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  Soon, only the crackle of the fire could be heard. They’d eaten and each satisfied with the meal considering they hadn’t let it cook properly and the carrots were a mite hard. Bree lay on her side watching the men. They were quiet, but then Duff looked at her.

  “Will we travel more this night?” She became concerned since the night’s darkness had fallen, and she wasn’t sure she could sit a horse for even an hour’s ride.

  “We’re on Gunn land, and can rest easy tonight.”

  “Thank God. I fear I wouldn’t have been able to ride further.” Bree smiled, as happy as she was to hear that.

  “Milady, we’ll reach the Gunn keep in the morning.”

  She groaned. Laird Gunn moved closer to her and began massaging her shoulders. “It’s a short ride, only an hour or two. We should have kept riding and could have arrived this night.”

  “I would have died,” she said seriously. “I am not used to riding if you had not noticed.”

  Duff moved closer and sat next to Cait. “What did you do with your time besides cook, milady?”

  Bree relaxed, letting Laird Gunn’s hands work magic on her aching muscles. His fingers moved sensually over her arms, brining her attention to the slight touches.

  “Milady?”

  She didn’t know how to answer Duff. “I spent a lot of time with my lady. We would tend the gardens, invent new dishes, and sew tapestries. What a woman typically does.”

  Cait tossed her hair over her shoulder and smirked. “Aye, she was a slave to the Champlains. Constantly bidden to cook for them. Spent all her days in the kitchens and what thanks does she get? Being sent off to marry the dastardly MacHeth!”

  “Cait! I enjoyed cooking and I certainly did not slave for anyone. I lived a sheltered life. Luckily, my lord didn’t send me to court. I never wanted to go and King John never insisted we attend. I was thankful for my life.”

  Laird Gunn squeezed her shoulders. “I won’t have ye exhausting yourself for anyone. You won’t lift a finger.”

  “What are the women like in the Gunn clan?”

  “Much like you, except …” he trailed off.

  “Grey’s not used to you being reserved, his memories are of a wild-child. You used to drive him daft, chasing after you. Aye, we told him he should have tied you to a tree,” Duff said.

  Bree gasped and turned in his arms to scrutinize him with her eyes. “You didn’t, did you?”

  “Nay, I would never do anything so harsh. But Duff speaks the truth. You were a hard lass to keep track of. You have changed.”

  She looked into his eyes and hunched her shoulder. “I suppose I grew up. I do not believe I have changed. I am the way I have always been, Laird Gunn.”

  “Grey,” he said quietly.

  “Mayhap she has changed,” Cait said with a laugh. “She used to wake up crying in the middle of the night though. She called out a name, but I never understood. I do think she spoke in Gaelic.”

  Bree glanced at Cait and felt mortified. “Cait, please they don’t want to hear about that.”

  “Aye, we do,” Duff said.

  “Do you speak Gaelic, Bree?”

  She looked at Laird Gunn. “Nay, I do not know how to speak the language. Mayhap I did when I was young, but I must have forgotten it.”

  “She always mumbled in her sleep and she’d always awake crying. I tried to get her to tell me of her life before … but she wouldn’t speak of it. As she grew older, she became reserved as she is now. I think it’s because she was afeared of being sent away—”

  “Cait, please, you make me sound like a cow. I am not so reserved. I just think before I speak unlike some people.” She gave a hard look at her maid.

  “Let’s get rest. Morning will come sooner than we want.” Laird Gunn lay on his back next to her.

  Bree used an extra plaid to cover herself for modesty’s sake. The night was chillier than the previous nights, but still warm enough to be comfortable. She assumed it was because they’d traveled much higher in elevation. The mountains rose with each passing hour on their ride this day, and she was sure there couldn’t be a hillier climate.

  Forcing herself to close her eyes, she thought about what Cait said. Those times when she’d awakened, she remembered being heartbroken and lonely as if she lost the only person who cared for her. Forgotten memories were too hard to bear and were best left behind her.

  Bree didn’t want to recall that sadness and so she willed herself to sleep. Her mind finally ceased the thoughts and she drifted off.

  She was shaken awake and cried out, sitting upright. It was still dark and looked to be the middle of the night. For a moment or two she wasn’t sure where she was until she heard Laird Gunn’s voice.

  “You were dreaming, lass.”

  Lying on her side, she faced him. “I am sorry, Laird Gunn.”

  “Grey, call me Grey.”

  She whispered so as not to wake the others. “Did I wake you?”

  “Nay, I wasn’t sleeping.” He pulled her close to him, hugging her body next to his.

  “Oh, that feels good. You are so warm. I am cold.” Bree tried not to let her teeth clank, but honest to God—a chill seemed to settle inside her. Her hands set against his hard chest and if she wasn’t so cold, she would have blushed being so close to him and in such an intimate position.

  “You were weeping.” He wiped a tear from her cheek.

  “I never remember why. Sometimes I think I can recall those I left behind and then, they are gone. It is frustrating.”

  His hand moved over her back, comforting and calming. Bree wouldn’t go back to sleep, not with him lying so close with his hands gliding along her spine, sending tingling sensations through her body. “I cannot fall back to sleep. Tell me about my past.”

  Grey whispered, “Your name is Albrey Mackay, the daughter of the laird of your clan, Ian. Your mother loved ye. Her name is Maud. She loved her daughter and was so proud that you caused hell. I heard her once say your father deserved such a daughter. She blamed him for spoiling you, but everyone did. Your mother taught you to cook at a very early age. Your father was an honorable man, Albrey, ah Bree. I respected him. He wanted peace and made a pact with my clan. When you went missing all the Mackays and Gunns mourned you.”

  “I thought they didn’t want me.”

  “Oh, lass, they certainly did want ye. We searched for you for a long time.” He touched her face with the tips of his fingers, slowly moving them over her cheek.

  “Why did I go missing? Why did MacHeth take me from my family?”

  “I don’t know. I was hoping you could tell me that. When I find out, I’ll enact my revenge. I always suspected the MacHeth, but there was no proof.”

  “My father, Baron Thomas, made an agreement with Laird MacHeth. He’s the one who brought me to them. I wouldn’t speak a falsehood, Grey. Cait overheard my lord and lady speaking of it the day my father told me of the betrothal. Baron Thomas said he would bear arms and ready for the war. I do not know more than that.”

  “Are you certain, Bree?”

  “Aye, I am positive. My lord knew they would return for me and he had agreed to help them when they did. I heard him say he would send word to King John. Mayhap my lord will help to unseat your king. He would be rewarded for such by our king, wouldn’t he? I can only suspect he would want King John’s favor by attempting such a thing.”

  “If the baron is intent on aiding in the war against our king it will only cause his death. Many clans are allied to fight for Alexander. I will have to think on this matter.”

  “I don’t understand why MacHeth would come to claim me when he was ready to war. I have nothing to do with the political matters of your country or mine.”

  Grey squeezed her arm in a soothing gesture. “On the day you went missing you told me you feared the MacHeth. I should have forced you tell your father then. You said you overheard a secret and that he forbade you to tell anyone. Do you remember?”

  “Nay, I do not. B
ut I was so little, was I not?”

  “Aye, but you were the smartest lass. You spoke well and understood a great deal. I overheard our mothers talking and your ma told mine that she began speaking to you even when you couldn’t speak. Apparently you spoke at an early age.”

  Bree couldn’t stop weeping. She had been loved. Silently thanking him, she hugged him for telling her of them. “I thought I had done something wrong and they banished me. I am sorry I don’t know them, they sound like loving people.”

  “They loved you more than life. Only one other loved you more than they did.”

  “Who was that?”

  Grey squeezed her again. “Nay, we need to get rest. Close your eyes and sleep, lass.”

  But Bree couldn’t sleep. All his words kept replaying in her head. If she had been so loved then why would someone abduct her? Why would the MacHeth laird take her to Baron Thomas? It didn’t make sense. All the years she’d been gone, all the pain she felt when she tried to remember her past … Once again, she drifted off to sleep.

  Her eyes shot open when she felt someone’s arm touch her breast. Bree realized Grey’s chest was to her back and he held her firmly in place with his forearm. She couldn’t move an inch, so pressed he was against her. What struck her was that his hand was positioned just below her breast and an unusual feeling came. Her face had to be bright with embarrassment.

  She moaned at her aching muscles. “Grey, wake up.” Gripping his arm, she pulled at it to get him to awaken.

  He tightened his hold on her, forcing her breast to shift with his arm. “God is surely testing me this morn.” His words whispered by her ear tickled.

  “Please, let go of me.” Bree hurried to her feet when he released her. She kept her eyes on the tree in front of her. Even though she was young, she wasn’t that naive and knew what Grey meant. Alone now, she calmed her racing heart and tried to make herself presentable. She wanted to give him a few minutes privacy as well and hopefully when she returned she’d be able to face him without humiliation.

  “Bree, we must be off.”

  She heard Grey’s call and when she returned to the clearing, she found them all ready to leave. Fortunately, she didn’t have to look at Grey’s eyes. He’d know how mortified she was, waking so close to him, having his body pressing so intimately against hers. The most awkward fact was that she felt parts of him she wasn’t wont to admit.

  “You’re going to make this hard, Bree. You make me want you fiercely.”

  “I am not doing it on purpose, Grey. You should not have lain with me. I am shamed by my behavior.”

  Grey turned her face. “Never be shamed, sweetheart. I’m not. One day you will laugh at this conversation. Aye, when we’re old and—”

  “I am not laughing, Grey, this is not a humorous situation at all.” Her face burned with brightness.

  “Nay, it isn’t. You are tempting me.”

  Why he sounded so angry was beyond her. “I did not mean to tempt you.”

  “You’re doing a whole lot more than that, lass,” he said, kicking his horse into action.

  CHAPTER NINE

  By early morning the sun peeked just above the rise of the trees. Bree was overheated wearing traveling garments and wished she could remove something. The air grew tepid earlier than it had the day before. She ignored her body’s aches and pains, but couldn’t ignore the stickiness she felt. Grey moved back on the horse, giving her a few inches of space, but even that didn’t help. She was sure he did it because he was as hot as she was.

  They traveled slowly, and according to Duff would have arrived at the Gunn keep the day before had she and Cait not slowed them. Bree couldn’t imagine how they traveled if they thought they had ridden slow. If anything, she was glad they were forced to ride at a leisurely pace consider the heat but she couldn’t wait to arrive, mainly to be off the horse.

  As she looked ahead, she saw a large wall encasing a slope and within it atop the highest spot stood a large structure. All sorts of plant life surrounded the insets along the wall, beautiful shrubs and flowers made it appear less ominous. She had to remind herself that his home was a warrior’s keep. Inside couldn’t look as grand, and so she tried not to let her expectations get the better of her. Surely, his home wasn’t as homey and appealing on the inside as was the outside. Grey had no wife to attend such matters. Yet for all she knew, he could have a mother or female relatives who took care of such matters.

  Once they crossed the portcullis and gatehouse, a plain stoned entrance, Grey continued on to the stables where he helped her down and gave directions to James for the care of his horse. All around her were small cottages with thatched roofs. Each home had planted gardens and a banner with a raised fist holding a sword in a circle, on each door. There were words written on the banners, but she couldn’t understand what they said.

  “It is beautiful here and well taken care of, Grey. What does that say?” she pointed at one of the banners.

  “In peace and war, our clan’s motto, what we live by.”

  “Are you at peace or war now?” she couldn’t help asking.

  “War.”

  “Oh. I was afeared you were going to say that.” She didn’t mean to sound dejected, because she’d hoped they were at peace. “Which is your cottage?” Bree began walking toward the line of homes, hoping he didn’t live in the monstrosity at the top of the hill.

  “I live there,” he said, pointing to the large structure atop the slope.

  The wooden façade was foreboding. She swore there were buzzards circling the top spiral. Looking to the highest point, she did see a large bird of some sort there. “Oh, God. Where will I stay?”

  “With me.”

  “I was afeared you were going to say that.”

  He smiled, but it didn’t make her feel any better. “Bree, it’s not as bad as it looks. The weather has taken the color from the wood. It does look old, but it’s not that aged—mayhap twenty years or so. My da built it when he became laird. Inside is comfortable.”

  Duff helped Cait down and they began walking toward the fief. Her friend seemed amiable to being there and she grinned when Duff didn’t move away from Cait. Mayhap he was getting used to the idea that Cait wanted him. He wasn’t so gruff or surly when he looked at Cait now. There seemed to be an attraction between them.

  Bree was apprehensive as they approached the building and took the steep stone steps to the upper floor where massive doors led to the inside. Grey held the door for her, grinning as though he had a secret.

  She stepped inside and was standing in the great hall, a massive chamber where the laird entertained company. Bree was afraid to look, but when she did, she was pleasantly surprised.

  “You do not need my trunks, do you?”

  Grey watched her closely. “Nay, we do not need them. But if it pleases you to give them to me, I’ll gladly accept.”

  “Nay, a bargain is a bargain and so far you have kept your end. Your home is lovely and well furnished.” She couldn’t get over what she was seeing. “You must be wealthy to afford such luxury.”

  “Our clan takes to the sea and we often trade for what we need. We do well enough. I take it you expected something different?” He took her hand and led her farther into the room.

  Bree turned and everywhere she looked were banners sewn so beautifully. Some had their clan’s motto, other’s beautiful images of the sea. There were cushions, pillows, and even a tapestry or two. The stairs leading to the upper floors flanked an ornate oak banister, which was elegantly carved with scrolls and leaves. Her own father’s fief wasn’t as richly decorated. Compared to Grey’s home, her father’s fief was akin to a country home in the woods.

  Cait tapped her shoulder, but Bree couldn’t stop looking. The furniture was as elaborate, finely crafted and gleamed with a shine. A massive table with etched legs sat in the middle of the hall and above it was a crude iron-chained candleholder containing at least a dozen hefty candles. Situated around the room were seating
areas and light shown through the narrow window casements. Chairs had plush cushions and all were covered in the fabric of the Gunn plaid in dark rich colors of blue and green.

  “Bree, we should get settled.”

  “Oh, aye, we should.” Yet her feet wouldn’t move. She was content to look at the abode with silent reverence.

  Grey chuckled and took her hand, and led her to the table. There were at least sixteen chairs around the table, enough to fit more than a family.

  The Gunn guardsmen came inside as if they were happy to be home, each smiling. They weren’t as fearsome as they first presented, and now she wasn’t so fearful of them.

  “Milady’s trunks arrived late last night. We loaded the trunks in storage, laird, except for milady’s personal trunk with the herbs. Should we have it brought here?” Greer asked. “I thought she would want her herbs.”

  “Aye, take it to the kitchen. Bree will be staying here. Bree, this is Greer, he’s Kenneth’s brother, and my second in command and a good friend.” Grey turned and headed to the buttery across the room.

  “’Tis a pleasure to meet you, Greer.” She curtseyed to him.

  Greer smiled and was devilishly handsome. She quickly looked at Cait, but she only had eyes for Duff. He nodded to Duff and gave a glance to the other men before returning his gaze back to her.

  “Laird, she’s prettier than a field full of heather.”

  “I’d appreciate you not noticing, Greer,” Grey said, from across the room.

  “Is she cooking tonight?” James asked. “I’m starved.”

  Each of his men grinned, looking like a pack of hungry wolves, and she thought they might be trying to influence her when their smiles turned to pouting looks. Cooking brought happiness to her and she enjoyed making feasts, especially if her food brought pleasure to others.