Page 97 of Wedded to the Twisted Highlander
He pushed through the shrubs with his sword raised in the air, ready to bring it down on the first person who crossed his path.
His mouth dropped open the second his gaze fell on Astrid.
Anger turned to rage as he watched Laird Chalium draw his hand back and strike her. Thomas scanned the area for the quickest way to reach them. The small craft looked as if it would sink the second he entered. Had he been a smaller man, it would have been useful. But with the hull of the boat thinned, he’d sink well before he pushed off the shore. , Thomas flexed his jaw in frustration as he tried to find a better way across.
Securing his sword to his back, he inched closer to the water’s edge. The peat moss wobbled and swayed under each step, threatening to give way. Thomas didn’t have time to consider the possibility of being sucked under the bog. He was just going to have to hope that it remained strong enough for him to cross over.
“Ye try to bite it off again, and I’ll run this blade through yer head,” Laird Chalium snarled.
“And bring me teeth clampin’ down. By all means, do it. I dare ye,” Astrid hissed as Thomas waded into the marshy waters.
He moved slowly, ensuring to keep one hand on the debris he could see so as not to get swept up in the current.
“Lick it,” Laird Chalium demanded.
Thomas didn’t need to look to know what the bastard meant. He kept count of each transgression, ensuring that Laird Chalium would pay for everything.
“What’s the matter? It was good enough for yer sister. Why is it nae good enough for ye?” Laird Chalium asked as Thomas climbed up the unstable peat moss.
With his anger at a tipping point, Thomas crawled on his belly to get closer. Peering over a fallen log, he witnessed exactly what he had been dreading.
Astrid was his, and as much as she resisted, Laird Chalium had her at a disadvantage.
Without further hesitation, Thomas jumped to his feet and charged toward Laird Chalium.
“I dinnae think so,” Laird Chalium growled as he spun around and ducked to dodge Thomas’s sword. “It’ll take ye a lot more than that to kill me.”
“Thomas,” Astrid gasped.
The sight of her broke Thomas’s heart. There would be no mercy.
“Ye should have left her be,” Thomas thundered, raising his sword above his head and taking a fighting stance.
“And ye should have never gotten involved wit’ another man’s woman. Astrid has been mine since the day she left her mark on me,” Laird Chalium sneered as he ripped his shirt off his body.
Thomas’s eyes widened at the scar trailing from the man’s collarbone to his navel. How Laird Chalium was still alive after what Astrid had done to him, he couldn’t even begin to imagine.
“She’s mine,” Thomas growled as he lunged for Laird Chalium.
In a flash, Laird Chalium swung his sword over his head, parrying Thomas’s blows. But Thomas was bigger and stronger. He didn’t need to be stealthy or quick. He just needed to tire Laird Chalium as quickly as he could.
Thomas pulled back his sword and swung again and again. Sparks flew from the impact of his blade against Laird Chalium’s. Yet, he refused to relent. He would have the cad bowing to him before the battle was over. That, he was certain of.
“Have ye tasted her?” Laird Chalium taunted. “Do ye ken the sweetness that she possesses? It’s intoxicatin’. She’s a drug ye will never get enough of.”
Thomas said nothing as he focused on the battle. When Laird Chalium jabbed, Thomas shifted despite the ground growing more unstable under his feet. Just one wrong move and he would crash through the peat moss.
The notion was far too dangerous. Even if he managed to bring Laird Chalium down with him, that would leave Astrid alone, still tied to the tree. No, he had to win and free her from her bonds, to claim her as his prize.
“Thomas, look out!” Astrid screamed.
He ducked just as he caught the sight of silver cutting through the air. Wielding his sword back, he rammed the blade through the spongy, mossy ground.
“What are ye doin’? The current will take us all,” Laird Chalium hissed, jumping away as Thomas struck the ground with his sword again. “Are ye mad? Ye’re goin’ to kill us all!”
“So be it,” Thomas hissed as his eyes fell on Astrid.
He was at his wits’ end. Turned out he had underestimated Laird Chalium’s endurance.
