Page 38 of Falling for Her Highland Steward
At some time in the early hours of the morning, they heard the sound of hoofbeats and saw the distant gleam of a lantern.
“Are you ready?” Caillen hissed. “You know what you have to do?”
“Yes!” Erin replied in a hate-filled hiss. “I only hope I manage not to kill him.” Her muscles were aching with tension, and her heart was beating faster than she had ever thought possible. The dagger she was holding in her hand seemed to be burning her palm, and she loosened her grip very slightly; she would only have one chance, and she was determined not to waste it.
The two horses were almost directly underneath them, and Erin had eased herself off the branch slightly in order to drop directly onto Michael Oliphaunt’s head when she felt a strong arm snaking around her body, pinning her arms to her sides. She struggled to free herself for a moment, grunting with the effort, then stopped as she felt the sharp point of a dagger digging into the tender skin under her chin. She risked a glance down and saw Michael’s upturned face laughing in triumphant delight.
“I thought you would try something like this,” he remarked as the guard helped Erin none too gently down from the tree. “The men climb these trees once a week to practice their skills. They crept up behind you without you noticing a thing. Erin, I thought better of you than this. Look at you in those breeches again. You should be ashamed of yourself—you look positively indecent.” He shook his head and frowned in disapproval.
Erin knew that he was baiting her, and she gazed at him with eyes that were smoldering with hatred. “Where is my son?” she demanded. “Give him back to me at once!”
Michael dismounted and turned to face her. Caillen had been dragged up beside them, and Michael put an apparently friendly arm around his shoulder. “Hello, my old friend,” he said amiably. “How are you?”
Caillen glared at him, not trusting himself to speak.
“Sorry, Erin.” Michael turned back to her. “I think I misheard you…or perhaps you made a mistake. Did you not meanourson?”
Caillen was mystified. What trick was Michael trying to pull off now? He looked at Erin and opened his mouth to ask a question, but one look at her face was enough to tell him the answer. Michael was telling the truth. He really was Stephen’s father.
“Erin, there is something I must ask of you.” Nairn looked troubled and avoided Erin’s eyes as he spoke.
“Ask away, Nairn,” Erin smiled at him and kissed his forehead. “If I can give it to you, you shall have it.”
Erin knew that many people pitied her because she was a young, beautiful woman who was married to an old man, but they did not know what she knew.
When her parents had first suggested that she should marry the ancient Laird McCaskill, she had been horrified, but it did not take her long to find that Nairn was not at all the crusty old man everyone thought he was.
She had imagined that he would be irritable, easily tired, and extremely tedious company. He was none of those things. Instead, he was kind, intelligent, had a wicked sense of humor, and spoke French, Gaelic, and Spanish fluently. As well as that, he could ride a horse better than many men half his age. Moreover, he stimulated her mind by teaching her all manner of subjects. In a short space of time, she had learned to speak rudimentary French and was improving all the time.
However, there was one thing he no longer found possible. He could not make love to a woman, not even his beloved wife, and although he pleasured Erin in other ways, it would never lead to the conception of the heir he sought.
“I love you, my sweet girl,” he murmured. “And it is a great source of sorrow to me that I cannot get a child in you.”
Erin snuggled into his chest and sighed. “It pains me too, Nairn,” she said sadly. “I would love to have your baby.”
“I am such a fortunate man to have met you,” he sighed, kissing her forehead and smiling. “Sometimes I cannot believe you are mine. But you know that we need an heir. I cannot give you a baby, but I suspect there is someone else who can.”
Erin leaned on her elbow and looked down at her husband, puzzled. Surely he could not mean what she thought he meant? “Nairn, are you suggesting that I sleep with another man?” The shock of the suggestion hit her full force, and she felt it slam against her chest, making her shudder for a moment.
He nodded, his eyes full of sadness. “Erin, you have no idea how much this hurts me, and how long I have struggled with this decision.” He closed his eyes and put his hands over his face. “I am so ashamed of having to ask this of you, but I am equally ashamed of my weak body for being unable to perform my duty as a man. Forgive me, please.”
“There is nothing to forgive, Nairn,” she said soothingly. “I know that as men become older, certain things become more difficult. I will no longer be able to conceive a child when I am older, either. It is the way we humans are made, and I know you would never do anything to hurt me.” She thought for a moment. It was a huge decision to make, but Nairn had been so good to her, and all he was asking for was this one simple favor. She gazed into his hopeful eyes, and her mind was made up. She took a deep breath before she spoke. “Who did you have in mind?”
“Michael,” he replied. “Michael Oliphaunt. He is a good, strong man. I think he will father sturdy, healthy children.”
“Thank goodness it is not a stranger.” Erin sighed in relief. “He is, at least, a kind man.”
“I know that it is a dreadful thing I am asking you to do, Erin,” Nairn said sadly. “But I could think of no other way.”
“I know,” Erin whispered. “But I will do it, Nairn, and willingly, for both of us. However, there is one condition I must insist on.”
“Anything, darling.” His smile was full of love. “Say it, and it will be done.”
“The child will never, ever know that he has any connection to Michael,” she began. “I know that you need Michael’s services, but if he ever mentions to anyone that he is the baby’s father, he will leave this estate at once and never come back.”
“Agreed!” Nairn let out a great sigh of relief. “Thank you, Erin! Thank you. I do not deserve you.”
The appointed day came, and Erin lay nervously in a bed in Michael’s chamber, trembling with fear. She had heard that the first time a woman lay with a man could be very painful, so she had prepared her mind and body to deal with it.
