Niall dropped his gaze, no doubt picking up on Lachlann’s growing rage, but it was Aldred who had the nerve to get up in Lachlann’s face. “And if we return, we put ourselves at risk yet again with no one to back us up.”
“We go knowing what to expect this time. We will be prepared.”
“Think ye she will notagainorder ye to leave her? The truth is, ye mean little to her.”
Lachlann crossed his arms over his chest. “So, ye attempt to protect me as well?” He snorted in disgust. “Truly, I must be a simpleton to be in such need of protection, first from a lass and now from the both of ye.”
“I dinna want ye to be hurt by a lass who would take yer love and crush it beneath her feet.” Niall’s tone was loud for all its sternness.
“And I tell ye, ’tis not the way of it.”
They held his gaze. Measuring his stubbornness? Mayhap. They’d find he had no intention of backing down.
“I am returning to get her safely away from that man. And then, I’m going to run Olaf through.” Lachlann mounted his horse. “We need to kill the man if she’s to feel safe. If she refuses me again, I’ll know I’ve hurt her more than I believe, and my betrayal has turned her away from me.”
He lamented that he’d seen to his own carnal desires instead of setting things right with her first. Her rejection had stung more than either Aldred or Niall could guess, not with the number of brokenhearted lasses they’d left behind them.
Shield and weapons in hand, Lachlann led them across the open heath. With the red sun setting before them, they pushed their horses as if Ethne’s life depended on it. And he was afraid it did.
Chapter 24
Held in the grip of shock and despair, Ethne trembled on the hard-packed floor beside the pallet, her knees tucked under her chin.
Domelch murdered my parents?
Ethne couldn’t move. She couldn’t stop reliving those last few hours when her mother still lived. She couldn’t get past the heartbreak it still caused her.
Their mother had risen late that last morning. She’d been disoriented, complaining of painful cramps. It was so unlike her to share such things that Ethne, though still young, had been concerned. When Mother started vomiting blood, they’d gone to the healer for help. There was nothing that could be done. Their mother had died that same day, their father a few days later.
Ethne’s chest tightened so much she couldn’t take a breath.
Domelch must have poisoned them both. But why would she do such a thing? They had been nothing but kind and loving to their new daughter-in-law, accepting her into their family despite how bossy, demanding, and critical she always behaved.
She had never been happy staying with them, constantly voicing her desire to go back to her home along the sea. They’d all hoped Domelch would adjust to her new life. Many new brides did. That must have been why she killed them. Malcolm’s desire to be there for his parents, to help them, was the problem as Domelch saw it, so she murdered them. Because he was a good son.
The realization hit hard, like running into a stone wall with her face.
Covering her eyes, Ethne gave in to her wretchedness. If her parents had lived, how different her life would be now. She’d be wed to a kind man, mayhap even have children of her own. Safe. Loved. Cared for.
Instead, she was a slave for Domelch and a prize for the men who vied to take her maidenhead. Olaf. Aidan. Lachlann…not Lachlann. Never Lachlann. He’d offered her only his loving. His tenderness filled her mind, the way he saw to her after that first time, washing away her virgin’s blood, the way he held her close and awoken her with his warm kisses and caresses. In his arms, she’d been loved and protected. She would never regret giving herself to him.
The problem was he was far too chivalrous, always doing for others and not thinking of himself. She needed to protect him from himself. It was better that she be taken as Olaf’s whore; she would know then what to expect. At least Olaf was honest with what he wanted from her.
Her head snapped up. She should not be simply waiting here for Olaf. She stood.
So lost in her misery and the memories of her loving parents, she was acting like a deer stricken with fear at the sight of a hungry wolf. Fear squeezed her gut.
“I’ve Ethne to see to now.” Olaf’s voice carried from beyond the entrance to the cave.
Too late. He was coming to take her as he’d promised.
The taking is easier if ye submit.
She clamped her hands tight. No matter how hard she squeezed her fingers, the tremors refused to stop.
His low chuckle made her wince. “I’ve neglected her long enough.”
Her gasp traveled from her mouth to her toes and back. She all but flew out of the enclosed area, along the wall, to the narrow crevice that led to the small cave. Flat against the cold wall within, she was awash with sweat and quaked with fear. She thanked God for the darkness of the cave. The change in light had given her the extra time she needed to escape unnoticed.
