The Accidental Highland Hero (The Highlanders #2)

Chapter Thirteen

The acrid smoke from the peat fire filled the two-story tavern as men sitting at several of the tables guffawed or talked about the battles they’d fought in the village as James and his men entered the main room.

A gray-haired woman hurried to set mugs of ale on a table then spying James and his men, their swords in hand, her eyes widened.

James motioned with his free hand for the woman and her two serving wenches to leave. She hurried the women into a back room. Her husband came out from behind the stout counter, his brow furrowed, his expression stating, “Dinna wreck my place.”

But he minded his tongue since more of James’s kin frequented here than the Dunbarton’s. Even now, eight more of James’s people sat at two of the tables. They bowed their heads or lifted their mugs of ale to James in greeting.

With all of his people sitting in the tavern, James wondered why Keary was foolhardy enough to set foot in the place.

When one of his companions noticed James, he slugged Keary in the arm and motioned to James and his men.

The insolent whelp leaned back on the bench and tilted his chin up. “How now, MacNeill of Craigly. ‘Tis a surprise seeing you here.”

“I was thinking the same of you. But since we are both here, I have a proposition to make. You will come with me and be my guest for a time.”

Keary raised his brows, his lips hinting at a smile. “I see. And to what do I owe such generosity?”

His companions glanced at James’s men. Sizing up the competition in the advent of a battle?

“Let us not banter words. You and your companions will stay with us for a time until your father agrees he will exchange my brother Dougald and Gunnolf for you and your friends.”

“Ah. I see you have it all worked out. But know you my da does not recognize me as his son. So ‘tis folly to believe he would exchange your kin for me. But thank you all the same for the offer. We will continue to enjoy our meal and ale here.”

“The offer was not a suggestion but an order. We wish no bloodshed this day. But you and your men, save one who will carry my missive to Dunbarton, will remain at Craigly for as long as necessary.”

Keary and his men slowly rose from the benches, a bit unsteadily, their hands planted on the hilts of their swords.

“You are severely outmatched. Do not try us.”

To his men, James said, “If the others fight you, do not hold back. ‘Tis only Dunbarton’s whelp we need take alive.”

Keary’s men may have thought to fight rather than give up without a battle, but Keary rested his hand on his closest companion’s arm and shook his head. “We will go with you. But I swear my da will not give a care.”

“We shall see. Tie their hands, lest they change their minds on the way to Craigly.”

“I promised we would not do battle with you,”

Keary said, indignant.

James didn’t comment but waited for his men to bind Keary and his men’s wrists then herded them outside to their horses. Had his mother and Eilis not been with James, he would have allowed the men some dignity and kept their hands unbound. But ‘twas not a risk he’d take with the women in the party.

As soon as the men mounted and rejoined the women at the merchant stalls, Keary smiled. “I wondered why you would have us bound when I had given my word not to fight you.”

He bowed his head to Eilis. “Your betrothed I take it. She is a swan in these Highlands. Promise the lady to my da in exchange for your brother and half his earldom, and my da would most likely concede.”

James’s mother gave Keary a contemptuous look and took Eilis’s arm, leading her to her horse as James dismounted. “’Tis Dunbarton’s son,”

James’s mother said to Eilis.

“Oh, aye. James is taking him hostage in return for his brother?”

Eilis sounded most relieved.

Which created a gnawing in James’s belly. Dougald hadn’t managed to charm the lady into wanting him, had he?

James helped Eilis to mount her horse, his hand lingering overlong on her waist. Their gazes locked. Annoyance concerning Allison still sparked in the depths of Eilis’s sea green eyes.

Keary chuckled. “My da should have taken the lady hostage instead of Dougald. It appears you would give your soul to keep the lady.”

Now, James wished Keary had not seen Eilis at all. “She is merely a guest at Craigly,”

he said, although the words stuck in his craw.

“Methinks you lie. No matter.”

Keary winked at Eilis. “Mayhap if she is but a guest, you could offer her to da in exchange for your brother. Seems a much better exchange than for a bastard son he refuses to acknowledge.”

“Go,”

James commanded Fergus to lead the party while James stayed with the ladies, riding behind their hostages as they returned across the glen.

“Where is the lass from, pray tell? Why have I never had the good fortune to meet her?”

Keary asked.

Fergus forced Keary and his men to increase the distance between them and James and the ladies. Soon, most of the men from the tavern had joined them, guarding from the rear.

“Will Dunbarton give up your brother and Gunnolf for his son?”

Eilis asked.

James hated hearing the hope in her voice. Would Dunbarton agree to the exchange? He seriously doubted so. But he had to try any means available to them.

“We shall see.”

“Will you put them in the dungeon?”

“For the night for the safety of my people. During the day also, unless they wish to help rebuild the south wall. They may take their meals with us. I have no quarrel with Keary. He has been gone too long from the region to have caused us any real grief. ‘Tis his da who causes all the bloodshed. But I do not want Keary or his men near you.”

“The feeling is mutual.”

“Did you manage to buy some fabric for a gown?”

Her expression sad, Eilis shook her head.

“We will have to return to the village for goods some other time.”

But Eilis no longer cared about the fabric or a new gown. All she cared about was Allison’s welfare.

****

“What did you discuss that upset Eilis so, James?”

his mother asked in the great hall the moment Eilis was secure in her chamber. “She was no longer interested in any of the fabrics when she had been quite cheerful beforehand. I had a devil of a time even getting her to dismount and finally had one of our men help her down, afraid she was thinking of fleeing.”

“Ian was to have a word with Lady Allison.”

His mother gave James a stern look. He shrugged. “She and Eilis were at Brecken Castle and in some trouble. Eilis recalled the matter but not what about. But worse, it seems the rumors Allison’s bastard brother works for Dunbarton are true. And, she freed Dougald and Gunnolf from Dunbarton’s castle. Even if she does not spy for Dunbarton, since she visits the place, what if they force her to tell them of our strengths, our plans, our weaknesses?”

His mother snapped her gaping mouth shut.

“Aye, so you see, we have a problem in our midst.”

“Can the lass free Dougald again?”

“Nay, it would be too risky.”

James let out his breath. “We only have Keary as a pawn for now. I will send a missive to Dunbarton, stating we wish an exchange.”

“But just Dunbarton’s son for your brother? What about Gunnolf?”

“We have taken five men as hostages in all and will offer the whole lot of them.”

Ian ran down the stairs and joined James, his face flushed. “My laird, Niall is speaking with Lady Allison, but she refuses to say nary a word.”

James’s mother shook her head. “You need a woman’s gentle touch. I will see to the lady.”

She hurried off to the stairs.

James ran his hands through his hair. “My mother, as good as she is, will never get anything out of the lady.”

Ian smiled. “You never know, my laird. Lady Akira can be pretty persuasive when she wishes to be.”

Niall stalked into the hall, shaking his head.

“A man is watching Lady Allison?”

James asked.

“Aye. Lady Akira went in to see her and dismissed me. So I left a man to guard the chamber and will make sure that Keary and his men find work to do, or they will be staying below stairs.”

James slapped Ian on the shoulder. “Come, I will write a missive to send to Dunbarton, offering him an exchange for my brother and Gunnolf. Mayhap this time he will be more agreeable.”

****

Eilis paced across the chamber, irritated that Fergus would not let her leave to speak to Lady Allison. Lady Akira, he had assured her, was visiting with her at the moment and wished to speak with her in private.

Eilis stalked to the window and stared out. Keary and his men worked alongside James’s men on the south wall. But as she watched them, she noted two of them glancing at the open gate. They spoke privately to each other, and the one nodded at a wagon filled with kegs.

Were the barrels empty? If they planned to slip away in such a manner, mayhap she could? She glanced back at the door where Fergus, the bear, guarded her entryway as usual. Tavia was still in the village, seeing to the woman and her new bairn. Lady Akira had been so busy talking to James about something in the great hall upon their return that no one seemed to have considered Eilis was alone in the chamber.

She glanced at James’s chamber door. Finding him in there twice was unfathomable poor luck. Surely, he would not be in there at this time of day. She walked over to the door and placed her ear against the solid wood. She heard no one stirring in the chamber.

Steeling her back and her resolve, she pushed the door open. And when she saw no sign of anyone, sighed deeply. Gently, she closed the door behind her. Her legs felt heavy and her breathing so labored, the length of James’s chamber seemed to grow before her as she stared at his chamber door and mayhap her freedom.

Wringing her hands, she stalked toward the door, until voices outside the chamber made her stop abruptly. She stood frozen to the spot. If ‘twas James…

Mayhap a servant had come to clean the chamber. Or mayhap no one intended to enter the room. Eilis remained indecisive, wanting to flee back to the safety of her chamber, but desperately wishing she could find the courage to stand her ground and leave as soon as whoever stood outside the chamber left.

The door began to creak open, and Eilis would never make it across the room to her door. Should she hide under the massive bed? Or behind the curtains hung around it? Which?

If ‘twas a servant, she might be here to empty the chamber pot underneath the bed. Eilis dove through the curtains onto the mattress and buried herself under James’s quilts and furs and a pillow she managed to snag before the door opened all the way and shut.

No one said a word. Och, had someone come to air the bedding? No. Eilis would not worry herself about it. ‘Twas a servant to empty the chamber pot or mayhap change the rushes, naught more.

Footsteps stopped near the chest she’d seen against the wall. The chest creaked open. Then everything was quiet. Well, except for the noises outside—shouts of men working on the wall, someone singing in the inner bailey, the servants splashing water as they washed the linens, and a hammer striking the anvil near the stables.

But in the chamber, the place was deathly quiet. Except for the pounding of her heartbeat in her ears. She lay very still, afraid to move a muscle or cause the ropes to creak under her weight, or to disturb the curtains draped around the mattress.

She barely breathed, and her thoughts grew light and fuzzy.

A bench or chair creaked. She frowned. Whatever was the servant doing in the laird’s chamber? She bit her lower lip. It could not be James. She closed her eyes and prayed ‘twas not him. Then she frowned. Even if the laird had come to his chamber, he would not touch the bed. Not at this time of day.

She relaxed just a wee bit, although she still barely breathed and didn’t move a hair.

Boots hit the floor. Och, she clenched her teeth and held onto the quilt with a death grip. If any should find her in here while James was changing clothes and that person was as much of a gossip as Nesta…

But Eilis’s saving grace was she was fully clothed. They could not make much of the situation while she was dressed, could they?

Whoever it was yanked one of the curtains aside. Her skin grew clammy, her heartbeat racing as if she’d been running through the heather all day.

As many quilts and furs and pillows covered the huge mattress and kept her properly, she hoped, buried, the person wouldn’t discover her. Unless he or she tried to remove the bedding and planned to air the linens in that manner. But what of the sound of the boots hitting the floor?

Weight on one edge of the mattress made it rock, and she fought rolling toward the side where it tilted down. God have mercy! She was about to be caught.

The word would spread she had attempted to seduce Laird James. No, they would think she tried to escape is all.

Whoever leaned onto the mattress pulled some of the covers up. She stifled a squeak. And then the person yanked the curtain closed.

Not a servant. James. His heady, masculine scent. His sighs. Him. Beside her. In bed. His bed. She closed her eyes and groaned inwardly. What was he doing in bed at this time of day?

He was attempting to get comfortable, moving closer to her, rearranging the covers, groping for a pillow, for the one covering her face.

She cringed, wanting to back away, yet if she moved, she’d send a ripple of a wave through the ropes holding the mattress.

He moved around some more while she braced herself, fearing rolling toward him as his weight and movement threatened to dislodge her from her safe spot.

But then he seemed to find another pillow and settled back down.

After what seemed an excruciatingly long time while he resituated the furs, the quilts, another pillow, he grew quiet, sighed again, and didn’t move any further.

God’s teeth, what now? She couldn’t move even a wee bit without rocking the mattress. She was afraid to breathe, and the pillow was limiting her air even more. But if she moved and he found her here…

She closed her eyes. ‘Twas all she could do and pray he would leave the bed before long, never aware she had been here.

****

At first, James couldn’t get comfortable. The scent of lavender tickled his nose, and he assumed one of the servants had sprinkled the petals in his bed. But the fragrance reminded him of Eilis, and thinking of the lass was not conducive to sleep.

He was exhausted beyond measure after all the late night excursions, searching for his brother. Although an afternoon respite served him well at times like this. When he had Catriona in his bed, he planned many of these mid-day naps to energize himself. He doubted he would get much sleep, though.

He yawned. Nor would he now if he didn’t quit thinking of lovely lasses filling his bed. He pulled the covers to his chin, the chamber chilly while a cool breeze blew in through the window, his skin bared the way he always slept. He rolled over and thought the linens more bunched up than he remembered. Again, he yawned and closed his eyes, tucking a pillow beneath his cheek.

He prayed the missive the messenger carried to Dunbarton would sway the old chief to see reason this time and release his brother and Gunnolf. Although he highly suspected it wouldn’t.

Attempting to think of what it would be like with Catriona naked in his arms, all he could see was Eilis’s sweet face, the silky shift hiding naught of her breasts, the way her rosy nipples peaked.

He groaned and ran his hands through his hair. As soon as he saw Catriona, he would forget the lust he felt for Eilis. This time he tried to put aside all thoughts of lavender-scented lassies, calculated the money in his treasury in his head for a while, trying to secure sleep, and drifted off.

Until his hand touched a soft, silky warmth as he stretched his fingers underneath a pillow, unaware he had even done so at first. But recognition dawned at once. A lassie was in his bed. A servant or a maid seeking his attention? He stifled a snort. Nay, ‘twas a servant sneaking an afternoon nap in his bed, thinking he would not discover her.

He lifted his head and stared at the buried figure in the shadowed darkness of the curtained bed. Could not be an assassin, or the brigand would not still be lying quietly in his bed.

Nay, was the petite figure of a woman, made larger by the number of quilts and furs covering her.

One manner in which to send a woman away he didn’t wish to dally with, kiss her and give her such a fright, she’d run screaming from the chamber. None other would try such a thing once the word spread.

He moved closer to the woman, but although the mattress swung slightly, the servant didn’t stir. He slipped his hand underneath the quilt, sliding his fingers over her waist. She didn’t respond. His eyebrows rose. The lass was more tired than he had been. With his free hand, he lifted the pillow off her face, but ‘twas too dark to see her. No matter. He slid closer to reach her lips with his, her hands folded upon her chest, and kissed her mouth.

Her tongue pierced the seam and licked her lips. He kissed her mouth again, and she kissed him back! Just a gentle movement. God’s teeth, the woman wasn’t supposed to want him!

He touched her breast, rubbing the mound, and she moaned, the sweet, sultry sound stirring his groin. He was about to remove his hand from her breast and order her from the room, since his frightening her away wasn’t working, when someone pounded on his chamber door.

God’s knees, he truly didn’t want the servant caught in here with him, only wishing to scare her off so she wouldn’t sleep in his bed again.

“Oh,”

she cried out and touched his bare chest, squeaked, grabbed his pillow, and tried to scurry away from him in the bed.

He seized her arm and said in a hushed voice, “Hold, woman.”

To the new knocking at his door, he called out in a gruff manner, “Yes?”

The door creaked open, and footsteps hurried across the chamber. About to be discovered with a woman in his bed, James pushed her back and buried her with his pillow. “Lie still and be quiet,”

he whispered.

He jerked the curtain aside and scowled at Niall. “What is the matter now?”

Although James knew better than to be angry with his cousin. From the concerned expression on Niall’s face, he knew it couldn’t be good.

Niall looked at the bundle next to him then his expression changed from worry to surprise. “Fergus said Nesta came to stay with Eilis. But she was not there when the maid arrived.”

He looked at the bundle next to James again.

James glanced at the maid in his bed. It could not be Eilis.

Niall waited expectantly. James let out his breath in exasperation.

Niall said, “If the lass is tucked somewhere safe, then I will need to tell everyone to cease searching for her.”

He again looked at the bundled figure. And waited.

James reached out and ran his hand over her blanketed thigh. “Is it you, Eilis?”

She moved away from him.

Niall raised a brow. “You know not who is in your bed?”

“Niall.”

James gave him a sharp look.

“What do you wish me to do?”

Niall asked, half serious, half amused.

As much as James didn’t want to reveal the woman in his bed, especially if it was Eilis, Niall was right. They couldn’t have half their people searching for her if she was safe.

‘Twas the lass’s folly that she got herself into this predicament. He pulled the pillow away from her face, but a quilt still hid her identity.

“’Tis a wonder you could breathe under all that.”

James pulled back the quilt.

Tears shimmered in Eilis’s eyes as she looked from James to Niall. “We…we did not…I mean to say, he did not even know I was here until you came barging into the room.”

Niall raised his hands with a shrug and turned to James. “Shall I fetch the priest?”

James frowned at him.

“I am fully dressed.”

Eilis jerked the covers aside, but her gown rested above her knees. She yanked the covers back up, her face flushed.

Niall smirked. “A lady does not need to remove her garments for a gentleman to have his way with her.”

“I cannot wed the lass unless I know her name,”

James warned.

“I will then.”

Niall folded his arms and smiled at her.

“You cannot either, Niall. No one can.”

“Make up a name then.”

James ran his hand over the hint of beard on his jaw. “She has already done so.”

Fergus poked his head into the chamber. “Lady Akira is frantic to think we have lost Eilis. She wishes to see you, my laird.”

“Tell her the lady has been found.”

Fergus waited, undoubtedly to learn where the lady was now. James waved at him to leave. “Go to your guard post. The lady will return to the chamber shortly.”

Fergus glanced at the bed, but from where he stood, he could not see Eilis. “Aye, my laird. Do you wish me to inform Lady Akira—”

“I will tell her shortly.”

“No need,”

his mother said, stalking into his room.

His chest bare, his lap covered with a quilt, James growled inwardly. “I am not dressed.”

“Of that I am well aware. What I want to know is where Eilis has slipped off to.”

His mother glanced at the bed. James looked back, expecting to see Eilis in tears. But instead, he found she’d pulled the pillow and quilt over her face again.

“Who is here with you?”

his mother asked. “’Tis not Eilis?” Her frown dissolved. “Is it?”

Niall grinned. James gave him a sour look.

“Fetch the priest,”

his mother said.

“We do not even know her name,”

James warned.

His mother waved her hand dismissively. “All is well. We will make one up.”

She sighed. “I wished to plan this more and ensure your brothers were here, but, well, it cannot be helped. When a man and a woman are in love…”

Eilis groaned under the pillow.

James’s mother smiled. “’Tis done.”

She turned her attention to Niall. “What are you still doing here? Fetch the priest!”

Enruig poked his head into the chamber. “My laird?”

James shook his head. “Everyone out. Let me get dressed!”

“I will speak to Enruig,”

James’s mother said. She hurried to leave the chamber. “I will send another gown for Eilis. At least now we shall have an heir.”

Eanruig looked to James to explain, but he just motioned for him to leave. Despite his mother’s wishes, James could not take a woman to wife who still did not know her family’s name.

Niall shook his head as he followed James’s mother out of the chamber and shut the door.

“Think you that you can find your way to your chamber without my assistance, lass?”

James said, running his hand under the covers to her hand and squeezed. “You have gotten us into a fine predicament. And I fear nothing will stop my mother from having her way in this to save your honor, Eilis. Although truth be told, I am well pleased at the way things have turned out.”

She pulled the pillow aside, and her eyes pleaded with him to save her from this nightmare. “Nothing happened betwixt us,”

Eilis moaned.

“Aye, but that is not what will be said.”

And God’s truth, the woman had intrigued him and brightened his days from the moment he’d set eyes on her. Allowing her to return to her kin wasn’t an option. As far as dealing with her family, he was sure he could come to some kind of agreement.

But he still had to know her name.