Her Sister’s Highlander

Chapter 9

CHAPTER NINE

O nce Caitlyn had cut Edan free, he immediately wrapped his arms around her and pulled her into him. “Ye’re so very brave, Caitlyn.” As he felt her body shake against his, he held her even tighter. “It’s all right. Ye’re safe now.”

While he would have liked to stand there and comfort her until she stopped shaking, there was simply no time. Taking a step back, he lifted her chin and forced her to look at him.

“We have tae go now. Are ye ready?”

Caitlyn nodded, though with her eyes wide, and clearly in shock, she looked far removed from his gaze. Wrapping his arm around her shoulders, he hurriedly took her out into the corridor. As they stepped over the guard, Caitlyn gasped, but Edan covered her eyes and guided her.

“Dinnae look.”

He had no idea what had happened to the other guards, and in her quivering, shocked state, there was no point in asking. Instead, he concentrated on getting them out. Moving through the building, they passed the closet they had used as a privy, and turning left, they followed the corridor.

Seeing what appeared to be a rear door ahead, he tried the handle. To his relief, it wasn’t locked, and hurrying Caitlyn outside, the two squinted at the bright light. It had been weeks since they had seen daylight. They stepped out into a backyard of sorts, and with a glance back over his shoulder, Edan confirmed his deductions to be correct. They had been kept in one of MacTavish’s safe houses.

Up ahead was a dense wood with tall trees. He looked up at the thick branches, and imagined it was those same trees that had caused the loud rushing sound he had heard on that stormy night.

“We need a horse,” he murmured to himself.

“They’re all gone,” Caitlyn said absently.

“All gone?” Edan did not stop walking towards the woods, his arms still around Caitlyn’s shoulders, keeping her close by his side.

“Aye. That’s where the other guards are. The horses escaped out o’ the stable, and three o’ them went tae find them.”

A lack of a horse was going to make their escape more difficult, but there was nothing he could do about it.

“Then we’ll stick tae the woods. They’ll hardly be looking among the trees for missing horses.”

They walked for some time, clambering over broken branches, and pushing through overgrown bushes, until eventually, they came upon a small stream running through the towering trees that surrounded them. Edan took Caitlyn to the river and washed the blood from her hands. She had spoken not one word since telling him where the guards were, and he was certain she was still in shock.

Aimlessly, letting him do as he wished, she sat beside him as he doused her hands in and out of the water. Even the stark cold of the stream did not rouse her from her trancelike state. She did not look at what he was doing, and instead, stared around about her, like she was dreaming.

They continued on, Edan ever alert to noises around them. But in the hours that followed, he heard no shouting, or in fact, any noise made by man. Birds sang, and branches moved with flitting squirrels, but the two of them were the only people there.

It was late afternoon when they reached a small village. Perhaps there was a tavern where they could rest until the following day. They were miles from Caitlyn’s home, and they could certainly not carry on in their current condition. The closer they approached, however, the more wary Edan became. They might have walked for hours, but he could not know if MacTavish’s guards or MacTavish himself might be in the area.

Surely, their absence would have been discovered by now, and he could only imagine the guards, in fear of what Laird MacTavish would do to them, were in a desperate panic trying to locate them.

Turning to Caitlyn as they came upon the first house on the periphery, he said, “Stay here. I want tae check it’s safe first.”

“Nae!” Caitlyn cried, gripping his shirt sleeve tightly. Her eyes were wide and full of terror. “Dinnae leave me. Please, Edan. Dinnae leave me.”

“All right, Caitlyn,” he said soothingly, taking his hand and wrapping it around hers. “I’ll nae leave ye. Come on.”

They walked through the village carefully, Edan’s head swiveling back and forth, ever alert to those around him. They received strange looks, which, given their state, came as no surprise. He was still wounded, and no doubt, his pummeled face alone was cause for concern. His clothes were blood spattered and dirty, and Caitlyn was not much different.

Arriving at the tavern with no threat from anyone nearby, Edan left Caitlyn at a table. Keeping her in his line of sight, he spoke to the landlord.

“We’ll need a room and a meal.” He slid a large clan ring from his finger and handed it to the burly man. “We also need fresh clothes, and a horse for travelling tomorrow.” He nodded to Caitlyn.

The landlord lifted the ring and eyed it carefully. It took him a moment, but eventually, he said, “Aye, all right. Go over there and I’ll bring ye something tae eat. I’ll send my wife out for new clothes. She’ll leave them in yer room.”

“Could ye kindly bring the food into our room. And dinnae tell anyone who asks that yes have seen us.” The landlord nodded. “And a bath,” Edan added, as an afterthought.

Glancing at the state Edan was in, the landlord frowned. “Looks like ye’ve had a hard time o’ it.”

“Ye could say that.”

The landlord handed them a key and accompanied them upstairs to their room. It was small and sparse but seemed like a palace to them.

The food arrived a short while afterward. A huge bowl of steaming stew with freshly baked bread. “Now, that’s a meal,” Edan said, lifting his spoon.

Caitlyn seemed to have come out of her shock a little. “And now ye dinnae have tae put up with me feeding ye.”

He gazed over the steam emanating from his food, his eyes pinning on hers. “Sure, that was me favorite thing.”

Her eyes widened a little, clearly surprised at his remark. A blush rushed to her cheeks, before she dropped her gaze and concentrated on the bowl before her.

As they ate, two servants prepared a fresh, hot bath waiting for them. Clean, new clothes were laid out on the bed.

Nodding to the tub, Edan said, “Ye first, Caitlyn. I’ll go and check if the landlord has managed tae find us a horse.” He turned toward the door.

“Dinnae leave me, Edan. Please,” she begged.

Edan looked back, noticing Caitlyn’s fearful expression. “This isnae a good idea, Caitlyn.”

“What dae ye mean?”

“Me being here while ye bathe.”

“Why?”

He tilted his head knowingly. “Ye ken well, why.”

Her expression told him he did not need to explain his concern any further. Their captivity had changed the dynamics of their relationship, and they both knew it. As tempting as it was to stay, he could already feel the excitement crackling between them, just being in the same room.

“All right,” she said timidly.

She turned away from him and began to undress, but just as he was about to reach for the handle of the door, her body began to shake.

A heavy sadness washed over him. Gone was the carefree, easy-going lass she once was. She had suffered an immense ordeal. Unlike him, her life had been sheltered, safe behind the castle walls under her father’s protection. It was going to take a long time for her to get over what had happened to her. She was going to need a lot of care. And there he was, about to leave her alone.

Ye cannae dae it. Ye cannae leave her now.

He knew he couldn’t, and instead, he turned a took a step back into the room.

“I’ll stay with ye, Caitlyn. Dinnae worry. I’ll nae let any harm come tae ye.”

Caitlyn glanced over her shoulder and smiled sadly. Edan then turned and moved over to the bed and sat with his back to her.

Listening to the water splashing against her skin was torturous to say the least. With little to occupy his mind, his thoughts wandered, and he struggled to contain them. Only that morning, they had sat so very closely together, him comforting her after her nightmare. Never in his life had he imagined he would ever tell Caitlyn how he felt about her over all these years. He had resigned himself to the fact that he would have to marry Effie, and from that time on, had made a concerted effort to remain faithful to that arrangement.

Indeed, there had been times he had been cruel to Caitlyn. But his cruelty had served another purpose. It had kept her at arm’s length, and saved him from going quite mad. But these last two weeks had weakened all such previous resolve. Their close confinement had only shown him more fine qualities of the woman he had forced himself to stay away from. It was harder to stay away when confined to one room.

Even worse, had been the ordeal she had suffered. In his protecting her, he had only grown closer to her, both physically and emotionally. What they had suffered, they had suffered together, and in some ways, it had formed a bond stronger than anything that could have happened without it.

“I’m finished,” Caitlyn said, her words breaking into his thoughts. “The water is still hot.”

Edan stood and cautiously turned to look at her, fearing he might find her in a state of undress. He was just not certain his self-control was strong enough for that. But she had dried herself, put on the new shift, and was pulling her frock over her head. Edan began taking off his boots and socks, but hearing a sob from across the room, he spun his head to look at Caitlyn again.

She had managed to tangle herself up in the laces, and she was beginning to panic as she had been bound for such a long time. Clearly, being bound again was having an adverse effect.

“Wait. Let me help ye.”

Striding across the room, he tugged the frock up and off her head, pulling the laces out of Caitlyn’s hair. Her face had been full of panic, but she showed relief once she was free of the dress.

“Now. Lift yer arms above yer head,” he said gently.

Like a child, Caitlyn did as she was told. She looked so vulnerable as he carefully placed a sleeve over each arm.

“Bend yer head forward,” he continued.

She followed his instructions, and, carefully, making sure the laces were far away from getting caught again, Edan pulled the frock down over her body.

“There,” he said, gazing down at her tenderly.

Caitlyn looked up at him with wide, grateful eyes. Neither of them moved or said a word, and as much as Edan knew he ought to walk away, he found himself bound to the spot, right there, not a foot away from her. Her full, soft lips were slightly parted, and her breath danced upon his chest. His stomach twisted, his heart thumped, and giving in to all the years of denial, he cupped her cheek with his hand and lowered his mouth to hers.