The Campbell Trilogy (45 page)

He laughed and pulled her into his arms. It was good enough.

Caitrina lay in bed, luxuriating in the warmth and security of her husband’s embrace. She nestled her naked backside against him, wiggling closer when he lightly squeezed the breast that he held cupped in his hand.

“You’re an insatiable wench,” he murmured against her ear, and the warmth of his breath at her ear sent shivers of desire down her spine that she would have thought impossible after their vigorous lovemaking of just moments ago. “I need my rest.”

The hardening against her buttocks belied his words. She circled her hips against him. “Liar.” He groaned, sliding his hands down her belly to between her legs, cupping her in his deft hand. “I’ve been thinking,” she said, pressing her hips against his hand.

“So I gather.”

“Not about that, you wretch.” She tapped him playfully on the arm but admitted to a certain curiosity about their current position.

His mouth trailed hot kisses down her neck and nape that made her body soften all over again with the tingly rush of pleasure. He kissed her harder as he pinched her nipple lightly between his fingers. “About what?”

Her eyes opened. “You’re trying to distract me.”

“Hmm.” He kissed her shoulder again. “Is it working?”

God, yes.
She could feel the round head nudging between her legs from behind as his finger dipped inside her. Her head fell back against his shoulder as his deft stroking brought her to the very brink of yet another torrential storm of pleasure.

Heat poured through her veins, heavy and slow, as he brought her hips back so that her back arched gently to position himself at her opening. She teased him mercilessly, rubbing him with the dampness of her own body but not taking him in. The sensation was incredible, his erection so big and thick between her thighs. She could tell from the harshness of his breathing that her teasing was driving him wild.

Finally he grabbed her hips and gently pushed inside her, stretching her, filling her. She moaned at the sensation.
God, what wickedness.
His hands were on her breasts and between her legs, caressing her as he drew in and out with long, slow strokes—letting her feel every inch of him. The pleasure that gripped her was indescribable.

He pressed her back tightly against his body and thrust up high inside her, holding still. She gasped at the incredible sensation as her body tingled around him, as the tremble of release built. Just when she thought she couldn’t stand it any longer, he slid a little deeper, holding her tight against him until she came apart in a slow, intense shattering that seemed to go on forever. He thrust high inside her again, bringing her hips against him hard in rapid succession as he cried out his own release.

Well after the last shudder had faded, she remembered what she’d been about to say before he’d so effectively distracted her. “You let him escape, didn’t you?”

He went still behind her for a second, but it was confirmation enough. “Why do you say that?”

“You would never allow a prisoner to slip away.”

“Your confidence in my skills is flattering, but I assure you I’m not infallible.”

She snorted. “Tell me the truth.”

He shrugged.

“But why? Did you have second thoughts about what your cousin would do?”

“No. Argyll wouldn’t have liked it, but he would have kept his promise. I just made it easier on him by giving your brother a choice.”

Caitrina couldn’t believe it. “You mean Niall chose to be an outlaw rather than return to Ascog? But why would he do that?”

“I think he had other things he needed to do,” Jamie said gently.

Caitrina swallowed. Because of what had happened, she realized. The fight had become personal, and Niall would never rest until someone had paid for what had been done to the woman he loved. Her heart broke for him, even as it did for herself.

“He loves you, Caitrina. I know it wasn’t an easy decision.”

She smiled, hearing the concern in her husband’s voice. “I know, but thank you for telling me.” As much as she wished Niall had chosen to return to Ascog, as much as she wanted to hold on to him and protect him, he had to make his own decision. But she also knew what it meant: Niall was an outlaw, lost to her and their clan probably forever. “He will never be able to take his rightful place as chief.”

“Aye. Brian will be the next chief—when he is ready. I will hold Ascog for him until then.”

She didn’t know what to say. “You would do that?” Brian had the makings of a good chief, and under Jamie’s tutelage and guidance, she knew he would grow to be a great one.

He nodded. “It’s rightfully his.”

“And Argyll?”

He grinned. “My cousin doesn’t like to lose land, but in this case he agreed.”

But there was one thing that she still didn’t understand. “Why did you do it, Jamie? Why did you decide to let Niall go?”

He leaned up on his arm so he could look into her eyes. “Justice.”

“And justice would not be served here at Dunoon?”

“Not in this case. The law will not help your brother.”

She lifted an eyebrow, surprised to hear such blasphemy from his lips. “Is not the law the same as justice?”

“I thought it was.”

“But now you don’t?”

He grinned and dropped a soft kiss on her mouth, lingering for a moment before lifting his head. “I think there may be some room for interpretation. A wee lass once accused me of being driven by the past.”
By Duncan.
“It turns out there might have been an element of truth to her assessment.”

“Oh, really?”

His mouth quirked. “Perhaps a bit.”

Her heart soared, realizing what Jamie had done for her. He’d compromised his duty to help Niall. She knew how he felt about outlaws after his brother’s dishonor—yet he’d helped her brother even though he knew Niall was fighting with the MacGregors.

“What about the MacGregors?”

He shook his head. “You’re as relentless as your brother. No amount of sympathy for their plight will atone for their crimes, but …” He paused. “I will do what I can to ensure that they—as any man—are treated fairly.”

A wide smile spread across her face. How could she have ever doubted him? Argyll was fortunate to have a man like Jamie at his side. They both were. And Jamie, she suspected, was an important tempering force to his cousin. If Argyll crossed the line, Jamie would be there to do something
about it. Caitrina bit her lip to keep from laughing. And if Jamie forgot, she would be there to remind him.

She’d made her choice and chosen her husband. She could trust him to do what was right for the future of the Highlands. The problems facing them were not easy ones. Jamie walked a precipitous line between the Highland divide, and she loved him for the strong, fair-minded man that he was.

Caitrina laughed, happier at that moment than she’d ever been in her life. All she’d ever wanted was standing right in front of her. Home. Security. Love. She would never forget the past, but she could make a new future. And she was ready to do so.

She looked deep into his eyes. “I love you, Jamie Campbell.”

He placed a tender kiss on her soft lips. “And I love you. Although I never thought to hear those two words together.”

“What?”

“Love and Campbell.”

She grinned. “Get used to it. You’ll be hearing them forever.”

Author’s Note

Jamie Campbell is based on a compilation of historical figures. Most significant: Sir Dugald Campbell of Auchinbreck (the captain of Castleswene and the man said to have convinced the MacGregor to surrender to Argyll, although some sources lay the blame for this on Campbell of Ardkinglas; Auchinbreck’s father died fighting for Argyll at the battle of Glenlivet); James Campbell of Lawers (known as one of the most ruthless hunters of MacGregors); and Donald Campbell of Barbreck-Lochow (the natural son of Campbell of Calder, said to be the strong arm of Argyll and the keeper of Mingarry Castle). An interesting side note for readers of my first trilogy: One of Auchinbreck’s daughters, Florence, married John Garve Maclean, the son of Lachlan of Coll and Flora MacLeod (from
Highlander Unchained).

Caitrina and her immediate family are also fictional characters. However, the attack and razing of Ascog Castle was loosely inspired by an actual event—much more horrific than the one I described—that occurred about forty years later, in 1646, during the British Civil Wars. Then, the Lamonts were supporters of the Royalists and the Marquis of Montrose, putting them in direct conflict with the Marquis of Argyll (Archibald the Grim’s son).

Following the defeat of the Campbells at the battle of Inverlochy in 1645 by James Graham, first Marquis of Montrose, the Lamonts ravaged Campbell lands. A year later, when Montrose had been defeated, Argyll sought his revenge,
attacking the Lamonts at Toward and Ascog with “Fire and Sword.” The Lamonts surrendered under an agreement of safe conduct. Instead, over one hundred (perhaps as many as two hundred) clansmen were taken to Dunoon. Thirty-six men were hanged in the kirkyard. There were even reports of men being buried alive. Today there is a memorial at Dunoon to the Lamonts who were killed that day.

Both Ascog and Toward castles were destroyed, leaving only ruins.

The massacre of Toward (and Ascog) would come back to haunt the Marquis of Argyll. The sister of Lamont of Toward, Isobel, apparently managed to smuggle out (in her hair) a signed copy of the “articles of capitulation” promising safe conduct. Sixteen years later, it was one of the pieces of evidence used to convict the Marquis of Argyll, who would eventually be sentenced to death.

Though the immediate cause of the dispute between Campbell and Lamont was the British Civil Wars, clan Lamont’s bond with the MacGregors may also have been a factor. The tale of Highland hospitality between the Lamonts and MacGregors occurred sometime in the early seventeenth century. Significantly, the Lamonts are said to have repaid the MacGregors’ hospitality by sheltering the MacGregors when they were proscribed—an offense punishable by death.

The story of Archibald the Grim, the seventh Earl of Argyll’s “Highland Promise” in the death of the MacGregor, happened much as I described—albeit a few years earlier. Alexander MacGregor of Glenstrae, known as “the Arrow of Glen Lyon,” was hanged and quartered in Edinburgh with ten of his men on January 20, 1604. Twenty-five MacGregors were executed in total over the next few weeks. As I alluded to in the book, following his execution there was a resurgence of violence by the MacGregors. One of the clans targeted by the MacGregors was the MacLarens—
mentioned in the story—a neighboring clan who occupied Balquhidder until they were ousted by the MacGregors.

I condensed the persecution and many of the prohibitions against the MacGregors into one period, but the campaign against clan Gregor spanned a number of years. The biggest push occurred in 1604 (the year following the battle of Glenfruin—the massacre of Colquhouns by the MacGregors) and then in a renewed assault in 1611. However, there is evidence that the clan was hardly subdued in the intervening years. A letter in 1609 from Sir Alexander Colquhoun of Luss to the king in London complained of the lack of progress in the campaign against clan Gregor.

The persecution of the ill-fated clan Gregor, the fabled “Children of the Mist,” by the Earl of Argyll is well-known. Whether his motivation was simply land or something more personal, we’ll never know. Though Argyll has been relegated by history as the “bad guy,” it is clear that atrocities were committed on both sides.

The Duke of Argyll is still the hereditary keeper of the royal castle of Dunoon and pays the nominal rent of a red rose—last given to Queen Elizabeth II on her visit to the castle.

The Lomond Hills (so labeled on John Speed’s map of 1610) referred to in the story are today better known as the broad area around the Trossachs.

For more on the Earl of Argyll and the MacGregors, please see the “Special Features” section of my website,
www.monicamccarty.com
.