It was some time later, as they headed higher into the mountains and found the place where they would spend the night, that Brodie finally allowed himself to approach Arabella.
* * *
She ached. Every bone and place in her body hurt with every breath she took or move she made. If not from being wrapped in the tapestry and thrown over a horse, and if not from running into the wall of hard muscle of Brodie, then surely the past several hours spent in the saddle had been the final assault. If she had been allowed to ride how she was accustomed to riding—astride and not over the lap or in the lap of another—she might not be in as much pain as she was.
Or so she’d thought until they stopped their relentless climb high into the mountains. For now she added cold to the pain and the list of ever-growing complaints that she held against Brodie Mackintosh. And that was in addition to kidnapping her and preventing her wedding. And beyond his greatest sin. Her plan was to stay alive and somehow reclaim her horse to escape him and find her way back to Caelan.
If she could find her way out of these mountains.
She stood in silence, waiting for the waves of pain to lessen before taking a step or saying a word. The men left her standing there, as they took some supplies off the horses and led them away. The winds began to swirl and the coldness bit deeper into her as the last light of the sun dropped behind the mountains in the distance. Wearing only the clothes on her back and wrapped in a thin blanket that Rob had given her some time ago, it was not long before she began to shiver.
‘Come.’ So lost in her misery, she had not seen or heard Brodie approach. He pulled and tugged at the rope encircling her wrists until it fell free. Arabella shook her hands, trying to get the numbness out, and then winced as the sensations came rushing into them.
Brodie held out his arm to her, as though giving her a choice in this. All her intentions for his capture and punishment aside, she found herself clutching his arm more than she wanted to as they walked towards a small shelter built there. He helped her to sit and she watched him move around the covered space, gathering this or that and speaking a few words to his friend who did his bidding.
Neither had been cruel to her, even if binding her and rolling her in a tapestry was barbaric. So, they must plan to use her as a hostage or she would be dead by now, would she not? Rob sat near her, tore off a chunk of bread and handed it to her. Brodie took a place on the other side, blocking her in between them but also blocking the winds a bit. He held out a battered cup to her and, when she accepted it, he filled it from the skin.
Famished, she ate several bites of the bread, first dipping it in the water to soften it, before asking the question that plagued her the most.
‘Why?’ she asked. Her voice surprised her as it echoed between them.
She said it once but wanted more answers than just to the obvious one. They glanced one at the other, some wordless message exchanged between these two men bonded by something she did not understand, and then Brodie met her gaze.
‘To stop the wedding,’ he answered with the most obvious answer. He held out a flask to her. ‘Drink some of this,’ he ordered. ‘It will warm you.’
She tipped the flask back and drew on it. The fiery liquid burned a path down her throat until it hit her stomach. She’d drank this before, her brother...had shared it with her, out of their father’s watchful eye. Now, it warmed her, spreading through her limbs and blood.
‘Since you were not even certain you wanted me as a wife, why would you stop the wedding?’ she pressed again. And she handed the flask back, knowing that imbibing too much of it would loosen her control over herself.
‘It was necessary,’ he replied, handing the flask to Rob.
‘And now? What happens to me now?’ His eyes flared then, some emotion flickering for a moment before it disappeared.
‘You do as you are told and no harm will come to you,’ he said. When she would have spoken, unable to resist the taunting nature of his words, he shook his head. ‘There is much you do not know. There is much you cannot know.’
Living with her father, she’d learned at a very young age to choose rebellion carefully, for the cost was usually dear. Euan Cameron had discovered her weakness early and did not hesitate to use her brother as a substitute for her to punish her misdeeds. Her father expected absolute obedience from his children and she and Malcolm had learned early to give him that. Something told her that this was one of those situations, one that could turn against her on a moment’s notice, so she paid heed to the feeling in her gut and allowed him to have the last word...for now.
The daylight disappeared quickly and the cloudy skies covered any light the moon gave off. Rob used his flint and some dry leaves to start a small fire. It would not give off much heat but at least it banished the darkness for now. Being midsummer, the night would not last too long here in the Highlands. Which meant they intended to sleep here.
A chance for her to escape? As if he’d heard her thoughts, he motioned for her hands. ‘Give me your hands, Arabella.’
‘There is nowhere for me to run, Brodie,’ she said, glancing around at the darkness around them. ‘I would be daft to try...’
‘I saw it in your eyes,’ he said, the smile that curved his mouth a grim one. One that spoke of his suspicions about her. Considering that the last time she’d been free for a moment, she’d run, she could not truly blame him for thinking such.
He wrapped the length around her wrist, only once this time, and then surprised her by wrapping the other end around his wrist. Brodie held it out to his friend who finished the task. They were tied together and she could not move without him feeling it.
‘How will I...?’ She could not voice the task she needed to see to right this moment, but from Rob’s chuckle, he understood.
‘Worry not,’ he said as he tugged on the rope, leading her away from the light of the fire. ‘It is too dark for me to see anything.’
Some mortifying minutes later, they walked back to the shelter where Rob had laid out some blankets and lengths of woollen plaid. Two places. Arabella looked from Rob to her keeper and shook her head. She would not sleep that close to him. She backed away until the rope stopped her.
‘Your virtue is safe, lady,’ he said. He guided her over to one of the blankets. ‘As long as you remain quiet, I will leave the gag off.’ She’d forgotten about that possibility.
Arabella decided that, if she wanted to escape, she needed rest and daylight. So, she would allow him to think her a compliant prisoner...until she was not. She must keep the element of surprise on her side since she was outnumbered. And a stranger in these lands. Her father and Caelan would be searching for her and she just needed to give them time to catch up with them.
It took one all-too-short minute for them to lie down. The pile beneath her was surprisingly comfortable, but her body went rigid when he lay behind her. Sliding as far away as possible, Arabella knew she would not sleep at all this night. Weariness and fear and anger proved her wrong, overwhelming her resistance as her body gave up then. As she drifted off, warmth surrounded her and she sank into it, dreaming of a huge fire burning in the hearth of her chambers.
