Highland Hellion (Highland Weddings #3)(4)

“I’m no’ talking to ye like ye’re a child,” Robert said, defending himself. “Just—”

“Like a woman?” she demanded. “Go take the hand of Satan and walk yourself to hell.”

His cheeks darkened. “Ye have to stop talking like that, too. Women do nae curse.”

“Easily accomplished,” she informed him. “For I will not be speaking to you anymore.”

She turned to leave, but Robert reached out and caught her wrist. The bit of strength was there, one she knew and detested because it proved that time was going to destroy the life she had thought she’d built.

“Kat,” he said. “Do nae be cross with me. Ye are a woman, and they are right. The bloody Gordons will no’ rape me. Ye need to keep to yer place. Do ye want to be known as a hellion? No man will ever have ye if that happens.”

“And so my entire worth should be measured by what a man wants?” She scoffed at him. “My prospects for a good match died when I was abducted by the Earl of Morton.”

Robert didn’t disagree. He wanted to, opening his mouth but shutting it when he couldn’t form an argument.

“Keep yer hands off me,” she declared before she twisted and stepped to the side, breaking his grip. “And do not follow me to speak to me alone. It is improper.”

She turned her back on him and found Marcus considering them. She lifted her chin and shot him a hard look.

Wasn’t that what they all wanted? Her acting like a woman?

Well, she’d certainly not be apologizing.

Even though she ached to, for Robert was her only true friend.

And now, she was forbidden that comfort.

Why had Fate cursed her with being a female?

*

“Did Katherine stay with ye today?”

Helen looked up from the baby and sent Marcus a tired look. “Aye.”

He placed his sword by their bed and reached down to gently stroke the hair away from the face of their older son, Rae, who was fast asleep in his trundle bed near the wall.

“Ye know why it must be so,” he remarked to his wife as he sat down on the edge of the bed and began to work the lace holding his boot closed.

“I also recall very well how it feels to be a stranger here,” Helen replied. “I saw that look in Katherine’s eyes today.”

“She’ll settle in.”

“Because she’s a woman?” Helen scoffed at him, upsetting Roderick. She drew in a deep breath as she soothed the infant and guided him back to her nipple.

“Because there is no other choice,” Marcus said once the sound of suckling resumed. “We have both done as much as we can for the lass. I thank God she is no’ sitting here as me wife.”

“Aye,” Helen agreed. “Morton was a fool to try to force that match. Katherine was far too young.”

“She is nae any longer, and I am no’ the one who stole her from her family. I simply made sure she’d not be wed to another man who valued Morton’s opinion more than decency,” Marcus said as he lay back in the bed. “Ye know it must be done.”

Helen still sent him a look that made it clear she disagreed.

Marcus let out a sigh. “If she was caught with a sword or, worse yet, using one, she might well be accused of being bewitched, if no’ an outright witch. For all that we’re no’ feuding, there is plenty of bad blood between the MacPhersons and Gordons to make them want a little retribution.”

“And what better target than an English girl that we call yer sister,” Helen finished. “I recall well yer reasoning for training her.”

“Aye.” Marcus reached for their son now that the baby was fed. “Morton would no’ be able to call it feuding if the Gordons claimed it was a matter of witchery. The lass was trying to ride out with us. She does nae understand the evil that is inside some men. Colum Gordon has more than his share. It has been festering since Bhaic killed Lye Rob Gordon, and Colum is too old to see the truth of the matter.”

Helen lay back, enjoying the sight of her husband cradling their newest babe. Marcus was huge and hard, but he cupped the baby’s head and smiled. Yet it was a happiness that must be earned. Strength meant stability in the Highlands. Clans would do anything to ensure they were not viewed as weak.

It was a truth she didn’t care for much, but one she would have to make certain Katherine understood.

*

She was a woman, and yet vastly different from those around her.

Katherine tried to smile, but discovered her attempts were greeted with uncertainty. The women inside Castle MacPherson knew one another as well as the men in the yard did. But they did not know her, and Katherine discovered herself a stranger among them all over again. It was daunting and, coupled with her lack of friends, sometimes overwhelming.

She walked to the stables one evening because the feeling of flour between her fingers became too much to bear.

At least she’d finished her duties, so no one bothered to follow her.

The sun was a glowing ball on the horizon, the air still warm with the promise of summer. She inhaled deeply, enjoying the scent of the outdoors.

She’d missed it sorely.

There was a snort as her horse caught sight of her. The animal tossed its head, making Katherine smile.

“I missed you too,” she whispered as she rubbed its muzzle. The animal was dancing, its hooves kicking up a small cloud of dust.