“Go on, then,” she heard herself say. “Tell me whatpunishmentye have cooked up. I’ll try nae to laugh.”
He grinned. “I will give ye a head start. Ye will run into the forest, and then I will chase ye. Ye ken the way back to the Keep, aye? It’s just a mile from here. If I catch ye, I will punish ye.”
“Punish me?” she echoed, sure that she must somehow have misheard. “I’ll nae agree to that.”
“I did nae ask for yer agreement, did I? If I catch ye, ye will pay for yer mistake.”
She stared at him, trying to swallow past the dryness in her throat.
“Ye are mad,” she said at last. “Ye think that allowin’ a captive to escape is a good idea?”
He tutted. “Guest, lass. Ye are a guest, nae a captive.”
She rolled her eyes. “At any rate, lettin’ aguestrun away from ye is nae very wise.”
“Aye, but only if she escapes. And I have a feelin’ that while ye are fast, Megan,Iam faster. So, off ye go. I’ll give thirty seconds before I come after ye.”
She snorted. “I’ll nae go along with this.”
He backed away a couple of paces. “Best get movin’, lassie. The countdown begins now. If ye are still standin’ right in front of me in half a minute, I’ll catch ye with great ease.”
“I am nae afraid of ye.”
“I am nae asking ye to be afraid. I am asking ye to stick to the rules. We are down to twenty seconds.”
She clenched her jaw. “This is nonsense. I’m nae goin’ anywhere.”
“Ye daenae have to go anywhere. But after twenty seconds are up, ye will nay longer have any say in it.”
“I could run away from the Keep, go home.”
“Ye could do that,” he conceded. “But ye daenae have yer faither’s book with ye. And would ye forgive yerself, I wonder, knowin’ that Alaina is lonely and unprotected?”
“I’ve only been here for a day,” she shot back. “Perhaps I don’t care about the girls yet.”
He chuckled, low in her throat.
“Aye, but ye do. Ye give yerself away too quickly, lass. I can tell that ye care for them. Ye see yer own sisters in them, don’t ye? What now, then? Eh?”
She stared at him, her heart thumping in her chest. She wanted to feel anger, or, better yet, fear, but all she could feel was that insistent, pulsing desire.
The smile widened on his face, and she wondered, with horror, whether he could feel it too. Whether heknewwhat she felt.
“Ten seconds,” he whispered, taking a careful step forward. Leaning down, he put his lips almost against her ear. “Come on, Megan.Run.”
Run.
The seconds seemed to count down in Megan’s head.
Nine. Eight. Seven. Six. Five…
Her nerve broke, and she turned on her heel and plunged into the forest, his chuckle drifting after her.
CHAPTER 10
Megan wonderedwhat would have happened if she’d simply stood there and called his bluff.
Probably nothing good.
