Highlander's Heart (Clan Matheson Book 2) (15 page)

“
I’m so sorry.
”

“
Promise me that there’ll be no more secrets between us.
”

“
I promise.”
She opened her mind fully to him and a blast of warmth and reassurance flowed through from him. Along with it, he swamped her in his love.

“
We’ll get through this, Layla. I’m catching up fast.
”

“
There is naught to worry about. Honestly, I wouldnae have left without you if I’d thought for one moment that there would be any danger in bringing Donnan to my father.
” She was almost home, a peek of the castle showing through the trees ahead.

“Set us down here, Layla.” Donnan gestured toward the end of the pine-covered trail as he opened his belted sporran.

She halted at the edge of the forest and gently set them both back down. The House of Clan Matheson rose tall and strong before her and the morning sunshine beamed across the land and lit the fortified stone walls of the keep a glittering gold.

“Raise the portcullis!” The call came from the guardsman standing atop the battlements. The portcullis rose, the clunky sound of its chains reverberating across the outer yard. Horses’ hooves pounded then a score of Matheson riders galloped out and rode away from them along the grassy path and up the cliff side trail between their keep and the fae village farther along the loch.

Another group of warriors, all wearing the MacDonald plaid, marched through the gate and strode down to the sea-gate landing where their galley remained moored at the end. MacDonald men on board the galley already busied themselves as if they were preparing to leave. How odd. Searching the sea-gate for one of her clansmen and finding none, she said, “Is there a reason why your men appear—”

Donnan grabbed her, shoved a thick wad of cloth into her mouth from his sporran, jammed a grubby sack over her head then hauled her hands behind her back and shoved her front up hard against the trunk next to them. She fought to move but he snagged twine around her wrists, bound them together. In her ear, he rasped, “I came back here to the keep after stringing Gerald up, told my men to be prepared to leave the moment I returned, hopefully by dawn, then I rode back to the encampment to find you. Surely you didnae think I’d truly ever accept another bride of fae blood, other than you?”

He’d lied, outright lied to her. The bastard.

“There is one thing you need to learn about me, Layla. I never break a vow. I agreed to wed you and I shall.” He stroked a finger down her arm and she shivered with disgust.

“I am already wed to Tor,” she mumbled through the cloth although her words were almost indistinguishable and damn it, she was now without any sight. She couldn’t use her skill if she couldn’t see what she needed to move or manipulate. So very few knew exactly how her father’s and her skill worked. How had he?

“Loss of sight, loss of skill.” He snickered in her ear. “You’re surely wondering how I knew. I’ve always known. My father instructed me well on all he’d discovered over the years having known your father as he did. And by the way, you will repudiate your handfast vow once we reach Dunscaith, and following that, you’ll be speaking true marriage vows with me afore a clergyman. ’Twill be those vows alone that shall count and none other.” He jerked on her restrained hands, tightened the knots. “I will bed you the moment that is done, then you’ll bear my sons who will be as strongly skilled as you are. I will accept no other satisfaction.”

“
Tor!
” She screamed his name down their link as Donnan heaved her over his shoulder and her belly thumped into his rock hard shoulder. “
I’m so sorry. I shouldnae have trusted Donnan, nor taken my gaze off him. You must hurry.
”

* * * *

Layla’s words echoed through Tor’s mind and made his heart stutter as he galloped across the moors toward the castle. He followed her thoughts, picked up that Donnan had shoved a gag in her mouth and blacked out her sight by hooking a sack over her head. Her hands were bound and her belly jolted into Donnan’s shoulder with each step Donnan took as he carried her around the forest’s edge toward the sea-gate, just out of her Matheson guardsmen’s sight. She sensed the fresh breeze coming in off the loch then the crashing of the surf. Heavy footsteps clacked on the stone landing. Donnan’s. The rocking of the galley underneath her feet as Donnan set her down then strung her to the center mast and tossed a heavy covering of some sort over her. He tracked each of her movements, and that of their enemy.

Hell, no one would ever hurt or terrorize his mate and get away with it. He gritted his teeth, faced Tavish as they rode. “Layla’s in trouble.”

“What’s happened?” Tavish picked up his pace as he sat low in the saddle, bent his head over his destrier’s neck.

“He’s blacked out her sight and restrained her, disabled her ability. What she can’t see, she can’t move. He’s now tossed her on board his galley and they’re about to set sail. I won’t lose my mate.” He thrust his knees into his mount’s flanks and flew alongside the stream and into the forest. Never had he ridden so hard or so fast. “See if you can reach Julia, Tavish. Alert her to what’s happening.”

“I’m updating her right now.” Tavish grimaced and remained silent as he spoke to his mate along their merged link. With a glance at him, Tavish muttered, “She said Kirk and Cherub left earlier for Stirling to see Gilleoin and Nessa, a flying visit, one they’re not expected back from for another hour or two. Julia’s alerting the guard and searching for Gregor as we speak.”

“Tell them to get down to the sea-gate now. If Donnan sets sail, I’ll have a fight on my hands to get my chosen one back.” The MacDonald’s stronghold on the Isle of Skye was one of the most fortified structures ever constructed and protected by a garrison of hundreds of men. He urged his war horse into a faster pace and whizzed through the forest along the beaten trail. Fallen leaves and pine needles whooshed about the forest floor and he jumped the odd log, ducked his head under a low branch and galloped on. “
Talk to me, Layla.
”

“
I’m sitting in the hull, roped to the center mast and I can hardly breathe with this gag in my mouth and whatever covering it is they’ve tossed over me.
” A wealth of worry channeled through from her. He sensed her pain as she shoved at her bindings and tried to wriggle one hand free. The soft skin of her wrists had almost been rubbed raw from her struggle to free herself. “
Please be careful. I’m surrounded by MacDonald warriors and I have no intention of living on this Earth without you. If you die, then I die.
”

“
I’m almost there. Tavish spoke to Julia along their link and she’s at the castle. She’s about to alert the guard and find your father. We’re coming, all of us.
” Determination spurred him on as he hurtled down the final stretch of the trail. He rode hard along the grassy verge of the loch then hauled his mount to a halt a mere horse-head in front of Tavish at the sea-gate landing. He jumped down and sprinted toward the MacDonald galley moored at the end.

Donnan stood at the stern, his claymore drawn and a fierce smirk on his face as one of his men released the mooring rope then bounded on board. They pushed off the landing.

Over his shoulder, he yelled to his brother, “Stay alive, Tavish. It’s time to fight.”

“I’m right here.” Tavish whipped his sword free.

Fight they would. Sword in hand, Tor leapt the distance from the landing to the moving galley, landed in the vessel with Tavish, his blood roaring for revenge and his enemy now standing directly before him. He’d never allow MacDonald to take his chosen one from him. He’d fight, to the death if he must. “
I love you, Layla. Where you are, is where I too shall be, on this Earth or beyond the veil.
”

Up along the battlements, the horn trumpeted and he swung and met Donnan’s brutal blow while Donnan’s men stood at their captain’s back and hauled their weapons free.

Swords clashed and Layla screamed where she sat trussed up to the center mast and unable to see a damn thing. The galley shook and men bellowed. She focused only on Tor and their merged link, his thoughts careening through to her. Strike. Duck. Attack. Donnan and his warriors were coming at him from every side, Tavish the only one aiding him in his fight.

She had to free herself so she could help him. The breeze whispered across her neck under the loose edge of the smelly sack and waves crashed against the side of the galley. She sawed her hands together, the skin at her wrists on fire.

A fierce battle cry boomed all around, then another clash of steel hitting steel rung loud in her ears.

“
Hold tight, Layla.
” Tor’s warning ricocheted in her head as the vessel rocked from side to side.

“Get back!” Donnan’s shout, his bellow laced with fury. “She’s going over.”

Over? The galley rolled and she slid down the mast and struck something before her head shattered with pain and the turbulent waters of the bay closed in over her. Within the depths of the icy cold bay, she fought to stay alert and rid herself of her bindings. The underwater rip churned and tossed her about, jerked the sack away into its murky gloom. Goodness. She could finally see, no matter how badly within the darkness of the water.

The ropes attached to the mast pulled excruciatingly tight around her middle. They tore at her chest and legs as they tangled tighter about her. With her skill, she wrenched the bindings free, yanked her hands out then tore the gag from her mouth and clawed for the surface. Her drenched skirts dragged her back down and the swell pulled her even deeper. Nay, the sea wouldn’t take her, not now she’d finally found the man who held the other half of her soul. She wanted to live, to have him hold her in his arms and never let her go. “
Tor!
”

“
I’m here.
”

An arm cinched around her waist.

She lurched around and stared into the most piercing golden shifter eyes. Tor firmed his hold on her and pushed them both upward through the twisting current and in a flurry of bubbles, they broke the surface.

“Are you hurt?” She gulped in great drafts of air as she clung to him.

“My heart will never be the same again.” He cupped the back of her head and drew her closer. His black hair floated around his neck as he treaded water and kept them both afloat. “Too many of Donnan’s men surged to one side during the battle and she went over, fast. I thought I’d lost you. Your thoughts were blaring at me, your struggle mine. I couldn’t reach you in time, not through the tangle of sail, ropes, and men.”

“You reached me just fine. I’m alive. You’re alive, and that’s all that matters.” She clutched his shirtfront. He was real, his body solid, his flesh warm and his hold exquisitely tight. Next to them, the galley bobbed upside down with its hull on the surface and Donnan’s men surging toward the shoreline from the vessel. Donnan led the way, slogged through the surf and onto the beach.

Father stormed toward Donnan, two score of his Matheson warriors flanking him as he bellowed orders and corralled the drenched MacDonald warriors as they stumbled in.

“I’m so sorry I forced you into a battle with Donnan.” She looked into his eyes now awash with relief. “I never should have left you, will never do so again.”

“All that matters is that you’re safe and well.” He swept her hair back from her forehead and fingered a spot that throbbed. “You’ve got a nasty bump that’ll bloom into the quite the bruise. Let’s get you out of this cold water, warmed up and Donnan and his men dealt with.” Holding onto to her, he cut a fast path through the churning waves toward the landing where Tavish stood in soaked battle attire and water sluicing to his feet. Tor gripped her waist and boosted her upward toward his brother.

“Are you well, Layla?” Tavish grasped her, set her on the landing beside him. “Your wrists look red and raw.”

“Dinnae worry of them. They’ll heal.”

Tavish smothered her in a tartan one of her clansmen passed him then offered Tor a hand and heaved him out of the water.

Tor swept her bundled form along the landing and grasped her father’s shoulder, one arm still firm around her waist. “Is everyone accounted for?”

“All appear to be here, and thank you for saving my daughter.” Father pulled her into a hug. “Julia got word to me of your abduction, but then the galley tipped over afore I could ensure you were set free.”

“The sack covering my sight jerked away in the water. I managed to free myself then Tor brought me to the surface. Tor and I spoke handfast vows last eve, Father. Donnan intended for me to repudiate my vow once we reached Dunscaith Castle. He would have forced me to wed him.” She hugged her father just as fiercely back. “Donnan also strung Gerald up in a tree a half mile from the keep. You must send someone to free him. This is all my fault and I’m so sorry.”

“This is Donnan’s doing, no’ yours.” Father whistled to one his men. “Find Gerald. He’ll be in a tree a half mile away.”

“Will do.” The warrior and another raced to the stables and mounted horses.

“What are we going to do with Donnan and his men?” She rubbed her cheek against Father’s arm, his solid presence comforting her just as Tor’s fierce warmth and firm hold around her did as well.

“I’ll deal with Donnan, although ’tis now because of his rash actions here this very morn that any ties between our clans will now be severed. If we ever ally ourselves with them again, it’ll be a very long time away.”

Donnan snarled and stormed toward Father, his men rallying in behind him. “Your daughter broke our betrothal agreement and I was simply taking what was rightfully mine.”

“My daughter is soul bound to another and none can tear the two apart, no’ even I.” Father raised his hands, twirled his fingers and with his skill, thrust Donnan toward the landing, right along with his men.

She lifted her own hands toward the overturned galley and with a single flick, she lifted it up. The waters surged and the galley heaved over. Water flowed out of the hull, the ropes and the sail a tangled mess. Wood creaked and groaned as she settled the galley back down at the end of the landing while Father shoved Donnan and his men on board.

“There will be no mingling of fae blood between our clans.” Father’s voice rose above the din as he glared at Donnan. “Raise arms against me and my kin again and we shall do so with you. Take your men and leave, and never forget that my strength and my daughter’s far exceeds yours. None can best those with the ‘power of thought.’”

A few of the MacDonald warriors dove into the water and collected their lost oars, boarded and with their men settled on the seats and retrieved oars in hand, rowed out of the bay then heaved their drenched sail up and disappeared across the sea toward Skye.

Relief flared through her. Was it truly over?

“I’m so sorry.” She turned in Tor’s arms, caught his face in her hands and kissed him, with all the longing and need she harbored for him and he kissed her back, crushing her against his chest.

“It’s all over, and no more apologies are needed.” He scooped her up and strode toward the forest, leaving Father and her clansmen behind as they made certain Donnan didn’t return.

She waved to Father and he lifted a hand in acknowledgment, nodded at her with a gentle smile. Her father would understand Tor’s need to get her as far away from Donnan as possible, even though their enemy had now set sail. “Where are we going?”

“To our sacred cavern. I have a fierce need to see with my own eyes that you came to no harm during your abduction, which means I’ll be inspecting every single inch of you for injury.”

“As long as I too may inspect every single inch of you.” She nuzzled his neck, licked over the mark she’d given him then whispered, “I would also like to show you how very truly sorry I am.”

“I never want to experience the heart-wrenching fear I did today, ever again.” He strode with her up the winding trail, trekked deeper into the forest and marched uphill toward the waterfall and their most precious place. “I also have a desperate need for absolute privacy.”

“So do I.” She kissed him again, her heart and soul rejoicing at being with him. Aye, absolute privacy they needed, and likely for quite some time.

* * * *

Along the tunnel into their sacred cavern behind the waterfall, Layla raced with Tor one step behind her. She jumped down onto the boulder wedged under the entrance then bounded onto the soft sand and twirled around. She dropped the tartan she’d been wrapped in and kicked off her riding boots. With her sopping pale blue jacket flung aside, she unfastened the heavy, wet skirts of her riding habit and grinned as Tor shucked his war coat and unbelted his weapons. “I may find taking orders difficult, Tor, but I do intend for you to learn there are plenty of added benefits to being mated to me.”

“Benefits I intend to claim, each and every one of them.”

“The first benefit will be my attention to detail in undressing you.” With her mind, she tugged his loose black shirt embroidered with their clan motto on the front pocket free of his faded brown rawhide pants and pulled it over his head. His beautifully broad chest, so heavily muscled and holding a smattering of dark hair, glistened wetly in the sunshine streaming through the wide vent above.

“That’s one benefit, I too hold.” He stepped closer, traced one finger over her beaded breasts through her lacy cream riding shirt, the fabric so wet the pink of her nipples showed through. “Arms up, my challenging mate.”

She lifted them and he swept his hands down her sides, gripped her hem and lifted the shirt up and over her head, her tangled and wet curls plopping onto her back.

“My turn.” She levitated him, knelt at his hovering feet and removed his boots then unfastened his pants and stripped them down his muscled legs and off. His cock bobbed free and brushed his belly, rigid and hard and all hers. Needing him now, she swept him out over the steamy heat of their pool and splashed into the warm water after him. Slowly, she lowered him, inch by inch as she stroked over his trim hips and grasped his firm butt. She licked his thickened shaft from root to tip then giggled as he groaned, his feet still nowhere near the sandy floor of the pool as she kept him just where she wanted him.

“Put me down, woman.”

“Benefit number two. I can spin you around and do as I wish with you.” She slowly twirled him where she stood in the waist-deep water, his feet in the water and his magnificent body on full display, all hard and bulging with muscle. All hers. “My warrior mate.”

His golden gaze seared hers as she whirled him back around to face her. “I’m also one warrior who needs to make love to his woman. Set me down so I can, and that’s a firm order, one I want you to obey.”

“Still terrible with orders, and benefit number three.” She giggled again. “Is that I wish only to make love with you and adore every inch of you while I do.” She traced the tip of his cock with her tongue and gently palmed his balls in her hand.

He arched into her, his breath whooshing out. “I love how freely you touch me.”

“Touching you like this”—she licked all around the head then sucked the salty sweetness that beaded on top—“makes my nipples go hard and heat pool within me below.”

“Put me down, now. I need to lick you all over too. I want to taste that pooling heat. It’s like sweet honey to my bear and he’s ravenous for it.”

“Benefit number four.” She slowly lowered him, licked up the rigid band of muscles lining his stomach then flicked her fingers over his tiny yet hard male nipples before she sucked on his neck, right over the mark she’d given him last night. Onto her toes, she moved then covered his mouth with hers. She kissed him, until his breathing became as ragged as hers and the sultry warm air around them thickened with a pounding heat. “Is that I’ll always be hungry for more of you too.”

With his feet now firm on the sandy base of the pool, she lifted herself from the water and gave him exactly what he’d asked for, the ability to lick that pooling heat in her below. Floating a few inches above the rippling surface, she leaned back, her hair dangling into the water, her back arched over it. “Is this what you wanted?”

“Aye, we’ll call this benefit number five, of which shall be offered to me on a daily basis. Your body will be all mine for the taking.” He caught her feet, spread her legs and stepped in between her thighs, water splashing his waist. Caressing up her calves and along her inner thighs, he held her pliant with his smoldering gaze alone. “Right now, I’m not sure how slow I can go. I can barely contain my need, or that of my bear’s. He’s pushing for more of you, so hungry to hold you and completely determined to never let you go. As am I.”

“Benefit number six. I freely give you all of me. I always will, so go as fast or as slow as you like. We have no need to leave this sacred place anytime soon.”

“I love how you think.” He stroked over her hips, up her sides and cupped her breasts then with his thumbs swiping the tips, he bent his head between her thighs and licked her folds. He groaned, pulled back a touch, brushed his nose against her nub and breathed deep. With pure need lacing his tone, he rumbled, “Your scent is the sweetest yet wildest I’ve ever encountered. I want to smother myself in it.”

“I would never stop you if that’s what you wished to do.”