He also confessed to something that obviously startled Simon. It seems that Tormand Murray, the great lover, has been celibate for four months.” She nodded when Nora gasped in shock. “He thinks his disgust with his own behavior had already begun to settle into his heart and mind. My reaction to that list and what I said to him in my anger and hurt also struck him hard. He didnae like the mon I was seeing in him.”

“Oh, my. That sounds e’en more promising. Yet, are ye certain ye wish to wager your heart and virtue on what might just be a passing mood for the mon?”

Morainn slowly nodded. “I think I do. I dream of him, Nora. Every night, and for a lot longer than I have kenned him, although the dreams I have had since I first set eyes on the mon are, weel, more detailed. I wake up feeling needy yet empty. He pulls at everything inside of me. At first my dreams were only of being bedded by a mon with mismatched eyes, cloudy romantic foolishness. They are so much deeper
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