Conall: The 93rd Highlanders, Book Two (12 page)

“
It’s you
officers keeping all the cunt for yourself that has us here,”
snarled one of the men, wiping the blood from his lip. “Freezing
our arses off in the trenches, starving us and waving your whores
in our faces. It’s about time you shared the bounty with
us.”

“
You’d better
get your freezing arses out of here,” barked Graeme, “or we’ll be
helping Captain Fletcher pound you into the cold ground, and there
might not be enough left of you to throw in the brig after I’m
done.”

The three men spun around
to see Graeme and Conall striding toward Ham to face off with them.
“Damn you bloody officers to hell,” one of them said before he spit
on the ground. “We’re good enough to take a bullet for you, but not
good enough to fuck your whores, is that it?”

“
That’s it,”
said Conall. “I’ll kill the next man that calls her a whore and I
don’t care what the consequences are. If I kill you all, then
they’ll believe whatever story we tell them.”

All the men eyed Conall
warily. “Fine,” the first one said with false bravado. “We’ll go.
But you can’t watch her forever, can you? And who knows?” he said
slyly with a leer. “She might welcome a real man between her thighs
once you give her the opportunity.” He laughed with his friends as
they wandered off into the dark.

“
Are you all
right?” Conall asked Ham as he hurried over to the door of the hut
where Ham now leaned against the wood. He grabbed Ham’s chin and
turned his face to the side so he could inspect the damage. “Ach,”
he said, “I’ve seen worse on you, that’s for sure. Put it there
myself.”

Ham knocked his hand
away. “True enough. You didn’t hear me crying, did you?” He walked
over and picked up his hat from where it must have gotten knocked
off. After dusting it off on his leg he put it on. “Nice of you
both to finally show up. Were you so far up each other’s asses that
you couldn’t make it here faster?”

Conall blushed and pursed
his lips in anger, looking around to make sure no one heard.
Graeme’s face looked carved in stone and completely unreadable.
“No, we weren’t,” Conall said through gritted teeth. “It is the
middle of the night. We had to get dressed.” He glanced at the
door. “Is Avril inside?”

“
Yes,” he
heard her answer through the door. “Are they gone?”

“
Yes,” Conall
said, stepping up and speaking close to the door. “Are you all
right?”

“
Yes,” she
said and then sniffed, as though she was crying.

“
Aw, Avril,
darling,” he said. “Open the door. Let me see you.”

“
Is Graeme
with you?” she asked. Conall felt a sharp bite of jealousy, but he
tamped it down. He’d brought it on himself, hadn’t he, by walking
away and pushing Graeme on her? “Yes, he’s here. Do you want him
instead?”

There was a long pause
and Conall glanced over at Graeme, who’d walked closer. He looked
beyond him and saw Ham give him a little salute before he turned
and walked off into the night.

“
I’d like to
see you both,” she said through the door. “If that’s all
right.”

“
Of course it
is,” Conall quickly agreed. Despite the situation, excitement
coursed through his veins. He hadn’t been this close to her in
weeks. Slowly the door opened and he stepped inside, motioning
Graeme in after him.

No sooner had the door
closed behind them than Avril threw herself in Conall’s arms.
Graeme tried not to let it bother him too much. She hadn’t seen him
alone in weeks. She clung to him tightly, not speaking and not
looking at either man, her face buried in Conall’s jacket. On his
part, Conall looked as though he’d found the Holy Grail. Why on
earth weren’t these two together? What the hell were they doing
with him when they should be in each other’s arms, not
his?

He started to walk past
them, heading for the door, but Conall’s shot his hand out and
gripped his arm tightly. He pulled Graeme closer, and though he
offered token resistance he let Conall win the tug-of-war. In the
end he was pressed against Conall’s side, facing a tear-stained
Avril, who glanced up at him through wet lashes. She bit her lip
and then reached out and pulled his arm around her.

Conall kissed the top of
her head and Graeme rested his forehead on Conall’s temple as he
wrapped his other arm around Conall’s back. He could feel the heat
from both of them, their backs moving with each deep, heavy
breath.

“
We can’t do
this here,” Conall said quietly, regret lacing his words. “Not
here. Not now.” He tipped Avril’s face up and kissed her gently.
Then he turned and surprised Graeme with a kiss. Avril sucked in a
surprised gasp, and Graeme saw her knuckles turn white where she
had a grip on Conall’s jacket. Conall tipped Avril’s head back
farther, guiding her mouth to Graeme’s, and they kissed. But he was
incapable of Conall’s tenderness. He kissed Avril with relief and
passion, the thrill of being in both their arms making him
foolish.

Avril responded as she
always did, with enthusiasm and a desire equal to his. Conall
groaned next to them and it brought Graeme to his senses. He broke
the kiss slowly and watched as Avril licked her lips, her eyes
hooded with desire.

“
Now that’s
what I want,” Conall growled. “I want to watch that. Are you going
to let me watch, Avril?”

“
You said you
couldn’t be with me anymore,” Avril said, her voice heavy with
tears again. “How is that different?”

“
I was a
bloody stupid fool,” Conall admitted with his usual forthright
honesty. “I can’t stay away. And you weren’t any safer without me,
were you? No offense,” he said quickly, looking over at
Graeme.

“
None taken,”
Graeme said calmly, though he didn’t feel calm. Conall was right.
They’d opened Avril up to the kind of mischief that happened here
tonight. What if Hamish hadn’t been about? “But I do have a
plan.”

Avril stepped out of
their arms, and he was left standing there awkwardly, with his arm
still around Conall. He tried to move away, but Conall wouldn’t let
him, keeping a tight hold of his waist. Avril tipped her head to
the side as she stared at them, and Graeme could see her desire,
her approval of their intimacy. She hadn’t been lying to him—she
really did want him and Conall together. He’d never understand
women.

“
What is it?”
she asked, wiping her cheeks with her gloved hands. “What kind of
plan?”

“
First,
you’re moving,” Graeme said. He held up a hand to silence her
protest. “I’ve been looking for a better place for you. I know an
officer who’s willing to trade his stone hut. You’ll be moving in
there. And Conall and I will move our tents next to it to keep an
eye on you. We’ll still be on the edge of the Ninety-third
camp.”

“
Won’t they
all know?” Avril said in a whisper, twisting her hands in her coat.
“About us?” She motioned to the three of them. Graeme’s heart
jumped. It was the three of them now, wasn’t it? He still wasn’t
sure how that had happened. In his wildest dreams he’d never
imagined it would ever come to pass.

“
Avril,”
Conall said, and Graeme could tell he was going to make demands, he
was going to force the issue of marriage with her again, and his
timing couldn’t have been worse.

“
Don’t worry
about that,” he interrupted Conall. “We’ll take care of it.
Everything will be fine. Most people already know that you’ve been
seeing the two of us.”

“
And they
think me a whore,” she said bitterly. “I heard them.”

“
That’s not
true,” Conall argued vehemently. “My brothers don’t. Our friends
don’t. Some ignorant soldiers intent on making trouble spouted some
nonsense. They don’t deserve your time of day.” He took Avril’s
hands in his and kissed the back of each one tenderly. “No one who
knows you would ever think that of you.”

“
It’s true,”
she whispered miserably. “Because I want you both. No good woman
wants two men, does she?” She looked over at Graeme. “And I don’t
care. I won’t give you up.”

Graeme knew that
eventually she’d have to give him up. There was no doubt in his
mind that she’d be marrying Conall in the end. But he was willing
to stay as long as they wanted him.

“
No one’s
going to make you,” he assured her. “Now go to bed. We’ll stay
outside until morning, and then we’ll help you move your
things.”

It was past noon by the
time they got Avril moved. The little hut was dug out of the
ground, lined with stones with a wooden floor and a brushwood roof.
It was much warmer than her last lodging. The officer willing to
trade his lodgings was none other than Conall’s brother, Major
Douglas Fletcher. He’d been sharing the hut with Captain Iain
Roberts, who moved with him. Major Fletcher had been most eager to
trade, and yet Avril was flushed and nervous around him when they
met during the trading process. What must he think of her? she
wondered. He was very polite and solicitous, but she suspected he
thought badly of her. He had very little to move, and to her dismay
neither did she. How had she married and lived for the past few
years without accumulating possessions? She lived like a gypsy. And
had started acting like one, it would seem, fornicating with two
men. Well, one at a time, but she had a feeling that was going to
change, and it was a change she welcomed.

She’d missed Conall so
much, not that she had any desire to give up Graeme. Both men were
wonderful lovers and meant so much to her. Each day that passed saw
her closer to saving enough money for passage home. She knew when
the time came she’d go. But she’d go with enough memories to last
her a lifetime. Now that Conall had gotten over all that marriage
nonsense they were free to be as licentious as they chose, and
Avril was choosing to be very licentious indeed. She giggled to
herself as she folded her blanket and put it on the end of her cot.
The little stone hut was so warm from the stove that she’d been
able to take her coat off. She wanted to dance around in
glee.

“
Now what has
you so happy, darling?” Conall asked as he came through the door.
“Me or your new lodgings?”

“
Both,” she
said, laughing out loud as she gave in to temptation and spun into
his arms. He laughed with her.

“
Good,” he
said. He hugged her and set her down on her feet. “I’m duty officer
tonight,” he said as he walked over and covered her windows with a
heavy oilcloth nailed to the wall for just that purpose. It cast
the room in gloom. “And I’m not waiting that long to fuck you. So
come here.”

“
Conall,” she
said, shocked. He’d never been one for daytime
philandering.

He walked over and
grabbed her arms and pulled her close. “I need to fuck, Avril. It’s
been weeks. Graeme’s mouth and hands aren’t enough.”

Her knees went weak at
his words. “Didn’t the two of you…” She couldn’t finish
it.

He shook his head and let
her go. “No. I want to, and so does he, but somehow it didn’t seem
right with things with you the way they were.”

“
But Graeme
and I did,” she blurted out. “I’m so sorry! If I had
known.”

“
Didn’t
Graeme tell you what we did?” he asked, curious, as he pulled off
his sash and his sword and then began to unbutton his
jacket.

“
Yes, but I
just thought he was leaving that part out,” she
admitted.

Conall laughed, not even
trying to keep quiet. He pulled off his jacket and her mouth went
dry at the sight of him wearing nothing but a thin cotton shirt.
She could see his muscular arms and hairy chest right through it.
He walked over and pulled her close again, wrapping his arms around
her. “Wouldn’t you like to be there for that?” he whispered in her
ear. “Don’t you want to watch me and Graeme fuck as much as I want
to watch you and him fuck?”

She groaned out loud at
his words. “Yes,” she whispered, mortified at the desire and having
to admit it. But Conall seemed pleased.

“
Good,” he
said. “Then it won’t be long. Do you think I could have you both at
the same time?” he mused. “I’ll have to ask Graeme. He knows more
about this than I do.”

As he was speaking the
door opened suddenly and a burst of cold air came rushing in. “Ask
me what?” Graeme demanded as he closed the door. “Sorry. Saw the
door closed and the windows covered and worried Avril hadn’t gotten
moved in.”

“
Can I fuck
the two of you at the same time?” Conall asked, ignoring his
apology. “I’d like that.”

Graeme flushed at his
question, much to Avril’s surprise. “Yes,” he said. “You’d have to
let me take you and you’d take Avril.”

In her arms Conall
shivered. “I’d like that,” he whispered.

Avril was light-headed at
the thought. This was what it would mean, to be lovers with both of
them. There’d be no one at a time anymore. It would be all three of
them, her two men loving each other at the same time as her. She
was a wanton whore because she could hardly stand to wait for it.
She wanted it right now.