Page 26 of In Bed with a Highland Brute

When they reached the doorway, Murdoch didn’t stop there. He continued to the back of the castle and took a side door out into the grounds, knowing that Avery would not want to stay inside for such a discussion where their booming voices could be overheard. They stepped out onto the terraced gardens, ending up by crenelations that overlooked the next layer of gardens set below them on the hill.

“If ye wish tae hit me, I understand it – woah!” Murdoch dodged the first blow. He barely caught sight of it as Avery’s hand came up toward him in the moonlight.

“Ye cannae encourage me tae hit ye then dodge it, Murdoch.”

“I am still yer friend, Avery.”

“Me friend!?” Avery scoffed, stepping toward him as Murdoch held up his hands in innocence. “Ye are courting my sister. Ye are intending tae marry her. When exactly did ye plan on telling me about it?”

Murdoch was backed up against the crenelations. He looked below, to see that if Avery forced him over, it wouldn’t be a fatal drop, but he’d certainly suffer some broken bones.

“When I had me father’s blessing,” Murdoch said in a rush. “I have held onto many secrets –”

“Aye, so I see!” Avery declared with vigor. “Ian had tae be the one tae explain tae us ye are the son of a laird. Why did ye never tell any of us about that?”

“Because it isnae something I like tae talk of. We all have things we keep tae ourselves, dae we nae, Avery?” Murdoch asked in challenge. “Such as why ye and Callie ran off last year together. Ye never did explain tae me why ye ran, did ye?” He remembered keenly how Avery had disappeared with Callie one day, much to the shock of everyone in the Chattan Castle. Only after a note from Callie had been found did they realize the pair had gone to put past demons to bed. It was a dangerous adventure, and yet they had fallen in love on their journey.

Avery backed up. Murdoch was given a little breathing room, so he sat between the crenelations, staring as Avery marched up and down on the lawn in front of them.

“Aye, I take yer point,” he said after a minute or so of silent pacing. “I hardly told me sister when Callie and I…” He gestured in the air, clearly struggling for the right words to describe their rather unorthodox courtship. “Yet this is different.” He rounded on Murdoch again, one hand shooting to the weapons belt at his hips. “She is me younger sister. Our father is a waste of space, a man who steals air from other good people tae survive. He may nae be the man tae look out fer her, but by God’s blood, I shall.”

He marched toward Murdoch, the threat implicit with his hand on the belt. “I will protect her, Murdoch. Even if that means going against a friend tae dae it.”

The vigor of his determination was admirable. It softened Murdoch as he sat with his spine slumped between the crenelations.

“Avery, please listen to me.” He made his own voice gentle, but Avery was plainly not wishing to hear it. He turned away, shook his head, and returned to pacing, his boots moving fast in the dew that glistened in the moonlight. “I am nae here tae hurt yer sister.”

“What are ye doing then? Hmm?” Avery challenged, flicking his head back around to face him. “Dae ye truly intend tae marry her? Because all I have ever heard from Ian is that ye have nae interest in a relationship at this time. That there is something that holds ye back from it.” Avery stomped toward him, moving slower this time. “Was that all a lie? Some ruse ye told so ye could secretly get closer tae me sister?”

“Ye have a suspicious mind, Avery,” Murdoch whispered, staring at his friend. At this time, it felt as if he knew his friend very little, despite how long they had trained side by side for the last couple of years at the Chattan castle.

“I need tae ken the answer. How long have ye been courting me sister?”

“Nae long,” Murdoch answered honestly, though he was not going to go into details. “Avery, me situation is a delicate one.” He slowly stood and stepped toward Avery, trying to put them more at equal height once again. “Aye, we didnae talk of what was happening, because neither of us wished tae dae so. I had me father tae consider, the clan, everything. The heir tae a clan has tae think about marriage carefully, because they choose a lady of the clan, nae just a wife.”

“Aye, aye, I understand all that.” Avery waved off the matter. “What I wish tae ken is why ye didnae tell me.” He thrust his hands into his chest. “Ye would have needed either me father’s or me blessing at some point. Were ye never going tae ask fer it?”

“I…” Murdoch paused and breathed deeply. He was down the rabbit warren now of this ruse. He had no idea how he and Eloise were ever going to extricate themselves from this deception, but he couldn’t avoid it. If she wished her job never to be known, and he didn’t want Avery and the others discovering his past with Lillie and what had happened to her, then he had to continued it. “I was going tae ask for yer blessing eventually. I wished tae have me father’s blessing first. That is all. I had nay idea he would be making a public announcement and inviting ye on top of it, as me brother was tae be married shortly”.”

His words took the wind out of Avery. His shoulders slumped and he breathed deeply, hanging his head forward an inch or so.

“This is nae the future I thought Eloise would have,” he murmured after a minute and chuckled. “Well, fer a long time I feared our father would force her into a marriage she didnae want. After all, he first tried tae betroth her tae Laird Chattan.”

“Aye, I remember.” Murdoch smiled sadly, thinking of how Lady Scarlett had taken Eloise’s place, for Noah and Scarlett had fallen in love. Even Murdoch had heard Eloise counting her lucky stars that she was not the one who had turned up at Laird Chattan’s castle. “They would have made an ill match.”

“Aye, they would have done.” Avery lifted his head, his glare narrowing at Murdoch once more. “Neither am I sure I would have put ye with me sister.”

Murdoch breathed deeply. He understood such an objection. Eloise was proper and well educated, whereas Murdoch was a brutal soldier. They didn’t necessarily fit, but he had to make Avery believe him now.

“Sometimes it isnae about choice. It is just what happens. Who yer heart…” He didn’t finish the words. He was no great romantic or wordsmith. He felt strange even beginning the sentence.

“Aye, who yer heart chooses.” Fortunately, Avery finished the sentence for him. “God’s blood, what a mess.” He turned on the spot, scratching the back of his head before he came back to face Murdoch again. “There is just one thing more I need tae ken.”

“What is that?”

“Ye willnae hurt her, will ye?” Avery stepped toward him, that redness in his face visible in the moonlight. He didn’t blink out of the strength of his words. “I need tae ken this, Murdoch. More than anything in this world will I protect the women that matter tae me. I need tae ken that ye willnae hurt Eloise, that if ye marry her, ye will keep yer vows tae yer dying day. That ye will never hurt her.”

The questioned summoned the image of Eloise in his mind. He thought of waking to find her that morning sleeping in the chair, just how awkward and uncomfortable she looked. He couldn’t bear the thought of her in pain, so surprisingly, the promise came from his lips very easily.