Chapter Fifteen

Adam stood before Eagan and Tessa in the great hall. "'Tis not safe for her, for ye," Adam said, his gaze moving between them, "to go back to Grissell's until we know for certain that Jandeau has left the area."

"He's my father, the man who rescued me twice now. There must be a mistake about his identity, about what you feel he's done. I need to talk with him," Tessa said. "He's my only connection to my family."

The words make Eagan's stomach clench again. There was no mistake. The most dastardly, brutal person he knew was Tessa's father. How could an honest, kind person come from such vile seed?

Her mother must have been a saint , he thought. Would a saint solicit income with her body at the French court? No. But to keep her daughter fed when her husband abandoned them? Bloody hell, he didn't know. And it didn't matter. Tessa was her own person, and her heart was the opposite of the black, charred remains of Jandeau's heart, if the man had ever possessed one.

"There's no guarantee your kinship will keep ye safe," Adam continued. "The man is a devil, I'm sorry to say. Even if he is your father, it may not be enough. You must heed our warnings."

"I need to return to Grissell to ensure the children and my animals are well."

"You've taken Sia as your own?" Lia asked from beside the table.

Tessa nodded. "She's the sweetest creature."

Lia's face relaxed into a wistful smile. "She is, but I can't touch her, or I swell terribly."

"And we'd all rather have ye alive and breathing," Drostan said, pulling her against his side.

Adam cleared his throat. "Jandeau will likely come back and abduct ye if ye're at Grissell's. We should put all the children and the old woman up here at Gylin. If Grissell will come."

"She won't," Tessa said.

Eagan agreed. The old woman would remain at her cottage until she died. She might go for a walk now and then with her two white cats named after saints, but she'd never sleep somewhere else.

"The children then," Lark said, holding her son on one hip. "Jandeau will take them to sell."

Tessa's face tightened, her gaze hardening. "I'll protect them if that's what he's done in the past. He saved me from the Paris gutters." She shook her head, glancing downward at the wooden floors. "If what you say is true about him, perhaps I can change his ways by talking to him daughter to father."

Lia stood beside Lark. "Or he will realize you don't have his black heart and add you to his list of assets to sell."

Tessa's face grew red, her lips pinching tight. Daingead .

The front doors in the entryway opened, and one of the older children from Grissell's hurried in behind Beck. "Tessa," the girl called. "We need you."

Tessa hurried toward her. "What's happened, Charlotte?"

Eagan's hand went to the hilt of his sword.

"Mistress has become ill, so ill she doesn't move from her bed."

Eagan followed Tessa and Charlotte toward the doorway.

"I'll fetch my bag of supplies," Lark called behind them, but they were already heading out into the cool autumn air. Adam would have to bring Lark because Tessa wasn't waiting for her, so Eagan wasn't, either.

They hurried out past the willow tree with its unseasonably green leaves swaying in the breeze. It was quite bonny now, lush and full. But the dagger hilt still protruded with dark sap that looked like blood dripping from it, which turned the scene into something macabre.

Eagan had fought fierce pirates before, battled them until blood soaked the ground. He'd been shot and left to drown and survived fiery ships. But it was the willow tree that spun through his darkest nightmares.

Tessa and Charlotte led the way with Eagan following them past the turnoff toward Ormaig Village and into the woods toward the south shore where Grissell's cottages sat. Only the brush and crunch of fallen leaves heralded their passing as they ran and dodged bramble and trees over the mile.

The clearing in the middle of the five cottages was empty, and they continued to the oldest cottage, the one that had survived through Grissell's ancestors, each of them adding onto the original building.

"Let me," Eagan said, surging up before Charlotte and Tessa. Before they could refuse his protection further, he opened Grissell's door. The old woman lay in her bed, eyes closed while the two smaller children sat upright with wide eyes turned to Eagan. The white cats walked sentry before the bed, and Sia meowed loudly from the rafters as if threatening to cough up a furball on him.

"Are ye alone?" Eagan asked the children, his gaze sliding to the corners of the main room and the dark doorway beyond.

They nodded in unison.

Tessa and Charlotte surged past him. The little girl rolled off the bed to run into Tessa's arms. "Mother Grissell is ill."

"Lady Lark is on her way with medicines," Tessa said, hugging the child close while also pulling a chair up to the bed.

"Mistress?" Tessa asked.

From the doorway, Eagan could see the old woman's eyes flicker open. "Ye're still here," Grissell said, her voice weak. Her hand looked bonier than usual as she slid it out of the covers to clasp Tessa's. "Stay here. Watch my bairns, the animals, and children with nowhere else to go."

If Eagan had questioned allowing Tessa to return to Grissell's before, he completely reversed his thinking. Grissell could convince her to stay on Wolf Isle far better than he, especially after the throwing her over his shoulder disaster.

Footsteps on the porch heralded Lark. "Eagan, why don't you keep Adam company outside." She walked briskly past him to the bed. "Good day, Mistress Grissell."

Charlotte couldn't have been more than twelve years old, but she shooed him out, shutting the door firmly in his face.

"Let's check the perimeter," Adam said, pulling Eagan away.

"Aye, but I'm keeping the cottage in sight."

"Drostan is rounding up Callum and Beck, and I've sent Rabbie to Aros Castle to alert Tor and Cullen Duffie that Jandeau is in the vicinity. Cullen will no doubt hurry back to Islay Isle to mobilize his ships to patrol the waters."

Eagan nodded silently but kept his gaze on the cottage. How badly did Jandeau want Tessa? And how badly did Tessa want to believe her only remaining family cared about her?

…

"I want you, Tempest Ainsworth, to succeed me as keeper of this refuge." Grissell lay in her bed, her face lined but still warm with life. They were alone, Lark having left.

Tessa squeezed her skeletal hand. "Lady Lark says she thinks you're exhausted and underfed. With sleep and nutritious food, you'll be full of life."

Grissell's straight lips thinned even more into a tight slash above her chin. "I am in my nineties, child. Even if I do remain on this earth, I can never be full of life again."

Tessa gave her a wry smile. "Full of temper and dictatorial force then."

The thin lips relaxed, and Grissell snorted. Her sharp eyes shut. "No matter. I will not remain long on this earth."

"Even so," Tessa said, "I can't take over your sanctuary, since I'm to travel back to France." Despite her anger with Eagan, saying the words wound tightly around her stomach, cinching it until it ached.

The slash of lips curved downward in Grissell's wrinkled face, and her eyes opened. "Captain Jandeau will not keep his promises."

Tessa sighed. Even Grissell knew her father as Jandeau. "I owe my life to him. He's my father."

"One does not owe fealty to blood ties when family has proven themselves unworthy."

"But I'm his daughter," Tessa murmured. Didn't that matter? Otherwise, she truly was an orphan.

The old woman stared with her pale blue eyes that almost looked white below tiny lashes. "I doubt you're his only child, and I don't think that matters to the devil. Jandeau only acts if it will bring him profit." She tipped her head slightly on the pillow. "What profit will you bring him?"

Tessa shook her head. "He saved me from starvation in Paris." Her words were soft but bolstered with stubborn hope that the woman was wrong. "He bought me clothes and food. He said he wouldn't let his daughter end up…" She paused as the memory came back, memory of that hollow-bellied time when she merely survived. Her father had found her, lifting her up, giving her bread and wine.

Claudette Tempest Ainsworth, ma fille. I won't let you e nd up on your back, selling yourself, like your mother and my own mother .

The words had been cruel, but Tessa was so desperate for a chance to live that she'd obediently followed behind him, leaving the home she'd shared with her mother. Tessa had sold everything to remain there, so it was merely an empty shell anyway.

Grissell continued to stare at her as if reading the memories in Tessa's eyes. It was a wonder that she never seemed to blink. "So, he's put money into you," Grissell said. "You will need to make him a profit. The man works in no other way."

The cottage suddenly felt too warm with its pungent herbs and dancing fire. "He cares for me because I am his legal blood daughter. He married my mother— how could he not?"

"He took her from here with a promise of marriage," Grissell said. "I don't know if they married."

"Why would he have saved me then if I was just one of his many bastards?"

"He may have cared for Rebecca before greed tainted his soul. And he always has a plan and you no doubt are one of them. Tread carefully."

"Then perhaps I can…heal his soul." Tessa realized she'd stood from the chair and now paced. Snatching Sia off the bed, she took full breaths that didn't feel full enough. Dizziness propelled her toward the door.

"When dealing with the devil," Grissell said, "one always must pay a price. It sounds like your mother paid a harsh price for trusting him."

Tessa yanked hard on the latch, making the door fly open. Murmuring an apology, she closed it behind her. Tessa descended the step and rubbed her cheek on Sia's fur until the animal squirmed and jumped down to trot across the middle clearing.

Tessa's heart was already thudding hard like a drum, and then Eagan strode around the corner of the cottage, making her pulse pound faster. Tall and broad through the chest and shoulders, Eagan's body slimmed through the waist and hips, leading to sleekly muscled legs. He was the perfect example of strength in a man. She should know since she'd kissed and nibbled along it during their nights together. And during that time her worries had evaporated under the temptation of bliss.

Eagan stopped when he saw her. "How fares Grissell?"

Tessa walked toward her cottage, feeling the brush of his deep voice and tumbling northern accent through her. "She is weak but as nosy and opinionated as ever."

The pebbles crunched behind her as Eagan followed. The sound was a balm to her anger. She remembered the heat of his naked skin on hers, the play of his muscles as he moved with her. Mon Dieu! Everything about the Highlander was mind-numbing like whisky. And right then, she wanted to feel, not think.

Tessa turned at the top, her hand on the latch. Eagan looked up, his blue eyes connecting with hers, and they stared for a moment. His jaw looked clenched as if he were waiting for a pardon or writ of execution. The breeze moved the longer layers of his hair. If she buried her nose in the mane, it would smell of Eagan, a mix of wood smoke, spice, fresh Highland wind, and something all his own that drew her. It would overpower her memories of the rank Parisian sewers, the smell of desperation and scorn and loss. She could lose herself in Eagan's smell and forget about the crack in her heart that threatened to widen, pulled between her father and a possible future on Wolf Isle.

But would Eagan remain on Wolf Isle? He'd never once said he'd stay. But right that moment he was there.

"Are you coming in?" she asked, watching Sia weave between the trees chasing a squirrel.

"I didn't know if I was invited," he said, the lowness of his voice a potent spark. He placed his large paw on the wooden rail leading up the steps, squeezing it slightly so that the muscles clenched up his arm. He wore a short-sleeved tunic, apparently not bothered by the crisp air. He took a step up.

She held out a hand to stop him. "One condition."

His brow rose. "Speak it." The words were simple, but the underlying heat told Tessa that he'd been thinking about their nights together, too. That under his plaid wrap, his hard verge was probably already seeking her.

"No talking," she said. "No asking me questions I can't answer. No words." If she was going to leave Wolf Isle, she wanted to be with Eagan once more. The pain of the thought made her push it away. No thinking. Just feeling.

Heat flared in his gaze as he gave a slow nod, his nostrils widening as if he were a stallion sniffing after a mare in season. The man was full of seductive power, and she wanted to feel it.

She lowered her hand and pressed inside the room. 'Twas cold without a fire in the hearth. She walked to it, crouching to place squares of dry peat and kindling on the grate. Did Eagan follow her inside? She didn't want to look. Her ears strained to hear his footsteps.

The gentle sound of the door shutting relaxed her enough to inhale, and she struck the flint in the wool balled in her palm, watching the spark flare. She blew a gentle stream of air into the smoldering fluff until it caught and lowered it slowly to the peat and twigs, setting it where it was likely to catch.

There was no sound behind her, but the spell of desire swelled within the cottage. Tessa could feel Eagan's hungry gaze, and it added to the prickle of sensual awareness. She added more twigs and leaned down to blow on the growing flame, the heat of it sliding across her face. Once it was stable, licking up the two dry logs she'd added to the peat, Tessa stood.

Before she could turn, she heard the step, and then two arms came around her from behind. She leaned back into the heat, inhaling the familiar scent that shot quicksilver through her blood. Lips touched the skin at the juncture of her neck and shoulder. Light and warm. The sensation split off from it, shooting through her like an exploding star. Her lips parted as she leaned her head back, and Eagan kissed along her neck up to her ear. Instead of saying anything, a low growl resonated from him, as if he were a beast. She shivered as lust flowed down through her, and he turned her in his arms.

Tessa set her hand along his bristled cheek, meeting his gaze. They were locked there. Together, as if they were already joined as one. Her eyes shut as lips met lips in a frenzied kiss. Untamed and raw, full of longing and wishes and…farewell? Tessa reached behind Eagan's neck, holding him there so he couldn't leave, so she couldn't leave.

Everyone left her, but, at that moment, Tessa knew Eagan was hers. He lifted her in his arms, moving without breaking the kiss. Her fingers tangled in his hair, reveling in the softness of it. She breathed through her nose, smelling his familiar essence, tasting him. All of her senses came to life.

Without words, they took cues from each other. She slid his hand to her breast where he squeezed gently. Working together, they fully undressed until she lay naked on her bed. The crackle of the fire punctuated the thump of her heart. His body was exquisite, so much power contained in one man. His erection stood proud, and her core clenched with desirous heat.

Tessa slid her arms up above her head, stretching like a feline. Her breasts perched high, nipples hard, and when she reached down to the triangular patch between her legs, Eagan's hand slid along his length. The sight made her moan softly and spread her legs.

As if he could no longer stand the torture of separation, he moved over her in such a fluid movement that she could imagine he flew. But then she was awash once more in his kiss and the touch of his fingers as they licked a path of pure delight down her body.

Eagan pulled back from the kiss so that they stared into each other's eyes, and then he thrust deep. Tessa's lips opened on a gasp, and he groaned. Pulling out, he thrust again and then again. She answered each and lifted her legs to wrap them around his powerful hips.

In the wordless room, the only sounds made were sighs and moans and the brush of skin upon skin with the fire crackling, adding to the heat. As Tessa neared her climax, breathing in all of Eagan, she bent her attention to memorizing every little detail. 'Twas as if she already felt herself sailing away.

Her breath caught as the wave of ecstasy broke, and pleasure washed through her straining body. A single tear leaked from her eye. For the first time, Tessa hoped her father would not return for her.