Born in Sin (16 page)

Simon paused, then drew his brows together sternly. “Oh, wait, I’m in Scotland, where they hate us English. Damn, my chances with the women have just fallen to nil.” He sighed dramatically. “Wasn’t there a monastery a few leagues back? Mayhap I should go take my vows and just save myself the embarrassment of being sneered at.”

Callie laughed even harder. “Oh, Simon. I, for one, am very happy that you came along. We shall just have to teach you to wear a plaid and speak a little Gaelic.”

Simon cleared his throat and whispered to Sin loud enough so that Callie could hear him. “Is it true the men wear nothing beneath their plaids?”

“Aye.”

He shuddered and met her gaze. “I’ll be keeping my breeches on, if it’s all the same to you.”

“Your choice,” she said, opening the door to Simon’s room.

Simon entered and closed the door, while Sin followed her across the hall to her chambers.

Sin paused in the doorway as he looked around the cheery room. The large bed was draped with burgundy serge, and warm blankets and pelts covered the mattress. There was an elegant carved trunk beneath the window of rose-tinted glass and on top was an assortment of dolls. The walls around them had been painted in light blues and white in soothing geometrical patterns.

He felt strange entering here. As if he were intruding into something very private.

“Will you not come in?” she asked.

Sin forced himself over the threshold, yet he couldn’t stop the feeling that he had no business here. With her.

He dropped his saddlebags by the trunk and unbelted his sword.

Callie watched the stiff way he moved. He was so guarded and cold. She ached for the playful Sin she had glimpsed in London and for a very brief time on the stairs with Simon.

She folded down the bedcovers so that he could rest should he need to. “Would you like for me to summon a bath for you?”

“Nay. I’ll just rest for a bit.”

She stepped closer to him. “Are you all right?”

“I’m fine.”

She reached up to touch his face and half expected him to dodge her hand.

He didn’t.

Sin knew he should move away, but the comfort of her hand on his skin held him immobile. He’d been in caustic environments, surrounded by people who hated him the whole of his life. There was nothing new about this situation. Nothing except for the friendship she and Simon offered him.

For the first time in his life, he didn’t feel all alone. And before he realized what he was doing, he dipped his head down and captured her lips with his own.

He moaned at the taste of her mouth, the sweetness of her breath. She wrapped her arms around him, drawing him even closer to her warmth.

Sin felt himself slipping even more. He wanted her in a way he’d never wanted anything else in his life. He wanted to hold her inside his withered heart, to keep her safe and protected, and yet he knew the foolishness of the thought.

He could never subject a woman like this to the horror of being an outcast. Her people were part of her and they would never accept him.

If his own brothers’ people couldn’t tolerate him, what hope did he have for these strangers? At least the members of the MacAllister clan had seen him as a child. Knew he technically belonged to them.

But even then, they had never really accepted him.

They had seen the scorn their lady bore for him and they had followed suit. While his brothers had been welcomed, he had always been an afterthought. Provided they even remembered him afterward.

He pulled back from her. “You should go visit with your family.”

“You are my family, Sin.”

Sin choked as a tidal wave of emotions tore through him. The force of it actually made his eyes tear for an instant. Aching and lost, he moved away from her.

“Milord?”

“Leave me,” he growled.

“Sin?” She touched his arm.

Sin tore himself away from her and the confusing emotions she stirred. He needed time alone. Time to think through all this. Time to quell his body and soothe his soul.

“Just go!” he roared. “Leave me in peace.”

Callie didn’t know what to do. She’d never seen a
man in so much pain and she couldn’t fathom the cause. He was so angry and, in truth, frightening like this.

Part of her wanted to wrap her arms around him and hold him close, but she didn’t dare. He reminded her of a viper coiled and ready to strike out. Unwilling to push him, she nodded. “Should you need me, I will be below with my uncle.”

Sin heard the door close behind her. He was so volatile, he wanted to tear something into pieces.

Most of all, he just wanted the pain in his heart to stop. He wanted to go downstairs and claim his wife. To live in the bliss of her acceptance.

Was that so much to ask?

In his mind’s eye, he saw the way Draven had been with his wife and child. He ached with envy. A warm hearth and loving arms were not something he could ever have.

If your own mother can’t stomach you, why should I
? His stepmother’s angry words echoed through him.

Sin raked his hands through his hair and he did his best to squelch the memories. He didn’t want to think of the past.

“I don’t want anything,” he snarled.

And he didn’t. Not Callie, not his lands. Nothing. He just wanted…

Closing his eyes, he summoned the cocoon of empty numbness that he had lived in for so long. Here, there was no pain. No past.

There was nothing.

It was the only comfort a man like him could hope
for. Aye, here, if not the heaven of his wife’s touch, there was a facsimile of peace. And it was enough.

But inside, he knew better. Callie had ripped him from his cocoon and he would never be the same.

C
allie spent the afternoon visiting with her family and friends, catching up on all the news and events she had missed over the last few months. Seana had had a little boy named Graham. Susannah had married her betrothed and now she thought she might be with child. Morna had kept the village brewer company while worried out of her mind about Callie and Jamie.

And Dermot had been in love three times in the last two months. At least that was what Morna had told her. Callie wanted to ask her brother about the matter, but had a hard time, since he refused to get near her due to his unreasonable anger toward Sin.

Still, it was so good to see all of them again. Even Dermot, who really was behaving like a doormat. One all prickly and ready to chafe her feet if she got close to him.

Luckily her Aunt Diera, whom they had been planning to visit when they had been taken by Henry, was all healed and better from her fall.

All of them were delighted by her news of marriage until they learned Sin was an English lord. Then, one by one, she watched their faces fall and their eyes turn sharp with warning and loathing.

Callie was depressed by it. This wasn’t going to be easy. Morna was the only one who even attempted to be happy for her.

Now Callie sat alone with Morna, kneading bread in the kitchen while they caught up on all the weeks she had been in London.

Morna’s face was gentle as they worked, her eyes full of understanding. “I know ’tis hard, lovey, but what the others think isn’t important. It’s what you and Sin think.”

“Why are you the only one who can accept him?”

Morna smiled while she floured her hands. Her long, dark brown hair was coiled becomingly around her head and she wore a red and green plaid over her kirtle. “Because I was once in Sin’s shoes. When your da met me, I knew in an instant I would never love another man the way I loved him. He was the only thing in my world and I wanted him so much that my heart wept constantly in fear that he would have nothing to do with me.”

“My father loved you.”

“Aye, he did. But he was a fierce laird almost twice my age, and I the simple daughter of a shepherd. There were those such as Aster who fought hard to keep him from me.”

The news surprised her. She couldn’t recall a single time when Aster hadn’t been respectful and kind to Morna. Indeed, she remembered him welcoming her into the family with open arms. “Aster?”

“Aye, he thought I was only after your father’s money and position and that your da was a blind fool for running after a lass who was barely more than a child. He did everything he could to keep us apart. And there were others who thought the widower of a royal noblewoman had no business wasting time with the likes of me.”

Callie gasped indignantly at such snobbery. How dare anyone say such about someone as kind and loving as her precious Morna?

Morna handed her a pan for her loaf. “Even a little queen gem named Caledonia didn’t want me around.”

Callie blushed as she recalled the first year Morna had lived with them. In truth, she had been a rude little runt. But then, her heart had broken at the thought of her father forgetting her and her mother. She’d been terrified that he would love Morna more and send her off to live in the woods by herself.

They were all stupid fears, but as a young lass, they had seemed well founded. Luckily, Morna had possessed the strength and patience of a saint and had eventually won her over. “I am sorry for that.”

Morna patted her hand. “Don’t be. I’m just glad you eventually came around to liking me.”

“I love you, Morna. I couldn’t love you more if you were my mother.”

Morna gave her a warm hug. “And I feel the very same for you.”

Callie squeezed her stepmother’s hand as Morna released her. “I’m glad you stayed, but I fear Sin won’t. He has responsibilities in England that are bound to take him away.”

“Do you want him to stay?”

“Aye, for some reason I do.”

Morna gave her a probing stare. “For what reason?”

Callie turned her attention to the loaf she was shaping. Images of Sin whirled through her mind. His kindness with Jamie, his stubbornness with Draven. She remembered the way he felt in her arms, holding her. The way his hard muscles felt underneath her hands.

His lips on hers.

Most of all, she remembered the way he looked the first time she had been nice to him. The shocked disbelief in his eyes.

“He’s a good man in need of someone to love him, I think.”

Morna stepped away to put her loaves in the oven. “Well, I will do whatever I can to help. I’ll even take a stick to Aster’s backside if need be.”

Callie laughed at that. She’d love to witness the event.

Excusing herself, Callie put her loaves in, wiped her hands off, then went out into the great hall where the pantry was located. She remembered Sin liking the honey bread he had purchased for Jamie in London and wanted to surprise him with some tonight.

She paused as she entered the room.

To her instant dismay, there was a group of men milling around Aster in the great hall. At least a score of them. They spoke in low tones and it was the talk of them that scared her most.

“We don’t want no English devil in our midst. I say we send him back in pieces.”

Callie saw red.

“David MacDaniel,” she said, striding across room to stand in front of the big, burly brunette who had spoken those words. He stood even in height to her and wore a red and black plaid. He was handsome enough, but too bullish for her tastes. Not that it mattered. She just pitied his poor wife for having to deal with his mulish ways.

Callie put her hands on her hips and gave him a chiding glare. “I can’t believe you’d say such a thing about my husband.”

He refused to back down. “Why? It’s the truth. If there’s one Sassenach here, then there will be more sent. How long do you think it’ll be before Henry overruns us?”

“Let’s make an example of him! Show the English what we do when they dare—”

“Why don’t you do that?”

Silence descended instantly.

Callie turned to see Sin walking slowly down the stairs. He moved like a dangerous black lion. His shoulders were thrown back, his gait one of deadly precision. His black gaze swept the men with a steely glint that made several of them gulp audibly.

They stepped back, allowing Sin to approach the center of the group. An aura of power clung to him and sent a shiver over her.

Again she was struck by how little this lethal knight reminded her of the playful man who had teased her in the courtyard in London. When Sin wore his warrior’s cloak, he was truly something to behold, and yet she missed the more playful side of him. The side of him that could make her laugh and was full of tenderness.

But both sides of him made her quiver with desire.

He swept the men surrounding him with a cool, measuring glance. “You want me out of here? Pick twelve of your best and meet me outside in three minutes. If I win, all of you will do as I say…and if you win, I’ll go home.”

David snorted. “What kind of fools do you take us for? We know better than to trust the word of an Englishman.”

A taunting, evil smile hovered at the edges of Sin’s lips as he moved to stand before David. “What, are you afraid you can’t beat me?”

A roar went through the men.

“Those who are willing to try, meet me outside.” Sin strode casually from the hall, out the door.

Callie ran after him, her heart pounding in fear.

Twelve men against him? It was ludicrous! They would pound him into gravel.

Outside the door, on the stoop, she took his arm and pulled him to a stop. “Are you insane? They will mangle you.”

An amused gleam came into his dark eyes as he reached one hand up to cup her cheek. “Nay,
mon ange
, they won’t do anything more than hurt themselves by trying.”

Och, she could strangle him. “Must everything with you be a fight?”

A haunted look filled his eyes and he dropped his hand away from her cheek, leaving it cold without his warmth. “It’s all I know, Callie. Now stand aside.”

She saw the men coming outside. Her heart pounded even more furiously. She didn’t want him to do this.

“Aster!” she shouted to her uncle. “Stop them.”

“Nay, he issued the challenge and I will see it met.”

Before she could protest further, twelve men charged Sin. Callie crossed herself and cringed as they plowed into her husband and knocked him off his feet.

He rolled and came up standing, and when the next man charged, Sin grabbed his arm and flipped him up and over, to land on his back.

Gaping, she watched as he single-handedly brought all twelve men to the ground. Over and over. Every time one came at him, the man ended up at Sin’s feet. Her husband never drew a weapon and none of her clansmen ever got a single blow on him.

She’d never seen anything like it in her life.

Still her clansmen fought, and with every move they made, Sin made a countermove that had them flat in the dirt.

“He is a devil!” Aster snarled. “No man can fight like that.”

After several minutes, all twelve men lay on the ground, panting.

“Do you yield?” Sin asked as he surveyed her fallen clansmen. He wasn’t even breathing heavily. The only sign of their struggle was the dust on his clothes. “Or shall we continue this?”

Her clansmen pushed themselves up slowly. They looked at each other shamefaced. She could tell none wanted to admit defeat, but no one wanted to go at Sin another time, either.

The only one of the men to approach him again was Tavish MacTierney. Not too much shorter than Sin, he was twice as thick, with beefy, muscled arms. The man had never been defeated in a fight before. He
walked up to Sin slowly, calmly, then held his hand out to him.

“Tavish be my name, lad. It was a fair fight and I’ll be holding no grudges. One day, I’d really like you to show me how you did that.”

Sin stared at the proffered hand. It was a gesture he hadn’t expected.

“I’d be glad to.” He shook arms with the tall man, who reminded him quite a bit of his brother Ewan.

Tavish nodded, dusted his clothes off, then headed away from them, toward the castle gates.

The other men curled their lips while their eyes spoke loudly of the hatred they bore him.

Sin walked straight toward Aster, who glared his open hostility at him while the rest of the men dispersed. Their Gaelic insults were mumbled, but Sin heard and understood them all.

Aster didn’t even try to mask his feelings. So be it. He didn’t need the old man’s help to find the Raider.

Sin feigned a warm, taunting smile at Aster. “Looks like I’ll be staying, then.”

The old man looked as if Sin had just offered him a piece of excrement.

Callie breathed a sigh of relief even though she knew things were far from fine. In time they would see the man her husband was, and she hoped then they would learn tolerance.

She stepped forward, wanting to take Sin’s hand.

Faster than she could move, Sin grabbed her roughly, shoved her in front of him and held her at arm’s length. His grip was so tight on her upper arms that she protested audibly. He refused to let go.

Aster’s glare turned murderous.

A strange popping sound rent the air and Sin took a step forward, his gaze turning dull as his grip tightened even more. The familiar tic returned to his jaw.

Then as quickly as he had grabbed her, he let go.

“What was that about?” she asked as she rubbed her upper arms where his grip had bitten into her flesh.

Without answering, Sin whirled about, and it was then she saw the arrow that was embedded into his left shoulder.

Horror assailed her, and as she stared at the macabre sight of the arrow, she realized what Sin had done. He had known the arrow was coming and had held her still to make sure the arrow struck him and not her.

Her husband had saved her life.

“Find whoever did this,” Aster roared to the others before they could leave. “I want the head of whatever idiot took such a chance with Callie’s life!”

As the men ran about the yard looking for the culprit, Aster moved toward them. “Are you all right?”

“Nay, I am shot,” Sin said, his tone wry. Other than grimacing, he seemed completely oblivious to the wound. “And in truth I am quite vexed. When I find the coward who did this, I shall gladly give you his ballocks.”

Callie ached for the pain he must be in. “We need to get you inside….” Her voice trailed off as Sin stepped away from her and headed toward the wall.

She exchanged a puzzled frown with Aster. Whatever was Sin doing?

Aster shrugged as if reading her thoughts.

To her horror, Sin went to the wall and threw his
back against it, driving the arrow completely through his body.

Tears welled in her eyes as she fought down a scream and watched Sin snap the head of the arrow off with his good hand. His face pale, he walked stiffly toward them, then gave Aster his back. “Pull it out.”

By his expression, she could tell her uncle had never seen anything like it. “Good God, man, how can you stand to move?”

“If this was the worst wound of my life, I would be very fortunate indeed. Now pull it out so the wound can be stitched.”

Aster shook his head in disbelief as he took the arrow in his hand and Callie bit her lip in sympathetic pain.

Sin’s jaw flexed.

Instinctively, she took Sin’s right hand in hers and braced her left hand against his uninjured shoulder. He leaned forward against her arm, tensing in expectation of Aster’s actions.

Callie held his right hand between her breasts and stroked his fingers, seeking to give him whatever comfort she could.

With a frown, Sin looked at their hands joined, but said nothing. His gaze held hers and she saw the pain and anger that burned deep inside him.

“Thank you,” she whispered. “But I wish you had just told me to duck.”

Her words succeeded in lightening his face.

At least until Aster braced one hand against Sin’s injured shoulder, then tugged the wooden spindle free. Sin cursed loudly as he staggered forward a step.