ROMANCE: HIGHLANDER ROMANCE: Seduced by highlander (Historical Mail Order Bride Time Travel Romance) (Military Fantasy Romance Short Stories) (131 page)

“That’s so long.”  Heather looked down at Samuel and tried to raise her mood by the little boys smiling face.  It helped a lot, but she still didn’t like the fact that Byron would be gone for even a day.

“I’ll try to make it quicker, but it takes at least a week to get there.  We have a long ride ahead of us, and most likely I should have left today.  But in all honestly, I couldn’t.  I needed one more day with you and Samuel.”  Byron admitted.

“So that means you’re leaving soon now aren’t you?”  She asked.  Heather knew he had originally said he would leave the next day.  But she could see the look in his eyes.  It was a look she knew well.  He was thinking of his obligations to his allies and if he was successfully being a good ruler or not.  In his mind the fact of waiting longer to leave for a battle that was going on right now just didn’t work.  He couldn’t see how he was being a good ally to anyone.  “It’s okay I understand, I know how you are Byron.”  She said. 

He sighed heavily.  “In such a short amount of time you know me all too well.  I have to go now.  I don’t know if the enemy has attacked yet or not, but I should be there soon.”  He admitted.

“Samuel, daddy has to go for a bit, let’s give him kisses goodbye.”  Heather said to the little boy.  He turned his head and looked up at his father.  Samuel opened up his arms and smiled and made a kissing face. 

“Come here my boy, I’ll miss you like crazy.  If you were older you could take good care of mommy for me.”  Byron said to the boy and kissed him.

Byron put Samuel down on the bed and took Heather in his arms.  “I love you Heather, please take care of our little boy while I’m gone.  I promise to hurry back to you both.”  Byron kissed her hard and turned to go.

“I love you too Byron, please come back safely to us.”  Heather said as he left the room.

****

“Mrs. Laird Ailen McDougal here to see you, should I show him in?”  One of the men servant’s came into the study where Heather and Samuel were at.  It had already been a month since Byron had left to fight. 

“Yes show him in.”  Heather said to the servant.  She looked down at Samuel; she wasn’t sure who this Laird was, so she picked up the boy and moved him into a little area they had blocked off for him to play.  It was further from the door.  She couldn’t take a chance that this might be an enemy and he was coming to do harm to Samuel.

“My Lady, it is a pleasure to meet you.  I’m a good friend of your husband’s and have come to offer my services to you.”  A man who stood about 6’ said to her. 

Heather studied him closely; he had red hair and blue eyes.  She didn’t recognize him for anyone she might know.  “I’m sorry but I don’t know you.”  Heather said.

“I’m Laird Ailen McDougal.  I live to the south of the village.  I’ve been a good friend of the Lord’s for years now.  I didn’t realize just how beautiful you were.  You really shouldn’t reside in the castle all by yourself.”  His blue eyes gleamed as he said the words.  “I have a great idea; I can stay in one of the rooms.  This way if any of the enemy come for the young child, I can help protect him.”  Ailen said.

She looked at him again.  “I have many staff here, I’m not alone.”  Heather stated.

“But how many of them know how to use a weapon?  I’m sure not many, that leaves you as close to alone as I can imagine.”  Ailen stated.

Heather thought about it for a second.  Byron had left some of the men behind, but if an enemy approached with a lot of men, could they survive?  She wasn’t sure, but there was something else about this man she didn’t like.  Heather couldn’t quite put her finger on it though and he started to talk again so she had to listen.

“Madam, I’m not trying to scare you.  But surely you know that if young Samuel were to die, and the Lord died in battle, the throne could be up for grabs.  There are many greedy men around her who would use a tragedy to their advantage.  You should really be protected far more than you are right now.  I am willing to offer my services with several of my men to help you out.”  Ailen offered.

“I don’t know.  I mean I know you make a good point, but I really don’t know you at all.  Byron never talked to me about you, so I’m not so sure I should trust you.”  Heather admitted.

“He wouldn’t have called me by my name; he would have been talking about me by my nickname, Dogz.”  Ailen explained.

A flicker of recognition at the moniker made her laugh.  “Oh you’re him?  I’ve heard a lot of stories about you two.  You two liked to get into trouble quite a bit from what I heard.”  Heather laughed.

“Aye, we did have a lot of fun times together.  But once Priscilla married him, well he wasn’t the same after that.  He would go out, but he was much more to himself.  I stopped coming around for a while, and only now have returned to Scotland.  I came as soon as I heard of her death to see him.”  Ailen said.

Heather felt much more relaxed as she realized this was a man that Byron truly did trust with his life.  They both heard a loud crack and then the incessant crying of Samuel.  Heather ran to him and picked him up, she checked for blood or broken bones.

“Is he okay?”  Ailen asked.

“He’s okay; I don’t see anything that looks broken.”  Heather said.

“Oh he looks just like Byron doesn’t he.”  Ailen said.

“Very much so, when he laughs you would swear it’s a duplicate version of Byron.”  Heather admitted.  “I would like to take you up on your offer to help protect him, and just know that I really appreciate it.”  She said.

“Oh I am so lucky to have the chance to get to know such an attractive woman.”  He said and took her hand and kissed it and bowed in front of her.

Heather blushed at the compliment, but didn’t really think anything more of it.  Byron had talked about how much of a scoundrel both him and Dogz had been before his marriage.  But she had noticed that the stories usually only took place before Byron had been married.  Of course what he had told her of his late wife, she would understand why Byron had shut out the rest of the world.

“Thank you.”  She said and removed her hand from his grip.

“I am only being honest my Lady.  Byron has good taste in women.”  Ailen said behind her.

She didn’t say anything to him, what could she say. 

“Well I will go and get my men and come back in just a couple of hours.”  Ailen got up to go and Heather stood up as well.

“Okay, we will see you in a little bit.”  She smiled as he left.

After he left she thought about the meeting.  It was nice to meet a friend of Byron’s and to know that she and Samuel would be a little better protected from enemies.  What she really wanted was for Byron to come walking back through the door though.  She ached at the lack of his kisses and touches in the past mouth.  But she kept a happy face on for Samuel, after he was asleep at night though the tears of loneliness and sorrow would slip out.

Perhaps it would be nice to have this friend of Byron’s around.  They could talk about Byron and the adventures they shared together.  Just to be able to think about him was heaven for her.  But it brought along with it the pinch of sadness as she missed him more.

“Let’s put you to bed for a nap.”   Heather said and picked up Samuel to go upstairs.  He had quickly recovered from his screaming fit earlier.  She didn’t see any bruises that were coming up on his skin either.  So perhaps it was simply something that had made him scared not hurt him.  Heather was happy about that.

She put him in his crib and began to sing to him.  Samuel smiled up and closed his eyes.  Heather had found that he would fall asleep as she sang to him a few days after Byron had left.  Soon she saw the rhythmic breathing that indicated he was sleeping.

Heather sat in the chair and thought about Byron.  “I miss you my love, please hurry back.”  She could only wish he would hear her words. 

She had told a servant before she had taken Samuel to bed where to place Ailen when he came back later.  She knew she would be asleep most likely, or at least not ready for more company.  These late hours of night were the worst for her.  She missed Byron like crazy.

****

The next day she took Samuel downstairs and was eating her breakfast when Ailen walked into the room.

“You look very lovely this morning.  Byron is lucky to wake up beside you every day of his life.  Well except for these few days he’s away.  How long has he been gone now?”  Ailen asked.

“A little over a month now, but he could be back soon.”  Heather said her hopes still high that he would be back in that two month time frame.

“You must miss him so much.”  Ailen said.

“Oh I do, I miss him more than you could imagine.”  Heather commented.  “Tell me some of the tales from your adventures with Byron.”  Heather said.

Ailen sat thinking about past things and then shook his head.  “I’m sure he’s told you all the ones that are good anyway.  Instead why don’t you tell me more about you, I’d love to hear it.”  He said.

Heather told him a few stories of her childhood, and how she had loved to play in the woods.  “It even carried over to the first time I met Byron.  I was out in the woods and he came upon me, told me I wasn’t safe by myself.  I got upset when he grabbed me by my arm and pulled me back home.”  She laughed at the memory. 

“That’s funny.  You are so beautiful when you laugh.  You get these amazing little dimples on the sides of your cheeks when you smile too.  Byron really is a lucky man.  Just so you know if something was to happen to him while he was gone, well I would take care of you.”  Ailen said.

She wasn’t sure if he was offering out of his friendship for Byron, or something else.  She was getting all kinds of mixed singles from him.  “Thank you, I’m sure Byron would appreciate it too.”

“I would simply be doing it out of selfishness.  To have a woman who is as charming and as beautiful as you on my arm.  Any man would be an idiot who didn’t think that was the life.”  Ailen said.

Heather was flattered by his compliments.  But she had a feeling he was getting the wrong idea of her kindness.  “I really love my husband.  He’s everything to me.”  She said it as if she was simply thinking it out loud and not addressing Ailen.  However, she looked over to ensure he was paying attention to her words.  She saw a sour look cross his face quickly, but then he put a smile back in place.

“He’s a fine man; you are wise to love him.”  Ailen stated.  His words though sounded more pretend than anything.

She looked at him again, but didn’t say anything right away.  “Yes he’s a good man I agree.”  She said finally.

Heather excused herself and took Samuel into the study.  She had thought it would be nice to have Ailen around, but honestly his constant compliments were tiring.  Heather wasn’t some young girl; she could tell that he was also hitting on her now.  This she felt was not something that one should expect from a friend of her husbands.  That was why for so many times she had ignored the compliments as simply being nice.  Now she knew without a doubt that Ailen was attempting to seduce her into his open and waiting arms.

Perhaps the extra protection for Samuel wasn’t worth it, if she had to deal with this type of behavior.  But then when she reconsidered, they were only words and looks from him.  However, if he stepped over the line and attempted to touch her, she might just throttle him. 

Ailen didn’t know it but Heather had learned a few things from Byron about self-protection.  She wondered if he had done it because he knew one day he would have to go away to fight.  Heather smiled at a painting on the wall of Byron and his parents. 

“Soon we’ll have one done of us, when Samuel is just a bit older and will be able to sit for a long enough time!”  Byron had told her one night as they sat in the room just enjoying the peace and quiet after Samuel had fallen asleep.

“Your mother was beautiful.”  Heather had complimented.

“Yes she was, but you are even more beautiful.”  Bryon had said to her that night.

She sighed, wishing that Byron would come back soon.  As her thoughts of him continued, she heard the telltale steps of Ailen coming.  Heather picked up a book and tried to act like she was immersed in it.

“Oh hey, I was wondering what you were doing.”  Ailen said as he came around the corner.

Heather looked up at him, acting like she hadn’t heard him.  “I’m sorry I was just reading this story.”  She said and held up the book.

“I’m sorry; I’ll let you get back to reading.”  Ailen seemed to pout as he sat down on the other seat in the room.  He then got up and looked around the library a bit and found something on the shelf, he took it down and went back to his seat.  He opened up the book and began reading.

She looked at the book and figured she would have to read it now.  Heather opened it up to the first page, and hoped he didn’t notice it.  If he did he would surely know it was just a lie that she had been reading when he first came into the room.

Thankfully, he seemed fully engaged into the book he had plucked off the shelf.  She sighed a bit of relief about it, and hoped that Samuel would soon get hungry.  Heather didn’t like the way she felt with Ailen around her. 

Heather was distracted while she read, or tried to focus on the words of the book on her lap.  What she really wanted was for Byron to come home and for Ailen to leave, or at least stop trying to seduce her.