Page 19 of Never Tempt a Scot
“No. I do not hold with rape, and I sincerely doubt she would willingly go to your bed now.”
“You underestimate me,” Brodie replied quietly.
“Do I, now? You believe you can convince her to join you in bed, without coercion? That’s a rather bold claim. Care to wager on it?”
Brodie’s eyes glinted. “Why? You’d only lose.”
“We’ll see.”
Damn Portia and her blasted schemes,Lydia thought. She was going to be ruined. Her already slim chances of a respectable marriage were to be dashed on the rocks of Brodie Kincade’s rage.
“I suppose that means we are leaving Bath?” Rafe asked the same way one might discuss the weather.
“Yes.”
“And our destination?”
“Edinburgh. I canna take her to Kincade lands—my brothers would disapprove.”
Rafe snorted. “Naturally.”
Lydia made a sound of pleading and tried to lift her hands, but after a sharp look from the men, she fell silent again.
“Life really is more interesting with you Scots. No wonder Ash married your sister. The lure of scandal and adventure with you lot is irresistible. Very well, I shall come with you and help where I can. If this wench is as dangerous as you say, you’ll need another set of eyes watching her.”
“Thank you. I welcome your company, then.” Brodie rubbed wearily at his eyes. “I canna stay awake. The laudanum keeps trying to pull me down.”
“Not to worry. I’ll handle everything. Rest.”
Brodie closed his eyes, and Lydia relaxed for a brief moment, until she noticed that Rafe was watching her with a frightening intensity.
“It seems someone has swung a very large stick at a very angry Scottish bear,” Rafe said.
Lydia knew pleading would not help. She was at the mercy of two dangerous men who thought she was her scheming younger sister.
What a bloody rotten mess.
Brodie was trapped—corneredin the hallway as his father bore down on him in a rage.
“You think your mother would have cared about you?” Montgomery Kincade snarled. “You spineless brat!”
Brodie covered his head with his hands, waiting for the blows to rain down on him.
“Or perhaps I’ll give your sister the thrashing you are too cowardly to take,” his father taunted. This drew Brodie up from his crouched position.
“Do not harm her!” he shouted at his father.
“You can’t stop me!” Montgomery turned toward Rosalind’s bedchamber. Brodie rushed him, leaping onto the older man’s back. The man howled in rage and swung around, throwing Brodie into the stone wall of the corridor like a rag doll.
Brodie woke with a start, his hands balled into fists as he instinctively prepared for an attack, but his father was not there. He wasn’t a child anymore. He was a grown man in a crowded coach, which had just stopped moving.
It took him a moment to orient himself, and he was relieved to see Rafe. For a moment he was puzzled by the sight of the pretty lass bound and gagged sitting across from him, her eyes full of fear yet defiant. That was when the night’s awful events came back to him.
“Ah, good, you’re awake,” Rafe said.
“Where are we?” Brodie asked.
“My townhouse. We still need to prepare before we head off. You’ll be able to carry the kitten inside?”
