Part 6 (2/2)
”My brother is an English soldier, Rob,” Finn pointed out, then grew silent when Rob turned to pin him with an incredulous glare.
”That's different,” Colin said, making his way across the room to Edward. ”Connor is kin.” When he reached the captain, he looked him over the way a cat might size up a mouse before pouncing on it. ”Why is he still in possession of his sword?”
”Ease off, cousin,” Will called out, leaning his hip against the table and biting into his apple. ”He's no' a Covenanter.” He paused in his chewing and cut his gray gaze to Asher. ”Are ye?”
”No, I am not,” Edward told him, looking slightly uneasy around the four north men all staring at him now.
Will was the first to smile at him, or maybe, Davina corrected herself, it was Sister Elaine standing just behind Edward who was the recipient of his favor, for she blushed a full two shades darker.
”Dinna' mind young Colin, Captain,” the rascal Will sang. ”He's a wee bit bloodthirsty when it comes to his enemies. Much like his faither-who ye'll be meetin' soon enough if ye come wi' us.”
”He's stayin',” Rob ground out and turned to leave. ”And we're wastin' time.”
Davina looked around at the others for aid, but no one had the boldness to stop him. Not even the Reverend Mother. It blistered Davina's nerves. Who did he think he was, ordering a captain of the king's Royal Army about as if he was nothing but a peasant? Dismissing everything she said as if she wasn't even there! Well, she was tired of being invisible. This meant too much to her. She'd lost everything, everyone who mattered in her life. But G.o.d brought Edward back to her, and she wasn't about to lose him again.
”I was wrong about you, MacGregor,” she called out, following him out of the Refectory. ”I thought you could keep me safe, but I was wrong.” When he pivoted around slowly, she gathered her courage and strode right up to him.
”What do you think will happen if Edward is captured by Admiral Gilles? Hmmm? How long can any man hold out if he is tortured? How long do you think it will take Gilles to find out where the MacGregors make their home? His men burned nuns alive. Do you think he will not kill every MacGregor he finds until he finds you?”
She had his ear now and for a moment he looked as though he might give in. She plunged ahead. ”And even if Edward makes it to England, do you expect him to lie to his king about what happened to me? It will only be a matter of time before the king's army enters Skye.”
”Why? Why will he come fer ye?”
”I cannot tell you. I will not.”
”Then Asher stays.”
Oh, she fumed, staring at him, blackmail was quite unattractive. ”Very well, I will tell you! King Charles promised me to a man who-Where are you going?” she demanded when he began to turn away from her. ”I was not finished. When he died, he commanded his brother James to-”
”I dinna' believe ye, Davina.”
”What do you mean you don't believe me?” She chased after him as he took up his steps. d.a.m.nation, why did she ever bother to lie when she was so poor at it? ”Rob”-she reached for his sleeve and tugged it-”it doesn't matter what you believe. Edward cannot go back. He is part of this now.”
He stopped, and when he shook his head, she balled her fists at her sides. He simply couldn't be this stubborn!
”I'll no' bring an English soldier to Camlochlin. 'Tis bad enough I'm bringin' ye.”
”Well, I'll remedy that for you right now!” she promised through clenched teeth. No man had ever made her this angry and she needed to get away from him before she would have to spend a fortnight in confession. ”You have my thanks for bringing me this far,” she said, turning on her heel, ”but I'm staying with Ed-”
His fingers closing around her wrist and yanking her back to him put a quick end to her tirade. Pressed against his hard chest and looking up into his even harder gaze, she found it difficult to breathe, let alone speak when he plucked her veil from her head and let it drop to the floor.
”Ye're stayin' with me, la.s.s.” His mouth descended on hers like a brand, hot and possessive, filling her senses with the taste, the feel, and the scent of him. He molded her to his unyielding muscles, kissing her until she went soft in his arms.
Davina had never been kissed before, and never in her life could she have imagined it to be like this. Her body felt like it was going up in flames, melting away all her defenses, sapping her will to defy him and tempting her to lift her fingers to his face and clutch him to her forever. For a part of her craved the safety of being held in his arms. Protected, not because of who she was, but for another reason entirely. But Robert MacGregor simply wanted her to comply with his decision, and he hoped that kissing her senseless would achieve his goal. As much as she would like to keep kissing him, she wasn't about to give up on Edward. So, with the last trace of strength she could muster, she gripped him by the shoulders and rammed her knee into his groin-just as Edward had taught her.
Stepping back, she watched Rob sink to his knees. ”I would ask your forgiveness,” she said, staring down at his bent head, her breath falling hard, ”but you would likely refuse that as well.”
Leaving him alone with his pain, she returned to the Refectory. Instead of going to Edward though, she sank into the nearest chair and prayed forgiveness for putting any part of her trust in a man, and for the strength to face the days ahead without Robert MacGregor at her side.
Rob wasn't aware that Davina had left him, and when he heard the soft chuckle above his head he thought her not only spirited as all h.e.l.l, but heartless, as well.
”Dinna' get up, I beg ye.” Thankfully-or, mayhap not-'twas Will. ”This may be the only time in m' life that I get to see ye on yer knees. Let me take pleasure in it a moment longer.”
Rob glanced up at him as he straightened, grimacing at his throbbing shoulder and his aching groin. ”May be?”
”If ye stick around her, aye,” Will laughed, offering no aid to his injured cousin. ”I'm guessin' ye, bein' the stubborn b.a.s.t.a.r.d that ye are, didna' give in to her request to take her captain wi' us.”
Rob didn't like the way his faults were being tossed about before him today, but he didn't like how Will called Asher ”her captain” even more. But it was true, wasn't it? Hadn't she just chosen her captain over him? ”Yer guessin' correct,” he said stiffly, rubbing his lower abdomen one last time.
”So we're leavin' him then?” Will asked as Rob turned and headed for the Abbey doors.
”Aye, and she's stayin' with him.”
Davina stood alone in the bell tower watching Rob and the others leave Courlochcraig. She did not weep, for tears did not bring people back, or keep them away. Why should Robert MacGregor return to her anyway? He had done so much for her already. She hadn't expected to stay with him. She had even wanted him to go before anyone else came for her. But then he kissed her. She'd nearly shattered to pieces in his arms, and it had nothing to do with force-although the raw strength of his embrace turned her bones to liquid. She didn't want him to leave her, and watching him ride across the bridge carved a lonely, dreadful hole in the pit of her stomach-worse than ever before.
Chapter Eleven.
We should not have left her.” Finn, as he usually did, kept his horse close to Rob's while they rode out of Ayrs.h.i.+re.
”'Twas her choice,” Rob told him for the third time since they had left the Abbey.
”But would she not have come if we'd taken Captain Asher with us?”
Rob closed his eyes and cursed himself, also for the third time, for not tying Finn to Angus's horse when he sent the old warrior off to England. The last thing he wanted to do right now was think of Davina. 'Twas better this way. He was wrong to offer to bring her home. Just because Asher had found them didn't mean Gilles would. Davina was not his kin. h.e.l.l, he had doubts about her even being Scottish. He had no place in her life, not only because her life belonged to G.o.d, but because it would likely get him and those he loved killed. Men were out to kill her and both she and her captain were too afraid to tell him why. He certainly wasn't fool enough to believe an entire Dutch fleet had come for her because of whom she was betrothed to-unless they sought to convert their faith. h.e.l.l, he'd been mad to even consider bringing her home! He hated leaving her, but she was not his charge, his wife, or his lover. He was quite certain she didn't like him and she sure as h.e.l.l didn't trust him, especially after Asher showed up from the dead. So what duty did he have to her? None. She and Asher would be quite safe at Courlochcraig. Without an army on the front lawn to trumpet her presence, 'twas easier to hide, and there were dozens of old bolt holes in the Abbey if Gilles did come.
”Tell me again why we could not bring him?”
”He's English,” Rob growled.
Finn cleared his throat and looked up from under his emerald cap. ”Half of me is English.”
”Aye,” Rob said, ”but that half of ye will never lead an army across the cliffs of Elgol to cause us harm or to change our customs and beliefs.”
”And you believe Captain Asher will?”
”He might. I canna' take the chance.”
Finn nodded, finally turning fully forward in his saddle, away from Courlochcraig, and hopefully putting an end to his queries.
It wasn't that Rob minded Finn's curious nature. The lad was eager to learn-and that was a good thing. 'Twould help him become a better warrior. But Graham Grant's youngest son wasn't as innocent as he looked. And right now, he knew perfectly well what he was doing. But Rob would not be persuaded to change his mind. The la.s.s had chosen to stay with her captain.
”Rob?”
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