Page 105 of Highlanders for the Holidays
Chapter 11
“Lily! Lily, wait!”
She heard Roderick above the pounding of blood in her ears and ran faster. Her chest hurt as if were squeezed by a giant fist. She was desperate to get outside where she could breathe. She saw a door ahead and burst through it only to find herself in another torch-lit corridor.
Roderick caught her arm and spun her around.
“Let me explain,” he said.
“No need,” she said. “’Tis abundantly clear.”
“Ye don’t understand—”
“Your clan needed a seer, and ye thought I was one,” she said. “Don’t tell me more lies. Thatiswhy you brought me here.”
She should have known he had not done it to protect her. What a fool she was. She had even begun to believe he cared for her.
“Did ye forget that ye were half dead when I found ye?” he said. “I brought ye with me because ye had nowhere else to go and no one to care for ye.”
“And I’d still be lying on that hillside if your clan didn’t need a seer.”
“I didn’t even know ye were a lass at first,” he said. “How can ye believe I would have left ye there to die, no matter who ye were?”
“You could have left me in Ayr, but by then you’d convinced yourself I was this woman your grandmother foretold.” She was so angry her vision blurred. “You invented an excuse, claiming the town wasn’t safe.”
“It wasn’t safe.”
“Nay.” She swallowed. “You decided to dowhateveryou must to persuade me to come with you.”
“It wasn’t like that,” he said.
“Yes, it was exactly like that,” she said, choking out the words.
* * *
How hadthings gone so wrong? Roderick did not know what to do. God help him, Lily was on the verge of weeping.
“’Tis why you took me to bed,” she said, pointing a finger at him.
“That was not the reason.” Her accusation stung. Making love to her had affected him in ways he still did not understand. And yet a sliver of guilt niggled at him, making him feel lower than dirt. Though it hadnotbeen the reason, he had believed that making love to her would make her more amenable to continuing the journey with him.
“You pretended you wantedme.” She shoved his chest with both hands, but tears were flowing down her cheeks. “You made me believe it!”
“I did want ye. Idowant ye,” he said, gripping her arms. “How can ye doubt it?”
He was in serious trouble. Lily was not the sort of lass who shed tears easily. Would she ever forgive him?
“I admit that I did wish to persuade ye to come here to Islay,” he said. “But making love wasn’t something I planned. It just happened. And I’m glad it did.”
“Is that so, Highlander?” she said, putting her hand on her hip.
Ach, she was calling him Highlander. Not a good sign, but he preferred facing her anger over her tears.
“Well, ye troubled yourself for nothing,” she continued. “I can’t be that seer you’re looking for because I don’t haveThe Sight.”
“Whether ye are a seer or no, I became responsible for ye when I saved your life,” he said. “And when I took ye to bed, that changed everything.”
“That changed nothing. You’re not responsible for me. I don’t belong to you,” she said, poking his chest with each point she made. “And I’m not the woman you’re looking for.”
