The Brightest Star in the Highlands: Jennie and Aedan (Clan Grant Series Book 7) (19 page)

The noise grew into a powerful din and Jennie could hardly contain the fear and helplessness she felt brewing inside her.

A few horses headed toward them and she didn’t know whether to jump for joy or be hopeful. As they grew near, sweat broke out across her forehead, and she hopped from foot to foot, attempting to relieve her distress over whatever news the riders were about to bring her way.

She recognized one of the men. Drew Menzie came straight toward her and halted, holding his hand down to her.

“What is it?” As she waited for his response, she heard the nuns stand behind her.

The two riders behind Drew yelled out, “It’s done. The Cameron has been defeated.”

She heard the nuns behind her gasp. One of them grabbed her shoulders.

Drew still held his hand down to her. “Come. I’ll take you to see him.”

Jennie paused before she reached for Drew. This could not be happening. All her dreams were about to fall apart.

“Jennie.” His hand was still waiting for her. “Come.”

She still hesitated, praying that she had heard wrong.

“Aedan’s dead.”

Chapter Nineteen

Jennie vomited twice before she cleaned her mouth and climbed onto Drew’s horse. He had to be lying, he just had to be. As they rode toward the castle, Drew continued.

“Fletcher ran him through. We were wrong. We all thought the traitor was Hamish, and we left Irvine to guard Aedan at the rear. Only Irvine turned on him and drove his sword through his belly. He died instantly. I’m sorry, Jennie.”

She clung to Drew from behind and leaned her head into his back, sobbing and wailing uncontrollably.

But it didn’t make sense. If he were truly dead, where were they going?

“Where are you taking me?” she asked through tears. “If he’s dead, I do not want to see him. Have Fletcher and the Englishmen taken over the castle?”

“Aye, they have taken over, but your brother is here with his men and they guard Cameron’s body for burial. Fletcher’s men tried to take him so they could put his body on display for all to see, but your brothers got him back.”

She refused to believe it. The Lord would not do such a thing to her. He would not take her husband from her within a few days of their marriage, would he? Her stomach churned even though there was naught inside. She would never eat again, never. How could her intuition have been so wrong? She had come, just as she had been told to do. The Lord had told her she was needed by her husband, and here she was. She had trusted in God just as the abbess had told her to do. Had he lied to her?

Trying her best to hold everything together, she slipped into the same inner zone that helped protect her heart and her soul when she treated wailing men, torn and slashed and bloody from battle, though it had failed her of late. Drew helped her to dismount, and she glanced to the center of the gathering, where a man lay unmoving on a Cameron plaid. Brodie ran toward her.

“Jennie, nay. Do not come any further. We wanted you here safe, but please do not look at him.” Brodie held her back. “‘Tis not a memory you wish to keep.”

She glanced toward the body, her eyes taking in the blood that covered it from head to toe. Something swelled in her body, something from deep in her belly, and she couldn’t control it. Aedan. It was Aedan, she would know him anywhere. Aedan lay dead on the ground in front of her. All thoughts of it being a lie fled, and reality set in—a horrible reality of which she wanted to part.

“Nay!” She screamed over and over again, pushing and shoving against Brodie, raking her nails down his skin. He held fast. “Nay, he’s my husband, let me be. Brodie, let me hold him, please. I love him.”

She sobbed hysterically for what seemed like an eternity while ironclad arms held her back. “Please, let me hold him one more time. I did not have enough time with him. I need to hold him…once more is all I ask.” She crumpled against her brother, clinging to him. “Let me be, please, Brodie.”

She fought against Brodie, kicking and screaming, until he finally let her go. But before she could make it to her husband’s dead body, someone grabbed her from behind. Alex picked her up and cradled her like a babe, carrying her away from her husband. “Nay, Alex,” she screamed, “let me love him once more. Nay, nay, nay.”

“Shush, Jennie.” The same calm voice that had soothed her after the loss of her parents settled her just a touch. She turned into Alex’s chest and cried until she had no more tears, allowing his familiar voice to wrap around her like a blanket once again. She thought of the day her mother had died and how she had listened to her father cry at the ceremony, of the day her father had died six moons later. Now her husband was dead, too, and her brother still held her as he had done before, allowing her to grieve but holding firm.

Alex carried her over to Logan, kissed her forehead, and said, “I’m sorry, Jennie.” Then he settled her on the other man’s horse. “Get her out of here.” Logan grabbed onto her and spurred his horse.

Jennie collapsed against Logan, sobbing her heart out, still unable to accept the horrible truth. As soon as they were a distance away, Logan whispered, “Shush, lass. ‘Tis a ruse.”

Jennie stilled instantly. “What?”

She pulled back and stared at Logan.

“Nay, do not stop your crying. ‘Tis important no one knows,” he whispered.

She leaned against him and cried again, wondering if she had heard him wrong. Was it possible? Could her husband be alive after all?

He brought her to the abbey, then carried her inside. Once they had arrived, she said, “Repeat what you said, Logan Ramsay.”

He tugged her inside a chamber and said, “Aye, ‘tis a ruse. We need Irvine to think Aedan is dead. We must wait here one hour, then Gwyneth will take you to him while we distract the traitors.”

“Truly?” She swiped at her eyes, her breath hitching so much that she started coughing and could not stop.

Logan fetched a cup of ale and brought it over to her. “Here, drink, lass.” He set the cup down and clasped her shoulders. “Gwynie will come to you within the hour and take you to Aedan. You must dress as a poor lad. You are to wait here and speak to no one except the abbess. She will assist you. I must return as part of the ruse. Trust me, we are being watched.”

She gulped and nodded. “He is well?”

“He has only a small injury, I think to his left arm. I came upon him just as Irvine was about to spear him, but the traitor turned tail at the last minute. Our plan ‘twas the only way to discover the true traitor. Aedan’s small injury helped us in two ways. It revealed Fletcher, and it also fooled the blackguard into thinking Aedan was much more severely injured than he is. He rolled when he hit the ground, so Fletcher knew not where he struck him. Take what you need to tend his arm.” He kissed her forehead. “My apologies, but we had to do it this way to be safe for all.”

“My thanks, Logan, and my apologies for drenching you with my tears.” Relief spread through her with such a force, she almost fell to the ground. Thanking the Lord her husband was alive, she promised Him never to be deceitful again. Aedan was alive, her husband lived.

He gave her a sheepish look. “Do not worry. At least you did not score me as you did your brother. We all said you would be wild with grief. ‘Tis one of the reasons we wanted you to stay back on Grant land. But you are stubborn, as your brothers promised.” He headed out the door of the abbey, but stopped at the last minute. “You are much like my Gwynie, Jennie. Strong, intelligent women have strong emotions.”

Once he left, Jennie collapsed into a chair. The next thing she knew, Gwyneth was shaking her awake. As soon as she raised herself from the chair, Gwyneth thrust a sack of clothes at her for their disguise. “Jennie, we must hurry. Another battle is about to begin.”

“Now what?”

“The Grant warriors and Aedan’s guards are going to take back the castle and rid the keep of Fletcher’s men. Just as we expected, they are all deep in their cups celebrating. ‘Twill take little effort for Alex and Brodie to take the keep back in Cameron’s name. They will come for him when ‘tis over.”

They made their way out the back door and onto an old horse, fitting for their clothing. They had not traveled far when Gwyneth took them through a glen and up a hill.

“Gwyneth, are your weans safe?” Jennie promised the Lord she would be better about being thoughtful of others.

“Aye, they are with Logan’s mother, Brenna, and Avelina, and they love Aunt Lina. We’ll travel there soon once this has settled.” Finally she came to a stop near a stream in front of a cave. Gwyneth stopped a distance away from the cave because the path was too narrow for their ungainly horse.

Gwyneth tipped her head toward the cave. “Your husband awaits you.”

Jennie dismounted, her heart pounding so hard she thought it would break out of her chest. Words would not come to her, so she nodded to Gwyneth and took off running toward the cave. Aedan stepped out far enough for her to see him, and she covered her scream with her hand, but not the tears that flowed freely down her cheeks.

How she loved this man. Her heart overflowed with all that was Aedan. He was handsome and strong and warm and loving. When she was almost upon him, he opened his arms wide and smiled the biggest smile she had ever seen. She threw herself into his arms and clutched him, kissing every inch of him she could reach as he wrapped his arms around her in a tight embrace.

“I’m so sorry, Jennie. ‘Twas a terrible thing to do to you, but we felt ‘twas the only way.”

She stopped kissing him long enough to place her finger against his lips. “I do not wish to discuss it. Make love to me, please. I need you.”

Aedan carried her into the cave and set her down on her feet, removing his plaid and dropping it to the floor.

“Stop. Your arm? How bad is your injury?” Jennie searched for his wound, but it no longer bled.

“I have a small scratch above my elbow, but ‘tis not bad enough to keep me from burying myself inside you first.” He reached for her and his lips claimed hers, pulsating over hers, creating a heat that drove right to her core.

His need met hers and told her how much he had missed her. Their tongues mated until she moaned and leaned back, and somehow he managed to ease her down onto the plaid he’d spread out on the cool stone floor of the cave. But the temperature didn’t affect her—Aedan gave her all the warmth she needed. He supported his weight on his elbow and pulled back to stare into her eyes, holding her gaze as he removed the lad’s tunic from her and tossed it off to the side. The leggings soon followed them. He touched her core and she bucked toward him.

“Easy, lass. We have nowhere to go.” He ran his hands up the soft skin of her hips until he cupped her breast, teasing the tip with his thumb. “Wife, you are so beautiful.”

“Please.” She clutched his forearms, digging her fingers into the hard muscle. “Aedan, you don’t understand, I thought you were dead, I didn’t know…” Gripping him hard as she nuzzled his neck, she feared she would never be able to let him go again. She inhaled his scent to calm her need for him, somehow relieving the distress she had felt over the possibility of losing him. Tears misted in her eyes, but she held them back, reassuring herself by looking at him, feeling him, and enjoying his tender touch—a balm to her soul that she so needed at this point.

“Aye, shush, wife. I am here now.” His lips crossed a slow path down to her breast and he teased her nipple with his tongue, laving her, tasting her, and then running the tip of his tongue around the outside of each mound before returning to the center.

Her hands threaded through the dark strands of his long hair, needing to cling to some part of him just to be sure he wouldn’t disappear. She moaned and thrust her hips at him, then reached for him, finally wrapping her hand around his heat, stretching him and teasing him until he growled. He took her nipple in his mouth, suckling the taut peak until she cried out again.

“Aedan, please. I want you inside me.”

He reached down between her curls and sighed with pleasure. Nuzzling her neck, he whispered, “Do you know what it does to me, my sweet Jennie, to discover how much you want me? To feel how your heat makes it easy for me to glide into you?” He teased her nub a few times and then grasped her hips. She guided him, allowing him to bury himself deep inside her. Every delicious stroke he made brought her shameless pleasure. She locked her legs around his hips, opening herself wider, giving him better access to her. He drove into her over and over again, each movement pounding against her where she needed it most. Her hips picked up the same rhythm, driving his shaft into her over and over again, pushing, sliding, pressing against him until she shattered, screaming his name as she convulsed around him, his own climax coming fast behind hers. He shouted, a low guttural sound echoing in the cave as he grasped her hips to pull her in closer, allowing him to seat himself deep inside her as he released his pleasure.

Aedan fell back to his side and onto his back, rolling her with him up and off the cold hard floor of the cave. “Love, did I hurt you? I’m sorry, I lost all ability to think. You drove me daft.”

“Nay, you didn’t hurt me. Could you not tell by my screams of pleasure?” She panted against him and kissed his nipple with a giggle, settling her hand on his chest while she caught her breath.

They lay together, arms and legs intertwined, for a few moments until their breathing returned to normal.

Eventually, she had to ask. “Why, Aedan? I don’t understand. Do you know how painful that was for me?”

He sighed. “I know. I almost gave the entire ruse up when you saw me on the ground. It was the most painful moment of my life. All the pain I have ever experienced clumped together could not compare with how it felt to listen to you in your grief. Alex kept me there, his pressure on my leg convincing me that I needed to stay put. I wanted to jump up and run to you, but when Alex went to you, Neil sat by my side and had a hand on my arm. That was my only reminder of what was at stake. Otherwise, I would have run to you and held you in my arms.”

“When was this planned?” She reached for his hand and held it against her belly.

“I will tell you all. I came to your land for two reasons. First, to request your hand in marriage, but second, I wanted advice on how to deal with a problem that was getting out of hand. I did not know how to approach it. Once your brother accepted my plea for your hand…”

“Wait. He accepted? He told me he turned you down.” She raised up on her elbows to stare at him.