The Highlander Page 23

  "He removed his tunic for you—in front of you?” Matthew asked, as his voice rose with condemnation.

  Had Matthew been stewing about this all along? She almost smiled at the absurdity of it, thinking of how much more Niall had removed and what had happened afterward as they had warmed each other's chilled bodies.

  “How could I sew the laceration without having him remove his tunic?” she asked, sounding irritated.

  It didn't seem to matter that she was right. He crossed his arms and glowered at her. “What else did you do for him, Anora?”

  She knew what he was asking—had she lain with Niall? “You were there. I fed him, washed his shirt…” She let out her breath in a huff and continued to form a bed of straw.

  “And before that?”

  “He slept.” She stood and folded her arms. She wanted to tell Matthew that he had no right questioning her so, but she bit her tongue, reminding herself that he had come to rescue her. And all of this had to be a shock, since he was of the opinion that she would marry him some day—not that she had led him to believe anything of the sort.

  “Then you could have come to me for help,” he said.

  “Niall tied me up,” she said, annoyed, remembering just how Niall had found her rope in the byre and so infuriatingly used it on her.

  "To the bed?" Matthew growled, and she thought he might even be thinking of fighting Niall over it.

  “To a chair and then he went to sleep. In my bed. He was exhausted from his wounds, from fighting, and seeking refuge. He was in no shape to fight or do much else," she said quickly. Except he was very much ready to do battle—at least with one lassie wielding a pitchfork.

  “Even so, he could not have been too tired for the likes of you,” Matthew said, sounding furious.

  "For the likes of me?" What did Matthew mean by that? That she had been willing? Or what?

  “I cannot believe he was not your cousin. You were there alone with a man who was naught more than a Highland barbarian.”

  “Nothing happened between us, Matthew.” Not then. Matthew hadn't even begun questioning her about last night when they had slept together in the cave—naked! She should have told Matthew she was married to Niall by mutual agreement, but she didn't believe he would think them truly married anyway. And she could imagine he'd be angry if he realized she and Niall had actually consummated their relationship in that very same cave.

  She didn't want to lie to him, mostly because she was afraid he would know it this time, but also because she wasn't going to hide the truth. She wouldn't tell him all that had happened.

  “He kissed you, didn't he?”

  She hadn't expected Matthew to ask her that question. “He kissed my hand.”

  “A little higher than that, I believe, Anora,” Matthew said, scowling.

  Anora turned to make another bed out of the hay strewn about. “Aye, he kissed me, if you must know.”

  Matthew stomped his boot on the floor. “I knew it! Then the rest follows.”

  “He did naught else!” Anora said, furious with him. At least not before they agreed to be married. Niall had been honorable the whole time he'd been with her, and she would not allow Matthew to say otherwise.

  “I do not believe you.”

  "I do not care what you believe." Though she truly did. She hated that Matthew would think ill of her.

  “Where did he sleep, Anora? You said he was in your bed.”

  She let out her breath. “Only when he tied me up to the chair. You have no right to ask these questions of me, Matthew. Treating me as though we had done anything wrong. Which we had not.”

  “If I am to marry you, I have every right to know the answer to my questions.”

  True—if she had intended to marry him. “I am not marrying you."

  She glowered at Matthew. He folded his arms, and looked as cross as she'd ever seen him. But she didn't believe he acted as though he trusted her. How could he still think she would marry him?

  "I slept on my bed. He slept on the floor by the door. He was afraid I would try to slip away to find help.”

  Matthew stared at Anora, scowled, and shook his head. “I cannot marry a woman who lies to me.”

  "I was not marrying you! And as it was, I was his hostage at the first, Matthew. He told me what to say." She went back to making the beds of straw.

  "And while you were with him in the cave?"

  She felt her face fill with heat, and she was glad Matthew could not see it.

  Matthew growled, “I will not marry you, Anora, though it breaks my heart to say so. My mother will be furious that you slept with a Highland barbarian.”

  "Would… you have me lie to you and say that I did not sleep with him while Niall and I were in the cave? And if we had not, I could very well have died as cold and wet as I was?" Anora asked him, hoping she didn't have to say anything more than that to him.

  Matthew eyes widened as if he hadn't believed she would do such a thing, when here he thought she'd lain with Niall in her cottage.

  She turned away and closed her eyes. She shouldn't have said a word.

  She'd nearly finished making the four straw beds when Matthew finally said, "Is he marrying you?"

  She hesitated to answer. She was certain Matthew would be angry if she told him the truth, but before she could tell him she was married to Niall, Matthew said, "I… I am sorry for asking you what I did. Will you reconsider marrying me?"

  She took in a deep breath and let it out. "Niall and I agreed to marry."

  Matthew's eyes rounded, then they narrowed and his jaw tightened. "I see. Then… there is no reason for me to continue on this journey."

  "But, 'twill not be safe for you traveling alone," she said, truly worried for his safety.

  He gave her a small smile. "I am naught but a butcher's son. No one ever bothers me. Goodbye, Anora. I do not believe our paths will cross again."

  "Tesslyn said…" How could Anora say it without sounding like she was making an accusation? And what did it matter? But then again, Anora wanted Matthew to know what the girl had said, in the event it wasn't true.

  Matthew's face tightened with anger.

  "She said you were marrying her."

  There, Anora had not said Tesslyn had lain with Matthew.

  He snorted. "She knows… everyone knows, I fully intended to marry you."

  "She… she says she could be carrying your bairn."

  His face turned red with anger and Anora wasn't certain if he was mad at her for saying so, or at Tesslyn. Anora still couldn't decipher whether it meant he had or had not lain with the girl.

  In a dark voice, he said, "I am truly sorry."

  Before she could move away from him, afraid of the way he was looking at her as if he now despised her, he rushed forward and struck her in the head with his fist so hard, she felt a sharp stab of pain in her temple, the hurt of betrayal, and in the next instant, her world turned from dusk to the darkest night.

  Chapter 20

  "You will have trouble with this Matthew," Gunnolf warned, as they headed back to the shieling, their waterskins filled with fresh water, and an armload of kindling and wood to build a fire.

  Charlie was watching the puppy and making sure she kept up with Niall and Gunnolf.

  Concerning Matthew, Niall had noticed. "Aye. The further we have traveled west, the moodier he has become."

  "Because he sees the way you and the lass are with each other. You both show a tenderness for one another that cannot be denied," Gunnolf said. "I am used to you teasing the lasses, joking with them, but I have never seen you behave as you do with Anora."

  "We agreed to be married," Niall said. "She is my wife."

  Gunnolf grinned at him, gave him a brotherly slap on the back in congratulations, then shook his head. "No lassie is tying me down like that. Although I have to admit, if a lass held me at pitchfork length, or wielded my claymore against a possible enemy of mine, I would consider her worthy of being my wife."

&nb
sp; "Just you wait, Gunnolf," Niall said, smiling at him. "Just you wait."

  They'd barely reached the clearing when they noticed the horses were gone. Dropping the firewood, they bolted for the shieling. Niall feared the worse. Matthew would be dead, and the lass would be gone.

  They reached the shieling and found it empty. Not only was Anora gone, but Matthew as well.

  "I canna imagine they would have taken him hostage also," Niall said. "He would be too much trouble."

  They took off at a run across the glen for the trees where they could follow the horses' hoof prints.

  "Do you see what I see?" Gunnolf asked.

  "Aye, that only our horses have gone this way. There are no other tracks." Niall glanced in Gunnolf's direction. "Matthew took Anora against her will?"

  "It appears that way to me," Gunnolf growled.

  Charlie bolted out of the woods and woofed at them, then wagged his tail. The puppy was not far behind, and Niall lifted her off the ground and tucked her in his tunic.

  "Charlie, where is Anora?" Niall asked.

  Charlie raced off through the woods.

  Niall wasn't certain if the dog would help or not, but they chased after him, watching for signs the horses had gone this way. Two had soon veered off in the direction of the stream. "I will head that way," Gunnolf said, his voice hushed now.

  Niall nodded and continued through the woods, following the other horse's trail, the hoof prints in the mud deeper—two riders, Niall suspected.

  Matthew was headed back to the shieling where the man was tending to his cattle. It would be a good hour before he reached the place and it would be dark by then. Did Matthew know who waited there? Was he in league with whoever it was?

  Niall would kill the man before he reached the shieling.

  ***

  Anora groaned, her forehead aching where Matthew had struck her. And now she was riding on her belly across his horse's back and she thought her ribs would break from the awful bouncing she had to suffer.

  She moaned again and Matthew stopped, long enough to resituate her so she was able to straddle his horse.

  "Why?" she asked, meaning to question him as to where he was taking her and why, but she was unable to get the rest of the words out, her head pained her so.

  "I am sorry, Anora. This was always the plan." Matthew kicked his horse to a trot.

  "What?" She couldn’t think. Couldn't concentrate. She didn't understand.

  "I really cared for you, but my mother warned me I could never have you. She told me what your family would do to me if I ever bedded you. Believe me, I wanted to. The other boys my age chided me for loving the French girl, but they never saw you like I did."

  "Saw… me."

  "Aye. When we swam in the loch together. You never seemed to notice how much you affected me."

  She closed her eyes against the pounding sensation in her head and the knowledge Matthew hadn't been as honorable—or brotherly—as she'd thought. How could she have been so naïve? John and his sister had been right. Though she'd fought with Jane, telling her she and John were wrong. That Matthew was only a friend.

  "I was only ten, Matthew," Anora said, disgusted with him. She'd been just a young girl, for heaven's sakes.

  "Aye, and I was nearly three and ten. You were pretty even then."

  Three years older? She had thought him only two. But she still couldn't believe he had seen her as anything more than a friend to play with.

  "Then John caught us swimming and playing together in the water. After he took you home, he threatened to kill me if I so much as touched you. And if that was not bad enough, he spoke to my mother. She was furious with me, because, you see, your family would have drawn and quartered me. She said if I could not behave when I was with you, I could no longer see you. Think you I did not watch you swim as you grew older?"

  She shuddered with the idea. How could he have and never let on?

  "It killed me even more to see your chemise clinging to all your curves the older you got and not be able to have you. But the will to live kept me from doing anything about it. And this Highland barbarian turns up and you give yourself over to him," Matthew growled.

  "But… you said you wanted to marry me. You have always said so." He'd seemed so sincere.

  "Who would not? You are pretty, though you are getting old. But still, to marry a woman of the French nobility? It has always held appeal for me."

  She couldn't get used to the notion that he really hadn't wanted to marry her. Bed her, aye.

  "And Tesslyn?"

  He snorted. "Good for bed sport. She has always been more than willing."

  Anora closed her eyes, hoping that would ease the pain in her head, but it did not. "You will not marry her?"

  She couldn't help caring about the wicked girl, who might have to suffer from her consequences if she were carrying a bairn.

  "As if it would be mine. She has been with several men. Think you she only serves up ale in her father's tavern? 'Twas the only reason I agreed to lay with her. No one could prove any child she had was mine."

  She couldn't believe this was the lad she'd known since she was a child. "She said Laird Callahan paid for the meat you brought me."

  "What else did the whore say?" he asked, suddenly sounding angered.

  "To tell you I hated you so you would no longer see me."

  Matthew didn't say anything.

  "You have to let me go," she said, feeling panicked. "If… when Niall catches up to us, he will… will want to kill you for stealing me away."

  Still, Matthew remained silent.

  "We have always been friends."

  "God's teeth, Anora! I have always wanted to be more than just friends with you! Do you not see?"

  Tears filled her eyes. "Aye." What could she say? That she had never wanted anything more than friendship? She didn't believe he'd appreciate it.

  The fight wasn't out of her, though as much as her head pained her, she wasn't sure how much she could fight. Then again, she still had Gunnolf's dagger. Not that she could use it on Matthew when she was riding in front of him on the horse.

  "Where are you taking me?" she asked in a small voice.

  "To Cian."

  She swallowed hard. The man would want her head after she helped Niall dispose of his men's bodies and their horses. "I do not understand." How had Matthew gotten involved with that man?

  "I was on my way to Conventry, as I said, when I ran into Cian's men on the road. They asked me if I knew anything about a Frenchwoman who lived in the area. I thought of you at once. If there are others, who would care anything about them? But my mother always said that someday your family would learn you still lived and would want you married off to someone of their choosing."

  He paused, then started speaking again. "They said they were also looking for two Highlanders who had killed some of their men and stolen their horses. I did not think of the Highlander staying with you at first because he was alone. Until I returned home and learned you had gone into the village searching for some man named Gunnolf and that he was a friend of the one at your cottage.

  "I intended to return to your place and turn you over to Cian for a goodly sum—the money I could use to start my own butcher stall and get away from my mother's constant nagging—but they had already torched your cottage and you were gone."

  She stifled a sob. She knew deep in her heart, she'd never return, yet some part of her had secretly wished she could.

  "There was no sign of your sheep or Charlie. I found your sheep at another sheepherder's croft and since Jacob knew you and I were friends, he told me you were with Niall and his friend. The two men Cian was seeking. Though the one is not a Highlander."

  "Niall and Gunnolf only wished to keep me safe. Why would you turn me over to Cian? Just for money? We were friends." She kept mentioning their friendship, trying to remind Matthew of what they'd been to each other.

  "I would never have you like I wished, Anora. Do you not see? Believe
me, I desired having you for my own. And then you were with that barbarian, and I saw the way he sought having you and the way you wanted him. He was not worried about anyone killing him, but he should be."

  Which was what she was concerned about also.

  "You asked me to marry you," she said, rubbing her temple. She couldn't understand why he would have kept asking her if he hadn't wanted to really marry her. "Was it all just a lie?"

  "I aspired to, but my mother would never allow it."

  Anora closed her eyes against the pounding in her head. It had always been about his mother.

  "Then you said you would not marry me anyway, and I would never see you again if the Highlander had his way, so I figured I would rather get something for all my trouble, and I would sell you to Cian."

  "If he will truly pay you and not just kill you. What does he plan to do with me?"

  "Sell you to a Norman lord who will pay handsomely for you, despite your age."

  If he mentioned about her age one more time, she would slug him.

  "He is still interested in you because of your family lineage, but someone else wants you to marry another lord. So he assumes this is the only way to make you his own before the other lord marries you."

  "I thought you loved me," Anora said, considering how dangerous it would be for her to jump off his horse. Though the way she was feeling, falling off would be all she could manage, rather than jumping off. She hoped he had loved her, at least to an extent, and would reconsider and let her go.

  "I think I did love you, until everyone kept warning me that they or others would kill me if I touched you." He raised his arm around her waist and touched her breast, then leaned down as if to kiss her cheek. "If I cannot have you, the heathen cannot."

  "Do not touch me, Matthew," she growled at him. "You are no friend of mine."

  Then they heard horses galloping some distance behind them, and Anora wanted to shout out to the riders, assuming they were Niall and Gunnolf. But Matthew suddenly halted his horse. Her heart beating frantically, she feared he intended to kill her.