In the weeks that followed, Wick picked out an elegant dun mare for Lora to learn to ride. Having spent all that time on the horse with Wick those first few days, she was an apt student. He didn’t stop with riding either. Wick taught her to use the crossbow and the broadsword, only they trained with wooden swords with blunt tips. He also showed her how to defend herself hand to hand.
No one in the mountain community would dare to harm Wick’s wife even if she were from the lake clans---especially since their chieftain had accepted her. But Wick was sure Vargan would figure out where his betrothed had been taken. Eventually, he would come for her. Since he couldn’t be with her every minute, he needed her to be able to defend herself.
It was midwinter when Lora began getting sick to her stomach, refusing food more often than not and throwing up almost daily. Worried that Lora had gotten some terrible illness, he asked Prianne, the nurse midwife to see her. Wick considered she might be pregnant, but he couldn’t be sure. But Prianne reassured him. Lora was pregnant, and Prianne gave her an herbal tea to help with nausea that started to taper off a couple weeks later.
Lora not only got back her appetite for food, but her desire for him also resurged as well. While part of him still mourned the death of his brother, his life otherwise was the best it had ever been. Lora was not only giving him a child, but he had come to love her more than he ever dreamed. Yet, he still couldn’t say the words. He never said the words, but he had shown her with his kisses and the pleasure he made sure to give her when he made love to her.
The day of reckoning came late in the Spring. Vargan Rode and lake clansmen rode their horses into Wick’s front yard. It wasn’t a surprise because one of his men warned him about the band of thugs riding hard toward the ranch. Wick asked them to arm themselves and stay out of sight before Vargan arrived.
“McKell, I’ve come for my woman. Send her out, and we will leave you in peace,” Vargan shouted. Vargan was tall and blond, with a darker beard, every bit as powerfully build as Wick. But Vargan amber eyes reflected the cruel streak that most of the Rode men carried from the time of Victor Rode.
Wick sent his men to wait out of sight because he wanted Vargan to think he was alone there with Lora. Vargan was known for his lies and underhanded dealings. The only acceptable way for Wick to settle with Vargan was to fight him one on one, with no interference from either side.
His clansmen would make sure it happened exactly that way.
Wick knew there was a chance Vargan would kill him and take Lora, he could try, but he wouldn’t get her without a fight. He made his cousin swear to protect Lora and his unborn child if Vargan killed him. Of course, he didn’t plan for that to happen.
He wished Lora weren’t there. He didn’t want her to see him die if things didn’t go his way. Nor did he want her to hear what he might say to Vargan to anger him into being careless. Wick was determined to get his revenge for the murder of his brother. Giving Vargan a fair fight was more than he deserved.
Wick’s long knife was strapped to his hip with two throwing knives at the small of his back and one sheathed in each moccasin boot. His broadsword was sheathed across his back. His weapon of choice was his sword, the same as Vargan.
He was ready, about to go out the door, when Lora jumped up from the table and stopped him. She threw her arms around him and hugged him fiercely pressing her face against his chest. Wick hugged her back and kissed the top of her head. He knew what she wanted to hear, but it wasn’t fair to tell her then go out and get himself killed. Maybe that’s why she didn’t say anything either. She didn’t have to.
He gently set her away from him, and said, “It’ll be okay.”
Wick strode to the front door of his cabin and opened it, walking out the door. Vargan was waiting for him in his front yard, armed almost identically to Wick. But Vargan had a temper. Wick knew if he needled him just right, the other man would go into a rage and make mistakes.
“Well, Vargan,” Wick said, “You want your woman back? What took you so long? I’ve had her for nearly a year, and I fucked her every single day, sometimes more than once.”
“And I’m going to kill you, McKell!”
“You can try, but I’m not going to make it as easy for you as she was for me,” Wick mocked him. “All I had to do was lick her sweet pussy, and she was mine for the taking.” Wick took out his broadsword and held poised for battle. “Every time I rammed my cock into her, I imagined ramming my fighting staff up your hairy ass.”
“Shut up McKell and fight. I didn’t come here to listen to your bull shit!”
Wick could see Vargan growing more agitated the more he said, so he went on. “And moan, you should have heard her moan when I put it to her. She spread her legs any time I asked for it. I can’t imagine why you want her back now. After all, she’s used goods. Do you really want to put your cock in her after I’ve had her hundreds of times?”
Vargan roared and charged Wick, intent on running his sword through him. Wick spun and whacked Vargan’s sword aside with his. Then backed away facing him ready to parry his next attack.
“Do you want to kiss the same mouth that sucked my cock so many times I lost count? Don’t you get it? She’s not your woman anymore. She’s mine.”
Wick caught a movement at his front doorway, and his heart sank. Lora stood there watching. Stars, he hoped she hadn’t heard the things he had said. He had better not let Vargan kill him so he could explain. He couldn’t look her way, he had to concentrate on what he was doing, or Vargan would kill him.
“You stole her and raped her!” Vargan shouted, approaching him with his sword raised.
“Believe what you want, Vargan,” Wick laughed. “I ruined her for you. I’m the best she’s ever had.”
“Then I should probably just kill you both,” Vargan said, taking Wick’s tactic.
But it didn’t work on Wick. He stood poised and ready, parrying Vargan’s attack deftly. Then the fight was on, and the clash of swords echoed over the mountain. Wick ignored Vargan’s attempts to anger him and kept taunting his enemy about having his woman.
Vargan wasn’t as good at holding his emotions in check as Wick was. Although Wick was holding his own, Vargan had inflicted some severe cuts on Wick. Vargan’s were just as bad. Wick had two cuts on his arm and a long one across his ribs. He’d barely avoided getting run through his shoulder. So far, Vargan had managed to parry every run Wick tried to make, but Wick was holding his ground.
It was not just a contest of skill but one of strength and stamina as well. The rules were there were no rules. It took every bit of strength and power for Wick to hold Vargan off. Then finally they locked swords, and it became a contest of strength. Just as Wick was about to overpower Vargan, he managed to kick him in the knee hard enough that it folded under him and he fell, losing his grip on his sword.
Rather than try to retrieve the sword, Wick pulled a throwing knife from his belt and launched it into Vargan’s throat. Rode dropped to his knees with a surprised look on his face then flopped over on his side as blood poured from his neck. One of Vargan’s men took aim at Wick with a crossbow but held his arrow as Wick’s friends and relatives showed themselves.
The lake clan was outnumbered.
Someone from Rode’s clan led Vargan’s horse over by his body, and two others lifted it and slung his lifeless form over its back. For now, they were even. Vargan killed Wick’s brother, and Wick killed him. No one would fight him for the woman. As far as the lake clan was concerned, she was ruined, and they didn’t want her.
Wick’s knee hurt like hell, but he didn’t think there was serious damage. His cousin Jock came over and offered a hand up, and he took it. When he was on his feet, and the lake clans had started to ride away, Lora came running over and hugged him fiercely. Jock knew to leave them alone together.
“Baby, those things I said.” He hugged her back.
“Were mostly true, kind of,” she said pressing a kiss to his chest where his shirt was opened. “I know what you were doing, and it pretty much worked.”
“I never thought you were a whore for the things we did. The first time I kissed you, I knew I had to have you. I thought I could just fuck you and get you out of my system. But when you slid down that ravine I realized I loved you, that I probably fell in love with you the first time I kissed you.”
“I could tell you were totally innocent the first time I touched you. After that, I knew I didn’t want anyone else. I still only want you,” he murmured.
“And I love you, Wick, only you,” Lora told him fervently as she looked into his eyes.
With those words finally said between them, Wick kissed her a long passionate kiss.
In the throes of the kiss that sealed their vows of love, Wick and Lora forgot that they weren’t alone until they heard the applause of Wick’s partners with hoots and hollers. “Take that into the bedroom, will you? We’ve got children out here.”
That would come later after Lora cleaned his wounds and patched him up. Just then, he wasn’t feeling any pain, wrapped in the arms of the woman he loved.
Too bad, Vargan wasn’t the last of his line. But, Wick wasn’t either.
The End
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