Tempted (42 page)

In the afternoon it began to snow, and the company was so merry, they rushed outside like children to frolic and scoop it up by the handful to taste and toss at each other. Tina worried that if Ram and his men rode out at dawn as they planned, they would freeze or be caught in a terrible snowstorm. But Ram only hugged her to him and laughed. “How can I ever be cold again with ye tae warm my heart?”

The meal was perfect. Mr. Burque had even allowed the other cooks to prepare the traditional haggis. What went into it was a fiercely kept secret, and Mr. Burque held his fastidious nose as they carried the obscenity to Ramsay for his approval.

The villagers were all crowded into the hall, jostling one another for a glimpse of their lord and his lady and the magnificent haggis. All went well until Mr. Burque became alarmed that Tina was actually going to consume some of it. He shook his head desperately and went as far as to snatch the pronged fork from her fingers. He rolled his eyes and warned, “‘Tis all ears and arseholes!” Those who heard him fell down howling, and Tina laughed so hard the tears ran down her cheeks.

Ram said, “Man, yer a rare treasure. Not only do ye
cook better than any chef in Scotland, ye provide the entertainment while we dine”

“And he’s so easy on the eyes,” added Tina with a wink

Before the reels got too wild and while there was still a semblance of order, Colin presented Ramsay with the promised portrait of Valentina. It took his breath away It was so lifelike, he could almost smell the heather and burn his fingers on her flaming mass of hair

Tina knew a terrible moment of misgiving Where had Colin concealed the naked portrait he had painted? When Ram was safely away, she decided to confront Colin about the whole thing. The other painting must be destroyed before Ram accidentally laid eyes on it.

By dark, the serious fun was under way, but any man who didn’t have a hard head for drink knew better than to imbibe too heavily. Black Ram Douglas would depart at sunup, and any man in his service unfit to ride would not be tolerated.

Ram lured Tina from the hall early They went up onto the parapets to view the surrounding countryside, now covered in its pristine blanket of snow. The music and laughter from the hall were muted up here in the frosty night air, and Tina caught her breath at the beauty of the moon above the upland mountains

She enjoyed every moment of Ram’s seduction as he lured her back to their chamber and pulled the heavy fur cover of the bed in front of the blazing fire “We only have till dawn,” he murmured, drawing her down to him. She knew she was falling more deeply in love every day. She enjoyed being courted and wooed and longed for him to ask her to marry him Ram smiled a secret smile and knew he was wearing down her resistance He enjoyed the wooing as much as she did.

He whispered, “Each time I come home, I’m going tae ask if ye love me and if ye’ll wed me, until the answer comes back a resounding yes!”

She brushed his face with her lips “Court me just a little
while longer. I enjoy it excessively.” She pushed him back against the furs and trailed her hot mouth down his muscled chest and across his taut belly. Ram groaned with deep pleasure as the curtain of her glorious hair bathed his loins and hid the intimate things her lips did to him.

Damaris was slightly frustrated. She had been present when Mad Malcolm had asked Jenna to give the laptop desk to Lady Kennedy. Damaris was aware of the secret compartment that held the Douglas history, though Jenna was in ignorance. Because of Malcolm’s death and because Tina had been so very ill, Jenna had put the desk away for safekeeping and obviously forgotten about it.

Damaris stood behind the Douglas maid and whispered into her ear. She urged her over and over to give the little desk to Tina. It took an hour of persistence, but eventually Jenna recalled the small antique desk she had set aside in her wardrobe for Lady Kennedy. She knew that Lord Douglas had retired for the night and that Valentina would not be about until the next day. She pondered on what she should do and finally decided to take the desk to Lady Kennedy’s woman, Ada, who promised to give it to Tina first thing in the morning.

Damaris’s sigh of relief was so great, it made the candles flicker beside Ada’s bed. Ada shivered and drew the heavy curtains tight across her window to keep out the drafts. Damaris wanted Tina to read the pages while Ramsay was still at the castle to protect her. The danger must be effectively removed before Tina was left alone and vulnerable. Damaris looked for Alex to remind him to keep a vigil regarding Ram’s leavetaking at dawn. She shook her head with tolerant amusement when she found him watching Mr. Burque make love to a plump and ripe Douglas wife, whose husband lay snoring beneath the very table upon which they sported.

“For shame,” Damaris chided. “I thought you were above such spying.”

“I’m no’ spying, I’m receiving an education,” Alex said in awed tones of admiration at Mr. Burque’s inventiveness.

Ram Douglas was up long before the cold, gray light of dawn filtered into their chamber. He had no intention of waking Tina. He wanted no tears at his leavetaking—he wanted only to carry the intimate memories of the night with him to warm his blood on the freezing trek into the Highlands. He regretted that he had seen neither of his brothers but wrote a letter to each advising them to paint out the name of
Revenge
on their vessels as a precaution against being taken by England’s new admiral, Thomas Howard.

His men had already broken their fast and were lining up in the courtyard, eager for the gallop that would see them in Stirling before the hour of noon. Letters in hand, he looked for Colin. He wasn’t in the dining hall, so Ram ran upstairs to Colin’s chamber. The door was not locked, though Colin was nowhere to be seen, so Ram propped the letters on his mantelpiece. As he turned, a painting on an easel riveted his attention. Tina lay nude amongst the wild-flowers beside a loch where he had once made love to her. It was apparent he was not the only one who had done so. The feral look upon her face made her look like a vixen
in
heat. The howl that burst from Ram’s throat was that of a wounded animal.

The spirit of Alexander flew into the chamber, and he cursed at himself for allowing Ramsay to see the erotic portrait. “‘Tis a lie, a filthy lie!” he cried, but Ram burst past him like the angel of death.

Damaris was frantically trying to send Ada into Tina’s chamber with the hidden papers before Ram departed. Suddenly she heard the heavy door to the master bedchamber crash back upon its hinges. She flew to Tina’s side in a panic, just in time to see her roused from sleep.

Black Ram Douglas towered over her garbed in leathers and chain mail. His knuckles clenched his knife hilt so.

Damaris moved so quickly, the draft caused the bedcurtain to blow protectively across Tina’s naked figure. Ram snatched his knife from the tangled curtain and cursed the Kennedy bitch. He slammed his knife back into its sheath. “Ye deserve each other!” he flung before he quit the room.

Damaris saw Alexander. “What happened?” she cried.

“He saw the nude portrait,” Alex explained.

“Don’t let him leave! Don’t let him leave her here with Colin!”

Alexander flew after Ramsay, while Damaris stayed with Tina.

Ada came into the room carrying the laptop desk. “What on earth has happened?” she asked, taking a sobbing Tina into her arms.

“The painting! He must have seen the nude painting. He nearly went mad!”

Ada locked the door. She was aware of the Douglas temper. He was not called Hotspur merely because of his riding skills.

Alex materialized through the locked door. “He’s gone. I couldn’t stop him.”

“Dear God, Alex, sometimes a tragic event is stamped so indelibly upon a place, it is doomed to happen over and over again. She’s already been poisoned, as I was. Colin
painted both of us, and now Ram has seen it as you did. Murder will be done again if we don’t do something!” Damaris cried.

“I’ll go after him and bring him back!” swore Alex.

“I don’t think you can leave this place,” Damaris whispered hopelessly.

“Yes, I can, if I bond with a living being. I can go where he goes.”

“Be careful, Alex,” Damaris cried.

“Sweetheart, nothing can happen tae me that hasn’t happened already.”

Tina wiped away her tears and reached for her bedgown. “Oh Ada, everything is such a tangled mess.” Tina threw back her long hair impatiently. “Only last night he told me he loved me and asked me to marry him. Now thanks to that twisted, sick Colin Douglas, everything is spoiled! I could kill him!”

“Calm down, love. The damage has been done, but once Ram is gone, we have all the time in the world to confront Colin and get possession of the painting. Lock this door after me. I’m going to go to the kitchens and get you some breakfast, and I think I’ll ask Mr. Burque to help us We should have the protection of a man when we challenge Colin.”

“That’s a splendid idea, Ada. Oh, that’s the desk I gave poor old Malcolm.”

“Yes, Jenna brought it to me last night. She said Malcolm made her promise she would give it back to you.”

Ada went to the kitchen, and Tina carefully locked the door behind her, then she went back to the antique desk. She opened the drawer and touched the carving that opened the secret compartment. There lay Malcolm’s history. How poignant it was to touch the pages he had written! He had been so obsessive about the history, it had filled the endless hours of his days and made them bearable for him. Somehow Tina felt absolutely compelled to read what he had committed to paper.

Tina’s brows drew together in puzzlement. She thought his history would deal with Douglas ancestors, perhaps starting with the first earl, but if he had written of the early times, those pages were not in the desk. In fact, there weren’t many pages at all, certainly fewer than a dozen, and Tina’s attention became riveted as she realized it told the story of what had happened sixteen years ago, the night Damaris had been poisoned

The spirit of Damaris stood at Tina’s shoulder so they could read the pages together The writing was lucid, organized, and far clearer than Malcolm had ever been when Tina had spoken with him. As she read the pages she realized that Malcolm had not been bedridden sixteen years ago when the tragedy occurred.

“Dear God, it was Colin who killed Malcolm by poisoning the wine. I drank some by mistake.” Why, oh why hadn’t she discovered these pages before Ram left? Tina unlocked her chamber door and went down to the kitchens to tell Ada and Mr. Burque what she had just learned. Damaris did not want her to leave her room but was helpless to prevent her. All she could do was stay beside her.

Valentina found Ada and Mr. Burque leaving the kitchens. She quickly told them both what Malcolm had revealed. “Colin is a dangerous man—we cannot confront him unarmed,” she added

Mr. Burque agreed with her. He took down a sword from the stone wall of the hall. He was not a trained
swordsman, but he was well muscled and agile, and he had all the courage necessary to protect Valentina. He sent Ada to the knights’ quarters for any men-at-arms Ram Douglas had left behind. Without hesitation, he moved toward the castle stairs. At that moment they saw Colin Douglas poised at the top of the staircase. The looks on their faces immediately alerted him to danger.

“I didn’t mean tae poison Damaris. I loved her!” Colin cried.

Tina looked up at him, her face ashen. “You murdered Alexander, you murdered Malcolm to silence him, and by putting poison in the wine you murdered my baby!” She was so incensed at all the pain and suffering he had caused to both the Kennedy and Douglas clans that she rushed up the stairs ready to attack him with her bare hands, unmindful of any danger to herself.

He drew his knife with his left hand and grabbed her. His lips were drawn back from his teeth, his face as contorted as his body. “If I couldn’t have ye, I wasn’t going tae let that arrogant swine Hotspur have ye! He already snatched my title from me!”

Black Ram Douglas rode at the head of his moss-troopers on their way to Stirling. The pace he set was punishing, but his men-at-arms knew better than to protest when their leader was in one of his murderous moods.

Some of the blinding, bloodred mist had cleared from his brain in the bitter cold air, but as his temper cooled, an icy hand gripped his heart. The ghostly specter of Alexander Douglas rode pillion with him.

“Turn back, turn back, man! Valentina is in danger!” urged Alex.

Ram’s face was grim and closed. He could not rid his mind of the erotic portrait.

“Colin poisoned Damaris and Malcolm and lusts for Tina. She is in terrible danger from him,” insisted Alex.

As Ramsay’s mind searched desperately for a reason, a
small niggling doubt intruded How could his beautiful vixen give herself to Colin? Ram knew him well—knew he was ugly on the inside as well as the outside He’d suspected him of keeping Mad Malcolm well oiled with whisky all these years, and when Malcolm was found dead, Ram had been suspicious He had been too concerned with Tina’s recovery at the time to investigate, but he had known better than to leave her unprotected at Castle Dangerous

Alexander was alarmed at the distance widening between them and Douglas

“Turn back, Ram! If ye love her, go home!”

The Douglas men-at-arms stared at their leader in amazement as he suddenly drew rein and pulled to a halt The great black destrier Ruffian pivoted on its hindlegs and pawed the air as he turned the animal He waved his arm and called out their destination “Douglas!”

If they thought the pace was punishing on the ride out, the ride back was brutal Though they tried valiantly, none could match his speed and determination None could keep pace, and one by one they fell behind.

“By the power of God,” Ram cursed softly, “I know she loves me and would not do such a thing”

Mr Burque stared up the staircase with dread in his heart Tina was always so headstrong, yet so courageous, she was ever unmindful of danger Colin had his arm about her throat and looked insane enough to plunge his knife into her heart

Mr Burque stood indecisively, holding his breath, wondering if he dared rush up the stairs in an attempt to disarm or wound the desperate swine. Suddenly the Boozer spotted Damaris’s cat Folly spat at the dog and flew up the stairs The Boozer rushed after it with frenzied anticipation The animal charged into Colin, unmindful of anything but the pleasurable pursuit of the feline

Colin immediately lost his balance and, because of his crippled leg, could not regain it.

Tina fell to her hands and knees on the steps. Colin pitched down the staircase and impaled himself upon the sword Mr. Burque brandished. The horrific tableau was witnessed by Ada and two burly Douglas men-at-arms who had been left behind to guard the castle.

Mr. Burque was white to the gills and visibly shaking. The men thumped him on the back, praising his skill and his courage in saving the lady and dispatching the evil that was Colin Douglas. He had been like a hidden viper in a nest, and Mr. Burque had single-handedly rid Black Ram Douglas of a formidable enemy. The Douglas guards had a new, healthy opinion of the handsome French chef.

The men told Ada to take their lady away before they took care of the gory business of removing the sword from the disemboweled body. Tina walked on unsteady legs to the hall, where Ada sat her down before the blazing fire. She sat gazing into the flames as if she were in a trance. In reality she was reliving the events that had led up to the tragedy of Damaris and Alexander Douglas. The present dissolved into the past, and she lost track of time.

Her thoughts came tumbling back to the present as a powerful dark figure strode into the hall. The swarthy Scot who came toward her was a formidable sight in leathers, chain mail, and iron helm. Tina arose from the settle, a hand at her throat as she saw the fierce pewter eyes. She took a step toward him, her hand going out in supplication. “Ram.”