CHAPTER FOURTEEN
A s she swam to consciousness, Paige felt more than she saw, or smelled. She was lying on something hard—harder than the mattress Ruben had for a bed. A bed she was sure was stuffed with rocks instead of straw.
But that hard surface—it began to shift. Something smelled like clean river water, lingering hints of smoke and something…male. Come to think of it, whatever she was lying on felt like him too, all warm muscle and slowly beating heart...
She peeled her eyes open and shifted her head away from the pale morning light, streaming in under the shuttered windows. The fire had burned low in the grate, but her vision was obscured by a hairy chest.
When she realized she was sprawled atop his muscular body, she went immobile. Sometime during the night, he must have moved and shifted to the other side, wrapped his free arm around her middle.
How she had found herself wrapped around him like a blanket, she did not know—but she wanted to move away instantly. The only thing stopping her was the iron-band of his arm around her middle.
It almost feels… possessive. So…proprietary. As if I mean somethin’ to him, somethin’ good, precious even. Nay the precious jewel me father calls me, but somethin’ different. Somethin’... alive.
From her limited vantage point his hair was tousled with sleep like a boy’s. The lines on his face were smoothed out and without the constant knot in his brows he’d never looked more handsome.
Paige dropped her head.
She could no longer hide from the truth. She was drawn to Ruben—a man who had done unspeakable wickedness. However, even in that evil, he still had the heart to sacrifice himself for one of his men.
What kind of man was he truly?
“The way ye’re starin’ at me lass, makes me think there is somethin’ else than questions on yer mind,” Ruben grumbled sleepily.
Her heart leaped into her throat. “I—I’m nae?—”
“Stop lyin’ to me, Paige,” his eyes opened and a lazy look, one she had never seen, or one she knew he did not show anyone, lingered in his gaze. “Matter of fact, stop lyin’ overall. Ye’re nae good at it.”
Indignant, she asked, “How do ye ken I am lyin’?”
Instead of replying to her, he swiftly flipped their positions and the moment her back hit the pillows, he loomed over her.
“Many ways, lass.” His dark blue eyes grew darker by the moment. “Yer voice hitches when ye lie. It raises in pitch too but most tellin’ of all, yer heart begins poundin’ like a drum. I felt that while ye were layin’ atop me.”
Her cheeks burned. “Nevertheless. That is nay me intent.”
He eyed her, “Nay logically, anyhow. Ye need to ken that most of the time, yer emotions and yer logic daenae see eye to eye.”
Paige frowned, “What do you mean?”
Ruben kissed her. He had no desire for a polite kiss nor was he seeking permission or approval.
He dove right in, stroking his tongue inside her mouth at the first touch of their lips, and deepened it when she responded.
His arms tightened around her, clamping, pulling her close to mold her body against his.
Paige met his kiss tentatively then eagerly and she felt that Ruben was pleased to see his desire was not one-sided. His lips were firm and hot upon her, and he nibbled on her bottom lip before sliding his tongue into her mouth again.
As early as it was, she tasted the lingering herbal draught on his breath, the almost tart taste of a berry. Paige groaned against his mouth as her hands shifted slowly upward, from his side to his back. The kiss became feverish.
His length stirred against her midsection. Paige clung to his tunic, tilting her face up to him.
Ruben took her face in his hands; he was breathless yet from their kiss. “I need to make ye mine in truth.”
She bit her lip. “Now?”
His gaze was steady, “Nae now. As much as ye respond to me, I believe I have about a dozen question to answer before I gain yer trust.” he pushed away from her and swung his legs over the bed’s edge.
“Wash up and meet back here,” he said. “There is a small room me faither and I use to speak in private at times. We’ll need to get yer maither there as well so we can talk.”
Paige sat and ruffled her tousled hair. “Why do I feel scared about what ye are about to tell me?”
He twisted and dropped a hand on her arm. “Ye shouldnae, but it’s about time ye learned the truth.”
Stepping into the small room with airy windows, Paige found Ruben standing at a window and staring out. He looked ... so grave, so alone. As if he carried the weight of the world upon his broad shoulders.
His father was sitting in a large chair, with pillows behind him and his cane by his side. Ruben’s man-at-arms, Galan, was standing guard in the corner silently.
“Lady Paige,” Niall said, “T’is good to see ye and ye too, Lady Daisy. I hope ye are settlin’ into to our home.”
Daisy brightened. “Yer home is wonderful, so warm and welcomin’.”
“That’s good to hear,” Niall said. “I hear a fair is comin’ to the village. It might be good for ye to enjoy yerself when the chances come about.”
Paige smiled, but it was tenuous. “I’ll consider that, thank ye.”
Ruben turned from the window and pulled out two chairs. “Ye should sit.”
As Daisy sat, Paige rested her hand on his shoulder. His shoulder was tense under his plain brown tunic. “Are ye all right?”
“Aye,” he said, nodded to a chair. “I called ye in here because I need to tell ye the truth of the war. I cannae have ye, the lady of the clan, thinkin’ we are brutes to start a war for nay reason. The war was started, lass, because yer father lost a wager and dinnae pay up graciously.”
“A wager—” Paige asked, her gaze moving from the older man to Ruben then to her mother. Staring at her mother, she asked. “Did ye ken about a wager, Maither?”
Daisy shook her head.
“Lies,” Paige said stubbornly. “I daenae believe ye.”
“It’s true, Paige,” Ruben said.
She notched her head up. “I daenae believe ye. What wager?”
“Half a year before the war, yer father, me and few more lairds were celebratin’ the summer festival and he was drinkin’,” Ruben said. “Yer father is nay strategist when he is sober, but when he is drunk, he is an easy mark, especially at cards.”
“Yer father made a wager, one he recanted, but one that was already written and agreed to,” Niall said, slipping a piece of parchment to them. “Forgive the handwritin’, men daenae write their best when they are drunk with whisky. Yer father’s signature is at the bottom.”
Tentatively, Paige reached for it and read, “Upon the honor of both men, Laird McKinnon and Laird MacPherson, a wager is set. The terms are for the northeast lands of the MacPherson clan, including the mineral mines, against a chest of gold from Laird McKinnon. Both parties agree to settle their debts to the winner upon the end of the last hand.”
Paige’s stomach twisted, “What…” her eyes dropped to the bottom of the page to see two signatures. “…Angus Bradley, Laird MacPherson, Ruben Miller, Laird McKinnon.”
“I won the hand,” Ruben said. “He dinnae want to give the lands he’d agreed to.
When he would nae heed to me orders, we’d tried to mediators first, and then we got the sheriffs involved in the matter and they warned him.
MacPherson sent the head of one of the sheriffs back to us and that is when we declared war. ”
Sickened, but still doubtful, Paige said. “Me father wouldnae do that.”
“I kenned ye would need the witnesses,” he said, then nodded to Galan.
Bowing, Galan left the room, but Paige was more concerned with the hastily scribbled noted before her. Could it be true? She knew her father’s handwriting, and that was it, plain before her face.
Still, she did not— could not stomach the thought that her father had lied to her.
Her eyes flickered up when two men came into the room behind Galan, but did not pay attention to anyone of them—until Ruben barked.
“Eli? What are ye doin’ here? I sent for the witnesses to the signin’ and ye were nae a part of that night.”
“With all due respect me laird,” this Eli said. “But I ken a lot more than that.”
Curious, Paige lifted her eyes—and her vision peppered with black. Her breath grew short and she grabbed at the arm of the chair where she sat on. When she finally managed to master her breath, she cried out, “Elijah!”
From the corner of her eye, she saw Ruben’s head snap to the man in the room. She lurched out of her chair, pain filling her voice, “I thought ye were dead!”
Coming to her side, Elijah took hold of both her arms and gently sat her back on the chair. Cold all over, Paige stared at him as if he were a specter from the grave.
Her voice cracked as she reached over to touch his face. “Ye’re---ye’re alive? H-how?”
“T’is a long story,” Elijah said calmly. “But that will come later. Ye need to listen to what Laird McKinnon has to tell ye.”
Ruben’s eyes were narrowed to Elijah. “And when we are done here, ye and I need to talk.”
“I will agree to that, me laird,” Elijah said, his eyes coasting over the witnesses. “But please me laird, let me talk with Lady Paige. She’ll take it from me best.”
Brows lowered, Ruben fixed his eyes on Elijah for a long, almost grating moment, then nodded curtly. “Go on but the rest of the men will stay.
Pulling up a chair, Elijah reached for Paige’s trembling hands and held them tight. “Listen to me, Paige. I will explain why I am alive later, but Laird McKinnon is right. Yer father did bet the land in a game of cards, I ken because I was there and saw it.”
Leaning on a wall, Ruben listened with one ear as he thought back to that night MacPherson had made the deal. The man had drunk enough to fill a wheelbarrow and to end up in one.
“That night, yer father was drunk, and the worst thing was, he wasnae heeding to common sense to stop,” Elijah said. “Yer father then went on to bet his lands against a thousand coins from Laird McKinnon.”
Ruben swallowed over his shock; the man had been there that night after all.
“Yer father insisted on betting the northeast lands and while he was cautioned, twice, he went along with it,” Elijah said. “But he chose to make the wager anyway. Yer father is an easy mark when he gets flustered. His eyes get big and have a feral look, like a beast that has been cornered.
“T’is nay wonder the man ruined himself at cards and then lied to ye to save face,” Elijah said. “He is a very foolish man that thinks he is three steps ahead of everyone but had nay tactic to connect each of them. For all he’s been doing, for all he’s lyin’, it’s only a way to trick ye.”
Paige pulled away and covered her face, trembling. She looked raw and vulnerable, as if her sensibilities were stripped away from her like rotten leaves falling from a dead plant.
“A—all this time,” she whispered. “All this time, he’s been lyin’ to me.”
Elijah made to hug her, but a curt shake of Ruben’s head stopped him. Sitting up, Paige’s voice was weak, “How are ye alive? Father told me ye were a casualty of the war.”
“Yer father kenned I was with him that night, so he had some men try to kill me to stop me from talkin’,” Elijah said. “I made sure to slip the noose, Paige, and made sure to make it look like I was dead. From there, I ran here, right in the very same territory yer father would never dare to look.”
She swallowed and looked to the two men. “That is what happened that night?”
“Aye, me lady,” one of the men nodded. “It’s just as yer cousin said.”
Standing, Paige looked between Ruben and Elijah. “I—I think I need to lie down. I cannae— I cannae—” she swayed and her knees buckled.
Elijah caught her as she collapsed but in the next moment Ruben made sure to hold onto her. Instantly, Elijah let go.
“I’ll take ye to yer room,” Ruben said. To Elijah, he said, “Ye, stay with me men. I need to speak with ye.”
Cradling her close, he carried her up the stairs, wondering if he needed to call a physician to attend to her. He did not like how frantic her eyes were fluttering. Instead of taking her to her room, he took her to his and gently sat her in the middle,
He perched on the edge of the bed and smoothed her hair from her eyes. “Lass, are ye all right?”
Paige pulled away from him and tried to turn away, but he stopped her. “Nay, Paige, look at me. Tell me if ye are all right?”
“Nay,” she said. “Nay, I am nae. I just had me life ripped away from me, Ruben. How in heaven’s name can I be all right?”
“Ye dinnae have yer life ripped away from ye,” Ruben said. “Ye had the lies ripped away from ye. I am sorry, lass, but ye needed to ken the man yer father was— is .”
“And Elijah…” her voice sounded far away. “All this time I thought he was dead, but he was here. Alive. I—I would have never guessed.”
He smoothed her hair from her eyes. “Get some rest, lass. I will talk with yer cousin for ye and I promise ye, he will be here when ye wake.”
She gazed up at him with wide, vulnerable eyes. “Ye promise?”
“Ye have me word.”