“Mary,” he said darkly, “drop it. Me emotions have no place here.”
“Do not insult me, Leith,” Mary pressed. “And don’t insult yourself either. You have more sense than to deny yer own feelings.”
“I’m sure I won’t,” Leith said tightly. “What I need is some solid tactics to make sure I’m nay pushed out of the clan by Cooper if it came to that. I feel like a clot-heid for nay seeing this before.”
An ache throbbed in her soul at his unemotional brush off of her plea. “Don’t do this, Leith, please talk to me. I know you must be…torn apart now. Please, let me help.”
He pulled away and turned his back. “There is nothing to tell. Leave, Mary, leave now.”
His blunt dismissal felt like a slap to her face, but Mary was not going to give in so quickly. “Yes, there is or you would not be trying to get rid of me so strongly. I am not going anywhere.”
“Dinnae ye disobey me,” his voice dipped to a warning growl.
Her chin jutted out. “My parents betrayed me, Leith. No matter how I tried, they never even tried to understand what I wanted. I know the pain that burns inside, to know that you trusted someone and strife was all you got for it.”
“This is naything like that,” Leith said. “The disagreement yer parents and ye had is a trifle compared to this.”
Now, Mary was getting irritated, “Of course, it not the same but the anger that comes from it is. Why will you not let me help you? I had one person who listened to me and it helped to cool the pain somewhat, but I burned with anger for three days coming here. My chest was on fire with anger. They were going to marry me off to a pig, Leith, without even giving me the opportunity to say yes or no. If the man had not slipped about saying so, I would have never known. They were going to wake me up and whisk me off to a church where my life would be tied to him, a man three times my age. I would have died in that marriage! I’m telling you, stubborn man, let me help you!”
He spun and even though it was dark she could see his eyes blazing, shimmering like the sharpest steel. “The problem is that it’s one or the other. It’s either that Cooper betrayed me, or that he dinnae, but what haunts me is that I cannae decide which!”
Taken aback by his words, Mary could only blink. Thinking back to when Mister Copper had spoken, she could understand why Leith was unsure. The man had spoken cogent things. In the absence of the Laird and his son, someone had to take control.
“The village leader told me directly that Cooper is slowly taking over the town. Ye heard him, he dinnea deny it,” Leith seethed. “But what I hate is that Cooper is right, someone had to the job while me Faither and I were indisposed.” His hand rubbed his face aggressively. “But what truly got me angry was when I saw him attacking ye, I nearly lost me damned mind.”
Hesitant to touch him, Mary lifted her hand but dropped it. “Leith, is there anyone else you can talk to and know the full truth?”
“Nay, for now, I’ll have to take both of their words as truth but watch for any telling actions from Cooper. If he is swaying the people to his cause, I’ll have to take some drastic actions against him but for now, he is the best war chief we’ve ever had. Me Faither never lost a campaign with him at his side. If I lose him, if we lose him…it will send signals to rival clans that we’re ripe for the taking…” shaking his head, he sank to a seat and caged his face in his hands, “but if he stays and takes control…I lose either way.”
Her heart was breaking for him and her cracking voice showed it. “You won’t lose.” Despite her attempt to strengthen him, her words sounded hollow and they both knew it. How could she be sure about it when she knew so little?
“I wish I could believe that,” Leith’s voice was loaded with grief. “If I lose this, its nae only me, but me Faither as well. The man that worked his life away to make sure this clan stood strong. To have it taken from under his feet, under me feet, would kill him faster than any madness could have.”
Again, she wanted to touch him, to give him some sort of comfort but she did not know if he’d take it.
“And I cannae tell me Mother this either as she will take it to heart. She’s already shaken with me Faither, this will be the end of her. I have to bear this meself and find a way out,” Leith exhaled. “Yer a wonderful woman, Mary, but this isane yer fight.”
He was right. “I know…but I still want to help you in any way I can.”
Leith was suddenly on his feet and he snaked both arms to grasp her by her waist and face. The kiss was so deep, long, slow and sensuous that it had her toes curling in her shoes. He took her mouth with a tender possessiveness she had begun to acquaint with Leith whenever he touched her. His mouth tasted of harsh, tart cider.
Had he been drinking?
When he pulled back, his fingers slipped to the back of her neck and rubbed his thumb over the side.
“Ye are,” he said quietly on her lips before stepping away. “Go back to yer station, Mary, they must be missing ye by now.”
It was not a hard, spiteful dismissal, but rather a sensible one. Though not completely mollified with how Leith was, she nodded and whispered her goodbyes to him and left.
19
Dawn found Leith back in the town. He had
