Chapter 4

"Must be me presence making ye so happy." Tad raised his hands by an inch on Catreena's hips.

What the hell is he doing?

She thrust hard into his chest, forcing him to back away from her. He stumbled away, laughing in that deep rumbling tone of his.

"The thought of ye making me happy is an aberration," she muttered darkly. "I may have tae come with ye tae yer castle, but dinnae think I will go quietly."

"I never thought anything otherwise, little Cat," he whispered, winking at her as he walked around her, heading to the study door. "Nor would I have it any other way. Did ye think I wanted yer company fer ye tae be meek and mild? A little tip… very few men want that."

What the hell does he mean by that?

Then he was suddenly gone, disappearing into her brothers' study without knocking, for he was just that welcome in the castle. As the door closed between them, she cursed.

"What is wrong with me?" she muttered. It seemed she couldn't resist lashing out at Tad. To her own ears, she feared she sounded petulant, but what else was she supposed to do? Was she supposed to accept her brothers ordering her around like some sort of marionette, pulling on her strings to make her act as they wished?

Intent on storming off to pack, she turned, only to see that in her collision with Tad, her dress had shifted out of place. The fabric across one shoulder had slipped to the side and the edge of her stays could just be seen beneath the neckline of the gown.

Had he noticed?

Feeling her cheeks raging with a sudden burning heat, she hastened to adjust the gown, flicking the shoulder into place and moving the neckline. In that brief moment where she lingered outside of the door, she caught the conversation within.

"All is set," Tad said to her brothers. "We'll be ready tae leave within the hour. That's if ye have truly persuaded her tae come with me. Based on what I've just seen, she may run off intae the forest again."

"She'll go with ye," Evander said, his tone rather dark. "She will go, even if I have tae drag her back out of the forest tae make her go."

Catreena lost all interest in marching away. She turned to the door, her hands on her hips, as she considered bursting back into the study and throwing all her fury at Evander for thinking he could control her so.

"It's the only way we can be sure she is safe." Evander's sudden softening of tone took the wind out of her. She stared at the closed wood, hanging on every word.

"She'll hate us fer this," Dunn declared knowingly. "It's the fact we're telling her what tae dae that she will detest, as much as the fact we are making her go with ye."

"Aye, I ken," Tad answered.

Catreena smiled a little. Her twin knew her very well indeed.

"We are agreed though," Evander said, his words slow. "It is the only way." It took a few seconds to get an answer, but in time, both Tad and Dunn agreed.

"Ye will keep her safe, willnae ye?" Dunn asked, his voice rather quiet.

"Ye ken I will." Tad's voice had sudden strength to it. Briefly, she was reminded of the flashing anger she had seen in his face the night before in the forest, when he was outraged that she was there alone. "I willnae let any harm come tae her."

Without thinking, she raised a hand toward the door. She trailed her fingers down the wooden frame, not thinking of why she did it, but only thinking of the warm sensation stirring in her gut at Tad's words.

"Speaking of which…" Evander began, then paused, his footsteps echoing across the room. She had this impression that he was walking to Tad. "I love ye like a braither, Tad, but if ye so much as lay a hand on Catreena as ye would any other woman in this world –"

"I would never dae that. Ever," Tad cut in fast.

Catreena's hand dropped away from the door as if her fingers had been scolded.

"Ye think I would?" Tad said, his voice turning quiet. "Ye think I would treat her like that?"

"Come off it," Dunn said with a more jovial tone. "Tad, ye have chased every woman ye have ever seen in a gown. Ye could knock me down with a feather if ye declared ye had never once considered Catreena in such a light."

"This is different." His voice grew harsh again. "I have kenned her ever since she was born, watched her grow up. She is like a sister tae me. Dinnae look at me like that, Evander."

"Oh, I'll look at ye any way I like."

"I ken what ye are thinking. Ye think that us being alone together may change things. It willnae." The harsh voice made Catreena take a step back from the closed door. "I wouldnae touch her, ever, because nae only would it be a betrayal tae her, it would be a betrayal tae all of ye."

"Hmm." Dunn's rather enigmatic noise made the room fall quiet.

In that stillness, Catreena backed away from the room a little further. The tone of disgust and outrage that Tad was displaying now made her gut curdle. She felt quite nauseous and raised her hands over her stomach, clamping her fingers together.

Why daes it hurt? Why dae his words even affect me?

"Ye are protective of her," Dunn said quietly after a minute of stillness. "We have seen that, only last night."

"As any family member would protect another." Tad's voice was like a low-simmering fire in its intent now. "I'd sooner cut off me own hand than seduce yer sister."

"Bear that in mind," Evander added coolly. "If ye dae touch her at any point, I'll cut off that hand meself."

"Understood," Tad said quickly. "I would never look at little Catreena in that light. I've watched her grow up, and besides, she's almost young enough tae be me daughter."

Enough.

Catreena backed away from the door so fast that she was in danger of tripping on the flagstone floor. She turned and fled up the hallways as fast as she could, startled by the fresh anger welling up within her, though this rage had little to do with her orders to go with Tad to his castle now. It had everything to do with the fact that he would never consider her in such a way.

She was too young, a mere child compared to him, too immature by half.

I should be glad, relieved…

Yet the hotness of feeling did not dispel. She ran all the way to her chamber, where she found her maid already packing her bag for her. In the room was also Sophia, putting together a small bag with vials of herbs and medicines to take with her.

"Ah, they told ye then," Sophia said with a pained expression, brushing back her curly auburn hair as she glimpsed Catreena's face. "I told yer braithers ye'd be furious."

"Ye all kenned I would be." Catreena marched forward, intent on helping them pack, though she did not reveal the fact that her feelings had just as much to do with Tad's words as it had her brother's actions.

"All will be well," Sophia murmured soothingly, laying her hand over Catreena's after some minutes of packing. "Ye will be safer there, even if it isnae a pleasant place tae be."

"I ken." Catreena managed to surprise herself with the words. She understood why her brothers were insisting upon it. When so little was known about what Cillian Grant intended to do and why his soldiers kept breaking into their land, removing her from the situation was a sound and reasoned decision.

It was just that her heart did not understand reason at all just then.

"I'll be fine." She brushed back the loose locks of her blonde hair and flashed a smile that she hoped showed more confidence than she felt. "I daresay despite me dislike for Laird Tad MacBean, I shall live tae tell the tale."

Tad's eyes looked warily at the dark clouds ahead. Between the mountains that rose and fell before him like crests of a rapid ocean, there were billowing masses, some rolling in their direction, others already blurred, clearly pouring their tears upon the ground.

It is nae good. The storm is coming.

As if in answer to his thoughts, lightning flashed in the distance, basking one mountain in striking one light, then fading. Thunder rumbled so much in its aftermath that every horse in his party halted.

Tad looked around at the horses now snorting in nervousness. The three soldiers that were accompanying him all looked at the storm too. Perched behind him on a horse, flanked by two of the soldiers, Catreena's attention was in quite another place. She was the only one attempting to soothe her horse. She ran her fingers down the thick mane of hair and spoke soft words to the mare. At once, her horse stopped snorting, unlike the others who all grew restless. One soldier gripped the reins tight to halt the horse from acting out, as another horse dug his hooves into the ground, clearly reluctant to carry on any further in their journey.

"How far away are we?" Catreena asked, clearly reading his thoughts though she did not look at him as she spoke. For some reason, it irked him. His stomach knotted tight as he looked at her, waiting for her to lift her gaze.

Her blond hair was tucked into its usual updo, with just two loose locks framing those soft cheeks. She had a warm fur hooked loosely over her head and around her shoulders, to ward off the chill of the air. The fact the fur was anchored to her waist by a belt that accented her curves wasn't helping matters. He dragged his gaze away from her waist.

"Too far," he admitted reluctantly. "Had it been a fair May day, an hour or two's ride at most…" He trailed off as more lightning flashed in the distance and a second bout of thunder rumbled. The horses were even more restless this time in response. Tad's steed threatened to buck, and he had to tighten his hold on the reins to keep him in check. As one of the other soldiers broke their line because of his horse acting up, Tad saw that again, Catreena was the only one able to manage her horse.

She whispered something soft to the mare, and Tad felt a stirring in his gut. He couldn't help wondering what it would be like to hear Catreena whisper soft things to him for a change, instead of the fury she always threw his way.

"The path will be too boggy tae pass quickly," one of the soldiers spoke up.

"Aye, ye are right." Tad knew it well. The fastest road between Catreena's clan and his own would be half underwater by now because of this heavy rain. The prospect of taking a second route in this storm was no fine thing either. It would be a long and hard slog. They would also be vulnerable out on that open road.

He glanced back at Catreena. He couldn't risk taking her to a road where they would be so open to an ambush.

"We'll have tae stop for the night."

"What?" Catreena spluttered, looking up at last, those blue eyes wide. "We cannae stop. Ye expect us tae camp out here in this storm?"

There was a third flash of light, and the rain reached them at last. The clouds which had been inching ever closer to their position were now firmly overhead. Rain poured down, making the horses' behavior even worse than before.

"Funnily enough, little Cat, I am nae so great a fool." Tad turned his horse around with some difficulty. "We'll go intae a village nearby. They have an inn where I have stayed before.

"But –"

"It isnae open for discussion, Catreena."

"Oh, aye, I see how it is." She flicked the reins of her horse and hurried to catch up with him, her cheeks now flushing red as the rainwater ran off her furs and across her face. "Ye see yerself in the place of me braithers now, dae ye? Ye intend tae give me orders as well?"

Tad didn't know how to answer. He just looked at her instead, watching as she actually reared back a little in response to that look.

"I am nae yer braither," he said after a few seconds of riding in silence. "But I willnae let any harm come tae ye, and that means, resting fer the night."

"That means treating me like a child, doesnae it?" she countered back, raising her eyebrows.

Was that what I was daeing?

She urged the horse on again and suddenly shot down the hill path toward the village. Angered, he raced to catch up with her. Even his soldiers had a hard time keeping pace. When they reached the village, Catreena slowed her pace, allowing him to draw level. Their horses fell into step as they looked about the roads. Great puddles were running between the houses like a bubbling river, a sign of what worse effects were yet to come from the storm. People shot inside, disappearing behind doors, eager to escape the rain.

At the end of the road, a wooden sign swung in the strong breeze outside of an old inn. The Black Wolf, with a painted wolf's face on the sign, didn't look the most inviting of establishments, but it would have to do for tonight.

"I'll tie up the horses," Tad began, turning to Catreena and offering his hand to take the reins as she stepped down from the horse.

"That will take too long. We'll be quicker if I dae it meself." She rounded the building fast, heading to the stable. Tad trailed after her, the soldiers behind him. By the time he had finished tacking up his own horse, she was long done. Again, her horse looked the most comforted, the mare's nose turned toward Catreena as she softly drew her hand down the horse's neck.

Tad stared at those trailing fingers longer than he should have done. He was thinking about those fingers trailing elsewhere, places they should not be.

"Ye're dawdling," Catreena called, the first to leave the stable.

Tad exchanged a humored looked with his soldiers. They all tittered then followed her out of the stable, back up to the inn.

They stepped in through the door, a sudden heat greeting them with a warm yellow light. Three fires had been lit in one room and each table shone in the light of a candle. Drunken faces turned to look curiously at them. When more than one set of hungry eyes lingered on Catreena, Tad's hand curled around his belt.

That simple action was enough to make most look away.

One man was not so dissuaded though. As Tad turned to the innkeeper, ready to talk and discuss a room for the night, the man lumbered up to Catreena's side.

"Nay thank ye," she said before the man could even part his lips to speak. She turned her head away. Dismissed, the man retreated across the bar again.

Tad didn't speak for a minute as the innkeeper mumbled something to him. He was distracted, thinking only of how grown-up Catreena appeared. In one easy movement, she had dismissed a man's interest.

She is nay longer the girl I kenned.

He had a sudden flash in his mind of a much younger Catreena. He remembered watching her running and hiding from her brothers in the grounds of the Mackintosh estate. He saw her wild blonde hair as she tried feebly to hide behind a bush. He had laughed at her that day, young, childish, na?ve.

Then the image disappeared in a flash, and he was staring at the version of Catreena before him. He saw those blue eyes that were so often fierce. He also saw the way she held her head high, commanding attention from many onlookers in this inn, yet unbothered by it.

When did she become so firmly a woman rather that a girl?

"Me laird?" the innkeeper must have been trying to get his attention, for he said the term a little strongly. Tad turned back around to look the innkeeper in the eye.

"I'm sorry, Tom, me mind wandered. What were ye saying?" Tad had stayed at this inn a few times on the journey between his own clan and the Mackintoshes. Tom had been a good innkeeper each time, fair minded, and understanding that though Tad was a laird, he did not need everyone in the inn to know about it. Tom had always kept the secret.

"I was saying that because of the storm…" Tom paused, looking uneasy as he squirmed, his feet shuffling on the floor, "we are struggling with rooms."

"Ye dinnae have a room fer the night?" Tad asked, stunned. His mind was already racing with ideas of what they would do next. He could just imaging Catreena's fury if he suggested camping under a canopy of trees instead.

"Well, if yer soldiers are willing tae sleep in the stables, that would be fine," Tom said with some unease, his eyes trailing on the weapons at the soldiers' belt. "That would leave one room for ye and the young lady tae share." He nodded at Catreena.

Tad smiled a little. It was not the first time Tad had brought a lady to this inn, and as it had always been before, Tom had presumed he had come to bed the lass for the night.

"Ye wish us tae share?" Catreena asked with sudden wildness. Tad smiled at her expression. Her cheeks were already red with rage as she folded her arms across her fur-clad chest. "I'd rather share with a rat."

"Well, it looks like we have come tae an agreement," Tad said, smiling even wider. "Ye have called me a rat before, so I'll dae fer yer bedmate fer the night."

Her lips fell open in outrage.