Tempted (41 page)

Her temper was building dangerously. When she was delivered at the king’s feet, she would explode and allow her temper full rein. She didn’t give a damn that he was
King of England—he wasn’t her king, and he had no jurisdiction over her whatsoever. To Tina he was just a man, a gross, greedy, spoiled, and dominating male who grabbed whatever he fancied, no matter the cost to others.

It came to her that she had been upon the river for an inordinately long time. Finally her assailant picked her up again as if she were a sack of grain and carried her off the vessel. He carried her a long, long way, and then she felt herself being handed over to another. This one slung her over his shoulder and strode on. With her head hanging down it was difficult to breathe, and she became quite disoriented. When she was finally laid down upon her side, Tina’s head was spinning so badly, she imagined she could still feel the rocking motion of the boat.

Tina lay there for what seemed like hours. No one came to release her, and she wondered wildly if she had been carried off and secretly imprisoned. Perhaps the king had set watchdogs on Ram and Heath as well as herself and their plot had been discovered. Perhaps she had been taken down the river to the Tower of London and carried over Traitor’s Bridge, through Traitor’s Gate, and into the bowels of the brooding fortalice.

Nay, she must stop her imagination from running amok This little caper was designed to weaken her resistance and bring her to her knees. She would try to rest while she could and gather her strength for the moment she would come face to face with the lecherous, rampant Henry.

Tina must have been drowsing. Suddenly she became aware of a man’s firm grip as she felt her ankles being untied, then her wrists behind her back were, freed and she snatched off the blanket that had almost smothered her and clawed the gag from her mouth. “You filthy whoreson!” she screamed, momentarily blinded by the rush of light and her own fury. Her face registered total shock as she stared into the pewter eyes of Black Ram Douglas. Her own fury was as nothing compared to the fury she saw in
those accusing eyes. In that moment it would have been far easier to face Henry Tudor.

“I never want tae see that dress again,” he said between his teeth, reaching out a powerful hand to tear it from neck to hem.

Tina flew at him with nails and teeth bared. “His paw prints are on the gown because I wouldn’t let him put them on my body!”

Ram grabbed her and slammed her against his hard length, but her hands still tore at his hair and the black shirt he wore.

“What about you?” she cried angrily. “Zara’s hands have been all over your damned body!”

Suddenly Ram’s arms pressed her close, so that her face was against his heart, and he was raining kisses upon her lovely, disheveled hair Despite her faithlessness she was still in his blood. “We are both so insane with jealousy, we can think of nothing else. I have to get us safely out of English waters—the
Revenge
won’t sail herself.”

Her eyes widened. “You got your ship back?”

He took his arms from her. “What is mine, I keep,” he said quietly. “Ada is in the next cabin,” he informed her before departing Ram Douglas had to get away from her so that he could think clearly. If he hadn’t kissed her, he might have killed her. Seeing her play king’s whore had almost sent him over the edge of his control No one would ever know how close he had come to hurling the silver knives into the hearts of Henry Tudor and the female with whom he had been handclasped.

Even greater than his fury had been his towering pride. It seemed like he had been waging a losing battle with his pride ever since he’d laid eyes on Lady Valentina Kennedy. As he stood on the quarterdeck issuing exact orders to his skeleton crew, a part of his mind relived the night he had stormed Castle Doon. He’d found her in the arms of his clan rival, Patrick Hamilton, and thereafter had set about to humble her pride, which rivaled even his own

She’d had a reputation as a honeypot, and he remembered his feelings exactly when he suspected her of lying with James Stewart and God knew how many of his nobles. Why had he allowed the hand-fasting to be forced upon him?

He knew the answer, of course: She attracted him like no other woman ever had. She was a magnificent flame-haired vixen who wrought havoc with his senses. He remembered acutely the feeling of mauled pride he felt at the ceremony when she fainted and he’d suspected Hamilton had fathered a brat upon her.

When he discovered she was still a virgin, he had completely lost his heart and tumbled head over heels in love with her. But blood on the sheets wasn’t proof positive of virginity. Nor was technical virginity a sign of innocence. She could have been sexually active for years and still cleverly maintained her hymen.

As Ram stood behind the ship’s wheel with only the wind and the sea for company, the ugly black mists of suspicion fell away from him. He wasn’t naive enough to think Henry Tudor would do a kindness for a beautiful female without demanding sexual favors, and he knew Tina was not that naive, either. But it was possible that she had tried to play a game of cat and mouse, promising much and giving little. He knew he would give her the benefit of the doubt. His stiff pride almost choked him, but his heart ruled when Valentina was involved, not his head.

When Tina opened the adjoining door and saw Ada safe and sound with all their baggage stacked against the wall, she burst into tears. The tension of the last few days had been too much for her nerves. The floodgates opened, and Ada was wise enough to know her tears would wash away her tension and soothe her jagged nerves.

Ada helped her out of the torn white gown and poured water so she could bathe her hands and face. “How did you get here?” Tina said. “Were you too trussed like a Christmas goose and carried off?”

“Nay,” Ada said, taking a nightrail from one of the bags and shaking out its folds. “One of the Gypsies took me to a caravan where Heath was waiting. He told me he knew he would be followed from the moment the king dismissed him. He soon gave his watchdog the slip, but later in the day he realized we too were being watched, so he had a Gypsy keep a very close eye on you with instructions to abduct you if you fell into danger. ‘Twas Heath who discovered where the
Revenge
was anchored. He left a message for Ram and brought me and the two Douglas servants to the ship.”

“I’ve been tied up in that cabin for hours,” Tina said, massaging her wrists.

“I had no idea you were there. I was worried sick for you. When Ram finally arrived a short time ago and you were not with him, I almost had an apoplexy.”

“Thank God we are all safe!”

“We are still in jeopardy. Ram only has Heath and the two Douglas servants for crew,” Ada warned.

Valentina slipped her warm sable cloak over her nightrail and went up on deck. Ram stood at the ship’s wheel with his black hair whipping in the wind. He looked at her with an intensity that almost unnerved her. She faced him squarely, hiding her trepidation, and said, “I want to be with you.”

After what seemed like an eternity of waiting, he nodded his permission, and she moved to his side shyly. There were things they wanted to say to each other but could not put into words. How could he possibly convey to her how crushed and heartbroken he’d been when he thought she had betrayed him for the sake of revenge? How could he put into words the bone-softening anxiety he’d felt for her when she came to the tower? His fear had been mixed with the exhilarating joy of knowing she cared so deeply about his safety that she had risked all to rescue him. How could he explain that the mere thought of her giving herself to Henry Tudor had nearly driven him berserk?

Valentina drew the furs he’d given her close about her body. How could she possibly convey to him how devastated she’d been when her own brother had betrayed him? How could she put into words that it had been all her fault for wanting revenge? How could she tell him that she couldn’t endure living while he thought she had deliberately betrayed him? How could she make him understand that she would make any sacrifice to assure his safety and count it as nothing?

She watched him and knew his restless, savage spirit was as wild and free as the sea. She saw his pride, his loneliness, his courage. She saw his soul. She wanted to become part of him without reservation.

He saw her vulnerability, her generosity, her warmth. He wanted all of it and more, he wanted her love. He opened his arm to her; without a word, she stepped close and he enfolded her against his side. Her eyes filled with tears as they again caught sight of the raw scar on his neck, but she blinked them back quickly before they fell. He would consider pity an insult.

They clung to each other for over an hour. His arm had found its way beneath her fur, where he gently cupped her breast. Her arm was about his waist, her fingers tucked up inside his warm leather jack. At last he murmured against her hair, “If ye want tae make me happy, go and rest until dawn. When daylight comes there will be danger from the English fleet, and no one else aboard can take the wheel. I’ll need ye then—we all will.”

Tina raised her eyes to the rigging and saw the lithe figure of Heath, who was both lookout and line untangler. He gave the couple beneath him a salute. He thought them so well matched, it was uncanny.

Tina slept until a bloodred dawn broke across the pewter seas, then she and Ada spent the entire day cooking food and boiling water for hot drinks. The men came below one at a time to warm up and dry their soaked clothing at the
galley stove, but Black Ram Douglas stayed behind the wheel of what once had been the
Valentina
for twenty-two hours, until it was safely in Leith.

Winter had already arrived in Scotland. Fortunately it did not take them long to cover the four miles from Leith to Edinburgh Castle where Ram and Heath closeted themselves with James Stewart to make a full report of all they had learned in England. It had been a stroke of genius to use Heath Kennedy to gather information because the Gypsy people were allowed to travel freely from town to town, and men and women confided in them and told Gypsies things they wouldn’t even divulge to their neighbors.

James Stewart called all his advisers and border chiefs to Edinburgh. He had the winter months to make decisions about Scotland and whether to declare war on England The harsh Scottish winter would curtail the raids deep into the country, limiting the skirmishes to a few border forays. Each laird was free to say his piece and offer his advice, but in the end it would be the king who made the final decision.

The Scottish Bishops, led by Elphinstone and Beaton, advised against war. They strongly advocated keeping the peace, thinking that England’s might in all-out war would easily subdue Scotland. Some of the clan chiefs urged James to declare war immediately; others agreed to fight England, but cautioned that they wait until spring. The majority of voices urged that James play a waiting game. If
England made war on France, it would take the pressure off Scotland. Let the vainglorious Henry Tudor spend the fortune his father had amassed on war with France, trying to conquer Guienne Let him expend his manpower, weapons, and ships fighting with the French—then his country would be unable to mount a full-scale war against Scotland

James Stewart was incensed He reminded his chiefs that Scotland had signed an alliance with France promising Scotland would march into England if she made war on France. In the end, of course, King James had his way. He decided to use the winter months to recruit an army greater than Scotland had ever had before. He decided to call a justice Ayre in the Highlands of the North and attend himself, urging a call to arms from fourteen earldoms Argyll, Atoll, Bothwell, Caithness, Cassillis, Crawford, Douglas, Erroll, Glencairn, Huntly, Lennox, Montrose, Morton, and Rothes He told them, “I rule Scotland, not Henry Tudor, and I shall write it in letters of fire and blood across his borders if I have to!”

Bothwell fiercely supported him “I’ll burn Carlisle!” he offered boldly

Douglas urged the king to be practical It made sense to use the winter months to recruit and make Scotland a power with which to be reckoned, but a massive show of strength along their borders would be an effective deterrent. Douglas was totally against honoring the alliance with France.

Ram closeted himself with Angus. Heath had told Ram exactly what the queen had written in her letter to her brother Henry, and Ram decided to confront Archibald Douglas with the information rather than divulge it to King James

Angus waved a dismissive hand “I dinna ken what yer on about, laddie”

“Angus, ye crafty old swine, ye know exactly what I’m on about. Margaret hinted the Tudors might soon be related
to Douglas. A nod’s as good as a wink tae a blind horse, man! When ye read between the lines it means there will be a war between England and Scotland, and if James Stewart is killed as a result, Margaret will wed yer son and be Regent of Scotland.”

Angus eyed his favorite nephew and thought for the thousandth time what a pity he wouldn’t inherit the earldom. He would make ten times the regent young Archie would make. Angus sighed. “Ramsay, ye know the Scots would rather fight than eat. We are every last one of us cursed with pride of blood. If ye face it squarely, ye know war with England is inevitable. James Stewart will be on the front battle lines. He’s a soldier to his bones. He’ll be in the front vanguard. I cannot aid his survival, no more than I can guarantee victory for Scotland. My first duty and allegiance is not tae Scotland, nor tae the House o’ Stewart. My first duty is tae Clan Douglas. War has a way of plucking the flowers and leaving the nettles tae flourish. Henry Tudor’s sister already sits on the throne of Scotland. If Tudor wins the war, I want Douglas power at the helm of the ship of state”

Ramsay almost choked on his anger but thought long and hard on Angus’s words. He was not advocating any sort of betrayal. The whole clan would support the king and fight in the vanguard alongside James. The Bleeding Heart of Douglas would be represented by larger numbers than any other clan, but if Scotland went down in defeat, clan Douglas would be there to pick up the pieces as it had for centuries.

Valentina had seen next to nothing of Ram since the king called the council of war. She mixed very little with the women of the court. Occasionally she rode out with Janet Kennedy, and when she could not avoid an invitation from Queen Margaret and her ladies, she took supper with them. But just the sight of Henry Tudor’s sister sickened her. The family resemblance was too marked for Tina to be
comfortable in her presence. She preferred the company of Ada They sewed new garments for Ramsay, embroidered shifts and nightrails for Tina, and both of them worked on a new wardrobe for Ada. Tina took as much pleasure in the clothes as Ada, and when Angus took her hawking a couple of times and insisted Ada come along, Tina teased her woman about the great conquest she had made.

November was half over before Ramsay and Valentina found themselves with time enough to share an evening together. They dined alone in their small chamber at Edinburgh Castle. There was no fireplace for them to sit before, and the chill, inhospitable chamber made them long for Douglas. It might be dubbed Castle Dangerous, but it was warm and inviting, even luxurious compared with this pile of cold gray stone The bed loomed large before them as Ram pushed away his plate and emptied the wine bottle into her goblet. “If this bottle could produce a genie who would grant me only one wish, it wouldn’t be for eternal life, nor the riches of Croesus.” He came behind her, put his hands upon her shoulders, and dipped his head to touch his lips to her ear.

Her hand lifted to caress his cheek, and she murmured seductively, “I know exactly what you would wish for—I desire the very same thing.”

They were in a playful mood, intent upon teasing each other. His hands slipped over her shoulders, down to her lovely breasts, as he whispered hoarsely, “Just the thought of what I want makes my mouth go dry with longing.”

“Mine too,” she said, threading her fingers through his midnight black hair. “I want it so badly, I can taste it,” she whispered outrageously.

Ram swung her into his arms. “I am a slave tae my sinful longings. I’ll tell ye what I want if ye’ll do the same.”

They looked solemnly into each other’s eyes and spoke in unison. “Mr. Burque’s
chocolat
truffles!” they said, unable to keep their laughter dammed up any longer. He
swung her about the room until finally they fell laughing to the bed. Their faces became intense.

“I’m starved for ye, sweetheart,” he told her, undressing her with infinitely tender hands. When the last of their garments had been banished to the floor, she came up from the bed onto her knees. Ram did the same. They clung and pressed together until they touched from thigh to breastbone, their mouths fused together as if no power on earth could ever separate them again. Their thick eyelashes brushed together, and he held her as if she were part of his own flesh. It was more than an hour later that the fierce clinging and kissing slowed long enough for them to lie down together.

Ram knew the entire winter would consist of one separation after another while he scoured the country for recruits, but tonight belonged to them, and they would savor each other to the full, unhurried as it should be between lovers who had been made for each other.

They had no need for a fire; this bleak winter night, they made their own heat. He had hungered to be buried deep inside her for so long, his shaft probed between her lips of its own accord, and a violent shudder went through him when he found her swollen with need. When the entire hard length of him was within her scalding sheath, he held it still until they could feel each other pulsing, then slowly he raised his head and kissed her temples, brow, eyelids, and the corners of her mouth until his tongue could not be denied It too plunged within the scalding intimate haven and pulsed and throbbed as violently above as he did below. They savored each other for another hour this way, postponing the inevitable cataclysm that would separate them. When the convulsive climax came, however, it was deeply and completely satisfying to both of them as he filled her with his life.

She lay enfolded in his powerful arms for the rest of the night.

“I’ll take ye home tae Douglas if ye can bear the sight of
the place again. I have tae go west and north, and I swear I’ll come tae ye for the night whenever I find myself within fifty miles.”

“Home to me is wherever you are. If you can’t come to me, I’ll come to you. I’d follow you to the ends of the earth.” Both knew their love was such that the angels might envy.

Ram set an easy pace on the ride from Edinburgh, so consequently the journey of forty miles took up most of the day. It wasn’t long enough for Ram and Tina, however. They enjoyed every minute of the cold ride through the majestic southern uplands. The colors of the season were vastly different than at any other time of year. The sere branches of winter reached hauntingly against the loden-colored hills and pewter sky.

They glimpsed red deer through the bare trees and watched hawks and other raptors circling the skies in search of prey. When they stopped to water their horses on the banks of the Clyde, they walked off alone from their attendants so they could embrace and enjoy a few stolen kisses where the air was as heady as sweet wine. Though they had ridden stirrup to stirrup all the way, it was no longer close enough to satisfy them. When they resumed their journey, Ram took her up before him in the saddle.

The warm fragrance of her skin and hair mixed with the scent of horse and leather acted as a potent aphrodisiac, so that by the time they reached the castle at Douglas, Ram was incapable of doing anything save carry her to his bed.

Damaris and Alexander stood at the top of the staircase hand in hand. It had been so long that Valentina and Ram had spent the night under the same roof with them, they had despaired of their ever returning.

After sixteen long years Alexander had managed to make Damaris listen to his story of what had happened on that fateful night that culminated in tragedy. Damaris believed him with all her heart and soul. She had never really
stopped loving him—she had only been so deeply hurt at the thought that he could poison her, that she had built a carapace about herself that none could penetrate. Now they were as close in death as they had ever been in life.

Alexander had shown her the evil shadow that still lurked at Castle Dangerous, and they had committed themselves to preserving the lives of Ramsay and Valentina, to give their very tenuous love a chance to grow and flourish. They both felt that their deaths would not be in vain if Ram and Tina loved, married, and produced the children that they had been cruelly denied. Together, their power for good would overcome the power of evil that festered at the core of Castle Dangerous.

The spirits were not the only ones overjoyed to see the safe return of Black Ram Douglas. His own moss-troopers as well as Angus’s men-at-arms had known of his arrest and had gathered at Douglas hoping he would be able to escape his enemies and return, though none of them had actually believed he could accomplish such a feat.

Ram’s wolfhound, the Boozer, rolled in a paroxysm of happiness in the center of the great bed, forcing Ram to cool his ardor until he and his lady had patted and stroked and allowed him to wash their faces with his great rough tongue. So while the lovers lay abed whispering and touching and mating, plans were laid for a great feast. Mr. Burque planned the food, while Colin arranged for the pipers and issued an invitation to every household in the town of Douglas

It was as if Christmas had come early this year. The spirit lovers were euphoric that Ram and Tina were so wrapped up in each other. No longer were they like two scorpions, circling, waiting for the opportunity to sting. Alex and Damaris had a surprise of their own and plotted and planned a way for Valentina to find Mad Malcolm’s lap desk, which contained the history of Clan Douglas with all its ugly secrets. It was the key to revealing the truth about their own tragedy and preventing another.

Ram and Tina arose very late the next morning. When they came downstairs, they saw how everything had been hung with holly, ivy, and mistletoe. In front of everyone Ram put the mistletoe to good use, and Tina blushed at the hoots and whistles of the moss-troopers. He cocked a black brow and warned, “Don’t even think of trying this with my woman.”

It was one of the happiest days of their lives. When they visited the stables, they saw that the lovely Barbary mare, Indigo, was visibly swollen with a colt. They indulged in a mock argument over who would own it and what its name would be. They even argued over the gestation period for a horse. Tina thought it was over a year, but Ram informed her it was eleven months.