Highlander's Dark Seduction Page 19

  She could do with some new clothes, being a married woman now, and Chris was going to pay for them. She reached into his pocket and retrieved a few coins from his purse. Frances could use some new clothes as well. And it was time for the horses to be re-shoed. Why, they had a full day ahead of them of things to do that were nowhere near the manor.

  Perhaps when she got back, she would have recovered some of her senses. If not, she would deal with her feelings then. She recalled Emily’s sympathetic face when she told her that she knew how it felt to love a man you did not want to love. She smiled, recalling how her sister in law had run away from Alexander on their wedding night with some rake of a lord. She was lucky that Alexander had managed to get her back before her reputation was ruined.

  Still, Rebecca was no green girl like Emily had been. She was a woman who had seen everything there was to see when it came to human nature. But Chris still confused her. She didn’t know where she stood when it came to the brigand. It was very annoying.

  She recalled how she’d thrown words she could hardly remember at him before walking out of the door. She’d gone to her brother’s room, in search of Emily, wanting to vent…she shook her head, regretting that she hadn’t knocked first. She had seen her brother in various stages of undress, had tended his wounds, wiped his body down when he had fever. He held no secrets from her. But seeing him…like that…with his wife was more than she wanted to know about him.

  She had quickly uttered an apology and slammed the door behind her, breathing hard in shock. Somehow, finding her brother engaged in happy marital intercourse was the last straw for her and she hadn’t known what she wanted when she marched back to Chris’ room but it had involved murder and mayhem. How they ended up…the way they had was beyond her.

  I guess anger does strange things to people.

  She slipped her feet into shoes and left the room, ready to be as far away from Chris as she could possibly get.

  She knocked tentatively on her brother’s door, not wanting a repeat of last night.

  “Aye, come in,” her brother’s baritone called. She peeked into the room, seeing that Emily was fast asleep. Alexander looked pale but a lot more vital and alive than he had at any point after he’d been shot. Clearly having Emily with him was having a positive impact on his recovery. He smiled at Rebecca. “Guid morning, Becca. And how are ye today?”

  Rebecca closed her eyes tight and shook her head, making Alexander laugh. “We’re off to the market. D’ye need anything?” she asked with eyes still closed.

  “No. I dinna need a thing.” His tone was a bit smug as he cut his eyes towards his wife. Rebecca felt a stab of envy at the uncomplicated love they shared but then thrust it away. Emily and Alexander had worked hard to reach the level of harmony they were at. It was never easy.

  “Alright then. I shall see ye later. Rest aye? And watch yer wound.”

  Alexander snorted. “Emily already changed the bandage. We’re fine. Go do yer shopping.”

  Rebecca lifted a hand in farewell and closed the door behind her. With a sigh, she headed for the stairs in search of Frances.

  Alexander had gone back to sleep after Rebecca left, feeling more than tired and a little dizzy. Making love with his wife was something he would never regret but he was still weak and ill and it took a lot out of him. It looked as though Emily felt the same. She really should not have been traveling when she was so far gone, and although he was happy to have her here with him, he could see the toll it had taken on her. So he let her sleep as well, leaning his head against her back and breathing in her scent.

  He startled awake in confusion, the echo of a sound in his head. He sat up slowly, his wound pulling in protest and searched the room for the threat.

  “Oh!” Emily exclaimed beside him and then he felt wetness between his fingers. He turned to face her, raising an eyebrow at her mortified expression.

  “Did ye just wet the bed?” he asked in unthinking surprise.

  Her face closed with anger and shame as she turned away from him. He reached out with a protesting arm, his body did not feel up to moving at all. “Forgive me. I misspoke. Is everything alright? Should I fetch someone?”

  “You can’t fetch anyone, you’re ill,” she said a bit sharply and then shuffled out of bed. “I think I might be in labor.”

  Alexander tensed. They had been seeing a midwife at Eddingfield Hall but obviously they did not know anyone locally. Not yet. This wasn’t supposed to be happening yet.

  And Rebecca’s gone off to the village.

  Alexander could feel panic building as he tried to think what to do for the best. Emily was shuffling to the door and Alexander struggled out of bed in order to follow her.

  “Stay abed!” she ordered but he ignored her, following as she opened the door and peered out. Benjie was at the end of the hall, where he’d been for the entirety of Alexander’s confinement.

  “Benjie!” Emily called, “Would you get Rebecca for me?”

  Benjie began walking over at once. “I’m sorry mam, but she’s gone to the village.”

  “Oh,” Emily’s face dropped. “Well, what about Frances?”

  “She went with her. Is there anything I can do?”

  Emily sighed, doubling over as another contraction hit her.

  “Mam!” Benjie shouted coming over to grab Emily’s hand even as Alexander clumsily tried to help. The sound of thundering footsteps filled the hall and the brigand was there, looking alarmed.

  “What’s going on?”

  Alexander narrowed his eyes at him, but the threatening effect was dampened by the fact that he was unable to stand straight. “We need a midwife.”

  “What?” the brigand looked truly flabbergasted.

  “A midwife.” Alexander repeated impatiently, “my wife’s in labor.”

  Chris looked wildly at Benjie as if he might be hiding a midwife in his breeches. “I…?”

  “Have one of yer men summon the local healer,” Alexander told him patiently.

  Chris shook his head as if clearing cobwebs. “Right, right. And Rebecca? Where is she?”

  Alexander lifted an eyebrow. “Ye dinna ken where yer own wife is?”

  Chris turned away with a look of disgust, “Go back and lie down before you fall down. Take your wife with you. I shall see about things.” He walked towards the stairs fast without waiting to see if they would do as they were told. Benjie however immediately began to lead Emily back to bed.

  “Ye’ll need to have the sheets changed first,” Alexander announced.

  Chapter Twenty-Three

  Chris took the stairs at a run, before scrambling into the kitchen and looking around wildly for his wife.

  “Where’s Rebecca?” he asked Onesmus who was cutting bread on the side board.

  “She went into the village.” His second said without looking up.

  “And Frances?”

  “Went with her.”

  “Shite!”

  Onesmus finally looked around with a raised eyebrow. “Why? What’s happened?”

  Chris shook his head at Onesmus. “The woman’s in labor.”

  Onesmus dropped his knife, “Excuse me, what?”

  “The woman,” Chris waved his hands impatiently, “MacTavish’s wife. She’s in labor.”

  “Well well, that’s a little twist I was not expecting. What will you do?”

  “Me?” Chris gaped at him.

  “Yes you. Are you not in charge?”

  Chris blew out a breath, gazing at Onesmus in betrayal. “Are you telling me you expect me to deliver this baby?”

  Onesmus shrugged. “Nobody else around here can do it. I know you can.”

  “What makes you think that?”

  Onesmus gave him a look. “Don’t you remember? Felicity Wyatt? The girl we found in the place?”

  “What girl? What place?” Chris was honestly bewildered.

  “It was after Killian was dead and you refused to join Avery’s gang. You were traveling to
Aberdeen to stay with my aunt…?”

  Chris frowned, recalling perfectly what Onesmus was talking about but curious as to how he would have known about it. “And you just happen to know about this because...?”

  Onesmus laughed. “Everyone was talking about it. My aunt told me of it. It’s the reason why Avery suspected I had betrayed him.”

  “Oh,” Chris swallowed, feeling bad about that after all these years. Onesmus had a huge scar on his back as proof of what happened when Avery was aggrieved, “You never said.”

  Onesmus shrugged. “It was nothing. Now, go up and deliver that baby.”

  Chris took a deep breath. “Bring me some hot water, some towels and any swaddling clothes you might find. Also send someone to find Rebecca and tell her to come with a midwife.”

  “Aye aye cap’n,” Onesmus grinned at him as he went to do as he was bid.

  When he’d woken up from his drink-induced near death and known for sure that Onesmus had tried to help him, he sneaked out of the warehouse, determined to disappear so that the assassin would not suffer any consequences for his mercy.

  He was surprised to find Onesmus himself standing by the docks near the warehouse, seemingly waiting for him. The assassin turned and grinned at him. “I see you made it back from Hades alright.”

  “Yes, the devil sends his regards.”

  Onesmus grinned at him before handing him a paper. “A friend of a friend is transporting cargo to Aberdeen. He has agreed to have you along after I told him you’re a good man to have in a fight. He’s not expecting trouble but it doesn’t hurt to have security; ‘specially when it’s free.”

  Chris nodded. “And what payment will you extract from me for this?”

  Onesmus shrugged one shoulder. “Doesn’t hurt to have Chris Ellis owe me a favor does it?”

  Chris looked away, “No, I suppose it doesn’t.”

  “They leave in an hour. You’d better get a move on.”

  Chris nodded, and left, looking down at the paper. The precious cargo turned out to be a heavily pregnant woman. They traveled in companionable silence for most of the way, after having exchanged greetings and first names. That is until the girl – Felicity - began to whimper and then groan.

  “Oh god!” she’d cried reaching for his hands, “I think my water’s broke! Help me.”

  The fear in his eyes was real, and Felicity squeezed his hands. "Women have been giving birth on the side of the road for centuries, but I’m going to need your help. Can I count on you?"

  Chris had just gaped, cursing Onesmus for getting him in this mess.

  "Alright then, I am going to need you to step up when the time comes and deliver this baby," Felicity told him. "Because it's coming, and this is happening now. And I need you, Chris. You’re all there is." The coach driver had refused to have anything to do with delivery and Chris did not press him. They would be lucky if he did not leave them on the side of the road.

  Chris slowed his breathing forcibly, as he nodded, and then tried to think what to do first. The first thing to do was to time her contractions, and then worry about what happened next when they grew closer together. To start, they were at twenty minutes apart which was not even enough time for Chris to gather his wits about him and all too soon she was having contractions every five minutes. This was going to be a quick birth.

  It was close to midnight and they had been lying in the cold damp grass for at least an hour. The coachman had found some water somewhere which Chris wasn’t sure what to do with and lit a lamp. Strangely enough, Felicity dozed for a few minutes between contractions as Chris anxiously massaged her back or shoulders. Letting her get as much rest as she could, when she woke he had to tell her that he had been able to feel the tightening of her muscles as the contractions continued. "Two minutes," he told her. "Do you want to stand up and walk?"

  "Perhaps," Felicity said, smothering a yawn. "I don’t know if I should."

  "If you can manage it," he replied with a grimace. "It's got to hurt."

  "It’s similar to tying a belt around your waist tight enough that it cuts you in half," she pushed herself up to her feet, feeling a wave of pressure descended upon her, and she grasped his arm tightly. "Oh god that hurts," she whimpered, feet swaying.

  "One minute," Chris reported, eyes flicking toward his pocket watch.

  Contractions were almost continuous for nearly two hours, and she was in tears. When Chris offered his hand for her to hold, she held it so tightly his bones ground together although he made no complaint.

  "I'm sorry you're in pain." He murmured.

  She groaned as another contraction hit her, and she leaned into Chris, and he held her, supporting her weight while the pain took her.

  As the clock wound down, it was difficult for Felicity to support her weight even on her knees. She lay down on the nest of clothing the coachman had provided on Chris instruction, her skirts pulled up. Chris was grateful for the surrounding dark. She was sobbing and cursing with each contraction, and didn't even notice when a wet warmth hit her thighs. Chris's panicked gaze her way didn't really register as she grasped the edge of towels in her hands and squeezed.

  "Um... I don't know what I'm looking at," Chris admitted after a moment, kneeling between her spread legs.

  "What does that mean?" her voice was rather shrill with fear.

  "I mean... something is certainly emerging; it seems to be dome shaped and so I will venture a guess that it’s a head," he elaborated, voice high and thin.

  Oh, dear God, he was terrified.

  "I want to push. I don't know if I should yet. Can you tell?"

  "I don't know what I'm doing!" Chris yelled, whites of his eyes showing when he looked at her.

  "Try feeling for the baby!" she snapped, as another contraction bore down on her. She wailed, gripping the linen tight, trying to breathe through the pain as best as she could. Even though he was terrified, both of them had more pressing matters to deal with. Felicity was in pain and there was debilitating pressure, the baby insistent about wanting to change addresses, whatever they wanted to be damned.

  The feel of his fingers inside hurt and she whimpered as the contraction lessened.

  Another contraction hit and she cried out, experiencing a pain more intense than anything she had ever felt before in her life.

  Felicity wanted to cry as she felt the beginnings of another contraction the urge to push almost impossible to resist. Chris peered at her, leaning in to see better. "You're doing great, Felicity. We're almost there." She replied with a whimper, looking up at him with tears in her eyes. She looked so lost and young that Chris felt sorry for her. "You’ll start pushing when the next one comes, alright? Push with the contractions."

  It hurt, and she had no idea how long it took. She screamed with each push, feeling like all she did was bear down and scream, the soothing sounds Chris was making to help her not even registering.

  As fast as it came on the pressure tapered off and the baby was born. Chris was trying his best not to drop the slippery, slime-covered newborn in his arms. He wiped off the baby in the water the coachman had provided as best as he could. She was not happy about it and let him know by wailing and flailing her little arms. She had come out of her warm haven into this cold and cruel world and it made her unhappy. She was loud as she let him know.

  She was perfect.

  It was an exercise in horror for Chris to cut the cord, the only tools he had being torn strips of linen to tie off the end of the stump and a boot knife. The bloody messes that were the afterbirth and placenta made him turn positively green. Felicity was cradling her child while he cleaned her up, shushing her, keeping her right over her breast, right over her heart. That slowed the cries to hiccups, and Felicity was crying with happiness now. Ten fingers and ten toes, a shock of black hair and greenish looking eyes.

  Chris didn’t think that there was anything in the world that could have bested that feeling, not until he was inside Rebecca.

  Chris stepped in
to the bed chamber and took a deep breath. Clearly Emily was already in the throes of labor.

  “I’m sorry but in the absence of anyone else, I will be helping you with your labor.”

  Alexander stared at him as if he’d truly lost his mind. “I beg yer pardon?”

  “I…am the ablest person around at the moment, and your wife is in labor. So you can let her go through it herself or I can help.”