“There is nothing he can say that will change my mind.”Don’t be so sure of that.
“I think you will want to hear everything, Caitrina,” her aunt said quietly, echoing his thoughts.
He sensed her rising panic. She turned to her cousin John, but he nodded as well—although he looked none too happy about it.
“Very well. What is this offer, then?” she asked impatiently.
Jamie saw the pity in her uncle’s eyes when he answered her. “If you wed Campbell, you can return to Ascog Castle with your remaining clansmen under his protection.”
She flinched as if from a blow, and Jamie knew he’d guessed correctly. With the death of her family, her home and her clan were what were important to her. But how much would she be willing to sacrifice for them?
She’d lost her composure; he could see her hands shaking in her lap. “I see. So he offers that which rightly belongs to the Lamonts.”
No one spoke, but they all knew that Argyll had laid claim to her father’s lands. To encourage the capture of the MacGregors, the Privy Council had enacted laws giving a bounty for the head of any MacGregor, in addition to all the dead man’s possessions. By harboring the outlaws, arguably the Lamont himself was an outlaw. As such, his possessions would be forfeit. With no male survivors, Caitrina would face a long, uphill battle, with little guarantee of success in the end.
“My cousin has agreed to give the land to me on our wedding.” An arrangement that had taken some negotiating and hadn’t pleased Colin, who felt it should be his. “Eventually, it will go to our second son.”
At the mention of a child, she blanched. He could see the panic in her eyes and knew that she was close to losing her composure.
“Leave us,” he said to the others.
The Lamont frowned. “I’ll not have you force the lass.”
Jamie checked him with a glare but forgave him for the insult, knowing that the chief spoke out of concern for his niece.
“Caitrina?” Margaret Lamont asked.
She nodded.
The chief escorted his wife, with John following, but when her cousin reached the door, he turned. “You don’t have to wed him, lass. I’d not see you tied to a bloody Campbell.” His eyes narrowed menacingly on Jamie. “Say the word and he’ll feel the edge of my blade.”
Jamie stood, his hand moving to the hilt of his dirk. “If you don’t feel mine first,” he said matter-of-factly. He was itching for a fight, and from the size and strength of him, John Lamont looked as though he might actually give him a good one.
Jamie started at the gentle restraint of Caitrina’s hand on his arm. “That won’t be necessary,” she said. “Thank you, John, but I’m fine.”
Her cousin shot one more venomous glance at Jamie and shut the door behind him.
Caitrina dropped her hand and turned to face him in the candlelight. God, she was beautiful. Just standing so close to her was an exercise in restraint. His nose filled with the bouquet of her delicate perfume. He ached to plunge his fingers through the silky smooth locks of her hair, to touch the soft, velvety curve of her cheek, and to taste the honey sweetness of her lips. But she didn’t want comfort from him.
Would the day ever come that she would? He’d never pursued a woman, never had to. What if Caitrina never . . .No,she would.
“So this is your plan,” she said, her voice low and full of emotion. “You are every bit as ruthless as I thought. You’d force me to marry you, not caring how much I hate you.”
His muscles clenched. He knew she didn’t hate him but didn’t like hearing it all the same. “I’ll not force you to anything. It’s your decision.”
She made a sharp sound of derision. “What kind of choice is that when you hold everything that I want in the palm of your hand? Why are you doing this to me? Is it because of what happened before? Is this some kind of revenge? I dared to refuse the great Jamie Campbell, so now you will bend me to your will and humiliate me.”
“Is that what you really think? Is it so hard to believe that I want you?”
“No, that’s not hard to believe at all,” she said flatly. “But that does not require marriage. If that’s all you want
from me, then take—”
He grabbed her arm, his reaction instantaneous. “Don’t,” he said in a low voice. “Don’t say it.”
He was doing a horrible job of this. He dropped her arm and raked his hands through his hair. “That is not all that I want from you.” He’d never tried to explain himself to a woman before. He didn’t know how to describe what he was feeling. “I care for you.”
“If you care about me, then don’t do this.”
