Desired by a Highlander (Macardle Sisters of Courage Trilogy Book 2) Read online

  She hurried off, even more eager to speak with her husband, though she wondered if it was wise to tell him. Though, it might be unwise not to. She would have to think about it.

  “You shouldn’t be out here alone.”

  Willow jumped, her hand flying to her chest.” “You frightened me, Walcott.”

  “The snowstorm is too nasty, the night too late for you to be out here alone,” he warned. “Danger lurks in the dark.”

  “I appreciate the warning, Walcott. I’ll be in the safety of the keep in a few short steps. And you should be sleeping. You leave at sunrise.”

  “I am fine. Hurry and be safe,” he said.

  She rushed off, feeling a bit unnerved, thinking it strange that Walcott had suddenly shown up. Could he be the Slayer? Just as that thought caught her, she caught sight of a cloaked figure running to the keep. He was hunched over. Did he disguise his true height? He made his way around the back of the keep toward the kitchen.

  Willow hurried to follow him, wondering if it was the Slayer. She stopped abruptly when she turned the corner of the keep and found no one there. Where had the figure disappeared to so fast?

  She entered through a door near the kitchen, hung her cloak on a peg, and left her healing basket on a chest to retrieve later. She took guarded steps, peering suspiciously at any nook or cranny she passed and turned corners with caution. If the cloaked figure had entered here, he could be lurking anywhere in wait. Or had it been someone simply returning to the keep?

  She finally entered the Great Hall and cast a quick glance around to find it empty, the only sound the crackle and pop of the fire burning strongly in the hearth.

  “Looking for me?” came the whispery voice behind her.

  She gasped and turned with such haste that she stumbled and fell against her husband.

  He was quick to settle his arms around her. “You’re cold,” he said and anger flared in his eyes. “Where have you been?”

  He was warm, not a chill to him and she pressed herself against him to steal a bit of his warmth. “Someone needed tending.”

  “You went alone? On your own? In the dark of night? Have you no sense, wife?”

  She laughed. “I usually have too much.”

  “Not this time,” he snapped. “I forbid you from ever again going out on your own at night like that. You will find me and I will go with you.”

  “That word forbid does not sit well with me, husband,” she said and stepped away from him.

  “A wife follows her husband’s rule.”

  “Not this wife,” she said with a grin.

  “And here I thought you were a reasonable woman,” he said, a slight smile teasing the corners of his mouth.

  “Aye, I am, which is why I chose a decent man to wed and not someone who wishes to dictate. Though, I see he may need reminding of that now and then.” She gasped when she found herself in her husband’s strong arms. She still couldn’t understand how he could move so fast that his movements could barely be seen.

  “I’ll not lose you due to your own stubbornness,” he said and kissed her when she went to argue with him. “One thing you are not is foolish and until this culprit is caught it would be foolish for you to go out alone late at night and in a snowfall that has turned heavy. I ask if it is necessary for you to do so, then let me go with you so I don’t worry needlessly.” He grinned. “And if you think to refuse my heartfelt request then know that I will be your shadow day and night until I deem it safe for you.”

  She couldn’t help but laugh. “You’re still dictating.”

  “I beg you to humor me on this before my poor heart shatters, so frightful I am of losing you.”

  She laughed softly again. “Your tongue does charm.”

  He cupped her chin. “My tongue tells the truth this time. I wouldn’t want to live without you.”

  He kissed her and Willow was glad he did, since his words left her speechless. It was no tender kiss and it left no doubt as to where it would lead and that soared Willow’s passion.

  Slatter rested his brow to hers after ending the kiss. “I have an insatiable aching need for you, wife.”

  “And I for you, husband,” Willow whispered a hair’s breadth away from his lips.

  “I have no patience for slow and lazy tonight. I want you quick and hard.”

  “Then what are you waiting for?”

  He scooped her up in his arms and they were in the bedchamber with haste, tugging each other free of their garments before falling on the bed together, his lips claiming her in places that soared her passion beyond reason.

  Willow didn’t waste time in spreading her legs, eager for him to enter her, feel him swell inside her, fill her, love her.

  “Love me,” she said, not realizing she did until the words had slipped achingly from her lips.

  “Always,” he said and claimed her lips in a kiss that almost sent her over the edge.

  She moaned with intense pleasure when he slipped into her and her moans grew as he did as he said he would… he took her quick and hard.

  She spiraled up and up, reaching and reaching with every forceful thrust until she reached the edge and burst with pure passion.

  Slatter captured her mouth in a kiss, though it was her climax he wanted to feel as her moans rippled through him, sending him over the edge to join her. He tossed his head back and let out a rumbling roar that echoed throughout the room.

  “Don’t stop. Please don’t stop,” Willow pleaded.

  She pleaded with him every time, though she didn’t have to. He had become familiar with her ways and knew she would climax again not long after the previous climax. He loved how responsive she was and how easily her passion ignited for him… only him.

  They lay spent beside each other, Willow reaching out to take his hand only to meet him reaching out to take hers.

  After a few minutes, Slatter pulled the warm wool blanket over them and Willow settled comfortably against him, her eyes growing heavy. A light snore came from her husband and she smiled, content. As she drifted off she recalled that she hadn’t told him about the Slayer or seeing Walcott up and about so late or about the cloaked figure she thought had entered the keep. Tomorrow she would tell her husband all that had happened and he could talk with Walcott and see if he had seen anyone lurking about.

  Chapter 21

  Willow woke to a pounding, not in her head, but at the door.

  Slatter was already out of bed and slipping his garments on, the voice at the door frantic.

  “Wake up! Wake up!

  Willow hurried out of bed as well and into her garments with haste, the fright in Eleanor’s voice all too real, and a shiver ran through her.

  Slatter yanked open the door.

  Eleanor looked as pale as freshly fallen snow. “It’s your friend Walcott. Someone has hurt him badly.”

  “Where is he?”

  “The cottage he stayed in last night,” Eleanor said tears threatening her eyes.

  Slatter turned to his wife.

  “I’ll gather what I need to help him and meet you there,” Willow said, knowing without her husband saying what he wanted from her.

  He nodded and rushed past Eleanor.

  Willow went to follow and Eleanor grabbed her arm. “He’s hurt bad, too many stab wounds.”

  Willow paled herself, recalling last night and how Walcott had warned her of the danger that lurked in the dark. It had found him.

  “Get Snow, tell her how bad Walcott has been hurt and that I’ve gone to tend him. She’ll know what to gather together to help me. Then help her bring it to me,” Willow ordered. “And see that Carna stays with Sara.”

  Eleanor nodded and took off and Willow rushed off after her husband.

  She stopped and retrieved her healing basket from where she had left it last night and gathered more herbs and anything else she thought she might need from the small room off the kitchen where she dried and stored the healing herbs and plants.

  The snow had st
opped, leaving a bitter wind to whip it around and enough on the ground to reach just below her ankle. She tucked her cloak tight against her to keep it from flailing around her, and she kept her head down to keep the cold wind from nipping at her face. She jumped when a solid arm suddenly caught around her.

  “I should have waited for you,” Slatter said, drawing her tightly against his side. “I don’t want you out here alone day or night.”

  Willow shivered, not from the cold, but from what his remark had implied. The attack on Walcott had to be bad for him to leave the man’s side and come after her, worried for her safety. She also noticed several of Tarass and Ruddock’s warriors nearby and how they followed close as she and Slatter continued to the cottage.

  James was in the cottage when they entered and when his eyes caught hers, he shook his head.

  Willow hurried to Walcott and saw his chest was covered with blood as well as the blanket beneath him. He was still breathing and it wasn’t a shallow breath so death was not near yet.

  She rid herself of her cloak, placed her basket on the table and looked from James to her husband. “My sister and Eleanor gather what I need, please help them make their way here and then leave me to this. It will do me no good to have either of you hovering over me.”

  “I’ll see they get here safely,” Slatter said, “then I’ll wait outside for you.”

  There was no point in telling him to wait in the warmth of the keep. He’d wait outside not only to see how Walcott did, but to see her kept safe.

  Willow worked diligently on Walcott, wishing he would wake and spew his usual grumpy complaints. But she feared he might never wake. Several slash marks on his arms indicated that he had tried to protect himself from the attacker’s knife. Two chest stabs wounds were not deep and if it were not for the two others that were, Walcott could very well survive. But two wounds were close to areas that her mum had explained more often than not proved deadly.

  She did know stopping the bleeding was most important and keeping the wounds from festering was of the utmost importance. She feared it would be a difficult fight for Walcott and one she didn’t know if he could win.

  Snow lent support whatever way she could, whether it was encouraging her sister or seeing that water was kept hot at the hearth. Eleanor was of great help, assisting her to cut away Walcott’s bloody shirt and get him cleaned up and settled in a clean bed.

  It was some time later that her husband sat on a chair next to Walcott’s bed, staring at the pale man.

  “Do you know if he’ll survive?” Slatter asked.

  Willow was honest with him. “It doesn’t look good, but Walcott just may be cantankerous enough to defy death.”

  “Did Walcott ever tell you how we met?”

  “He made no mention of it.”

  Slatter settled his arms across his chest as his eyes remained focused on Walcott. “I came upon two men beating him bloody. They claimed he stole from them.” He smiled. “Walcott, his lips and eyes badly swollen, complained how he refused to pay the two lazy lots for a chore they had failed to complete. And it wasn’t him, the messenger that they should be beating, but the man who ordered the chore in the first place.” Slatter’s smile faded. “He lost two teeth that day, joining in the fight I started, even with how badly he’d been beaten.”

  “He remained with you after that?” Willow asked.

  “He did, after staying with our small group, smaller than what there is now, and healing, he told me he felt free for the first time in his life and wanted to stay free. He may be grumpy, but he’s loyal.” He shook his head. “I’m going to make whoever did this to him pay.”

  The time might not be right, but her husband needed to know about last night. She placed her hand on his shoulder. “I should have mentioned this last night, but my thoughts were elsewhere.”

  He glanced up at her.

  “When I was returning from Teresa’s cottage, Walcott popped out of the dark to warn me about being out alone and how danger lurked in the dark. I wondered what he was doing out himself since he was to leave at dawn this morning. And that’s not all. Before Walcott made himself known, a voice called to me saying, ‘you summoned me’ and it took a moment for me to realize it was the Slayer. He asked me what I wanted and I told him how I wanted you safe and the culprit caught and punished. He told me I owed him. I asked him what I owed him and he said, ‘whatever I ask of you.’”

  Anger flared in his dark eyes. “And you didn’t think to tell me this last night?”

  “You distracted me.”

  “That’s no excuse and you know it,” he snapped.

  Willow nodded her head, knowing he was right. She should have told him right away.

  “Again, that’s not all,” she said, needing to tell him everything.

  Slatter’s brow shot up and not in surprise, his anger had flared.

  “When I got closer to the keep I spotted a cloaked figure heading around the corner of the keep, near the kitchen area. I chased after him, but when I turned the corner he had vanished.”

  Slatter bolted up out of the chair. “You followed him?”

  Willow stepped back away from her husband, but he caught her arm and hurried her over to stand near the hearth, away from Walcott.

  “Do you know how foolish that was following him?” He shook his head. “Of course not because you had lost all common sense and plunged head long into danger. You should have come to me right away or to James, or to any of the warriors so they could have searched the area.”

  “You’re right. I should have,” Willow said. “It was foolish, but would anyone but you have believed me? No one takes me seriously when I tell them of this man who wears your face. They think I say it to make an excuse for you.” Her head drooped. “I should have told you. You would have attempted to search for the figure, which would have alerted the sentinels, which could very well have frightened off whoever was prowling the village, and which could have prevented Walcott’s attack.”

  Slatter lifted her chin for her to look at him. “It was me you saw sneaking back into the keep, though that still makes no difference. You shouldn’t have followed after me, not knowing who I was.”

  Willow’s shock showed in her eyes that rounded wide.

  “Walcott was out in the night because of me. We had made a time to meet in case anything came up before his departure that needed to be discussed. It’s my fault and he could very well die because of it.”

  “It’s neither of our faults,” Willow said, resting her hand on her husband’s chest. “The fault is on this man who pretends to be you. And I wonder if Walcott came upon him, thinking it was you, the dark night and falling snow making it difficult to see. And what about the Slayer? Could he have seen something?”

  Slatter pulled his wife into his arms and hugged her tight. “It could be you lying in bed, close to death. I don’t want to lose you, mo ghaol, promise me you will not be foolish again.”

  “I promise, but you must promise me that you’ll be honest with me,” she said, turning pleading eyes on him.

  “If only I could,” he said and it pained him to see the disappointment that filled his wife’s eyes.

  A moan had them both rushing to Walcott.

  “It’s all right. You’re safe, Walcott,” Slatter said, placing his hand on his friend’s limp one, letting him know he was there. “Willow tends you. You need to rest and grow strong.”

  Walcott moaned again, turning his head slowly from side to side.

  “You’re not alone. I’m here and I’ll see you kept safe, my friend.”

  Walcott calmed and his moans faded.

  “Time will tell,” Willow said.

  Chapter 22

  “What do you mean some believe Slatter stabbed Walcott? How could they think such nonsense?” Willow threw her hands up agitated and shook her head at James. The last four days, my husband has sat by his friend’s side a good portion of the day.”

  “A ruse some say,” James said.
/>   “Tell me, it’s Tarass’s warriors who spew such lies, isn’t it?”

  “They feel he attacked Walcott to make them think otherwise,” James explained.

  “That’s nonsense and you know it. And how do they explain Slatter getting past them without being detected?” Willow asked.

  “Lord Tarass wants to know the same, but he got no answer. Though, wagging tongues say your husband sneaks out at night and blends with the shadows and shapes of the darkness.”

  “That’s ridiculous. His nights are spent with me in our bed. The warriors waste time thinking it’s Slatter when they should be searching the area for the culprit.”

  “Searches have been going on and no one has been found.”

  Willow turned a glare on him. “What do you mean searches have been going on? Why wasn’t I made aware of this?” She gasped. “Don’t tell me you think I shouldn’t be trusted with such news?

  “It’s Lord Tarass who has insisted upon the search and that no one be told about it.”

  “Particularly me,” Willow said.

  James’s silence confirmed she was right.

  Willow lost the will to argue. It would do no good. No one believed her. She felt James even held some doubt. And how could she or Slatter prove otherwise when he was confined to the keep and village. If he even dared near the woods, warriors descended on him.

  How did she prove her husband innocent?

  “One good thing,” James said, trying to cheer her some. “I discovered that Lord Tarass has heard no word from the Slayer. So at least Slatter doesn’t have to fear that.”

  Willow had no intentions of telling James that the Slayer had contacted her. That would be her and Slatter’s secret. She hadn’t even told Snow, knowing her sister would worry.

  “There is nothing my husband needs to fear from the Slayer. He is innocent of all that has been said against him.”