Chapter 7
“Hush it’s me.”
He was atop her, then the hand that had covered her mouth was lifted from it, and David Douglas fell to her side.
She was shaking like a leaf caught in a fierce north wind, terrified and amazed. She came up on an elbow, creating all the distance between them she could manage on the bed.
“How did you get in here?” she demanded.
“I have my ways.”
“How—”
“Ghosts can come right through walls, can’t they?” he inquired, rolling from her and rising.
He had changed from his Highland garb, she saw. Tonight, he was decked out in a black cotton shirt, form-hugging black breeches, boots, and hooded black cape.
Shivers shot along her spine.
He looked a great deal like the shadowy form that had chased her from the Druid Stones.
“What did you do with him—the dead man?” she demanded.
“Weighted him down.”
“And?”
“Well, I’m sure he’s joined the remains of many another man who perished by righteous or illegal means throughout the centuries. He lies at the bottom of the loch.”
“Why?”
“Did you want it known you’re aware someone is after you? Do you think I want it known who rescued you?”
“My family can hardly take the proper steps for my safety if they are unaware that I am in danger.”
“What if someone in your family is creating the danger? What if they all want you dead?”
She slipped out of bed, standing very tall and determined as she faced him. “They don’t want me dead, and I refuse to listen to you.”
“You will listen to me.”
“I won’t. You’ve no right to accost me in the middle of the night after all these years with no explanation—David, no!”
Despite her protest and her desperate determination to back away, he was upon her in a flash. Her words were lost as he caught her wrists, drawing her hard against him. “Listen!” he commanded.
She wished fervently that he had not chosen such a way to force her to do so. A hot weakness pervaded her. She was far too aware of his warmth, his touch, the feel of his body against her own.
Far too aware of what had been in the past, and of the feelings that tormented her now.
“David—”
He was angry, not ready to release her. “Don’t speak, listen! I’ve every right to come here and more, my dear.”
“But where have you been all this time?” she cried.
“I’ve no intention of relaying my past. I seek to forget it, and I do truly suggest you cease trying to make me remember!
Pay me heed, my lady. You have to listen to me, Shawna, you’ve got no choice.
For all that has been in the past, I am determined I will be with you, and I will keep you safe as we discover the exact truth of what happened here! ”
She was silent for a moment, trying not to shiver while she studied his eyes.
Dear God, what had he gone through? She wanted to touch him.
She desperately wanted to reach out and touch his cheek, smooth his brow.
His anger with her would never allow it.
He wanted no tenderness from her, and if he wanted her at all, it was with that same anger.
He sought vengeance.
And still, he didn’t understand. Terrible things had happened, aye, but no MacGinnis could be capable of murder.
“You’re asking me to believe that my own flesh and blood are trying to kill me. I can’t believe you. Let me go, David. My god, David, think about it! It is absurd that my kin would want to harm me, why should I believe you—”
“Because I, at least, intend to keep you alive.”
“Why? To use me, nothing more. While you tell me that the family I’ve lived among my whole life are all out to do away with me.”
“I didn’t suggest that every MacGinnis is trying to kill you.”
“Then—”
“One of them is.”
“Who?”
“I don’t know.”
She wrenched away from him, hugging her arms around her chest as she walked to the window, keeping her back to him. “Why are you so certain that someone in my family is guilty?”
“Shawna, who else has power here?”
She spun around. “You. You walk through walls. Your brother. He plans a trip here, and suddenly strange men are appearing out of stone and trying to cut me down.”
“My brother isn’t here yet.”
“You are in this room—when there is no possible way that you can be here!”
“Obviously, it’s possible.”
“Why—why are you here again?”
“To protect you—understand that. I will protect you. God knows, there might well be some link between the danger threatening you now and what happened five years ago. Accept the fact, my lady, that I will be with you, protecting you, despite the fact that you seem not to appreciate my efforts.”
“It seems you’re the only one I need protection from when I’m in this room.”
“I threaten you?” he queried softly, and she realized that he had silently come to stand behind her.
His hands fell upon her bare shoulders, and his soft, husky voice burned her earlobes.
“You, my lady, are the dangerous one. One way or the other, you were the first to solicit my affections. Remember? And you have certainly weathered them without ill effect.”
She braced against his hold. “Oh, you have no idea of the consequences—”
He spun her around, his hold upon her firm as he told her, “But I do know the consequences of seeking heaven with you.”
Shawna gritted her teeth, trying valiantly to struggle from the tight hold he had upon her. “Oh! Yet last night you seemed ready to dare it again. What incredible courage.”
“Ah, my lady, I weigh all risks.”
“If you think—”
“I think that someone made a very great effort to kill me. I don’t know why someone attempted my murder, nor do I know exactly why I’m alive.
I’m equally certain that someone is determined to kill you.
I know every secret passage, tunnel, stairway, nook, and cranny in this castle—it is, as you will recall, my birthright.
So, I think that I will come and go from this room as I please, and I think that, under the circumstances, you should do your damned best to accommodate me in any way possible. ”
“Accommodate you!” Shawna gasped.
“Ah, my lady!” he teased in mock horror, eyes raking over her. “It may not be such a wretched thing. Indeed, it did seem that you enjoyed my presence when last we met. You may discover what revenge I would take against you to be sweet indeed.”
“Let go. You are brutal—”
“Ruthless,” he corrected. And again his eyes swept her in a way that seemed to create an inferno within him. “And very, very determined.”
“Determined on vengeance?”
“On truth,” he said softly. A curious light touched his eyes, and his tone was even huskier. “And, aye, vengeance. Naturally, I will take all that vengeance at my leisure.”
He still held her tightly. Perhaps he heard the thunder of her heart, felt the way she trembled. She struggled fiercely against his hold, advising him furiously, “Go to the authorities. Go to the queen! Take back your birthright—”
He shook her hard, once, to still her. Her eyes met his.
She was aware that he did not tease now, that his green eyes were sharp, and his handsome features were rigid.
“If I go to the authorities, Shawna MacGinnis, I will seek out the very best solicitor in the country, and I will accuse the entire MacGinnis clan of attempted murder, and since the very fact that I am alive stands well for evidence in my favor, it is likely a good portion of your family will hang. Not to mention the fact that you were quite definitely part and parcel of the conspiracy.”
Determined to respond with dignity rather than the bursts of fear and fury that so easily ruled her when he was near, she tried to pull free from his hold.
He let her go. She faced him from just a few feet away.
“So come and go as you please, Laird David Douglas. Slip in and out of the room—and I shall do my best not to perish from the shock of your sudden appearances before we’ve come to the end of this quest. Just keep your distance, Laird Douglas, and I’ll argue this no more.
We’ll find out what truly happened in the past and what is happening now. ”
“Aye, lass, I’ll keep my distance. You keep yours.”
“I don’t keep slipping through your window and crawling atop you in bed.”
“Ah, but you did teach me that it was the way to reach someone privately in the night.”
It would always come back to that. And Shawna was dismayed to realize that the very strength of her fury against him made her want to touch him. She wanted to pound against him, and then…
Feel him. She was on fire. So very angry, yet so very much alive and wanting.
She carefully backed away from him again. “Would you like a pillow and blanket for a place before the hearth?”
“No. Would you?”
She caught her breath. “Surely, you don’t mean to sleep—in the bed?”
“We’ve agreed it is mine,” he reminded her politely.
Damn him.
“I will sleep before the hearth,” she heard herself say.
“Go ahead then, my lady. Whatever pleases you.”
She plucked her pillow from the bed and dragged off the quilted coverlet. She did her best to make herself comfortable in the chair before the fire.
David cast off his cape and boots and lay down upon the bed.
“Good night,” he said pleasantly.
“Go to hell.”
He ignored her, stretching out comfortably.
She could scarcely believe it.
Seconds of night ticked away. His eyes were closed. He seemed comfortable and at ease.
She was wretched in the chair.
But he did sleep, so it seemed. She was unbelievably uncomfortable. Surely, it would have been better to attempt to sleep with him near her on the bed. Nay…that would have been even more wretched!
She threw her pillow and coverlet upon the floor before the hearth and tried to curl up there. The stone was cold. She watched the fire and prayed for sleep.
He didn’t sleep, not so easily.
He remained very still as the night passed, determined that she would think him quite naturally at rest. When she finished fidgeting in the chair and curled down upon the floor, he continued to remain still for a long time.