ROMANCE: BIKER ROMANCE: Valentine Biker (MC Alpha Male Pregnancy Romance) (New Adult Valentine Romance Short Stories) (10 page)

“Because he doesn’t look at them the way he has looked at you since the day you got here,” Heather replied.

“He was wonderful,” Anna told them.  “That is all you’ll ever get from me.”

“Ahhhhh,” Heather sighed in resignation.

A commotion behind them caused them to all jump up, leaving the clothing they were washing behind in the river.  Anna ran toward the racket, grabbing the sword she had taken the knight before from just inside the door of her hut as she went.  Just beyond that, she found herself face to face with her brother.

“Well, how the mighty have fallen,” he spat at her.  “Dressed in ragged clothing and whoring around with a bunch of Highlander scum.”

“It was stupid for you to come here alone, Marcus” she replied.

“Who says I’m alone?” he said, looking toward the surrounding trees.  Anna could see the hooves of horses beneath the tree line and felt a sense of dread.  She turned as she heard footsteps behind her.  Rory was walking toward her, his own broadsword in hand.

“Will you be coming down here to face me as a man, Marcus?  Or will you sitting atop your horse and letting your knights do your dirty work for you again?” Rory asked him.

“Well, look who we have here.  If it isn’t one of few surviving members of the Clan McKordia.  I haven’t seen you since we were kids, Rory,” Marcus replied.

“We used to be good friends, sneaking out to the moors to play together.  Too bad you decided to become a greedy tyrant instead of a great King.  I see you are still pushing your sister around, as well,” he said.

Anna looked at Rory for a moment, a distant memory playing in the back of her mind.  It was of herself and Marcus out in the moors together.  He had been angry that she followed him there and had pushed her down, causing her knee to strike a rock.  There was still a scar where it had left a gash.  The same scar Rory had run his fingers across lovingly just last night.  He wasn’t admiring it.  He was remembering it! 

“You!  You were there that day.  Marcus pushed me and I cut my knee.  Then, he went crazy and tried to strangle me.  You came from nowhere and pulled him off of me, punched him in the nose and sent him home bleeding and crying to my father,” she said.

“Yes,” Rory replied, still keeping his eyes on Marcus.

“You stopped the bleeding and told me I would be okay, then walked me as close to the castle as you dared go without being seen,” she said.

“That was the last day I ever saw you or your brother until I saw you on the cliffs.  I recognized you immediately,” he told her.

“Well, this little trip down memory lane is very special, but I have come here to conduct business,” Marcus interjected.

“What kind of business?” Rory asked in a menacing tone.

“Well, as you can see, there are knights surrounding your entire village,” he said.  “I have come here to propose that you give me my sister and this land.”

“And let’s just say we were even willing to do that.  What do we get in return for this exchange?” Rory asked.

“Simple.  You get to live instead of dying in your beds like the majority of your family did the last time you weren’t smart enough to stay out of my way,” Marcus said.

“Well, I’m afraid that is just not really an offer we would be interested in,” Rory replied.

“Then you leave us no choice but to take it by force,” Marcus replied, raising his hand upward to signal his knights to move in.  Anna watched as they marched out of the bushes toward them.  Rory appeared unmoved as he stood beside her still facing Marcus.

“Your sister is right, Marcus.  It was stupid for you to have come here,” Rory told him.

“You are quite cocky for a man who is overrun by the King’s knights,” Marcus retorted.

“Am I, Marcus?  You might want to look again,” Rory replied with a smile. 

Anna could see the brief look of uncertainty in Marcus’s eyes as he glanced toward the lines of knights now standing inside the treeline.  Though they were still on their horses, they were covered in blood, slashes evident in their chain mail as they slumped against the horses’ necks.  From what Anna could see, not the first one was still breathing.  Bears stood behind many of the horses, waiting for Rory’s instruction.  Anna looked back at Marcus, noting that he now no longer looked uncertain.  Now, he looked clearly frightened.

“Killing a King’s knight is an offense punishable by death.  You and yours will hang for this, Rory.  That includes you, little sister,” he spat toward Anna.

“Oh, I don’t think so,” Rory told him as the bears closed ranks and surrounded his horse.  Marcus turned quickly, attempting to escape but they were quickly upon him, pulling him from the horse and sending it off into the woods.  He stood in the middle of them looking around fearfully.

“Anna, what would you have done with him?’ Rory asked.

“Marcus, it seems the tables have turned.  It is now I who has dominion over your fate,” Anna told him.

“Please, Murdina,” he begged.

“Murdina no longer exists.  She was forced out of her home for her own safety and taken in by a group of Highland rebels who have shown her more love and compassion than her own brother.  My name is Anna.  I will not be returning to the throne, but neither will you, dear brother,” she told him.

“You can’t kill me.  I’m your brother!” he replied.

“I’ve no intention of killing you, Marcus.  I think you should spend years contemplating the harm you have done to people who looked up to our family and trusted that we would do the honorable thing for them.  I suspect your remaining days in the prison tower with some of the people you sent there for little or no reason might be just what you need,” she told him.

“You can’t send me there!  I am the King!” he shouted at her.

“I can and I will.  When I tell our cousins what you have done, they will support me and you will be dethroned and punished,” she said.

“I wouldn’t be so sure of that,” he scoffed.

“You should be,” she replied. 

“You heard her, secure him and we’ll take him back to the castle,” Rory said, turning toward some of the men that had gathered behind him. 

Anna’s heart raced.  There was some part of her that still loved her brother, but she knew there would never be peace for herself or anyone as long as he was allowed his freedom.  She was lost in thought when someone suddenly snatched her sword from her hand.  It all happened so fast that she barely had time to register what was going on.  Her brother was on his knees, the sword driven squarely through his heart. 

“That . . . was for my husband, you miserable little man!” the Widow O’Connor shrieked.

Marcus fell to the ground and she pulled her sword free, wiping it on her apron as she walked slowly back toward Anna and handed it to her.  Anna looked at her, wild eyed with disbelief.  Where had she even come from?

“I’m sorry for your loss,” Widow O’Connor told her before walking back toward the small hut her husband had built the day before Marcus caught him out hunting on land he deemed his and had him beheaded.

Rory and Anna stood looking at one another as the bears surrounding Marcus shifted back into the men they had been before.  Two of them picked up Marcus and asked what to do with him.

“We can’t go hauling a dead King into town, even with his sister in tow,” Rory told her.

“Toss him over the cliff.  It’s where he would have had me go if Rory hadn’t intervened.  I’ll take care of things from there,” Anna said solemnly.

The following day, she and Rory rode into the kingdom alone.  She explained to her cousins that Marcus had taken a nasty spill and gone over a cliff. 

“You are next in line for the throne, Murdina,” her cousin Edward told her.

“I don’t want it,” she told him.  “You are next after me.  I want you to tell people that I have died in the accident with my brother and take the throne.  You will be a good king.  Rory and I will stay the night here and be gone in the morning for you to make your announcement,” she told him.

“You can’t just give up the throne,” Edward chastised.

“I can and I am.  I would like to get some of my things that I wasn’t afforded the opportunity to take when I left here and you will never see me again,” she replied.

“If you are certain that you wish things to be that way, then it is what will be done,” he told her.  “Just know that if you ever need anything, you can come to me.  The world may think you are dead, but I will know you are not.”

“I appreciate that, Edward.  However, I don’t think I will ever need anything from this place ever again.  I have all I need right here,” she said, looping her arm through Rory’s.  On the way back to the Highlander’s camp, she asked him the question that she had been wanting to for some time.

“Why did you not tell me that you were the boy that saved me from Marcus all those years ago?” she asked.

“I don’t know.  I didn’t think you would remember me as I remembered you,” he said.

“I did remember you.  You’ve just changed so much.  That boy seemed so timid and shy,” she replied.

“A lot of time has gone by since then.  The harsh realities have a way of changing a person,” he replied.

“I suppose so,” she replied, knowing that she too had changed quite a bit since her parents had died and she had seen so much cruelty.  Rory surprised her by pulling the wagon over and turning toward her.

“I want to marry you, Anna.  Will you marry me?” he asked.

“Yes!  Yes, I will.  Can we do it today?” she asked.

“If that is what you want,” he replied.

“It is exactly what I want,” she beamed.

“Then you will be my bride by the end of the day,” he replied, putting the wagon back into motion. 

Later that afternoon, they were married in a ceremony performed by Duncan, who just happened to be an ordained minister.  The entire village surrounded them and cheered for them as they were joined as man and wife.  Anna caught sight of the Widow O’Connor beaming radiantly and looking happier than she had ever seen her.  Apparently, vengeance does do the soul some good.

Six months later, Anna stood by the river talking with the women who were washing clothes as they handed them to her to hang on the makeshift clothes line that ran between two trees.  Ordinarily, she would be helping them, but it was hard getting down to the water in her current condition.  She smiled as she saw Rory approaching her with a broad smile.  He put his hand upon her growing bely and spoke to their unborn child softly.

“We’re going to have a great life, my son,” he replied.

“How do you know it is a son?” Anna laughed.

“Because this world can only stand one beauty as great as yours, my love,” he told her with a kiss on the cheek.

*****

THE END

Clan of the Werbears

Lady Arabella Armstrong looked out of her window. The day was bright for travelling and her heart fluttered with excitement. Today she would be travelling from her home in Stirling to the baronial castle of her betrothed, Lord Andrew Grenville Stewart, the wealthy Laird of Inverness. The marriage had been arranged many years ago by her father, Lord William when she was just a girl. He had no son and heir and the match would be a good one. As well as uniting the two clans, she would live out her life in luxury; nothing would be too good for the new Lady Arabella Stewart. Although her father was a rich man, it was nothing in comparison to the wealth of the Stewart Clan, and she would have her own suite of rooms within the castle and maids to look after her every whim.

For months she had been measured and fitted for her trousseau, a beautiful peach silk gown inset with ivory lace. In fact several sets of new clothing had been made especially for her new life in the Highlands, expertly sewn to be both practical against the winter chills and attractive. Most of the items had been packed away, but she had kept out a deep blue woollen tunic for travelling in. It matched the colour of her eyes and she wanted to look her best for her soon to be husband.

She had only met Andrew Stewart the once, when he had visited her family in the summer to make the arrangements for their nuptials. She had felt shy back then, being presented to the worldly wise and older man. He was an enigmatic stranger, the future husband with whom she would share private intimacies. He was very handsome, with jet black hair swept away from his face in a somewhat rather severe manner. His eyes were steely blue and his lips red and thin against the pale skin. He had a reputation for cruelty but he had been kind, bringing her a present of a sparkling blue amethyst necklace, set with diamonds. She remembered how he had fastened it around her throat; his long fingers brushing the nape of her neck, as he bent down to kiss the bare flesh of her shoulders when no one was looking. At the time she had recoiled at his touch, it was the first time a man had been so intimate with her, and the feel of his hot sticky breath against her soft skin had made her flush with embarrassment. If he had noticed, then he had been too much the gentleman to say, but her mother Margaret had seen her daughter’s reaction and had remonstrated with her later. The match was important and Arabella must be brave. Her mother had told her all about the needs and passions of men and it had quite shocked her young mind. At 18 years of age, she had led a very sheltered life. She was amazed that her prim and proper mother had actually committed the acts that she embarrassingly described; she could not imagine her parents clutched together in conjugal bliss, but obviously she was the proof of their past union, and possibly why she was an only child.