Finally,Ewan spoke. "We need to leave. Now."
"But ye said thirty minutes."
"Now, Maia."
Somethingin his tone made her stop arguing. She nodded, setting the ribbon carefully back on the display, and fell into step beside him as they headed back toward where he'd left the horse.
Ewan toldhimself the burning in his chest was irritation at the delay, at the unwanted interaction, at the way this entire morning had thrown him off balance.
He was lying.
It was jealousy,pure and simple. Jealousy and possessiveness and a primal need to mark Maia as his in ways that had nothing to do with kidnapping and revenge.
Which was a problem.
A very significant problem.
11
"We're here."
Ewan's voicepulled Maia from her thoughts, thoughts that had been circling endlessly around that kiss for the past day and a half. That devastating, world-tilting kiss that had left her confused and wanting and desperately uncertain about everything.
She'd spentthe entire ride trying not to think about it. Trying not to remember the way his lips had moved against hers, the way his hand had tangled in her hair, the way her body had responded like it had been waiting for his touch her entire life.
She'd failed spectacularly.
And she did accusehim of killing people right before he kissed her. She wanted to apologize, but she didn’t know how.
And now they were here.At his castle. Where she'd be his prisoner for God only knew how long, trapped in close quarters with a man whose kiss she couldn't stop thinking about, whose presence made her pulse race in ways that had nothing to do with fear.
"Maia. Did ye hear me?"
She blinked,focusing on the present. "Aye. Sorry. I was just—" She stopped, not wanting to admit where her thoughts had been.
Ewan'sdark eyes studied her face, and she had the uncomfortable feeling he knew exactly what she'd been thinking about. Heat crept up her cheeks.
"We've arrived at Castle McGill,"he said, his voice carefully neutral. As if they hadn't kissed. As if everything between them was perfectly normal. "Yer new home for the foreseeable future."
Home.
The word felt strange.This wasn't her home. This was her prison, just a different one than before.
Except...
Maia's breathcaught as she finally looked up at the castle before them.
"Oh,"she breathed.
It was beautiful.
Castle McGill satat the base of a mountain, its grey stone walls rising proud and strong against the late afternoon sky. The mountain loomed behind it like a protective giant, its peaks still touched with snow despite the warming weather. And surrounding the castle on three sides was forest—thick, lush, green forest that seemed to stretch on forever.
It wasnothing like Castle MacMahon, with its flat lands and carefully manicured grounds. This was wild. Untamed.Freein a way her uncle's castle had never been.
"The forest,"Maia murmured, her eyes tracking the tree line. "It's so close. Can ye…do people ever go walkin' in it?"
"Aye.When they're nae afraid of gettin' lost or eaten by wild boars."
