Highland Troth (Highland Talents Book 3) (7 page)

Poor Will.

Now he was relegated to running her father’s errands. Chasing over the countryside to deliver her safely to another man. Just as Jamie was doing. But there the comparison ended. Jamie was the lad she’d given her heart to years ago, whether he knew it or not. When she’d argued with her father an alliance with the Lathans, with Jamie, would benefit Fletcher, too, he’d scoffed. He already had an alliance with Lathan, or she would never have been sent to them after her mother’s death. He would not waste her there. He had bigger plans. Ever dutiful daughter, she had bowed her head and acquiesced, never suspecting fate could be so cruel as to send Jamie to her now.

Will never stood a chance with her, not while she had any hope of Jamie coming back into her life. She’d spent years dreaming of it.

But not like this. Never like this. The shock of her father’s pronouncement, that he would marry her to the MacGregor, did not compare to the shock of seeing Jamie in Fletcher Hall instead of Toran, even though Will had told her he’d be there. He was the last man on earth she wanted escorting her to the MacGregor. What terrible thing had she done for fate to bring back the man she wanted into her life, only to have him deliver her to a stranger she must accept?

Caitrin yanked her attention back to the present. Will waited for an answer. One she could not give him. No doubt, her father had confided her interest in Jamie to Will. No doubt, Will had been little pleased at the Lathan’s choice for her escort, but she could not rub salt in that wound. Will deserved better.

“Nothing, Will. I’m just tired. It’s been a long day. After a bit of supper,” she said, gesturing at the roasting meat, “I’ll be glad of a chance to rest.”

She glanced around. Jamie had disappeared. One of Jamie’s men, Ewan, if she remembered correctly, tended to their meal at the fire. He saw her glance his way and gestured them over.

“A few cuts are nicely roasted, if ye would like some now. But I’m runnin’ low on firewood. If yer man wouldna mind taking food to the Lathans standing guard, he could gather more deadfall.”

“Will, would ye?”

“Of course. I’ll be back.” He took a double handful of dinner portions on a trencher of bread the Fletcher cook packed, and headed off into the darkness across the face of the hill. Jamie had gone the opposite way. Suddenly, Caitrin’s appetite deserted her.

“I think I’ll wait for ye to take care of the others,” she told Ewan, and made her way out of the camp in the direction she’d last seen Jamie go. Beyond the reach of their fire, darkness descended quickly and completely. Broken clouds covered the waning moon then drifted past, brightening the gloom before others took their place. Where had Jamie gone?

Caitrin didn’t have to walk far to decide she’d come on a fool’s errand. If she didn’t fall and hurt herself, she’d get lost and have the entire camp out searching for her, infuriating both Will and Jamie. She was about to turn back and retrace her steps when a low growl warned her she wasn’t alone.

She froze as the growl sounded again. Wolf? Or wildcat? What else roamed a highland forest in the middle of the night? She took a careful step forward and winced as a twig snapped under her boot. The answering hiss told her what the growl had not. Wildcat. Small and fierce, they hunted rabbits and birds, but could take down larger prey. She must have wandered too near its den. This time of year, it might be protecting kittens. Best to move away—quickly.

As the cat screeched somewhere above her ear, she picked up her skirt and whirled toward the campfire. And tripped on a root, crying out as she went down. In a moment the cat was on her, landing full on her back, knocking the air from her lungs, claws ripping and shredding the wool covering her back. Its scream pierced her ear as it clawed through her hair for her throat.

“Nay!” Her cry wrenched from her chest as she curled up and sought to protect her head and neck with her arms.

At the heavy tread of running feet, the cat levitated away with a powerful leap from its hind legs that dug claws into the layers of cloth above her waist. She started to draw a breath, but squealed as she felt herself lifted onto her feet and wrapped in strong arms, hands probing the torn fabric on her back.

“Caitrin, lass, what are ye doin’ away from the fire?”

Jamie.
Jamie held her. Catrin’s knees went weak.

“Are ye hurt? Did the cat scratch ye or bite ye?”

She managed to shake her head, even as she fought for breath to speak. “Nay, just my clothes. I’m unhurt. But we should move away from here in case she comes back.”

“Let’s get ye back to the fire to be sure ye’re no’ bleeding,” Jamie said, scooping her up. His sudden stride startled her as he carried her back toward camp.

“I’m fine. I just need ye to hold me...for a moment...until I can catch my breath.”

Catrin leaned her head on Jamie’s shoulder and breathed in his scent, luxuriating in his heat and the strength of the arms cradling her effortlessly against him.

“What are ye doin’ out here?” His tone demanded an answer.

“I came to find ye.”

“Find me? Why? Is everything all right at the fire?”

“Aye. Jamie, stop, please. This should be far enough from its den.” Catrin lifted her head from his shoulder and cupped his face with one hand, capturing his gaze in the uncertain moonlight and bringing him to a halt. “I wanted to talk to ye, away from the others. There may be little time for that once we reach...MacGregor.” Jamie stiffened, his jaw clenching under her palm. How she wanted to soothe that tension away. Why had she said that name? She sighed.

“To talk? About what?”

“Us, Jamie. Who we were six years ago. Who we are now. I want to learn what ye’ve done these last years, who ye’ve become.”

“Why do ye care? Ye’re on yer way to be promised to another man. And ye used to be sweet on Toran, no’ me.”

“Toran? Are ye daft? I never cared for him. Ye ken how he treated me.” Caitrin swallowed as Jamie’s head tilted, dislodging her hand.

“So what are ye up to, lass? What could we discuss that couldna be said in front of my men? Or yers? Ye didna need to follow me into the woods.”

Could she admit to the feelings for Jamie she’d nurtured the entire time they’d been separated? Her doubts and dismay over her coming betrothal? Her grief that Jamie took her to meet a fate she’d always imagined with him? “But I do care about ye,” she finally confessed, glad the opportunity had come for them to talk about what lay between them. “Because I...”

“There ye are!” Will’s unwelcome exclamation startled her into silence as he strode up to them. “What’s going on here? What are ye doin’ alone in the dark—with him?”

“Just a minute—” Jamie interjected, but Will gave him no chance to finish.

“Every time I turn my back, I find her in yer arms, Jamie Lathan. What game are ye playin’ at? Ye’re supposed to be taking her to her betrothal, yet ye canna seem to keep yer hands to yerself.”

“Will!” Caitrin’s sharp exclamation usually stopped Will, but not this time.

“Put her down, Lathan.”

Jamie bent and lowered Catrin’s feet to the ground then steadied her until she gained her balance. “She’s unharmed, but she had a run-in with a wildcat.”

“The only wildcat I see here is Caitrin. Are ye daft, lass? Do ye ken what yer father will do when he hears of ye dallying with
him
?”

“Hears what?” Caitrin challenged, her temper finally gaining sway over her tongue. “That he saved me, yet again?”

With an oath, she stomped between the two men and gave them her back, heedless of any pitfalls on the ground she covered as she made her way back to the fire. Will followed on her heels, Jamie a few paces behind him.

“Look at ye! Yer hair is mussed and yer clothes are torn. A wildcat did this? It looks to me to be the work of a man’s passion. Did ye think to have a tryst with yer old flame?”

Heat scalded the skin of Caitrin’s face. Not from the fire as she reached it, but from the blush she knew stained her cheeks. Jamie’s man, Ewan, still tending the meat, frowned at them. She had no doubt he heard every word. But embarrassment was the least emotion coloring her face. Fury at Will’s effrontery scalded her throat, and she nearly growled a warning as the wildcat had done just minutes before.

“Enough, Will.” His eyes widened. Her sharp tone surprised even her, but she didn’t want Jamie to hear from Will, in anger, what she had been unable to say to him herself. She turned her back to Will, then glared at him over her shoulder. “Can ye no’ recognize claw marks when ye see them? What man can shred a dress like that? I suppose ye’d want the cat to tear out my throat to prove its existence to ye.”

Will choked. “How can ye even suggest something like that?”

She turned to face him, trembling with anger and reaction to the cat’s attack and Will’s interruption of the conversation she wanted to have with Jamie. She ignored the outrage on his face. “How did ye no’ hear it screaming when it attacked?”

Will had the grace to look abashed, but only for a moment before his scowl returned. Jamie stood by, arms crossed over his chest and lips compressed, forbearing to defend himself against Will’s accusations. Or had her anger driven her too far when she accused Will of wanting the cat to tear out her throat to prove its existence? She had no doubt Jamie disapproved. Now, only moments later, she regretted uttering those words. Or had Will’s comment about him being her old flame silenced him? If so, she couldn’t deal with that right now. First things first.

Caitrin advanced until she stood toe-to-toe with Will and glared up at him, but kept a tight rein on her temper. “Twice now, Jamie has saved me from injury, perhaps even death. Twice ye have accused him of behaving improperly. Mind yer words, Will Fletcher, before yer wild imaginings goad him to the point he canna ignore yer insults any longer. Before I canna, and send ye home.” Will jerked at that, and Caitrin raised a hand, forestalling any objection he might be about to make. Softening her tone, she added, “To save yer life and avoid a war between Fletcher and Lathan. Do ye think that’s what my da would want?”

Will dropped his gaze to Caitrin’s shoulder, where tufts of torn wool stuck up through her tangled hair and tickled her neck. “Nay. But I must ken why ye went into the woods after him.”

“After him? What makes ye think such a thing?” As Will opened his mouth, Caitrin plunged ahead. “I dinna wish to hear it. I went into the woods alone...for the usual reason.” The lie stung, especially since Jamie knew she lied. She shook her head. The truth would only inflame Will’s anger further. Jamie must see that and keep his silence until she dealt with the immediate problem. Then she would talk to Jamie. If he would let her. “The cat attacked. Luckily, Jamie was nearby to scare the creature away before it had a chance to do more than claw my dress. Had he no’ been nearby, one of ye would have reached me soon after, I’m sure. That’s the end of it, Will Fletcher, do ye hear me?”

She watched the muscle jump in his cheek. He glared at her then turned his glare on Jamie before answering, “Aye.”

Caitrin spared Jamie a glance and saw a similar flex in the muscle of his cheek. Oh dear. He knew what she was doing. And he must have heard Will’s remark about her old flame. His narrowed eyes glinted in the firelight.

“Well enough then,” she sighed, turning back to Will, “Get something to eat and haud yer wheesht from now on. I willna tolerate any more of this.”

Ewan cleared his throat, breaking the tension. “If ye want to eat, it’s ready.” He bent and began carving slices of meat from the loin, laying them on trenchers. Caitrin took one from him and handed it to Will in time to see Jamie turn on his heel and stalk out of camp—again.

Caitrin moved away from Will, desperate to hide her disappointment from him. How could she ever talk to Jamie if he kept his distance? Especially now he was angry with her. Before Will interrupted, she’d managed to say just enough to make Jamie wary, then she’d lied to Will in Jamie’s presence. What must he think of her now?

Chapter Five

Jamie had to force himself to return to camp when his turn at the watch ended. Alone in the woods with nothing but the soft whisper of the breeze through the spring leaves and the moon playing hide-and-go-seek behind passing clouds, he had managed to regain his equilibrium, calm his breathing, and unlock his jaw. But Caitrin slept in the camp, a temptation he could not consider giving in to.

As he approached the banked glow of the campfire, he paused to study the bundled up bodies sleeping near it. The smallest one was Caitrin. Wrapped in her cloak and a length of the Fletcher plaid against the cold. What he could see of her face appeared youthful and innocent—more like the Caitrin he used to know than the woman she was today—the woman seemingly bent on trying his resolve. The woman who lied to her kinsman to protect him. Not to protect Jamie. To protect Will, from Jamie. Was he so fearsome then?

True, he’d scared off the wildcat, but really, no wildcat could ever be a match for a man. Fierce as they were, perhaps twice the size and weight of the mousers that kept the kitchen and food stores free of vermin at the Aerie, they were also skittish loners. Likely, Caitrin had been correct that it had been protecting a nearby den.

So what was she up to? Jamie eased himself to a seat on log near where Caitrin slept. She looked so peaceful. He could hardly fathom the changes she faced in her life—new home, marriage, children. His throat tightened the thought of her lying with another man. Then he pursed his lips and shook his head. He had no right to care what Caitrin did with her life. He’d made no attempt to see her, even to write to her, after she left the Aerie. It had been too painful.

But that pain was nothing compared to having her within reach, yet untouchable.

“What are ye frowning at?” Catrin’s soft whisper startled him. She sat up and raised an eyebrow, waiting for his response.

He shook his head. “Nothing, lass. Thoughts. Memories.”

“Of me?”

Jamie bit his lip to keep the “aye” from slipping out. “Nay.”

“I ken ye too well, Jamie Lathan, to believe that.”

“It doesna matter. Go back to sleep.”