Page 56 of Married to the Highland Devil
“The last time you stood against Laird MacGregor’s bandits, we nearly lost you,” Amelia said to him in a shaky voice.
“I must save my sister,” he insisted then went to his mother. “Please, take care of Amelia and make sure she is all right. I shall have guards stationed in the main keep to watch and protect ye two. We will return with Yvaine.”
His mother’s eyes were teary now, and she sniffled. “Be careful,” she whispered to him before he hugged her tight.
Duncan moved to Amelia next and wrapped his arms around her for a long hug. He inhaled her scent and committed the feel of her in his arms to memory. He moved to kiss her cheek, but Amelia turned her face then, and his lips landed on hers.
It was a brief, smooth kiss, but it made Duncan’s head spin with need and desire for her. It took sheer effort to bury the fierce desire pricking through his nerves, and she whimpered as he pulled away from her. He then marched out of the keep with Arran, Matthew, and a dozen other guards.
MacGregor was hours away, and when they arrived, Arran led them on the path as they crossed over from the last of McLennan lands into MacGregor.
Duncan noticed troops of MacGregor soldiers approach them a short time after they crossed the border, and soon, they were surrounded by them.
He recognized the general leading the troops, and Arran motioned for the rest of Duncan’s men to stop trotting forward.
“Ye bring the enemy to our home?” General Benjamin asked Arran as they faced each other.
Duncan still straddled his stallion by Arran’s side, and his right hand moved to his sword’s sheath. He was always prepared for battle, especially when it involved Laird MacGregor and his men.
“Yer the enemy,” Arran answered in Gaelic. “Ye took the Laird’s sister. We only want her back.”
Benjamin tossed his head back and released a short laugh that rippled through the air and made Duncan’s fury boil over.
“I want to see Laid MacGregor. Ye will take me to him, or I will kill the whole lot of ye and go to him myself.”
When Duncan drew his sword, Arran did the same, and they aimed them at the general, whose men also drew out their swords and charged forward.
Benjamin commanded in a thunderous voice, “!”
His command made the soldiers stop, and it took another second before a mocking smile played out on his lips.
“Laird MacGregor has been waitin’ for ye to come,” he said, and Duncan caught Arran’s side eye before Benjamin turned his horse around and motioned for them to follow him.
* * *
“Welcome,” Malcolm said when they arrived and uncrossed his hands from behind him. He stood at the main entrance to his castle, and Arran dismounted his horse first before Duncan did.
Both men strode towards Malcolm, who was wearing a triumphant smile that reached the corners of his eyes and made him look even more evil.
“I have awaited this day for years… My prodigal son returns, and ye, Laird McLennan, have come to me on yer own. Is it nae a lovely night? The night I shall fulfill my dreams of havin’ the very thin’ I want.”
“What is it that ye want, Faither?”
“Duncan kens what I want,” Malcolm said to Arran, but the brunt of his gaze stayed on Duncan’s face.
Yvaine was dragged out of the castle then, and she fought with the man holding her captive. Her mouth was gagged, and her hair was tousled as if she had been struggling. Her earasaid was ripped in many places, her hands were bound in front of her, and tears stained her cheeks.
A slicing pain cut through Duncan’s heart, but Arran spoke before he could.
“Let her go this instant.”
Arran lurched forward, but Malcolm moved swiftly and stopped him by pressing the sharp blade of his sword to his neck.
“Dinnae move, traitor!” Malcolm yelled.
Arran froze in his spot, and Duncan drew his sword too alongside his men.
“I dinnae want to hurt the lass,” Malcolm said. “She reminds me of yer faither. She is brave, witty, and also very naïve. It didnae take my man long to capture her from yer gardens last night. As always, McLennan is weak. Yer clan is better off with another leader.”
