His eyes narrowed, assessing her, right before his face split into a huge grin. He moved steadily closer. She backed away, matching his movements. That confident smile petrified her, making her even more desperate to keep him at bay.
“Yer brother says otherwise.” Uradech stopped. His gaze traveled along her body, an expression of appreciation settling on his face. “We discussed it just this night…with Aidan.”
She gasped, the material slipping from her fingers, but she grabbed it back. “I dinna believe ye.”
He darted forward and laughed when she retreated just as forcefully, hitting her head against the low ceiling. He was a cat playing with a mouse.
“Why do ye think I ran the entire way?” His gaze fell to her bare legs where the material did not cover her entirely. “I could barely wait to have at ye.”
Using her most commanding tone, she said, “Leave me. I will be out anon, and we can discuss—”
“No!” He shook his head, a slow, deliberate movement, his eyes bright with excitement. “There will be no discussion. Ye are mine.”
His hand traipsed along her bare shoulder while her back scraped painfully along the cave wall. She could move no farther.
“The pilgrim’s interruption is the only thing that stopped me from making ye mine.” His tone was quiet and firm.
She trembled inside, but scoffed, “And he’ll stop ye again.”
“He is busy with the boy.” Uradech fingered the material covering her, his eyes darting from it to her, before following along her shielded curves.
Cringing, she glanced beyond the huge man. There would be no one to rescue her this time.
His gaze settled on her face, piercing her with his eyes. “I think I prefer the consummation this way. I want to see my wife. All of her.”
He yanked at the only thing protecting her from him, but her fists squeezed the thin material as she fought against his strength. “I am not now and will not ever be yer wife. I promise ye that.”
It became a tug of war, and she struggled to remain hidden, but he yanked hard enough to pull her from the wall. Still, she resisted, shifting about the cavernous space. There were no weapons here, none to move toward in a last-ditch effort to protect herself. She shoved the panel toward him, but he sidestepped it. Panic grew in her chest, increasing with the steady rise of her breathing. Clenching her teeth, she fought with all that she had. She was the stronger of the two. He was nothing but a fat man who sat on his arse all day.
He stalked her. When she faltered in her step, he was right there to claw up the material. Within reach, he raised a hand to grab her, but she regained her footing and shoved him, all of her weight behind the movement. The material ripped from her hold. When it slackened, he lost his balance.
Stumbling back, he crashed onto Domelch’s prized stool. A terrible crack sounded as it buckled beneath his great weight. The babe started crying.
Ethne wasted no time. Retrieving her gown, she jerked it over her head, covered herself, and wrapped her arms around the child. Certain the man would lunge at her at any moment, she backed away until the cold, rough wall was once again behind her. The only thing that supported her. She took a deep, shaky breath.
Uradech did not get up.
Her steady rocking continued even when the babe drifted off again. She held her trembling hand to her mouth.
The fire crackled. She jumped. The child slept on, unaware
The sound of people talking outside came closer, and she recognized Finn’s voice. He and Lachlann paused in the entry way. Taking in the scene before him, Lachlann’s face tightened. “What is amiss?”
* * *
“Uradech came back?” Lachlann asked the question, but the answer was right before him.
The cave was disheveled. Items strewn around the place, the privacy panel broken on the floor, and the flames leaping toward the ceiling. Ethne cowered against the back wall with the babe clutched to her chest, her eyes wide with fear. The huge body of Uradech lay on the ground between them. Unmoving.
Lachlann realized why. “He came back forye.”
“He said Aidan sent him to me. I was to be his bride, and he was to tak—” She turned her face away, as if in denial of what lay before her.
Aidan had given the man permission to rape her. Outrage at Ethne’s treatment tightened Lachlann’s gut. He gave a solemn shake of his head, unable to hide his disgust. With an insistent tug and great care, he took the babe from her arms to settle her back in the little basket before facing Ethne.
“Did he hurt ye, Ethne?” She didn’t seem to hear him. “Ethne, look at me. Did he hurt ye?”
She covered her mouth and finally faced him. “I was sore afeared he would force me and…”
