I’ll kiss it better in a few short minutes.”
She ran her hands down his back and clasped as much of his backside as she could from this position. “You better kiss me in more than that spot, my liege. You owe me after denying me what I wanted.”
“Minx!” he said, as he casually strolled through the hall.
Abby waved to everyone who stopped to watch the laird carry her upstairs and out of sight.
“I plan on using my mouth on a lot of your person, so prepare yourself for much pleasure.”
She bit her lip, only managing to hold back a moan at what delights he’d bestow on her in the next few hours. “Hurry it up then. Your minx is impatient.”
Chapter 19
Abigail sat up with a gasp at the sound of a wrenching scream from outside. With it came the tinkling sounds of metal hitting metal. She reached over to wake Aedan and found the bed cold, only the indentation of his head remained on the pillow, highlighted by the moonlight that streamed through the window.
She started at the sound of more yelling, crying, and the unmistakable sound of someone coming through the secret passage that joined her and Aedan’s room.
“Quick, lass. We’re being attacked by the O’Cain Clan. Ye have to get dressed quickly and follow me. Do what I say when I say it. Do ye understand?”
Abby nodded at Gwen’s harried tone and did as she was asked, pulling on the shift Aedan had stripped from her only hours before. “I didn’t think Aedan was going to fight with them. At least, there’s been talk of war, but nothing confirmed. How is it they’re here?” She quickly grabbed a dark-colored gown from her dresser and turned to Gwen to help her tie the lacings.
“Somehow or another they’ve found out we were to attack. To hit us when we’re at our most vulnerable, in the dark depths of night, shows you what a callous, cowardly clan they are.”
Abigail grabbed a woolen shawl and slipped on the sturdiest boots she had. She thought back to what she’d learned about the clan battles between the MacLeods and O’Cains and one prominent fact stood out more than the rest. This battle that was to take place in 1601 hadn’t occurred at the MacLeod’s castle, but elsewhere. So why had history changed its course? Had her coming back in time, the delaying of Aedan’s attack due to her presence, changed the past?
And what did that mean for the family? Did the O’Cains attacking Druiminn mean Aedan would die this night along with the laird of the O’Cains? History told of many deaths, but a battle that was won by neither side. Would that change as well?
“Hurry, Abigail. They’re coming.”
Dread pooled in her stomach, and a cold chill ran through her blood. “Where’s Aedan?”
“Fighting in the courtyard. He only had enough time to warn the villagers to get their women and children into the hills, where they’d be safe, for the time being. But we must go. Get away from the castle, in case it falls to the O’Cains. Our outcome, should we stay here, isn’t certain.”
Abigail followed Gwen into the musty, dark passage and clasped the back of her friend’s woolen skirt. Not knowing where the hidden corridors went, the last thing she wanted was to get lost in some dank, scary, unknown tunnel. As they ran through the narrow space, down stairs and winding passages, the overwhelming urge to scream every time a spider web brushed her cheek was almost impossible to suppress.
She could hear the sounds of men ransacking the rooms as they broke off from the main fight outside, the bastards searching for possessions and women, no doubt, to take in any way they could.
“Where are we going?”
Gwen kept up her quickened pace, not slowing, even when Abby’s lungs burned.
“My cottage. The one where we first met. There’s a secret room beneath the floor. We’ll hide there until Aedan comes to get us.”
“And if he doesn’t?” Abby didn’t even want to think of such a possibility. To lose Aedan now. The man she loved more than life itself was an unbearable torture she couldn’t face. He was everything to her. Was her future and her past wrapped up in one? “What if they lose?” Even Abby could hear the horror in her voice.
“They won’t. They cannot,” Gwen said.
Abby bit her lip as tears threatened what little vision she had in the dark space. Even to her ears, the resonance of uncertainty