Page 54 of Saved By the Highland Beast
Luke stood and spun her around again. “That doesn’t seem like a single rip,” he said, suspicion in his voice. “That seems like several rips.”
“I think the fabric continued to hook on the saddle as the horse trotted on,” Sophia tried again, racking her brain for a way to escape.
Reaching around her waist, he yanked the blouse that she managed to only partially tuck back into her skirt. “Then, how did your blouse manage to tear and tuck itself back into your skirt?” he asked angrily. “I suppose the bouncing motion of your horse neatly tucked it back in for you after ripping it up?” His voice dripped with sarcasm.
Sophia shrugged for a lack of anything else to say.
“For Pete’s sake,” he swore under his breath as he spotted the piece of cloth hanging from a nearby branch. “Was this your plan all along? To leave a trail for your precious laird?” he spat bitterly. “I knew I couldn’t trust you just yet!” He walked over and snatched the piece from the branch before returning and towering over her.
“I didn’t—” she began but froze when Luke raised his hand in the air.
With one single blow, he brought the palm of his hand across her cheek and sent her reeling into the snow. Her ears rang from the force. She’d never before been slapped in her life, but the blow had been even more painful than she’d imagined.
Sophia coughed as she lay in the snow, completely stunned by the dark turn that Luke’s personality had taken. All traces of kindness had left his eyes after the piece of fabric had been retrieved from the branch. The man was more than just a little unhinged, he was dangerous. She shivered as the realization of just how dangerous the situation she was in came crashing down on her like a ton of bricks.
I need to escape!
Her breaths came in quick succession.
“I’m sorry you had to see that side of me,” he uttered coolly as he came to her side and lifted her onto her knees. “I was hoping that things wouldn’t have to come to this, but now that it has,” he said, looking down at her as a dark shadow fell across his face, “I hope you can see that I am a man who is not to be trifled with. My patience will only go so far and no more.” He sniffed and let out a breath. “People often underestimate me because of my kindness. A horrible mistake that many have made.”
Her heart beat uncontrollably in her chest as he hunkered down beside her, fear gripping at her very being.
“A mistake that your precious laird made when he met in the village.” He laughed. “To think we wouldn’t be here if only he’d taken the time to question me a little more instead of walking off after that stupid boy.”
“What are you talking about?” Sophia asked as her ears continued to ring. The snow was seeping through her clothes and chilling her skin down to the bone.
“Never mind.” Luke shook his head. “It doesn’t matter now. I have already won.”
She winced as she tried to move, only succeeding in making the rope cut deeper into her skin.
“Your little stunt has altered our plans a bit.” He gently reached out and tilt her face up until she was looking into his eyes. “You will have to ride with me as I alter our course to get away from your precious laird.” His expression changed again as he uttered the name with disgust. “Dean O’Brien will never see that pretty little face of yours again. The Scottish bastard will rue the day he set eyes on you. I hope he rots from the despair of missing you. Him and that insolent little pup he calls his son.”
Sophia could feel the hot tears stinging her eyes as she glared at him. “Dean O’Brien is twice the man that you will ever hope to be,” she said through gritted teeth. “And Cillian will grow up to be just as formidable and respectable as his father.” She looked him up and down with a glare. “Not something that I think you will ever understand.”
“I see there is more fire in you than I originally thought,” Luke drawled with a nasty smirk. “No matter, I like my women with a little feistiness.” He straightened again before reaching down and pulling her back up to her feet. “You can ride with me now,” he said as he freed her hands. “And don’t think I’ll tolerate any more of your little tricks,” he breathed in her ear before bending down and loosening the ropes that bound her feet.
Realizing that her chance had come, Sophia held her breath and waited for Luke to untie the knots. It felt to her as if an eternity had passed before he straightened again with the ropes in his hands.
“I think we—Oof!” he cried out in pain as Sophia lifted her leg as quickly as she could and kicked his groin with her knee.
Luke fell to his knees in the snow with his hands covering his groin. His face had turned a shade of bright red as he gasped for breath.
Lifting the remains of her torn skirt, she turned around and ran as fast as she could in the direction that they had come from, using the torn pieces of fabric as a guide in the hopes that she would run into Dean on his way to rescue her.
“You won’t get very far!” Luke called to her as she ran through the bushes, branches smacking her in the face as she pushed and shoved her way through the snow and overgrown trees. “You need me! Sophia! You need me!” he continued to yell.
She was almost out of breath when she was suddenly yanked back down. She landed with a thud on her bottom in the snow. She fought with all her might against the force that held her back, feeling her skin being scratched from every angle.
He couldn’t have caught up with me so soon!
It wasn’t until she stopped and opened her eyes that she realized she’d left the path and stumbled into a thicket of thistles that were snagging her clothes and scraping her skin. The force that had brought her to the ground had been a large hanging branch from a willow that towered over the patch of thistles. The sharp ends had hooked on the opening in her skirt over her thigh.
She hurriedly freed her clothes from the thorns and sought a way out from the plants, trying her best to reach the trail once again. She had to make it back to the path before she lost her way. The chances of her surviving the night in a forest during a blizzard were slim to none.
Her heart leapt in her chest as the sound of hooves in the distance quickly grew closer. She whipped around and tried to ascertain where the sound was coming from but quickly realized that the acoustics of the forest were throwing her off. She’d gotten herself turned around in the thicket of thistles and didn’t know the way out.
The pounding hooves drew nearer as she panicked and sought a way out. The sound could mean that Dean had found her trail and was well on his way to save her from Luke, or it could also mean that her captor was on his way to take her back.
