"What I want,"Ewan said softly, "is for ye to suffer the way ye made her suffer. But I'm nae as cruel as ye. So I'll make this quick."
His blade slippedpast Callen's guard, pathetic defense that it was, and drove deep into the man's chest. Straight through the heart, clean and efficient and far more merciful than the bastard deserved.
Callen's eyeswent wide with shock and pain. His sword fell from nerveless fingers, and he clutched at Ewan's blade where it protruded from his chest.
"She... was mine..."he wheezed, blood bubbling at his lips.
"Nae,"Ewan said coldly. "She was never yers. And now ye'll never touch her again."
He wrenched his blade free,and Callen collapsed, dead before he hit the ground.
Silence fell over the clearing,broken only by Ewan's harsh breathing and the distant sound of the injured guard groaning somewhere in the darkness.
Ewan stoodover Callen's body for a moment, making sure the bastard was truly dead, that this nightmare was finally over. Then he turned, his eyes finding Maia where she stood frozen next to Mollie.
She was staringat him with wide eyes, her face pale in the moonlight. Was she afraid of him now? Horrified by what she'd just witnessed?
"Maia,"he said, and his voice came out rougher than he'd intended.
She made a small sound—somethingbetween a sob and his name—and then she was moving, stumbling toward him on legs that didn't seem quite steady.
Ewan met her halfway,catching her as she crashed into him. His arms came around her automatically, holding her close, and he felt her shaking against him.
"I'm sorry,"she was gasping against his chest. "I'm so sorry, I shouldnae have run, I shouldnae have left, I just—I saw Laura and I thought?—"
"I ken what ye thought."Ewan's hand came up to cup the back of her head, his fingers tangling in her hair. "And ye were wrong. So bloody wrong, lass."
"But she was on ye."
"I threw her off."Ewan pulled back just enough to look down at Maia's face, to see the confusion and hope warring in her grey eyes. "The moment she touched me, I threw her off and told her she was nae welcome in me castle ever again. Told her I'd exile her entire family if she ever tried somethin' like that again."
Maia's eyes widened."Ye—ye did?"
"Aye. Because I daenae want her."Ewan's thumb brushed across Maia's cheek, wiping away tears she probably didn't even realize she'd shed. "I've never wanted her. The only woman I want, the only woman I will ever want, is ye."
"But ye'vedinnae talk about what happened for two weeks."
"Because I was terrified."The admission came easier than Ewan had expected. "Terrified of how much I felt for ye. Terrified I'd become like me faither, that this need I have for ye would turn into somethin' dark and controllin'. But then ye ran, and I realized—" His voice roughened. "I realized that losin' ye was worse than any fear I had about what I might become."
"Ewan."
"Ye're mine, Maia Ferguson."The possessiveness in his voice should probably concern him, but right now, with her safe in his arms and her uncle dead at his feet, he couldn't bring himself to care. "And ye're never—never—leavin' me again. Do ye understand?"
Something that might have beenjoy flickered across Maia's face. "That sounds like a threat, me laird."
"It's a promise."Ewan's hand tightened in her hair, tilting her face up toward his. "I love ye, lass. I'm in love with ye. And I'm nae lettin' ye go. Nae now, nae ever. Even if I have to lock ye in a tower to keep ye safe—" He stopped, realizing what he'd just said. "Christ, nae, nae like that. I dinnae mean it."
But Maia was laughing,actually laughing through her tears. "I ken what ye meant. And for what it's worth—" She took a shaky breath. "I love ye too. I think I've been fallin' for ye since ye climbed through me window and tore those bars away."
Relief and joyand something fiercer flooded through Ewan's chest. "Say it again."
"I love ye."Maia smiled up at him, that dimple appearing in her cheek. "I love ye, Ewan Byrne, and I?—"
He kissed her.
Kissedher hard and deep and possessive, pouring everything he felt into it—the fear he'd experienced when he'd heard her scream, the rage that had driven him through those guards, the love he'd been too afraid to name, the desperate need to make sure she understood that she was his and he was hers and nothing would ever separate them again.
When he finally pulled back,they were both breathing hard.
