To Conquer a Scot (A Time Traveler’s Highland Love) Read online

  She walked away, and once she got to the safety of her room, she made sure to lock the door, sighing with relief when the bolt slid home without incident.

  ...

  “So we’re to go to war?” Black Ben sat back in the chair in Aedan’s anteroom, deep frown lines between his eyes.

  “Aye. Clan MacLeod will declare war on Clan O’Cain as soon as the games end. I’ll not have those bastards get away with mistreating or demeaning Jinny as they have. They’ll pay for their abuse of her, and by my sword.”

  “You know you have the backing of Clan Ross.” Ben paused a moment, gathering his thoughts. “How is Jinny? I haven’t seen her since I arrived.”

  Aedan rubbed his face and poured himself another whisky. “She’s decided to stay at the convent for the foreseeable future. She’s ashamed and thinks the people here no longer see her as pure or a lady.” He scoffed. “Our clan would never see her as anything but the best of people.” He glared down at the amber liquid in his goblet. “I’m going to enjoy cutting down the man who mistreated her. He shall feel as much pain as she has endured.”

  “Nay,” Ben said, sitting forward to lean on his knees. “Do not fight with anger or revenge in your belly. It’ll make ye weak. You must enter this fight with a clear mind and strong heart. When ye return home safely, then ye can give your emotions free rein.”

  Ben was right. To enter a war, a ghastly, hard battle like the one they were about to embark on, without a clear mind would ensure he met his maker a lot sooner than he hoped. It wasn’t a war he wished to fight, but he couldn’t allow the slur against Jinny to go unpunished.

  “And what about a wife? If ye should be killed at this battle, who’ll take over the MacLeod lands and home?”

  He shrugged, not wanting to imagine such a thing. “I have a male cousin who’ll return. He’s only young and currently under the tutelage of Clan Stewart. Gwen will ensure he learns all he needs to know to take my place.”

  “Have ye told your sisters of your intention?” Ben met his gaze. “’Tis likely they’ll want to flay ye alive over your course.”

  “They may disagree, but they’ll understand why I must do this.”

  “And will ye go to war before Abigail is returned to her time? ’Twould be wise to have her safely stowed at home, in case this castle falls and Gwen is unable to secure her well-being.”

  It was a thought he, too, had pondered. A thought that had left him cold, empty, and without purpose. He would miss the bonny lass when she left. In truth, he didn’t want her to leave, not after having her warmth, her care, and affection bestowed on him, but he couldn’t be selfish. Her well-being and wish to return home had to be paramount.

  “Abigail will leave the day I depart. I’ll not have her put in harm’s way, not when her journey here was not of her doing.” He stood, snuffing out the candle on his desk. “It’s been a long day. I’ll see you in the morn.”

  Ben laid down on the animal fur before the fire and made himself comfortable. “Aye it has,” he said, grabbing a nearby cushion for his head. “Wish the enchanting lass Abigail good night for me.”

  Aedan started at his friend’s words before continuing on, ignoring the knowing chuckle that followed him up the passage toward the hall.

  ...

  It was later than he’d hoped when he made his way back to his room. The castle had long settled into quiet slumber, save for a few men who lay snoring on the hall floor. The meeting with Ben played on his mind as he climbed the tower stairs. The decision to go to war was not one he took lightly, but it was also an action he wouldn’t be swayed from.

  His sister deserved retribution.

  As he approached Abigail’s room, he noted no light flickered from beneath her door. He stopped and looked about, pushed the door handle down and found it steadfastly locked.

  He stood looking at the door with a smile on his face. Shaking his head, he continued on to his chamber and headed for the tapestry that hung beside his bed. The castle was built with many hidden passageways and tunnels through its massive edifice. He pulled it back and slipped into the dark and musty-smelling corridor, taking a few steps before pushing another tapestry aside and slipping into Abigail’s room.

  A slither of moonlight pierced the room from the window. His eyes adjusted to the darkened space, and he could see her small form huddled on the bed.

  He stood there a moment, watching her. She was deep in slumber, her long brown locks lying about her face and over her shift. He quickly undressed, letting his kilt fall where it may and slid in next to her. He started at the cold, sharp blade that came up against his neck.

  “What are ye doing, lass? ’Tis me, Aedan.” He felt her relax a little before she skittered away from him like he had the pox.

  “How did you get in here? I locked the door.”

  No longer was her voice soft and welcoming. Instead, it was as hard as stone. Aedan didn’t like how it made him feel, like he’d lost something irreplaceable. He sat up. “There’s a hidden corridor that connects our rooms. You are, after all, staying in the room my future wife will use.”

  “Well, aren’t I lucky?”

  There was no mistaking the sarcasm that accompanied her words. He quickly found a candle and getting up he walked to the fire and lit it. “Something troubling ye, lass? Tell me what it is.”

  “Oh, you’re interested in me now. I wouldn’t have guessed that after the way you treated me today.” She threw the blankets off her legs and jumped out of the bed.

  Her light shift did little to hide the siren body that teased him. His mouth dried at the sight of her, hair flying about her head in temper, her thin arms waving about angrily. She really was quite remarkable to watch. But her next words brought him back to reality.

  “Maybe you should tip-toe down the hall and knock on Aline’s door. I’m sure she’d adore fawning over you some more. You enjoy it so well.”

  He leaned against the mantle, ignoring the cold stone at his back. Abigail glared at him, her breasts rising with each breath, her cheeks pink with temper. He laughed. “You’re jealous.”

  She crossed her arms, the action accentuating her breasts even more, not that she needed to. Her sweet, pink nipples puckered against her shift, and his body hardened, the need to taste her again, to kiss those delicious peaks, roared through him like an avalanche on the Highlands mountain range.

  “I am not. You may do as you please. I don’t give a shit. But what I don’t like is being used and then ignored. You acted like an ass today and now you can leave.”

  He raised his brow. He had no intention of going anywhere. “Explain.”

  She scoffed at him, going to stand by the window. It was the worst thing she could’ve done as the shift became transparent in the moonlight. He bit back a groan.

  “You, Laird,” she said, accentuating his title, “didn’t even bother to speak to me, had me sit away from the dais, like some common whore with no right to eat beside you. Never mind the fact you kissed another woman.”

  He joined her at the window, hating that he’d upset her, but also, wasn’t this what they had agreed? “We made no vow to one another.”

  She huffed out a breath. “That’s all you have to say for yourself? You didn’t make a vow?” She jabbed him in the chest. “Listen here, you medieval ass, where I come from it doesn’t require a man to declare a vow after such an act. If the guy has any honor, any slither of respect for the woman, he’ll speak to her again, ask her out again. Not ignore her like a lowly whore you’d pass in a dark alleyway.”

  “If ye must know the reason I kept me distance from ye, I didn’t think I could trust myself. Blast it,” he said, running a hand through his hair. “Every time I look at ye I want to haul you against me and kiss ye senseless—take ye away from the games and do with ye as I please.” He stepped toward her, the tips of her breasts touching his chest. “Even now, when you’re angry with me, I want ye. All of ye.”

  Excitement thrummed in his veins. She looked
up at him in surprise, her delectable mouth partly open. He wanted to kiss her, wanted to feel the soft glide of her tongue against his, to hear her moan against his lips as he drove deep into her core. “’Tis also become noticeable by some of the clans that I’ve taken a keen interest in ye. That I seek ye out often and talk to ye more than I should.”

  He slid a finger down her neck, revelling in the most perfect skin he’d ever beheld, before slipping the shift off her shoulder, exposing one breast. “The clans are expecting me to marry a woman from one of their families. They won’t look kindly if I spend the majority of my time staring at you. And as ye said, you’ve no intention of fighting for my hand, so…”

  Her eyes went wide at his words and she sighed. “I have no idea what we’re doing.”

  No longer able to deny himself, he kissed her shoulder, sliding his tongue along her collarbone. Gooseflesh rose on her skin, and she shivered in his hold. “’Tis the truth, lass. No more or less than that.” He kissed his way up her neck. “I’m sorry I hurt ye. It was never my intention,” he whispered into her ear, relaxing as her arms came to sit on his hips.

  “I shouldn’t care. I know what we’re doing has no future, but seeing you today, having that feeling that I’d been used and discarded, hurt. Don’t do it again, Aedan. I won’t be so forgiving a second time.”

  He met her gaze, running his hands down her back, pulling her fully against him. “I promise ye I won’t. You have my word, but we need our association to be of a private nature. Trust me, whenever I’m speaking to another, I’m thinking of you.”

  Aedan wasn’t sure if she believed him, but her arms pulled him close and he took the opportunity to hold her against him, to feel her warmth and revel in it. “You smell very sweet.” He rubbed his jaw against her hair. “What is that scent?”

  Her chuckle against his neck made him ache. “Jasmine. Your sister showed me where the cooks make up soap and they had some spare for me.”

  He pulled her back to look at him and slowly bent down and kissed her. Just like a flower, she blossomed in his arms, and opened for him.

  Their kiss turned hot, heady, and desperate. All day he’d thought of her in an array of secret locations, his to seduce and enjoy. His body burned, wanted her with a need that didn’t seem to abate, but only increased in its ferocity.

  She kissed him back, her urgency matching his. A knock at the door sounded and he broke the kiss, saying a silent prayer that she’d locked the door after all.

  “You must go,” she whispered, pushing him away.

  He didn’t move. “I dinna want to.”

  She bit her lip, her eyes darting to the door and back again. “It could be your sister or a maid and if anyone sees you in here with me they’ll have us married before you can put your clothes back on.”

  Now that Abigail mentioned it, he was naked. She wiggled out of his hold and this time he let her go.

  “Who is it?” she called, his sister’s muffled voice sounding outside to let her in.

  Aedan sighed, swiped up his clothes from the floor, and kissed Abigail good night, lingering over her lips, savoring her as much as he could, before she laughed and shooed him from the room.

  He left through the tapestry and made his way back to his chamber. Normally, his quarters were welcoming, a place he could relax, to think, but tonight it seemed barren, empty, and cold. Unlike the woman next door, who was warm, as bright as sunlight, and as refreshing as a northern wind in this damp, ancient castle.

  Groaning, he lay on his bed and stared up at the wooden rafters on his roof, wondering how long his sister would take to leave. And what on God’s good earth was she still doing up? She had a knack for turning up at the wrong time. He settled in for a long wait.

  Chapter Thirteen

  Aedan never came back that night, even when Gwen left after a visit that had no purpose at all. Abby had waited patiently, even pushed back the tapestry and looked to see how he’d entered her room, but the dark passageway that probably had too many spider webs to count, had been too scary to contemplate and she’d gone back to bed.

  And had failed miserably to sleep. She’d tossed and turned all night, her mind longing for what their earlier kiss had promised and yet never delivered. It wasn’t right to stir up a woman to such a point and then leave her hanging unsatisfied. She wanted more…

  She went downstairs for breakfast and noted Aedan seated next to Aline. She ground her teeth and went to sit beside Gwen. As soon as she sat she could feel the tension radiating from her friend. Normally, Gwen and Braxton were a lovable pair, spent more time gazing into each other’s eyes than talking, but this morning, there was tension that thrummed between them that didn’t seem right.

  Abby leaned close to Gwen and whispered, “Have you had an argument?”

  Gwen shook her head, frowning. “No. ’Tis my brother. He’s being foolish.”

  For a moment, she wondered if someone knew about them. Had someone seen him try to enter her room last night? She’d heard his attempt and had ignored it, but what if a servant or guest had watched him? Abby poured herself a mug of mead and took a large sip. “How so?”

  “There is talk that he’s going to declare war with the O’Cains for the slight against our family and Jinny.” Gwen ripped a piece of bread in two and bit into it with little etiquette. “I cannot believe it.”

  Abby looked up and met Aedan’s gaze. His lazy smile did odd things to her insides. She smiled back, wondering how much she should say about what she knew of the family and their history.

  She had, after all, been staying in the area, reading up on the history of the castle before being brought back in time. It wasn’t until now that she realized what a profound moment in history she’d landed dead center in.

  And she wasn’t sure she should say anything. Wasn’t there an unwritten time travel law that travelers touch nothing, kill nothing, talk no one out of wars, decisions, or anything that could possibly change the future? She dipped a piece of bread into her porridge. The butterfly effect or something…

  “Braxton is going to talk to Aedan about it and see if he can garner the truth. Should Aedan even be considering it, it could put all our lives at risk. The Scots aren’t known to back down and Clan O’Cain would certainly enjoy another battle.”

  A cold knot formed in her gut that Aedan, his clansmen, Gwen’s love, Braxton, could be injured or killed. “I’m sure there’s no truth in it. I mean, why would he? It doesn’t make any sense when Jinny is now living happily at the convent, or so I was told. Have you heard from her? What do you think she’d say?”

  “Honor is at stake and to war we will go, even if it’s a war we cannot possibly win.” Gwen sighed. “Jinny would think the same as me. Although angry and upset over her failed marriage, and the disgraceful treatment she endured, she’s happy now. She’s never been like me and Aedan, she never wanted to marry or have children. The quiet solitude of church life suits her, and she’d not condone this battle.”

  “But if it does happen, is the clan prepared? How large is Aedan’s army? Surely, you’re not without hope?” Abby put down her breakfast, her stomach turning in knots as she tried to remember what happened in this battle. What had happened to the family, this home and lands?

  “We are prepared, but the fight will be long and hard.”

  If this was a Facebook post, Abby would press the dislike button. Abby read the worry on Gwen’s face and it made her pause. Aedan was about to marry, was right at this moment looking for a wife to secure his future. To go to war seemed an illogical thing to do.

  And if he died, what would happen to the family? The thought left her cold, and she pulled her shawl about her arms. She looked up at the dais and noted Black Ben and Aedan deep in discussion and something told her that in only a matter of days, a declaration would be made and the future course of this family would be set.

  Just as history dictated.

  Abby bade a quick good-bye to Gwen who was heading out to the day’s e
vents, then followed Aedan who’d walked toward the anteroom. She found him seated behind his desk, reading a letter. She shut and bolted the door, in case he kissed her again and she forgot she was trying to act a lady.

  “Good morning,” she said.

  He smiled and beckoned her over. She went, willingly, almost too willingly, to be back in his arms. As his arms enfolded her waist, pulling her onto his lap, it felt like the most natural thing in the world to do. There was no other place on earth she’d rather be.

  “’Tis now a very good morn.” He kissed her quickly, pushing a lock of hair from her face and placing it behind her ear. “I missed ye last night.”

  She smiled. “I didn’t think your sister would ever leave.”

  “Why did you not join me in my room? My bed felt barren without ye in it.”

  He nuzzled her neck and she chuckled. “I pulled the tapestry back, but when I saw all the spider webs I thought better of it. You’ll have to have the corridor cleaned out or your bed will remain empty. Unless you join me, of course.”

  Abby shifted on his lap and felt a telling hardness against her hip. “Why are you in here this morning? I thought you’d be joining the games. Isn’t it sword fighting today? And the ladies turn to show our archery skills?”

  “Aye, it is. I had some correspondence I wished to look over ’tis all.” He leaned back in the chair, closing his eyes and sighing.

  He looked worried and she wondered if his concern stemmed from the rumors circulating the clan. “Is something wrong?” she asked.

  His hand idly rubbed her back, massaging it. “Just some trifling concerns, nothing for ye to worry over.”

  “You mean the rumors that are circulating about you going to war against the O’Cains?”

  He sat bolt upright and she almost slipped from his lap. “Where did ye hear that?”

  “Last night, your sister was discussing it with Braxton who’d heard it from someone else. I questioned her about it at breakfast.”

  He stared at her a moment before rubbing his jaw. “If Braxton knows, then most of the clan does, not to mention our guests.” He swore.