The tension fell away from Darragh. She had put to words what he needed to know, but a new sense of purpose rose in his gut. He would protect her. He would avenge her. “Ye are fine with me now. Ye can do more than any other women I know.”
Pulling back, her tear-stained, blotchy face crushed him. “I can do very little. D'ye not see that?”
“No. I see ye can do much. Brighit?” He swallowed, attempting to pull back on the skepticism that had crept into his tone. He didn’t want to offend, he wanted her to stop berating herself. “Ye are not a man, but ye have great ability and skill. ’Tis plain. No one can argue that. If a man was stronger than ye and hurt ye, ’twas not a fair fight.”
She wiped at her tears. “I was wrong to think I could defeat any man.”
“I’ve seen ye defeat many men.” He wanted to shake her, make her realize how very special she was to him, but even more importantly he wanted the name of the man who’d dared to hurt her. “Tell me who bested ye?”
“He knocked me off my horse.” Her eyes darted away as if again seeing the fight. “I couldn’t breathe when I hit the ground. He was livid. He would have taken out his anger on me. But I couldn’t let him discover I was a woman.” What could have happened next hung in the air between them, each knowing what he would have done. “I couldn’t let him find out.”
Darragh was beside himself, struggling with what to do, what to say, how much to comfort her. He needed to hear this story in full, however, so he locked his jaw tight, his hands fisted at his sides.
She turned toward him, but not seeing him. “He was massive and his expression was so cruel. I thought—” She looked away, a great sob heaving her chest. “I could best him because I was faster but he showed me how wrong I was.”
Brighit hugged her self tightly, gazing toward the ceiling as if seeing the sky. “He laughed at me and shoved me away when he could have ended me right there. A fair fight and he gave me a second chance, taunting me.” She dropped her gaze to Darragh. “He knocked me down and got on top of me. He beat me with his fists and… and I could do nothing.”
She covered her face, her shoulders heaving but no sound coming out of her as she broke down.
He took her in his arms while her body was wracked with sobs. Compassion for her heightened his need to defend her. So close to getting the name of the man, he smoothed down her hair as if she were a child. Brighit shook her head, defeated.
He spoke in a tight whisper. His anger barely contained. “Tell me who did this.”
“It was Cathair.” Her words erupted on a sob. “Cathair beat me… and I killed him for it.”
Chapter 23
Brighit could see the man again in her mind.
“D'ye seriously want to do this?”
Cathair had wanted revenge for something and he’d wanted it from her. If she had not defended herself at all, he would have found out she was a lass sooner and then… his excited expression at finding her binding and realizing she was a female flashed through her mind. She shivered.
Darragh’s concerned expression broke through her thoughts right before her mind went to Seigine, mounted and watching from the crest of the hill. It suddenly struck her as odd, beyond odd, that he’d sat there waiting. Watching. Had he stayed to see if his brother needed assistance? No. He would have assumed Cathair needed no help, so why watch? Why not join the others in fighting her uncle and brothers? Had he—
It was the disbelief on Darragh’s face that finally halted her tears and stiffened her spine. There was no question about what she was saying and he had to understand that. Having confessed, it was required that she be believed.
As if reading her thoughts, he said, “I do not believe ye.”
She refused to respond, keeping her expression blank, and remained quiet.
“I saw the body, Brighit.” Darragh shook his head as if shaking off a bad dream. “Ye could never be so vile, so cruel, so destructive.”
The tears had stopped and Brighit felt an overwhelming relief in his condemnation of what she’d done. She glanced away, unable to meet his eyes.
“He was beating me, and when he felt the bindings at my breasts, his expression… changed. He became excited about discovering I was a woman because it meant he could punish me even further.”
“Punish ye?”
“I shouldn’t have been on their land. It was the middle of the night.”
Something flickered in Darragh’s eyes, and she feared that she’d somehow revealed her uncle’s role.
“I had wanted to take a midnight ride. One last ride as a final goodbye to my freedom.”
Darragh’s brows dipped low. “And have ye found yerself truly subdued by me?”
She blew out a breath. “Ye know I have not. I was so wrong in what I thought of ye. Forgiveness, please?”
