The Highlander's Bride (16 page)

Before rational thought took hold, he grabbed her and pulled her onto his horse, not caring how his action would appear to others. He smoothed her hair back and tucked it behind her ears. Her lashes framed her eyes and caught the tears forming in them.

He stroked her cheek to calm her fears. “Laurel, just tell me what you did. I promise not to be angry, love. Did you tear down a building or erect a new one?”

She loved the feeling of being in his arms again. He felt strong and sure, warm and safe. She knew she should respond and answer his question, but at that moment she could think of nothing else but the last time he kissed her. How she wanted him to kiss her again. The craving was almost unbearable. Only the ingrained rules of propriety kept her from throwing her arms around him and drawing his lips down to hers.

Conor, however, did not have such rules restraining him. Her mouth was slightly open, and she was breathing more rapidly. He could feel her heart beating against his chest. Time and distance had done nothing to diminish the attraction he felt for her. It was almost tangible, it felt so strong and powerful. The yearning he had worked so hard to suppress for the past two weeks heated his blood.

He gave into his desires and lowered his head until his lips were against hers. She responded instantly, slanting her head to give him better access. He kissed her gently, exhibiting great restraint. Her lips parted beneath his gently persuasive mouth. His tongue probed her warmth, twirling, darting in and out.

Shy only at first, Laurel started to imitate his movements. Her hands gripped his shoulders drawing him closer and closer. She couldn’t get enough. The kiss kindled a fire within her, sparking something primitive and completely feminine deep within her. A groan came rolling up from somewhere, and only after several seconds did Laurel realize it was her. She didn’t understand her primal reaction, but only wanted more of what he was doing to her.

Conor was about to explode with need at Laurel’s innocent but passionate responses. She melted in his arms. Her low moans and sighs fueled him further. He wanted more—needed more. He reached down and cupped her breast, flicking his thumb across her clothed nipple reveling in its response. He could feel her complete submission to him and was reaching down to discover what was underneath her skirts when he heard horses approaching.

Conor abruptly ended the kiss and gently shook Laurel into awareness again. God, she was beautiful. He looked down at her trying to regain awareness while bringing her out of a state of heavy passion. He then realized how close he had been to losing all control. He couldn’t do this. Marriage was not for him. Laurel was not for him. He acknowledged the desire, but not where it was leading. He would make a commitment to no woman.

“Ho! Conor! Is Lady Laurel all right?” Craig asked, approaching from behind. He could see his brother shielding Laurel for a moment before placing her back on her gray steed.

Laurel was once again mortified. Ashamed at her lack of self control, ashamed at primitive desires, but mostly she was ashamed at her behavior after all the promises she had made to herself. The plan was to be polite, but aloof, to be friendly while remaining at a safe physical distance. How, then, did she end up in his arms again within an hour of his return?

Still beet-red from her indiscretions, she responded to Craig over her shoulder while easing Borrail towards the castle gate. “I am perfectly fine, Craig. It is nice to see you again, Seamus. You too, Crevan.” She waved a hand at them without actually looking in their direction. She needed just a few minutes to regain her composure.

Entering the keep, Laurel made an effort towards normalcy. “I was just about to ask your laird a favor,” she said to Craig as she dismounted.

“From his lap, milady?”

“She was falling off her horse,” Conor fabricated, trying to divert their assumptions. It was clear that he was also not inclined to advertise what had happened. In fact, he looked like he wished it had not occurred at all. Was she understanding him correctly? Was Conor regretting their kiss?

They were in the courtyard now. She slid off Borrail and led him towards the stables. Clyde ran out to gather her horse and put him up for the night.

“Clyde? What are you doing in the stables?” Conor asked incredulously. He had been trying to get Clyde and his younger brothers to take on some responsibilities with the keep for years.

“It was Laurel’s idea. She wanted Neal to have someone to help and…and becooth?”

“Bequeath,” Laurel said, correcting him.

“Aye, bequeath. For Neal to bequeath his knowledge to the younger generation.” Clyde smiled at his ability to restate all the large words he had heard Laurel use when convincing Neal to take Clyde as one of his first charges. “What that really means is that I get to learn all about horses. I get to ride them, brush them, and be with them every day. It’s my job! Neal says it is really important and that if I learn it well, I will be a better soldier and guardsman someday.”

Conor looked at his younger brother who plainly desired his encouragement and support. “Neal, teach him well. If he shirks his duties, let me know.”

“Aye, he’s a good lad, laird. Quick and eager to learn, too. He has worked well with your lady’s mount. He won’t be a-shirking any duties, and if he does, well, Fallon and I will be doing the correcting.” Neal was testing the waters now. Would the laird allow them to run the keep as before?

“Clyde?” Conor looked intently at his younger brother.

“Aye, Con…I mean, laird?” he corrected himself, catching Neal’s disapproving eye. Neal had been instructing him in the ways of respect and loyalty. It was true Conor was Clyde’s brother, but more important—especially when on duty—he was Clyde’s laird. That demanded deference and proper recognition.

“I suggest you mind Neal and do what he says. For it appears if you don’t, you will have bigger worries than myself. You will have Fallon to explain to and appease.” The old stable master smiled and helped lead the horses back into their stalls.

“Neal?” called out Laurel. “You won’t be forgetting about tonight?”

“No, milady, I won’t be forgetting. And after tonight, I doubt me laird will either,” he called over his shoulder trying unsuccessfully to keep his amusement from being too obvious.

This was getting ridiculous, Laurel muttered to herself. Referring to her as if she was Conor’s woman and now this. She needed to make it clear to Conor and everyone that she was
not
the laird’s lady.

Laurel turned back to Conor, forgetting that Crevan and Craig were standing just behind him with Seamus. She lowered her voice and said, “Conor McTiernay, don’t you ever kiss me again like that. Did you tell your men that we were getting married? For they are under the impression that we are, constantly referring to me as the laird’s lady everywhere I turn.”

Conor was caught by surprise. Was she trying to trap him into a proposal? He had learned this trick several years ago and was on to such schemes.

“No, Laurel. I have told you before that I will never marry,” he said loudly through gritted teeth.

She gasped, her mouth hanging open. Her response of indignation just fueled his temper. “I will not be asking you nor anyone else—no matter what games you play!” he bellowed so that all could hear.

Laurel’s chin came up angrily, her turquoise eyes sparkling with rage. “I don’t think
you
understand, Laird McTiernay,” she shouted in return. “It is
I
, not you, who is deciding that there is nothing between us. You may have never asked, but I promise you that if you did, I would say NO! I would never marry you! And furthermore, you big hulking brute of a man,
when
I marry it will be to someone who is chivalrous, polite and thoughtful. Certainly not to a yelling giant who runs his manor in disorganized filth. He will be of a normal height and size and act as a gentleman!”

“Then you will marry a weak, feeble, short, pathetic ENGLISHMAN!” he roared back. It did not matter that he didn’t want to marry her. But the idea that she would rather marry some future sap was intolerable.

“I will not marry an Englishman! I’m going to marry a Scot and…” She was about to finish her retort, but realized a large crowd had been gathering outside the buildings and on the curtain walls surrounding the courtyard.

Oh Lord, he had done it to her again. Would she never learn to control her conduct around him? These people must think her senseless to be accusing Conor of being less than gentlemanly after he rescued her and gave her shelter. Instantly her composure returned, just as if the last exchange had never taken place.

Sweetly, she said aloud, “I must go now and get ready. But promise me that you will not change a thing until we have discussed it.” She paused and whispered so that only he could hear, “And you will not let a single person here know if you are displeased with the results.” She was acting so sweet, no one would have guessed she possessed the fiery temper she had just displayed. “Remember, they did all of it for you. They love you, Conor, please remember that.”

And then she left, disappearing into the Star Tower, not staying to hear whether he agreed to the promise or not. He was still reeling from their exchange and then her complete change in disposition. One moment she was full of fury and the next, she was pleasant and ingenuous. Only her large eyes could not hide the hurt she was feeling.

He was still unsure about her reference to keep changes. But he did pick up on the fact that Fallon was back to work, most likely resuming his old duties. He was going to find the old buzzard and ferret out what had been taking place at his keep. Only then would he decide whether or not he would be “changing things.”

Conor was sitting in the great hall, observing his soldiers and clansmen recalling the day’s events. Laurel still had not arrived, but in the few hours that had passed since she departed he had learned much.

Fallon had deftly maneuvered him into a bath and dressed him for an elaborate evening celebration. While bathing, Conor was able to get his “reinstated” steward to tell him some of the transformations that had been made since he left two weeks ago.

Laurel had accomplished a miracle in direct defiance of his wishes, it seemed. Several years ago he tried to teach appreciation and the value of their clansmen’s help to his brothers by removing all support from their daily lives. Unfortunately, that resulted in a keep not fit for living. Rather than admit his error or undo a command, Conor had allowed only work necessary to the maintenance of the structural integrity of the castle to be performed.

When Fallon told him that Laurel had
knowingly
reversed his long-standing command and had re-established order at the keep, he instantly realized why she had been nervous. And she was correct to feel so. Who did she think she was? He wanted to confront her immediately, but his annoyance was so intense he decided to calm down first.

Later, after he had met with Finn, he realized his own folly. Finn reminded him of Laurel’s warning. But when Conor began to bellow that she didn’t have his permission to make changes and what right did she have to hire staff and clean his manor, Finn could stand no more.

“Now I respect you, laird, more than anyone I know. And I would follow you into battle defending yours and any McTiernay under any circumstances. But I cannot continue to listen to you disavow your own promises.”

“Those are not mere words, Finn, and you had best remember that I would kill a man for saying that I don’t keep my word.” A quiet calm overcame Conor at that moment. His frustration and anger over Laurel and her ministrations had been loud and alarming. But the quiet composure he was demonstrating now was terrifying.

“Then I guess it wasn’t you who said she could make the place livable. So all of us misunderstood you the night in the courtyard before you left, when you agreed that the keep was not habitable in its current condition.” Finn leaned back against the stone wall, waiting for Conor to understand the trap she had created for him.

Conor fought the realization, insisting she was just being invasive and underhanded to achieve her goal.

“And what goal would that be, laird?” Finn replied, getting a little irritated with Conor’s refusal to see what was around him.

“Revenge, pure and simple. She said I would rue the day and I do. But I assure you that my revenge will be doubly as sweet.”

“I have never seen you react so recklessly, laird. But I guess there is always that one woman who can make a man act such a way one time or another in their lives.”

Conor shot him a look that would have made most men drop to their knees quivering in fear.

“Take a look around you!” Finn insisted. “It is not revenge you see, but love. Aye, love! Do you know how hard she has worked and prepared for your return? Look at her hands, and you will find roughened skin. She was not ordering people blithely about, Conor, but helping. Have you not wondered how and why your people have taken her—an Englishwoman—so quickly and securely under their wing? Every day she went to work helping, organizing, cleaning, and fixing this place she called
your
home. That’s right—your home.

“She made decisions that many would shrink away from. She began repairs on cottages for the winter; she gave jobs to those who wanted them. Your lady took the time to get to know your clansmen and their problems so that she could better balance castle requirements and your people’s needs. Not just for safety, but she gave them something that no one seemed to realize they were missing. Their pride.

“I will tell you this, Conor. You can yell, protest, and object to all the changes Laurel has made, but I wouldn’t do it in front of anyone besides Fallon and myself. Your clansmen are loyal to you, but they are now very loyal to your lady as well.”

Conor sat back, absorbing all that Finn had said. It was only after he recollected how his people had acted toward her that his anger truly dissipated enough to allow him to appreciate the changes that had been made. He had really worried that she would be not accepted. Instead, she was both loved and respected.