Page 55 of Saved By the Highland Beast
She froze as the sound suddenly died down. Whoever they were, they had stopped their horse. Shutting her eyes in fear, she chose a direction at random and began to run, praying that Dean would find her soon.
Branches scraped at her flesh and cut her skin as she blindly ran. The world suddenly faded to black as she collided head-first into what seemed to be a wall.
CHAPTER20
Stumbling back,Sophia felt herself being caught just before she fell to the ground. “Dean!” she said breathlessly as she opened her eyes and threw her arms around Dean’s neck, holding on tight with every ounce of her strength.
“I’m here now, lass,” he said against her hair as he kissed the top of her head and held her tight. “Yer safe now.”
“He’s still coming after me.” Tears of relief and panic flowed down her cheeks as she stared up at the laird. “I left him by the horses, but he will find us here. Please, let’s leave now!” she pleaded urgently. “Before he comes back. Let’s go!” She gripped his arm and tried to pull him along, but he stood firm and pulled her back.
“Wait.” Dean guided her back into his arms and gently ran the back of his finger over her cheek, where the red mark of a hand was clearly visible under the scratches. “What happened here?” he asked gruffly, his jaw clenching in anger.
“I fell into some underbrush when I was trying to get away,” she hastily explained. “I’m sure I’m covered in scratches and cuts, but we can see to that later. Let’s please just leave before he comes back. He’s probably gaining on us as we speak!”
“I mean the red mark beneath the scratches,” Dean asked while narrowing his eyes and completely ignoring her protests to leave.
“Oh.” She suddenly remembered and raised a hand to her cheek. “Luke slapped me,” she said. “He’s very unhinged. Please, Dean, let’s just leave now. We can alert the authorities and have him thrown in prison where he belongs once we get back to the castle.”
“I’ll kill him,” he growled in anger. “The bastard will never lay another hand on ye again. Did he do anythin’ else to ye, lass?” he asked with great concern as he examined her torn clothes.
“No.” She shook her head. “I tore my skirt and blouse to leave a trail for you to find me. Luke only slapped me after I was bound and gagged.”
“Luke?” he asked with a frown. “Why does that name sound so familiar?”
“I’m not sure,” she answered with increasing panic and clutched at his arm again when the sound of galloping hooves drew nearer through the thicket of trees that surrounded the clearing where they were standing.
“I will nae run from an English dog that doesnae deserve to be called a man,” Dean said angrily as his eyes filled with venom.
Sophia had never seen him like that before. She felt a strange sense of pride and love at the way he wanted to protect her, but her feelings were quickly replaced by fear once again when the sound of boots in the snow reached their ears.
“Stay behind me,” he said gruffly as he gripped her and pushed her behind his back, stepping in front of her like a shield.
“Well, well, well,” Luke drawled, clapping his hands as he stepped into the tiny clearing where the couple was standing. “I see you are far more competent than I gave you credit for,” he said sarcastically. “I didn’t think that a barbarian such as yourself would have the nerve to come after me.” He glared at Sophia as she stood behind Dean with her hand placed on his arm. “Of course, you did have the help of a disobedient little witch.”
“You?” Sophia felt Dean’s muscles tense under her hand as his body stiffened with tension. “How is it you?”
“Yes. Shockingly, it was me,” Luke answered with a slimy grin. “I thought it was over for me when you bumped into me in the village, but lucky for me, you didn’t suspect a thing.” He shook his head and laughed. “You didn’t even stay long enough to have a decent conversation with me. You immediately just assumed that the polite Englishman couldn’t be the man that was brazen enough to follow the woman he loved all the way to Scotland in the middle of winter,” he hissed.
“Ye have seen that Sophia has made her choice,” Dean gritted out, his anger rising by the second. “Leave now, and things dinnae have to end for ye here. Ye can return to England an’ live yer life.” He paused and balled his fists at his sides. “If ye promise to never return to Scotland again an’ never so much as look in the same direction as Sophia.”
“I’m afraid that won’t work for me,” Luke said as he drew a hidden blade from behind his back, the steel glinting in the quickly fading light. “Sophia is mine, you see. So, never seeing her again will present a bit of a problem for me.” He held the sword out in front of him and twisted the blade as he pointed it at Dean. “I don’t know what kind of spell you have cast over her, Laird McGill, but I’m here to break it and save her life. She will come to her senses again once we are married in the morning.”
“I will never go with you! I love Dean,” Sophia suddenly yelled and stepped forward. “I don’t even know you!”
Dean stretched out his arm at his side and held her back. “You see that the lady has made her choice of her own free will,” he said, taking a step forward. “Let’s settle things here an’ now. Leave, or I will nae be responsible for what happens next,” he warned. “But understand this.” He drew a sword from his hip and pointed it at Luke. The tips of the blades nearly touched across the space between the men. “Ye will never lay a hand on me wife ever again,” he threatened as his voice deepened.
Sophia felt her heart soaring as Dean stepped forward in her defense.
Did he just call me his wife?
Her questions from earlier were answered in a single sentence.
He wants to marry me!
Luke pulled his lips back in a menacing grimace. “She will bemywife!” He lunged forward and brought his blade down on Dean’s, the metallic clank reverberating through his arms.
Dean quickly pushed him back with ease and swung his sword in a circle with one hand, just as Sophia had seen Anthony do on countless occasions, before gripping the sword in both hands and advancing on Luke with a fierce battle cry that echoed through the forest.
