Capturing A Highland Knight (16 page)

             
She turned to her husband and kissed him on the cheek.

             
“I finally have a daughter,” she winked.

             
Laird Breac chuckled and continued eating his meal.

§

             
Annabelle walked to a little loch she had seen from her window.  It sparkled in the dying light of day.  She took a deep breath and sat down beside the water.  A fish jumped up at an insect out of the water.  She jumped in surprise and then giggled as she realized what it was.

             
“What are ye laughing at lass?” she heard from behind her.

             
Startled, she stood up and turned toward the voice.   At first she could not make out who it was, but as the figure grew closer she recognized the face.

             
“Colm, you startled me!”

             
He chuckled and joined her at the water’s edge.

             
“Sorry, lass.  I dinna mean to scare ye,” he said, sitting down.

             
Annabelle sat beside him and looked back over the loch.  They sat in silence for a moment, listening to the fish catch their dinner and the frogs leap from lily pad to lily pad to find a mate.

             
“Does it still pain ye, Annabelle?” Colm asked quietly.

             
Annabelle knew what he was referring to, but the quietness of his voice alerted her.

             
“Nay, it doesnae.  Derek’s mither put a salve on it that seems to have taken the sting away.  She says the bruise will fade quickly.”

             
Colm nodded, but did not respond.  Annabelle tried to see his face in the growing darkness, but could only see shadows.

             
“Are ye alright, Colm?”

             
“He shouldnae have struck ye, lass,” he said.

             
Annabelle stared at Colm through the darkness and moonlight that was beginning to filter through the trees.  She could see the frown on his face.  She realized that he was very angry, and she knew that she must never tell anyone that Derek had also raped her.

             
“Never have I seen him strike a woman.  Not even Eilidh, and she has deserved it many times.”             

             
Colm turned to look at Annabelle.

             
“What is it about ye that makes him so angry?”

             
“Ach, ‘tis easy.  I doona sit docilely by while he beds every woman he sees.  ‘Tis what makes him so angry,” she replied, and threw a stick in the loch.

             
“I wanted to challenge him when ye came into the keep, but his brother, Jace, stopped me.  I told Derek before ye wed that if he dinna treat ye right, I would step in,” he said, turning back to the loch.

             
“Colm,” she gasped.

             
“Aye.  Do ye need me to step in, Annabelle?”

             
Annabelle watched her friend as he glanced her way.  She had no idea that he had feelings for her beyond friendship.  Colm was a very attractive man with his dark hair and blue eyes, but Annabelle realized that she did not feel that way toward him.  Although she was sure he would make a woman very happy one day.  He had a gentle and caring nature beneath his gruff exterior.

             
“Nay, Colm.  I have never had a mon to strike me before, not even my Da, and he has a temper that surpasses my own.  But I am sure Derek willnae do so again.  He even apologized,” she said, smiling.

             
Colm grunted, but nodded.  They sat quietly for a moment, contemplating the day’s events.

             
“Why doona ye tell me again about how ye and Angus stole the pie from the cook,” Colm grinned.  Annabelle laughed and began to tell him the story. 

Derek stopped when he heard their laughter.  Someone told him that they had seen Annabelle come this way.  He drew closer to the loch and saw that she was not alone.  Annabelle was up stomping around and waving her hands in the air.  Colm was seated, holding his side with laughter.  Derek scowled. 

              “I should tell yer Da, ye scamps!” Annabelle was yelling when Derek finally drew near.

             
Colm was wiping tears from his eyes when he noticed Derek.  Annabelle immediately dropped her arms and shifted her gaze to the ground.

             
“Am I interrupting?” Derek asked looking from one to the other.

             
“Nay, my laird,” Annabelle said.

             
Colm looked at her in surprise, and then he scowled at Derek.

             
“Are ye sure?” he asked looking at Colm, who rose to his feet.

             
“Aye, is there anything I can do fer ye, my laird?” Annabelle quickly asked as she stepped between them.  Colm stared down at her, not understanding her reaction. She tried to send him a message with her eyes that she did not want a fight.

             
Derek looked at Colm a moment longer and then he looked down at his wife.  Her eyes were expressionless as they looked up at him.  He found that that irritated him.  He was used to seeing her emotions in her eyes.

             
“Aye,” he said, grabbing her hand.  “It is time that we retire.  Tobias’ wedding will be first thing in the morning and he wants me to stand up fer him.”

             
“Aye, my laird,” she answered quietly and glanced at Colm.  He was looking at her in puzzlement.  She smiled at him and winked.

             
Colm continued to look confused until he realized what Annabelle was doing.  A smiled slowly transformed his face.

             
Annabelle nodded and followed Derek to the keep.  She kept her eyes downcast as they moved through the hall.  She was sure that they had an audience.  The last time Derek came after her, she returned with a black eye.

             
Derek pulled her up the stairs to their bedchamber and closed the door behind them.  Annabelle walked over to the dressing screen and changed into her nightdress.  She could hear Derek moving around lighting candles and preparing for bed.  She walked from behind the screen without looking his way and got into bed.  She lay on her back and stared at the canopy overhanging the bed.  She waited for Derek to join her.

             
“What were ye and Colm discussing?” he asked her as he pulled his shirt over his head.  His voice was slightly muffled.

             
“’Twas nothing, my laird,” Annabelle replied not looking at him.

             
Derek frowned.

             
“Cease calling me my laird, Annabelle,” he warned, standing up and pulling off his kilt.

             
“Aye, my… Aye,” she said.

             
“If ‘twas nothing, ye can tell me what had him laughing so heartily,” he said, bending down to pull off his boots.  He laid his dirk on the table.

             
“I doona wish to appall ye with such a tale, my…Derek,” she said, still not looking his way.

             
Derek looked at his wife lying so still with the coverlet pulled up to her chin.  He walked toward the bed, but did not lie down.  He saw her breathing hitch before it resumed its normal pace.

             
“I would like to hear the story, Annabelle.”

             
Annabelle glanced his way, and the look of anger on his face surprised her.

             
“’Twas nothing, Derek.  Only a story about me and my friend, Angus,” she insisted, still puzzling over his anger.

             
Derek fought to contain the jealous anger he was feeling.  When he had come upon Annabelle and Colm sitting so familiarly together by the loch and laughing, jealousy ripped through him like fire.  And the way Annabelle immediately became passive at his arrival, only added fuel to the flames.

             
“Yer friend, Angus?”

             
“Aye.”

             
“I havenae heard of such a friend before,” he looked at her skeptically.

             
Annabelle just looked away from him.  She was in no mood to have to defend herself again.  The last time had not ended well.  She unconsciously reached up and touched her bruised face.  It did not hurt anymore, and she noticed that the bruising was beginning to fade as Brighid said it would.

             
Derek watched her action and winced.  Although he had apologized to Annabelle for his behavior, he still felt guilty about what he had done.  He had never had any cause to feel guilty about any other action he had ever done, but ever since meeting Annabelle, everything about his life had changed.

             
“Look at me, Annabelle,” Derek said.

             
Annabelle swallowed and then slowly trained her eyes on him.  He stood beside the bed completely naked.  His sun bronzed skin glowed in the light of the fire, and his muscles seemed to ripple even though he stood still.  Of their own accord, Annabelle’s eyes traveled down Derek’s smooth chest to his taut flat stomach.  She tried to stop herself, but her eyes continued down until they rested upon his jutting manhood.  It was glorious, and she felt her breath shorten remembering how good it felt inside of her.  She closed her eyes to collect herself.  She had to remember that she was supposed to be passive.  She opened her eyes and looked back at Derek’s face.  He was wearing a smirk.

             
“Let’s get some sleep because we have an early day on the morrow.  Tobias says the wedding will take place shortly after the morning meal and the celebration to last through the night.  We will need all of the rest we can get,” he said sliding into bed beside her.

             
Annabelle held the cover tightly against her.  She could feel the heat of Derek’s body even though he had yet to touch her.

             
“Good night, Annabelle,” Derek said as he turned on his side away from her.

             
Annabelle lay still for a moment until she heard Derek’s breathing even out.  She relaxed her hold on the covers and moved around until she was comfortable.  She was relieved that she would not have a test of her will tonight.  It seemed that Derek was just going to sleep tonight.  It struck her that that irritated her.  Had he been with Maura and was too tired to be with her?  Her eyes bored into Derek’s back.  She wanted to reach out and hit him, but that was what the old her would do.  Now she was supposed to pretend that it did not bother her that her husband bedded other women.

She turned on her back and looked at the canopy above the bed.  She wondered if he enjoyed Maura more than he enjoyed being with her.  Did Maura do things that Annabelle did not, things
she would not even know to do?  What about Eilidh?  How did she measure up against her?  Were there many others who she did not even compare to?  She was surprised at the tears that sprang to her eyes.  Why should she care?  She should be happy that he preferred to bed other women.  It would make it that much easier, when her father came for her, to leave, and she would leave no matter what Brighid said to do.

Annabelle realized that she did care, and that it hurt to know and see him with other women.  How could she make a man fall in love with her who had no regard for her feelings in the first place?

              She turned back toward Derek and was surprised to see him staring at her.  She had not heard or felt him shift in the bed.  She hoped he did not see the tears on her cheeks.

             
“Canna ye sleep, Annabelle?” he asked in his rumbling voice.

             
Annabelle just looked at him.  His silver eyes glistened in the dying firelight. She turned onto her back and said nothing.  She started when she felt the back of his hand skim softly against her cheek.  She closed her eyes at the tenderness, but then she remembered the other women and wondered if he did the same thing to them.  She turned her head slightly to break the contact.

             
Derek frowned and withdrew his hand.  He had felt the wetness on her cheek before she turned away.  Did her bruise still pain her?  Or was she now revolted by his touch? 

             
“Get some sleep, Annabelle,” he said and turned to his back.

             
Annabelle wondered at what she heard in his voice.  She turned to look at him, but his face was averted from her.  She turned to her side and closed her eyes.  She felt despair and disappointment.  She had begun to soften toward Derek, and he was still the same.  He was still a chauvinist and unfaithful.  She sighed and tried to sleep.