Highlander Enchanted(51)

He released her for the first time since finding her in the hallway and crossed to a table with a pitcher and water on its surface.

Isabel hugged herself, her insides quaking and thoughts bouncing around her mind. She went to the hearth and stared at the flames. When she learnt of her brother’s death, she never would have known how her own path would change from that of a proper English noble to … this. The bride of the most feared Highland warrior. She braced herself and waited for him to ravage her with the same brutality he used to fight, to tear off her clothes and force her to consummate a marriage she did not want.

A knock sounded at the door.

She did not move, not caring who it was.

Cade answered it and let in his cousin. Niall was drenched and dripping rain onto the floor. Two bulging satchels were clenched in his hands. He slung both onto the bed.

“Are we ready?” Cade asked.

“Nearly,” Niall said. “I told Laird Duncan I brought you clothes and the writ.”

“Take him the writ and go to the horses. Make certain t’bring the writ back with ye. Father Adam is t’keep them all safe.”

Niall nodded.

She felt his long look in her direction.

“It is done?” he asked.

“Yea.”

“Verra well. I willna be long.” He left quietly, and Cade slid the bar over the door behind him.

Isabel willed herself to remain numb, unaffected by what was happening. But the mention of the writ sent a new streak of fear through her. She had secrets that were to remain secrets.

“What writ?” she ventured.

“Our marriage contract.”

She faced him, cheeks warm.

Cade had tugged on a tunic and was dumping the contents of the saddlebags onto the bed. A coil of rope, clothing, and weapons spilled out onto the bed. She studied the items and what he did, puzzled.

“The other contract will be destroyed,” he added tersely.

He made no move to touch her as a man did his wife. He was calmer, his mood reflected by the lack of thunder and lightning. The skies drizzled rather than poured. With his hair swept back and all signs of blood gone, he no longer resembled the beast who ripped men’s arms and heads off.

But he was the same man. He was the famed Black Cade.

“Why did you challenge Richard?” she whispered.

He paused in his sorting before his movement began again. “The MacCosse lands. My clan has no home.”

“And I can provide that.” Why was she disappointed, especially after seeing what he could do with his bare hands? “You finally believe me.”

“Yea. Niall went to the Scottish court and found the truth there.”

What truth? She was too afraid to ask what else he had learned from those who knew more of her secrets. “They are disputed, are they not?” she murmured. “You are the Lord of Saxony now. You can take your people to England.”

“England?” he repeated with a snort. “We’ll no’ leave the Highlands. None of us.”

She regarded the bedchamber with mild despair. It was comfortable and small – and nothing like her chamber in Saxony.

He approached her, and she went still, awaiting the inevitable when he made her his wife in every way. Cade lifted her chin to peer at her bruises.

“Richard?” he asked.

She pulled her chin free and nodded. Caught by his blue-grey eyes, she did not bow her head as she intended to. Cade gazed down at her, near enough for his body heat to reach her, along with his familiar scent. He touched her face once more with the backs of his fingers.

She winced.

“I willna hurt ye, Lady Cade,” he said.

She flushed, hating how suiting the mocking nickname now was. “After what you did to those knights …” She cleared her throat. “Forgive me if I cannot believe that, Laird Cade.”

“I didna wish ye t’see that side of me,” he admitted. “But perhaps it’s better ye did. The man known as Black Cade isna one I am proud of but he is part of me. I crossed into dark sorcery in the Holy Lands and awoke a demon within me. I canna cross back but I can control him.”

“He … you are terrifying,” she whispered.

“Yea.” He cupped her cheek in his hand, holding her gaze when she wanted away from him. “He canna hurt ye just as I canna. Yer touch drives him back inside me, where he belongs.”

“Why are you telling me this?”

“We shouldna have secrets anymore. Isna how this is to be? Man and wife?”

“I do not know,” she replied honestly. “You are my only husband.”

“Then we make it so,” he decided with a crooked smile. “Put these on.” He handed her clothing much thicker and plainer than that she wore and went to the items on the bed. “We doona have much time.”

She had been ready to fling herself from the walls of the keep so he did not ravish her. The next moment, she was starting to melt, touched by the insight into him, by his innocent belief there could be only truth between a husband and wife. She had never ventured to ask how it was to be between a married couple, never been informed by her wet nurse, either, who explained the duties of her wedding night to her.

“Do you truly believe we should have no secrets?” she asked, confused as to why she was intrigued by the notion of trusting him after the horrifying display in the Great Hall.