Chapter 19

From the first time James saw Janet, he wanted her. Apart from her beauty, there was something about the strong young woman that appealed to him on a primitive level, and every time he saw her he lusted after her even more. He watched and waited, and finally this evening he saw his chance to corner her.

Janet was unlocking the door of the bedroom she shared with Rona, yawning. She did not know why she found life in the mansion so tiring, because it was nothing like the hard physical labor she had to do on the farm. All she did here was ride, learn to read, and play with the servants' children. It was not tedious but it felt very strange.

But at least here she had a soft feather bed and warm carpets under her feet, and best of all, she had space. Her and Rona's bedroom was bigger than their whole cottage.

She pushed open the door of the chamber, then squealed as a hand clamped over her mouth, and sheer terror overcame her as she heard a soft voice in her ear.

"Shhh, my lovely Janet," James whispered. "I just want to have a little kiss. Relax - I will not hurt you. I will be very gentle."

Janet was a very muscular young woman but even she could not fight against a man of James's size and strength, although she was trying with all her might. James was kissing her frantically, pressing his body against hers, pinning her against the wall while she was pushing him away with all her might, but he was far too powerful. She squealed as loudly as she could when she saw Ava, who stood for a frozen moment in the doorway before launching herself at James.

"Get away from her!" she roared. "Leave her alone, ye beast!"

James turned around at the same moment as Ava reached her hands out to pull him away from her sister, but instead of gripping his shoulders her grasping fingers found the skin of his face and gouged three long scratches down his cheeks.

He gave a long moan and clutched at his face, then gave Ava a venomous glare. "I was only trying to give her a kiss!" he growled. "She was walking half-naked along the corridor! She led me on!"

"I have my dressin' gown on!" Janet protested. "I was comin' back from the kitchen!"

James was dabbing at his bloodied cheek with a handkerchief, and he reeked of whisky. He stumbled out, grumbling under his breath. Ava watched him, but she knew that it was not just whisky that had fueled his lust. The man was a beast.

At that moment Rona, who had been having a bath in Ava's room, entered the chamber and was almost knocked flying by James Henderson as he rushed past her. She gave a squeal of fright and cowered back against the door, then turned and saw her sisters and her eyes widened in shock.

Ava was holding Janet, who was sobbing her heart out on her sister's shoulder.

"What happened?" Her voice was fearful as she rushed to Janet's side and kissed her cheek.

"James tried to rape her," Ava replied angrily. "Rona, lock the door an' put a chair under the handle. I don't want him bargin' in here again." She turned her attention to Janet, who was still sobbing. "Poor wee thing, Janet," she said gently. "Don't worry - I will no' be marryin' that monster!"

Janet nodded, and after a while she calmed down a bit. She was still sobbing, but a little less violently now, and presently she cleared her throat and wiped away her tears with her fingertips.

"Better now?" Ava asked her.

Janet nodded. "Aye," she said, and Ava could tell by the throb of anger in her voice that her spirited sister was getting back to her normal fiery self.

"What happened?" Rona asked anxiously. "Did he get any farther than kissin' ye?"

Her face was so concerned that Janet managed a wobbly smile. "No, don't worry, Rona. I kept him at bay. If I had pushed him a couple o' feet further back I could have kneed him in his bawsack!" Her voice was a trembling growl.

Despite herself, Ava laughed. It was not at all a funny situation, but she could think of no more fitting punishment for a would-be rapist than that which Janet had suggested.

"He said he only wanted to kiss me," Janet told them. Her whole body was shaking, and Rona went to find a shawl to drape over her shoulders before Ava gently urged her into a chair. "I pushed him away, but he was too strong for me."

"Did he hurt you?" Ava asked anxiously. "Ye know what I mean?"

Janet shook her head. "He - he touched my breast," she answered, her face screwing up with revulsion, "but I am fine, really, just a wee bit shocked."

"Can ye go to sleep?" Ava asked her.

Janet nodded her head. "I am scared, Ava, but I will try," she replied valiantly.

"Good girl," Ava said softly. "Now, get into bed with Rona an' I will sleep in the chair." She went over to the fireplace and took out the poker from the stand of fire tools. "I will hit him wi' this if he tries anythin'."

She watched her two sisters climb into bed and wrap their arms around each other, then she kissed them both goodnight before sitting down. The chair was soft and well upholstered, but it was not made for sleeping in, and Ava found herself sitting an hour later, still with her eyes open, staring into the fire.

However, it was not the discomfort of the chair that was keeping her awake, but the turmoil of her thoughts. If she told her sisters about James's plan now they would get no rest, and they would panic. What was she going to do? The same thoughts kept churning around and around in her head until she was dizzy. She had to do something, and there was only one person who could help her.

She could not leave her sisters on their own, however, so she quickly made her way to Davina's room and knocked on the door. "Davina! I must speak to ye! It's Ava." For a moment she thought she had not been heard, then a tousled and irritated Davina came to the door, but as soon as she saw Ava's face she beckoned her inside.

"Your father has tried to rape Janet," she said angrily. "I have to go an' get Cameron, but I cannot leave them there on their own. Will ye sit with them? At least that way ye can block the door."

"I knew he had something like this in his mind!" Davina growled. "Come, let's hurry."

They entered the room quietly, and Ava kissed each one of her sisters before taking Davina's hands. "Thank you," she said softly.

Davina nodded and smiled, then whispered, "good luck." She closed the door and Ava heard the key turning in the lock. She waited a few more moments and heard something heavy being dragged across the door. Then she fled.

Although Cameron's day had been utterly exhausting, he could not manage a wink of sleep either. Something was wrong. He did not know what it was, but he felt it, and no matter how many times he told himself to go to sleep his body would not obey him, and stayed stubbornly awake.

Eventually, he climbed out of bed then lit a candle, which he placed by the window, and another by his dresser, where a carafe of whisky stood. He poured himself a generous measure and swallowed it in one draught, hoping it would make him sleep, but he realised after a while that it was having no effect at all.

He paced the room restlessly for a few moments, then decided that he would do what he usually did when he had trouble sleeping - he would go up onto the battlements and chat to the guards for a while. He knew most of them anyway, since they were ordinary people like him, and he still preferred their company to that of more exalted folk.

Accordingly, he dressed in his working clothes, putting on a thick woolen coat and took an extra blanket for good measure. He moved over to the window, intending to blow the candle out, but frowned as a stray glance detected some movement on the road leading up to the castle. The moon was bright that night, enough for him to recognise a horse and rider, but not bright enough for him to identify them.

‘Who is that?' he asked himself, puzzled. There was something familiar about the figure, which was stopped by the guard before it could reach the gate. The man held his lantern up to speak to them, and suddenly Cameron's heart skipped a beat.

Ava! It could only have been something vitally important that had brought her to his door at this time, he realised. He waved to her frantically, but although she seemed to be looking straight at him, she turned her horse around and rode away. Frustrated, he stood for a long moment gazing out of the window at the spot where she had been a moment before.

‘Dammit, Ava!' he thought angrily. ‘What are ye doin'?'

Then it hit him. He rushed downstairs, taking them two at a time, then caused a panic as he ordered the guards to open the gate and the stable lads to saddle a horse for him. As he led the horse, a spirited young chestnut stallion called Skellum, out of his stall, Jimmy gave a soft whinny, no doubt sad because he was being left behind.

Cameron stopped before him for a moment and leaned his forehead against the old horse's nose, stroking his neck and murmuring to him soothingly. "I am so sorry, old friend, I need a young man this time, but I still love ye just as much as ever."

Then, he kissed Jimmy on his soft muzzle and strode out towards the young stallion, who was dancing about and whickering in impatience even as the large, strong head groom tried to hold him still.

"Are ye sure ye want this one, Cam - I mean, M'Laird?" Malky looked doubtful. "He's a right handful."

"Aye? Well so am I!" Cameron said grimly as he leapt into the saddle. "An' how long have we known each other, Malky? None o' this ‘M'Laird' nonsense!"

Malky watched Cameron's skilful hands as he effortlessly brought the horse under his command then urged it into a gallop and thundered through the gates into the darkness. He stood looking after his master for a while, shaking his head, then turned to see a young stable lad who had been woken by the noise.

"What is goin' on?" one of the stable lads, asked curiously, yawning and rubbing his eyes.

"Our new Laird is takin' a wee ride," Malky replied, shaking his head in disbelief.

"At this time o' the mornin'?" the lad's voice was incredulous. "What has got intae him?"

"Aye." Malky sighed. "At this time o' the mornin'. I always thought he was a nice sensible lad, but there is only one reason a man goes out at this ungodly hour!"

"What reason is that?" he asked, frowning in puzzlement.

"A woman, son!" Malky laughed and patted the boy's back. "Ye are only fourteen, but just wait a few years an' ye will understand!"

‘No' far now,'Cameron said to himself, over and over again. After his initial frenzied exit from the castle, he had been obliged to slow down considerably. The moonlight was bright, but not quite bright enough to illuminate everything in front of him clearly.

He was fizzing with frustration and impatience as he tried to negotiate through dark pools of shadow under trees and avoid overhanging branches. As well as that, there was the problem of large boulders that were strewn haphazardly amongst the long grass, visible in the daylight but treacherous at night.

Cameron's heart leapt as he saw the gleam of a lantern through the trees in front of him. Could it be Ava? As he emerged from between the trees, he saw her standing in the middle of a small clearing under a big sycamore tree where they had shared their very first kiss. The yellow light from the lantern she was holding made her golden-red hair the colour of flame, but her eyes were shimmering with tears.

"Ava," he said softly as he stepped out from under the tree. He saw her eyes widen as she gave a little squeal, then she ran to him and threw herself into his arms, sobbing as if her heart would break.

Cameron was shocked, but he instinctively tightened his arms around her, feeling her shuddering sobs resonate in his own body. He rested his cheek on her head, making soothing noises as he pulled her closer and closer until there was no space between them.

He had always found that it was better to leave someone alone to give vent to their emotions in their own time rather than trying to force them, so he stood quietly until Ava gradually calmed down. "Better now?" he asked gently.

Ava nodded against him, but she was still trembling. "I hoped ye would remember our special place, an' ye did."

"How could I not?" he asked, frowning anxiously. "What's upset ye so much, sweetheart? I have never seen ye in such a state before!"

Ava took a deep breath and looked up into the bright blue of his eyes, and at that instant she realised she could never let him go. How could she marry a monster like James Henderson when there was a good and decent man standing in front of her whom she loved with all her heart? Moreover, he loved her in return.

"I found James trying to rape Janet," she said bitterly. "He said he was only tryin' to kiss her, but I know the kind o' man he is now, and I will no' marry him. He is a devil!"

"Indeed, you will not, because I am going to kill him!" Cameron roared. He had never been so furious in his entire life. He could feel blood rushing to his head and rage thrumming through his veins. His whole body was shaking with it.

"Calm down for a minute, Cam," Ava begged him. "I heard him talkin' to Davina, and he plans to kill you after the wedding. He even threatened to kill her - his own daughter. I had to come an' see ye, because ye are the only one who can save us a'. I left Davina wi' my sisters, but we must hurry back!"

"I can help an' I will," Cameron growled. "Ava, did he harm ye? Did he touch ye?"

Ava shook her head, managing a wobbly smile. "No, Cam, he did not, but only because there were three of us there by that time, I think."

Cameron bent town, touching her forehead to his as he felt rage being slowly replaced with relief. "Thank God," he breathed. "If anything had happened to you, Ava I-" He did not finish what he had been going to say, but touched his lips to hers as he wrapped his arms around her again.

The kiss began gently, but soon developed into something more desperately passionate as they satisfied their hunger for each other like two starving people at a glorious feast. Indeed, it seemed like ages since either of them had enjoyed the taste of the other as they caressed each others' mouths, their tongues tangled, and their bodies responded with fervent arousal.

Ava felt Cameron's hardness pressing against her, and she responded with a sweet pulse and a flood of warm wetness between her legs. She gave a long drawn-out moan of desire. Every rational thought had left her head. Her world had narrowed down to the man who was holding her in his arms. He was giving her sensual pleasure the likes of which she had never imagined, and she wished it never had to end.

Cameron was in heaven. He had never imagined that he would have Ava in his arms again after the terms of his father's will had torn them apart, but now he was sure she was his, and always would be. He would give up the estate, and he would find some other way to make a living, and he knew he could do it as long as she was with him. He knew that with Ava by his side he could do anything, for she would give him the strength he needed.

Abruptly, Ava pulled away with a sudden cry, her face stricken with panic as she turned away from him and rushed away towards her horse.

"Ava! " Cameron called as he rushed after her. He reached out to grab her arm but she yanked it away from him and resumed her headlong dash towards her mount. He knew he did not have the right, but he suddenly felt unfairly rejected.

Ava whirled around to face him again. "I have to get back to my sisters!" she cried. "I have left them on their own an' they might be in danger!"

Cameron wasted no more time. He took Ava by the waist and placed her firmly in the saddle, then leapt on to his own mount. "They will no' be the only ones in danger when I get my hands on Henderson!" he growled.