The Laird's Kidnapped Bride (13 page)

Chapter Seven

Her face still hot with embarrassment, Lark couldn’t believe all the intimate things she and her husband had shared last night. She was mortified by her brazen behavior, but she could not deny that she had enjoyed every moment of it. Hoping no one would notice the color staining her cheeks, she stepped down into the hall and met her husband’s heated, hungry gaze before he turned away. She harrumphed as she made her way over to the table, knowing that the battle lines were already drawn. Just as she was about to take her seat, she became aware of the smaller man seated beside him. Though he was not as handsome as her husband, there were some similarities. When she saw the naked lust in his eyes, though, she turned away and sat down.

Cold fingers of dread skipped up and down her spine; there was something about the stranger that made her wary and want to distrust him. She gave the signal for the meal to be served and sighed heavily. She wasn’t surprised that her husband was going to act childishly and not apologize to her. So be it. She had no intention of backing down, and until he admitted she was no weakling, outside of the bedroom, she would ignore him. Her head whipped around when the stranger spoke and she frowned.

Keith was sick of being disregarded and spoke out with a sneer lacing his voice. “Brother, introduce me to yer bride.”. 

“My wife, my stepbrother.”

The lout had no manners at all, she decided. She forced a cool smile before turning away to concentrate on the food on their shared trencher. By her husband’s surly tone, she knew that he wasn’t happy with the arrival of his stepbrother. She hoped the man wouldn’t be staying long; there was just something about him she didn’t trust or like. When he spoke up again, she pretended not to listen and masked the worry on her face. Nevertheless, what she was hearing caused her to frown.

“Word had spread about yer wedding, Cameron. Mother and I were most distressed that we were not asked to witness it. After all we’re ye family.” Keith complained.

Out of the corner of her eye, she noticed her husband shrug dismissively. Aye, there was no love lost here. The formidable glower on her husband’s face was enough to tell her that he was most displeased his brother had come to visit.

“When Lady Janice arrived at Inverness, she was most distraught that ye broke yer promise to her and had wed another. She said yer wife insulted her and attacked her before she was thrown out of yer home. ‘Tis said ye are very unhappy with the match. Though yer bride, I suppose, is pretty enough, she canna compare to Lady Janice’s beauty.” Keith taunted with relish.

It was most obvious that the nasty oaf was trying to stir up trouble. Furious, Lark ground her teeth, determined not to respond. If she ever saw that fat-faced cow again, she’d slap her silly before plucking every hair from the strumpet’s head. When seconds ticked by and her husband didn’t reply, she was close to kicking him in the backside. When he finally did speak up, she wanted to clout him over the head.

“If ye wish to listen to lies, I canna help it. What is between my wife and myself is our business.” Cameron replied in a bored tone as he continued to eat.

In burning humiliation and enraged, she rose to her feet and without a word, walked away. She returned upstairs to their chambers and stomped around the room. How dare he disgrace her like this? As her husband, he should have come to her defense. She had a good mind to go back downstairs and slap him silly. Grrr. She wished now she had done more than tip a bowl of stewed fruit over the fat doxy. To stop herself doing something foolish, she spent her energy thoroughly cleaning both chambers. When she finished, she went back down to the hall and was relieved to find both men gone. She helped the servants and issued orders before going outside herself. Hopefully it would be a long time before she saw her rotten, maggoty husband again. No doubt his stepbrother would go back to Inverness and spread even more tales.

Pleased to see the sun was shining and that there was only a light breeze, Lark went off to visit the women for the remainder of the morning. When she met them in the center of the cottages, she could tell by the smiles wreathing their faces that her plan had worked. Close to noon, she made her back home but before she decided to go back inside, went to visit the stables and see the horses. Tonight in bed, she hoped she could persuade her thick-headed husband to let her go riding. In the dimly-lit building she made her way over to the stalls and just as she reached her husband’s stallion, she was grabbed roughly from behind. She knew immediately that it wasn’t Cameron, and she started to struggle, but the grip only tightened even more. “Ye carrion dog, let me go or I’ll see the flesh stripped from yer body.”

“Be still, bitch. Since yer husband despises ye and isna man enough to handle ye, I’ll have to show ye how ‘tis done.” Keith didn’t think Cameron would care if he had a little sport with his wife.

The words froze her blood; she had been right from the start. Her husband’s stepbrother was a man who couldn’t be trusted. With all the strength she could muster, she fought for her life. She kicked backwards, landing a solid blow to his shin, then with fingers extended, she reached behind her and clawed at his face. When he bellowed in rage and tossed her on the ground, she quickly scrambled to her feet and breathing heavily. In desperation she searched for a weapon, and only inches away was a rake. Did she dare attempt to take the few seconds it would take to grasp it? A flick of her eyes towards the monster and she saw he was preparing to advance.

Heart pounding, she decided to take the chance, flew the few feet, grasped hold of the rake and held it in front of her, ready to defend herself. Bones shaking in fear, she waited for another attack. When she saw the murderous gleam in his eyes, she knew that if he managed to catch her, rape wouldn’t be all she would suffer. He intended to kill her to make certain no one knew it was he that had done such a dastardly deed to her. Though terrified, she was determined to put up the best battle she could, knowing that she was fighting for her life.

“Ye damned slut, ye’ll pay for that,” Keith yelled, and rushing her, but before he could land a blow to her cheek, the rake swung and caught him on the shoulder. With a roar, he reached out snatched it out of her hands, and tossed it away. He raised a fist and struck her on the side of the face.

Letting out a cry of frustration when she lost her weapon, she was about to spin away, but it was too late. She cursed herself for not moving quick enough to prevent being struck. Her head whipped to the side and she forced herself to ignore the throbbing pain to her face. “Ye damn bastard, I’ll have yer life for this.” She backed away, but he lunged forward. When he caught her by the shoulders, she reached down and hiked up her skirts to free her legs. He wrapped a tight arm around her waist and started tearing at her blouse. Not hesitating another second, she bought up her knee and rammed it hard into his groin. He let out a roar of agony, and releasing her, he toppled backwards on to the ground, clutching his privates and curled up in a ball. “Ye fornicating pig, how dare ye think ye can lay a hand on me or try to rape me,” she yelled and gave a kick to his ribs, then another and just for good measure, another one to the head.

She’d been so intent on teaching the fiend a lesson that she was unaware that the noise they’d made had drawn a crowd. Tears poured down her face as she dropped to her knees, grasped hands full of hair and beat his head on the dirt floor. “Ye foul despicable monster, as soon as I find a knife, I’m going to slice and dice ye,” she screamed at him as she once more hit his head on the ground. She was so engrossed in hurting the fiend that she never heard the loud furious bellow. It was only when she was dragged away that the red mist of rage faded and she started to tremble. When she was swept up off her feet, she realized by his scent that it was her husband, and starting to weep, she buried her head in his chest.

***

When he had first spied the crowd standing outside the stables wringing their hands and hopping from foot to foot, he had wondered what was going on. It was only when he came close that he noticed the fear on their faces as he shoved his way past them. “What in the hell is going on?” he bellowed, but when he stepped inside and witnessed what was happening, he roared in fury. One glance at the scene and he could picture quite clearly what had occurred. A cold, murderous rage blazed from his eyes, and in seconds he was standing above the fighting couple. Once he’d restrained his wife, he growled, “Ye’d best pray for a quick death, Keith.”

“Nay, nay. Listen to me, brother, Laird. The slut tricked me. She told me ye were waiting inside to speak to me. When I entered, she threw herself at me and begged me to make love to her. When I refused, she attacked and I had to strike her to stop her,” Keith whimpered out in anguish.

“You damned lying bastard,” Lark screeched as she pulled herself free from her husband, dropped to her knees and once again grabbed handfuls of his hair and began striking his head against the ground repeatedly.

Never had Cameron felt such intense, bloodthirsty anger than he did at that moment. He bent over and swept up his wife in his arms once more, then swung around and glared at the crowd in the doorway. “Why dinna ye protect yer mistress?” he shouted at them.

“Um…we would have, Laird, but by the time we got here, she seemed to be handling the situation. We would have come to her rescue if needed,” one of the men said, guardedly.

He glared at them in exasperation. “I should have the lot of ye whipped for nae protecting her. Tie the bastard up. I’ll deal with him later,” he ordered as he carried his trembling, weeping wife, and he stumbled when she sobbed out in anguish “I didn’t, I didn’t.” He hushed her as he stepped outside. He strode into the hall and upstairs in their chamber, he placed her gently down on the mattress. One look at the bruise on her face and his anger grew tenfold. He came down on the bed beside her and enfolded her protectively in his arms. “Shh, dearling, ye’re safe now. He willna hurt ye anymore.” He pressed his cheek against the side of her head as his hand traced the indention of her spine.

“Ye have to believe me! I didn’t do as he said! I’ve never hurt anyone in my life, but when he struck me and started to attack me, I had to fight back!” she sobbed out.

“Shh, sweeting, I ken ye speak the truth. Ye did the right thing and ‘tis proud I am of ye,” he answered in a soothing tone. Inside, though, he raged. His fury bubbled and seethed inside him. He had never liked or trusted his stepbrother; the man was a sniveling coward and a leech. He had been relieved when Keith had left with his mother when his father died, and he was grateful that he rarely saw the two of them. He knew the moment he had come down to the hall this morning and found Keith there that he was here to cause trouble. What he had never expected, though, was that the bastard would try to rape his wee wife. For that, Keith would die. He would take his last breath ere the sun set this very day, Cameron vowed. “I promise ye, dearling, he willna live long for what he has done to ye.”

Horrified, Lark tore herself out of his embrace and shook her head. “Nay! Nay, I forbid it. His is yer blood. Cameron, ye canna take his life. Promise me, promise ye willna do it.”

A muscle worked in his jaw as he reached up and as light as a feather, his finger caressed down her bruised cheek. “He should die for this alone,” he growled out, knowing it must have been a heavy blow to cause such a mark on her face.

“Nay. I beseech ye, dinna ye do it,” she pleaded as more tears dripped down her face, and he gently wiped them away with the pad of his thumb.

“Ye ask too much. He has to be punished for what he has done to ye and what he planned to do to ye.” He saw that it was upsetting her, though, and he cursed under his breath. “All right, all right. I will agree to nae kill him but he will be severely punished. He
must
be.” His mouth hardened. He loathed the weakness she caused in him, but seeing her so distraught, he couldn’t refuse to give in to her wishes, because it dragged at his gut to see her so distressed.

She threw herself back in his arms and buried her face in his chest. “Thank ye, Cameron.”

His hand stroked the back of her head and down her body repeatedly. He was having difficulty containing the murderous rage inside him. However, he needed to stay at least outwardly calm for his wife’s sake.  It was a long time before she stopped trembling and her tears dried up, but still he stayed and comforted her. Only when she fell into a deep sleep did he leave her. When he stepped outside, a large crowd had gathered. “Gag the bastard, bring him to the outer bailey and tie him up. Someone fetch me the cat o’-nine-tails and be quick about it. Let this be a lesson to any man of this clan who forces himself on an unwilling woman.”

With cold, deadly eyes, he watched his stepbrother being dragged outside. Reaching out, he accepted the whip from one of his men. With determined steps, he followed behind the crowd. Then, with detachment, he watched Keith being tied to the post, and when it was done, he moved over to stand in front of the cowardly, despicable bastard, and pulled down the gag. “Just for striking my wife, ye should by rights die. For trying to force yerself on her, ye should be drawn and quartered. Ye should think yerself lucky that she begged for yer miserable life.”

“T’was nae like that, brother. She enticed me into the barn and when I refused what she was offering, she attacked me. On my oath, ‘tis true,” Keith pleaded.

Infuriated over the lies spewing from his stepbrother’s mouth, Cameron spat in his face before stuffing the gag back into his mouth. “Ye just earned yerself another ten lashes, ye sniveling, cowardly bastard.” He moved behind Keith and ripped the shirt off his back. He took several steps back and uncurled the whip. With each stroke, he could picture his wee sweet wife fighting for her virtue and life. He didn’t hold back his strength as he laid the whip on Keith’s back. Thirty lashes later, he tossed it on the ground. “Someone clean him up and ten of ye escort him off my land. He is banished, so remove his tartan. If he ever steps foot on my land, it will be his death. Any man of this clan who finds him on clan lands after today has my leave to kill him.”