Page 46 of The Burden of a Scottish Chieftain
“Lennox, I am not a wee bairn. I can row.”
“Mayhap on a different day, but you had a fever for the last two days. How could you possibly think you are strong enough to row across the water on your own?”
“Mayhap because Iamstrong? I can throw an axe. I killed a man by putting an axe in the middle of his forehead. I was intelligent enough to hide our tracks as we crossed the mainland toward Oban. I found my own way when I left my home. And I can verra well find a wee lass before someone steals her and insults her all. Day. Long.” Tears misted Meg’s vision, but sheswiped them away. “Why must you continue to insult me? I’m not weak nor am I ignorant, Lennox. Please get out of my way.” She reached for the first boat again.
“Not that one.”
“I prefer this one.” She glared at him, then grabbed her saddlebag and tossed it into the vessel. “The water is like the finest calm day of summer, nearly like the ice in winter. I will be fine. I promise to return your vessel by the morrow, Lennox. Now please step aside, and I’ll not bother you again.” Her voice dropped to a calmer tone. She was tired of arguing with the arrogant man. And she would not cry.
He grabbed two more oars and threw them in the boat, then grabbed a bag from within the boathouse and tossed that inside. He removed his sword and placed it in the bottom of the vessel that he hated so. He didn’t know if he could get in it, but she wasn’t changing her mind. He’d have to be the strong one in this pair.
“I’m going with you.”
“No need. I’ll be fine.”
“It’s my boat. I’m going with you.” He sighed and said, “You want the truth? I was headed to Loch Aline on my own. The man who lived near that castle kidnapped me long ago, but I escaped by outsmarting him. And he did it in a boat that looks just like this one. They were to do the same to me—sell me to some fool who wished for me to build a curtain wall, never to return home. They dropped me over the side of the boat, hoping I would drown, but I swam underwater. I never told my mother or anyone all that happened. But I know. I know what he looks like, where he hides, and I’m going after him. I cannot allow you to go alone. You have no idea who you’re dealing with.”
Meg stopped, staring up at Lennox, his hands on his hips. His eyes had that shadow of deep pain, the blue as cold as the ice on a winter loch. Somehow, she had a sudden understandingof this handsome, strong man who’d been undone long ago as a lad, his world shattered in an instant by a soulless fool who’d stolen his innocence.
“I’m sorry, Lennox.” What else was there to say? This powerful chieftain just confessed something he’d never told another. He deserved a hug, but it would be inappropriate. Words were all she could offer him.
“I’m going with you, Meg,” he said in a small voice. “I have to. I’m a fool sometimes, but I know what’s right and what’s wrong, and those bastards are wrong.”
She reached up and cupped his cheek. “Many thanks to you. I’d be pleased to have you along.” She dropped her hands and turned back around, only to find herself tugged back into his arms.
Lennox’s mouth descended on hers in a kiss that startled her, mostly because she’d never been kissed like this before.
But damn if she didn’t like it. He let her go as quickly as he’d pulled her close, but then he kissed her forehead and said, “Let’s go find Lia.”
Lennox helped her into the boat and attached the oars, settling their few belongings. But the oddest thing happened. When he shoved the boat away from the coastline, Meg swore she heard someone clapping.
Chapter Twenty-Seven
Lennox
Hellfire, this lass was going to test him, but he hated to admit that he’d never felt more alive. Meg was gorgeous, smart, feisty, with legs that he hoped to have wrapped around his waist soon enough.
Still shocked that he’d volunteered to marry her to get her out of her betrothal, he found that marriage wasn’t the abhorrent idea he would have called it in his past.
He could picture Meg as his wife, only being a touch away on the other side of his bed, managing the castle, even bearing their children. First, he wished to see her with her hair unplaited. How long was it? Would it go to her waist or was it long and thick enough to cover the round globes of her bottom?
He shook his head, vanquishing the thoughts from his mind.
They were halfway across the sound, no other boats in sight, fortunately.
“That is Loch Aline. And the castle I seek is at the far end of the loch.” He pointed ahead, the landscape beautiful, as it usually was in summer.
“I’m sorry you had to go through that, Lennox. I’m sure the memories don’t leave you often,” she said, turning back to him as she rowed. They rowed in unison, both facing the loch, and though his strokes were stronger, she kept an impressive rhythm.
He had to stop thinking about the beauty in front of him and decide exactly where to go once they reached the mainland. There would be others around the dock at the end—fishermen, some coming from the small town near the area—but his eyes would be on the castle. He was quite sure that the man named Egan had operated from the MacKinnis Castle many years ago. He’d never seen him there since, but this was a new day.
“Over there, Meg. We’ll hide the boat behind those bushes. I’ve done it often enough.” There had been many times he thought he’d had the desire to chase after the fool, hopeful that coming to the same area would restore his memories, but it never had.
Until recently. For some odd reason, he’d remembered everything in a dream. He prayed that this would help them find Lia.
He hopped out when he was nearly onto the shallow beach, taking the front of the boat up over the sand. He held out his hand to Meg, though he feared she was angry enough to deny him. But she took his hand, and he tugged her close, giving her the most honest explanation he’d ever had. “Lass, being around you jumbles my mind more than anything else. You make me feel like a laddie hoping to get his first kiss. I apologize for muddling my words so. I never intended to insult you.”
She stood in front of him, their gazes locked, and he lost track of his thoughts, so taken by her simple, exquisite beauty, by all the images she conjured in his mind that he had to tear himself away from. He dropped her hands so he could grab his weapon and hide the boat in the bushes, then led the way to the castle down the coastline to the MacKinnis stronghold, Kinlochaline Castle.
