Page 3 of The Dark Wolf's Deliverance

Father Boyle would denounce her as a harlot and say it was a sin what she was doing but what could be wrong with indulging a fancy for a lad now and again and bringing him joy, not to mention herself? As she looked up into Conall’s black eyes, hot with lust and wild excitement, may God forgive her for how much she wanted him, bad and dangerous though he was.

The clip, clop of hooves in the yard below, had them both freezing in alarm. Conall leapt up. ‘Your father?’ he asked with a frown.

‘No, it can’t be.’

Conall peeked out of a crack in the wood of the barn, his breeches still hanging off his firm backside. ‘Damn and bugger it!’ he exclaimed, then hurriedly tried to stuff what Elspeth considered a rather impressive cock-stand back inside them.

‘What? Is it my father?’

‘No…much worse.’

‘Conall,’ shouted an angry voice from below. ‘Conall, I know you are in there!’

He flung back his head and groaned. ‘Christ on the cross, must he deprive me of every joy?’

‘You shouldn’t blaspheme, Conall,’ Elspeth smirked.

‘What of it? I’ve done much worse. Come here.’ He pulled her to her feet and planted a spectacular kiss on her eager mouth, making her loins melt, and her knees soften. ‘I want to do something terrible and sinful to you now, but he’ll not give up, so I have to go. I’ll be back to finish what I started as soon as can be.’ He smiled and winked at her in a way that would break any girl’s heart, black eyes seductive and warm, and then sped off, rearranging his clothes as he went. Elspeth let out a big sigh, picked some hay from her hair and then, in a fearsome pout, followed him outside.

As Conall emerged from the barn, squinting into the low autumn sun, Rory’s yelling continued. ‘Conall gets your rutting arse on your horse now, or I swear I will belt it for you and then….’

‘You can try, old man,’ growled Conall, trying not to lurch sideways. God, he was dizzy all of a sudden.

‘Aye well, old I may be, but I can still show you a thing or two.’ Rory’s gaze veered to Elspeth, who had now emerged from the barn and sauntered up to them, still stuffing ample bosoms back into her bodice.

Conall wasn’t surprised as she had a reputation for being shameless, and, in spite of the thunderous look on Rory Mor Campbell’s face, he could not suppress a smile at her boldness. It amused him to test the patience of his father’s best friend, a man who had become to all intents and purposes his jailor.

He smirked. ‘Elspeth, may I introduce you to my loving Uncle Rory.’

‘Firstly, I am not really his uncle, thank God,’ said Rory. ‘Secondly, I’m not feeling in the slightest bit loving, for I am merely the fool who his father has entrusted with the thankless task of turning this young idiot from a boy to a man.’

‘Seems to me he’s man enough already, or at least he would have been had you not spoiled our fun,’ replied Elspeth, grabbing hold of Conall’s arm.

‘Well, he’ll not enjoy his manhood for long if your father finds out what you two were about in the hayloft.’

‘I doubtyou’llbe telling him Rory Mor Campbell. You wouldn’t dare.’

‘Any more cheek, girl and you’ll be getting a clip round the ear. And as to me telling him, it’s you who will bear his rage and this young fool, not me.’

‘My father is well away from here hunting. He’ll be gone for days, I expect.’

‘If that is so, girl, why did I just see him back on the road behind me, just a few minutes ride away?’

Her face changed then, from insolent to terrified. ‘Oh, Christ love us. He’ll skin me alive if he catches me at this again.’

‘Again! How many were there before me?’ said Conall

‘Enough for me to be in a deal of trouble if I’m caught with you, you fool. Well, I’ll not stand for a whipping for your sake, so you have to go, now, before he sees you.’ Elspeth sped away in a flurry of gathered skirts, sturdy white legs flashing in the sunshine.

Conall gave Rory a look that could kill. ‘Rory, I don’t believe you. Thank you so much for ruining a day’s sport with your bloody piety.’

‘Conall, are you going to move your arse or are you going to get skewered? If you stay, you are on your own because I’m not fighting anyone for the sake of Elspeth Muir’s dubious honour. I can tell you that now.’

***

Conall rode his horse at a hard gallop away from the farmhouse along the road back towards Dunslair Castle, and there was anger in the way he spurred it on. Rory caught up with the young man, and with their horses’ heads neck and neck, he shouted at him.

‘Conall, slow down.’ He was ignored. ‘Slow down, unless you want to ride Erebus into the ground, you fool.’

---