Aidan (4 page)

“Get away from the lassi
e afore I kill ye,” the Scotsman warned.

Dempster
released her quickly, unsheathing his sword at his side. The Scotsman met him with his own sword, and when the second guard stood to join him, the Highlander kicked him, sending him sprawling across the ground.

Effie jumped up and backed away from the fight, seeing the second guard pulling his sword and rushing toward the Scot.

“Behind ye,” she cried out, and with one motion the Scot disarmed Dempster and had the point of his sword under the chin of the Englishman’s friend.

“Did they harm ye in any way, lassie?” asked the Scot. “Becooz if they did, jest tell me and I’ll run me blade through both o’ them right
now.”

“Nay,” she said, not wanting the guards killed, knowing
that if that happened, Lord Ralston would probably take it out on her sister. “They didna harm me, now please jest let them go.”

“Are ye sure, lassie?” he asked over his shoulder, but not taking his eyes from the men.

“I’m sure,” she answered.

“Th
en I want the two of ye te leave quickly and no’ come back te the fair. If I even see ye again, I swear it’ll be the last time we e’er meet, and it’s no’ me own deith I’m talkin’ aboot.”

The guards looked at her, and since she knew the Scot couldn’t
see her, she just nodded her head, signaling to them that she’d try to get information out of the Highlander.

“Fine,” said
Dempster. “Just let us go.”

The Scot
moved his blade from the soldier’s neck and they both scurried away quickly out of sight.

“Than
k ye,” said Effie, when the man turned to look at her.

“What are ye do
in’ alone in the woods te begin with?” He replaced his sword in the scabbard at his waist.

“I . . . was using a bush,” she said for lack of anything else coming to mind.

“Then ye better get on back te yer clan afore those English curs cause ye any more trouble.”

“I dinna think they will.”

He looked surprised by her comment as he walked up to her. “Why would ye think a thing like thet, lassie?”

“Because . . . ye scared them away. And I ken I’m safe now thet I’m with ye.”

He seemed to like that answer, as the corners of his mouth turned upward into a smile of satisfaction. She knew that Highlanders thought highly of themselves, and a few compliments would get her far.

“Me name
is Aidan. Aidan MacKeefe,” he said. His tawny brown eyes studied her, and she saw a kindness within them. His blond hair hung down to his shoulders, lifting in the slight summer breeze, making him look like some sort of pagan god. Stubble shadowed his face in a slight mustache and beard, adding to the ruggedness of his composure. He wore a white leine, long tunic down to his knees, with the lacings untied, showing his sturdy chest. He had a plaid wrapped around him and thrown over one shoulder. He seemed to have large muscles, and looked to be very strong. She liked that. She hadn’t been so close to a handsome man . . . ever.

“Are ye
a Highlander?” she asked, surveying his wild, rugged looks. She was from the Lowlands, and knew that Highlanders were said to be barbaric and mad.

“I am,” he said, and before she could say anything more, a squirrel dropped from the tree above and landed on the man’s shoulder. She screamed and jumped back, but he didn’t even flinch. He reached out for the animal, and it scurried from one of his arms to the other before settling on his back, peering over the top with wide eyes.

“There’s – a squirrel on yer back,” she said, just in case he hadn’t noticed.

“I ken,” he said, his eyes never leaving her for a moment.
“Thet’s me pet, Reid.”

Now she knew he was one of those crazy Highlanders she’d heard about. This point proved it.
“How nice,” she said and forced a smile.

“So are ye goin’
te tell me yer name, me bonnie cailin?”

“I’m Effie,” she said, finding herself getting lost within
the swirling depths of his eyes. His perusal of her drew her in, making her feel excited. He was not only ruggedly handsome, but he was also looking at her as if her presence excited him as well. She’d never felt anything like this in her life.

Tasgall
stepped through the trees making his presence known just then, and ruining her magical moment. “She is Effie MacDuff and she is here with me,” he said, and shot her a sickening smirk.

“Ye are a MacDuff?” Aidan asked, surprised.

“Aye, I am Effie MacDuff,” she admitted, and smiled, hoping to hell the MacKeefes and the MacDuffs weren’t in the midst of some kind of feud.

“And who may ye
be?” he asked, surveying Tasgall from head to toe.

“I’m
Tasgall. I am a gypsy,” he said. “Effie and I are the last ones left o’ our little family, as the English have attacked and killed off the rest jest the other day.”

“A gyps
y?” He looked confused. “But I thought the lassie was a MacDuff.” His hand went to the hilt of his sword, and Effie knew he didn’t trust them.

“It’s true,” she said, stepping in
between them. “Me mathair was once a MacDuff but broke away from the clan. I was raised as a gypsy, a traveler, jest wandering the land.”

“I dinna understand
,” he said, still eyeing up Tasgall cautiously. Effie knew she would never get any information out of any Scot if Tasgall decided to tag along. He had a face that could not be trusted, and his gaze was shifty. And he wore raggedy clothes. No one trusted a gypsy in the first place, and it was going to be hard enough to gather information now that the Highlander knew she was a gypsy as well. The idiot, Tasgall, may have very well just ruined her chance to save her sister.

“Me throat is parched,” she said
, clearing her throat. “Aidan MacKeefe, would ye mind takin’ me somewhere so I can get somethin’ te drink?”

“I
kennawhat ye like te drink, but Callum MacKeefe is the owner o’ the Horn and Hoof pub and he brews a mean mountain magic,” Aidan told her.

She had no idea what he was talking about, but he was offering to take her to a pub, and she was sure there’d be lots of loose tongues in there, and hopefully she could gather
the information she needed to help save her sister.

“Thet
sounds good te me,” said Tasgall.

Effie just scowled at him. “Dinna ye need
te go fetch our supplies so we have somethin’ te eat tonight?”

When Aidan turned to look at the man, Effie motioned with her head for him to leave them alone.

“I’ll meet ye at the pub in a wee bit then,” Tasgall said, nodding and hurrying away.

“Well then,” she said, releasing a deep breath and brushing the leaves and dirt from her clothes, “shall we go and get us some o’ thet mountain magic?”
She grabbed on to Aidan’s arm, and almost laughed when he jolted in surprise.

“All right,” he said. “Let us go get
te ken each other better.”

He led her to the pub, and once inside, she saw a bunch of rowdy Scots gathered around a table hooting and
hollering as two of the men arm-wrestled. Coins hit the table as people placed their bets, and the roar in the room grew.

“What’s goin’ on?” she asked.

“Oh, thet’s jest me friends foolin’ around, havin’ had too much te drink as usual.”

She watched a dark-
haired man with two different colored eyes collecting the bets as a big, ugly old Scot with rotten teeth arm-wrestled another very handsome Scot with dark hair and bulging muscles. The latter won the arm wrestle and jumped up and shook a fist in the air in triumph. Then the pubkeeper passed out drinks for everyone. Aidan grabbed one and downed it in one move, then took another off the server’s tray and handed it to her.

“Try it,” he said. “It’s mountain magic. But until ye’re used
te it, ye’d –”

She downed it the way
he had, and plunked the drinking vessel back down atop the server’s tray. Then she felt it.  Fire raging like a hot poker in her throat, blazing a trail down her chest all the way to her stomach.

“-
better jest take a sip,” he added, a little too late.

She clutched
her throat and gasped for breath, bending over, feeling like she was going to die.

“Are ye all right, lassie?” he asked, patting her on the back. His squirrel scampered off his shoulder and down her arm to the drink board, scaring her out o
f her wits. She jerked upward quickly and ended up falling into his arms.

She felt the heat of his
embrace, as his arms wrapped around her in a protective manner. His strength was evident, and she felt more protected than she’d ever felt in her entire life. She was short, and he was tall, and her head rested against the bare skin of his chest peeking out from his untied leine.

“I tried
te warn ye,” he told her with a smile.

“I’m fine
,” she gasped out in a breathy voice. “Jest fine.” Her head dizzied and she held on to him as her body swayed.

“Aida
n, ye take on Ian now, as he’s been undefeated all night,” shouted out the man with two different colored eyes.

Aidan was going to object to the challenge, until Effie urged him on.

“Come on, do it,” she said.

He looked down to her, and noticed the dazed look in her eyes from the potent whisky.

“I dinna think
so,” he said, which only earned him shouts from the drunken crowd.

“What’s the matter, afeard
te let me see those big, bad muscles?” Effie snaked her hand under his leine and squeezed the top of his arm. “I like the feel of it,” she said with a big smile. Aidan knew it was the whisky talking, but he never turned down a chance to impress a bonnie lassie. And if he played his cards right, he may just have this one in his bed by tonight.

“All right,” he said, sitting down and facing Ian.

“Who’s the lassie ye picked up?” asked Ian, clasping hands with him as Onyx started counting down for them to start.

“Her name is Effie.”

“If she’s a hoor, mayhap ye’ll share her when ye’re done?”

Effie leaned up against the back of him, and he could tell that she was having a hard time standing.

“She’s no’ a hoor,” he said, and hoped to hell he was right. Because he rather liked her, and she was very pretty. And he didn’t want to share her – especially with Ian who had a charming way with women that he knew he could never match.

“Three . . . two . . . one . . . go!” shouted Onyx, letting loose of their hands.

It was an even challenge, neither of them being able to move the other’s hand, and then Ian looked up and winked at Effie.

“Stop the
t,” warned Aidan.

“
Greetin’s, lassie,” Ian said to her. “Me name is Ian, and me friend here is Dagger,” he said nodding toward Onyx. “Will ye come and hang on me next the way ye’re clingin’ te Aidan?”

“I’ve had e
nough.” Aidan slammed Ian’s hand to the table in anger, and Onyx declared him the winner.

“Quit bein’ so sore,” said Ian, laughing. “I was only tryin’ te see if the lassie would consider a threesome with us later.”

That did it. Aidan lunged over the table, taking his friend to the ground. They rolled around on the floor until Ian got Aidan in one of his headlocks once again.

“What did ye do thet fer?” asked Ian.

“I dinna like what ye said aboot the lassie.”

“But I thought ye liked threesomes,”
Ian said in his defense.

“No’ with another man,” growled Aidan. “And no one is havin’ a threesome with Effie.”

“What’s the matter with ye, Aidan?” Onyx walked up to them.

“I willna let Ian steal this one,” sa
id Aidan. “She’s mine, I tell ye, so back off.”

He didn’t normally
act so possessive over a girl he’d just met, and normally didn’t mind sharing. But something about this one touched a place in his heart. He felt like he knew her from somewhere, as she seemed familiar, but he just couldn’t place her. But he felt as if he needed to protect her. He didn’t understand why he was feeling this way, but knew he didn’t want Ian anywhere near her.

“Aidan, ye picked yerself a feisty one this time,” said Onyx.

“What do ye mean?” he said from under Ian’s arm.

“Dinna look now, but she’s arm wrestling one o’ the pub’s hoors.”

“She’s what?” Aidan pushed out from under Ian’s arm, and they both joined Onyx in standing there with their mouths gaping open as Effie sat in the same spot the men just vacated, with her sleeve rolled up, and arm-wrestling one of the pub’s whores.

Coins flew in all directions, and the men in the pub made a big ruckus, falling over each other as they ran to the table where the women competed.

“Effie, what’re ye doin’?” asked Aidan, walking up behind her, pushing a few men to the side in the process.