Page 117 of Seduced By the Reckless Highlanders
“How did you get your scars?”
He looked her straight in the eyes and opened his mouth to tell her, but hesitated, wondering whether to go on. Then he decided that it would be best to tell his story, since there seemed to be something about her he could trust, although he could not tell what it was. He always found it best to be guided by his instincts.
“My name is Gowan Hepburn,” he told her. “And I am the rightful Laird of Cairndene.” He lifted the hood and pushed it back. “Your father had my mother murdered and tried to kill me, but I escaped. I have been hiding here ever since.
I got my scar from the fire in the castle. A branch fell on me when I was running out of the castle. It burned all my hair off on that side too, but it grew back. My mother sacrificed herself for me, and her body was found in the loch a few days later.
The villagers of Cairndene gave her a decent, dignified burial, and for that I will be forever grateful to them. Yet to my shame I have been too afraid to come out of this forest, partly because I thought the Darroch soldiers might be looking for me but mostly because I looked so horrific. I knew that my scarred face would be associated with evil so knowing the simple, superstitious people that they are, I put the symbols around the woods to keepthem away.” He hung his head so that his shining golden hair fell over his face.
Minna looked at him in disbelief. “Everyone thinks you are dead,” she told him.
“That was what I wanted them to think.” His voice was grim. “I was in mourning for my mother, and I could not even attend her funeral. For a while I thought about killing myself, but one thing kept me going. Revenge.”
She sighed. “I don’t blame you. I would feel the same way, but surely you can't go on like this, speaking to no-one. It is not healthy.” Then, without thinking, she reached out and brushed his hair back.
He looked up, and Minna smiled at him. “You are not ugly,” she murmured. “Your face is barely scarred at all, and there is certainly no need to hide because of a mark. Most of whatever was there to start with has healed now.”
“You can say that with confidence because this is not your face,” he replied bitterly.
“There are a few wrinkles on your cheek and the corner of your left eye,” Minna observed. “Do you not think that there are many men out there in a much worse state than you are? There are those who have lost arms and legs, and those who have had their minds scarred by what they have seen in battle.”
“You make me feel so ashamed,” Gowan said gloomily. “But would your brother’s guards know me if I ventured out of this place? Would I not be cut down as soon as one of them saw me? My scars are hard to hide.”
“I was just a girl of eleven years when all this happened,” Minna pointed out. “I had heard about you, and Jamie had seen you, but only in the distance. Even if you had stood in front of him I doubt he would have guessed who you were. But then he is not too bright at the best of times.” She almost spat the last words out.
“You have no love for your brother,” Gowan observed, watching her keenly.
Minna stood up and paced around the cabin, her fists clenched. “He tried to kill me! What do you think? My brother is a drunk who does not care about anyone but himself,” she replied. “He is evil and I despise him.” Then she turned to look at him again. “Do you still want revenge? Would you like to have your land back?”
Gowan looked up and was mesmerized for a moment by the bright blue eyes that were staring back at him questioningly.
“Of course,” he replied, sighing. “I hate the way it is being run - or not run. But I am only one man. I admire you for standing up to James Darroch. Perhaps if I had been so brave I would be the master of my own estate.”
“You were barely even an adult,” Minna pointed out. “What could you have done?” She shrugged, then yawned.
“It is time you slept,” he told her. He pulled over a thin pallet from the corner. It was made from dried fir leaves over which a thin blanket had been stretched, and looked distinctly uncomfortable.
Minna was also uncomfortable. She was trapped in a small enclosure with a very big man whom she had only just met. He could do anything he wanted with her and she would be powerless to stop him, but somehow, perhaps naively, she felt that she could trust him.
Having arranged another blanket on the mat, he turned to her and saw her fearful expression. “You are in no danger from me, Minna. I have never, and will never harm a woman. I remember too well what happened to my mother. Goodnight.”
He lay down on the floor and closed his eyes, and a moment later, Minna did the same.
CHAPTER 15
Halfway through the night, Gowan was awakened by the sound of the wind howling through the trees and the crash of thunder and the patter of raindrops on the thatch above him. He hated nights like this. As a boy they had always given him nightmares, but now they merely made him wake up with a start. Even so, he became uncomfortably aware of how flimsy his hut was, and how easily it could be damaged.
Presently, however, he heard another sound - the noise of a woman crying out in her sleep, and he looked over to see Minna thrashing around on her thin pallet. He sat up and moved over to her, intending to wake her up, but as he reached out to her she curled into the shelter of his body, and with a soft sigh, she fell asleep again.
For a moment, Gowan was uncertain what to do. Her head was awkwardly trapped between his head and neck, and he was afraid to move in case she thought that he was creeping in beside her to take advantage of her.
Eventually he managed to shift sideways until her head was pillowed on her chest. He tried to lie still, but he could not help himself from wrapping his arms around her. They were completely entwined, pressed against each other from head tofoot. At once he was assailed by a rush of feelings. There was the very obvious reaction of a man to a woman’s body, which he felt as a sudden stiffening of his shaft, but that was not all. However, there was something else.
A sudden wave of tenderness washed over him; she felt sorightin his arms. Her body was so soft, so pliant and so warm. Every part of her fitted snugly into every part of him, and it was glorious. It had been so long since he had held a woman in his arms that the sensation almost overwhelmed him. He looked at her full, tempting lips, so close to his that he had to use all his willpower to resist the impulse to kiss her. Her lashes were long and dark, and he could see by the flickering light of the one candle in the small room that she was dreaming. It must have been a vivid one, since he could see the swift movements of her eyes from side to side under her eyelids. He wished he could see what she was seeing.
She smiled and gave a soft chuckle, and this made Gowan want to laugh too, although he stifled the urge in case she should wake. She turned and snuggled further into his embrace, giving a little sigh of satisfaction, then draped her leg over him. It was a long time before he surrendered to sleep, but it was the deepest, most undisturbed sleep he had had for a long time. Holding a warm woman in his arms, even on an earthen floor, was much, much better than sleeping alone.
Minna was dreaming. She was wrapped in something soft and warm, but at the same time she knew that it was strong, and she felt safe and protected. She opened her eyes, and for a moment, nothing made sense. Her cheek was resting against something that felt like wool, but was hard underneath. It was rising andfalling in a steady rhythm, and she could hear the steady thud of - a heartbeat?
