The breath left Bryce’s body in a rush of air. ‘You mean to tell me you are the daughter of the man who terrorised Inverness with thievery and murder and kidnapped my friend’s wife to lure him to his death?’
‘Forgive me, Bryce. I had nothing to do with his crimes against you or anyone else. I left before he became powerful enough to do all that damage, I swear.’
‘Why did you not tell me before?’
‘Why would I? You would have cast me out, and I wanted to survive. When we made our pact at the jail, I did not know how deeply my father had wounded your clan and your friend. I knew so little of you, and when I realised, what point was there in telling you? The Baron was long gone, driven away by your fellows, so I let it lie. Our paths diverged a long time ago.’
‘So why go back to Durness now?’
‘Because I want to finish with him. I want his evil out of my life, but I cannot do that until I have seen him and said my piece.’ She took a shuddering breath and lied. ‘Part of me thinks he might be responsible for what happened to the Camerons. I need to see his face when I ask him. I could always tell when he was lying.’
‘If he is the villain, you say, then this is a fool’s errand. What if he admits it?’
‘Then I will avenge them.’
‘How? Will you kill your own father?’
‘Bryce, please do not press me on this. I must go and see my father, and you must let me, or I can never be at peace. Forgive me. Please.’
He frowned. ‘Nothing to forgive, lass. There is nothing you can do to stop me from wanting you.’
‘Truly?’
His voice was hoarse with desire as he commanded, ‘Lie down with me. I have need of you.’
Maren could only nod, for her heart was so full she thought she might sob if she spoke. She lay down on the narrow bunk, and Bryce pulled her underneath him. He hoisted up her skirts and spread her legs with his knee. Then, as the ship rocked over the waves, he slid inside her with agonising tenderness so slowly she thought her heart would burst. She let go of her father, her past and her perilous future, along with the secret she held from him, and there was just warm skin with golden hair, teasing lips, blue eyes joining with brown, a firm body against her softness.
She deserved this. She needed this. His hips surged against her, matching the rock of the ship over the waves, and they came together in a perfect rhythm of wanting and loving until Maren’s little cries of pleasure mingled with the call of gulls and the rush of the ocean.
Chapter Twenty-Eight
They rowed into shore in a buffeting wind as the ship could not get too close, despite Durness boasting a sheltered bay flanked by grassy slopes of seagrass.
‘Too shallow. She’ll beach if we go in closer,’ one sailor shouted over the slap of sea against the prow of the small rowing boat, men heaving on the oars against an offshore wind. It seemed Durness was trying to repel them, and Maren’s heart sank. She had rejected this place long ago, and now it was not eager for a reunion. Nor was she.
They reached the shore, their clothes damp with salt spray, and made their way up a path to a huddle of thatched cottages. The captain waved them goodbye. He seemed keen to offload them and continue north despite Bryce having paid a great sum for the use of his cabin for two days. Perhaps Durness’ reputation gave him no cause to linger.
Maren glanced at Bryce in dismay. His face was pensive, and despite how close they had been last night in the swaying darkness of the cabin, limbs entwined, thrashing together as one, despite that feverish coupling and his declarations of love, was he regretting his loyalty, or worse, was he worrying that he was walking into a trap?
‘It is this way,’ she said, pointing to the chimney stack of a grim tower house lurking half a mile inland. They trudged towards it in silence. Dread was like a stone pressing on Maren’s chest and getting heavier the nearer they got to the building that was either a prison or fortress, depending on your position in her father’s hierarchy. She had always found herself at the bottom of the heap – not a beloved child, more a defiant servant to be used and disposed of at will.
When they reached the door in the walled garden at the east wing of the house, she bid Bryce stop. ‘I must go on alone from here,’ she said. ‘My father cannot abide strangers, and you will only make my facing him more difficult.’
‘Why?’
‘Because he will be nasty, and you will try and defend me. You cannot manage his temper, but I can.’
‘If the man has a temper, that is all the more reason for me to accompany you.’
‘No. I cannot reason with my father when he is angry.’
‘I do not like this, Maren. What are you hiding from me?’ said Bryce.
‘Nothing. Please do as I say, Bryce. Stay in the garden and you will be sheltered from the wind. There is no one about to bother you.’
‘Very well. If that is your wish. But if you need me, fire your little musket, and I will come running.’
***
