Kilted Sin (Brethren of Stone 3)

Her cheeks heated as she pulled up his pants and buttoned his shirt. Then, taking her hand, he led her to the door. He could only hope this conversation went well. It was getting harder to think of his life without her.

* * *

Gemma didn’t want to talk.

It wasn’t that she wanted to keep secrets. But she was afraid what he might think when he’d heard her story. “Slowly making love sounds excellent.” She gave his hand a squeeze. “Why ruin a perfectly good evening with words?”

He quirked a brow at her. “Gemma, I want you to stay too, but I need to ken ye better. We’ll never build trust if ye don’t share.”

She grimaced, her chin dropping. “Fine,” she mumbled. They reached his room and he stepped inside, pulling her with him. Showing her to a chair, he turned and stoked the fire.

“Whenever you’re ready.”

Gemma took a breath. “I married Sean McLaren when I was seventeen.” Gemma couldn’t quite look at him so she stared into the flames. “My mother told me not to but I was so headstrong and sure I knew better. I loved him and I thought I was ready to be a wife.”

“The first few months were lovely but then…” She told him about Sean losing his job, spending all his time at the pub, her fears, and the whispers about other women. “I’d followed him to Dundee. It was a day’s ride to my mother’s village near Perth and we weren’t speaking anyhow. I had no friends, just a few neighbors. One day, I’d had enough and I got right in his face and told him that if he didn’t get a job, help feed and clothe us, that he could leave. The next day he did.” A tear slipped down her cheek. “He didn’t say he was leaving me. What he said was that there were no jobs in our area. That he was going to go to the Highlands. He’d heard there was steady work farming and he wanted to see if it was true. Sean said once he’d set up a home and had steady work, he’d send for me.”

She couldn’t go on. It hurt too much.

“Did he send for you?” Will asked so quietly, she almost didn’t hear him.

“No. He sent me a few letters, saying it would be soon but after a while they just stopped.” Her shoulders hunched. “At first I was waiting. Then even after I understood, I stayed in Dundee. I’d started a business doing laundry. I supported myself and I hadn’t spoken to my mother in years. I need to apologize but the words are so hard.”

“Knowing that you need to is half the battle.” He reached for her hand. “Why did you come up here now?”

“I received a letter from Mr. McLaren which said I had an inheritance. I saved every penny for six months to make this trip and in the end, it wasn’t enough. I went days without eating and I walked the last fifty miles.” More tears streaked down her cheeks. “I was desperate when I saw you on the road and men hadn’t really been my allies. Sean wrung me out and the men in my village…I had no father and no family, they—” She stopped at his low rumble.

“Did anyone hurt you?”

That stopped her tears. She looked at him. His face was set in angry lines. Standing, she crossed the short distance to where he sat and once again sat on his lap, wrapping his arms around his neck. “No, you’ve seen me. I’m not an easy woman to take advantage of.” She smiled a little and he did too. “But I wanted you to understand why I stole from you. I was growing harder, colder, and more desperate. I should have taken my money and returned to my mum but instead I came here chasing Sean all over again. I knew he was dead but, in my heart, I thought the inheritance was his way of apologizing.”

“Was it?” He’d wrapped his arms about her waist and held her tight.

She shuddered. The press of his body was a comfort she couldn’t articulate but it calmed her, soothed her, and her body melted into his. “No,” she said. “He hadn’t meant for his watch and pocket change to be mine at all. He’d just had a letter in his pocket for me so they couldn’t turn them over to Mary.”

“Mary?” he asked, his eyes widening. “Not Mary McLaren?”

Gemma leaned her face away, her body still pressed to his. “She took his last name? He was already married.”

Will’s jaw ticked. “I don’t ken a thing about it. I only met her a few weeks ago. But she has two small boys.”

“Sean and Fergus.” Gemma shuddered. She didn’t want to know any more than she already did. “The house she lives in. It belongs to me. I have first right to the lease. That’s why I came up here. I was his wife whether he wanted me to be or not.”

Will took a long deep breath, it pushed against her chest. “I understand and yer right. But try to remember that she has two little ones. I’ve spent the last three days plowing that field to try and keep those kids from ending up like Fiona and Ewan.”

She pushed further away until she was teetering on the edge of his lap. Her mind buzzed with the hurt and anger that swirled inside her head. “She had children with a man who was already married. He left me with nothing. I deserve something from that marriage.”

Will gave her a long stare. Seconds ticked by and he said nothing as his li

ps pursed together. Finally, he broke the silence. “What Sean did was wrong. If he weren’t dead, I’d punch him hard in the nose for ye. Though, ye’d be his wife so I wouldn’t have the right. But what he did to Mary. It was worse. I’ve seen her. You’re strong and beautiful. She is broken, Gemma. A shell of a woman barely hanging on.”

Pity twisted in her stomach but she pushed it away. Gemma didn’t want to think about Sean’s other woman. She had her own woes, her own wrongs she was trying to right. Standing, she looked down at Will. “I need to think.”

He gave a nod. “You can stay and think here.”

But Gemma shook her head. She wanted to be alone. His embrace made her feel safer and more secure than any place in Scotland. But she had to make decisions when she was alone. Because that was how she always ended up. “I appreciate the offer but it’s best if I think on my own.”

Gemma turned. As she walked toward the door, her feet dragged across the wood. She wanted to stay. He’d offered to make love to her slowly. Her eyes drifted closed for a second. It would be such bliss. But, she’d come here for a reason and it wasn’t to bed handsome lairds. Despite what had just happened between her and Will, she couldn’t allow that to get in the way of what she’d come for. She needed closure after Sean and she needed to build her own life that a man couldn’t trample.