Cowboys and Highlanders (82 page)

“You won’t accompany us, Regan?” Kiernan asked.

The earl stretched his legs and shook his head. “If you don’t mind, I think I’ll stay here and better acquaint myself with this establishment.”

They headed out the door into the hallway where the bodyguard opened the front door for them. Phoebe started forward, but Kiernan grasped her arm.

“If you don't mind,” he said, “Lord Harrington will go first.”

“Then I will follow,” her father said.

“Far be it from me to disagree with my father-in-law,” Kiernan replied, keeping a grip on her arm.

“Ronald.” Her father waved him forward.

“You have become suspicious in your old age,” Lord Harrington commented, and stepped from the house onto the walkway. He tugged his coat closed and began buttoning it against the chill afternoon air.

Her father paused for a fraction of a second, then started out the door. Kiernan took a step forward.

A shot rang out.

"Father!"

Phoebe's shout blared in Kiernan's ears. He shoved her back through the door, then threw a backhanded punch at Harrington as a second shot blasted. Harrington slammed into the building and Kiernan lunged for Mason in the instant he hit the walkway. Kiernan jammed his arms beneath his shoulders and hauled him back through the door and out of view of the open door.

Phoebe fell to her knees beside him. "He's been shot," she cried.

Feet raced across the overhead floorboards. Kiernan glanced at the open door. Harrington was gone. He didn't like that any better than if Harrington stood there with a gun to finish off the job.

Kiernan stripped off his coat and shoved it in front of Phoebe. "Staunch the blood."

She looked at him, eyes dazed.

"You've done it before," he shouted. "For me. Snap to, Phoebe."

She grabbed the coat and he yanked the revolver from his waistband and flattened himself against the wall near the door. Cautiously, he peered around the doorjamb. Harrington was nowhere in sight.

"God damn bastard," he cursed.

"MacGregor," Mason said in a harsh whisper.

"Father," Phoebe cried in unison with the snap of Kiernan's head in their direction.

"Shh," Mason said. His eyes shifted to Kiernan. "Get her to safety."

"I'm not leaving you," she said through tears.

Letty appeared on the stair landing with Regan two steps behind, a revolver in his hand. "
Mon dieu
," she breathed in unison with Regan's "Good God."

Regan pushed past her and she followed. She stopped beside Mason, as Regan sidled up to the door opposite Kiernan.

"What happened?"

Before Kiernan could answer, the pounding of boots on the wooden walkway pulled his attention back to the street. Douglas and Androu were racing along the walkway on the opposite side of the street.

"Stay back," Kiernan shouted. "The shooter is still out there."

"No, he's not," a man called from between one of the buildings across the street.

Kiernan aimed his pistol in the direction of the man's voice.

"Don’t shoot, for Christ's sake," Regan said. "He's one of us."

Alistair Redgrave emerged from the alley, hands raised, but Kiernan didn't miss the revolver protruding from his waistband.

"What the hell are you doing here, Redgrave?" Kiernan demanded.

"Alistair?" Phoebe called.

"Stopping you from getting your head shot off," Redgrave called back. "Your shooter is back there." He motioned toward the alley behind him. "Dead."

"Androu, Douglas, go have a look," Kiernan ordered. "And start a search for Harrington."

The men took off at a run.

"Redgrave," Kiernan said, "if I don’t like your explanation, I'll kill you." He glanced at Regan. "I'll deal with you as well. You didn't tell me the entire story behind why you're here."

"Blame Her Majesty," Regan said. "I was sworn to secrecy."

"The devil with your secrets. Redgrave," he called, "get in here and help with your friend." Kiernan shoved the pistol into his pocket. "Come along, Regan, we'll need you as well." He hurried to Mason. "Letty, a room with fresh linens and a doctor, if you please."

She nodded and called "Margaret," as she hurried through the drawing room door.

Redgrave appeared in the doorway and reached them an instant later. He knelt beside Mason.

"You're sure you got the man?" Kiernan demanded.

"A bullet through the heart."

"Any sign of Harrington?" Kiernan asked.

Phoebe gasped. He followed the direction of her stare and saw Harrington in the doorway with a gun. Kiernan grabbed for his pistol as the deafening roar of a shot rang out in the room. Harrington's eyes widened in shock, then he toppled backwards. Kiernan shifted his gaze to Letty, who stood in the drawing room doorway, a revolver pointed at Harrington. A small curl of smoke lifted from the barrel of her gun.

"I saw him pass by the window," she said. "He was skulking. That is never a good sign."

"No," Kiernan agreed, it isn't." He looked at Regan. "She beat you to the shot."

"I put the damn revolver in my belt."

"Never underestimate a woman. Let's get Mason to a bed. Where are we taking him, Letty?"

She lowered the weapon. "Third floor, second door on the right."

"Third floor?" Kiernan grunted as they lifted Mason. He didn't like the looks of the man. His eyes were closed and his chest didn't rise and fall with its usual vigor. "You plan to make us work, madam."

"The third floor is safer than the second floor," Letty replied, unruffled. "And that bed is unused."

"Yes, well," he cast a glance at Phoebe, who stood beside him, eyes fixed on her father, face wet with tears, "
unused
is exactly what we need."

*****

The doctor had done all he could. Her father's life now lay in God's hands. To have come so far, to be so close, only to have him taken from her was too cruel. The candle beside his bed cast the only light in the darkened room and Phoebe felt her mind sliding into sleep. She jerked herself awake. She couldn't sleep. She couldn't leave her father's side. She had to be here, ward off death until her father was strong enough to fight that dark angel himself. He hadn't stirred since he'd closed his eyes before Kiernan and Alistair carried him upstairs. As long as he kept breathing, his strength would increase and, once he was rested enough, he would wake up.

But he didn't wake that night, and when Kiernan returned to the room as dawn once inched across the sky, Phoebe shook her head before he said what she knew he was going to say.

"I won't leave," she insisted. "If you carry me out and tie me up, I'll wrench free even if I leave my skin behind."

Kiernan lifted her from the chair and she struck out at him with her fists. He hugged her tight, then sat in the chair and settled her on his lap. She collapsed into his solid warmth and cried.

Phoebe sat across the carriage from her husband and studied him. Eyes closed, he leaned to the side, shoulder wedged against the corner. The worry lines around his eyes were softened, but she feared he didn't sleep. He had slept little in the last two weeks, perhaps even less than she. They both kept watch by her father’s side while he lay in bed, his soul trapped between this world and the next. Kiernan had hovered over her as if it had been she who lay on death’s door. There had been nights she prayed God would take her instead of her father. Phoebe took a slow, deep breath.

He had spared them both.

She looked out the window. The sun hung just above the trees in the west. Soft orange veiled the evening sky. Was the sky as beautiful in America? Phoebe smiled gently. She would ask her father. Despite Lord Harrington’s death, they all agreed her father was no longer safe in Scotland. Only after Alistair discovered who Harrington had confided in, could she travel to America to visit her father where he was on his way to stay with the duchess' brother.

Alistair
. Gratitude welled up in her in the too-familiar desire to cry. His intervention had saved her father’s life, and probably Kiernan's as well. She still couldn't believe that Lord Stoneleigh had been informing Alistair all along of Lord Harrington’s comings and goings, and that it was Alistair who had instructed Lord Stoneleigh to follow him to Scotland. Kiernan had been furious that Regan hadn't told him that Redgrave was there, and that they suspected the real attempt on her father's life was yet to come.

“It was obvious that the assassination attempt at the docks was badly done.”
Alistair had laughed.
“Harrington would have made a very bad spy.”

Thank God for that small favor.

She shifted her attention back to Kiernan. He had placed himself in harm’s way when he dragged her father into Madam Duvall's—he had put himself in harm's way half a dozen times since meeting her. And yet, he had said he loved her. There, without hesitation, in front of everyone at Madam Duvall's. He hadn't said it since, but she'd recalled the words a thousand times, and still had no idea what to think.

Phoebe lowered her gaze to where his shirt lay open at the neck. He wore no cravat. His arms lay crossed over his broad chest, his coat, unbuttoned, hung at his sides, and his legs were stretched out diagonally across the carriage floor. She glanced out the window. They were at least an hour and a half from her uncle’s estate in Carlisle. Plenty of time… Would Mather and the two men the duke had insisted accompany them guess what was going on inside the carriage?

She carefully pulled the window curtain closed, then set aside the blanket Kiernan had draped over her legs when they left the inn after lunch. Phoebe placed one foot on the left of his legs, and the other on the right, then pulled up her skirts and grasped his shoulders as she straddled him.

Kiernan's eye shot open and he seized her shoulders, eyes momentarily unfocused in the dim lamplight. Phoebe lowered her gaze to his chest and began unbuttoning the top button on his shirt. She unbuttoned the next button and the next, until his chest lay bare. She removed the Highland belt pistol from his waistband and set the weapon on the opposite cushion, then flattened her palms on his chest and pushed aside the shirt. Then she kissed a nipple. The rise and fall of his chest grew heavier. She took the nipple into her mouth. His quick intake of breath brought an answering pulse from the place between her legs.

Kiernan’s fingers tightened on her shoulders. She sucked harder. He drew her body closer. She moved to the other nipple and administered the same treatment. He shifted, brushing her head with his chin as he straightened. His shaft pressed enthusiastically beneath her buttocks. She slid her tongue up his chest to his neck, found his ear, and nibbled on the lobe. Kiernan pressed her down, grinding her against his arousal. The carriage hit a bump in the road, forcing her weight down on him with a sudden jolt, and he grunted. Moving her hands downward, Phoebe skimmed his chest until she found the first button on his trousers.

Her knuckles brushed the tip of his shaft as she pushed the button through its hole and she snapped her head up, meeting his gaze. The blaze in his eyes brought on a heady dizziness. By heavens, he liked what she was doing. With trembling fingers, she pushed the next button through its hole. Another, and the top of the trousers opened, revealing the upper half of his erection.

In quick succession, she unbuttoned the remaining three buttons. Her mouth went dry at sight of his engorged rod resting on his belly. She slowly wrapped her fingers around him. The carriage rocked slightly, and Kiernan arched his hips, sliding his shaft between her fingers. He pulled her against him. The carriage shifted and she accidentally gave him a hard squeeze. He groaned.

“Careful, my dear,” he whispered hoarsely in her ear, “or you may bring too quick an end to this.”

Phoebe released him and shifted on her knees until her cleft hovered over his erection. The gentle rocking of the carriage teased their joining as Phoebe lowered herself onto him. Kiernan slid his hands beneath her skirts, up her thighs to her waist. She kissed him slowly and he let her. His fingers flexed against her waist. She broke the kiss, then braced her hands on his shoulders as she slid up, then down again. Up, then down again, and again until Kiernan’s hold on her turned fierce.

He quickened their rhythm. Bringing her down hard, he filled her to the hilt. Ripples of pleasure radiated deep within her. When he lifted and brought her down on him again, he arched his hips, meeting the stroke in midair. Phoebe trembled. He gave another hard thrust, gripping her bottom and grinding them together. He groaned, his head thrown back. Phoebe kissed him where neck met shoulder and nipped at his flesh. Kiernan hugged her close and she slid her arms around his neck.

He moved in her, circling slowly, the base of his shaft rubbing with firm insistence against her swollen sex. Phoebe gasped at the unexpected jolt of pleasure. He abruptly turned and lowered her onto her back and loomed over her, thrusting hard.

He kissed her, then whispered in her ear, “Together this time." He reached between them and massaged her sex.

Need coursed through her. He massaged faster. Climax ripped through her. Her breath caught, then pleasure shot through her on another, more intense wave. Kiernan ripped his hand away from her sex and, braced on one elbow, gripped her shoulder with the other hand and plunged deep inside her. She arched her hips, meeting his powerful thrust, and he groaned with his own release.

An unexpected shout came from Mather. Kiernan's head snapped in the direction of the door. A pounding on the top of the carriage followed and he yanked his shaft from inside her as they came to a thunderous halt. Phoebe felt herself slipping from the seat, but Kiernan caught her and shoved her back against the cushion. She sat up and he had his trousers buttoned in the next second. He grabbed the revolver from the opposite seat as a shot rang out, followed by a heavy thud up top.

“Don’t do it!” shouted a man.

“Stand down, lads!” Mather yelled, and all went silent.

The carriage door flung open and Phoebe stared at a man and the Wilkinson double barrel over-and-under pistol he pointed at Kiernan.