FLAME ACROSS THE HIGHLANDS (23 page)

"N
ae!"  Brianna hurled the word. "He has ne'er touched me!"

"Then more the pity for there i
s none here that will believe. He has quite a reputation for the lassies as I'm sure ye must know. A smooth-talking laddie if e'er there was one." Caitlin cocked a brow suggestively.

"Aye, he has a fine way of talking but I don't see why....."

"Ian has intimated that he  has put horns on Robbie. Aye, he laughed about it quite merrily.  Said that he wooed ye quite successfully.  Enough to bring ye here, panting after him.  Now everyone here knows  ye want to trade one groom for another, that ye make eyes at him whenever he passes yer way."

"Is that so!"  Brianna was so angry that she choked out her words.  "Well, I've changed my mind!"  How could he?  Love and longing were private things that he should never have talked openly about. That it was true only made matters far worse
.

Brianna's throat constricted painfully, her hear
t lay like steel in her chest. Only her stubborn pride sustained her, gave her strength to stare straight back into those mocking blue eyes and order  Duncan's daughter to leave. Caitlin did so in an outraged rustle of skirts. Even so, Brianna could not push  the words  from her mind. Ian had boasted about  her coming here as if her love  meant nothing to him. She had thought she was wrong about him, but she had been right all along. How utterly foolish she had been.

G
oing back to the window to gaze down at him, she saw that he was surrounded by a throng of giggling women. She could hear them espousing words of praise about his skill and bravery as if beating a man half his size was any great feat. Oh, how she wished now that the dwarf had won!

"I'm  one among many, that is what I am.  Just one of many flowers to that conceited ev
er-hovering, pollinating bee." Come to think of it, she had seen several small children with  blue eyes, black curls and  a facial profile  that might name him their sire. In an outraged toss of her hair she fled from the window and the visual reminder of her naiveté.

How could she have been such a simpleton?  How could she have fallen so quickly for his smiling charm?  Hadn't she known right from the first what a womanizing rogue he was? Now he had made her the laughing stock of all the
Campbells by his jabbering.  No wonder they had been snickering behind their hands at her.  Lovesick, foolish and overbold is how she must appear. And wasn't she?  Just because he had wanted it, she had handed him her heart.  Now he was dangling  it for all his kin to see.  A memento of another conquest and nothing else!  It did not mean any more to him than the swords and
targes
hanging from Duncan Campbell's wall! 

Groaning aloud
, she felt the  humiliation of it all, wishing with all her heart that she had stayed safely on Ulva  with Glenna and not been so impetuous as to come here.  She, the MacQuarie's proud daughter had been humbled  most piteously by the enemy.  But no longer. Ian had babbled about her love for him, but from this moment on she would show him that indeed, she didn't care. Before all his kinsman she would prove his words to be false, and somehow she would make the pretense a reality.

Chapter Twenty-Seven

In the next few days Brianna skillfully avoided not only Ian but Caitlin Campbell as well.  She had no need of further heartache or any reminders of her stupidity in coming here to ask for Ian in place of Robbie. Let his clansmen twitter, let them smile and gossip, she would keep her head up and give them a taste of
MacQuarie pride.  Fie on them all!  She hid her feelings beneath a haughty exterior, telling herself she didn't care when unfriendly eyes watched so intently as if to see what was in her heart.  Ian Campbell was the last thought on her mind, or so she pretended for their benefit. And yet, just seeing Ian caused her pain, the pain of unfulfilled desire and shattered dreams.  She had never known that the sight of a man could cause such great unhappiness.

Every morning she saw him, across the room at the morning meal
, and in the evening when the clan gathered for their dinner feast.  These were a few hours in which she was not spared the sweet agony of his presence. She was withdrawn and cool when they met on the stairs, what conversation they exchanged was nothing more than  cold but polite words of greeting. It could not have been more obvious that she was avoiding him. But no matter how sternly she rebuked herself for feelings she did not want to have, she couldn’t wipe them from her heart.

Of course there was a great deal to keep her occupied, and just as she had sought escape from her unhappiness at
home by keeping busy, she did the same now.

Household tasks were fitted around the meal preparation, just as in her own clan, twice daily, morning and night.  Here in Argyll beef and lamb were the mainstays of the diet, eaten in some form at every meal
, as was milk, cheese, and butter. Grinding and baking were daily chores, for unleavened barley bread and bannocks needed to be eaten while hot or they would soon turn hard and stale.  Flour was ground from a rotary hand quern, dough kneaded in a wooden trough and baked on long-handled iron plates among the embers of an open fire.  The women also hung herbs to dry and gathered wild plants to supplement the diet.

Fionnghuala,
Duncan’s wife, was a big-boned, plump woman with graying brown hair whose beauty had long since faded. She soon made it clear that she considered Brianna to be an interloper and a nuisance and reminded her to keep her place by assigning Brianna the most unpleasant duties. Yet she finished every task without a word of complaint, trying to ignore the aching in her back.

Brianna was in fact more comfortable among the servants than among the women of the
family. As she went about her chores she often felt the eyes of Caitlin upon her as if the ill-tempered, plain young woman held hopes that she would just vanish. Duncan’s other two daughters, Cuini, a young woman of about thirteen summers, and Muireall, a sometimes smiling woman who was big with child, were more tolerant of her.

Even though the Campbells purchased a great deal of their cloth, spinning and weaving occupied several hours a day, as did the stitchery Ian had told Jeanne about. Brianna quickly gave up any notions of being able to master this agonizingly intricate task of thread and needle. Her fingers were stiff and clumsy on the delicate fabric, earning her reprimanding comments from the other women and the unwelcome sound of their laughter.

Like a wounded doe, Brianna began to spend more and more time alone. At least then she could think clearly and soothe her shattered emotions, hoping and praying that the next time she saw him across the room she could remain unaffected by the power of his presence.

When she with the others, however, Brianna's pride lent her the strength of will to hide her feelings.  She laughed gaily every chance she had
, as if she had not a worry in the world.  She hid the poignant loneliness that possessed her, leaning more and more towards Robbie like the haven in a storm.  Somehow she felt an affinity with him.  Brianna had always preferred the company of men and their interesting talk of hunting and fishing, and thus she credited the friendliness she felt for the young Campbell as being due to this. As to Ian she made great point of ignoring him. It made up a little for the humiliation of having so blatantly shown her feelings for him before all.

Brianna could sense Ian's piercing blue eyes upon he
r wherever she was and knew that he watched her.  The sound of his low husky laughter teased he ears.  His smile haunted her at every turn, though she did not smile back.  She was filled with an aching emptiness she could not explain. In these moments she wished for so many foolish things--that he loved her, that she could be his....foolish things that made her angry with herself.  Och, were only he not so handsome.

This evening she caught him gazing at her across the width of the dias and felt the familiar lurch in her heart.  Determined to show him she really didn't care
, she quickly turned her attentions to Robbie, seeking solace in his attentions.

"I've heard that the mountain
grandeur of Northern Argyll is splendid. Would ye show it to me sometime? I promise I willna try to run away."             

A shy smile was her answer.  "Aye, I would like that.  I will show ye our wild
Highland peaks of Glencoe."  He could make her happy.  So thinking she forced herself to smile, a grimace that was soon wiped from her face as several women sought to catch Ian's eye.  The thought of him with any other woman brought out feelings that consumed her with misery.

But if Brianna suffered, so
did Ian. He couldn't understand Brianna's coldness to him of late.  Though he had sought over and over again to talk with her, she had succeeded in avoiding him.  She had firmly put as much distance as possible between them and he didn't really understand why.  Had she consigned herself to marrying Robbie?  Were her feelings for him then really so shallow that she would give in to Duncan's stubbornness with his very first frown? 

Her attitude angered and disappointed him. Here he was risking his future, arguing with
Duncan continually on her behalf, and she would not even grant him one glance. Worst all was the way she had suddenly taken to fawning over Robbie as if they were already married. It made his blood boil. Not that he didn’t like the lad, but it piqued him to see her show such sincere affection for the young man while all the time snubbing
him
. He found it intolerable and was determined that tonight he would find out the reason why.             

"Ian, there is
a fair coming to the village. Will ye take me?"  A tall willowy blonde sought his attention as she refilled his glass with wine.              

"Perhaps.  If I have time...." he answered.  For just a moment his eyes met Brianna's and held for a moment as he tried to tell her that the woman meant nothing to him, that his love was for her, but she looked away, laughi
ng at one of Robbie's remarks.

So that was the way that it was, he thought angrily.  Well, two could well play the same strategy.  Though he thought the young women at his side to be silly, prattling lassies that didn't interest him, he vented all his attentions on their behalf in a serious bid to make Brianna jealous,  to make her care again.  He would
make her notice him.

Brianna did notice and
to her mortification she felt a tightness in her chest when she saw Ian’s handsome dark-haired head bent near to the bonnie lass. She yearned for the magic of his touch, his kiss, though she did not show it. Just look at him, she thought. What Caitlin had told her was true, her smug smile reminded Brianna of all Ian's sins.  Straining her ears, Brianna could hear  nearly every word the yellow-haired lassie uttered.

Ian hardly heard
. He was aware only that something was very, very wrong with Brianna suddenly.  Even now her expression was like that of an effigy  etched in stone. For someone who had come a long, long way because of love of him she was suddenly acting as cold as a winter frost.

Well, she will talk with me come hell or high water, he thought, clenching his fingers tightly
around the stem of his glass.  He swirled the dark red wine about, staring at its murky depths.  There were many things they needed to talk about.             

"Yer frown is as
deep Loch Awe!"  With a large wolfhound at his heels,  begging for scraps, Aulay sauntered up.  Sizing up the situation, he knew in a moment what was wrong.  "The lassie again."

"Aye.  Women!  I used to think I understood them until she came int
o my life."

"She's unpredictable.  That's why ye like her!"  Shooing the young blonde away,
Aulay took a seat near his friend.

"Unpredictable and stubborn to name only two of her flaws!  She's a spoiled, willful lassie who is in great need of a spanking.  Aye, a strong hand aimed
at her well-shaped bahookie!"

"Are ye sure that is where ye want to place yer hand?" 
Aulay flashed Ian a devilish grin, reading his mind.  All trace of a smile faded as he nudged Ian in the ribs, however.  "Perth!  The way he stares at the lassie is sure to set her afire one of these days."

Ian's head whipped around and he caught the leering man in the act.  "He had best watch himself.  One false move and I'll have his head.  You know that I will."
The ominous looking devil irritated Ian. Oh, how he unnerved him, staring at Brianna with his hostile ever-watching eye. Even from across the room he could feel his gaze on her, and the hair at the back of Ian’s neck prickled. Brianna had to be warned to stay clear of the man.

Look at me, Brie!
  He willed her to turn her head and she did. His eyes lingered until he was certain he had caught her eye, knowing from the blush that stained her cheeks that she was aware of his perusal. Silently, his lips formed her name but she quickly turned away again. "By God, let her take care of herself!" he fumed.  Why should he be her guardian angel?  Ian convinced himself that he would be just as distant with Brianna as she was with him, but even so he found a way to come to her side before she could move away. Ian appraised her coolly.

A shiver of pure physical awareness of him chased a strange sensation up and down her spine so that she knew he was th
ere before she heard him say, "You have been as evasive as a ghostie, lass. Tell me what is wrong." The pressure of his hand against her arm caused her heart to  flutter as wildly as a bird’s wing.

“What should be wrong?” Her pulse began to beat at her neck and temple, and for a moment she feared he would sense how completely bedeviled she was by having him near. When he captured her hand, his fingers gripping her slender wrist, she quivered at his touch, but one look at Caitlin’s grinning face caused her to puller hand away. Too fresh in her mind was his boasting. It
a painful wedge in her heart.  Like a cornered fawn, she moved past him, bolting from the room, seeking the safety of the stairs.

Ian followed her, through the door, up the winding steps that led to a tower room.  "Lassie.....?"  He towered over her with a virility that was most unnerving to Brianna.  She stiffened and took a ste
p backwards. For a moment the only sound was the hiss of the rush light and the distant barking of the dogs, then he said, "You are trembling."

"'Ti
s chilly up here, that's all." A feeble excuse.

"I'll warm you."  Quickly, before she could run away
, he placed his hands on either side of her body, pinning her against the wall so she could not escape.  His breath was warm upon her face, his voice husky in the darkness.  "Brie! Brie!  You have been so distant and I can't stand it.  I hate seeing you with Robbie when you belong to me."

“Belong to ye, do I? I think not!”

“Aye, ye do.”

Slowly
, his hands slid up her sides, over her ribs, spreading out as they reached the swelling curves of her breasts.  Slowly he lowered his mouth and kissed her hungrily, as if he were starving for the taste of her lips.  Such a potent kiss that sent a series of quivering tremors through her blood.  His mouth held hers captive as his fingers strayed to her breasts.

"Nae....!"  How she managed the protest she didn't know. Somehow, d
espite the beating of her heart, she found the strength to push against his shoulders. "Let me go!"

Ian looked into her eyes and what he saw t
here made him loosen his hold. With a disgruntled groan he moved away. "I don't understand you, Brianna MacQuarie. Not at all.  What is it? Tell me."

"Ye a
re a scoundrel and a rogue!"

"What?"

In the stricken silence that followed they maintained a grotesque pose, staring at each other, their eyes locked unwaveringly.  "Ye are an unfeeling mon, Ian Campbell, wi' no care to a lassies feelings. It was cruel of ye to use me to bolster yer pride. I was a fool to come here, to think ye could tie yerself wi' one woman."

"But I do want just one.....t
he right lass. You."

What a sweet-talking rogue!
"Och, listen to ye.  As if ye think I am some village fool." Her hair flowed from side to side like a rippling wave as she tossed her head. "Yer cousin told me what ye did, telling everyone ye know that I came here to ask yer Uncle to let ye wed wi' me. Can ye no’ keep a secret?”

“Brianna. I didn’t….”

“Well, let me tell ye that I hae changed my mind. Robbie is kind and loving. He’ll make me a good husband. It’s lucky I am that yer uncle said no to ye, I be thinking.”