Page 81 of Highland Fire

“Ye need not tell me. I had thought she would linger long enough to give life at Drumdearg a fair trial. What I cannae understand is why she didnae tell me about her gift? Me?” he said as he leapt to his feet.

“I would cease discussing it with us and go ask her. She is a clever lass. ’Tis certain she will soon discover how to saddle a horse.”

“Aye, I just hope I can keep from strangling her,” Tavig snapped as he strode out of the hall.

“Mungan,” Una cried as she watched a stern-faced Tavig leave. “He could hurt her.”

“Nay, lass.” He draped his arm around her shoulders and kissed her cheek. “He could ne’er hurt that lass.”

“But he said he might strangle her and he looked verra, verra angry.”

“Of course he is angry. The fool lass has rattled her wits. A good shaking might do her some good. Howbeit, Tavig would ne’er harm the lass. Not only does he abhor men using their greater strength to hold a woman, but that lad dearly loves the fool lass.”

“Has he told ye so?”

“Nay, he doesnae need to. I ken that he wants your cousin just as he kenned I wanted you.”

“Do ye think he can convince her to stay?”

“Aye, but it willnae be easy.”

Chapter Twenty-Three

“And just where do ye think ye are going?”

Moira gasped, whirled around, and gaped at Tavig. He stood in the stable doorway, his clenched fists planted firmly on his hips. He looked a little cleaner than he had when she had last seen him. He also looked furious. She was both elated and saddened to see him. It pleased her beyond words that he had come after her, but now she would have to go through the painful farewell she had been trying so desperately to avoid.

“I was trying to leave, but I seem to be having trouble saddling a horse.”

“Good. I should hate to have to hunt down my own wife because she is a horse thief.”

“A wife cannae steal from her husband.”

“Aye, she can. The law says that what I own is still mine, and what ye own is mine as weel.”

“I dinnae think that is quite right.”

There was a cold, hard tone to his voice that made her uneasy. She was not sure what emotion he was feeling besides anger. Considering all that had happened and what she was about to do, their conversation was a little silly. It began to look as if he had not come to stop her, just to complain about what she was taking with her.

“How did ye find out I was here?” she asked, suddenly recalling that the last time she had seen him, he was thoroughly engrossed in celebrating his victory. That should have kept him occupied long enough for her to get away.

“I asked Mungan.”

Tavig walked over to her horse, gently pushing Moira aside. He removed the saddle she had been unable to secure and tossed it aside as well. His emotions were still running high, and he used the few minutes it took to put the horse away to try to get a firmer grip on himself, on the feelings raging through his body.

It hurt, and the pain made him angry. Frustration also gnawed at him. He had tried everything he knew how to do to make Moira want to stay with him, yet she was trying to leave. Tavig did not know what else to do, and that sense of helplessness also made him angry. Visiting that anger on Moira would not solve anything, however.

Moira softly cleared her throat. “I asked Mungan not to say anything.”

“Ye should have been more specific, lass. He didnae say anything. He answered my question.” He turned to look at her, her obvious nervousness giving him some satisfaction. “Ye are my wife now. That means ye stay with me. The law says ye are my property, and I am not a mon who likes to lose his property.”

“When I said I would marry you, ye said it didnae have to be forever, that I still had the freedom to change my mind.”

“I lied.”

“Tavig!”

“Curse ye, Moira. Why are ye running away? I am certain ye care for me at least a little, we share a passion that is sweet beyond words, and I am also certain ye love Adair. So why leave?”