Page 20 of Captured By the Cruel Highlander
He wondered what she would have done if he had run his fingers over her leg and continued the journey upward, smoothing his fingers over her thigh, searching for the dark heat of her body. They had been quite alone. He could have done anything to her.
“Do ye think that man hurt yer sister?”
His mother’s frightened voice pulled him out of his lustful thoughts. Guilt shot through him at the worry in her eyes. He felt like a failure, unable to help his sister despite all his best efforts.Seeing his mother’s face so pale and drawn was a stark reminder of how hard she had taken the news.
“I dinnae ken, but if he did, he’s goin’ to pay for it,” he said angrily. “If ye listen to me for once, ye will see that there is reason in everythin’ I do. I have a plan, and I will follow it.Yewill respect Lady Emily, Maither. I will bring back Laura and kill James Stewart for leavin’ her to rot. Is that understood?”
His mother’s eyes were still hard, but beneath the anger, he could see the grief that drove her.
He sighed. “Go back to the castle—it’s cold, and the wind is pickin’ up.”
She released a shuddering breath that came out in a great cloud before she nodded once and turned to walk back to the castle through the rain. He watched her until she was out of sight and then took his seat again. The cold would do him good; it might even help to clear his head.
As Lady MacNiall disappeared into the shadows, Adam tried to fight the bitterness her presence always stirred in him.
His mother was a forceful woman with whom his father had fallen deeply and irrevocably in love. Her influence on the Laird had been substantial, and due to her cajoling, his father had started many wars and fought a great number of battles during his lifetime. His conquests had expanded their territory and made them one of the most powerful families in the Highlands.
But it had come at a cost.
His father had repeatedly been encouraged to go to war by his wife. Moira Kane was many things, but as a young woman, she had been arrogant and greedy. Her lust for power and influence knew no bounds, and his father had paid the price.
As the Laird had grown older, her desire for glory had never waned. Only on that fateful day when they received the news that her beloved husband had finally been killed did the reality of what she had done truly sink in.
Ever since his father’s death, his mother had stood at the edges of his life, observing but rarely interfering. Until recently, her meddling had been manageable, but she was beginning to forget her place. It pained him to see her unhappy, but he could not absolve her completely of what had happened to Laura.
She had been a distant and absent mother, and if it weren’t for Freya’s sensible influence, he believed Laura would have lost her way far sooner.
“I just pray ye are safe,” he muttered into the night.
He hoped that somewhere in the Highlands, Laura was being cared for. Looking up at the shadowy castle ahead of him, he noticed a light flickering in Emily’s chambers. It felt like a beacon of hope.
Women are a means to an end,he told himself.And Emily Murray will be me way to revenge.
8
“Ye dinnae have to do this,” Emily muttered. “Ye’re a lady yerself.”
Freya was helping her to dress after she had finished her bath, and she smiled in response.
“I always helped Laura dress. She did the same for me. We are twins, ye see—very much alike. If ye dinnae mind, it reminds me of me life before we lost her.”
Emily watched Freya’s nimble fingers fasten the buttons on her skirts. The dress was a gift from Lady MacNiall. It was a deep burgundy and very fine.
“What happened to Laura?” she asked. “If ye dinnae mind me askin’.”
Freya’s expressive eyes filled with pain, and she stepped back. “It was me fault,” she said quietly. “I should have taken better care of her.”
“I dinnae believe that,” Emily replied quickly. She knew James Stewart too well. “He isnae a man to be trusted, Freya.”
Freya sniffed, staring out the window with a faraway look on her face. “She was always sweet on him, but I didnae really think much of it. I had seen them talkin’. He never took much notice of her, from what I could tell. It was only later, when she confessed that she liked him, that I started to worry. She’s much bolder than me. More spirited. It all happened so fast. And now she’s gone.”
Emily laid a hand on Freya’s arm in a show of solidarity.
When Emily had met James, she had made it clear that she couldn’t stand the sight of him, yet he had still managed to use her feelings to get his way. She could only imagine how he would use a woman who showed him true affection.
“He seduced her,” Freya whispered. “She thought that he loved her, I think. She is a good-hearted person. She would have believed all his lies—I have nay doubt.”
“But how did they come to be separated?”
