Page 12 of Abducted By the Highlander
She was the woman he hadn’t been able to forget these last eighteen months. The lass whose gentle voice and bewitching smile had been the only light in the darkness of his nights.
The one he’d woven impossible dreams around: of a future they could never share.
Chapter Four
Roisin clutched Ecne’sbasket close, even though her arm had gone numb long ago from its awkward position, but that was far better than the alternative of putting him back on the wagon where she couldn’t be sure he was safe.
As safe as any of them were.
In her heart, she didn’t believe they were safe at all.
Her stomach pitched and, against her better judgement, she cast the man at her side a quick glance. His profile was dark and proud, and his unsmiling face caused a dull ache deep inside her chest.
How could Hugh Campbell, the noble Highlander who had charmed her so, be nothing more than a fearful brigand?
A shudder wracked her, and it had nothing to do with the rain or the cold wind. It was because she’d been so terribly wrong about him.
Stealthily, she roamed her gaze over the path they took, but she didn’t recognize anything. Certainly, they weren’t traveling in the direction of Creagdoun.
Is this what her dream had been warning her of? That Hugh Campbell, of all the men in the world, would abduct her and take her deep into the unfamiliar Highlands?
No wonder Amma hadn’t believed he was the man for her, the way she had with Alasdair for Freyja. For Hugh had forsaken everyone he’d ever known and become an outlaw.
She bent her head, blinking rapidly at the cursed rain that caused her eyes to sting. Eight brave warriors lay dead because they’d swornto shield her from harm, and she hadn’t even been able to give them the respect they deserved by protecting their bodies from the scavenging wildlife.
She swallowed around the lump in her throat. None of the men were strangers to her, and all of them were—had been—fierce warriors. But the attack had been so sudden, so violent, she’d scarcely had time to wrench Ecne’s basket from the wagon and make good her and Grear’s escape, in the hope they could hide from the attackers in the forest.
But Hugh Campbell had caught them. Had he known who she was before he and his men had attacked?
She tightened her grip on the reins. It didn’t matter one way or another. The reason neither of her sisters knew where he’d been since leaving Eigg was because he’d turned rogue.
Did he mean to hold her for ransom? As despicable as that was, it was far better than the terrifying alternative of her and Grear being used for unspeakable purposes.
She glanced over her shoulder, where Grear sat huddled on the seat of the wagon beside a great hulk of a man. Her mare stumbled and she hastily returned her attention to where they were going.
Except she didn’t know.
Every instinct screamed at her to remain silent and not anger this stranger who rode by her side. But even though Hugh Campbell wasn’t the man she had once foolishly believed him to be, it seemed, just as when they’d been on Eigg, she wasn’t afraid to speak to him.
It didn’t make any sense since he clearly wasn’t the man she remembered at all, but none of this made sense and the words were out before she could stop them.
“Where are ye taking us?”
He looked at her. The kerchief that had hidden his face was rumpled about his jaw and her stomach pitched as her mind replayed the moment he’d revealed himself.
The moment when all her witless daydreams about him had shattered.
“There’s no need to be alarmed. ’Tis just a camp where ye can dry off and rest for a while.”
“Rest?” she repeated. “Why should I wish to rest? My sister expects me to arrive at Creagdoun later today. Do ye think William will not try to find me?”
Hugh’s jaw flexed. She’d clearly hit a nerve. “This will be much easier if ye just trust me to make arrangements for yer safe passage.”
“I did have safe passage.” She blinked rapidly. Damn the rain that kept getting in her eyes. Except it wasn’t the rain, and well she knew it. “Ye’re the one who took that from me.”
“I couldn’t leave ye there.” He sounded affronted that she thought he should have. “’Tis not safe for women to travel alone.”
What nonsense was he trying to trick her with? He’d not been dense when he’d been in Eigg, and she wasn’t about to let him twist her words for his own purpose.
