“Count yourself lucky Allyson is here, or you’d be flat on your arse right now. Speak of her like that again, and I will do more than punch you. Your sister won’t save you again.”
“Save me? Ha,” Angus chortled. “You’re just trying to make yourself feel better after I hit a little too close to the truth. Your past is no secret with me. Lady Bevan and I are well acquainted. Even your aunt is a close companion when I’m at court.”
Ewan’s lips curled in disgust. He didn’t care for his aunt-by-marriage, but he knew she was no worse than him when it came to hopping from one bed to another at court. That Angus would mention his liaison with the very woman involved in the incident that sparked the contention between Allyson and him set his temper off. With Allyson’s hands still on his arm, he used his other hand to grab a fistful of Angus’s leine. He tugged hard enough for the other man to stumble. They came to stand nose-to-nose before Ewan leaned to the side and whispered, “Try this again in front of your sister, speak ill of her again, and it’ll be Graeme who’s named the next laird. Dead men don’t lead clans.” Ewan shoved him away, then wrapped his arm around Allyson and steered her past her brother, who seethed but said nothing more.
Neither Allyson nor Ewan spoke until they stood before the door of the tower. It was nearing the evening meal, and Allyson needed to change her gown if she wanted to avoid more comments from her mother about her appearance. Ewan would secure his sword in his chamber before entering the main keep and Great Hall.
“That didn’t go well,” Allyson muttered.
“It was going perfectly until Angus showed up,” Ewan tried to lighten the tension that had grown between them. He coiled a lock of hair around his finger and tugged until Allyson giggled.
“That’s not what I meant, and I’m certain you know that.”
“I do, but he’s ruined enough of our afternoon. I won’t let it all go to pot.”
Allyson’s cheeks heated as dipped her head and closed her eyes but failed to keep the edges of her mouth from lifting. “It was a nice afternoon.”
Ewan used his finger to nudge her chin up before he placed a gentle kiss on her sculpted cheekbone. “One of the best I’ve ever spent, but that seems to be the case any afternoon I spend with you.”
“Thank you, Ewan. Thank you for defending me, for keeping me company—for everything,” Allyson stumbled over her words at the end. She backed away, but cast one last smile over her shoulder as she walked toward the keep.
Chapter Twenty-Two
Three nights after the encounter with Angus, Allyson slipped into the garden an hour after her family retired for the night. She wandered toward the spot where she and Ewan had kissed, but she was positive her heart stopped when she spied a couple. She couldn’t believe her eyes as she watched Ewan locked in a passionate embrace with Mary. He had his hand somewhere beneath her skirts, and the bodice of her kirtle sagged about her shoulders. Allyson was certain she would be ill as her world crumbled around her all over again. She lifted her skirts and ran, ran directly into a broad chest that was so like Ewan’s but couldn’t be because he was kissing her sister. She pushed past him and ran toward the postern gate.
“Allyson? Allyson, wait! Allyson,” Ewan called as he chased after her. He’d seen his brother and wanted to bash his head in. He also understood Allyson assumed Eoin was him and that it was Eoin chasing her. “Ally, stop! Ally!”
He was the only person to call her Ally, and that permeated her hazy mind as she rested her hands and forehead against the gate.
Ewan caught her and turned her, but she swatted him away. He grasped her hand and brought her finger to his lip and ran it over the scar that sliced it. He was aware she used it to tell them apart, and he was certain she felt it when they kissed.
“It’s me, Ewan, Ally,” he whispered as she collapsed against him, heaving sobs shaking her slender frame. “I’m sure you assumed it was me, but it’s Eoin.”
He held her, but the longer she trembled, the more concerned he became. Ewan realized she had reached her breaking point, and his arse of a brother pushed her over it. He scooped her into his arms and carried her back to the garden. He would sort this mess out, possibly murder his brother and her sister, and then comfort her until she understood that he’d not hurt for all the treasures in the world.
“No. Don’t make me go back there. No, please. Ewan, no.” Allyson whimpered in his arms as she attempted to burrow further into his chest.
“Wheest, aingeal.”Angel. The idea made Allyson hiccup as she laughed.
“I’m hardly that. I’d think you’d rather call mediabhalordeamhan.”
“You are neither the devil nor a demon, though I’d call my brother that. I’m ready to relegate him to hell.”
“No. Leave it alone. I know it’s not you. That’s all that matters to me.”
“It means a hell of a lot more to me. I’m not having your nasty sister spreading tales that it was me, and I know Eoin. He has a reason for this. I doubt I’ll agree with it, but it exists.”
Ewan lowered Allyson to her feet before storming over to his brother, who hovered over Mary’s reclined body on a bench. He grabbed a handful of Eoin’s leine and ripped him away. He plowed his fist into the underside of Eoin’s chin, making his twin’s head snap backwards.
“Cover yourself,” Ewan hissed at Mary before turning back to Eoin. “Explain now. You knew I was meeting Ally here. Why?”
“Wait?” Mary bleated. “You’re not Ewan? You’re the other one?”
“Aye, lass. I’m ‘the other one.’ You were hoping to get swived by your own sister’s betrothed. He may not be available, but there’s no reason I shouldn’t have some fun.”
“I don’t want you,” Mary hissed.
“You couldn’t tell the difference,” Eoin shrugged.
