Excerpt from Undeniable
Highlands Forever, Book Two
Chapter One
Clan MacKay lands
Northern shore of the Scottish Highlands, 1465
Helen Sutherland remembered the day her dear friend had shown up at Dunrobin Castle seeking help. Keely MacKay tried to be gracious, but she was desperate and hungry, her beautiful black hair a tangled mess, and her gown soaked from the rain. Whatever or whoever the lady was running from had brought her to Helen, who wouldna turn away a stray dog, much less a woman. With a whispered word in her father’s ear, the earl granted Keely safe haven. And in the five years Keely stayed, Helen had gained a best friend and sister.
All of Helen’s hope hung on those fond memories. If Laird MacKay or Keely turned her away, she’d have no choice but to return home to a father she dinna trust. She dismounted and walked the short distance to the closed gates of the MacKay keep. A dozen torches were lit along the wall, casting shadows on the freshly fallen snow. Helen looked about as a deep chill made her teeth chatter. Though she was wearing fur-lined boots and a fur cloak, the cold deprived her of all warmth. She’d been riding for days on little sleep and even less food.
“Who is at the gate?” A man called to her.
“I am a friend of Lady Keely, and have traveled a long way to see her.”
“In the middle of the night during a snow storm?”
“Please, sir,” Helen pleaded. “Tell the laird I am here.”
There was movement behind the gate and it opened part way. “Who is here?” the guard asked.
She lowered her hood. “Helen.”
The man looked her up and down, not hiding his attraction. “If it’s a warm bed ye seek, we need not bother the laird.”
Helen chewed on her bottom lip, afraid if she offended the guard that he’d never let her inside the bailey. “I thank ye for yer generous offer, but the laird must know I am here.”
The guard grunted. “As ye wish, Helen.” He said her name as if it were a dirty word.
She must make it clear who she was, that she expected to be treated with respect and dignity. Though she preferred not using her sire’s name to gain favor, she’d do it to ensure her safety. “Helen Sutherland,” she clarified.
The guard’s shoulders stiffened. “The earl’s daughter?”
“Aye.”
The man scratched his head, then turned back from the gate. “Stay with Lady Sutherland while I get Laird Alex.”
“Aye,” a male voice said as the gate opened wider revealing a younger man with red hair. “Ye are a long way from home.”
“Aye.” And the farther she got, the better her chances for happiness.
“Here.” The soldier flung a wineskin at her. “Take a drink, it will warm ye from the inside out.”
Helen dinna care what was in the skin, she drank greedily, choking down the foul-tasting liquid. The guard chuckled as she handed the skin back. “Thank ye.”
He nodded and took a swig. “Makes a man unafraid of anything. Not sure what it will do to a woman.”
Helen could only guess as the warmth the strong spirits caused in her belly slowly spread to her arms and legs.
“The laird is coming,” the lad said, straightening as he hid the wineskin under his cloak.
Helen prepared herself mentally for what she’d say to the man she’d never met, but had heard so much about. Her sire hated Alexander MacKay and everything he represented. But her eldest brother respected the laird—he had bollocks of steel—that’s what Gawain had said after Alex had sent her bastard brother, Struan, home trussed up like a wild beast with a missive attached.
“Helen Sutherland?” The gates opened all the way.
“Aye.” Helen immediately felt at ease. Alex MacKay was fair-haired and tall. He possessed the noble features of a Highland laird, yet there was a savage air about him.
“I am Alex MacKay, Keely’s husband.”
Helen curtsied. “I know it is late, and I am sorry to disturb the peace in yer home. But my father is a raving lunatic, and I had to get away before he married me off to a decrepit and cruel laird from the isles. This is the only place I thought of—Keely is my only friend. There is nowhere else for me to go.”
Would he accept her? She’d risked everything to get away from Dunrobin, and had done it with such ease because no one would ever suspect her of doing anything wrong. Helen had been the perfect daughter until her father announced her betrothal to Laird Munroe—a man fifteen years her senior with a violent reputation, six illegitimate daughters, and two dead wives. The man needed an heir.
“Ye are welcome here,” Alex said.
It took her a moment to understand what he meant. “I am?”
“Aye.” He offered his arm and she took it, her leather boots crunching through the snow as they walked together.
“Where is yer escort?” Alex asked, obviously surprised she would be travelling by herself.
“Escort?” she repeated as they stepped inside the great hall.
Alex ushered her to the hearth and into a chair. Helen removed her wet gloves and leaned close to the fire, rubbing her hands together.
“Not one man in service to my sire would dare help me. I am chattel, Laird MacKay, meant for one purpose.”
“And what is that?”
“To increase my father’s wealth through a strategic marriage. My heart and happiness have no value in my sire’s eyes.”
“What man did he choose for ye?”
“Laird Baran Munroe.”
Alex’s expression darkened. “No friend of the MacKays.”
“No friend to anyone from what I hear,” she added morosely. “Quick temper, and a murderer if the rumors are true.”
“Aye,” Alex said. “His second wife gave birth to a stillborn lass, and he starved her to death soon after. I am sorry for yer misfortune.”
“As am I.”
“Surely yer father knows the man’s history.”
“Aye. That dinna stop him from signing the betrothal contract. Though in my sire’s defense, he made sure to include conditions for my protection—that Laird Munroe would never deprive me of food and water, or beat me to death if I gave him daughters.”
Alex scratched his chin. “A generous concession on both men’s parts, I am sure.”
Helen laughed, something she hadna done in quite a while. “My father isna a bad man, Laird Alex. He’s simply unfit to be my sire. I am to blame, too. For I have been too quiet and far too obedient all these years, leading my sire to think that I would do anything he asked of me.”
Alex’s sly smile reached his green eyes. “Keely wouldna love a lass so much who dinna have spirit.”
The praise pleased Helen. “How is my friend?”
“Yer timing is of interest,” he admitted. “Keely has just given birth to twins, my son and daughter.”
Helen jumped up. “Is she…”
“Resting comfortably and happy.”
“Thank God.” It had been so long since she’d heard anything from Keely. Communication between them had been cut off after Struan failed to bring Keely home as his bride. “May I see her?”
“In the morn,” he offered. “After she’s rested a spell.”
“I understand, milord.”
“Tis nothing against ye, Lady Helen.”
She smiled softly. Their reunion was long overdue.
“Do ye like children?”
“I adore bairns,” she said sincerely—hoping to have her own someday. “New life is the promise of a new tomorrow.”
“I couldna agree more. Are ye hungry?”
Just the mention of food made Helen’s stomach rumble. “Very.”
“If ye wait here, I will arrange for one of the maids to prepare a meal and yer bedchamber.”
“Thank ye.”
She watched Laird Alex leave the great hall. Her hope had not been wasted on the MacKays. Keely had chosen well, which made Helen very happy. Just then, something or someone moved to her left. The hall was otherwise quiet, not another person within. Sure to make it look like she dinna see anything, she shifted in the chair, turning just enough to take a casual look in that direction.
A tall, lean man with red hair caught her attention. Their gazed met, and Helen was sure she had never seen a more handsome man. He nodded at her, and she turned back to the fire. Maybe the shadows were playing games with her mind. After all, she was exhausted and hungry, cold and perhaps even a little drunk from the spirits she drank with the guard outside. No man should look that dangerous—that tempting—that unreal.
Aye, she’d blame it on anything else but reality. Helen closed her eyes and forced the man’s face from her mind. She hadna come here to find a husband, she’d come to the MacKays in search of sanctuary, in search of a new life away from her father. And if she intended to keep that new life, she must guard herself against anyone who could take it away from her.
Which included all men, especially the redheaded one in the great hall.