Highland Angel (16 page)

As she got to her feet, she realized Wattie and Gib were still there, staring at her with a look she easily recognized. “What do ye two fools want?”

“Weel, now, Daisy,” replied Gib as he wrapped an arm around her waist and pulled her close, “me and Wattie came up here all hard and ready for a good tupping and the bitch is gone. But, we are still hard and ready.”

“Ah, I see, and ye think I ought to take care of that,” said Daisy, struggling to look alarmed.

“We will give ye a shilling each,” said Gib even as he tugged her toward the bed.

“What? Why should we be paying her?” demanded Wattie even as he started to take off his clothes.

“’Twill make her work harder, isnae that right, Daisy?” asked Gib as he, too, started to take his clothes off.

“Aye, if ye give me the shillings now and if one of ye fools shuts the door.”

Daisy quickly grabbed the shillings from Gib and slipped them into the pocket of her apron. If she was lucky, she would get away with the coins before one of the men thought to steal them back. As she undressed, she watched a now-naked Wattie walk to the door and shut it. He was a pig with very little skill, but he was hung like a bull. It was the same with Gib, although he could reveal a trick or two when he was feeling kindly. She also knew they would take her whether she said aye or nay. By agreeing to it, she
would save herself a few bruises.

Even as Wattie shoved her down onto the bed and climbed on top of her, Daisy told herself she was helping Lady Kirstie in a small way. If both men wore themselves out using her, they could not be working to calm Sir Roderick down or trying to get Lady Kirstie back for him. The lady would have time to get away, to prepare for Sir Roderick’s next attack. Daisy winced as Wattie slammed into her, but then Gib started to feast on her breasts. Between the two of them, she mused, she might actually gain a little enjoyment out of it all. She thought of the man Lady Kirstie would be bedding down with and sighed with a mixture of envy and happiness for the little lady. Closing her eyes, Daisy pictured the two men she had seen in the passageway and soon decided that imagination was a very fine thing indeed.

Kirstie sat on Payton’s bed and watched him wash up. She had thanked everyone, told a little of her story to assure them all she had not been hurt, and then allowed Alice to take care of her. The woman had bathed her, fed her, and given her a very mild potion to ease her pain and calm her. Kirstie felt a great deal better, almost as if she was a little drunk, but she knew her fear had not gone away.

When Payton tugged her robe off her and nudged her under the covers, she was more than ready to curl up with him. She moved into his arms the moment he got into bed beside her. As she ran her hand up and down his side, she realized her fear was mostly for him, for the danger she had placed him in. Yet, when he held her so close, she felt safe. It made little sense, but she decided some things did not have to. She wondered if, deep in her heart, she simply could not believe that God would allow the ugliness that was Roderick to destroy the beauty that was Payton, inside and out.

“Are ye sure this is the only hurt he inflicted?” Payton asked, gently kissing her badly bruised jaw.

“Aye, and I hurt him first,” she said as she kissed his throat. “I was certain he didnae plan to carry me out kicking and screaming. So, I got in one verra painful kick ere he knocked me out.”

Payton rolled onto his back and Kirstie rapidly accepted his silent invitation. She greedily savored the taste and feel of him. The way he stretched slightly as she kissed his chest and stroked his arms reminded Kirstie very much of a contented cat. Payton reveled in being touched and kissed. Kirstie decided it was past time she gave him a full dose of what he so thoroughly enjoyed. She suspected Alice’s potion had eased her modesty and reticence right along with her pain and fear, for the things she was thinking of doing to Payton should have shocked her right down to her toes. Instead, they excited her and made her eager to begin.

She slowly kissed her way down to his taut stomach and stroked his strong thighs. His manhood hardened and twitched against her breasts, so she almost idly rubbed herself against him, delighting in his soft groan of pleasure and approval. When she moved her kisses to his long legs, she slowly dragged her hair over his groin, and heard his breathing quicken. All the way down his well-shaped leg she kissed him, gave him small, gentle bites, then soothed away any possible sting with strokes of her tongue. It was what he had done to her and she quickly discovered that Payton found it as arousing as she did.

Kirstie next discovered that Payton had very sensitive feet. She saw that he was almost as intrigued and surprised by that as she was, which told her she had actually
found something about him, something intimate, that no other woman had. A little unsure of exactly how to take advantage of that, Kirstie did her best. It proved to be more than sufficient. In fact, Payton looked ready to stop her play because she was pulling him too close to the edge, and Kirstie did not want that. She still had plans, daring plans that she felt sure she would be too cowardly to try later, after Alice’s potion had worn off, so she quickly moved to make her way up his other leg.

It was as she kissed the smooth skin of his hip that she grew hesitant. Kirstie could sense a tension in Payton, but was not sure what it meant. He had loved her with his mouth, but she knew that did not mean he wanted her to do the same to him. Or, worse, he wanted it, but would think she was little better than a whore for giving it to him.

“Ye dinnae have to,” Payton said quietly. “I would ne’er have ye do something ye didnae really want to.”

The obvious disappointment behind his words was all the encouragement Kirstie needed. She turned her head and slowly ran her tongue up the impressive length of him. Soon, she was lost in the pleasure of giving him such pleasure.

Payton gripped the sheet in his hands and clung desperately to every scrap of control he could muster. She was definitely going to kill him. Since many women did not offer him such a pleasure, he had had little experience with it, but he quickly decided Kirstie had a natural skill men would be willing to die for. She seemed to know exactly when to ease back to allow him to regain some control and thus make the pleasure last. When she took him into her mouth, however, he knew even her innate skill could not help him to last much longer. Allowing her free rein over his body had left him too hungry for her.

A soft cry of surprise and disappointment escaped Kirstie when Payton suddenly grabbed her under the arms, dragged her up the length of his body, and joined their bodies with a little more force than finesse. She swiftly discovered that there was delight to be found in this as well. It was not until his cry of release thundered in her ears that Kirstie gave herself over completely to her own needs. As she collapsed in his arms, she had to smile. She had certainly lived up to her promise to Daisy.

This time Kirstie roused from her sated stupor before Payton did from his. She rose and donned her robe, tying it loosely. After she washed herself, she brought a damp cloth back to the bed to cleanse Payton. The way his manhood twitched with renewed interest as she bathed it made her smile, especially when she saw how boyishly proud of himself Payton was. Seeing the remainder of the potion Alice had made still sitting in a tankard on the table by the bed, Kirstie sat down on the edge of the bed and began to sip at it. Earlier, she had only accepted half of the medicine, but the ache in her jaw and the back of her head were nudging at her. So, too, was her fear. This added amount of potion might make her fall asleep, but now she did not care. When Payton curled up behind her, tugged the edge of her robe out of the way, and kissed her hip, she wondered if she might be acting too hastily. There were many more pleasant ways to dispel fear.

“Roderick is utterly insane,” she said and calmly met Payton’s startled gaze. “He claims ’tis all my fault he has blood on his hands.”

Payton sat up, outraged, but struggling to hold his tongue. He did not want to distract her from what she was about to say. Although he had suspected she had not told him everything, he had tried to be patient, willing to give her time to recover from her ordeal.

“He feels I dinnae understand what he does with the children, thinks himself some wondrous benefactor who asks but a small service for all he so kindly gives them. I have betrayed him from the start, he says, right from our wedding night when I had the effrontery to become a woman. If I would cease telling such lies about him, he wouldnae have to kill anyone. Oh, and any poor children he has killed are of no real concern. They would have died anyway, aye? He now feels he must kill all of ye. Ye, Alice, Ian, your guards, Callum most certainly, and the other bairns. And me, of course, but, mayhap, only after he has had Gib and Wattie work to breed a child on me.”

“Jesu.”

“Exactly. There were many other words, other twisted accusations, but that is the heart of what he said, what he believes. I had thought him, weel, nay quite right in the head because of his lust for children, but ’tis so much more. And, as his madness became clear to me, I grew verra afraid, Payton. How does one fight that?”

He moved to kneel on the wolfskin carpet at her feet, slipping his hands beneath her robe to stroke her thighs. “The same as ye would fight a sane mon. Aye,” he said when she looked doubtful. “Mayhap it will be a little more difficult to guess which way he will jump, but it can be done. We ken what he wants, what he will try to accomplish. ’Tis but a question of when and how. And, nay matter how frightening his insanity, how different he seems from other men, one thing about him will always remain quite completely normal.”

“Oh? And just what about Roderick could possibly be normal?”

“If ye cut him, he bleeds. If ye run a sword through his heart, he dies.”

“All ye say is true, and yet, I am still afraid. If ye could have heard him, Payton. If ye could have seen the look in his eyes.” She quickly finished off Alice’s potion and set the tankard down, noticing almost absently that her hand shook a little.

“I would probably have found it all as chilling as ye did, but I would still ken that I could defeat him, hurt him, kill him.” He opened her robe, ignoring her soft protest. “I shall have to do my duty as your champion and banish your fears.” He kissed the inside of her thighs until he felt her start to soften and open to him. “I shall make ye forget all about your mad husband.”

“Actually, there was one other thing I discovered whilst being held by Roderick.” Kirstie found that watching Payton caress her could be a very heady thing.

“And what was that?” he asked as he kissed her taut stomach and savored a moment of anticipation for what he would delight in doing next.

“It pains me to say this, but ye were right. Roderick has nay right at all to be called my husband. So, I have decided that I have none.” She was not sure what that fierce look of delight on his face might promise for their future, but it stirred something deep and hot inside of her. “I am nay longer a wicked wife, simply a wanton maid.”

“Interesting.” Payton pressed a kiss to the dark curls between her soft, white thighs. “I wonder if a wanton maid tastes different from a wicked wife.”

By the time he had thrice stroked her with his clever tongue, Kirstie was not terribly interested in his opinion so long as whatever decision he came to did not include stopping to tell her about it.

“Hah! He looks fine to me.”

Even as Payton’s sleep-drugged mind realized that someone was in the room, he recognized that somewhat loud voice. He muttered a protest when the soft breast he had been nuzzling was abruptly replaced by the crumpled linen sheet beneath him. Resisting the urge to look around for Kirstie, who had slipped out of his arms with a dizzying speed, Payton turned his head and glared at the big, fair-haired man standing about a yard from his bed. Although he loved his cousin Gillyanne dearly, he was not so sure he was pleased to see her, either. Certainly not now, when he had been about to indulge himself in a little morning delight.

“Gilly, Connor, what are ye doing here?” he asked and started to sit up, only to feel a whisper of movement at his back which told him Kirstie was still in the bed.

“I
had
to come see ye, Payton,” Gillyanne said, moving closer and trying to look over Payton as he cautiously turned onto his side, facing her. “Something kept telling me ye were in danger, that ye needed help.”

“Did ye bring the twins?”

“Nay, of course not. My feeling said ye were in danger. I couldnae bring my bairns here. So, I hope we can solve your problem rather quickly. I already miss my bairns.” She edged even closer to the bed and scowled at the well-rumpled covers behind him. “Curse it, Payton, I am sure I saw a woman in that bed. Connor?” Gillyanne frowned when her husband did not move to her side. “Why are ye still standing so far away?”

“Weel, aside from the fact that I have no great wish to see your cousin naked, I think I had best stand still as long as someone has a knife pointed at my backside,” replied Connor.

Gillyanne peered around behind Connor. “Oh, ’tis a lad. Ye can put your knife away, laddie. Connor willnae hurt ye.”

“I wouldnae be too sure of that,” Connor drawled.

“Ye best tell me what ye are doing here quick-like,” said Callum, “or I will be sticking this knife up your arse.”

Connor quirked one brow at a grinning Payton, but spoke to Callum. “Ye ought to be careful who ye threaten, lad. If ye annoy me, I could hurt ye.”

“Ha! And I could bugger ye with this blade. Now, where is my lady?” Callum peered around Connor and scowled at the bed. “I dinnae see her and she ought to be there.”

“Payton,” snapped Gillyanne, “cease that cackling and tell the lad who we are.”

A quick pinch on his backside urged Payton to reassure Callum. “Kirstie is fine, Callum. She is just hiding. These people are no threat to us.” He nodded at Gillyanne. “This is my cousin, Lady Gillyanne Murray, now MacEnroy, and her husband, Sir Connor MacEnroy. I believe we have us a few more allies, lad.”

“Here now, lad,” said Ian as he appeared in the doorway, “why are ye pointing your knife at Sir Connor’s arse?”

Callum frowned at Ian, even as he sheathed his knife. “I saw him come in here and, not kenning who the big bullock was, I was worrit that he would hurt my lady. Oh, and mayhap Sir Payton, too. He doesnae seem too quick or alert when he is naked, ye ken. So, I pulled my knife on this Sir Connor MacEnroy here.”

“Weel, that certainly was quick thinking,” Ian said, “but ye picked a poor place to
point your blade at, lad. Stick a mon in the arse and ye willnae bring him down. Ye will just make him angry. Nay, ye want to point it here,” Ian instructed, indicating a particularly vulnerable spot on Connor’s lower back.

Payton opened his mouth to tell Ian to take his lessons somewhere else, then groaned when he saw what lurked behind his man. A glance at Gillyanne revealed his cousin staring wide-eyed at Wee Alice and the seven children with her. Gilly looked at Callum, then looked at Payton, and opened her mouth.

“Dinnae start,” he said, halting the questions he knew she would pummel him with. “Go to the great hall,” he began.

“Where is Lady Kirstie?” demanded Moira as she hurried over to the bed, looked around, then glared at Payton.

“She is hiding,” replied Payton, and he glared briefly at Gillyanne, “because there are so many people in the room.”

“I dinnae see her.” Moira’s bottom lip began to tremble. “Did the monster get her again?”

Before Payton could reply, he felt movement behind him. One pale, slim arm curled around him from behind and the small, elegant hand briefly stroked Moira’s cheek. A brief glance over his shoulder revealed only a mass of tossled black hair and smoky grey eyes. What little he could see of Kirstie’s face was brilliant with blushes.

“See, my dear one,” Kirstie said, “I am fine. I just need a wee bit of privacy ere I join ye in the great hall.”

Moira nodded, turned to face everyone, and bellowed, “Get out! My lady is naked!”

“Oh, it wanted only that,” Kirstie muttered and hid behind Payton’s back.

Payton fought hard against the urge to laugh as little Moira marched over to the group and pointed her finger at the door, impressively regal in her silent command. Alice, her face contorted slightly as she obviously fought the urge to laugh, quickly pushed everyone out of the room. The huge grins on the faces of Connor, Ian, and Gillyanne only added to Payton’s strain.

Just as the door closed, Payton heard Callum ask Moira, “How did ye ken she was naked? Did ye see her paps?” and his control broke. He roared with laughter. Even the sight of a vividly blushing and beautifully naked Kirstie leaping from the bed did not calm or distract him.

“Oh, aye, ye can laugh,” Kirstie muttered as she started to dress. “I am so glad my embarrassment entertains ye so. And, I suspicion ye thought Callum was hilarious. He said
paps
, Payton. He wanted to ken if Moira saw my paps!” Her words were muffled as she struggled into her gown. “Ye have to talk to that boy. In truth, if he is wondering about such things, ’tis past time someone talked with him. And his language!”

All the while she talked, going from complaining about Callum’s language to complaining about Payton’s callous indifference to her mortification and back again, she continued to dress. She grabbed up her brush, realized she was standing by the bed, and slowly sat down. For a moment, she just stared blindly at her brush.

“Oh, Payton, how can I face those people?” she asked.

Recovered now, Payton sat up, took the brush from her hand, and began to gently untangle her hair. “Ye worry too much, Kirstie. They willnae condemn ye. In truth, once the whole tale is told, I may weel face a sharp scold from my cousin. A family secret,
love—Gilly is probably one of a rare breed of Murray women. She actually married Connor before she bedded down with him. And, she once told me she chose him out of the three lairds trying to marry her so that they could claim her dower lands, because she thought he could show her what passion was.” He nodded when she stared at him in wide-eyed shock. “’Tis the truth.”

“Ye mean they dinnae care for each other?”

“Oh, they do now. Gilly kens Connor loves her as she loves him, though she admits she probably willnae hear it said too often. A hard, private mon is our Connor. Kenning how much it would mean to her, he gave her some verra pretty words at the christening of their twins, and he looked near to emptying his belly as he did so.” He looked at her quizzically when she smiled.

“My brother Steven is the same. His wife Anne says she kens he loves her, but they have been wed for four years and she has only heard him say it thrice. Once just before they wed, for she wasnae going to marry him unless he did, once when she had their first child, and once when he thought he was dying. Fool thought he had a growth in his belly.”

Payton got up and started to get dressed. “He didnae though, aye?”

“Aye. He was just bound up inside. A purging was all he needed.” She smiled when he laughed, then grew serious again as she tied her hair back with a ribbon. “I really dinnae have much choice, do I? I have to go and face them.”

“Aye, ye do.” He took her by the hand, tugged her to her feet, and gave her a quick, hard kiss. “Trust me, Kirstie, they willnae condemn ye for sharing my bed. Dinnae believe they will e’en think about the matter verra much. And, once we tell them about the battle we are fighting, they will think ye are a near saint.”

Kirstie rather doubted that, but allowed Payton to lead her down to the great hall. Payton skillfully curtailed his cousin’s many questions, promising a full telling in his ledger room after they broke their fast. By the time she, Payton, Ian, the MacEnroys, and Callum gathered in Payton’s ledger room, Kirstie was feeling more at ease. Gillyanne was open and friendly and, once, when she met Sir Connor’s gaze, he gave her a brief wink. She did wonder how so many people could be so accepting of something she had always been told was a sin. Inwardly shrugging, she sat down next to Payton and braced herself for what would undoubtedly be a disturbing retelling of all that had happened and of the danger they still faced.

Payton opened his mouth to start relating the tale of their battle with Sir Roderick, then frowned at Callum, who sat next to Ian. Ian had confided to Payton about the state the boy had been in when he had arrived in the wood to fetch Ian back to the house yesterday. For the first time, the man had clearly seen the scars Roderick had left upon the boy, the deep fear of the man Callum still held. It had only been a day since Ian had seen that crying, terrified little boy Callum tried so hard to hide and Payton had to wonder if it was far too soon for Callum to hear all this again, to relive so much through what would have to be told now.

“Callum, mayhap ye—” he began and raised his brows a little when Callum vigorously shook his head.

“Nay, I will stay. I am an ally, too, aye?” Callum said with a hint of anxiety. “Aye, I am. I am fighting, too. I helped save my lady.”

“That ye did, Callum,” Kirstie said and smiled at him. “Ye are my champion, too.”

“And a promising fighter, too, lad,” said Ian, patting the boy on the shoulder.

“E’en more promising as soon as he learns not to stick a knife in a mon’s arse,” drawled Connor and he winced dramatically when Gillyanne pinched his arm, then winked at Callum, who grinned.

“Fine then, Callum,” Payton said, “ye can stay and add anything ye think is important.” He saw the uneasy look on the boy’s face, the hint of shame despite his air of determined bravery, and added softly, “’Twill be just fine. Trust me. They will ken who holds all blame in this.” He smiled when the boy hesitantly nodded, but knew, sadly, it was going to take a very long time before Callum ceased to feel that pinch of shame, that sense that somehow he was the one to blame.

Payton looked at his cousin, who was doing a poor job of hiding her impatience to know everything. “Did ye really have a feeling that I was in danger?”

“Aye,” Gillyanne replied, scowling at him, “and ye are courting e’en more danger if ye keep hesitating to tell me just exactly what is going on.”

After grinning at her, Payton quickly grew serious. He began to tell them everything that had happened since he had met Kirstie, everything he knew about Sir Roderick. Callum, and Kirstie added very little. Gillyanne looked increasingly upset while Connor looked increasingly grim. To Payton’s relief, neither of them looked at Callum unless he spoke, for Payton was sure the boy would misunderstand such glances.

“I will go and kill him for ye,” Connor said after a brief but weighted silence. “I could get close. He doesnae ken who I am. I suspicion ye would want him to die slow and hard. I have a few ways to ensure that.”

Kirstie blinked, trying not to show her shock as she studied the man who spoke so calmly of going to kill a man, and do it in a way that would leave him to die slow and hard. She certainly felt that was what Roderick deserved, but it was a little chilling to hear such a handsome man speak so blithely of doing it. When she looked at Payton, she relaxed a little. He was grinning at the man.

“Ye would do it, too, wouldnae ye?” said Payton.

“Aye,” replied Connor. “’Tis a mon’s duty to protect the wee ones. Predators like Sir Roderick MacIye should be killed. And slow is best. Men like him are scared of dying. Deep in their black hearts they ken there is nay salvation for them. So, ye leave them dying, leave them with a long time to want to die so the pain will end, but terrified of doing so. A long time to think on all their sins and just how they will be made to pay for them.” He shrugged. “Sad to say, it doesnae usually happen that way. The bastards usually die quick.”

Everyone, even Gillyanne, looked as if that all made perfect sense to them. Kirstie knew that, in her heart, it all made sense to her, too. She agreed with the man. She was just not sure she ought to.

“Ah, your lass looks uneasy,” murmured Connor. “A soft heart is a good thing in a lass, but mayhap not now, not with this mon.”

“I ken it,” Kirstie replied, then grimaced. “I just wasnae sure it was right to be so heartily in accord with it all.”

Payton draped his arm around her shoulders and kissed her cheek, ignoring her blushes as he turned back to Connor. “At the moment, my biggest concern is his family. They see Roderick’s claims of cuckoldry and wife theft as a deep insult to their honor, to their clan’s honor. They grow angry and restless with his reluctance to do anything about
it except talk and complain. It may be best if Kirstie and I find somewhere to hide until I can talk to some of them. If I can get them to heed the truth about Roderick, I think they will nay longer be a threat and, quite possibly, nay longer help Roderick in any way.”

Connor nodded. “Their feelings are just. They need to ken that they are based on lies.”

“I dinnae think ye should hide away, Payton,” Gillyanne said. “’Twould be as if ye are admitting your guilt. It would give the weight of truth to Sir Roderick’s lies. The MacIyes would see it thus and feel free to hunt ye down. If ye are running and hiding, it then becomes verra difficult for anyone to guard your back. All of that simply helps Sir Roderick in his plan to be rid of both of ye.”

“True, yet,” Payton shrugged, “what else am I to do? Invite the MacIyes here for some wine and conversation?”

“Aye, exactly that. A bold approach, one that will intrigue them and make them wonder if ye just might be innocent.”