Highlanders Collection. Ann Lethbridge

he might have been able to coax away her fears. But he didn’t. And it seemed wrong to push her when she was nearly in tears, thinking that she’d been a poor wife.

      His hands moved over her nape, softly soothing away the knots. He wanted to distract her, to take her mind off her fears.

      ‘Alex wants to leave in the morning to go after Callum,’ he said.

      Nairna looked up at him for a long moment, worry lurking in her green eyes. ‘I didn’t realise it would be so soon.’ She caught his hand in hers. ‘I wish you would stay.’

      ‘You know I can’t.’ Though his fighting skills were weakened, he held the knowledge that would get them safely inside and out again.

      The Earl of Cairnross, Gilbert de Bouche, had kept the prisoners chained belowground, bringing them out to construct thicker walls or to expand the fortress.

      What Cairnross didn’t know was that Bram and the other prisoners had created weaknesses in the structure at various points. They’d even left one hidden portion of the outer curtain wall with loose stones. Bram knew exactly where the unmortared segment was, and that weakness would allow them to slip inside the fortress to free the prisoners.

      ‘I can get the men inside to rescue Callum,’ he said. ‘And if they follow my lead, they can take him out before the English even know we’re there.’

      Nairna rested her hands behind her head. ‘Do you really want to go back to Cairnross, after what they did to you?’ Her eyes met his, holding a thousand questions he didn’t want to answer.

      He blocked out the memories, refusing to let the past interfere with what he had to do. Getting Callum out was all that mattered. ‘I’ve no choice.’

      ‘How long will you be gone?’ she asked.

      ‘It will take four days to reach Lord Cairnross’s fortress, if we ride hard. Then four days back again.’

      He rolled onto his back, staring up at the ceiling. His head pounded with an oncoming ache, and he felt his hands beginning to shake again. He took one breath, then another, trying to still the tremor.

      But he could no more control his trembling hands than he could stop his heart from beating. It slashed at his pride and he hated that she was seeing him like this.

      Nairna touched a cool hand to his forehead. ‘It’s all right, Bram,’ she whispered. ‘If you’re to make this journey, you need rest.’

      ‘I don’t sleep, Nairna. It’s not something I can do anymore.’

      ‘Try.’ She brought her fingers over his eyelids and he shut them, breathing in the soft fragrance of her skin. Though his mind refused to remain still, troubled with thoughts of Callum, his wife’s touch brought him comfort.

      And though he wished, more than anything, that Nairna’s presence could take away the nightmares, he doubted if it would ever happen.

      ‘I never thought I’d be sending you off to fight again,’ she said, her hand resting over his eyes as if she could will him to sleep.

      As he lay unmoving beneath the butterfly touch of her fingers, a slight note of uneasiness pulled at him. There was always a risk involved with any fight. Before he’d brought Nairna back with him, he hadn’t cared about his own fate. If he died in the battle, so be it.

      But now he had a reason to come back.

      Though he kept his eyes closed, Nairna knew Bram wasn’t sleeping. She shivered, remembering the tales she’d heard of Lord Cairnross. It was rumoured that he had been sent by the English King Edward, not to ally with the Scots, but to execute them.

      Some believed Cairnross had used the black arts to build his fortresses, for no one knew how he’d accomplished so much, so quickly. It was clear now that he’d done so with the blood and sweat of his captives.

      And Bram had been one of his slaves.

      Though she tried to distance herself, she worried about her husband’s quest to find Callum. She didn’t want to watch him ride away, or relive the anguish if he never came back. She gripped the coverlet, her eyes burning. Tonight, he’d touched her intimately, evoking such feelings that she’d found it impossible to remain unaffected. She wanted to take care of him again, to push back the years to the bride she’d been long ago.

      But the man had grown away from the boy. There were needs he held now that went beyond food or sleep. It was as if he needed her, more than nourishment or water.

      His body was so close to hers, she could feel the warmth. Nairna shifted upon the mattress, her gown bunched up between her thighs. She couldn’t stop herself from thinking of Bram’s mouth on her skin and the rush of sensation that had flooded through her, moistening the secret place between her legs.

      Aye, it was different between them now. But instead of the shy, stolen moments, she craved something else from him. Something to calm the restlessness rising up within.

      Slowly, she eased backwards, until their bodies touched. Bram reached for her waist, pulling her close. He rested his face against her hair, and upon the back of her neck she could feel his breath. His touch penetrated her skin, awakening her to strange, pulling needs. A part of her wanted to turn her mouth to his and experience the forgetfulness that he could grant.

      Temptation beckoned to her and she longed to feel his body filling up the emptiness inside. She turned to him and her nose brushed against his, her mouth only a few inches away.

      ‘What is it, a ghaoil?’ Bram asked, reaching out to slide her hair behind her ear. The tender gesture made her hesitate, for she didn’t know if he would even want to make love to her. She had no experience in seduction and didn’t know what would please him.

      When she embraced him closer, her breasts pressed against his chest. She lifted her knee over his and the moment her bare skin touched his, he froze.

      He didn’t move, nor did he give any indication that he’d changed his mind about joining with her. All of her courage fled and Nairna felt her face flood with embarrassment.

      She untangled her leg from his and rolled away, closing her eyes. ‘Be safe tomorrow,’ was all she could utter before turning away.

      The following morning, Bram rose at dawn to prepare for the journey. In sleep, Nairna’s face was soft, her lips tempting him to steal a kiss. But if he dared to taste her, he’d never stop. Only by the grace of God had he managed to keep his hands off her last night.

      When she’d embraced him, he hadn’t known what she’d wanted. Was she merely bidding him good night? Or was she trying to show him affection?

      Before he could decide, she’d told him to be safe and turned her back. He’d spent a painful remainder of the night, his groin raging with need. He hardly trusted himself to sleep so close to her, for fear that he’d lose sight of himself and take her without any finesse.

      Marriage was killing him in a slow, sexually frustrating death.

      Though he wanted to tell her goodbye, he didn’t want to awaken her, preferring to remember her like this. Bram found one of her riding gloves and held it a moment, slipping a small token inside.

      He closed the door behind him and saw that Alex and Ross were already preparing the horses and supplies. Bram continued walking across the courtyard until he reached them.

      There, he found his younger brother Dougal glaring at them like a sulking child. ‘I want to go with you.’

      ‘Not while I breathe.’ A lad of four and ten was too young to venture into a fight such as this one. Bram studied Dougal, seeing traces of himself in the young man’s eyes. Once, he’d been every bit as hotheaded and determined.

      He softened his voice, adding, ‘I need you to guard Nairna and Laren, as well as the others.’

      ‘You’re not leaving me behind,’ Dougal insisted. ‘I can fight better than you. Besides, Alex thinks you don’t