Capturing A Highland Knight (14 page)

             
Derek turned and looked at his wife.  She stood not far behind Maura with a serene look on her face.  He studied her eyes and could see the storm brewing.  He had learned that her eyes revealed what her expression did not.

             
“Is this another of yer
hures
?  How many do ye have, Derek?  Will any more show themselves?” she asked as calmly as she could.

             
“
Hure!
  Who are ye calling a
hure
?” Maura demanded turning toward Annabelle.

             
“Why, ye.  Arenae ye one?” Annabelle asked her in all innocence.

             
Derek watched the women and then looked at his brothers.  They were looking at Annabelle with curiosity and amusement.  He realized he had yet to introduce them to his wife.  Annabelle stood with her hands clasped before her.  She had her head tilted to one side as if she was really puzzled that Maura would deny being a whore.  Derek decided that he should step in before things got ugly, but before he could say anything, Maura lunged at Annabelle with her claws bearing.

             
Annabelle side stepped her and then grabbed her by the waist.  Spinning, she threw Maura onto the floor.  Maura lie stun for a moment, but then she scrambled to her feet and ran at Annabelle again.  Annabelle pulled back her fist and punched Maura in the nose.  Maura stood with surprise on her face and then crumpled to the floor.  There was a stunned silence from everyone that watched and then the men burst into raucous laughter.

             
Annabelle turned to Derek, who just stood looking at her with a strange look on his face.  She did not care and walked up to him and slapped him across the cheek.  The strange look instantly took a deadly turn.  All was silence again.

             
Annabelle stood her ground against him, although inside she was trembling.  She knew that she should not have hit him in company, but she was so angry and hurt that she acted without thinking.

             
“If ye ever do that again, I will beat ye within an inch of yer life,” he growled out to her between clenched teeth.

             
“I will do as I please, Derek MacDougal, because ye obviously will do the same,” she said to him, not taking her eyes from his.

             
He closed the gap between them until his full height towered over her.  She had to tilt her head back to keep his gaze, but she was not going to let him see her fear.

             
“Aye, I will do as I please, and ye will obey me,” he said.

             
Annabelle did not respond.  She gave him one last look and then stalked from the room, this time making it out of the front door.

“Annabelle!” Derek yelled as he started after her.

“Who was that?” Aster asked Derek, stopping him with his hand on his arm.

“My wife,” Derek scowled as he left the keep.

Chapter 17

Derek watched as Annabelle disappeared into the stables.  He followed her in and watched as she saddled the horse she had ridden here.  Her movements were sure and precise.  She patted the horse on the nose as she fit the bit into his mouth.  She made sure the saddle strap was tight and guided the horse from the stall.  He caught a glimpse of her face and was surprised to see tearstains on her cheeks.

  “Annabelle,” he said walking toward her.

She looked toward him but did not respond.  She put her foot in the stirrups and mounted the horse.

“Annabelle,” he repeated as he grew closer.

“What do ye want, Derek?” she said with irritation.

“Where do ye think ye are going?” he demanded.

Annabelle looked at him for a moment and then nudged her horse forward.  Derek reached out and stopped their progress.

“I demand ye tell me where ye are going,” he growled at her.

“I would think it would be obvious, Derek.  I am leaving.  Ye doona need me here,” she said nudging her horse to move once again.

“Ye are my wife,” he said, halting the horse again.

“Why did ye marry me, Derek?  Ye doona need a wife.  Ye have many who are willing to warm yer bed.  Why didnae ye just let me go home and marry my betrothed?” she demanded, frowning down into his face.

Derek reached up and yanked her off of the horse.  She yelped in surprise but managed to wriggle from his grasp once her feet touched the ground.

“It doesnae matter now.  Ye are my wife and ye will remain my wife.  Ye willnae be leaving,” he said stepping toward her.  She stepped back.

“I willnae live like this.  I willnae live wondering which bed ye are in at any given moment.  Let me go back home, Derek.  Ye can live freely with her
hures
and I can go home and try to salvage the contract my Da made with Laird Harold.  Maybe he will still have me,” she said.

Derek rushed her and pushed her against the stable wall.  She gasped as the air was pushed from her lungs.

“Ye willnae go back and marry another.  Ye are my wife and I willnae release ye!” he said close to her face.

“Let me go, ye brute!  Ye havenae choice in the matter because I release ye!  Ye can go be with yer
hure
and have one at every keep between here and England.  I doonae care,” she screamed, trying to hold back her tears.  “I willnae live like nothing is happening right under my nose!  I willnae be a laughingstock because of yer inability to keep yer manhood under control.  I will return to Kinloch and I willnae see ye again!”

She pushed at him with all of her strength but he would not budge.  His grip on her arms tightened.

“Listen to me weel, Annabelle.  If ye try to leave, I will hunt ye down until I find ye.  What belongs to me remains mine, and ye are mine,” he said.

“I belong to nay mon,” she cried.

“Ye belong to me,” he repeated and crushed her lips in a bruising kiss as if to seal the statement.

Annabelle tried to wrench her mouth away from his, but he was persistent.  His hands roved over her body roughly.  He kneaded her breasts through her gown and pushed her hard into the wall.  She pushed and pushed but he would not relent.  He reached down and pulled the hem of her gown up to her thighs.  He roughly pushed her legs apart and moved into the space they created.

Annabelle finally wrenched her mouth free.

“Stop it, Derek!” she cried still trying to push him off.

“Ye need to learn who is in control.  I am in control and ye will obey me,” he growled kissing her neck and shoulders.

“Get off of me, Derek!  Go lay with yer
hure
!”

Derek stopped abruptly and struck her across her cheek.  She gasped and grabbed her face.  She looked up at him.

“Ye willnae speak to me thus any longer, Annabelle,” he said menacingly.  His eyes were like steel.

“I will lay where I please, and right now I will lay with my wife,” he said and threw her to the ground.

Annabelle could not stop the tears from falling down her face.  She lay immobile as Derek came down beside her.  He continued his rough treatment of her, pulling her gown down below her breasts and pulling the hem up to her waist.  He positioned himself and thrust within her.  She held back a cry as he continued thrusting in and out.  Finally he lay still on top of her.  Annabelle bit her bottom lip to stop its trembling.

“I canna believe that I was beginning to… I hate ye, Derek MacDougal.  Never doubt that,” she said in an unsteady voice.

Derek grunted and moved to the side.  Annabelle forced her legs to hold her as she stood.  She put her gown back to rights as best she could and brushed as much straw from her hair as she found.  She ran her hands over her face and left the stable without looking back.

§

              Derek stared at the stable ceiling.  What had he done?  He had not come to the stable to force himself on Annabelle.  He wanted to tell her that she was not to confront him in front of his men or his family.  Her words echoed in his mind. 
I hate ye, Derek MacDougal.  Never doubt that.
  He ran his hand over his face.  He had never forced a woman before and he did not understand why he had done it now.

             
Annabelle had a right to be angry.  He had not rejected Maura’s advances at all.  In fact, he had been amused by them until her kiss.  If Annabelle had not interrupted, he would have stopped Maura.  But what had made him angry was that Annabelle confronted him in front of all in the keep.             

             
Derek sat up and looked around.  The horse Annabelle saddled was standing idly by.  He stood up and removed its bit and saddle and led it back into its stall.  He had not expected to see tears or her trying to leave him.  He felt something turn in his gut at the thought of her leaving.  He wanted her to know that she belonged to him and that he would not let her go.  It had gotten out of hand.  He could not see past the anger he felt toward her.  He wanted to teach her a lesson.  She was too headstrong for her own good.  She needed to know her place.

             
Derek sighed and walked back to the keep.  Should he apologize?  He heard her words again.
I hate ye, Derek MacDougal.
  Her voice had been void of emotion despite a slight tremor.  He had felt her tears on his cheek as he thrust into her.  He quickened his pace but was intercepted by his mother.

             
“Derek MacDougal, what did ye do to that poor lass?  She came inside and asked Tobias to show her to her chamber.  Her clothes were wrinkled and I saw the beginnings of a bruise coming up on her face,” she stormed toward him.

             
Brighid was a small woman, but she made up for it with her presence and confidence.  Her golden air was more white than gold but it still was a testament to her beauty.  He could see the concern and displeasure in her grey eyes.

             
Derek frowned as he remembered striking Annabelle.

             
“Who is she, Derek?  I could see she was trying to hold back tears.”

             
“My wife,” he grumbled trying to get past his mother.

             
“Yer wife?  Tell me how that came about later, but first I want to ken why ye struck her.  Ye were nay raised to strike women, Derek,” she reproved.

             
“She needed to learn her place.  She had nae right to confront me in front of the entire keep.  She needed to ken who was in control,” he growled at his mother.

             
“In control?  Ye call that control?  I can tell that she has spirit, but will ye break it, Derek, over pride?  I watched as she handled Maura.  If ye ask me, that lass had it coming to her.”

             
Derek smiled faintly.

             
“How came she to be yer wife?  When we left Dunkirk ye were rutting after Eilidh?”  Brighid asked.  He saw the disapproval on her face.  She hardly ever said anything to him about his actions, but he sometimes saw the disappointment on her face.  He always ignored it.

             
“’Tis a long story, mither,” he sighed.  He would have to tell them, but now was not the time.  He needed to find Annabelle.

             
“I have time to hear it, Derek,” his mother chuckled.

             
“Later.  I must go find Annabelle.”

             
“And do what?  Are ye going to insert yer will again?  Ye think ye want her submissive and placid, Derek, but ye doona,” she said to him running her hand over his cheek like she did when he was a lad.

             
He shook her hand away and stormed toward the keep.

§

              Annabelle closed the chamber door behind her.  Tobias told her that this was the chamber Derek used every time he visited Bondlach.  It was not elaborately furnished, but it looked comfortable with a huge bed in the middle of the room.  There was a table with a bowl and pitcher of water against one wall. 

             
Annabelle walked over to the single window and was surprised by the view of the fields behind the keep.  They were extensive and she could see the villagers working in them.  She turned back to the bed and sat down on the corner.  She touched the place on her face where Derek had struck her.  It was sore and she knew that a bruise was beginning to show by the look everyone she passed had given her.

             
She dashed away a tear.  She had never been struck before.  Even her father with his temper, had never laid a hand on her.  She felt angry and hurt.  She was more angry than hurt.  She vowed that that would be the first and last time Derek laid a hand on her in any way.

             
She stood again and walked to the window.  He wanted to control her, then she would give him what he wanted.  He wanted a wife who was docile and pretended that she was oblivious to the things going on around her, then that’s what she would give him.  Then when his guard was down, she would make her escape.  She was not about to stay in a situation like this.

             
Annabelle lay on the bed with her back to the door.  It would be a while before the evening meal.  She did not want to face anyone.  She knew that there would be a bruise on her face where Derek had struck her.  She gingerly touched it and winced at the pain.  She wiped another tear from her face and closed her eyes.

             
“Annabelle,” she heard from the chamber door.

             
She turned onto her other side to see who it could be.  There stood a beautiful, small woman with almost white hair.  Her grey eyes looked at Annabelle with concern and compassion.  Annabelle turned away from her.  She refused to cry another tear and the compassion in the woman’s eyes brought her close.

             
The woman closed the chamber door and walked over to the bed and sat down.  She rested her hand on Annabelle’s shoulder.

             
“Ye remind me a little of me when I was yer age, lass.  Weel, I amnae that different now,” she chuckled.  “I recognized yer spirit when I saw ye walk into the hall with my son, and ye proved it when ye confronted Maura.  I like that about ye, and I ken that my son likes that about ye too.”

             
Annabelle snorted. 

             
“When Derek was younger, he was the smallest of the bunch and he grew up having to prove that he was a warrior.  He grew into a big strong handsome mon and he hasnae been challenged by anyone in a long time.  His pride was pricked when ye challenged him in front of the other men,” she continued.

             
Annabelle turned toward Derek’s mother.  There was a small smile on Brighid’s face.

             
“I ken yer pride was pricked and ye may be thinking of ways to avenge yerself,” she paused and looked at Annabelle.

             
Annabelle smiled at her.  She liked Derek’s mother.

             
“What do ye plan to do?”

             
Annabelle looked at the woman and decided that she could tell her what she had planned.

             
“I plan to give Derek what he wants.  If he wants submissive, I will give him submissive and then when his guard is down, I will go back to my parents.”

             
Brighid frowned.

             
“I like it, except I doona think ye should leave him.”

             
“I will leave him.  I willnae stay with a mon who would strike me when the mood hits him.  I amnae used to such treatment, and my Da willnae tolerate it,” Annabelle replied defiantly.