“Nay, lass, don’t be sorry. I’ll talk to him in the morn, and threaten to pull his head out of his ass. Ye no need to worry about him any further, in any case, for I believe that no matter ye desire for ye friend Mae to marry for love, her brother is determined to have her settled before he returns home.”
“What do you mean?” she asked, dread like a hard ball in her belly.
“Rory Kirk mentioned today that he’s spoken to Alec, Mae’s brother and said that they may possibly align their families and marry.”
Abby sat up with a start. Imagining the sweet Mae married to Rory was more abhorrent than his fetid breath. “What did you say? I hope you persuaded him otherwise. I know for a fact Mae doesn’t wish to marry him, and is actually in love with someone.”
Aedan sat up and leaned against the headboard. Abby’s attention momentarily turned to his chest and the line of muscle that it housed, before meeting his eyes.
“How do you know this?”
“I told you all this the day I asked you to lose the sword event. The day I was testing Mae to see if she’d be a good match for you, she spoke of it.” Abby shook her head, not liking the small seed of worry that had settled in her belly. “She said herself her brother believes an association with Rory Kirk would be beneficial to her family, but it wouldn’t, Aedan. There’s something wrong with that man. He’s obsessed with this Coira woman. Obviously, he’s missing a few screws, if you know what I mean.”
“Aye, I understand.” He sighed. “I’ll talk to Alec on the morn and see if he’s serious about making his sister marry into Rory’s clan and try and persuade him otherwise.”
Abby knelt beside him, unable to stop herself from touching his toned abdomen, liking the way his smooth skin felt against her palm. “And will you try and dissuade him of the notion? Rory Kirk is dangerous. I don’t like him at all.”
He grabbed her hand, stilling her administrations when it dipped lower on his stomach. “He hasn’t hurt ye, has he?”
“No. Of course not,” she lied, remembering his harsh grip on her arm. She shouldn’t protect a man whom she believed was fairly free with his fists when around women he boasted to love, but then she didn’t want Aedan to declare war on his clan, either. It was bad enough he was looking for retribution toward the O’Cains. “I’m sure he’s hurt his betrothed. I don’t know if the girl is dead or alive, or run back to her family in England, but she’s better off away from that man. I don’t want Mae to suffer the same fate. She deserves so much better.”
“Understandable.” He pulled her down to lay beside him, his hand idly stroking her bare arm. “Promise me you’ll tell me if anyone, Rory Kirk, or even a member of my clan, threatens or causes ye distress.”
She smiled up at him, counting her blessings that she was in the bed with a sweet, loving medieval Highlander. “I promise. I’ll not keep anything from you.”
“Thank ye,” he said, kissing her temple quickly before attempting sleep once more.
She watched him for a while before sleep, too, took her worries away.
The games continued as normal, but no longer were they carefree and fun—an underlying vein of tension thrummed around everyone. Aedan hadn’t visited her bedchamber for the last two nights, and she was starting to wonder if he believed the ridiculous declaration from Laird Kirk.
But she dismissed the notion as soon as she thought it. Aedan knew where she’d come from and how, but it didn’t explain why he’d taken to his own bed instead of hers.
She stood under a large tree, watching the stone put only a few yards away, a test of a man’s skill when throwing a large boulder the farthest. And some of those stones were boulders that Abby would struggle to even pick up. A hand clasped tight about her arm and pulled her behind a large shrub.
“How did ye get here, ye whore of an English bitch?”
She cringed at Rory Kirk’s tight hold and remembering her self-defense course, she lifted her elbow and wrenched free of his painful grip. “Do not touch me.” She thanked God her voice sounded strong and didn’t wobble with the paralyzing fear welling up inside.
“Tell me how ye came to be in the Highlands and staying at the bastard