Ravished by a Highlander (11 page)

“Fortunately,” Edward continued, resuming the short trek to the Refectory with Davina leading him by the hand, “I fell into
a dead sleep and did not awaken until sometime after Admiral Gilles arrived with his men.” He told them what had happened
after that, everything he’d heard, how he’d lain in the ashes as if dead until they were gone. “I knew when they hadn’t found
her body that you had to have saved her.”

“How did ye find us?” Davina heard Rob ask over her shoulder as they entered the dining hall. “I was careful aboot leavin’
tracks.”

“No tracks,” Edward sighed as he fell into a chair and closed his eyes. “I suspected you would head north and Courlochcraig
was on the way.” He opened his eyes and moved to stop her when Davina dropped to her knees to remove his boots. She quieted
him with a glance in Rob’s direction. “I needed to stop for some food and rest and I knew the Abbess would not turn me away.”
With his gaze still fastened lovingly on Davina, he lifted his fingers toward a tendril of hair that had escaped her veil.
“God led me here. He wanted me to find you, my lady.”

“Tell me aboot Gilles.” The sharp edge in Rob’s voice vanquished the tender smile Davina was about to bestow on her dearest
friend, and halted the hand reaching for her.

“He is the Duke of Monmouth’s Admiral.” They all turned toward the Abbess, who had entered the Refectory carrying a cup in
one hand and a small tray of food in the other. “A most unpleasant man.”

“So, ’tis Monmouth who sent him and no’ Argyll,” Rob said.

“Mayhap, mayhap not.” The Abbess shrugged her shoulders. “Both men have spent the last number of years in Holland. Only God
knows who holds Gilles’s allegiance.”

“Is deception no’ frowned upon by yer Husband, Reverend Mother?” Rob’s gaze cooled on her. “What more d’ye know aboot this
that ye refuse to tell me?”

“Well,” the Abbess said evenly while she handed Edward his cup. “Since entering this room, I know that Admiral Gilles is the
one guilty of the slaughter of my sisters. But if you mean to question me more than you already have about
why
the Abbey was attacked, my answer will be the same.”

There was nothing amiable in Rob’s slow smile before he turned his attention back to Edward and waited.

“I met the Admiral only once,” Edward told him, “and then prayed I never would again. He is merciless… and determined.”

“Why do these men want her dead?”

Edward shook his head and averted his gaze when Rob moved around the table toward him. “I don’t know.”

“Ye think me a fool to believe that, Asher?”

“No,” Edward sighed deeply in his seat and set his sorrowful gaze on Davina. “But I risk her life by telling you, and I will
not do that. I will tell you this though: we cannot remain here. He
will
find her.”

“Edward,” Davina told him softly, covering his hand with hers as if he were the one who needed comfort from the truth. “There
is nowhere else to go.”

The Refectory grew silent, save for the soft footfalls of four young sisters who had come to tend to the captain. Davina thought
she heard Rob swear a muttered oath that was surely going to earn him penance under the Reverend Mother’s watchful eye later.
She turned to him, still on her knees, and found him scowling worse than when he first saw her in her veil.

That is, until he looked at her and his taut, dark features went a bit soft. “Aye, there is.”

She knew instantly where he meant to take her, and part of her wanted to go. The Isle of Skye. Mayhap, if its name counted
for anything, it existed in the heavens—a place this terrible Admiral Gilles would never dare go. But could Robert MacGregor
be trusted with her life? He’d let her believe Edward was dead. Then again, Edward had told them he was down and Davina couldn’t
really blame Rob for not checking before they raced away from St. Christopher’s. No, he was not in league with her enemies,
and thinking on all he had done for her so far made her feel foolish for considering it.

“I will not put your home in danger,” she said calmly, though refusing the aid of such a man as he was among the most difficult
things she had ever had to do. Wishing he could remain with her at Courlochcraig while knowing in her heart that there could
never be anything between them was one thing; living with him on his own land, in his care for as long as she needed to be
was another. “I refuse to…”

“Will.” He turned to his cousin as if she hadn’t spoken. “Fetch the lads; we’re goin’ home.”

“Tonight?” Davina sprang to her feet, casting Edward a nervous glance. “Even if I agree to this, Captain Asher cannot travel
again so soon.”

“Ye have nae say in it,” Rob said brusquely, meeting her gaze for just a moment—and a moment was all it took to convince her
that arguing would be fruitless. “I’ve nae intention on makin’ Captain Asher travel tonight. When he is able, he can return
to England and—”

“Return to England alone?” she cut him off, her eyes wide with disbelief.

“Aye.” Rob nodded, already seeking out the Abbess’s attention. “We’ll need provisions,” he began with a pitch in his voice
that demanded obedience. “Anything ye can spare will be appreciated. Also, do any of yer sisters have an extra kirtle the
lass could wear fer the journey? Gilles is lookin’ fer a novice and she’ll stand oot less to anyone we encounter on the road
withoot her robes.” He cut his gaze to Davina next. “That will have to stay here too.” He pointed to her veil.

Still reeling at the idea that he intended for Edward to remain behind, Davina missed the satisfaction in the slight curl
of his lips when he spoke of her veil.

“I’m not leaving without Captain Asher.” She squared her shoulders and tilted her jaw to appear less intimidated when Rob
stared at her. She liked that he could make quick decisions and take command over all, even the Abbess, with the authority
of a born leader. Somehow, it made being around him feel safer. But she wasn’t about to cower to him, big, brooding Highlander
or not. “You cannot expect him to travel all the way to England alone. Look at him! He will be attacked on the road before
he reaches the border!”

“Who’s going to England alone?”

Davina turned to see Finn entering the hall with Colin at his side, the latter already eyeing Edward caustically. Will hung
back, peeling the skin from an apple he’d pilfered somewhere along the way back down to the Refectory.

“No one is, Finn,” she replied, returning her unwavering gaze to Rob. “He is my friend.”

Rob met the challenge in her eyes with a determined stare of his own. “He’s an English soldier, Davina. He willna’ be welcome
at my home.”

“My brother is an English soldier, Rob,” Finn pointed out, then grew silent when Rob turned to pin him with an incredulous
glare.

“That’s different,” Colin said, making his way across the room to Edward. “Connor is kin.” When he reached the captain, he
looked him over the way a cat might size up a mouse before pouncing on it. “Why is he still in possession of his sword?”

“Ease off, cousin,” Will called out, leaning his hip against the table and biting into his apple. “He’s no’ a Covenanter.”
He paused in his chewing and cut his gray gaze to Asher. “Are ye?”

“No, I am not,” Edward told him, looking slightly uneasy around the four north men all staring at him now.

Will was the first to smile at him, or maybe, Davina corrected herself, it was Sister Elaine standing just behind Edward who
was the recipient of his favor, for she blushed a full two shades darker.

“Dinna’ mind young Colin, Captain,” the rascal Will sang. “He’s a wee bit bloodthirsty when it comes to his enemies. Much
like his faither—who ye’ll be meetin’ soon enough if ye come wi’ us.”

“He’s stayin’,” Rob ground out and turned to leave. “And we’re wastin’ time.”

Davina looked around at the others for aid, but no one had the boldness to stop him. Not even the Reverend Mother. It blistered
Davina’s nerves. Who did he think he was, ordering a captain of the king’s Royal Army about as if he was nothing but a peasant?
Dismissing everything she said as if she wasn’t even there! Well, she was tired of being invisible. This meant too much to
her. She’d lost everything, everyone who mattered in her life. But God brought Edward back to her, and she wasn’t about to
lose him again.

“I was wrong about you, MacGregor,” she called out, following him out of the Refectory. “I thought you could keep me safe,
but I was wrong.” When he pivoted around slowly, she gathered her courage and strode right up to him.

“What do you think will happen if Edward is captured by Admiral Gilles? Hmmm? How long can any man hold out if he is tortured?
How long do you think it will take Gilles to find out where the MacGregors make their home? His men burned nuns alive. Do
you think he will not kill every MacGregor he finds until he finds you?”

She had his ear now and for a moment he looked as though he might give in. She plunged ahead. “And even if Edward makes it
to England, do you expect him to lie to his king about what happened to me? It will only be a matter of time before the king’s
army enters Skye.”

“Why? Why will he come fer ye?”

“I cannot tell you. I will not.”

“Then Asher stays.”

Oh,
she fumed, staring at him,
blackmail was quite unattractive.
“Very well, I will tell you! King Charles promised me to a man who—Where are you going?” she demanded when he began to turn
away from her. “I was not finished. When he died, he commanded his brother James to—”

“I dinna’ believe ye, Davina.”

“What do you mean you don’t believe me?” She chased after him as he took up his steps. Damnation, why did she ever bother
to lie when she was so poor at it? “Rob”—she reached for his sleeve and tugged it—“it doesn’t matter what you believe. Edward
cannot go back. He is part of this now.”

He stopped, and when he shook his head, she balled her fists at her sides. He simply couldn’t be this stubborn!

“I’ll no’ bring an English soldier to Camlochlin. ’Tis bad enough I’m bringin’
ye.
”

“Well, I’ll remedy that for you right now!” she promised through clenched teeth. No man had ever made her this angry and she
needed to get away from him before she would have to spend a fortnight in confession. “You have my thanks for bringing me
this far,” she said, turning on her heel, “but I’m staying with Ed—”

His fingers closing around her wrist and yanking her back to him put a quick end to her tirade. Pressed against his hard chest
and looking up into his even harder gaze, she found it difficult to breathe, let alone speak when he plucked her veil from
her head and let it drop to the floor.

“Ye’re stayin’ with me, lass.” His mouth descended on hers like a brand, hot and possessive, filling her senses with the taste,
the feel, and the scent of him. He molded her to his unyielding muscles, kissing her until she went soft in his arms.

Davina had never been kissed before, and never in her life could she have imagined it to be like this. Her body felt like
it was going up in flames, melting away all her defenses, sapping her will to defy him and tempting her to lift her fingers
to his face and clutch him to her forever. For a part of her craved the safety of being held in his arms. Protected, not because
of who she was, but for another reason entirely. But Robert MacGregor simply wanted her to comply with his decision, and he
hoped that kissing her senseless would achieve his goal. As much as she would like to keep kissing him, she wasn’t about to
give up on Edward. So, with the last trace of strength she could muster, she gripped him by the shoulders and rammed her knee
into his groin—just as Edward had taught her.

Stepping back, she watched Rob sink to his knees. “I would ask your forgiveness,” she said, staring down at his bent head,
her breath falling hard, “but you would likely refuse that as well.”

Leaving him alone with his pain, she returned to the Refectory. Instead of going to Edward though, she sank into the nearest
chair and prayed forgiveness for putting any part of her trust in a man, and for the strength to face the days ahead without
Robert MacGregor at her side.

*   *   *

Rob wasn’t aware that Davina had left him, and when he heard the soft chuckle above his head he thought her not only spirited
as all hell, but heartless, as well.

“Dinna’ get up, I beg ye.” Thankfully—or, mayhap not—’twas Will. “This may be the only time in m’ life that I get to see ye
on yer knees. Let me take pleasure in it a moment longer.”

Rob glanced up at him as he straightened, grimacing at his throbbing shoulder and his aching groin. “
May
be?”

“If ye stick around her, aye,” Will laughed, offering no aid to his injured cousin. “I’m guessin’ ye, bein’ the stubborn bastard
that ye are, didna’ give in to her request to take her captain wi’ us.”

Rob didn’t like the way his faults were being tossed about before him today, but he didn’t like how Will called Asher “her
captain” even more. But it was true, wasn’t it? Hadn’t she just chosen her captain over him? “Yer guessin’ correct,” he said
stiffly, rubbing his lower abdomen one last time.

“So we’re leavin’ him then?” Will asked as Rob turned and headed for the Abbey doors.

“Aye, and she’s stayin’ with him.”

Davina stood alone in the bell tower watching Rob and the others leave Courlochcraig. She did not weep, for tears did not
bring people back, or keep them away. Why should Robert MacGregor return to her anyway? He had done so much for her already.
She hadn’t expected to stay with him. She had even wanted him to go before anyone else came for her. But then he kissed her.
She’d nearly shattered to pieces in his arms, and it had nothing to do with force—although the raw strength of his embrace
turned her bones to liquid. She didn’t want him to leave her, and watching him ride across the bridge carved a lonely, dreadful
hole in the pit of her stomach—worse than ever before.