Page 1 of Bound to a Scot
CHAPTER ONE
Thunder roared and flashes of lightning lit up the heavens above. The fury of the storm had the ship bucking and rolling beneath her, making Emmeline groan. She wrapped her arms around her midsection and held herself tight, fighting off the waves of nausea that broke over her as powerfully as the waves she’d seen breaking over the bow of the ship. Her stomach lurched and she reached for the bucket that had been set beside her bed, but as she held it beneath her face, the moment of nausea passed.
Emmeline hated being on the water. Hated being on a ship. And she hated storms whilst being on board a ship most of all. Everything about her voyage terrified her. The only reason she was even in that position was because she’d gone to visit her sister and there was no overland route. If there had been, she would have happily taken it, no matter how long it took. Even a month on land in a stuffy, hard, uncomfortable wagon was far preferrable to traveling on water.
“Bleedin’ hell, I need tae get off this ship,” she groaned.
As she set the bucket down, a knock sounded on her cabin door. She quickly smoothed out her dress and patted down her hair, doing her best to compose herself. Emmeline cleared her throat and sat up straighter on the bunk.
“Come,” she called, her voice weaker than she’d intended.
The door opened and Titus, one of the men her husband had sent to watch over her on her trip stepped into her cabin. He was tall, with dark hair, darker eyes, and a smooth, pale complexion. Broad through the shoulders and chest, she knew Titus was skilled with a blade. But Emmeline didn’t make the mistake of thinking he was there to actually protect her. He was there to keep her from running off. Titus was loyal to Laird Macfie above all else.
It was wasted effort. She wouldn’t have run off anyway. Not without Cecilia, her fifteen-year-old stepdaughter, who was the only good thing to come out of her forced marriage to the cold, cruel man who called himself her husband. Laird Burchard Macfie made no attempt to hide his disdain for her. He took Emmeline’s inability to produce a male heir as her personal failing. More than that, he took it as a personal affront and used it to make her feel like she was less than nothing.
“Me lady,” he said with a curt bow. “We have arrived in Colonsay?—”
“Tis wonderful news,” she interrupted. “I’m about ready tae get home.”
She wasn’t ready to go home. Not really. But going to the well-appointed dungeon she lived in was better than staying on board the ship a moment longer.
“Unfortunately, me lady, we willnae be travelin’ tae Castle Macfie tonight?—”
“What?” Emmeline snapped. “And why nae?”
“The weather is too bad. Ye may have been hearin’ the thunder outside?” he replied, his voice dripping with sarcasm.
Emmeline glared at him through eyes that had been narrowed to slits. “I am the Lady Macfie and I willnae be spoken tae that way by the likes of ye.”
Titus’ face darkened and the smarmy smile on his lips faded. He looked down at the deck and cleared his throat then raised his head again.
“Me apologies, me lady. I meant nay offense,” he said.
Emmeline said nothing but continued to glower at him. She had never liked the man. Not from the start. She’d never liked the way he looked at her, nor the way he spoke to her. But it was the way his eyes roamed her body with such familiarity that offended her the most. It made her skin crawl, for she knew the sort of impure, disgusting thoughts that rattled through his mind. She could see it in his eyes.
She had asked Burchard to stop having him shadow her. She’d told him she didn’t feel comfortable in the man’s presence, but nothing changed. It didn’t take Emmeline long to realize he kept Titus on her detail simply because he enjoyed her discomfort, making her miserable. And part of her thought her husband wouldn’t have cared if Titus forced himself upon her.
“The storm is makin’ the roads impassable, me lady. ‘Tis too dangerous.”
“Aye, and I’m sure me husband would be heartbroken if somethin’ were tae happen tae me.”
Titus didn’t say anything to that. Not that there was much he could say, but Emmeline figured it was because he knew and shared her husband’s low opinion of her.
“I willnae stay aboard this bleedin’ ship a minute longer than I have tae,” she said. “I’d rather take me chances on the road.”
“We’ve secured rooms at an inn in town, me lady.”
“Fine. Then have me things brought there. Oversee it yerself.”
“Apologies, me lady, the laird told me tae never let ye out of me sight,” he said “But I’ll make sure the lads ken tae bring yer things along.”
Emmeline let out a heavy sigh. She wanted nothing more than a hot bath and a night out from under from Titus’ watchful eye.
“Thae rain has let up a bit, so we’re ready tae escort ye tae the inn. That is if ye’re ready tae go, me lady,” he said.
She got to her feet and walked around him then out of the cabin. The ship still rolled beneath her feet, making her way up the stairs a bit of an adventure. But she managed to make it to the deck without falling on her backside. Though thunder still rumbled, and lightning lit up the clouds above, Titus was right, there was a break in the rain. How long that lasted, she had no idea, but Emmeline thought it best to get to the inn before it started again.
She allowed her escorts to precede her down the gangway to the dock. From there, the party divided with half a dozen of her husband’s men in front of her, half a dozen behind, all dressed in tunics with her husband’s sigil and dark cloaks, as they made their way from the dock to the cobblestone streets of the small town that sat on the bay where their ship had docked. Emmeline felt ridiculous traveling in the middle of such a large party.
