Highland Knight (17 page)

“Because he was as dark as the devil, so black of hair and eye he had to be the devil’s own child, and the mark upon his belly was the proof of that curse.” Cameron’s voice was harsh, rough with a bitterness he could not hide.

That, she suspected, hurt most of all. She would not be surprised if it stirred up memories of hurts, insults, and rejections from the past. Cameron was certainly not the bonny, blue-eyed knight many a lass dreamed of. He was dark as sin, moody, and not very good at giving a lass sweet words and flatteries. It would probably surprise many to learn that she could love such a man, but she did—probably far more than was wise. He was her black-eyed knight, her dark-as-sin chevalier. She stroked his strong jaw and wondered how women could fail to see the beauty of his strong, dark features or be intrigued by the mystery of his dark eyes.

“Then I must be a verra big sinner,” she murmured, “for every time I see that wee mark upon your fine belly, I feel nearly compelled to kiss it.” She felt him tremble faintly beneath the hands she had placed upon his chest.

Cameron had to clear his throat before he could say, “Ne’er let it be said I denied my lady whate’er she wished.”

Avery liked the way he called her “my lady,” she decided as she slid out of his lap and knelt between his long legs. “My lady” was how she wanted him to think of her after he sent her away. My lady who made his bones melt with her passion. My lady who, with every touch, every kiss, revealed her delight in his big, strong, dark body. It would be a nice legacy, she mused as she kissed her way up one strong leg. It could also be a memory sweet enough and strong enough to last even when he had sent her back to
Donncoill, compelling enough to make him find some way to get her back.

She stroked and kissed his legs until she felt a fine tremor ripple through him. Raising herself up on her knees, she untied his robe. Avery kissed his taut stomach, his hips, his ribs, the top of his strong thighs, everywhere but where she knew he wanted her to. Finally, with a light tug upon her hair and a few hoarse mutterings, he let her know that he had had all he could endure of her sensual teasing. She laughed softly and gave him what he wanted.

Cameron clutched the arms of the chair as he watched her love him with her mouth. She was getting very good at it, instinctively knowing how to keep him teetering precariously at the very edge of a sweet madness. The way she so freely gave him this pleasure, so obviously felt pleasure in the giving of it, only enhanced the delight. He wished he had the strength to enjoy it for far longer, but after only a few moments, he knew he had to stop her.

A soft gasp of surprise escaped Avery when he stood up, grasped her under the arms, and set her down in the chair. She murmured with pleasure as he pushed open her robe and feasted on her breasts. His hands and lips became the tools of a sensuous torture. Only when he knelt before her did she feel modesty cast a faint, cooling shadow over her passion.

“Nay. Too bold,” she protested softly as he gently stopped her from pressing her legs together.

“I didnae deny ye any part of me,” he said against her inner thigh.

“Men are a brazen lot, I think.”

“Ah, lass, ye are beautiful here. All gold and silk and sweet, sweet honey.”

It took little more than a stroke of his long fingers and a kiss or two to banish her modesty. He took her to the heights with a ruthless speed. Avery quickly realized he had done so on purpose so that he could now toy with her as he pleased. She closed her eyes and struggled for control. Shameless and wanton though it was, she loved his intimate play. Once more he drove her to the pinnacle all lovers strive for. When it seemed as if he was going to do so a third time, she protested. Delightful as this sort of loving was, she needed to feel him inside her, craved the union of their bodies. She did not want to go it alone again.

Cameron grabbed her by the waist and pulled her out of the chair. Slowly he set her down upon him, easing himself into her body as if he had all the time in the world, as if they were not both shaking with need. Avery looked at him as she clung to his broad shoulders. His eyes were closed and his head was thrown back. There was a look of such pleasure upon his face, an expression of such intense anticipation, that she felt her own passions soar. By the time he had completely joined their bodies, her release was already beginning to swamp her. With a few hard thrusts, Cameron soon joined her in that paradise.

Avery collapsed in his arms, not surprised when he sprawled onto his back on the floor. She felt so wrung out, she was amazed she had the wit left to keep on breathing. If this was the sort of thing her parents had been indulging in for over twenty years, it was a wonder they were still alive. It did explain the large size of her family and, she thought with a little smile, those heated looks followed by unexplained disappearances. A sharp rapping on the door yanked Avery from her thoughts, and she suddenly stared at the door in horror, praying she had remembered to bolt it.

“Avery,” called Gillyanne, “come and look at the stars.”

When she heard Gillyanne skip away without even waiting for a reply, Avery collapsed back into Cameron’s arms. “I think I already saw them, just now,” she murmured; then she smiled when Cameron laughed, causing her to bounce gently on his chest.

“Come along, lass,” he said as he sat up, set her aside, then stood. “I want to go out there and test this potion of yours.”

As she started to get dressed, Avery said, “Where ye stand on the ship doesnae make any difference. If ye drink the potion thrice a day until we reach land, ye should be fine.”

“Do ye have enough herbs to make such an amount? Ye said that nearly half my men are ill.”

“A large amount can be boiled up using but a few handsful of herbs, and not all of your men were as ill as ye and Leargan. Some just need a day, mayhap two, to become accustomed to a ship. A dose or two was all they needed. Anne recalled the ones who were quick to settle as weel as those who suffer for the whole journey.”

“’Tis a vile cure,” he said as, once dressed, he moved to help Avery finish lacing up her gown, “but ’tis nay as vile as the illness.” He lightly braided her hair, then tied it with the ribbon she held out to him. “Come, let us go and see why Gillyanne feels we must look at these stars.”

Avery let Cameron take her by the hand and lead her out of the cabin. He had returned to being passionate, playful, even friendly. His brooding was evidently over, and if it had been his intention to hold a distance between them, he had obviously changed his mind. It was not easy, but Avery held her tongue. Her pride rebelled at the way she was allowing him to apparently set her aside and pick her up again as the mood struck him, but she bludgeoned it into silence. She promised herself, however, that, if she and Cameron ended up together, she would teach him that explanations and apologies would not really hurt and left no scars. Women who did not get them from the men in their life, however, did.

“I hadnae realized just how deeply I had missed Scotland,” Avery said as she stood on a rocky hill beside Gillyanne and surveyed the surrounding countryside. “I swear, but one day here and I e’en feel different.”

“Hmmm. Cold,” Gillyanne drawled, hugging her cloak more tightly around her.

“Ye have no romance in your soul.”

“I do. It just doesnae tolerate being frozen by a north wind.”

“What ye need is some more fat on your wee bones.”

Gillyanne rolled her eyes. “Look who is giving me that advice. A lass who could be knocked over by a good strong wind.”

“I am still standing despite being pounded by this gale.” Avery tucked back behind her ear a strand of hair that had been tugged free by the light breezes. “I think I must have gained a few pounds.”

“Oh, aye. Why, if I didnae ken that ye had your woman’s time whilst ye were ill, I would think ye were with child, ye have grown so plump.”

“Do ye ken, I think someone could truly be hurt if they were pushed down this hillside.” Avery gave Gillyanne a narrow-eyed glare, but her cousin just laughed. “I wish we were headed to Donncoill,” she added softly as she watched the MacAlpins set up camp.

“I ken it.” Gillyanne slipped her hand into Avery’s. “We travel to Cairnmoor first.”

Avery nodded and fought down an urge to weep. “I havenae changed his mind.”

“Ye cannae and ye ken it. He thinks his sister a woman wronged and our Payton the one who wronged her. Unless Payton has willingly come to marry the lass, ye will be used to bring him there. Our fathers and brothers, all of our kinsmen, would do the same. The only difference here is that we ken that this girl lies. She will use her brother’s sense of honor and love for her to get her our Payton as a husband. I hate to keep slapping ye with these hard truths, but ye must keep them in mind or ye will only add to whate’er hurt ye suffer o’er this.”

“Then why am I trying so hard to make him love me?”

“Because ye love him. And, for what will happen afterward. For making his heart ache enough to look for answers, open his eyes enough that he may see that his sister is lying. For making him want to come after you no matter what happens between Katherine and Payton.”

“’Tis going to hurt,” Avery whispered.

“Oh, aye, I suspect it will,” agreed Gillyanne, and she lightly squeezed Avery’s hand in sympathy. “Just keep telling yourself that for all the hurt ye may suffer, ye may also end up with all the glory our parents have. That is what I intend to have.”

“Ye deserve nay less. I just pray ye dinnae have quite so much trouble gaining the prize.”

“Ah, but how often does the greatest of prizes come easily?”

“What do ye think they are plotting up there?” Cameron asked Leargan as he watched Avery and Gillyanne standing on the hill.

“Finding a verra big rock and rolling it down on you?” Leargan replied. He met Cameron’s disgusted look with a grin.

“Ye have been in irritatingly high spirits since we docked yesterday.”

“I hadnae realized how much I missed this land. The heather, the hills, the rocks.”

“The thistles, the cold, the rain.”

Leargan laughed and shook his head. “Come, admit it. Ye are glad to be back. Ye missed it, too.”

Cameron smiled faintly. “Aye, I did. It will be good to see Cairnmoor again.” He frowned at Avery and her cousin again, knowing there would be at least one shadow on the joy of his homecoming.

“I really dinnae think they are plotting anything, Cameron. Mayhap they have just missed Scotland, too.”

“And mayhap they are trying to decide in which direction lies Donncoill or the keep of any of their vast multitude of relations.”

“Worried that your plans could pull us into a war?”

“Nay as long as I have the two lasses to trade for the lad. And I am nay threatening the lad’s life, just making him marry Katherine.”

“To some lads that may look to be the worse of the two fates. Just marriage,” Leargan added hastily, “nay marriage to Katherine specifically.”

“True.” Cameron shrugged. “I cannae see the Murrays and their various kinsmen shedding blood o’er the matter.”

“Nay, probably not. Ye do ken that, although ye can force the marriage, ye cannae make it a good one.”

“I ken it. Yet there must have been some spark between them if they were lovers.” He grimaced. “And surely the verra bonny, verra good, much-adored Sir Payton Murray could be nay other than a verra perfect husband.”

Leargan laughed. “Ye sound almost jealous, cousin.”

“Perfection can be verra irritating.”

“Just how old is this oh-so-bonny-and-perfect knight?”

Cameron frowned. “I dinnae ken. I believe he has been a knight for several years, so he must be near our age.”

“He could have gained his spurs at a particularly young age.”

“Please, God, nay,” Cameron grumbled as he turned and strode toward his tent. “If I discover he was knighted young for some great heroic deed, I believe I just might gag.”

Avery sat beside Cameron and watched him sleep. If the weather remained fine and the trail they followed was safe and clear of obstacles, they could be at Cairnmoor in four days. And then, she thought sadly, Cameron would trade her for Payton, send her away, and cut the very heart out of her. She did not think she could bear it.

She did not really understand how he could do it either. The matter of pride, of honor, of loyalty to his sister, she did understand. Yet despite all they had shared, he did not even seem to be considering any way of getting the husband he felt his sister needed and keeping his lover by his side. At times, Avery was certain he had come to care for her. Surely no man could make love to a woman as he did to her and not care, at least just a little. But perhaps a little was all it was. Too little.

And that, she admitted, was what she feared to learn. She was prepared to be traded for Payton and had accepted Cameron’s reasons, ones she knew her family would also agree with even though it was all based upon a lie. What she feared was that he would trade her and send her away with no more emotion than he would feel if he traded some
horses. She wanted him to be torn by his actions, and she very much feared that he would not be.

Cautiously she stood up, moved away from the bed, and started to get dressed. She could not stay and watch him sully all they had shared. She could not allow him to destroy the beauty of her memories. Avery desperately needed to be able to cling to the joy she had found in loving him, however briefly, but she now saw how easily he could destroy that. If she was not around to see him coldly discard her, she would still be able to treasure her memories, would still be able to see their passion as a beautiful thing.

After hastily packing a small sack with clothes and a few supplies, she crept out of the tent. No one stood guard near the tent, for no one expected her to flee Cameron’s bed. There were a few guards set out to watch for thieves or anyone else eager for some bloodletting and looting, but she knew where they were. Taking a deep breath to steady herself, Avery slipped into the shadows of the surrounding wood.

Just inside the wood, she paused to look back at the camp. It troubled her to leave Gillyanne behind, but she knew that her cousin would understand. There was no possible way she could stealthily get Gillyanne out of camp, and Avery could not be sure there would be a chance for them to flee together in the next few days. The only thing she was certain of was that no one would hurt Gillyanne, and she knew her cousin shared that certainty and so would not be afraid.

She started away from the camp at a brisk walk, wondering how far she could get before dawn. Unless Cameron woke up and reached for her before then, Avery felt sure her absence would not be noticed until morning. If she judged it right that gave her about three hours, maybe more. It might be enough if, she thought with a sigh, she was headed in the right direction.

Once she reached her family, she could let them know that Gillyanne was safe, that no matter what Cameron said, he would not hurt the girl. Avery knew that, even if Cameron was angered enough to briefly consider it, his own people would stop him. In her heart, however, she knew Cameron would never lay a hand on a woman or a child. That knowledge would be enough to give Payton some choice in what he would do. Avery could only hope that Cameron did not see her actions as just another in a long line of betrayals.

“What do ye mean ye cannae find her?”

Hearing his bellow echo around the tense, too-quiet camp, Cameron took a deep breath and tried to calm himself. When he had woken up to find Avery gone from their bed, he had assumed that she had slipped away for a moment of privacy. Although a little disappointed that he would not be able to start the day by making love to her, he had not thought her absence suspicious. By the time he was dressed and Donald had brought his food, however, he had begun to worry. There were a lot of unseen dangers in the wood. Now, however, after an hour of searching for her, he was not only worried; he was suspicious and angry.

“Some of her things are missing,” Anne announced quietly as she stepped out of Cameron’s tent.

Cameron looked at Gillyanne. “She wouldnae escape without you.”

Gillyanne shrugged. “Since the last time we tried to flee, we are always verra closely watched when we are together. And at night, I am usually weel encircled. She
wouldnae have been able to rouse me without rousing someone else.”

“Where would she go?”

“Donncoill.”

“She doesnae ken how to get there from here.”

“Avery had a long talk with Captain MacMillan. I think he may have given her a good idea of which way to go.”

He had not considered that possibility and he cursed his blindness. “Ye dinnae seem verra concerned that she has left ye behind.” Cameron fought against the urge to avoid the girl’s sharp gaze.

“Ye willnae hurt me,” Gillyanne said, her confidence clear to hear behind each word spoken. “
I
am in no danger.”

“Neither was she,” snapped Cameron. “I would ne’er have harmed her.”

“That depends upon what ye consider harm.” Gillyanne’s smile was tinged with sadness. “I think poor Avery just decided that she didnae want to wait around and watch ye spoil everything.”

Cameron was not sure what she meant, but before he could ask, Leargan stepped up beside him to report, “There are none of the horses missing. She is on foot.”

“Then she should be easy to find,” Cameron said as he strode toward the horses. He paused when he realized Leargan was following him. “I will go alone.”

“Are ye sure that is wise?” Leargan asked as he moved to help Cameron saddle his horse.

“Who can say, but I will go alone. Ye can see to it that everyone continues on the trail we have chosen. When I find that fool lass, I will come and find you.”

“Why not just let her go? What difference can it make?”

“If by some miracle she reaches any of her kinsmen, she will let them ken that any threat I make against Gillyanne can be ignored.”

“And if ye find her, then bring her to Cairnnioor, ye are going to break her heart.”

“She has kenned my plans from the beginning.” Cameron said tersely as he mounted. “I have ne’er lied to her.”

“Mayhap not in words,” Leargan began, but then he shook his head and stepped away from the horse.

“Think on this, Leargan. ’Tis a three-day hard ride to Donncoill from here. God alone kens how long it would take to walk it. A wee lass alone on the road for days is in a lot more danger than she could e’er be with me. Someone could easily find her and do far more to her than bruise her poor wee heart.”

Cameron kicked his horse into a gallop. He headed in the direction of Donncoill, hoping Avery was indeed following Captain MacMillan’s directions. The time she had almost escaped in France, she had found her way back to his camp well enough and fast enough to give them a timely warning about the DeVeaux, so she obviously had some sense of direction. It was going to be difficult to find one small woman in a countryside with so many places to hide, even if she stayed on the right path. It would be impossible if she got herself lost.

She didnae want to wait around and watch ye spoil everything
.

Although he did not want to, Cameron found himself thinking over Gillyanne’s words and beginning to understand what she had meant. Avery was no amorous widow, adulterous wife, or skilled courtesan. She was a young highborn woman. She had been a
virgin. A woman like that did not indulge in light, easily forgotten affairs. And, he thought with an inner grimace, most affairs ended because the passion had faded, not because one’s lover used one in trade for a husband for his sister. Despite his cynicism and his need to keep his emotions well guarded, he could not deny that what he and Avery shared was beautiful. He could understand how she might not wish to see it ended in the way he planned, that a romantically minded young woman might find it all upsetting enough to flee from.

I havenae been able to make ye love me like I love you. If ye love someone, shouldnae they love ye back?

He cursed as he recalled her fevered words. For the most part he had managed to shove them into a dark corner of his mind, but they had slipped forth now and again to tantalize him. Telling himself that it was only vanity that made him want those words to be true had not completely dimmed their allure. Now he found himself wondering if Avery really believed them. It would be easy for an untried girl to confuse passion with love. If Avery believed she loved him, then he could easily understand how she could think leaving him now was far more preferable than waiting for him to cast her aside, to send her away with no promises of a future.

The cynical part of him jeered at his conclusions, scoffing at his attempts to explain Avery’s actions by thinking she was in love. There was another explanation for her attempt to reach Donncoill. She wanted to save her brother. Avery hoped to let her family know they could ignore his threats, that Payton did not need to marry Katherine because Gillyanne was in no real danger.

It made perfect sense. She was going to betray him to her family. There was even the possibility she would use their affair against him, paint him as guilty of the same crimes he accused her brother of. Cameron realized that he had no idea of just how much information Avery might have gathered on him, his clan, and Cairnmoor. She could prove a threat to far more than his plans to get his sister a husband.