Claimed by a Laird (15 page)

He shoved the wheezing man backward and ordered his men to
take him out into the courtyard. “Mary, you may do as your lady wishes now.”

Mary nodded and scurried out of the room.

“You may treat him outside if that is still your wish.”
Galen turned toward Anna. “I will not have his blood tainting my floor.”

Anna nodded, twisting her skirt around her fingers. She
breathed deeply in an effort to slow her erratic heartbeat.

Galen jerked his head for Cal to step away from her. He did
and followed Mary into the kitchen.

Galen and Anna stared at one another for several moments
before he reached for her. She stepped back. He grunted his disapproval and
wrapped his fingers around her upper arms, yanking her toward him.

“I am sorry to have used you like that, but it was necessary
to make him both fear my retaliation and be grateful for your interference. I
will send men to follow him and we will hopefully know who was behind this in a
few days.”

Her eyes widened in surprise. He had just played the classic
good-cop/bad-cop game and it had worked beautifully. “You mean that I…that
you…”

He chuckled, bending his face toward hers. “God help me, but
you make me hard when you act so defiant.”

Anna’s face flushed. His lips barely brushed across hers and
she whimpered.

“If that bastard weren’t out there bleeding all over my
courtyard, I would bend you over that table right now.”

No man had ever spoken to her with such raw imagery and
desire before. Surprised by the quick effect his words had on her, she slowly
licked her lips, her skin tingling with anticipation. “Then why don’t you?” she
challenged with a seductive smile as a deep ache spread between her thighs.

He returned her smile. “Could you imagine Mary’s reaction
when she found us?”

“There would be hot water and bandages everywhere.” She
laughed, glancing furtively toward the corridor leading to the kitchen.

His laugh was throaty. He paused briefly and then his mouth
slowly descended upon her lips as he pressed his body into hers. The slow,
shivery kiss caused her knees to buckle and she wrapped her arms around his
waist for support.

Someone forced a cough behind them and Galen lifted his
head. Anna turned to find Cal carrying a bowl of steaming water and a blushing
Mary with an armload of bandages by his side.

Anna bit her lower lip to keep from laughing and Galen
released her from his arms.

“The table will have to wait until another day,” he
whispered, gently shoving her after them.

She threw an impish smile at him over her shoulder and
hurried along, out into the fading sunlight.

Finally, Galen could breathe.

He strode across the courtyard, his wet hair dripping down
the front of his leine. Surely the woman was finished with her bath by now.

After they had finished their evening meal and two of his
men had carried the tub up to his chamber and filled it, Galen could not stay
in the keep knowing Anna would soon be slipping her naked body into the warm
water. The visions of her creamy skin glistening in the firelight were enough
to override his willpower. As soon as she ascended the stairs, he left the hall
and made his way to the loch behind the keep so she could have a few moments of
peace after her strenuous day.

To say he was impressed with her was an understatement. She
rivaled even him when it came to hurling orders, and his men responded without
question. Nor did she shrink from the duty before her. He had seen the fear in
her eyes, but her hands had remained steady and her attention to the tiniest
detail was truly amazing. He did not think he had ever seen such even, perfect
stitches in his entire life.

But now it was finally time. Anna’s duties were done. She
was feeling well. And he had her all to himself.

The hall was quiet as he entered. Only Mary remained,
cleaning off the tables in preparation for the next morning.

“Has your lady finished her bath yet?” he asked, approaching
the fireplace.

“Not that I know of, Laird.”

He nodded and tossed his belt over the back of the chair in
front of which his dog was lying. He knelt and gave the animal a sound pat.

“Do you need anything before I retire, Laird?”

Galen glanced over his shoulder. “No, thank you, Mary.”

He turned his attention back to the fire and sighed. “The
woman is trying my patience, Dog.”

The dog’s tail thumped against the floor for several moments
and then abruptly stopped. His ears perked up and he lifted his head to stare
past Galen.

Galen stood and turned toward the door as footsteps echoed
on the stone stairs outside. Within seconds, the door was thrown open and his
brother, Geoffrey, stepped into the hall.

Dog leaped up and bounded across the room. Geoffrey laughed
as the animal hopped up on its hind legs, propped his giant paws on his
shoulders and licked his face.

“Dog!” Galen reprimanded.

The beast hopped down and scampered back to his master.
Sitting back on his haunches, he panted as Geoffrey joined his brother by the
fire.

“Father Andrew would have come around eventually, you know.
There was no need for you to chase after him just to have him bless my union
with Anna.” Galen crossed his arms.

Especially since he still needed time to convince her that
marrying him was the right thing to do.

“It is not why I went,” Geoffrey answered, his voice low and
secretive. “It is simply what I told Adam.”

Galen eyed him with suspicion. “Out with it.”

Geoffrey paused for several moments, uncertainty twisting
his mouth. He pulled a small, flat rectangular object from behind his back and
handed it to Galen. “When we were bringing Anna home, we stopped to rest for a
few moments near the river. I found a brown, leather satchel caught on some
branches overhanging the water. This was inside.”

In an instant, Galen was drawn back to the cold, rushing
river where he had almost lost Anna. Water roaring in his ears. Her delicate
fingers slipping from his. Those dark, frantic moments searching for her until
he was almost taken under by the current. And then slogging to shore, praying
she was strong enough to at least make it to the surface so he could find her.

Galen paused in uncertainty, the images fading from his mind
as he stared at the small, shiny article in Geoffrey’s outstretched hand. A
perfect, life-like rendering of Anna in one corner caught his eye and he
finally took it from his brother.

Amazed, he slowly rubbed his thumb over the glass-like surface
of her likeness. “What is it?”

“I do not know,” Geoffrey admitted. “It is the truth that
Father Andrew did not know either.”

Galen’s head snapped up, certain Geoffrey was withholding a
key piece of information. “Then why did you take this to him? Why did you not
wait for me to come home?”

“He is the only person I know who can read English. I
figured that is what those words are.”

“And?” Galen prodded as a pit formed in his stomach.

A pained expression passed across Geoffrey’s face as he took
the object back and tilted it toward the fire. He pointed to one word.

“This says Anna. And this…” Geoffrey slid his finger to the
next word. “Says Campbell.”

Galen could have sworn his heart had stopped beating. A
Campbell? His Anna was a Campbell?

“Are you sure?” he asked, his voice barely escaping his
throat.

Geoffrey nodded solemnly. “I asked Father Andrew several
times and he assured me he was quite certain.”

Galen shook his head. It simply could not be. The
MacPhearson messenger had sworn no Campbell of Maree the laird or his sister
knew of fit Anna’s description. Perhaps another Campbell clan to the south
could claim her. Lord knew there were enough Campbells to go around in the
Highlands. And if Anna were truly from the future, why wouldn’t she simply admit
her family name to him? Why keep it a secret?

From deep within his memory, an image of the current
Campbell laird, Alec—the man who had killed his father and did the Gowrie’s
dirty work for him—floated into his mind. The red hair, the deep blue eyes. Was
he Anna’s ancestor?

“Father Andrew could not understand what any of the rest of
the words meant,” Geoffrey interrupted his thoughts. “Driver’s license. Then
there are these random numbers. Oh, and this word here he thought might be
French. Il-lin-wa. Or something like that.” Geoffrey shook his head in
confusion.

Galen grabbed the object and stared at the picture once
again, just to reassure himself Anna was indeed looking back at him. “Did you
instruct Father—”

“Yes. He will not tell anyone about this.”

Galen shook his head again. How could Anna have kept this
from him? What kind of game was she playing?

“I am sorry, Galen,” Geoffrey said. “I did not mean to—”

“I know.” Galen’s heart weighed heavy in his chest. Just
what was he supposed to do with her now?

“I do not believe her intention is to harm you, though,”
Geoffrey quickly offered.

Galen stared at him, surprised by the change in his
brother’s opinion of Anna.

“While she was fevered, I asked her why she helped you and
she told me because she could not let her future husband rot in some smelly
dungeon.”

The words were slow to penetrate Galen’s brain. They sunk in
only when a crooked, teasing smile spread across his brother’s face. “Why did
Adam not tell me this?” Galen’s heart finally began to beat again.

“I did not ask her until after I had settled her in your
chamber. Adam was not there,” Geoffrey answered. “I wanted to know what we were
up against before I approached you or Adam with this.”

Galen wrapped his fingers tightly around the object, the sharp
sides cutting into his flesh with surprising force. What the hell kind of
material was this thing made of? “Where is the satchel now?”

“Hidden in the stables.”

Silence fell between them as Galen mulled this new
complication over in his mind. Taking a woman from a rival clan was tantamount
to declaring war, even if she was some distant descendant currently unknown to
them. Though Anna was not of his time, knowledge of her family name could be
used as an excuse should the wrong person hear of it.

Such as the Gowrie. That bastard would use every trick in
the book to take Anna away from him under the guise of defending his
subordinate clan, the Campbells.

“She told me her parents were Scottish,” Galen quietly
remarked. “That is why she speaks our tongue.”

“And her father is apparently a Campbell. I do not believe I
have ever heard of Alec Campbell having a daughter. Perhaps she was born out of
wedlock.” Geoffrey rubbed his chin thoughtfully. “Or maybe her father was from
one of the Campbell clans to the south.”

Galen straightened his back and faced his brother squarely.
“Do you stand with me or against me?”

“With you, of course.” Geoffrey crossed his arms. “Anna is
my sister now. Especially after hearing what she did for Adam.”

Galen nodded in satisfaction and flicked the object into the
fireplace. The fire coughed and sputtered, throwing sparks up the chimney.
Galen paused, transfixed as the strange object oozed and appeared to melt like
the ice on the banks of their loch during the spring thaw.

“What the hell is that thing made of?” Geoffrey marveled.

“Are there other things with writing in that satchel?” Galen
asked.

Geoffrey nodded.

Galen turned and started toward the stairs. “Burn them.”

* * * * *

Anna shivered as she attempted to relax into the tepid
water. Mary and Catriona had tried to heat the water for her bath but, even
though they’d carried pot after pot upstairs from the kitchen, the water
quickly lost its heat. Anna closed her eyes and leaned against the back of the
tub, breathing slowly and silently thanking the two young warriors who had been
thoughtful enough to place the tub next to the fire so she could a least have a
modicum of warmth.

The thought she may never have the luxury of a truly hot
bath ever again flitted through her mind and she sighed in annoyance. She
pushed the unpleasant notion aside and grabbed the soap Catriona left on a
stool next to the tub. Though the bath may not have been ideal, the removal of
all the grime that had accumulated over the past couple of days was enough to
send her into a long, relaxed sigh of gratefulness.

She set her fingers to scrubbing her scalp, dreading combing
her hair since she had no access to conditioner. She put the soap back and
leaned forward, shoving most of her head into the water and rinsing her hair
clean.

She flipped her hair over her head and it smacked her back
with a wet thud. She smoothed the stray strands across her shoulders and wiped
the water away from her face.

A pair of heavily muscled thighs greeted her when she opened
her eyes. She gasped and scrambled lower in the water, only allowing her head
to remain above. She would know those legs anywhere.

Despite having been naked in front of Galen before, she
automatically attempted to cover herself with her arms and hands, unsure how
much he could see into the water in the dim light. “A knock on the door would
have been nice,” she chided as a blush rushed across her cheeks.

“I do not ask permission to enter my own chamber,” Galen
replied, his eyes raking boldly over her.

The icy tone in his voice coupled with the seductive glint
in his stare caught her off guard. She glanced up at him, immediately wishing
she hadn’t. His eyes narrowed as he glared down at her and crossed his arms.

She swallowed hard, unable to tear her eyes away from his
foreboding expression. “Galen, will you please—”

“Silence,” he ordered. “I only wish to hear your
explanations now.”

Anna blinked several times in confusion, her brain taking
several moments to register the ice-cold anger lacing his soft tone. When it
finally did, she was whipped into defensiveness.

What the hell had gotten into him? Her spine stiffened. “Did
you just order me to be silent?”

“I did.”

She resisted the urge to stand and shake her finger in his
face as she told him to go to hell, since that would mean she’d have to expose
more of her naked body than he could already see. Instead, she matched his
glare. “I don’t know what your problem is and right now I don’t give a flying
rat’s ass. Now, if you’ll excuse me, I would like to dry off and go to sleep.”

Galen snatched her by the shoulders, hauling her out of the
tub. He crushed her against his unyielding chest, eliciting a yelp from her
throat. Her heart pounded as he locked her in his arms, preventing her escape.
She shivered at the rush of chilly air licking her skin as rapidly cooling
droplets of water rolled down her back and legs.

Her hardened nipples dragged against his shirt as he slowly
slid her down his body to the floor, sending erotic tremors directly to her
pussy. A strange mixture of anger and arousal swirled through her, muddling her
thoughts.

Anchoring her against him with one arm, he grabbed her chin
and tilted her head back. His gray eyes pierced hers as if he were trying to
read her thoughts.

Determined to not allow him to intimidate her, she glared at
him through narrowed eyes. “Let me go,” she demanded, punctuating each word to
ensure her seriousness would not be lost on him.

A sudden flash of recognition flickered across Galen’s face.
“You
are
a Campbell. I can see it in your eyes.”

He spoke in a hoarse whisper, but the pain in his voice
roared in her ears. “How…” She rapidly searched for something she had said or
done, which had led him to the truth she had so carefully tried to conceal.

“Geoffrey found your satchel.”

The fire crackled in the hearth as Galen’s heart thudded
against her breast. “Oh,” she murmured as a shudder of regret coursed through
her.

He stared at her for several long, agonizing moments. “Why
did you not tell me?”

The mixture of anguish and tenderness threaded through his
voice caused Anna’s heart to contract painfully. “I’m sorry. When I heard you
were feuding with the Campbells, I panicked. I didn’t think it would matter.”

“Did you honestly think you would never be found out?” His
voice bolted from his throat like thunder during a sudden summer storm. “God’s
blood, woman! Eventually you would have to answer about your family name. And
if it were to get back to the Campbells I was keeping a woman of their kin,
this would be considered an act of war.”