Page 21 of Intrigued By A Highlander (Highland Revenge Trilogy #2)

CHAPTER 21

“ I should have known it was a foolish idea,” Knox said, his eyes focused on four men well into their cups sitting around a campfire arguing. “How do you know the MacTavish brothers?”

“How do you know them?” Dru countered.

“I never met them, but the sorry lot is known to most. They lie. They’re thieves. And they’re drunks. Now, how do you know them?”

“I helped them out of a difficult situation and earned their friendship.”

“For whatever such friendship is worth,” Knox scoffed.

Dru ignored his dismissive remark and explained. “The MacTavish brothers might drink themselves senseless, but they never forget what they hear or see.”

“Now there’s a skill to be admired,” he said, thinking this was a waste of time.

“You wait here while I go talk with them,” Dru said, taking an eager step around a tree to head to the clearing where the men sat when she was suddenly yanked back.

“Not on your life are you going to talk to them alone,” Knox said irritated.

“They won’t hurt me,” Dru insisted, “and they will talk with me more freely without you around.”

“And you expect four drunks to reveal something that will help us?” He chortled at the ridiculous notion.

“Drunk or not, they know things and will share it with only a chosen few.”

“And, of course, you’re one of the chosen few,” he said, thinking now that Dru didn’t survive the Highlands, the Highlands survived her.

Dru stuck her chest out proudly. “That I am.”

Knox shook his head. “You’re not talking to them alone and they are going to learn right off that you are my wife. And just so you know, this is a colossal waste of time.”

“You want to wager on that?” she challenged.

“What have you got to wager, wife?” he asked, seeing a benefit in this that he hadn’t expected.

“I’d say the same thing you’re thinking, husband. You intend to make sure I don’t go with you when you talk with Lord Torrance. If we learn nothing from them that will help us, then you get your way. But if we learn something helpful then you take me along with you without protest.”

Confident the drunken lot would be of no help to them, he agreed, “You’ve got yourself a wager, wife.”

Dru licked her lips. “Victory tastes so sweet.”

Knox hesitated briefly when she stepped forward. The way her tongue glided seductively over her lips gave him thoughts he shouldn’t be having right now. And she sounded far too confident. He got annoyed with himself for agreeing so easily, thinking he may have just stepped into a trap.

“Dru!” one man shouted when he spotted her, then rubbed his nose as she got closer. “Good, Lord, you don’t stink anymore!”

“It’s been too long,” another called out.

“You saw me four moon cycles ago, Quim,” Dru reminded the oldest of the four brothers.

Quim stumbled to his feet, swaying as he raised his hand and tried to point directly at Knox without much luck. “Who’s he?”

“My husband… Knox.”

Knox felt a catch to his gut, hearing the pride in his wife’s voice.

The four cheered.

One of the brothers raised his tankard, “Good for you, Dru.”

“Thanks, Fyfe,” Dru said, seeing the youngest brother was the least drunk of the four of them, which wasn’t saying much.

Another swayed where he sat as he warned, “You better take care of our lass, or you’ll answer to us.”

“He treats me good, Olin,” Dru assured him.

“He better or he’ll have the four of us beating on him,” the last four of the brothers said.

“Not necessary, Atley. My husband does right by me and keeps me safe,” Dru assured again.

Quim almost toppled over as he lowered himself to the ground. “Join us. We’ll drink to your marriage.”

“Got those barrels of ale from the monks, did you?” Dru asked with a nod at two small barrels close to Quim.

“They were happy to part with it,” Fyfe said.

“Of course they were,” Dru said with a chuckle, knowing full well the brothers had stolen the barrels.

“How do you fellows know my wife?” Knox asked.

The four turned silent.

“We don’t speak about that,” Quim said.

“It’s no one’s business,” Olin added.

Fyfe nodded. “It’s enough we call her friend.”

“No one would believe it anyway,” Atley said.

Dru shook her head at her husband, warning him not to pursue it.

Knox let it rest, though he would ask her later.

“We can’t linger,” Dru said. “We need to be on our way shortly but tell me if you know who may have placed a bounty on Autumn’s head.”

Knox admired the way his wife approached people for information without revealing the information she was actually looking for.

Quim shook his head. “No one knows. Whoever it is has remained anonymous.”

“Not a word of speculation of who it might be?” Dru asked, knowing the brothers liked to linger in talk to see what they might learn before divulging anything, and they always divulged—at least to her they did.

“You would think so,” Fyfe said, “but no word of any kind has been heard.”

Dru chuckled. “And you haven’t started one to see where it might lead?

Quim laughed. “You know us too well, Dru.”

“I heard a rumor I thought you fellows might have started—that Phelan, a mercenary, caught Autumn.”

“Sax started that one,” Atley said. “He got mad when some woman he tried to have his way with one night complained to his wife. She made him pay for that discretion and Sax wanted revenge, so he made sure Phelan was pointed in the woman’s direction.”

“And since she was new to the clan, no one could say otherwise,” Olin said. “Even Sax’s wife believed it and blamed the woman for the incident with her husband. And with no one confirming who she is…” Olin shrugged. “She’s doomed.”

“What makes you think she’s not Autumn?” Knox asked.

“Everyone knows that Autumn’s dead. She died shortly after her mum and?—”

Quim rushed to disagree. “That’s a tall tale, Fyfe.”

“A true one,” Fyfe argued.

Olin chimed in. “She’s buried with her mum.”

“That’s nonsense,” Atley said, shaking his head. “Someone would have dug up the grave by now to see if that was true.”

“Maybe we should,” Quim said. “That information could bring good coin.”

“It’s not right to desecrate a grave,” Olin warned.

Quim laughed. “Afraid the occupant will protest.”

His other brothers laughed along with Quim.

Olin jumped to his feet. “Are you calling me a coward?”

“He’s not calling you a coward, Olin,” Dru said, trying to prevent the sparks that flew between the brothers from erupting into a fiery battle.

“I don’t have to call him a coward. His reluctance says it all,” Quim said with a smirk, clearly enjoying himself far too much.

Knox watched Dru step away from the pair and he stepped closer to her prepared to shield and whisk her away, sensing the brothers were about to explode.

“Dru…” he murmured, low enough that only she could hear, “we need to go.”

She nodded, familiar with how tempers could flare quickly and senselessly between the brothers and doing her best not to get caught up in it.

“No one’s a coward,” Fyfe said, lifting his hands in an attempt to calm the situation. “So, what if Olin wants to avoid?—”

No sooner had the words left his lips than Olin lunged.

Quim met him head-on with a grunt, and they both went down, knocking over one of the small barrels of ale that spilled into the fire with a hiss.

“Bloody arseholes, you spilled the ale,” Atley shouted and cursed at the pair as he tried to rescue what was left in the barrel.

He stumbled and fell into Fyfe who spun and swung before knowing who’d touched him. In the span of a breath, all four MacTavish brothers were tangled in a mess of limbs, curses, and grunts, fists flying without much aim and less sense.

Knox moved fast, tucking Dru behind him just as Quim’s foot kicked a spray of embers from the fire.

“Stay close,” Knox ordered, his voice calm but firm, his eyes scanning for the safest path out.

They began to edge away when Olin landed a punch on Quim that sent him flying right into Knox. Dru barely managed to avoid the fall, stumbling but keeping on her feet. Not so Knox. He and Quim went down.

Knox avoided a couple of wild punches from Quim before making it to his feet. But he had no choice to throw a fierce one himself when Quim stood and swung again. He missed. Knox didn’t, and Quim went down hard.

Dru shook her head. She knew what came next. The brothers could battle each other but they didn’t dare let anyone raise a hand to their brothers.

The fighting stopped suddenly.

Knox took a fighting stance, confident that he could finish off each of the three remaining drunken brothers.

His wife flew past him and out of his reach to stand between him and the three MacTavish brothers.

“Enough!” she shouted. “I won’t have you beating up on my husband. Quim swung at him first and got what he deserved.”

“Dru’s right. Quim swung first,” Atley said.

“You take another’s side against your brother?” Olin asked and swung.

Atley moved missing the punch and it hit Fyfe sending him reeling.

“Now look what you did,” Atley accused, and wildly thrown punches started all over again along with curses and accusations as Fyfe got to his feet and joined the melee.

Knox didn’t waste any time. He got hold of his wife, circling her waist with his arm as he guided her past the frenzied fighting, shifting her as they went to avoid flying limbs and boots,

They made it safely past the brothers and heard what sounded like a loud thud behind them.

It was followed by a sharp oath and someone yelling, “You’ve broken my nose!”

“I didn’t touch your nose, you idiot!” someone else shouted. “That was Atley!”

“I am Atley!”

Knox couldn’t help but laugh. “How did you ever befriend that bunch of idiots?”

“I saved them from drowning,” she said.

“All four?”

“Aye,” she said and hurried ahead to Star, tethered to a tree branch, calm and unbothered by the ruckus in the clearing.

Knox swung Dru up on the mare, then hoisted himself up, settling in behind her, his arms circling around her waist as Star shifted beneath them.

As Star ambled away and oaths and accusations faded, Dru looked at her husband and grinned. “I win that one.”

“You duped me,” he accused, then warned with a scowl, “the truth.”

She chuckled. “How could I have done that when I didn’t know what information they would have? I took a chance as I always do when talking with them. Sometimes they know something. Sometimes they don’t. But—they aren’t forgetful even when drunk. We were lucky this time. They had information that helped us. So, I am still the victor in this wager and since you are an honorable man, I have no doubt you will honor our wager.”

“You manipulated me.”

She chuckled again. “And you let me.” Her laughter vanished and she slowly turned her head away from him.

He felt her upset as she tensed in his arms, and he didn’t hesitate to take hold of her chin and gently turned her head to face him. He didn’t say anything. He simply focused on her eyes and waited.

“Manipulation was the only way I could survive on my own.”

“You are not on your own anymore. You have me.” He rested his brow to hers. “I will keep you safe always.”

She moved her brow off his and saw the resolve in his dark eyes. “I believe you, Knox, I truly do, but I am also aware of what life’s uncertainties can bring. We have a battle ahead of us, not one but two. Someone wants me dead, and another wants to use me to benefit himself. Neither of those are easily solved. And my heart hurts to think I could lose you. I would rather die than lose you.”

He squeezed her chin tightly. “You will not die, and you will not lose me. We will do whatever it takes to have a life together.”

Sadness filled her eyes along with her smile. “Nay, we won’t, for we could easily let the woman falsely accused of being Autumn go unchallenged and solve our problem. But neither of us can let another suffer in our stead.”

“Of course not, but it is obvious that neither you nor I accept defeat easily. That means that neither of us would accept losing the other. We fight,” he said with a sly smile. “And we?—”

“Win,” Dru finished, her smile returning.

“Together,” he said and kissed her gently. “So, manipulate, when necessary, but?—”

“Don’t manipulate you.” She smiled, then teased. “Where is the fun in that?”

“I’ll show you fun, wife,” he said and buried his face in her neck to playfully nibble along it.

She laughed. It tickled her and ignited her passion.

She forced herself to push him away but not too vigorously. “You must stop for I am already damp with desire for you.”

He lifted his head and nibbled at her lips. “I don’t want to.”

“We must be on our way,” she reminded.

“We can be quick,” he suggested.

“Aye, we can,” she agreed, her desire spiking.

Knox lifted his head, his eyes scanning the area, his head tilting, listening for sounds, hearing nothing out of the ordinary, he directed his mare off the worn path and deeper into the forest. He spotted a large boulder, trees close around it, though their branches had few leaves left upon them.

He halted his mare near it and hurried to dismount and to order Star to stay close.

Knox then rushed his wife around the boulder and ordered, “We must stay silent.”

She nodded, willing to do anything since she was so anxious to feel him inside her.

Knox lifted her quickly, braced her against the boulder, their hands shoving garments out of the way, his shaft ready to slip inside her—when Star snorted and stumped the ground.

They both froze.