Page 19 of Tempted
Tina vaulted onto the mare’s back and dug in her heels. She didn’t think anyone would ride after her to bring her back. The men of Douglas were likely glad to be rid of the strange female.
It was full dark before Tina clattered over the drawbridge into the bailey of Castle Doon. A grim-faced Duncan was awaiting her by the time she climbed the stairs to the elegant living quarters. He grabbed her unceremoniously and shook her until her teeth rattled.
“Do ye ken how worried I’ve been the day? Yer a right thoughtless bitch, Tina! Ye knew Donal wouldn’t be back till the morrow, so ye went runnin’ off tae yer stinkin’ Gypsy friends! Do ye even care I ha’ all the worry an’ responsibility on ma shoulders?”
“Don’t you dare be fierce with me, Duncan. I went to Douglas to rescue Davie! I’ve just ridden thirty miles—I’m exhausted”
“Are ye insane? How many times must ye be told tae stay out o’ men’s affairs?” He ran his hand wildly through his flaming hair in an effort to keep from striking her. He breathed deeply before passing sentence “I’m goin’ tae recommend Donal give ye a beatin’.”
Tina was dead on her feet, and giddiness made her flippant. “It’ll give him practice for when he weds Meg Campbell.”
“Donal has more sense than tae wed a lass who needs beatin’ Meggie is obedient and gentle. She’s no’ a curse tae her menfolk Father lets ye get away wi’ murder Ye twist him aboot yer finger. Meggie canna do that wi’ Archibald Campbell”
To be fair, Valentina saw his point now that he made it so graphically. She only knew one man as coarsely dominant as Archibald Campbell, and that was Archibald Kennedy, Earl of Cassillis and head of their own clan Perhaps it was the name Archibald that made them so unpalatable.
A great shout went up outside, and hope sprang into Duncan’s eyes. “Mayhap it’s Davie.”
“Of course it’s Davie,” Tina said, shrugging a pretty shoulder. “Haven’t I been telling you I went to rescue him?” She quickly closed her eyes and crossed herself, praying that it was so.
When Duncan saw the state his young brother was in, he carried him to his bedchamber and undressed him. He sent for Ada to tend the lad’s arm because his pain was almost unbearable
“Get me whisky, Duncan,” Ada bade, assuming the role of female authority While a servant was dispatched for a full jug, she examined the soiled bandages.
“It must have been Colin who dressed your arm. He’s the only Douglas who is half civilized,” Tina said.
“Aye, the cripple,” Davie said, gritting his teeth in front of the women.
Ada took the whisky from the servant and told Davie to drink up He grinned at her and took a long slug of the fiery liquor “He shouldn’t have put grease on it. I’ll have to wash it off,” she said regretfully “Do you think you’re up to it, David?”
He took another long pull on the stone jug and began to laugh. “When the Douglas asked ma name, I spit on him an’ told him tae hang me an’ be damned, so I think I can suffer your ministrations.”
“One day your temper will be the death of you!” Tina said.
“I dinna ha’ a temper, and I’ll knife anyone who says so!”
Duncan grinned “And here was I thinkin’ Flamin’ Tina had all the Kennedy guts.”
“And so I have. You would have been proud of me if you’d seen my performance.”
David had consumed half the jug of whisky and couldn’t stop laughing. “The Douglas said if the Hamiltons were tightfisted, he would hang me. I’d like tae ha’ seen his bloody face when he found the bird had flown. I bet it was blacker than the hobs o’ hell!”
“Tina, help me with this bandage—it’s stuck to his arm,” Ada implored.
As Valentina saw the extent of the ugly burn, she was furious and called the Douglas every foul name in her extensive vocabulary.
David laughed between long mouthfuls of whisky all the while Ada bathed the arm. Then she took the jug from him and ordered Duncan to hold him securely. Before Davie was aware of what she did, she poured the last half of the fiery liquor over the burn
David screamed and passed out.
“I had to do that. If that arm starts to fester, he might lose it,” she said plainly.
Valentina’s face was white. “I never really knew what hate was until today. Ada, I hate Black Ram Douglas with all my heart and soul, and I pray God I never, ever see his ugly face again.”
“Get her tae bed,” said Duncan. “Sufficient untae the day is the evil thereof.”
Chapter 6
Tina did not get her wish. The moment she succumbed to exhaustion and fell into a deep sleep, she was back at Douglas, an unwilling prisoner of the Black Ram. He was The Emperor sitting upon a throne decorated with carved ram’s heads. As she lay at his feet clutching a dark green plaid over her nakedness, she was aware that he had the power and strength of ten men. He was unyielding and unbending in his judgments, and he ruled with an iron hand.
