Chapter 25
CHAPTER 25
“Why are ye lookin’ at me like that?” Noah asked Callum, as he dismounted upon his arrival at MacAllen Castle. It was late morning and the sun was streaming over the cobbles, reflected in the puddles left by the rain the previous night.
Callum had his arms crossed like a petulant child, leaning against the pillar of the stable block with his brows knotted in fury.
“Ye ken what a man-at-arms is for, yes?” Callum asked.
“Aye.”
“I’m supposed to accompany ye on yer travels to ensure ye dinnae get an arrow in the neck.”
“Have I returned dead without realizin’ it?” Noah quipped as he handed Mac’s reigns to the stableboy, patting the beast’s neck as he trotted away.
Noah sighed as he approached his friend, feeling guilty at the hurt look on his face. “I was in a temper and dinnae wish for ye to have to deal with me company,” he confessed.
“Ye think I havenae seen ye in a temper before? Ye are angry every other day, man. I should have come with ye.”
“Alright. I’m sorry. I’ll take ye next time.” Callum scowled at him but seemed mildly pacified. “Where’s the witch?”
Callum scoffed. “I kenned that would be all ye were interested in. Not even enough time to tell yer loyal man-at-arms what ye have agreed with the lairds of the land. Only interested in the lass.”
“Did ye ever consider I might need to speak to her because of me chest pain?”
Callum eyed him carefully. “Ye dinnae look like yer in pain.”
“And ye’re the expert, are ye?”
Callum chuckled. “I dinnae wish to examine ye if that’s what ye’re askin’, and ye need to get better at lyin’ about her, yer in nae more pain than I am. Nae in yer chest anyway.”
He sauntered away, leaving Noah with a sensation running through him that felt suspiciously like anticipation.
Indeed, the long ride home had felt faster and lighter than usual—knowing that he would see Keira at the end of it had made the miles drift by effortlessly. He scowled at himself, determined not to let her encroach into any more of his mind than she already had.
Yet, in spite of his resolve, he found his feet leading him to her chambers without conscious thought. He was knocking on the door before he had fully processed where he was.
There was no reply, and when he pushed the door open, he found the rooms empty. Turning around he saw a small maid behind him, looking expectant as though awaiting instructions.
“Do ye ken where the healer is?” he asked her.
“Aye, Me laird, she has gone to the woods to collect some plants that she was without.”
He growled angrily, and the girl flinched away from him.
“Be at peace, lass; it is nae ye I am angry with.”
He stomped out of the castle, determined this time to forbid Keira from leaving without his consent.
I should forbid her from leaving her rooms without me permission. Then, she would be there when I wanted her and never in danger again.
Scattered images filled his mind of Keira being at his beck and call at all hours of the day. She would have to request to leave her rooms, and he would accompany her wherever she went. Sometimes, she might ask permission, and he would forbid it. She might beg him, offering anything in return if he agreed.
Noah swore, shaking the inappropriate thoughts from his mind, trying to tamp down the need that flared to life in him again.
He passed Callum on the way out of the castle and narrowed his eyes at him.
“Did ye ken she wasnae there?” he barked at him.
“Who are ye lookin’ for, Me laird?” Callum asked with a gleeful smile.
“I’ll take a sword to ye later,” Noah grumbled as Callum grinned at him.
As he made his way toward the forest, the it was nearly midday and the sun was high in the sky. A dappled light spread over the grasses before him, and the scent of primroses drifted in the air.
He walked under the treeline where, only days before, he had first taught Scott to learn to fight. Despite his relatively small size, the boy was a quick study and was already more capable than many of the guards. He was small but quick as a whippet, and Noah was growing fonder of his cocky grin by the day.
He moved slowly through the trees, enjoying the peace and stillness beneath the canopy.
It didn’t take him long to find Keira. Despite an initial worry that she might be in an area of the forest he rarely went to, he remembered their conversation about white mushrooms. He made for a grove where he knew he had seen some before.
Sure enough, as he rounded a large oak tree, he saw her kneeling beside a rotting log, her hand reaching far underneath. Spiders and small insects scurried from her path as she plucked several mushrooms out of the ground for her basket.
He felt a wave of relief at the sight of her. Every time she was not within his eyeline, he had visions of her strapped to that plank, burning alive; it was a fear he could not shake, and it made his chest tight.
I’m already obsessin’ over the lass; imagine how bad it would be if she was truly me wife?
He watched her fingers scrabbling in the earth, pulling away the soil until she could place her spoils carefully in the basket beside her. Her hair was trailing into the dirt and she seemed careless of her clothing, focused entirely on her task.
This was her gift—that was quite clear to him. She was made to heal the sick, and she had a talent for it. When her mind was engaged in her duties, nothing else penetrated it.
He glanced down at his shoulder. Ever since her attention to it it had barely pained him and healed faster than any wound he’d ever had.
He hid a smile as Keira gave a small yelp at the particularly large beetle that scuttled out from under the log.
The agitation in his gut finally dissipated, and calmness settled through his body now that he knew she was safe. But he would make sure this was the last time she left the castle without his permission.
“Stealin’ again, lass?” he called, leaning against the tree as she jolted to her feet and frowned at him.
“Me laird!” she said quickly, brushing down her skirts and looking guiltily at her basket brimming with plants.
“I told ye before, ye shouldnae disappear,” he said angrily, walking toward her in the clearing. “I wouldnae say pickin’ mushrooms is a priority when there is a man who wants ye dead!”
“I need them for me work,” she protested.
“Well, these plants are mine, just as everythin’ else in this forest is mine; I dinnae give ye permission to collect them.” He felt satisfaction roll through him as she lifted her chin defiantly and picked up the basket.
“And what exactly am I stealin’?” she asked, throwing him off from his irritation as he looked at the tiny brown-topped fungi nestled inside. “If ye wish to make an inventory of the forest—ye will need to ken what all this is.”
She watched him expectantly as Noah wracked his brain for any information he might have gleaned over the years, but his mind was blank.
He was surprised to find himself amused as he looked back at her, those deep blue eyes assessing him with an almost smug expression.
“Alright!” he muttered. “What are they? Ye ken I dinnae ken.”
She smiled. “Penny bun,” she held one out to him. “They’re very tasty at this time of year.”
He eyed it suspiciously. “Is this ye poisoning me to take the lairdship for yer own?”
“We arenae married yet,” she said.
Her tone was light, but it still sent a skitter of excitement through him. The feeling thrilled and worried him, and he hurriedly pushed it aside.
“Ye can eat these?” he asked doubtfully.
“Ye can.”
She held it out to him, and, simply because he was tired of her constantly getting the best of him, he parted his lips, inviting her to place it directly into his mouth, and waited to see what she would do.
Keira stared at his full lips and open mouth, waiting for him to laugh and take it from her. But he did not laugh; his eyes were quite serious. They were the same unique green she had seen when they first met. She decided privately that his eyes looked best beneath a canopy of trees.
After a short pause, she stepped forward, the tiny mushroom held lightly in her thumb and forefinger, and gently lifted her hand to his mouth.
She placed the bud on his lips, pushing her fingers in ever so slightly, caressing the edge of his lip as she did so. She felt the moist heat of his mouth for a few moments before moving back.
His eyes did not leave hers as he chewed experimentally and raised his eyebrows.
“It is good,” he conceded.
“Ye’ll need to wait a few minutes before the poison takes effect,” she said casually, and after fixing her with a sharp glare, he simply chuckled.
To prove that she was only jesting, she ate a couple of the remaining mushrooms in her hand and smiled at him.
“I was bein’ serious, lass,” he said, his expression turning grave. “Ye shouldnae just leave the castle on a whim. What if the priest had been lyin’ in wait for ye?”
“I am nae a fool; I asked Callum before I left if there had been any sightings of him. And these are yer lands. He’d be stupid to come here.”
“Och, aye, he has been quite rational up until now,” Noah said sarcastically. “Ye are playin’ fast and loose with yer life, lass. Ye say ye arenae a fool, and yet ye wander alone in the woods.”
Keira lifted her basket in front of her and tried her best to level her temper before she told him exactly what she thought of him calling her a fool.
“Ye arenae to leave the castle without me permission,” Noah stated flatly, and she scoffed at him in response.
“Ye dinnae command me!” she said emphatically but sucked in a sharp breath as he took a step toward her, his finger pointing at her chest, a familiar heat brimming in his eyes.
“I do,” he said darkly, “ye do as I say, just as I say, or ye will face the consequences.”
She shuddered. “Is this another punishment?” she asked, her voice wavering at the memory of the blistering heat she had felt between them at the lochside as he had pushed her down into the muddy earth.
“If ye follow me command, ye willnae need a repeat performance.”
“Is this what I am to expect from our marriage? That ye may disappear on a whim, but I am confined to the castle until ye deem it right that I may explore?”
He advanced on her, one slow step at a time, as she tried to catch her breath. She could smell the fresh earth, the sunlight burning through the canopy, and the forest coming to life all around them.
“That’s exactly what ye should expect, lass,” he said ominously, “it is to keep ye safe.”
“I looked after meself for many years before I met ye,” she said stubbornly.
“Aye, and where did that get ye?”
“Ye are nae me keeper; I can do as I please.”
He stopped, only inches away from her. “Maybe this is merely to get punished again,” he murmured. “Ye did enjoy it the last time.”
He was almost on top of her now, towering above her, their obvious size difference a potent reminder of his strength. She panted in the wake of it as her back connected with the thick trunk of a tree.
His fingers quivered at his sides, the same need in his gaze as she watched him fight with himself not to touch her.
“I thought we had agreed we should keep our distance from one another, lass.”
Despite his words, his body grew even closer to her as he swayed forward, only inches from taking her lips with his own again.
“Is that what ye want?” she whispered.
“I do,” he said firmly.
“Why?” she asked defiantly and after a slow second, he pulled back, looking at her in confusion, his eyes roaming all over her face.
“Ye ask me to marry me for me own protection, yet yer mind is not thinkin’ of protection now,” she said boldly. “If ye dinnae give me a reason why we cannae be together, then I cannae accept yer terms.”
His eyes flashed fire at her. “Because I have told ye that is the way of things. Ye shouldnae need any more reason than that.”
His hands came up either side of her waist, pinning her to the tree. The basket fell from her fingers, its contents scattering across the forest floor.
“And what if I demand ye explain,” she breathed.
He growled, “Then ye will be given the same answer.”
His hips finally pushed forward and rubbed against her. She was unable to suppress the moan that fell from her lips as her head fell back, knocking against the oak behind her. Her fingers gripped the wood to steady her as she felt him thrust against her again.
“I told yer brother I was a man of honor?” he groaned, his cheek rubbing against hers as he fought with himself.
“Ye daenae need to worry about me brother. Soon we will all be gone for good.”
At those words, Noah pushed her roughly back, his fingers coming to rest on her waist before he gripped her tightly, and she gasped as one hand came up to caress her breast through the fabric of her dress.
“Is that what ye want?” he asked, his lips moving to her neck, whispering against her flesh, and just as her own fingers dug into his hair, she felt the exquisite pleasure of his tongue probing at her throat, the wicked tip moving up to her jaw as his teeth raked against her flesh.
“Noah,” she panted, pulling at his hair, and he groaned, crushing her until she could barely breathe. She had never felt heat like it and never wanted it to end.
“Say it again,” he whispered, “say me name again.”
She shuddered, “Noah,” she breathed as his hands tightened on her back, and he pulled her whole body against his, his hands moving down to her waist, his fingers running over her stomach and pushing downward until they found the space between her legs.
He thrust his fingers forward, making her cry out with need as she felt the tips rub against her, the fabric dulling the pleasure and making her groan with desire as the hard length of him rutted into her thigh without mercy.
“Ye are mine,” he growled, “ye speak when I say, do as I say and leave when I say.”
In an instant, his hands gripped the layers of her dress, pulling it up to her hips as his hand plunged back beneath it. She groaned as his fingers pushed into the wet heat of her body again, shockingly fast and deep, bringing her hips forward in a wild thrust she could barely contain.
“Ye’ll take this, and ye’ll thank me for it. Ye’ll pleasure yer laird as he sees fit.”
She trembled, half sobbing at the pleasure he evoked within her, but as his mouth moved to take hers, she remembered the words he had spoken with vibrant clarity.
He wanted distance, yet he wanted to control her; he wanted a marriage, yet they would live separate lives.
Everything he did was a contradiction, and she had allowed herself to be sucked in by him yet again.
“Nay!” she said as she shoved at his hands, wincing as he was pulled free from her aching body. He took a step back, staring at her in bewilderment. “Ye dinnae want me in yer life as anythin’ more than a damsel in distress, yet ye treat me like ye own me. Ye dinnae wish to claim me, but nae other man may do it! Ye have had yer chance, Noah Black, and now it is over!”