Claimed By A Charmer (The Pith Trilogy) (29 page)

Douglas had gotten the best sleep
of his life, amongst the snoring men in the barracks.

He knew her game, but he wouldn’t
be swayed by that woman’s bait. Aye, he’d wanted to settle his fist in the
man’s face who dared touch his wife. But he cooled himself by drinking ale, and
watched her leave the hall with such angst the eve before.

Now that this phase of his plan was
over, he couldn’t wait to see what she’d do. He’d noticed the coif, and how her
movements were practiced. Aye, she was back to being the ‘ladylike’ figure that
he disliked. Nay, that wasn’t true. He did like those qualities about her too,
but he liked the fiery lass she’d been when he was injured.

He shook his head and sighed. He’d
get his fiery lass back, once his plan was fully revealed.

It wasn’t working at all, he
realized the next morning. He watched Isabel walk by without a glance. He
wanted to grab her, and kiss the impertinence out of her. Douglas leaned
against the wall with his hands fisted and his scowl fierce. Taking a deep
breath, he tried to relax his stance and settled his hands by his side. He
followed her inside the keep and sat across from her.

“Isabel, I didn’t know you were
visiting Stan. When did you come?” He tried not to grin.

“I suppose you didn’t notice I left
your keep either? Well, I did leave, and I shan’t return.” She folded her arms,
giving him a cross look.

“Oh, aye, I noticed ye left. I had
more significant matters pressing at the time.”

She sucked in a breath, and her
face fell. “I know that, Douglas. If you’ll excuse me.” She tried to rise, but
he gripped her hand.

“I could have had men escort ye,
I’m not all that unfeeling.”

Isabel pulled her hand from his. “Are
you not? I think you’re the most unfeeling man that I have ever met. How did I deem
you were so charming? I’ll never think such nonsense again.”

“You did like my charming manner.”

“The hell I did, Douglas.”

“Nigel is dead,” he blurted out.

“Good, now I can go home.”

“Aye, you are going home, be ready
to leave in three days time.”

She glared at him, sending sparks
with her eyes. “I’ll leave when I am ready, and not a day before, damn you. You’ll
not tell me when.”

“Do you have any daggers on you,
lass?”

“What?” She was suddenly addled. “Nay,
I don’t. Why?”

He didn’t answer, but stalked
around the table and lifted her. Before he knew what he was going to do, he
settled his mouth on hers. She resisted at first, but when his tongue gently
caressed hers in a sensual way, she responded wholeheartedly.

Douglas lowered his arms and
stopped kissing her. She hadn’t realized it, and she kissed him with all her
being. Her arms were set around his neck with her hands imbedded in his hair. Her
tongue stilled when she realized that he’d stopped. She pulled back from him,
and confusion showed on her face. He wanted to lift her into his arms and carry
her to his bed. How he stood so unaffected was the hardest thing he’d ever
done. If she only realized that his breath was as hitched as hers, she would
have known he was affected.

“I seem to have forgotten myself,”
she muttered.

He laughed then strode to the exit
of the hall, leaving her standing alone, staring after him.

Isabel flopped in her chair,
sighing heavily. “All he has to do is kiss me, and I practically fall at his
feet, begging for forgiveness. I wouldn’t let him kiss me again. I won’t return
his unloving kisses.” She wasn’t going to be put-off, and she marched from the
keep.

Douglas heard her following. Onlookers
watched when she raced past, decreasing the distance between them. When she
caught up to him, she grabbed his arm to stop him. It was a paltry try at best’
he couldn’t be stopped by her dainty hand.

He stopped abruptly, causing her to
crash into him. He stilled her so she wouldn’t fall to the ground. They stood
assessing each other in the sunlight and he waited for her to speak, and when
it became evident that she wasn’t going to, he lowered his gaze to her feet, so
she wouldn’t see the smile in his eyes. Aye, it took one kiss, he thought.

“Did you want something?”

“I need to speak to you, Douglas,
in private.”

He pulled her to the wall. “It’s
private here.”

She looked at his face, which was
devoid of emotion. It immediately provoked her temper. She punched his arm, letting
out an unladylike grumble at the pain in her hand.

“How could you?” Isabel yelled,
tears falling down her cheeks.

“How could I what?”

“You are the most insensitive lout
that I have ever encountered. You know how much I cared for you, yet you will
let me leave. Why did you bother marrying me? Am I so unimportant that you
didn’t even care that I left your home? Did you even notice?”

“Our home,” he corrected.

“I never belonged there. Well?”

“Well, what?” Up to this point
Douglas steeled his emotions, but when he saw the lone tear roll off her cheek,
he took her hand.

“And to think that I had Lowrie … I
was foolish to think you might one day love me. I was wrong. What are we going
to do about this, Douglas?” Another tear fell, she hastily swiped it away.

“I think that we are going to love
each other until the day we die.” Douglas fondled the back of her hand with his
thumb.

“What?”

“I love you.”

“Nay, you don’t, Douglas. If you
did, you wouldn’t have let me …”

“I do, but you’re so damned
stubborn, you didn’t have faith in me, wife.”

Isabel stopped listening after he’d
said he that loved her. “You do, truly?”

“Aye, cat-eyes, you will have faith
in me from this moment on. Do you hear? You will start trusting me. I demand
it.”

Isabel’s smile widened. “You really
love me, Douglas?”

He chuckled. She couldn’t seem to
get past that fact. “Aye.”

Isabel threw herself into his arms,
making his back strike the wall with force. He wrapped his arms around her, and
held her still when he lifted her chin. “I shall prove I love you, Isabel.”

“How could you possibly prove it to
me?”

He pushed her away and removed his
tunic. When it was discarded and thrown to the ground, he began removing his
shirt.

Isabel stopped him. “Not here where
everyone will see, have a sense of modesty.”

His laughter called all those
within hearing distance to attention. He waved them on, and continued removing
his shirt, once it was released, he turned around. She stared at his back, and
was utterly speechless.

“You … did that … for me?”

“Aye, and it hurt like hell.”

Isabel laughed then. “It’s damned
ugly. Lowrie should be commended.”

“I want to see yours, now, wife.” Pulling
her to him, he began removing her gown.

“Douglas, for the love of God, not
here, everyone is looking.” He looked up to see the Gordon followers watching
them.

“You’re right. Let us go.” He
didn’t give her time to acknowledge, he just took her hand, and they ran to the
keep. He didn’t stop until the chamber door was firmly shut behind them.

He trapped her between his arms. “I
want to see it. Strip.”

After removing her gown, she stood
naked before him, and slowly turned. She waited for his laugh, but instead, he
growled. She craned her neck to see his reaction, and saw his smile.

“Lowrie will be put on sentry duty
for a full year. He didn’t do mine justice. Yours is a work of art. What did he
do to me?”

Isabel giggled. “I told him he
better not make mine as ugly as Lady Kerr’s.”

“You’ve seen my mother’s?”

“Aye, Lowrie’s father used trickery
on her. I made him promise not to do that to me. Apparently, he used trickery
on you though.”

Douglas couldn’t help it, he
laughed. “Aye, and every time you see it, you’ll know how much I love you,
cat-eyes.”

“I’m sorry I didn’t have faith in
you. You would have gone to save the girls, wouldn’t you?”

“Aye, I was going to after I took
care of that business with Irving, but you didn’t give me a chance.”

“Nay, I was always too impulsive,
Douglas. Do you forgive me?”

“It will take a while, say ten
years or so. You scared the hell out of me. I thought I lost you. I didn’t know
where you went, until Julianna sent me a message.”

“Julianna told you?” She scoffed. “I
should be angry, but I can’t be.”

“I found your brother in the woods
and—”

“I know you killed him. Thank you,
Douglas.”

“Nay, not Nigel, I found Nathaniel
camped in my woods. He was on his way to you. I convinced him that you were
safe, and brought him back so he could convince you that I loved you. I
couldn’t figure out … but then my mother suggested Lowrie.”

“Oh, if only I … How is he? Is he
well?”

“Aye, he’s concerned about you. He’s
awaiting you at our keep.”

“Our keep?”

“Aye, at home.”

“Home. You don’t know how good that
sounds. I never belonged anywhere.”

“Aye, you belong. You belong to
me.”

“Can we go home? I miss everyone. I
just thought of Candace. Did she leave for Will’s keep?”

“Aye, and she’s going to give you
hell when we visit her.”

“I deserve it for being stubborn.” Isabel
cuddled against his bare chest.

“I only want to do one thing before
we leave.”

“What’s that, Douglas?”

He proceeded to tell her in a husky
voice, and sent shivers down her spine.

“Don’t tell me, Douglas, show me.”

Douglas did that and more. He
lifted her, almost throwing her onto the bed. Almost. He dropped on top of her,
groaning in response. His uninhibited love-play convinced her of his devotion. Her
cries of pure-bliss sent him to his end. Isabel’s eyes scrunched closed, her
hands twisted the bedding, and her legs shook violently. He grinned at her
unabashed response.

Her breasts seemed fuller, and he
gently squeezed them, gaining a moan from her. Her femininity was so alluring
that Douglas was beset with hardness in a matter of seconds. He deliberately
moved in measured strokes, and told her in as many ways as he could think of,
how much she meant to him.

Isabel cried all the while.

Homecoming wasn’t a joyous event
for Isabel.

Douglas had never been so anxious
to get home. Romy’s bairn made such a racket, and all he’d said was that he
hadn’t known bairns could be so loud, which should have caused Isabel’s
amusement, instead she became sullen. He tended to stay away from Romy and her
baby whenever they stopped for rests along the way, which was often. It took
them eight days to reach the Kerr walls when it should have only taken five.

“Finally, home.”

“What’s that, Douglas?”

“I’m glad to be home,” he said.

He helped her from her horse, and
he was shoved back by his mother. Before he could say a word, his mother had
her arms around Isabel, venting her motherly lecture about leaving the keep
without an escort, and some such nonsense.

Isabel smiled at him, and returned
Shelagh’s hug. He helped Romy by taking Belle, and then one of his men assisted
her down.

“Your home is lovely, Laird Kerr,”
Romy said.

“Our home, you are a Kerr now,
Romy, my wife wouldn’t have it any other way.”

“Aye, thank you.”

She walked toward the keep when
Douglas called her. “Romy, are you not forgetting something?”

“Nay, what?”

“Your bairn.” He held out Belle.

She laughed, taking the babe,
placing her in the crook of her arm. “Seems I did forget. I was looking for …”

Douglas laughed. “He’s not here.”

“He’s not? Um … who’s not here?”

“Gil.”

“Why would I care if he’s here?”

“He went to help Brendan look for
his niece, he’ll return soon.” She nodded then walked inside.

Douglas grinned to himself. Aye,
when Gil returned, he would have a surprise awaiting him. Isabel took his hand
and he walked into the hall, feeling a sudden sense of peacefulness. He watched
her while his mother continued to berate her. Romy’s babe was plucked from her
arms, when his mother declared that it was time they saw to it that she had a
grandchild of her own. It was meant as a loving motherly comment, but it made
Isabel cry. She didn’t just weep, she sank into a chair, and bellowed her sobs.

Douglas took heart, sent everyone
away, and tried to comfort her.

“You will cease weeping, Isabel. I
don’t like it.” In a softer voice he asked, “What’s wrong?”

“You don’t like children.” She
sobbed.

“I like them just fine.”

“Nay, ye don’t.”

“How do you know that?” he shouted
then realized he was. “What are you talking about?”

“I’m trying to tell you, you oaf,
that you are going to be a father.”

“You don’t have to cry about it. It
was bound to …” He lifted her from her seat. “What?”

“You don’t want a babe. Well,
that’s too bad, Douglas, because you’re going to be a father.”

He smiled. “Someday we’ll have a
bairn, Isabel. Why are you so upset about it now?”

“Because I’m carrying your babe. You’ll
likely have a son next winter.”

Douglas was speechless then he fell
backward, and hit the floor. Isabel sunk back into her chair, laughing. That
was how Cedric found them.

“What happened to him?”

“He’ll come around in a minute.”

“Milady, shouldn’t we help him up?”
He looked baffled by her evasiveness.

Isabel shook her head. “How are you
doing? How is Rachel?”

“I’m doing well. Rachel and I will
be married soon. Our son is growing rapidly in her belly. It is good to have
you home. So, what’s my laird doing on the floor?”

“He received distressing news, he’ll
be all right.” She sounded chipper, Cedric didn’t press her.

Isabel talked to him about the
clan, and asked about Bonnie’s disappearance. He relayed that Colin hadn’t
returned yet, and that they hadn’t found Bonnie, she would likely never be
found. A sadness crept inside her heart. They talked quietly for at least five
minutes before Douglas came to. He sat up, grinning at her. Isabel returned his
grin.

“If you’re done having your nap,
Cedric would like to give you his report. Isn’t that right, Cedric?”

Douglas laughed, got off the floor,
and sat next to her. He waited for Cedric to speak.

“Laird, milady said you received
distressing news.”

“Nay, my wife likes to jest. She
informed me that I’m to be a father. Isn’t that right, Isabel?”

Cedric looked from him then to her.
She nodded. He slapped Douglas on the back, offering congratulations. “Laird,
there’s one thing I want to know.”

“What’s that?”

“Well now, if that is how you
reacted to her telling ye, you’re to be a father, what are ye going to do when
she births the bairn?”

Douglas paled. Cedric didn’t wait
for an answer, he left the hall whistling.

“Isabel, if anything happens …”

She patted his hand in a
condescending manner. “If I can handle you, I can do my duty.”

Somehow she soothed his worry by
affectionately patting him. He was about to take her onto his lap when Nate
walked inside. He wasn’t quiet either, when he shouted her name. Belle’s cries
could be heard all the way to the barracks.

“Nate,” she shrieked. She hugged
him so fiercely.

“Isabel, he cannot breathe, let the
lad go.”

“What are you doing here?”

“I came to make sure you were safe,
and I was going to take—”

“You’re not taking her anywhere,
Nate,” Douglas shouted.

“I know, you don’t have to shout.”

“He loves me, and I love him,”
Isabel said.

“You do?” Nate asked with a touch
of mockery.

She punched his arm, and he smiled.
“You will have to stay for a long while before you return to father’s …” Isabel
stopped when he shook his head.

“I came to tell you that father’s
dead,” Nate said rather blithely.

She frowned. “He’s dead? You didn’t
kill him did you? Oh, you’ll be put in the stocks by King Henry. You can’t
return to England now.”

Douglas grinned. He placed his arm
around his wife’s shoulder and nodded to Nate.

“I didn’t kill him, he fell off his
horse. The men said he was yelling at them, and when he turned his mount too
quickly, he fell. He was dead before they reached his side. Apparently, his
horse stomped him.”

“That’s too bad,” Douglas said
quietly.

“Nay, it isn’t. He deserved it. I’m
not at all saddened by his death.” Isabel seemed relieved by the news.

“I wanted to tell you that it is
safe for you to—”

“She’s not returning with ye.”

Her brother frowned at him and
Douglas kept his expression serious. He wasn’t about to let Isabel off his land
for a good long time.

“But she can come for a visit every
now and then.”

“Mayhap,” Douglas conceded. “In a
few years.”

“You must return home, our people
need you. Nay, you can’t stay another day. Make it a place to be proud of. Father
and Nigel ruined those poor people’s lives.”

“I will make it right. I love you,
Isabel. Douglas, you’ll keep her happy?”

“Aye, Nate, I will.”

Later that day, Nate left for
England, and Isabel tried not be saddened by his departure. Douglas pulled her
from the steps, and they walked to their chamber.

“Isabel, I never thought I would
find you. I searched for you, you know, before my father died. My mission was
unsuccessful. I wanted a wife then, but I should have known.”

“Known what?”

“That you’d find me. I’d never
reacted to a lady like I did when I met you. You were so onerous and I wanted
to be charming then, but couldn’t because I was upset about my father dying. I
thought about our kiss, in the stable. I wanted to take you then, but I had to
hurry home.”

“I was overwhelmed by you. I
couldn’t believe how you told Candace your father was dying. I showed my true
self, and usually didn’t. When you left, I thought you were so incensed.”

“When Candace asked me to retrieve
you, I was incensed. I thought I would see the hellion, only you were sweet and
gentle. You were so different.”

“I wanted you to like me, Douglas,
so I acted … timid. I loved your forcefulness, and thought you were a stubborn
warrior. But charming?” She laughed.

“Aye, I’m charming, aren’t I?” He
rubbed his hand over her bottom.

“Aye, you are.”

“And I did eventually claim you, as
I wanted to.”

“Aye, Douglas, I was claimed by a
charmer.” She slid her hand along his thigh, lifting his plaid, she gasped. “Douglas,
you’re not wearing braies.” She placed loving kisses along his chest.

“It’s part of my charm, love.” He
groaned in delight as her hand caressed the boar on his back. She’d found a
real charmer all right, and he’d found a dagger wielding wife.