Page 8 of When a Highlander Vows
This is all me fault if he is hurt or dead.
She also shook with fear about being left alone out in the wilderness if both her protectors died. What was she to do? What mercy would those strange men have on her if they found her? She swallowed, trying to remind herself to be calm and strong.
Footsteps approached, breaking the silence. Caitlin’s heart pounded against her chest, and sweat rose up on the back of her neck. When a man reached down and picked her up, she screamed.
“‘Tis me, Lass,” Lucas soothed, and she quieted instantly when she caught his eyes.
She did not look away from his gaze. “Are ye hurt?” she asked quietly, and he shook his head.
“Concerned for me, are ye?” he asked, his mouth curling up into what could be called a smile.
Without thinking, Caitlin smiled back. The laird almost smiling made him look even more handsome, and it shocked her, her heart now beating wildly for a different reason.
“Aye, but only for a moment,” she teased. “I wouldnae ken how to get out of here on me own if somethin’ happened to ye.”
He laughed then, soft and low, and she could feel the rumble in his chest. “I am certain ye would figure it out.”
Caitlin looked in the direction of the men. “Those other men? Are they—?”
“Daenae worry yerself over that. They were here to cause harm. We need to get to the Castle and quickly in case there are more waitin’ for us.” He helped her up on the horse again and jumped up behind her.
This time when he pulled her close, she could smell sweat as well as a hint of blood coming from him.
They rode on, bringing them closer to the gray shape in the distance lit by pricks of light. It was fully dark by the time they arrived, and Caitlin had drifted in and out of sleep before the horse finally slowed, and the laird whispered in her ear as the sound of hooves dimmed.
“Here, Lass.” It felt like the voice from a dream, low and whispered, and she breathed out as she woke with something like relief.
He jumped down, and she blinked to wake up even more as he reached up for her. Putting her hands on his shoulders, she watched as he lifted her from the horse and slowly helped her to her feet. When she made it to the ground, she had to crane her head to look up at him.
“Are ye all right? I am sorry I had to throw ye in that bush.” He frowned, and the lines of concern were etched on his face again, made even starker in the torchlight.
He looked like a man who did not understand happiness. She had the strangest desire to reach up a finger and smooth the lines away, but her hands remained at her sides.
“Aye. I am well. It was a comfortable fall, if falls can be comfortable.”
“Good, then.” His hands remained on her waist for a few more seconds, and he frowned as he looked at her. “I will take ye inside. Ye must be exhausted, and me grandmaither will want to help ye get settled.”
Quickly, he pulled away and turned away toward the castle. Caitlin, feeling oddly disappointed, had to remind herself of her brokenness. She was only feeling fluttery because she’d never been touched by a man.
Or rescued by a man. Or held in a man’s arms like that as he carried ye off and smiled at ye as if ye were everythin’ he’d been lookin’ for.
She shook her head, trying to remember her own vow of never hoping for affection from a man. Marriage, love, and a normal life would never come for her. No one would want her, and so she had to make her own way. Pushing aside foolish, girlish thoughts about the laird who’d only hours earlier threatened to take her to his castle by force, Caitlin looked up at the strange, ominous building which would now be her home.
5
Lucas turned away from Caitlin and looked toward the castle. It seemed like more than a day had passed since he’d last been home. So much had happened; so much had changed.
“I think ye will like it here,” he said awkwardly, remembering how gruffly he’d spoken to her when they’d first met, still trying to atone for that.
“I hope so,” she said, not sounding very convinced.
Looking into Seamus’ sister’s soft brown eyes glinting in the torchlight as he helped her down from her horse had been far too distracting. And being reminded of her shapely waist underneath his hands wasn’t helping. He had to focus.
He was exhausted and at the same time worried about that attack. While it was true that the Highlands were fraught with dangers lurking around nearly every corner, this attackseemed particularly planned. The two men seemed disinterested in robbing them, and they were skilled swordsmen, not mere cutpurses. The fact that they were both heavily cloaked and silent was also strange.
There were no particular enemies of Clan McDougall he could think of, and he would have to spend the next few days with Archie, making sure the surrounding areas of clan lands were kept safe. Like cockroaches, if there were two men awaiting him on a darkened road, then there would certainly be more hiding elsewhere, simply waiting for the right time to strike.
“Archie, we’ll need to—” he began, when a rush of servants came out of the door to the castle, and he could see his grandmother’s distinct gait hurrying after them.
