Part 1 (1/2)
Ravished by a Highlander.
Paula Quinn.
SHE KNEW SHE SHOULD STOP HIM,.
BUT SHE WANTED HIM TOO MUCH.
His fingers slipped behind her nape, drawing her closer. The stroke of his tongue coaxing her lips apart sent fire through her veins. When he deepened the kiss, she had the feeling of falling deep into a chasm where only he existed, ready and waiting to catch her.
Then he let her go.
”Forgive me.” His voice broke on a ragged breath. ”I fear I canna' resist ye.”
She watched his lips while he spoke, enraptured by their sensuous contours, remembering how they felt pressed against hers, how he tasted. He was always so in control.
She wanted to tell him the truth about everything, but not now. She would tell him later and pray he would not turn her away. Now, she wanted him to kiss her again....
To my Mom-.
Your strength knows no bounds...
The Firstborn.
SOUTHERN SCOTTISH BORDER.
SPRING 1685.
Chapter One.
High atop Saint Christopher's Abbey, Davina Montgomery stood alone in the bell tower, cloaked in the silence of a world she did not know. Darkness had fallen hours ago and below her the sisters slept peacefully in their beds, thanks to the men who had been sent here to guard them. But there was little peace for Davina. The vast, indigo sky filling her vision was littered with stars that seemed close enough to touch should she reach out her hand. What would she wish for? Her haunted gaze slipped southward toward England, and then with a longing just as powerful, toward the moonlit mountain peaks of the north. Which life would she choose if the choice were hers to make? A world where she'd been forgotten, or one where no one knew her? She smiled sadly against the wind that whipped her woolen novice robes around her. What good was it to ponder when her future had already been decreed? She knew what was to come. There were no variations. That is, if she lived beyond the next year. She looked away from the place she could never go and the person she could never be.
She heard the soft fall of footsteps behind her but did not turn. She knew who it was.
”Poor Edward. I imagine your heart must have failed you when you did not find me in my bed.”
When he remained quiet she felt sorry for teasing him about the seriousness of his duty. Captain Edward Asher had been sent here to protect her four years ago, after Captain Geoffries had taken ill and was relieved of his command. Edward had become more than her guardian. He was her dearest friend, someone she could confide in here within the thick walls that sheltered her from the schemes of her enemies. Edward knew her fears and accepted her faults.
”I knew where to find you,” he finally said, his voice just above a whisper.
He always did know. Not that there were many places to look. Davina was not allowed to venture outside the Abbey gates so she came to the bell tower often to let her thoughts roam free.
”My lady-”
She turned at his soft call, putting away her dreams and desires behind a tender smile. Those she kept to herself and did not share, even with him.
”Please, I...” he began, meeting her gaze and then stumbling through the rest as if the face he looked upon every day still struck him as hard as it had the first time he'd seen her. He was in love with her, and though he'd never spoken his heart openly, he did not conceal how he felt. Everything was there in his eyes, his deeds, his devotion; and a deep regret that Davina suspected had more to do with her than he would ever have the boldness to admit. Her path had been charted for another course and she could never be his. ”Lady Montgomery, come away from here, I beg you. It is not good to be alone.”
He worried for her so and she wished he wouldn't. ”I'm not alone, Edward,” she rea.s.sured. If her life remained as it was now, she would find a way to be happy. She always did. ”I have been given much.”
”It's true,” he agreed, moving closer to her and then stopping himself, knowing what she knew. ”You have been taught to fear the Lord and love your king. The sisters love you, as do my men. It will always be so. We are your family. But it is not enough.” He knew she would never admit it, so he said it for her.
It had to be enough. It was safer this way, cloistered away from those who would harm her if ever they discovered her after the appointed time.
That time had come.
Davina knew that Edward would do anything to save her. He told her often, each time he warned her of her peril. Diligently, he taught her to trust no one, not even those who claimed to love her. His lessons often left her feeling a bit hopeless, though she never told him that, either.
”Would that I could slay your enemies,” he swore to her now, ”and your fears along with them.”
He meant to comfort her, but good heavens, she didn't want to discuss the future on such a breathtaking night. ”Thanks to you and G.o.d,” she said, leaving the wall to go to him and tossing him a playful smile, ”I can slay them myself.”
”I agree,” he surrendered, his good mood restored by the time she reached him. ”You've learned your lessons in defense well.”
She rested her hand on his arm and gave it a soft pat. ”How could I disappoint you when you risked the Abbess's consternation to teach me?”
He laughed with her, both of them comfortable in their familiarity. But too soon he grew serious again.
”James is to be crowned in less than a se'nnight.”
”I know.” Davina nodded and turned toward England again. She refused to let her fears control her. ”Mayhap,” she said with a bit of defiance sparking her doleful gaze, ”we should attend the coronation, Edward. Who would think to look for me at Westminster?”
”My lady...” He reached for her. ”We cannot. You know-”
”I jest, dear friend.” She angled her head to speak to him over her shoulder, carefully cloaking the struggle that weighed heaviest upon her heart, a struggle that had nothing to do with fear. ”Really, Edward, must we speak of this?”
”Yes, I think we should,” he answered earnestly, then went on swiftly, before she could argue, ”I've asked the Abbess if we can move you to Courlochcraig Abbey in Ayr. I've already sent word to-”
”Absolutely not,” she stopped him. ”I will not leave my home. Besides, we have no reason to believe that my enemies know of me at all.”
”Just for a year or two. Until we're certain-”
”No,” she told him again, this time turning to face him fully. ”Edward, would you have us leave the sisters here alone to face our enemies should they come seeking me? What defense would they have without the strong arms of you and your men? They will not leave St. Christopher's, nor will I.”
He sighed and shook his head at her. ”I cannot argue when you prove yourself more courageous than I. I pray I do not live to regret it. Very well, then.” The lines of his handsome face relaxed. ”I shall do as you ask. For now though,” he added, offering her his arm, ”allow me to escort you to your chamber. The hour is late and the Reverend Mother will show you no mercy when the c.o.c.k crows.”
Davina rested one hand in the crook of his arm and waved away his concern with the other. ”I don't mind waking with the sun.”
”Why would you,” he replied, his voice as light now as hers as he led her out of the belfry, ”when you can just fall back to sleep in the Study Hall.”