Highland Defender Read online

  Since leaving that life he was no longer a part of.

  Bane’s breath hung in the air in foggy puffs as he left his cottage and made his way over to the stable. A leggy black gelding needed his attention, a magnificent horse that belonged to Laird Currie but was never ridden. The horse was quite excitable and frisky, and Bane was planning on taking the animal out himself to give him some exercise. He was an excellent horseman, or at least he had been in his past. He was nearly to the stable when he caught sight of someone moving into the stable yard.

  It was Lucia.

  She was far earlier than expected but he didn’t care. He couldn’t keep the grin from his face as he changed course and headed in her direction.

  “Good morn tae ye, m’lady,” he said. “How may I assist ye today?”

  Lucia smiled, biting her lip in a gesture that was both sweet and bashful. “Lady Currie wants tae go intae Edinburgh today,” she said. “Today is market day.”

  Bane looked up at the sky, noting the position of the sun. “Isna it a little late tae go tae market?”

  Lucia shrugged. “Not for her,” she said. “She stays up most of the night and doesna rise until noon.”

  “I know,” Bane said. “I am here when the carriage comes in. It has come in nearly at dawn every morning since I’ve been here. Where do they go, anyway?”

  “They?”

  “Laird and Lady Currie.”

  Lucia shook her head. “Laird Currie doesna go with her.”

  Bane’s eyebrows lifted. “He lets his wife go out alone at night?”

  “It’s not as if he has any say over it. She simply…goes.”

  “Where?”

  “Angus hasna told ye?”

  “Told me what?”

  Lucia looked around to see who might be near to overhear her. Deeming it safe, she answered. “Lady Currie seeks entertainment at the Ludus Caledonia,” she said quietly. “Have ye heard of it?”

  Bane’s brow furrowed in thought. “Is that the place where men fight?”

  Lucia nodded. “Aye,” she said. “It’s a secretive place in the hills south of Edinburgh. Lady Currie has been going there since I came tae Meadowbank, and I’ve been tae the Cal more times than I can recall.”

  “Ye’ve gone?”

  “Lady Currie doesna like tae go alone,” Lucia said. “She takes me along with her and one or two of her other ladies.”

  “And she watches the fights?”

  Lucia sighed faintly. “Remember I told ye that if she bore a son, it wouldna be the laird’s?”

  “Aye.”

  “That is because she finds company with anyone else but him, and particularly at the Ludus Caledonia.” She watched surprise spread across Bane’s face. “Lady Currie is a rich woman who can pay for the company of any man she likes. She pays a good deal of money for the company of the winners of the fights at the Cal.”

  Bane frowned. “It sounds like a brothel.”

  “Nay,” Lucia assured him quickly. “It’s not that, but the Cal is a place of many functions. Visitors gamble on the fights and sometimes the winners are offered positions with armies. I’ve seen men in the lists bid for their services. They also teach men tae fight, and I’ve heard the winners can make a lot of money. But there are women who go there, too, and they’re not allowed tae gamble. But they are allowed tae watch and pay for the company of the winners. Lady Currie isna the only one.”

  He eyed her. “And she makes ye go with her?”

  “Aye.”

  He didn’t say anything for a moment. He simply looked at her as thoughts rolled around his head. That was clear from the way his eyes were glimmering; there was a good deal going on behind them.

  “Does she make ye…” He paused before continuing. “Do ye find company with them, too?”

  Lucia’s mouth opened in outrage. Suddenly, she was pushing past him into the stable, and Bane charged after her. She had barely made it into the dim, musty structure when he grabbed her by the arm, stopping her. Furious, Lucia yanked her arm from his grasp.

  “Dunna grab me,” she snapped. “And how dare ye ask such a question!”

  Bane put up both hands in a soothing gesture. “I’m sorry,” he said. “I just… I dunna know why I did.”

  Lucia wasn’t eased in the least. She jabbed a finger at him. “Ye know I’m not married, yet ye ask me if I keep…keep company with men like Lady Currie does? What kind of woman do ye think I am? I should slap the snot right out of ye!”

  “Go ahead and slap me if it’ll make ye feel better.”

  Whack!

  Lucia did just that. It wasn’t a hard slap, but it surprised Bane. He looked at her in astonishment even though he’d told her to do it.

  He was fairly certain he deserved it.

  “I dunna know why I should answer ye, but I will,” Lucia said. “Of course I dunna keep company with them. Lady Currie only wants me tae keep her company for the journey tae and from the Cal, and if she thought I was interested in the men there, she wouldna take me. She’s a jealous one, she is.”

  “She should be,” Bane said quietly, afraid she might slap him again if she didn’t like what he said. “Yer beauty surely outshines hers.”

  “How do ye know if ye havena even see her?”

  “I dunna have tae see her tae know ye’re the most beautiful woman I’ve ever had the privilege tae look upon.”

  That gentle flattery cooled Lucia’s anger rapidly, like blowing out a candle. Her eyes, so recently filled with fury, now looked upon him in astonishment. Astonishment turned to pleasure, but it was tempered with doubt.

  “Ye say that because I gave ye a place tae stay,” she said quietly. “Ye dunna have tae flatter me, Bane. I helped ye because ye needed it, not because I wanted ye tae praise me.”

  They were standing near a stall, a half wall that she was backed up against. Bane took a step in her direction, moving closer to her.

  “Is that what ye think?” he asked softly. “That I’m flattering ye because ye helped me?”

  The fact that he was moving closer didn’t escape her. “I dunna mind,” she said, taking a discreet step back for every bold step he took forward. “I dunna hear much flattery. It was nice.”

  “Nice?” he repeated. By this time, she’d backed up into the wall of the stall and he was so close he could feel the heat from her body. “It wasna simply meant tae be nice, my angel. It was the truth.”

  Oh, but there was a storm churning inside of Lucia, and the lightning she’d come to associate with Bane was flying in all directions. His close proximity had started a firestorm, and she was struggling to stay on an even keel.

  Gazing up at him, she could feel his hot breath in her face as his right arm went up, casually bracing himself against the support beam of the stall over her head as he looked down upon her. The closer he loomed, the more the lightning sparked.

  “I…I dunna hear it often.”

  “From the men around here?”

  “Never from them.”

  “Then they’re fools.”

  “Or mayhap they know their place.”

  A grin spread across his lips. “I’ve never been accused of knowing my place,” he said huskily. “Even if I did, in yer case, I’d ignore it.”

  God, he was so close. Lucia was having difficulty breathing and she turned her head, looking away from him because she was thrilled and intimidated at the same time. Looking at him made her feel as if she were losing control of herself. She could see him in her periphery as he leaned in, taking a long, deep smell of her hair.

  It was enough to turn her bones to jelly.

  “Bane…” she said breathlessly.

  “Shush,” he murmured. “Let me smell ye. I want tae know what an angel smells like.”

  It wasn’t just her hair he was smelling, but her skin. He sn
iffed her neck, moving to her shoulder and smelling that as well. All the while, he didn’t touch her. He didn’t make a move to make contact. But his face, his nose, was close enough that Lucia could feel him brushing against her. His heated breath spilled over her skin, blowing against her like the bellows of a smithy’s forge.

  It was intoxicating.

  “What does an angel smell like?” she managed to ask.

  He moved so his face was next to hers. He was looking at her profile at close range as she looked away.

  “Beauty,” he muttered. “Strength. Honor. It smells like everything a man needs in life.”

  She sighed in utter delight as his words filled her ears. When his lips gently kissed her cheek, her jelly bones gave way and she slumped back against the wall. Bane swiftly moved forward, slipping his arms beneath hers and bracing her against the stall so she wouldn’t fall. As she turned to him, opening her mouth to speak, his mouth slanted over hers in a deliciously tender kiss.

  The lightning exploded.

  Lucia could hear little gasps as he kissed her, hardly aware they were her own. For all of Bane’s size and strength, his kisses were so very gentle, like the touch of a bird’s wings, something so delightful yet something that filled her with awe and wonder. She’d never been kissed before.

  Not even close.

  It was as if the sun suddenly burst out from behind the clouds.

  Her arms went around his neck, holding him firmly against her as she responded to his heated kiss. Enfolded in his embrace, she was vastly aware of his body pressed against hers, the heat from his big frame filling her with a comfort she’d never known before. She could hardly breathe, but she didn’t care. She welcomed the giddiness. He was overwhelming her with the virile masculinity that had been buried beneath that street filth.

  His scent filled her nostrils, too.

  Glorious.

  And then it was abruptly over.

  Someone opened the barn door and Bane released her so quickly that she stumbled back against the wall of the stall. He moved with the speed of a cat, now standing on the other side of the stall with a horse brush in his hand as Angus shuffled into the barn, mumbling to himself.

  Realizing the old man hadn’t seen them in their clandestine embrace, Lucia simply went about her business, pretending to check on Lady Currie’s white palfrey before speaking to Bane, who was bent over a horse that he’d already tended earlier in the morning and trying to make it look as if he were actually working.

  “M’lady will want her carriage again tonight,” Lucia said to him before turning to Angus, who was over near the tack, still muttering to himself. “Did ye hear me, Angus? We’ll need the carriage again tonight.”

  Angus simply waved at her, unimpressed with the usual request. Passing a lingering glance at Bane, Lucia slipped from the stable, heading out into the stable yard. But thoughts of Bane were heavy on her mind as she passed through a shelter where some of the hay was kept. It was no more than a roof held up by four posts and as she passed through it on her way toward the manse, someone grabbed her from behind and pulled her behind a pile of hay.

  It was Bane.

  His mouth was on hers again, his big arms around her. Lucia was much more adept in responding the second time around as a thrill swept through her. Her arms wound their way around his neck as they fell back into the hay, lips fused. The hay made a convenient hiding place, a nice little cave to shield them from the world in these precious moments of discovery.

  But that didn’t mean they would not be seen.

  “Bane,” she said even as he kissed her. “We must be…careful. Someone might see us and it’ll get back tae m’lady.”

  She was starting to sit up, fearful they might be spotted, but he pulled her back down onto the hay, his hand on her face, thumb caressing her cheek.

  “Not tae worry,” he said. “Angus is still inside the stable and no one can see us here. Unless ye dunna want me tae kiss ye anymore. I’m presuming a great deal that ye’re enjoying it as much as I am.”

  His hand against her face was tender, like nothing she’d ever experienced. “No one has ever wanted tae kiss me before,” she whispered.

  “Lucky me.”

  She laughed softly, but quickly sobered. “Lady Currie doesna like her maids tae be associated with men. That’s what I meant when I said we must be careful.”

  He lifted an eyebrow. “Tynan’s mam is a maid.”

  “Aye, but her husband is dead.”

  Bane nodded in understanding. “Will she punish ye, then?”

  Lucia shrugged vaguely. “I dunna know,” she said. “I’ve never had an association with a man before, but I told ye that Lady Currie is the jealous kind. I dunna want tae end up in the kitchen scrubbing floors because I’ve upset her.”

  Bane thought on his response. Though he knew why Lucia lived at Meadowbank, thanks to Tynan, she had yet to tell him. He felt the overwhelming need to know everything about her because he’d never felt this way about anyone in his life. It was true that Lucia had saved him from the streets, so it was natural that he felt an obligation toward her. But what he felt at the moment went beyond obligation.

  She was quickly getting under his skin.

  “Why do ye serve her?” he asked. “Is it a family tradition?”

  He thought he was rather clever the way he had asked her and Lucia was none the wiser. “In a way,” she said hesitantly. “My da used tae serve Laird Currie before he married Lady Currie. He served him and his father for many years. When my da became ill, Laird Currie paid for the physic. My da died and couldna repay him, so I came tae work off the debt.”

  It was a simple, straightforward answer. “How long have ye been here?”

  “Nearly two years.”

  “Then the debt should almost be paid, I would think.”

  Lucia didn’t look too pleased. “Laird Currie told me two years,” she said. “But Lady Currie wants me tae remain with her beyond that, so Laird Currie told me once that being a servant is the best life I can hope for. He made it seem as if this is the best I’ll ever have in life, but I know it’s not true.”

  “What else will ye do if ye dunna serve here?”

  Her eyes took on a warm glow. “Bane, do ye not wish for something more in life? A home of yer own, a wife, mayhap children. I wish for those things, but I want more—I can make the most beautiful clothing ye’ve ever seen, given the proper fabric. I want tae make clothing for fine ladies and sell them for a good price.”

  He smiled faintly. “’Tis a noble goal,” he said. “Does Lady Currie know?”

  Lucia nodded unhappily. “She has me make her a new garment every week,” she said. “She doesna pay me for it—I work hard for nothing. I had hoped that would help pay off my father’s debt faster, but it makes Lady Currie want tae keep me with her forever.”

  “I can imagine so,” he said. “When I asked ye what ye did for her, ye told me almost anything. Ye never mentioned ye were her seamstress.”

  Lucia sighed heavily. “What does it matter?” she said. “She’ll not let me leave. I’ve made myself too valuable tae her.”

  He was looming over her, propped up on an elbow. She looked so unhappy that he reached out, gently stroking her cheek.

  “Ye’re very valuable,” he said softly. “So valuable that ye dunna belong here. Ye deserve tae be a seamstress for fine ladies and get paid for it, and have yer freedom, too. An angel with clipped wings canna fly.”

  She smiled at his insightful words. “I hope tae,” she said. “Someday.”

  “Would ye come with me if ye could?”

  Her smile faded. “Come with ye where?”

  He shifted so he was lying on the straw beside her, looking up at the roof of the shelter. “I’ll find a proper position,” he said. “I’ll earn money for the both of us, and ye can sew tae yer heart’s c
ontent.”

  She turned her head, looking at him curiously. “What are ye talking about, Bane?”

  He didn’t answer for a moment, pondering what he’d suggested. It had purely been on a whim, but even as he thought on it, nothing had ever seemed so right. He hadn’t known her very long, but that didn’t matter.

  His heart knew hers.

  He knew he didn’t want to be without her.

  “I want ye tae marry me,” he said quietly. “I know we havena known each other very long, but we’ve got the rest of our lives tae know one another. I dunna want tae stay at Meadowbank the rest of my life and neither do ye. Why not live our lives together?”

  Lucia watched him as he spoke, shocked by the proposal but also wildly flattered by it. “I’ve never had a man ask tae marry me,” she said, awe in her voice. “But…when I found ye, ye were living in the street. How can ye think tae support a wife?”

  “I told ye that I can do almost anything. I’ll find a job.”

  “Then why have ye not found a job before this?”

  “Because I had nothing tae live for until I met ye.”

  She sat up, looking at him with a great deal of confusion. “’Tis a heavy burden tae put on me, Bane Morgan,” she said. “When I met ye, ye had the smell of ale on ye. Why were ye living in the street with nothing else tae live for?”

  “Do ye want the truth?”

  “If ye’re proposing marriage, I think I deserve it.”

  “Are ye actually considering my proposal?”

  “That depends on what ye tell me.”

  She grinned. He grinned. But quickly, his smile faded. “I’ve not spoken of it since it happened,” he said. “’Tis…difficult.”

  Lucia could see that he was struggling. He was reverting back to that man she’d first met, the one with utter defeat in his eyes. She didn’t like that look on him, not when he’d come so far in so short a time.