Highlander's Return: The Sinclair Brothers Trilogy, Bonus Novella (Book 2.5) (6 page)

Burke came awake slowly to a tickling under his
nose. He inhaled and was rewarded with the scent of roses, but the tickle
persisted. Cracking open his eyes, he found the source.

Meredith’s head was tucked under his chin, her
chestnut hair rolling in loose waves over her shoulders and his chest—and
against his nose. He inhaled again, savoring her unique scent. She must use
rose infused soap on her hair, he thought idly as he wound a dark lock around
his index finger. But it was more than that. Something about her skin, her very
essence, intoxicated him, claimed him.

She stirred, and he realized that a beam of morning
sunshine had filtered through the barn’s slats and now landed on her face.

“Good morning, love,” he said, then kissed her hair.

“Say that again.” She lifted her head so that she
could look up at his face.

“Good morning?” he asked, intentionally innocent.

She pursed her lips and lowered her brow at him in a
mock frown, but it didn’t have the desired effect of chastening him. Instead,
he chuckled at her beautiful pout.

“Nay, you churl. The part about love,” she said,
cracking a smile.

Suddenly his desire to tease her vanished. “Good
morning,
my love
. My Meredith.”

Her dark brown eyes softened, and he felt his heart
squeeze. In the morning light, he could see that she was indeed paler than she
had been as a younger lass, and that the merry smattering of freckles that once
sprinkled her nose had faded. But her cheeks were the rosy pink of a well-loved
woman, and though her eyes held depths he still didn’t understand, there was a
contentedness in them now as well.

Suddenly she frowned. “I hope Beth hasn’t come to my
bedchamber yet this morning. My absence, along with the ladder being down, will
send her into a panic.”

She sat up, and the edge of her cloak, which he had
pulled over her shoulder in the night, slipped down. The golden light of
morning haloed her, softening her curves and making her skin glow.

He must have been gawking like a green lad, for she
looked at his face quizzically, then glanced down at her naked body.

“Nay, don’t be ashamed,” he said quickly when she
moved to cover herself. “You are so beautiful.”

She smiled shyly at him, and if it were possible, he
loved her even more at that moment. Now was the time to speak what had been in
his heart for nearly ten years.

“Meredith, will you make me the happiest man on
earth? Will you marry me?”

Her eyes widened and her lips fell apart slightly.
He searched her face for a sign of her answer, and he saw both her deep love
for him and her fears, likely for those who still might threaten to destroy
their happiness.

She took a deep breath. Just as she was about to
speak, the barn door was pulled back and sunshine flooded inside.

Meredith’s breath turned into a gasp.

“What the devil?” a male voice said loudly from the
doorway. Burke couldn’t quite make him out, backlit as he was, but the man,
drawing a horse behind him, could clearly see them in the loft at the back of
the barn.

“Ansel!” Meredith said, shock and panic pinching her
voice.

“Your brother?” Burke said to her as he fumbled in
the hay for his kilt and belt.

“Aye, I’m her brother! Who the bloody hell are you?”
the man bellowed, dropping the reins of his horse and striding into the barn.

“I am Burke Sinclair,” he began in as calm a voice
as he could muster as he fastened his kilt around his hips, “and I have come
to—”

“
Sinclair?
” Burke’s eyes had adjusted enough
to see the fury clearly written on the face of the man whose sister he had just
slept with.

“Aye, and I have been sent—”

“You’ve been sent to dishonor my sister?” Ansel
reached the base of the ladder leading up to the loft, and his hand gripped the
great sword at his hip.

“I have been sent by Laird Sinclair to discuss a
resolution of tensions between our clans,” Burke went on levelly, though his
teeth were beginning to clench.

“And you think the best way to open a peace talk is
to bed my sister?”

“Ansel, please, hear us out!” Meredith said. She had
quickly pulled her discarded chemise over her head, and covered herself further
with her cloak.

Ansel rounded on her. “I left Dunrobin at first
light this morning because I hoped to surprise you. Apparently I have succeeded
all too well. How could you do this, Meredith? How could you sleep with a
Sinclair
?”
His dark eyes narrowed. “How long has this been going on? Since before Chisolm
died?”

Meredith gasped in horror at Ansel’s words.

“You accuse me of dishonoring your sister, but
perhaps it is you who disrespect her with your words,” Burke said coldly. His
words must have struck a chord, for a look of embarrassment flitted across
Ansel’s features.

“I haven’t done anything wrong, Ansel,” Meredith
said, lifting her chin. “This is the man I love. I am going to marry him.”

Burke’s heart skipped a beat, and he looked to
Meredith for confirmation of her words. Her eyes shifted to his, and his chest swelled
at the love he saw in their dark depths.

“Like hell you are!” Ansel shouted, drawing his
sword. “Come down here and meet my challenge for dishonoring my sister and my
clan,
Sinclair
!”

Fear sliced through Burke’s elation. It wasn’t that
he was afraid to fight. He completely trusted his skill with a sword. But the
last thing he wanted to do was hurt Meredith’s brother and dash all hopes of a
reconciliation between their clans. He was under direct instructions from his
Laird to pursue peace. And he would damn well never hurt Meredith by wounding
her brother.

He slowly placed a foot on the top rung of the
ladder and began easing himself down. He didn’t bother to don any other clothes
besides his kilt, hoping that his vulnerable state would cut through the fog of
rage that enveloped Ansel.

“Let’s talk this through, Ansel,” he said carefully.
“I don’t want to fight you.”

“Why? Are you so much of a coward that you would
take my sister in a barn and then slink back to Sinclair lands without facing
the consequences?”

Burke wouldn’t take the angry man’s bait. “I love
her and I’ve asked her to marry me. I would much prefer to shake your hand as a
brother than face you as an opponent.” His feet reached the ground and he
turned to face Ansel, raising his hands to show that he had no weapon.

“Fetch your sword and meet me like a man,” Ansel bit
out.

Burke slowly sidestepped to where Laoch stood
quietly in a stall near the open door. When he reached his saddlebags, he tried
to reason with Ansel once more. “It doesn’t have to be this way, Ansel. There
is no dishonor here.”

Ansel merely spat and motioned toward Burke’s
saddlebags with the tip of his sword.

Reluctantly, Burke pulled the blade from his bags
and faced Ansel. The man took several steps forward, forcing Burke to back out
of the barn. Even as Ansel moved aggressively toward him, he kept the tip of
his sword lowered. He would not be the one to start this fight.

Once they were out in the open, Ansel didn’t waste
any time. He raised his large sword and swung it down on Burke. It had begun.

Burke blocked just quick enough to prevent the blade
from landing in the juncture between his shoulder and his neck. The force of
Ansel’s blow sent reverberations through his arms, though. The man was clearly
a skilled fighter, and his anger likely fueled him.

Ansel recovered from the block quickly and swung
again, this time at Burke’s other side. Just as the blade was descending
through the air, he heard Meredith’s gasp from behind Ansel. He managed to
block the blade once again, but the fraction of a second when his mind had been
on Meredith cost him. He pushed Ansel’s blade out of the way, but not quite
enough. The sword caught his shoulder, slicing into his flesh and drawing
blood.

He recovered and took several steps back, glancing
down at his shoulder. “You’ve drawn my blood and defended Sutherland honor. Are
you satisfied?”

“I’ll not be satisfied until I see your body in the
ground,” Ansel breathed heatedly.

“Ansel, stop this madness!” Meredith pleaded from
behind him. “I am going to marry him!”

Ansel kept his eyes on Burke, but spoke to his sister
over his shoulder. “Father would disown you if he could hear you now.”

Burke saw an opening for a new angle to reason with
Ansel. “But Murray Sutherland can’t hear her. He’s dead.”

Ansel’s eye’s narrowed, and with a wordless bellow,
he charged. Burke just barely managed to block three mighty blows, all
delivered in rapid succession, and all aimed to decapitate him. The sounds of
their swords clanging together broke the otherwise quiet summer morning.

As Burke continued to parry and block, sidestep and duck,
he became vaguely aware that the household staff of Brora Tower had come
hurrying out to the sounds of clashing metal. A dozen or so sets of eyes now
watched as Ansel continued to rain blows down on him.

“Your father is dead, Ansel,” Burke panted, his arms
growing heavy from the weight of his sword and the near-constant hail of
strikes. He didn’t quite sidestep fast enough, and Ansel’s blade slid across
his side. He vaguely registered the sting and the feel of blood flowing down
his side. “This feud between us can die with him!”

Just as Ansel raised his sword for yet another
attack, he paused, seeming to falter for a moment. Burke decided to take a
chance and risk everything. He threw his sword down, to the gasps of surprise
from those watching.

“Let us end this needless animosity between our
clans,” he said lowly. “Let it begin with my love for Meredith, and hers for
me.”

Uncertainty flickered across the other man’s
features. “It is my responsibility as my father’s son to carry on his legacy
and protect my family and clan.”

“But is it really best for your family and clan to
carry on a legacy of hate? I won’t fight you, Ansel. Let us make peace.”

Ansel’s features hardened, and Burke feared he had
made a fatal miscalculation. “He wasn’t a perfect man, but he was my father.
The Sutherlands and Sinclairs have been enemies for as long as anyone can
remember. Now fight me!” He closed the distance between them like lightening,
raising his sword to Burke’s exposed neck. “Fight me!”

“Nay, brother!” Meredith screamed. She launched
herself forward and between the two men so that she faced Ansel and shielded
Burke with her body.

I will not lose him again
.

“Meredith, get out of the way!” Ansel shouted at
her, his fury and frustration evident on his face.

“Stay back, Meredith,” Burke panted behind her.

“I won’t, not until you listen to me, Ansel.”

Her brother’s chest rose and fell rapidly, the
battle-lust still running in his veins. But his eyes, so much like hers,
flickered to her for a moment. Slowly, he lowered the tip of his sword from
Burke’s neck.

She took a deep breath. “You are not our father,
Ansel. You do not need to defend my honor, especially since there has been no
wrong. But more importantly, you do not need to carry on with this feud just
because Father wouldn’t let it go.”

“The Sinclairs have raided our lands for decades!”

“Aye, and Sutherland men have raided right back! How
did it all start, though? Do you even know? Does anyone here remember?” she
said, turning to the gathered household staff, who stood tensely nearby.

Ansel frowned. “It had to do with taxes. Many years
ago, our ancestors raised taxes on Sinclairs who lived on Sutherland lands.”

“The Sinclairs revolted and roasted the tax
collector alive,” Burke said from behind her.

“Then the Sutherlands were instructed by the King to
restore order. They rounded up the revolters and burned them alive as
retribution,” Ansel finished, eying Burke warily. “The story goes that they
even fed the charred remains to the dogs for good measure.”

Meredith cringed at the gruesome history. “Haven’t
both clans’ ancestors suffered enough? Haven’t we all suffered enough under
these never-ending hostilities?” She locked eyes with her brother, conveying to
him without words the pain she endured now.

“I have always done my duty to Father and this
family. Despite my pleas to be allowed to marry the man I loved—the man I still
love—” she glanced over her shoulder at Burke, who was watching her closely,
“—I obeyed Father and married Chisolm.”

“The bastard,” Ansel muttered, some of the heat
coming back to his voice, but this time it was directed at her deceased husband
rather than Burke.

“Now he’s dead, along with our father, and yet those
two men continue to rule our lives.” She turned halfway toward Burke and took
his hand. “This is the man I love, Ansel, and I will marry him. He is a good
and honorable man, and I wish you could see that and give me your blessing.”
She steadied herself by looking into Burke’s deep blue eyes. Then she spoke the
words she feared to say yet knew in her heart to be true.

“But even if you don’t give me your blessing, I will
marry him anyway. I have given my life, my happiness, to Father’s sense of
duty. No more. You do not get a say in this, Ansel. I love you, but you will
not decide this for me.”

His dark eyes widened and he opened his mouth to
object, but halted before the words came out. His gaze bore into her, searching
her. She met his eyes unflinchingly, unafraid to show him just how serious she
was.

Then he shifted his gaze to Burke, who stood at her
side in front of him, hand in hand, bleeding and half-naked but resolute.
Ansel’s eyes lingered on the red Sinclair plaid belted around Burke’s waist.

Meredith held her breath, fearing all was lost. But
then he spoke, and his words shook her so deeply that her knees wobbled.

“You’re right, Meredith.” He dropped his sword into
the grass at his feet. “Father thought he was doing what was best for you and
the clan, and you have suffered for it. I think he knew only a few days after
the wedding that he had made a mistake. But you were the one who had to live
with the consequences. I…I only want what is best, and I don’t want to fail the
clan, but I
cannot
fail you again, as our father did.”

Tears blurred Meredith’s vision, but she could see
that her brother was still chewing on something by the frown on his face.

“You spoke of peace, Sinclair. What did you have in
mind?” Ansel asked, pinning Burke with a hard look.

“For starters, I’m going to marry Meredith,” Burke
said levelly.

“And you are doing so because you love her? Not
because you are honor-bound to do so after I caught you with her in the barn?”

Burke smiled a little and gave her hand a squeeze. “She
is the only woman I have ever loved, the only woman I will ever love. I am
asking her to marry me freely.”

“And you, Meredith? You want to wed this…man?”

“More than anything I have ever wanted before,
brother.”

Ansel narrowed his eyes at Burke again. “And what of
our clans, of the raiding and trade embargos and hostilities?”

“If I understand correctly, you are close with your cousin,
Laird Kenneth Sutherland.”

Ansel nodded in response.

“I am Laird Sinclair’s right-hand man. Perhaps we
can arrange a meeting between the two of them to discuss an end to the
hostilities. We all fight for Robert the Bruce now—perhaps our alliance can
also help the cause for independence.”

Her brother nodded slowly. “That would be…good.” The
fires of battle were finally doused in him.

She let go of Burke’s hand so that she could throw
her arms around Ansel and hug him close as if they were children again. Though
tears of joy choked her, she knew he would understand how much his actions
meant to her.

“Beg pardon, milday, milord,” Beth said from the
crowd of gathered servants behind them. “Does this mean that we should prepare
for a wedding celebration?”

Ansel broke their embrace and locked eyes with
Meredith, waiting for her response. His silence and deference meant more to her
than anything he could have spoken then.

She glanced back at Burke, who stood shirtless and
bloodied, but whose eyes were lit with a deep and abiding love.

“Aye, Beth, we’ll celebrate a week from today,” she
said through the lump in her throat. “It will be a union between not only two
people, but two clans.”

As the household staff filed back into the tower,
Meredith went to Burke’s side once more.

“I’ve already waited ten years to marry you, and now
you’ll make me wait another week?” he said in a low, teasing whisper.

Ansel apparently overheard him, though. “Are you
pressuring my sister already, Sinclair?”

“His name is Burke, brother,” Meredith said with
exasperation. Burke only chuckled.

Ansel grunted and picked up his sword from the
ground, resheathing it. “Well, Burke, you fight fairly well—for a Sinclair,
that is.”

Burke raised an eyebrow at her brother. “Perhaps we
can try again some time—on the practice field, of course.” He extended his hand
to Ansel, and after a brief hesitation, Ansel took his forearm in a firm shake.

Meredith blinked, trying to remember this moment
forever. Her brother, a Sutherland, was shaking hands with the man she loved, a
Sinclair. She had once thought that she was fated never to know happiness,
never to truly feel alive and free. But as Burke wrapped a hand around her
waist and leaned in for a kiss, she knew her life had finally begun, and all
the happiness in the world awaited her.