Page 5 of Taken By the Heartless Highlander
He leveled them with a cold stare, and with one look, they cowered back in his wake.
“Ye cannae protect her forever,” the priest spat, real venom in the words as he advanced angrily, ripping a torch from the hand of one of the crowd and holding it aloft.
“And who is going to stop me?” Noah asked, glaring around him, waiting for one of them to be stupid enough to advance.
There was a long moment of stillness. The priest’s hands were twisting and clenching on the torch, but otherwise making no move toward him. Noah turned his back on them, the woman still dangling from his grip.
“If ye set foot on me lands again, ye’ll die,” he shouted back at them as he walked slowly away.
He did not look back. His hearing and instincts were good enough to know that, at least for now, they would not pursue this.
After a few short strides, he reached his horse, Mac, who was tied to one of the trees in the gathering dusk.
He gripped Mac’s reins, finally glancing behind him. He could already see the villagers slowly retreating, the torches receding into the distance even as he watched.
Why do I feel like I havenae seen the end of this matter?He wondered.
Noah gently lifted the woman’s limp body onto the horse’s saddle, brushing the hair from her face—and what a face—he had never seen one quite like it. Her skin was kissed by the sun, her deep black hair shimmering on either side of her berry-red lips.
He ran the back of his hand gently over her cheek, feeling a spark of fire where their skin connected.
“Who are ye? he whispered. “How did ye come to run into me arms?”
CHAPTER3
Keira could smell burning.
She kept her eyes tightly shut, knowing that if she opened them, she would be greeted with a pyre of wood about to set her alight.
But when the warmth she could feel about her toes continued unabated, and she could hear no screams or baying crowds, she slowly opened her eyes.
She was quite astonished to find that she was in a comfortable bed in what looked like a room inside a castle, sunlight streaming through the window before her.
She could hear birdsong and the burning she could smell was a merry fire in the grate that appeared to have a faulty flue. Occasional gusts of smoke sputtered into the room.
“Good, ye’re awake,” came a deep voice nearby. She peered around the curtains hanging against the posts of the bed. Her breath caught in her throat as she saw the man from the forest leaning against the wall, watching her.
Has he just been standin’ there watchin’ me sleep all this time?
Away from the forest, his green eyes had changed entirely from the fresh green they had been beneath the trees. In the dimness of the room, they looked like the color of a treeline on a distant hillside, dark and unknowable.
Keira glanced about her, her mind suddenly flooded with thoughts of her brother and sister, as fear speared through her heart.
What if Lucas takes his revenge for losing me and goes after them? They are all alone and without protection.
“I must get back,” she said quickly, making a move to get out of the bed . Pain pounded sharply on the right side of her temple, and she gasped.
Bringing her hand up to her head, she felt the lump that had formed where the rock had collided with her head.
“Stay where ye are,” he said, coming closer and looking down at her as though she were a wild animal he had maimed with an arrow.
She waited for the pounding in her head to subside before glancing at him, her irritation spiking. “Are ye commandin’ me now?”
He cocked his head to one side. “Aye. This is me castle, ye are me guest, ye do as I say until I tell ye otherwise.”
Their eyes caught and held. He seemed to be examining every part of her with that look. It was the opposite of what she had come to expect from Lucas.
Lucas’s gaze was always assessing, cold, and analytical. This man’s eyes had the same intensity, but there was safety in them—a power that pulsed from his very being.
