The Morrigan: Damaged Deities (15 page)

“Says who?  It’s not like you’re working for OSHA, or something,” Bev quipped. “Anyway, my love, I got a crook to catch. So the next time this phone rings with your name, it better be moans and groans I hear.” To drive her point home, Bev moaned and groaned better than the best porn star, which resulted in more hoopla from the cops in the background. 

Morrie laughed and said good-bye, holding her phone close while she stared out of the windows on the dark marshes beyond.

If she stuck around much longer, she would give into the handsome Scot and fulfill both Bev’s dream and her order of moaning and groaning.  The only way to prevent that would be to find the horse. 

Though she didn’t have much confidence in accomplishing her task that night, she still decided the cold night air would do well to clear her head. 

Dressing again in jeans and a sweater, Morrie slipped out of the house and into the night.

C
HAPTER
T
HIRTEEN

“It is forbidden to kill; therefore all murderers are punished unless they kill in large numbers and to the sound of trumpets.”

Voltaire

With the exception of that first night, the horse continued to elude Morrie.  Because of that and Danny having taken the next few days off, Morrie made herself useful in other ways. 

Her mornings began with working with the Clydesdales after discovering their solitude in the stalls had resulted in the great beasts developing some bad behavior.  The horses were too big and powerful to allow them to be unruly. 

By the end of the first afternoon, Morrie had them following her like two trained hounds.  After that, she helped break a wild mustang, calm a nervous mare that had found herself on a major highway and become slightly mentally damaged from it, and birth a foal.

With Danny away, Kade took on the responsibilities of repairs and the heavier tasks. 

Morrie would watch in awe as he carried large bails of hay, one on each broad shoulder into the stables.  With the strength of ten men he unloaded large supplies into the barn, repaired the fallen parts of the fence and chopped enough wood to carry the manor through several winters.  Swinging the axe with ease, his muscles strained against their fleshy confines, the thick logs yielding to his formidable power.  Often Morrie would have to force herself to turn away from him.

Occasionally Morrie would catch him watching her either from the window inside or the edges of the corral. 

When she passed him they would exchange polite pleasantries, sometimes he would flirt, but she found herself so busy with other horses, devoting the rest of her time to the original horse that little was spent with dalliances.  And she would continue to tell herself she was okay with that.

I
t had been days of restless dreams for Kade, his nightmares eased only with passing glimpses of the small, sassy brunette and her deep, blue eyes. 

The sight of Morrie emerging from the bathroom nights before, dark hair clinging to her soft, porcelain shoulders, thin rivulets of water streaming down her chest and gathering in the tight valley of her ample cleavage still haunted him, keeping him aching and uncomfortable.  It was a need he couldn’t take care of himself, no matter how many frustrating times he tried. 

The gray sky had lightened in the arriving morning; the house would soon begin to stir. 

Kade threw back his covers, pausing to recall the space Morrie had once occupied in his bed.  Frowning at his growing obsession with her, he shook himself free of his thoughts and rose, grabbing a pair of jeans.

Her presence in his home could be a destructive one; he had to get himself under control.  There were secrets hidden within the polished walls of the MacLeod Manner that had to remain that way. 

He had tried to avoid her, thinking maybe this strange interest would fade.  But Kade couldn’t deny the inner stirrings of feelings—foreign and inexplicable, some feral instinct that kept drawing his mind back to her. 

Something that kept telling him she belonged with him.  Morrie was his.

Given his past, he should be wary, but Kade didn’t seem to care. 

Wearing a thoughtful frown, Kade hurried through his shower and dressed quickly, pairing a warm sweater with his jeans.  Padding down the hall barefoot, he passed her door and stopped, leaning toward it to listen.  When he found only silence within, he nudged the door open—the room sat empty, the bed made.

How early did the lass rise?

The sun had barely crested the horizon and already she was gone. The room relinquished little evidence that anyone occupied it—the bed neatly made.  A small black duffle bag sat on a nearby armchair.  Below on the floor a pair of black flats were arranged neatly.

Kade headed downstairs, tugging his boots on when he reached the front door.  He passed through the kitchen, grabbing some toast left out on a plate and headed outside to walk the grounds.

Once out in the yard, the chill bit through his sweater and a light wind disturbed the hair at his temples.  In the distance he saw the stable doors opened and Morrie leading the bay out. 

His smile was automatic. 

The great beast dwarfed her, but she had full command of her, murmuring close to Annabelle’s muzzle as she held the lead near her chest.

Kade started to walk towards her when he stopped short, a strange young man following behind Morrie with the other horse in tow.  The hair on the back of his neck stood on end and Kade’s dislike for the stranger was immediate.

“She’s putty in yer hands, Morrie, dear,” Kade heard the lad say while watching after Morrie in a way that Kade did not like.

Morrie smiled and looked over her shoulder, answering him. “I think it’s the other way around.  She’s beautiful.  I haven’t worked with a Clydesdale in a long time before her and Banner.”

The two chatted like old friends. 

Apparently the lass had not only already crawled under Kade’s skin but also this wanker’s who was about to find his sorry, Irish ass kicked off the property.

Kade approached them, checking his expression to hide the gnawing jealousy he felt. 

When Morrie looked up and spied him, she stopped, her cheeks blushing lightly and lovely.

Kade grinned a bit, not ashamed to accept the blush even if it could have just been the cold.  Thanks to her constant contrariness, it was still too much to hope for that the blush had been for him.

“Goin’ for a mornin’ ride?” he asked.  He stood on the other side of the horse from her, planting himself inconspicuously (he hoped) between her and young Elvis. 

Though Kade smiled, he secretly thought of ways to go with her and ditch the other guy.

“Morrie’s gonna help me stretch the horses’ legs a bit,” the idiot said.  Kade turned his gaze to him.

“Is she now?”

“Aye.” The pisser offered Kade his hand with a goofy smile. “Danny O’Brien, and you must be Master Kade MacLeod.  I’m the new groundskeeper; I suppose that would make me your employee, as well.”

Kade shook his proffered hand, maybe a little too hard judging by the whip’s wince.  He returned his attention to the lass and let his gaze travel up and down her body.  He didn’t care how obvious it was, he would stare at her all day if he could.

In what seemed to be a uniform of sorts, she was once again fitted in her tiny, tight jeans, the dark denim hugging her little thighs and perfect ass that he didn’t mind appreciating more when she turned her back to him to adjust the reigns.  Her fitted flannel button-up was tucked neatly in with the sleeves rolled and pushed up past her elbows. 

In the early morning light, Kade observed small goose bumps across her pale skin. 

When Morrie faced him again, she frowned at his expression.

“What?” she asked.

“Are ye no’ cold?” he asked and gripped her delicate forearms in his hands, rubbing some heat and friction into them.  She continued to frown. 

He didn’t protest when she pulled her arms free.

“I didn’t want to ruin the coat Lorna lent me,” she said, sizing Kade up with her big eyes. “The run could kick up mud.”

“Did ye come tae Scotland without a coat, lass?” Kade asked, stepping back and crossing his arms. 

If she wanted to play cold and professional, then he could…well,
try
to, as well.

She pressed her lips in a line before answering. “It was destroyed.  By the horse.”

Kade’s eyebrows rose with acceptance.  He took another step back. “Still goin’ after the beasty, are ye?”

“It’s why I’m here.  Danny’s taking me down to the loch to get a different lay of the land.”

Morrie whipped the lead over the horse’s neck, gripping the saddle.  Kade grabbed her waist with both hands.  Though she gave him a slight scowl as he lifted her up on the horse, he did notice the blush back on her cheeks.

“Go easier on Annie than ye did the lorry, aye?” Kade said, rubbing Annabelle’s side, his hand just glancing along Morrie’s leg.  She stiffened in her saddle and Kade felt his need grow. 

Damn, this woman was going to be the death of him.

“She’s got a way with the beasts,” Danny chimed in, mounted on top of Banner. “If anyone can catch that horse, our Morrie can.”

Our Morrie? 

How did this asshole already become so friendly with her?  Kade felt his cheeks burn.

“Would you like to come with us?” Morrie asked. 

The question dumped a bucket of ice water on Kade, freeing him of his jealousy.  And no matter how much he might want to ride with Morrie, to liberate her from the stable boy, he couldn’t bring himself to go anywhere near the lake.

“No, no thank ye.” He stepped back from Annabelle. Morrie frowned down at him, but said nothing.  Kade forced a smile and waved them off. “I’ll see ye later, lass.”

Danny led, moving Banner forward with Morrie following, her hips swaying with Annabelle’s steps as she glanced back over her shoulder at Kade, her furrowed brow not easing. 

Kade wagered it was killing her to not ask him why—she’d had so many questions the other day at lunch.  He loved it.  He loved her curiosity. 

But she also seemed to have an intuition that knew when to let things lie.

Once they were to the edge of the yard and near the fence opening, Kade stormed off towards the house, making a line for his brother’s office.

“Who’s that daft bastard chattin’ up Morrie in the stables?” Kade demanded as he entered the study.  “Hamshank claims he works here.”

“He does.” Kamden didn’t look up from his newspaper, his reading glasses resting on the edge of his nose. 

Kade made a face, confused as to why they were there in the first place; his brother was barely thirty, too young for reading glasses.  Maybe it was a fashion statement, though for that to work, he would have to actually go out among society.

“Since when?” he asked, coming out of his confusion.

“Since ye took off for five years and left us alone here.  He minds the grounds.”

“So he said.”

“He also runs errands in town for Lorna when she can’t make it and handles some of the courier duties for the company.  She’s very busy and needed a hand.  It’s been difficult withou’ ye here.”

“Aye, alright, I get yer point.” Kade waved his brother off and paced the room in an attempt to control his behavior. 

He moved from the window to the bookshelf and back again, brushing aside the sheer curtains to glance outside, knowing he wouldn’t see her anyway.  His brother didn’t look up from the paper.

“Would ye pay attention tae me?” Kade asked. “I need yer help.”

With a huff, Kamden folded up his newspaper and set it down. “With what?”

Kade opened his mouth but the words stuck in his throat.  He wasn’t prepared to confess his feelings for Morrie yet or his displeasure at her spending any time with that weasel stable boy.