A Lesson in Passion (19 page)

“How are ya?” Ian asked, trying to
keep his voice low. He was kneeling in front of her, caressing her
hands.

Ginny continued her stare. She knew that men
hated it when women went silent. It was her only weapon, so she
employed it. She turned her head, not realizing that it would show
off her newly forming bruise from Shorty's back hand.

“Och, Ginny. Yar hurt.” Ian strode
over to the kitchen and was giving orders. In less than a minute,
he was applying a cold compress to her face. He was being gentle
and Ginny knew she was wavering. But, in the end, she held firm.
She didn't want to be used again.

“Will ya no' talk to me?” Ian
sounded a little desperate and she really liked that.

Ginny decided that the only thing better than
silence was guilt. “Do you know why those boys were attacking me?”
She stared at him with her eyes still wet with tears.

Ian looked down. Ginny didn't think he
realized the extent of his guilt, so she continued to
elaborate.

“They were calling me a whore. Your
mistress. They wanted me to show them what I was capable of. I
suppose you can't blame them. It is the impression everyone has of
me.”

Ian's head shot up and stared. “Och, Ginny,
they can and will be blamed for their actions. And no one thinks
yar a whore.”

“Why not? I'm unmarried and have
been apparently sharing a bed with you since Day One. The one boy
said he heard I was your mistress from his father.”

“I dinna mean for this to happen.”
Ian's voice dropped to a whisper, so only Ginny could hear him. “I
have wanted ya from the moment I saw ya fighting in that keep. When
ya thought ya were saving me from attack. Havenae ya known
that?”

“It doesn't matter, Ian. After our
few stolen moments, you've had to know that I wanted you too. But
that's not how it works here. You know we have to be married to go
that far. It's the one thing I have to offer to a marriage. If you
take it, no matter how much we both want it, then I have nothing.”
Ginny knew she didn't care, but for some reason, she didn't think
she'd be in this body forever. And if she couldn't leave that much
for Lady Chatham, Ginny would have cheated the life she'd only been
borrowing.

“I dinna take you last night. Even
after ya grabbed me,” Ian fairly snarled at her. Obviously, this
woman had no idea how much restraint he'd employed. He, after all,
was used to getting what he wanted and Ginny was on the top of that
list.

“What? Jesus Christ, I thought I
was dreaming. That certainly explains a lot,” Ginny retorted. Well,
that would be why she couldn't get laid in her dreams, because she
hadn't been dreaming. She did wonder something, though. “You
stopped me. Did you know I was half asleep and would regret it. Is
that why you stopped it?”

“Nay, Ginny. I stopped ya because I
want to marry ya. I want ya to give me sons. I dinna want this
other woman. I havenae even seen her. I marry her only for the
alliance.”

Ginny was weakening. A large part of her
wanted Ian to carry her upstairs and make love to her. She knew it
would be spectacular and she needed a little spectacular after the
day she was having. But that was what she wanted, not necessarily
what Lady Chatham would want. On the other hand, it might be all
she got. Of course, if this was a romance story, something had to
change in her favor. Could she wait just a little while longer, to
see what was yet to come? Ginny knew she had to.

“When will your bride be
arriving?”

“It will take Broderick a few days
to get there and back again.”

“Very well. We have a few days
together before you become forever unavailable to me. What would
like to do?”

Ian looked confused. Did she think he would
send her away once he was married? “Ya still belong to me, Ginny. I
wouldnae send you away after the marriage.”

“First, stop saying that. It
reminds me of things I can't have. Second, I will not sleep in this
keep after you're married. I need to find alternative housing. It's
not like I can leave, Ian.”

“Nay, ya willna ever
leave.”

“And what, exactly, will you do if
I decide to marry someone else? Or do you plan to just keep me
here, unmarried, for the rest of my life?”

Ian looked like she struck him. He hadn't
really thought what he would do if she married someone else. He was
fairly certain he would never let her marry anyone else. It wasn't
fair, but he didn't care.

“We dinna need to talk about that
now. What did ya want to do today?”

Ginny bowed her head thoughtfully. When she
looked up into his eyes, it occurred to her that it would be nice
to spend some time with him. “There is a grove of trees, just down
the hill from where your men train that I wanted to look at. I was
wondering what kind of plants were growing there. I remember a moss
that's great in healing.”

Ian smiled. “I will take ya there.”

“Just let me get some things...” Ginny said as
she stood and left him in the hall. She called over her shoulder,
“I'll meet you in the courtyard in fifteen minutes.” With that,
Ginny walked up the stairs to where she kept her
herbals.

• * Chapter 17 *
  

He was there, on top of his horse, waiting.
Ginny decided to make him wait, as she used the disgusting
chamberpot, got some water, grabbed her apple and then finally made
her way out to the courtyard. He lifted her up to his lap and rode
off to the grove she had spoken about. Four of Ian's men followed
on horseback, fully armed with swords.

When they slowed down, Ginny started munching
on her apple. Ian stared at her and asked, “Are ya no' going to
share yar sweet apple?”

“No, I'm not going to share. You
got to eat your breakfast this morning. I did not.”

Ian began to laugh. It was a booming laugh
that could only make you smile in response. Ginny had to decide how
mad she still was at him. She had to maintain some anger, or he
would easily convince her to fool around again. Above all else,
Ginny could not allow that to happen.

They dismounted in front of the grove. On the
other side of the trees was a steep hill, on top of which, Ian's
men trained. “Why are you not training your men today, Ian?” Ginny
asked.

“Alec will handle it. Besides, I am
spending some time with ya.” Ian's voice could be soothing and sexy
when he wanted it to be. Ginny wasn't falling for it.

She finished her apple and threw the core into
the trees. After wiping her sticky fingers on her tunic, she began
to inspect the different varieties of flora. She knew a lot of
plants by sight, few by name, often referring to them by their
characteristics: yellow leaves, small red buds, etc... She wasn't
having much success when she came out to see Ian talking to one of
his men.

As she walked out of the trees toward him, she
heard a strange whistle. Not a second later, an arrow hit the tree
next to her head. Now, Ginny isn't stupid, but she just stood there
staring at the arrow trying to figure out what was going on.
Suddenly, she was on the ground, underneath Ian, within the tree
line.

“What's going on?” she asked, as
she finally started piecing it together.

Ian growled at one of his men, “How
many?”

“I canna tell. At least fifteen on
the ridge line. The plaid, if I am no' mistaking, is MacBain,” the
man turned to Ian with a look like that was some seriously bad
news.

“Damn! Five against fifteen. If it
were any other clan, I wouldnae be worried. But not McBains,” Ian
took only a second to consider his options.

He turned his fierce stare to Ginny and said,
“Ya need to run up the hill, Ginny. Ya need to get Alec and more
men down here as quickly as possible. Can ya do that?”

“Of course.” Ginny stood up and
began to make her way through the trees. As she forcing her way
through, she yelled back to Ian, “Stay safe. All of you. Or I will
be pissed.”

She heard their laughter as she
made it to the other side of the trees and began running up the
hill. The hill wasn't that high, but it was steep. She had always
been a quick runner, but never lasted very long. About a quarter of
the way up the hill, the stitch in her side started and her lungs
began to burn. Ginny pushed past the pain and kept going.
Damn Scotland for being so
hilly
, she thought, but continued to push
herself up the hill. She didn't know how long Ian and his men could
hold out.

The rocky slope was killing her feet. The only
shoes she had to wear were not very sturdy. More like ballet
slippers with a hard sole. Ginny would have killed for a pair of
sneakers at that point, or her reliable hiking boots.

She saw the top and started
spouting,
I think I can, I think I
can
, over and over in her head. When she
finally reached the top of the hill, she could barely breathe, so
she started waving her arms to catch Alec's attention. Another
warrior saw her and ran over, just as Alec spotted her and rode the
horse he was still on top of over to see what was going
on.

“What is it, lass?” the warrior
asked.

“Ian... attack... MacBains...” she
started pointing toward the grove of trees at the bottom of the
hill, like some kind of pantomime. The warrior called out to Alec,
then let out a piercing war cry. Men were running down the hill as
fast as they could, carrying their swords high and yelling to let
Ian know they were coming. Ginny dropped to the ground and was soon
surrounded by four of the clan's newest warriors.

When Ginny caught her breath again, she said
to the nearest man, “Go, take care of your laird. I'll be
fine.”

“Nay, we know our duty. We canna
let ya be taken or hurt.”

Ginny stood back up, but the cramp in her side
bent her over. One of the men came over and helped her back to the
ground. Ginny looked up to thank him and realized it was the boy
she'd stitched up after the first battle when she first met the
clan McKenna. She smiled at him as he offered her his
waterskin.

“Thank you. Ronald, right?” she
asked while taking a big drink from the skin.

“Aye. I never thanked ya for yar
help healing me that day. I am verra sorry about acting so badly,”
he looked quite remorseful. Ginny thought Ian could take a
lesson.

“It's alright. I know it was
probably a little embarrassing for you. I think we can now be
even,” she said, holding up the skin and taking one more drink
before handing it back to him.

“Nay, I still owe ya,” Ronald said
with a smile. As Ginny tried to get up again, he helped her and her
side didn't burn as badly as before.

They all stared at the grove and beyond, not
really seeing anything because of the trees. Finally, Alec came
riding up the hill. He had a smile on his face, so she assumed it
went well.

“Damn MacBains. So brave facing
five McKennas... not so brave facing far more,” he was laughing
with her guards. “Come Ginny, yar needed. Some men are hurt.” He
held his hand out to her and was promptly lifted onto his
lap.

“Is Ian alright?” Ginny could hear
some panic in her voice. Alec heard it as well.

“Nay, he was injured,” Alec stated
with a grim expression. He wanted to see how Ginny reacted to the
news. She reacted as he assumed she would.

“What happened? Was he hit by an
arrow, sword, what???” Ginny was frantic. “Can't you ride any
faster?”

“Ginny, he will be fine. He will
have ya to tend to him,” Alec said evasively. He knew a little
about love. He loved his wife with a passion he didn't know was
possible. As the wind whipped past them, riding down the hill, Alec
knew for certain that Ginny was in love with Ian. He also knew that
she wasn't likely to live her life in happiness with Ian married to
someone else.

He pulled the horse around the trees and Ginny
caught her first sight of the battle. There were a few bodies on
the ground. Some looked beyond repair. Ginny was relieved to see
that they wore different plaids than the McKennas. When Ginny
spotted Ian, she barely let Alec stop the horse before she jumped
down and ran to him. His back was turned to her and he was giving
orders to his men. She didn't want to disturb him, but needed to
touch him.

Reaching out, she gently touched his arm. Ian
turned suddenly, causing Ginny to jump in surprise. He laughed when
he saw her shock.

“Alec said you were injured,” Ginny
said trying to cover up her impatience.

“Aye,” he said. Then lowered his
head and whispered, “but I'd rather show you when we are alone.”
His eyebrow went up and a boyish grin formed on his face. Ginny
could do nothing but smile.

“I'm guessing you'll survive. Are
there others who need my immediate attention?”

“Aye, come with me.” As they walked
away, Ian continued to give orders to his men in Gaelic, so Ginny
only caught part of the conversation. Ian had scouts that he would
use to hunt down any other MacBains on McKenna land. They would
prepare for war and they would call in their allies.