Scoundrel’s Redemption (Highlander’s Pact #3)

Chapter Nine

T eagan wanted to roar at the moon like the wild beast these Sassenach thought him but kept his rage contained for one reason alone. Greer and his ever-growing need to get her out of here. He was galled by how poorly she was treated. How repressed these monsters had made her.

He sat against a tree overlooking the river, inhaling and exhaling slowly, trying to remain calm. Controlled. Rein in his demons. But it wasn’t easy.

During supper, he’d wanted to whip a dagger into Randolph’s forehead far too many times to count. When he wasn’t fantasizing about that, he’d envisioned driving his sword into Bartholomew’s groin and pinning him to the chair. Then and only then would he finally enjoy some Sassenach wine and watch the lout slowly bleed out.

Greer did not deserve this. None of it. He would have given anything to simply enjoy her company tonight. To admire her openly and get to know her better. To mayhap, if he was capable, make her smile. Even laugh. Not just once, either. He had known her but a day and wanted to see her laugh all the time.

As if Greer manifested from his thoughts, she melted out of the darkness and stood at the shoreline. Her gown trailed on the ground, her silhouette stunning. She’d removed her veil, and her dark-as-night hair shimmered in the moonlight .

It had taken a great deal of effort keeping his eyes off of her earlier when she came downstairs. Her hair had been pulled back and veiled, but tendrils trailed down her neck, dusting her delicate collarbone. For the first time in longer than he could remember feeling anything for a woman, he wanted to reach out and follow those wisps of hair. Touch her soft skin. Enjoy a woman for the warmth she offered rather than the coldness he still carried from that fateful day so long ago.

He went to say something, to let her know he was there but stopped when he heard Cecille moments before she appeared.

“Greer,” she said in greeting. “I did not expect to find you here.”

Despite the darkness, he saw Greer tense. “I should not be.”

She went to leave, but Cecille caught her arm. “Please do not go. We need to talk.”

He frowned, wondering what he should do. While certainly stealthy, they were far too close for him to leave without making a sound. On the other hand, he hated to disturb much-needed time alone between them. Unfortunately, he had no choice but to stand and clear his throat, making his presence known.

Cecille’s eyebrows swept up. “Teagan?”

“Aye, apologies.” He nodded at them in passing. “I was enjoying a wee bit o’ fresh air but will leave ye be.”

“No,” Cecille and Greer exclaimed at the same time.

“I will walk back with you,” Greer said, clearly trying to get away from her mother.

“Yes, but not yet,” Cecille said, stopping them in their tracks. “First, the three of us must talk frankly.”

Ah, so it was time to share all. Part of which, as Cecille only revealed a few hours ago, included her “bargaining chip.” It turned out the jewel she’d mentioned before was worth far more than he imagined. He understood why she hesitated to use it but was grateful she had in the end. That the lives of not just Greer but her Scottish friends meant so much .

For this jewel changed everything.

Greer glanced from Teagan to Cecille and frowned. “Here? Now? In the middle of the forest?”

“You mean at your favorite spot that brings you comfort.” Cecille gestured to the bench. Her tone broached no room for argument. “Could you please sit so we might discuss our plan, daughter?”

“Whose plan?” Greer asked, not sitting beside Teagan. She might cower to men who meant to crush her, but it seemed she could stand up to her mother just fine. A mother who, sadly, only meant the best for her. But he supposed if she could manage to stand up to at least one person, Cecille would gladly volunteer.

“Our plan to get you and your friends out of here.” Cecille glanced from the bench to Greer. “You really should sit for this, dear.”

“I’m fine.” Yet she gripped the back of the bench, without doubt, worried they might not be able to free her friends. She glanced at Teagan, seeming to find more comfort in looking at him. “As you know, I will do whatever it takes.”

“Ironic, you would say that,” Cecille said softly. “For whatever it takes is right in front of you.”

Greer narrowed her eyes at her mother. “What do you mean?”

“She means me, Greer,” he said before Cecille had a chance to respond. “You and I are what it will take to get your friends out of here safely.”

Though he loathed going about things in this fashion, Cecille felt it was the only way to get Greer out, too. Apparently, she’d sought out the children’s mother, Ada, so she knew the truth of it. Cecille would honor a word she’d never actually given to Bartholomew. She would continue being Randolph’s pawn out of a moral and ethical code he by no means adhered to himself.

So, though Teagan would have preferred to be upfront and honest with Greer, her safety meant more than what she ultimately thought of him .

“Agree to marry me instead of Bartholomew,” he continued, “and I will see yer friends free of this place.”

She couldn’t know that he would have done it either way. Rather, she needed to believe she had no choice if she hoped to save them.

Greer’s stunned, perhaps even hurt gaze lingered on him for a moment before she replied, however stunted. “I told you…” When her gaze drifted to the river, he knew she was retreating into the safety of her mind. “I told you I would do anything.”

No questioning it. Just acceptance and compliance.

Relief flashed in Cecille’s eyes. “So you will marry Teagan?”

“I will do whatever it takes,” Greer whispered. She cleared her throat and, at last, sank onto the bench beside him, almost as if she had no choice. As if she was but a possession sold to one man and then another. Defeated and hopeless.

He wasn’t any man, though. And she had a great deal of hope ahead of her.

Just as troubled by Greer’s behavior as he was, Cecille inhaled deeply before finally telling her daughter the whole story. Not just about the family jewels she and Greer’s father had stolen, but the pact Teagan had made with his brothers to restore their clan.

“So, my dowry is a piece of this fortune.” Greer’s shoulders sank. “The other, this main jewel that uncle wants, has convinced him to take me from Bartholomew and give me to Teagan.”

Not a question but a lackluster statement.

“Aye,” he replied when it seemed too difficult for Cecille. He explained how they had left the jewel at Edmund’s holding in case they were searched upon arrival. “Edmund will ride back to his estate and retrieve the gem. Then, once your uncle has it in hand, he will let us go.”

“A jewel that proves he’s related to the King of England,” she said softly, “which will make my marriage unnecessary. After all, it would confirm his royalty, earning him the prestige he’s so desperate for. ”

“That’s right,” Cecille confirmed. “So he will no longer need you.”

In a thousand lifetimes, he would have never thought someone like King Edward III, the man responsible for so much Scottish bloodshed, capable of relations like these women, but apparently, it was true.

Greer remained silent for what seemed an eternity but was likely only a few moments. She sighed and put her head down, redirecting her submissive behavior effortlessly from Bartholomew to him. “May I go now, Teagan?”

While he might ken the necessity behind all this, there was no reason for him to behave like other men had.

“Only if ye wish, lass.” He wanted to rest his hand over hers or, at the very least, touch her in reassurance but knew it was too soon. “Though I would much rather ye stay and spend time with yer good ma.”

Now that she understood why her mother hadn’t come back straight away, he assumed she would want to spend time with her. Then again, though Cecille had made clear she hadn’t abandoned Greer, she had just supported her daughter marrying another without any real choice in the matter. So it wasn’t all that surprising when Greer requested to leave.

Her eyes remained lowered. “If ’tis just the same, I would rather get some rest.”

“Of course, darling.” Cecille started forward. “Let me walk you back.”

“Please, no.” Greer shook her head and glanced at Teagan, asking his permission. “If ’tis all right, I would rather walk back alone.”

“Aye, lass, whatever ye wish.”

“Thank you.” She curtsied and vanished almost as quickly as she came.

Though tempted to make sure she made it back safely, he sensed she did this sort of thing often at night and knew her way around just fine .

“Bloody hell .” He braced his elbows on his knees and hung his head. “This isnae fair to her.” He scowled at Cecille, who stared forlornly after Greer. “She thinks me but another man who means to own her.”

He realized even as he said it how that sounded, and Cecille took notice.

“Well, you are, are you not?” Cecille arched a brow. “Or so that’s how things appear.” She sat beside him, her gaze compassionate. “However distanced you mean to keep your heart from all this, feeling nothing for Greer’s circumstances is impossible for a man like you. So I’m sorry your journey with her had to start out this way. That…” She clenched her teeth, grappling with anger. “That you could not give her the choice she so rightly deserves for once in her life.”

“I will, though,” he vowed, never so certain of anything. “I will give her the same choice Malcolm gave Isabella, with or without her dowry. After we marry, I will let her go if that is her desire.”

“You will have her dowry,” Cecille said softly, surprising him with her vehemence. “And God willing, in the end, her heart, too.”

That, as he told her yet again, was not something he sought. Even so, as he lay in bed later that night, he found himself wondering what it would feel like to open his heart to a lass. He’d never done it, so had nothing to draw on.

Before he and his brothers went off to war, he’d been more like Malcolm. Lighthearted and flirtatious, enjoying lasses aplenty but never falling in love. After that, the years of battling made love seem more and more improbable. That day in the village made it downright impossible. He was too changed. Too disenchanted. Since then, he barely lay with a lass, much less entertained the idea of anything more.

Now he was curious or at least intrigued.

He intended to put Edmund’s time away to good use and get to know Greer better. Which, as he discovered the next day, would not always go so smoothly.