“Daenae even dare think of runnin’ now!” His voice boomed toward her, and she fell still.
Oh god. He knows.
“Erskine, I —” before she could say anything else, he was in front of her, interrupting her, with his voice wild and his face red with his ire.
“I cannae believe I fell for such a lie!” he snapped. His hand went to her head and suddenly wrenched the hat free of her hair.
“Erskine,” she tried to pull the hat back, but he held it away, far out of reach. In his other hand, he presented the parchment to her, shoving it into her hands. She flattened the scrunched parchment, feeling the creases between her fingers.
“Daenae even think of denyin’ it.”
“I wasn’t going to,” she admitted, no longer bothering to disguise her voice as she stared at the picture. The artist had unfortunately done a terrific job of capturing her likeness.
“Nay wonder ye are always wearin’ this bloody hat,” Erskine tossed her hat at the nearest fir tree—the material slapped against the trunk before falling to the ground. Laura flinched at the sound.
She knew he would be angry if he discovered her secret, but she had never imagined anything quite like this. It made her own fury rise, but it was coupled with desperation.
“I had no choice!” she said loudly, prompting him to flick his head back to her.
“Nay choice?” he repeated, mocking her words. “Of course ye had a bloody choice. Ye have deceived all me men and me. We took ye across the country and into Scotland. What will happen to us if they find ye!? Hmm? Have ye thought of that?”
She had not. She swallowed, looking down at the parchment.
“We will probably be accused of abductin’ ye,” he turned away again, his green eyes flashing as he tossed his head back and stared at the sky. “How grand this will be to be accused of kidnappin’ the daughter of Sir Hamilton, thebetrothedof Earl Moore. Ye have doomed us all.”
“I have not!” Her sharp voice she did not refrain from making high pitched now. “In case you haven’t notice, I never intended to be discovered,” she pointed out as if this fact were obvious. “I did not think I was putting you or the others in danger.”
“Clearly, ye thought through yer plan. So clever,” he scoffed again.
“It was,” she sneered at him in reply.
“I cannae believe this,” he shook his head again and ran a hand through his dark red hair. Laura couldn’t help watching the action. She was still attracted to him, still drawn despite the anger of the exchange. She wanted to capitulate, to tell him how much she had wanted to tell him who she really was over the last few weeks, but she could not. Not when he was this angry. “There are soldiers lookin’ for ye all over Inverness. Ye cannae escape them.”
A horrid thought took over Laura, and she suddenly jumped toward Erskine. Her insides withered with dismay as he jumped back.
“Please do not turn me over to them.”
“What?” he asked in alarm.
“Please, Erskine, I am begging you,” she said, clasping her hands together around the parchment and imploring him.
“Daenae look at me like that, Billie. I mean, god damn it!” he turned around in a quick circle. “Miss Hamilton!”
“You can call me Laura,” she said quickly, but it only seemed to anger him further.
“Fine, then Laura—daenae look at me like that.”
“I will look at you any way that I like,” she followed him around in his fast circle. “This is an obscene amount of money my father is offering —”
“That it is,” he was avoiding looking at her as they walked around in their strange circle. It hurt her.
“So please do not succumb to it,” she begged, her voice breaking in the middle with her desperation. She cut in front of him, forcing him to look at her. He appeared so startled, he backed away a step, but he held the gaze.
“Succumb?” he repeated, apparently confused.
“Do not pretend to not be tempted by it,” she shook her head, gesturing at him with the parchment. “It is a lot of money, but please, do not give me up to them.” He said nothing but just breathed heavily, his face still red with anger. “I left that life for a reason, do not make me return to it. I am begging you.”
Her words seemed to do something to him. He hung his head down, breaking the connection of their gaze.
