Page 19

W hen Mabel returned with the boys that evening, Campbell was waiting for them outside the castle doors. Even before she opened her mouth to tell him anything, he knew that something was wrong.

“Uncle Campbell!” they greeted, rushing to hug him.

He held them even though his eyes were on his wife.

Eventually, his gaze strayed to the excited boys. They looked like they had had a good day and wanted to discuss it, but he wanted to understand why she looked as though she had done something wrong.

There was something fragile about her, as if she were trying her best to hold herself together, and any slight disturbance would disrupt that tight restraint.

So he sent the boys to the kitchen, and they were only too happy to go when they heard that the cook had just made a new batch of fresh apple pies.

He waited till the boys were out of earshot before approaching her.

“What happened, lass?” he asked, tilting her face up so he could look into her eyes. His concern grew when he caught the shimmer of tears. “Did ye encounter any danger on yer way back? Did anything happen to yer sister or parents?”

“I am so sorry, Me Laird,” she choked out. “I am so sorry.”

She kept repeating those words until she was sobbing. Loud, heart-wrenching sounds that tugged at his heart.

He was at a loss for what to do other than to hold her while she cried her eyes out. He cradled her to his chest, whispering softly until she quieted.

When she calmed down enough, she told him how very close she had come to losing the boys today.

“It is all me fault,” she sniffed, hanging her head.

“I should never have taken them outside. At the very least, I should have taken a guard with me when we left, so someone would be watching them. Ye were right to suggest so. I believed foolishly that I could protect them, and I nearly lost them in the process. I would understand if ye dinnae want me anywhere close to them again.”

“Lass,” he murmured, waiting until she lifted swollen eyes to his.

“‘Tis nae any more yer fault than it is mine. We cannae afford to keep them indoors forever, nay matter our fear. Perhaps I might have sent a guard, but there is nay guarantee he wouldnae have been distracted as well. The best we can do is to learn from this event and tighten security. Dinnae blame yerself so much. As for keeping ye away from the lads, I would have better luck squeezing water out of stone. Ye are the only maither they have now; ye cannae abandon yer responsibilities simply because ye are afraid.”

“Thank ye,” she said, blinking back tears, visibly overwhelmed with relief that he was not blaming her.

He was brimming with anger that someone had tried to take the boys again, but he didn’t want her feeling upset, which would serve no great purpose for him or her.

He could imagine how frightened she must have been, for she loved them more than she loved herself. So he didn’t want to frighten her any further. Thankfully, the boys didn’t seem hurt or scared in any way.

“I think that is enough crying,” he said gently, offering her his arm to help her rise from the settee. “I believe ‘tis better that ye retire above stairs. ‘Tis true ye have been through a lot today.”

“Aye, Me Laird,” she croaked.

He watched her leave, and the second she had, he allowed the rage that had been simmering inside him to rise to the surface.

Campbell might have been gentle while he tended to a distraught Mabel, but inside, he was angry that anyone in the Highlands would attempt to abduct his nephews.

By morning, he set out early to investigate, having gotten the inn’s location from Mabel the previous night, asking if anyone had seen an unfamiliar face in town. He still hadn’t figured out who wanted the twins because if they wanted them dead, they could have just poisoned them.

The situation frustrated him to no end, but he didn’t want to give up until he had an answer.

By noon, he came to the conclusion that his quest was fruitless, since no one admitted to seeing a fair-haired woman walking with little boys.

Not that he could blame anyone. Not many people knew about the bairns, and they would have been more concerned with their business than watching a stranger who wasn’t one of their customers.

Whoever the woman was, she was quite good at subterfuge that no one could remember her. When a few more hours of searching the surrounding areas yielded no result, he headed back home, thinking hard about how to increase security around the towns and, in particular, the castle.

The ride home on horseback yielded no clear solutions either, because one problem with fighting wars for so long was that one made several enemies. Too many that in times like these, it was difficult to single out a single suspect.

He had kept the bairns’ existence secret well enough, but if one of his enemies had gotten wind and hoped to hold them for ransom, he would indeed have to drive his men harder in preparation for battle.

When he arrived, he went straight to the nursery to wish the boys goodnight, since he hadn’t seen them the whole day, and with the budding relationship between them, he didn’t want them ever to feel abandoned.

He had to pause for a while to admire the beautiful picture that greeted him when he opened the door to their chambers. Mabel must have read them stories because the boys were fast asleep, and she was on the floor, her head lying beside their bed, snoring softly.

The fact that she had not woken up at the sound of his footsteps told him that she was well and truly fast asleep. The dark circles around her eyes were a testament to her exhaustion.

Unwilling to disturb her, Campbell exited the room in search of his housekeeper.

“Missus Norah,” he called when he found her in the dining hall. “I have been wanting to ask ye something about me wife. She seems to tire easily in recent days. Do ye perhaps ken the cause?”

“Yer wife is a hard worker, Me Laird. I ken I push her, but I only want to see if she is strong enough to be with a stubborn oaf like ye, and she has indeed proven herself. Nae that I will tell her,” Missus Norah answered.

“But she is much too busy with her duties as lady of the clan and caring for the bairns. She has her hands verra full. I believe ye need to employ a governess to help her a little. The twins are full of energy at this age, and she can only do so much.”

Her words surprised him because whenever he had seen them at their lectures, she always had such a disapproving look on her face that one would believe she didn’t like his new wife. He had thought as much as well, which was why he had had to remind her of her place.

“Ye seem to care about the Lady, Missus Norah. I would have sworn ye disliked her greatly when ye first met her,” he drawled.

“I dinnae dislike her,” Missus Norah replied with a sniff of outrage. “I was just wary of her, as I am whenever we have a new addition to the household. We cannae be too careful, Me Laird.”

“If ye say so,” Campbell said, enjoying her discomfort. “I want me wife to rest for a few days, starting tomorrow. I dinnae care what ye have to do. Assign more maids to the nursery if ye need to.”

“Aye, Me Laird.” Missus Norah nodded.

Campbell returned to the boys’ chambers and, after tucking the covers tighter around them, he lifted Mabel into his arms, enjoying her slight weight. She stirred then, shifting in his arms so that her arms hung around his neck and her head rested on his shoulder.

That position allowed him an unhindered view of her face. It was beautiful in repose. Just as his eyes lingered on her expressive mouth, his lips tingled with the memory of the last kiss they had shared.

She stirred again, and he caught a whiff of her scent. Lavender and something else uniquely hers. He ached to bury his face in her neck, to find the source of that scent, but somehow he found the willpower to move, carrying her to her room and laying her on the bed.

She immediately made a sound of protest, unhappy to leave his arms. He understood her reluctance, but he had to leave, or else he would not be able to resist her charms.

“The dress… so tight,” she murmured in her sleep, squirming as she tried to loosen her dress.

Her movements were sluggish and ineffective because of her exhaustion. So he took pity on her and decided to help her loosen her dress, even though he knew he was only going to torture himself in the process.

With every layer he removed and every inch of skin exposed, Campbell could feel his cock harden, his self-control fraying. By the time he got to her shift, he was panting heavily, ready to bolt away and seek refuge in the cold waters of the loch.

But Mabel chose that moment to stretch and sigh in relief.

“Thank ye,” she said, blinking those forest-green eyes at him, and he was lost.

He did not know who moved first, but one moment he was sitting beside her, the next he was kissing her, devouring her mouth like a man starved.

She gasped in surprise, and he swooped in, plunging his tongue into her mouth. The kiss caught fire, and in no time, he had forgotten why he was not supposed to do exactly that.

She was his, and he was going to claim her. He had a feeling he would lose his mind, otherwise.