Highland Sparks: Logan and Gwyneth (Clan Grant Series Book 5) (13 page)

“Hell, Gwynie,” he brushed back the strands of hair fluttering in front of her face. “I’m sorry, lass.” He kissed the first tear as it slid down her cheek. He held her hand, brushing his thumb across the back, hoping to be some source of comfort.

Gwyneth stared up at the stars as tears rolled down her cheeks. “He fired two arrows fast, straight into their hearts and they crumpled to the ground. All I remember after that is falling on my da and screaming for him to wake up. He never moved again, and I was covered in his blood.”

She swiped the tears off her cheeks and stared at her hands, her breath hitching as the painful memories ate at her. “The next thing I knew, Duff Erskine stood in front of me and stared at me. He wore a twisted grin and told me I was lucky he didn’t do the same to me. Then he told me he would come for me in a few years and send me off on a boat, as he planned to do with the women on the cart.”

“Where was your brother, Rab?”

“Rab thought faster than I did and ran for help as soon as he saw the arrows fly. I was frozen; I couldn’t move at all. And the worst part? When the bastard stood over me laughing about my da and my brother, I didn’t even try to hurt him. I didn’t have my bow, so there was naught I could do, but I couldn’t move at all, a huge force was keeping me pinned in my spot.”

“Lass,” he cupped her cheeks and brushed her tears away with his thumbs. “You had just watched your sire and your brother die in front of you. How could you have done anything? I wouldn’t have been able to move either. ‘Tis only natural.”

Gwyneth shook her head so forcefully her plait swung back and forth on her head. “You would have done something, Logan Ramsay. I failed my family.”

“How many summers were you? I think you’re too hard on yourself.”

“Ten and three. I was big enough to have swung at him or something. I could have yelled; I could have punched him.
Something
.”

He kissed her forehead. “Gwyneth, at ten and three, I wouldn’t have been able to do anything. You were too young, and you had just received the shock of your life.”

Her hands latched onto his arms and her fingers dug into his flesh. “I should have done something! Do you know how many times that scene has played out in my head? Do you know how many different ways I have dreamed of hurting that bastard? He killed them for no reason. No reason!”

Logan understood. He could feel her entire body shake with emotion from reliving the tragic experience. He wanted to kill the bastard with his bare hands for what he had put Gwyneth through. The cold execution of her family members necessitated an extraordinary form of torture.

Duff Erskine was a dead man. He just needed to convince her to let him do it for her.

God’s teeth, he had no idea how he could do that.

Chapter Thirteen

Logan reached for her and drew her in as close as he could. Gwyneth clung to him, wanting so much to be able to lean on him for support. It had been a long time since she had felt this comforted. Logan Ramsay was indeed an unusual man.

She cried in his arms for several minutes more before she was finally able to rein in her feelings. Settled on his lap, she rested her head on his shoulder while he rubbed her back, allowing her the time she needed to finish the story. After blowing her nose on a nearby leaf and wiping her face with another, she finally calmed enough to speak again.

Logan said, “No one came to help you?”

“Nay, ‘twas too late at night,” she hiccupped. “By the time Rab returned with my uncle, Duff was well down the trail of the firth with his packhorses. We picked up my father and brother and took them to our home to clean them up. I cried and cried and thought I would never be able to stop.

“Uncle Innis talked to the other priest and we were brought to live with him in a small room in the back of the Kirk. Eventually, they added two small chambers for sleeping. We helped clean, cooked, fished, and Uncle Innis taught us both to read. The Kirk had so many wonderful books that I read all the time.

“But the most important thing he did was help us practice with our bow. I became obsessed with it, and Rab became obsessed with the church. We each had a different way of handling the tragedy. When Uncle Innis died last year, Rab took his place in the Kirk and became Father Rab. He had already gone for training with Uncle Innis.” She pulled away and smiled at Logan, playing with his long hair. “I am so proud of my brother and I love him so much.”

“How did you meet Caralyn and her daughters?” Logan asked.

“Father Rab travels to different Kirks sometimes. He is happy to go wherever he is needed, and he often takes me with him. We were at the Kirk in Ayr when I met Caralyn. I just fell in love with her sweet bairns, and I knew she was in a difficult situation, but I didn’t know how to help her other than to be her friend. She was my only true friend because I spent all my time in two places.”

“Two places?” Logan’s brow furrowed. “Aye, the Kirk, but where else did you go?”

She smiled and kissed his cheek. “To the butts. My brother helped me find a suitable place to practice my shooting and a perfect target. He is an excellent natural archer. I never was that great at it until I had a goal. I practiced and practiced, and he gave me pointers on how to get better. My father taught the three of us, and we played around often, but I only became skilled after Uncle Innis and Rab worked with me.

“I vowed to improve until I could kill Duff Erskine, though my brother tries to talk me out of it, speaking about forgiveness and the teachings of the church. Still, I think he understands I am driven to do this.”

“Your brother didn’t see the arrows kill your father and brother, did he? If he ran, he saved himself from that memory. You do have that inside you, and I am sure ‘tis a powerful beast to defeat.”

“Aye, the memory never leaves me. Erskine will die at my hands.”

***

Someone shook her arms. “Gwyneth, wake up. Come, love, you’re having a nightmare.”

Her eyes flew open with a start and stared directly into Logan’s gaze. A nightmare. She panted, forcing herself to a sitting position, trying to bring her fear under control. Glancing down at the dirt, she heaved and reached for something, anything to ground her. Then she sought the only thing that promised to give her genuine comfort—she threw herself into Logan’s embrace.

He wrapped his arms around her and whispered in her ear. “Lass, I’m here. Do you wish to tell me about it?”

Gwyneth sobbed as she clung to him. Duff Erskine had invaded her life once again. She had this dream frequently. Sometimes she dreamed about the experience on the boat, and other times it was the moment of her kidnapping. How she hated reliving the terror of having no control.

However, this was the first time she had ever had the comfort of a pair of large, warm arms around her. She was beginning to like having Logan Ramsay around.

Wiping her eyes, she leaned back and told him everything. Then she fell back against his chest and he held her, just held her until a wave of calm washed over her—a sense of renewed confidence and purpose. She would do this, and if by chance she needed help, Logan would help her.

Never, never would she be powerless again.

***

The next day, they rode through a meadow that was absolutely stunning, surrounded on both sides by tall craggy rocks. The air was still as they rode, the only sounds the birdsongs in the trees. Fortunately, there hadn’t been any rain, and they hadn’t run into any more boars either.

He glanced at Gwyneth and said, “Would you like a bath, sweeting? I know of a place not far from here we could use.”

Gwyneth’s face lit up. “Aye, please! I miss the Grant bathing room.”

He spurred his horse into a gallop and yelled back over his shoulder, “Follow me.”

As he was heading straight for a wall of rocks, Gwyneth swore he was daft before he reined in at the edge and pointed to a spot in the middle. When she pulled up next to him, a slow smile crept across her face as she noticed the slender opening. Just wide enough for a horse. They slipped through the crevice and Gwyneth sighed in pleasure at what she saw there.

“This is the most beautiful spot I have ever seen.” Her gaze roamed over the ground covered in soft moss leading up to a deep pool. She dismounted and proceeded over to the stone edge, where water puddled in shallow crevices in the rock that led to a deeper pool in the middle. Bending over, she stuck her hand in the water and squealed in delight. “‘Tis warm, Logan.”

She turned around to gaze at him, her face beaming as she ripped off her clothes.

Logan quirked his brow. “Are you always this free to strip?”

“Aye, when there is warm water. You’re coming with me?”

He chuckled. “Wouldn’t be verra gentlemanly of me to allow you to explore on your own. Who knows what you will be up against?”

Gwyneth tiptoed across the rock until she came next to the spring. “Do you think it is verra deep?”

“Nay, you can stand up in it. Go ahead. There’s no fish or aught else.”

She lowered herself so she sat on the edge before dropping into the water with glee. She moaned and sighed in sheer delight as the warm water washed over her long limbs. Reaching up to her hair, she released the ties so it tumbled down on her shoulders and giggled as she swung her long mane back and forth, freeing it from its bindings.

Logan took one look at her with her hair down around her shoulders, jumped into the water and grabbed her, pulling her tight against him.

“Oh!” She glanced at his hardness against her belly. “That didn’t take long, did it?” She grinned at him and grasped his erection, stroking him the way he liked.

“Hellfire, between your hair and your moaning, it took little more than a second. But now you have given me a challenge, for sure.”

“What’s that?”

He grinned as he picked her up by her waist and set her on the edge of the stone, spreading her legs wide for him. “‘Tis a matter of my manly pride. I must make you moan more using only my tongue.”

Gwyneth’s puzzled expression made him grin and he set to proving his point. Within minutes, she groaned right before she clutched his hair and cried out his name loudly enough for it to echo inside the small chamber. She caught herself as she fell back on the rock and stared at him, watching him kiss his way up her belly.

“Did I keep my promise, lass?” He winked at her with the most wicked grin he could muster.

All Gwyneth could do was nod and whimper.

Chapter Fourteen

When they finally arrived in Glasgow, Gwyneth took him straight to the Kirk to meet her brother. She led him through the back door into a warm and inviting chamber behind the chapel. A table and chairs sat near the hearth, and a small area for food preparation was situated at the back of the room. He could see two rooms off the main chamber, probably for sleeping. Father Rab was a pleasant man, truly concerned about his sister.

“‘Tis a pleasure to meet you, Father,” Logan said.

“My pleasure, but please call me Rab. You don’t need to address me as a priest in my home. You are here as a guest.” His smile was genuine and warm when he turned his attention to his sister. “Gwyneth, come sit down and tell me about your trip to the Highlands.”

The three of them settled at the table and Gwyneth shared the highlights of their journey with her brother. Logan could tell how much she loved and admired Rab. Her demeanor was often tough and cold, but not here. Only in the last few days had he noticed how beautiful her smile was, her white teeth glowing against her dark hair and the bronze color of her skin. It was more lovely for the fact that it had to be earned. Lord, but he had to admit that his protectiveness was growing stronger everyday with this lass.

Was it just the need to protect her or was it something else?

Her face beamed as she told him about the Grant clan.

Rab winked at Logan. “I am glad to hear you enjoyed your journey. Mayhap it has given you something else to focus on for a while.”

Gwyneth’s face fell. “Nay, you know what I have to do, Rab. I can’t let it go. He needs to pay for what he did.”

Her brother’s hand reached for her shoulder. “Are you still having nightmares?”

Logan nodded his head in unison with hers.

Rab’s brow quirked, and his expression changed from friendly to fierce, as if he were finally piecing together something that disturbed him about their relationship.

“Please, Rab. Do not lecture me. Logan and I escorted the two wee lassies to safety along with four other guards. You know ‘tis something I needed to do for my friend.”

“Aye, but the trip back to Glasgow?” His hands moved to his hips as he glanced from Gwyneth to Logan. “Is there a need for me to perform a wedding right now?”

Gwyneth’s reaction caused both men to jump. “Nay!” Her eyes widened as she stared at her brother. “No wedding! You know how I feel about that, Rab.” She glanced at Logan and shook her head.

Logan’s gaze pierced hers. “If she’ll have me, I would be happy to marry her and call her my wife.”

Saints above, where had that come from? He had shocked himself as much as anyone else. In the end it hadn’t taken any thought at all. His sire would have expected him to make the offer since he had taken her maidenhead. Being out in the wilderness had made it all seem so natural, so right. He had enjoyed every moment they’d spent together in the Highlands. Now he had to do what was honorable. Besides, he did love her and would follow her forever if she chose to lead him. He
wanted
to wed her.

He turned to Gwyneth and took her hand in his, rubbing his thumb across her skin. “Gwyneth, naught would make me happier than for you to be my wife.”

Gwyneth glanced at him, panic in her gaze. She shook her head and stared at her brother. “Nay, Logan ‘tis not you. I told my brother I would never marry.”

Rab interrupted. “Mayhap you could give us some time together alone, Logan? I have not talked to my sister in quite some time.”

Logan nodded. “Certes. I have a couple of things I need to do. I shall return in a short while.” He gathered his things and nodded to Gwyneth before departing.