Conall: The 93rd Highlanders, Book Two (6 page)

“
You’ve grown
close to the captain, eh?” was all Dougie asked, casually looking
away across camp.

“
Yes,” Conall
said defensively. “He’s a good man. He saved my life at Balaclava
and you know it. And he took care of Avril when I was in
hospital.”

“
True, true,”
Brodie said, suddenly very interested in dusting off his
jacket.

“
What if it’s
Munro who takes your place with Mrs. Scott?” Dougie asked. “What
then?”

Conall grew hot and then
cold and he stumbled. His emotions were going hither and yon, and
he didn’t know what to make of it. The thought of Munro and Avril
together didn’t anger him so much as agitate him. He deliberately
didn’t pursue the thought. “If that’s the way of it, then I’ll step
aside,” he mumbled. “But only,” he said fiercely, raising one
finger and looking at Dougie and then Brodie, “only if he marries
her.”

“
You what?”
Avril asked. She could feel her face pale as she almost fell down
onto the stool in her hut.

“
I’m breaking
it off with you, Avril,” Conall said gravely. He went to one knee
in front of her and took her gloved hand in his. She wished their
hands were bare and she could feel his skin against hers. “People
are talking and it’s not good talk.” He looked down at the floor
and smoothed his beard with one hand. “They’re saying ugly things
about you, and I won’t have it.” The look he gave her then was
fierce and defiant. “If you won’t marry me, then I’ll have to end
it to save your name.”

Avril felt her temper
rise. She shoved him back and he fell on his rump. “So you’re tired
of me already, are you?” she accused him. She swiped at the hot
tears in her eyes, not sure if they were tears of sorrow or tears
of rage. “I thought better of you, Conall Fletcher.”

“
Avril,” he
said, pleading with his eyes. “You’ve got to understand, I feel to
blame for sullying your name. Surely you can see the only solution
is for me to leave you alone?”

“
And I asked
to be sullied, didn’t I?” she asked angrily, pacing the small hut
around Conall. “I don’t care about the talk,” she lied. She knew
what could happen if it reached the wrong ears, but she was beyond
caring. She didn’t want to give Conall up. She’d never have the
likes of him again, and she knew it. He was so fine, such a good
man, a sweet lover and strong protector. He’d become the rock she
leaned on. And now he was pulling that foundation away and she’d be
alone again in the cold. It had only been a few weeks. She’d only
had him for a few weeks. Surely she deserved more than
that.

“
Marry me,”
Conall insisted again. She treasured each time he’d asked, stored
the memories away. But as much as she wanted to, she couldn’t say
yes. He might think he wanted her now, but it was war. It was cold
and frightening, and she was here. She might be the best thing
available in this hell, but once they were back home, he’d regret
binding himself to a woman like her. One who came from common
stock, good for nothing but hard work and a humble life. She shook
her head, afraid to speak for fear yes would tumble from her
lips.

Conall turned away as he
put a hand on the floor and pushed himself back up to his knees. He
stood slowly. “Well, then,” he said sadly. “That’s that, then,
isn’t it?” When he looked at her, the shine of tears in his eyes
and the bleak look on his face were nearly her undoing. “Sorry I am
that you couldn’t care for me as I do for you, Avril,” he said,
sadness dripping from each word. Did he know he was ripping her
heart out?

“
You’d regret
it,” she said in a hoarse whisper, “and I couldn’t stand that.
Couldn’t stand seeing the disappointment in your eyes when you
looked at me.”

“
Never,” he
vowed fiercely, his blue eyes blazing with sincerity. He took two
quick steps to her and dragged her into his arms as if he couldn’t
stop himself. “It isn’t regret in my kisses, is it?” Before she
could answer his mouth slammed down on hers, no hesitation in him
now as there had been just a few weeks ago. He’d loved her plenty
in that time, learned to please her and surprise her in their love
play. He was as fierce and honest in bed as he was in speech and
manner. He loved her earthiness, her delight in her woman’s
pleasure and in his body. And never, never had she seen regret in
his face, it was true. But that was here and now. She knew the look
of a man who didn’t get what he’d bargained for. She’d seen it in
her late husband’s eyes too many times not to dread it. To him
she’d grown too old and hard following him to war, too rough and
strong for his taste. And though he’d enjoyed her brazen ways in
the marriage bed, he was forever accusing her of wanting other men.
Conall hadn’t—not even Munro, who was here almost as often as he
was. Was that only a matter of time as well? Because her feelings
for Munro were growing day by day. Perhaps her late husband had
been right about her. She couldn’t stay true to one man.

She couldn’t fight his
kisses. She didn’t want to. Maybe…maybe this would make him stay
for a while longer. She threw her arms around his neck and opened
her mouth and sucked his tongue and breathed his air. He picked her
up and she wrapped her legs around his waist. When he sat down on
the edge of her cot and yanked her skirt up she squirmed, giving
him room, trying to kiss as much of him as she could. Then he
pulled his kilt out of the way and she saw his cock, so big and
proud and hard for her, and she felt light-headed. “Yes, yes,” she
whispered. She rose up on her knees and let him pull her back down
onto his shaft. It felt so good she shuddered. Even now he was
gentle with her as she wasn’t that wet, but a few soft strokes and
she was more than ready to be fucked. “Conall,” she begged.
“Please.”

“
That’s
right,” he growled, shoving up into her. “I know what you need,
don’t I? And I give it to you, don’t I?”

“
Yes,” she
said in a trembling voice, moving on top of him, still wearing her
coat and shoes and gloves, caring only for his cock and being
fucked by him. He made her so desperate for him, she cared naught
for the unlocked door or the midday hour.

“
Ah, Avril,”
he said with a heavy breath, “you undo me. Such a glorious fuck,
you are. So perfect.” He thrust into her, one hand balanced behind
him on the bed as the other held her waist, holding her in place so
he could shove into her again and again.

With a cry she came, and
he gave to her again, thrusting deep and holding her there as he
rocked her, stretching out the pleasure until she was trembling in
his arms. When he moved again at last she gasped and shuddered, her
pleasure renewed.

“
Ah, lass,”
he growled. “When you come like that.” He grabbed her hip and
thrust high and threw his head back as he came, and Avril gloried
in how beautiful he was, this man who owned her in ways he’d never
know.

When it was over, he
wouldn’t look at her. He gently lifted her to her feet and then
rose from her cot and straightened his kilt. “I had no right,” he
said gruffly. “I shouldn’t have taken advantage. Again.”

“
Don’t be a
fool,” she said, turning her back to him, fighting her tears. He
was still leaving. She could feel his goodbye in the
air.

“
It was fine
while it lasted, wasn’t it?” he asked softly at her
door.

When she didn’t answer he
simply left, closing the door behind him. She raced over and locked
it before she gave in to her tears.

Conall was sitting in his
tent, cleaning his rifle and thinking of Avril. He’d sent Brodie
over to see how she was. Night was coming on. He couldn’t see her
yet. He felt as though his chest had caved in when he’d walked out
on her. It had been all he could do to breathe for an hour or so
afterward. Thank God he wasn’t expected to engage the enemy
today.

“
Good
afternoon, Captain Munro,” he heard someone say outside. He
expected a call of greeting, but Munro charged into his tent
without warning.

Conall rose quickly when
he saw Munro’s thunderous expression. He carefully set his rifle
down, never taking his eyes off the other man. “Munro,” he said
slowly.

“
You bloody
bastard,” Munro said and, without further ado, hauled off and
punched him. Conall fell back onto his cot, his hand going to his
throbbing cheek. Obviously Munro had heard about him and
Avril.

“
It was the
right thing to do and you know it.” He defended himself. “I know
you’ve heard the talk, same as me. Even Douglas and Brodie agreed
with my decision.”

“
Douglas
never thought you should get involved with her in the first place,”
Munro barked. “So that’s neither here not there. What matters is
that you did get involved with her, and now you’ve abandoned her,
not only to the talk but the consequences of her affair with
you.”

“
What
consequences?” Conall demanded.

“
You fool,”
Munro growled. “What if she’s got a babe? Then what?”

“
Then she’ll
have to marry me,” Conall said vehemently. “I wouldn’t take no for
an answer.”

“
Why the hell
don’t you just marry her now?” Munro demanded. “That’s the right
thing to do.”

“
She won’t
marry me,” he told him. “Refused me flat. I’ve asked and asked and
asked until I was blue in the face. She won’t do it.”

Munro looked like he’d
just been shot. “She won’t marry you? She doesn’t love
you?”

Conall put his head in
his hands. “Yes, thank you for being the third person today to
point that out.” He looked up at Munro unhappily. “No, apparently
she doesn’t love me enough to marry me.”

“
Ach, that’s
more foolishness,” Munro said. “I know she loves you.”

“
How do you
know?” Conall asked in exasperation. “Because I’m not so sure. I
thought I was, but then there you have it. She won’t marry
me.”

“
She’d have
no one else,” Munro said with conviction. “While you were in
Scutari, I mean. As soon as you were gone there was a steady stream
of would-be suitors at her door, and she turned them all
away.”

“
Not all,”
Conall said, watching Munro carefully. “She didn’t turn you away,
did she? Found you there the day I returned.”

“
Ach, boy,
don’t you know I was keeping her safe for you?” He turned away as
if the admission embarrassed him.

“
I’m not a
boy,” he said out of habit. “Why? Why were you keeping her for me?
You could have had her yourself. She told me so. Told me she was
hoping you’d be the one.”

“
What?” Munro
looked genuinely flabbergasted. “No, you must be
mistaken.”

Conall shook his head and
stood to face Munro. “No. She told me true, the day I returned when
I asked if she’d taken up with you while I was gone. Said she
wanted to, but you’d have none of it.”

“
And so I
wouldn’t,” Munro said, his face suddenly blank, hiding his thoughts
again.

“
I ask
again,” Conall said solemnly. “Why?”

“
She was
meant for you,” Munro told him. “Anyone could see that.”

“
You watch
her all the time,” Conall said slowly, staring at Munro and seeing
things clearly for the first time. “You want her.”

“
I’d have to
be half a man not to,” Munro told him. “But that doesn’t mean I
can’t resist my urges and let the lady choose. She chose
you.”

“
She didn’t,”
Conall insisted. “You made her. You said no. She deserved a real
choice.”

“
Damn it, are
you listening to me? She waited for you. She chose you. She won’t
be waiting for you forever. No one will wait for you forever.” He
stopped speaking abruptly, and Conall got the impression there was
more he wanted to say but he wouldn’t. Conall didn’t care how
agitated Munro got. He already had a bruised face, so there was no
call to worry about that.

“
She needs
someone,” he said in a choked voice. He turned away and cleared his
throat. Then he faced Munro again, determination firing through
him. “She wanted you. And you want her. So go get her. Go
on.”

“
Are you
daft?” Munro demanded. “To be giving away a woman like
that?”

“
She doesn’t
want me,” Conall said. “But I warn you, unless it’s marriage on
your mind, you’d best stay away from her. I’ll not be putting her
through that again.”

Munro gave a choked
growl. “There’s no talking to you, so I’ll talk to her. And not
about me marrying her, but you.”

“
Why are you
so determined to see us together?” Conall asked, truly perplexed.
“When you could have her yourself?”

“
Because you
deserve each other, not me,” Munro said through clenched
teeth.

“
You mean she
doesn’t deserve you?” Conall asked, not understanding. “Are you
saying you’re too good for her, and I’m not?”

“
For Christ’s
sake, have you got stuffing in your ears? I said nothing of the
kind.” Munro stalked over to the tent entrance. “I’m going to
settle this once and for all. And you better live up to your words,
Fletcher. You’d better be marrying her when I come for
you.”