Page 18 of Never Tempt a Scot
Annis looked like he wanted to intervene, but the butler was no match for the angry Scotsman. She shook her head, and Annis kept his distance as he carried the two pieces of luggage down the stairs to the waiting coach.
“Get inside.” Brodie smiled at Lydia as the driver rushed to open the door. Lydia stumbled into the waiting darkness of her family’s coach, all too aware of the blade still held at her back.
5
Lydia collapsed into the seat opposite Brodie Kincade as he closed the coach door, and her heart raced as she tried not to panic. It felt as though her whole world was spinning. Her sister and father had done a terrible, wicked thing, and yetshehad been the one abducted trying to undo their actions.
She jumped and gasped as the other door opened and Rafe Lennox ducked inside.
Brodie at first pointed his knife at the man, then stared, momentarily stunned. “Rafe?”
“Hello, old chap, thought you might need a hand with ...” Rafe’s words trailed away as he caught sight of Lydia. He grinned as the coach started to move. “Well, hello there.”
Lydia shrank back as far away from the two men as she could get.
“I say, what’s that sweet kitten doing here?” Rafe asked Brodie.
“Sweet? No, no, no. She’s a viper, acleverone. She told her father that I compromised her and got her with child. The damned mankidnappedme. He thinks he can force me into marriage.”
“Oh! But that wasn’t me!” Lydia said quickly. “You mean my sister, Portia.”
“Lies. You have no sister.”
Brodie still held the knife, and Lydia couldn’t keep her eyes off it. Rafe seemed to take pity on her.
“Right, well ... I don’t think the kitten here has claws enough to hurt you, man. So why not put the knife down? You’re not in your right head.”
A wild, feral look in Brodie’s eyes warned them both that he was not yet ready to be reasonable.
“She drugged me, offered me water, but then she ...” Brodie shook his head, as though trying to rid himself of the memory.
Lydia covered her mouth with a hand, unable to speak. Portia had drugged him? Her sister and father had done unspeakable harm to this man. As soon as he calmed down, she would have a rational discussion and explain to him that she’d had no part in any of this nonsense.
“Hand me that ribbon, kitten. The one in your hair.” Rafe held out his hand to Lydia, who removed the ribbon and handed it to him. Rafe took a handkerchief from his waistcoat pocket and turned to Brodie, holding up the two items.
“Should you, or shall I?” Rafe asked.
Brodie slowly set the knife down on the seat and took the ribbon and handkerchief from Rafe. When Brodie looked her way, Lydia cringed at the look on his face.
“Dinna fight me, lass,” he said, then lunged for her.
Lydia kicked and screamed as he came down on top of her. But the man was too large and too strong. He worked the handkerchief into her mouth, tying it behind her head so she was unable to spit it out, and then her wrists were bound together in front of her.
Lydia sat still, trying to calm her breathing so as not to panic or choke on the bit of cloth in her mouth. She was terrified and furious all at once, which had a crippling effect on her. Why couldn’t Brodie tell her apart from Portia, and why wouldn’t he listen to reason? Was he going to hurt her? Would Rafe stand by and let it happen? She forced her spinning thoughts to stop so she could focus on what the men were saying.
“When you left the tavern room, everything started to spin. I didna realize I’d been drugged until I was in the corridor and four men attacked me,” Brodie said.
“Yes, I saw them carry you outside into a coach,” Rafe interjected. “I thought at first that you were simply being ejected for starting a fight. Once I realized that wasn’t what was going on, I followed at a distance.”
“I wasna awake the entire time. I slipped in and out. It was the bloody laudanum. I woke to find the lass’s father in the room, explaining how I would have to marry her. To do the right thing. Then I drifted off again and woke to find her kissing me and boasting of how she’d please me as a wife.” Brodie shot Lydia a glare of purest loathing. “Then she offered me water, and when I drank, I tasted more laudanum.”
“Bloody hell.” Rafe shot a fiery look at Lydia. “You are a heartless wench.” He focused back on Brodie. “So what is your plan for her? I shall have your back, regardless.”
“Thank you.” Brodie seemed to relax a bit as he settled back in his seat. “I want this lass to feel as used as I have. Oh, she will get what she wished—mein her bed. But she’ll not have the courtesy of the titlewife.”
“That’s a rather bold move, Kincade,” Rafe murmured.
“You still have my back?”
