Page 69 of A Virgin for the Highland Beast
“Well, ye’re here now. What exactly is it that ye’re lookin’ to do?” Emma asked.
Hunter couldn’t help but smile at his wife’s boldness. Of course, it was her family she was speaking to, but she didn’t seem to understand the tension mounding in the room.
“We demand justice,” another cried out.
“Justice?” Emma snapped as she shook her head. “Ye got yer justice the moment me husband killed Geoffrey.”
The clansmen pulled their swords out of their sheaths, poised to attack. Hunter sprang into action, pulling Emma to the side to keep her safe, should any of them decide to get all jumpy.
“Ye’ll put yer blades down this instant,” Emma ordered. “Go on, then. Or have ye all forgotten it was me faither who led the clan well before Geoffrey? It was me braither who would have taken me faither’s place as yer leader if Geoffrey hadn’t killed him. So, if anyone here deserves justice, do ye nae think it should be me? Geoffrey confessed to killin’ me family, and yer Lairds.”
“Ye dinnae understand,” Angus chimed in as he lowered his sword. “We have nay Laird. If we dinnae have one, the clan will be nay more. I doubt ye want yer faither’s legacy to be snuffed out.”
Emma glanced at Hunter. He could see the weight of her choice pounding her into the ground.
There was only one thing Hunter could do, but he couldn’t be sure if Emma would agree or like the idea.
“Gentlemen,” Hunter said, waving his hands as if to lower the tension in the entranceway. “Ye’ve all come a long way. Come let us retire to the drawing room?”
“We’ll nae move from this spot till ye come wit’ us,” Angus said as his eyes fell on Emma.
Terror rippled through Hunter as he shook his head and stepped between Emma and Angus. “She’ll nae be goin’ anywhere wit’ ye,” he growled, ready to take every single one of them on.
“Then what about one of the sisters? We ken Nora is the oldest by blood. Perhaps she can go wit’ us and put matters straight again. But she’ll need a husband,” Angus suggested, much to Emma’s dismay.
“That’s nae an option,” Emma chimed in as she tapped Hunter’s shoulder to get him to calm down. “None of me sisters will be forced to marry anyone they dinnae deem worthy.”
“Sorry, M’Lady, but that is somethin’ yer husband is to decide,” Agnus countered.
Emma’s eyes filled with worry. Hunter shook his head, knowing full well there was no way he was about to cross her.
“If Nora or Isobel wish to return to their clan and be me eyes and ears for the region, then that is their choice,” Hunter announced. “But I’m goin’ to agree wit’ Emma here. The sisters deserve to make their own decisions on marriage. And I dinnae want to hear one of ye blokes forcin’ yer hand on them either.”
“Are ye sayin’ that ye’ll have one of the Knox girls come back wit’ us and be yer proxy?” Agnus asked as his eyes shifted from Emma to Hunter.
“Aye,” Hunter answered with a firm bob of his head. “That’s precisely what I’m sayin’. And if ye have an issue wit’ the idea, then say yer piece now before I silence ye for good.”
“As the Laird wishes,” Agnus answered as he shot Emma a weary glance.
Hunter swallowed hard as he nudged Emma into a small nook, away from the men.
“What do ye think?” Hunter asked. “Do ye think yer sisters would want to return to their homeland?”
“I cannae say,” Emma answered. “I ken there was a time when I wished to see it again.”
Hunter’s chest tightened. It was a confession he wasn’t expecting to come from her. “And now?”
Emma shook her head. “There’s nothin’ for me there. Me family is here, wit’ ye—and me sisters, should they wish to stay. But their paths may nae be the same as the one we are on. And I’m goin’ to have to let them go.”
“Then do ye want to talk to yer sisters? Or will ye have me do it?” Hunter asked as he watched Archie corral the clan members into a different part of the castle.
“I’ll go and talk wit’ them,” Emma answered. “But I think speakin’ wit’ them will be far easier than havin’ to tame Clan Clyde. I’d suggest ye put the whiskey away. They’ll drink ye under the table and leave ye high and dry.”
Hunter pinched Emma’s chin and leaned closer. He crushed his lips to hers as he marveled at her. She was perfect in every sense of the word, and he knew there was no way he’d ever be content with another.
“Why are ye lookin’ at me like that?” Emma asked as his lips curled into a smirk.
“I was just thinkin’ how a month ago, it was ye and yer sisters comin’ here for sanctuary, and now we’re married. Life certainly has a way of makin’ things interestin’.”
