‘You’ll do more than kiss her,’ cried Griffin. ‘I want this marriage consummated tonight, or it will not stand. You know the consequences if you do not do your duty. Make sure she’s no virgin come dawn, if she even is one now.’
‘Laird Macaulay, I do not think there is any need for that kind of talk,’ said the priest, looking appalled.
‘Isn’t there!’ shouted Griffin into his face. ‘What do you care? You were paid, weren’t you? And remember to keep your mouth shut about this. If I find you telling tales, it will end badly for you.’
The man’s face reddened. ‘I am leaving at once.’ He took Lowri’s hand. ‘Good luck, lass. I think you are going to need it.’
Griffin tore his hand away and thrust Lowri’s hand into Cullen’s. ‘Here, take the lass to your chamber, lift her skirts, and enjoy the privileges of a husband.’
***
Cullen’s grip on her arm was iron hard as he dragged Lowri upstairs to a high chamber - dark and dreary. A tiny window let in a few rays from the sun dying outside, but no warmth. There was none to be had from her captor either. Cullen slammed the door shut so hard that the walls seemed to shake. He drew the bolt across, trapping her.
‘You’ve no need to lock me in,’ said Lowri ‘I’m not going to run. If I do, my friends will die.’
‘Aye, and never doubt that my father will hurt your friends if you do not play the dutiful wife,’ snarled Cullen ‘There’s whisky, so at least we can dull the pain, lass.’ He was still clutching the flagon he’d held onto throughout their vows.
Cullen swigged from it and then turned his back to her. He carried on drinking as he threw wood and kindling into the fireplace. Silence fell and dragged on, save for the snap of flint against steel as Cullen lit the fire. He coaxed it to life, and his face became hellish in its glow, stiff with outrage.
Lowri studied his broad back as he stared into the flames. His hair was damp and looked darker. Strands stuck to his forehead here and there. When he’d kissed her, she’d smelledsodden wool and whisky, so the drinking had begun early. That made him unpredictable. Would it make him cruel, too? Though he was big, in a sparse, muscular way, his grip had been gentle when he’d kissed her. And he hadn’t hurt her, yet.
Oh, it was folly to hope for kindness. She could not let her guard down, for Cullen Macaulay looked too strong to fight off. She could kick and scratch, but his weight alone would overpower her. And the man seethed with quiet menace. She must not be weak or show fear to this bully when he took her virginity.
Would it be awful – a knife to the throat, a hand over her mouth? Would it hurt, and would Cullen care if she screamed and fought? But how could she bear the humiliation of just lying there and being used?
Her brute of a Macaulay husband must have read her thoughts because he turned to her and said, ‘So, we are to be joined this night.’
His words hung in the air, throbbing like an open wound – a threat and a promise.
Chapter Seven
‘If your friends are to go free, we must consummate this marriage,’ said Cullen, coming closer.
‘Not if I have any choice in the matter,’ Lowri blurted out.
‘You don’t, so there it is. Do as you are told, and it will go easier on you, and you won’t have your friends’ deaths on your conscience. Believe me, folk dying on your account can be a hard burden to carry.’
Lowri’s tongue seemed to stick in her throat. She was in danger, and it would be best not to goad her tormentor, but her temper betrayed her. ‘I hate you, Cullen Macaulay.’
His hands fisted. ‘Well, I’m not keen on you, either, Lowri Strachan. But we are both caught in this trap, and so here we are, suffering each other.’
‘I would rather die than lie with you.’
‘Oh, I would not be too sure about that, lass. Perhaps you should give it a go before you make up your mind. I mean, here we are, alone together with everything we need - a bed and firelight – which I have to say flatters you into being bonnie. Who’d have thought it, under all that muck?’
‘Do you think I am some weak fool who will lie with someone because I am told to?’
‘You’re no fool. I think you are a vicious, thieving little bitch, which is why I will not lay a finger on you, bonnie or not. Luckily for you, I am not the kind of man to force a woman, so you aresafe from my charms this night. I intend to find satisfaction at the bottom of this flagon of whisky instead.’
‘And other nights?’
‘We shall see. When you get down on your knees and beg me to take you, I will consider it.’ He laughed bitterly. ‘Make a pretty apology for all the insults you’ve thrown at me, and I may just succumb to your charms.’
‘Why don’t you just do it? Your father told you to. Don’t you leap to his command, like a hound?
Cullen shook his head and said, ‘Oh, lass, you have sorely misjudged my character. I like to do the opposite of what my father tells me, unless I am cornered.’
‘But you have a birthright to hang onto, do you not?’
